10188 - UCS: Death Star

[Ed Mack]

Absolutely. I have exactly zero Death Stars by choice (except for the one in our personal collection). Since it seems this set is finally on it's way out, I am sure it will start to rise as expected, but several factors kept me away from investing in it. The high price point, the weight, the storage required, the looooooong retail shelf life with no end in sight, the potential for being scammed since it will sell at a premium, and the fact that it's more of a play set than a collectors item to be put on display. I felt there were several other exclusives that were safer plays for investing in so that's the route I took. That being said, like Ed mentioned, this is a great day for everyone who enjoys the gamble of investing in Lego, and I wish you all the best of luck. I'll have a lot of fun watching this one from the sidelines!

It should be interesting to see how the market reacts to the Death Star. Investing in $400 sets is not for everyone and there are plenty of ways to make money. I think the next opportunity will be on these small and mid sized STAR WARS sets currently on shelves. Many of them could be replaced earlier than usual in favor of The Force Awakens sets.

[BrickLegacy]

 

 

I have several thoughts to this.

I was at a goal of 10, bought 6 more, worried about it each time I bought 2 more.  I am not worried at all now.
It could spike re appear for a while one or more places it may not.
But I feel confident it is winding down.
I can also say I am ecstatic about Red Five all the concerns about the new Poe's X Wing blowing it out of the water were completely unfounded.
That x wing is nice but it does not look substantial.  It looks like it has been on a diet.
Good things for Red Five especially if it goes.  Makes me want to get more.

 

I'll be honest, I had myself convinced that I was going to stick with my original goal. Then I thought about the SSD and HH from last year, both great, if not legendary, sets. I wish I had double the amount of those now. The only thing holding me back was capital, which is a pretty good reason lol.

I extended myself with this last run of Death Stars, hoping that it won't come back in full force. All signs point to a retirement so I feel good about it. If the price start to climb, I will get aggressive at acquiring more if they pop up. If not, I'll be happy with the ones I grabbed plus the warehouse deal Bold-Arrow and Exciter talked me into last year..that's still earmarked for Christmas morning 2015 :-)

Congrats to all who took the risk and managed to grab some before it went poof. I think it was a wise move. I'm convinced now, more than ever, this has the potential to take off. Trek - your Amazon sales rank reports helped justify that for me. Thank you. And just for fun...if there were no rumors of a DS remake, I would have want emazers-all-in on this. The remake rumors scared me a bit so I have a few extra Red Fives to hedge the risk :-)

Can't to wait to hear about those seal codes from the various retailers. Keep em coming pickers!

Edited July 16, 2015 by BrickLegacy
Sorry for the wall of text. Mobile version didn't insert paragraph spacing.

[Ed Mack]

Just remember how it was with SSD.

DS could come out of "sold out" on LEGO Shop at Home July 30

Amazon could suddenly have a few in August.

TRU could find a few pallets with seal codes from 2011

There will be DSs available. Especially the next week or two. Some sets will be found in the back of warehouses and some returned. I have said it before and I will say it again, check back frequently on the site and use our stock trackers. If you want a DS for $400, there will be opportunities to those who make the effort.

[exciter1]

I'll be honest, I had myself convinced that I was going to stick with my original goal. Then I thought about the SSD and HH from last year, both great, if not legendary, sets. I wish I had double the amount of those now. The only thing holding me back was capital, which is a pretty good reason lol. I extended myself with this last run of Death Stars, hoping that it won't come back in full force. All signs point to a retirement so I feel good about it. If the price start to climb, I will get aggressive at acquiring more if they pop up. If not, I'll be happy with the ones I grabbed plus the warehouse deal Bold-Arrow and Exciter talked me into last year..that's still earmarked for Christmas morning 2015 :-) Congrats to all who took the risk and managed to grab some before it went poof. I think it was a wise move. I'm convinced now, more than ever, this has the potential to take off. Trek - your Amazon sales rank reports helped justify that for me. Thank you. And just for fun...if there were no rumors of a DS remake, I would have want emazers-all-in on this. The remake rumors scared me a bit so I have a few extra Red Fives to hedge the risk :-) Can't to wait to hear about those seal codes from the various retailers. Keep em coming pickers!

I think the DS will do great in the near term. Yes, I'm keeping one for my family regardless.  The sales figures are most convincing for me.  I didn't go too deep, just comfortable deep.  I'm risk averse by nature, so I may miss a few, but I do like the winners.  Seriously, does anyone know a fan of Star Wars LEGO that hasn't wanted the Death Star at some point?  Even those on the sidelines either have one or want one.

Edited July 16, 2015 by exciter1

[Ciglione]

Seriously... if this won't become a winner we should all retire from this business. 

[tacsniper]

Sorry guys, I am not going to read through the last 10 pages that occured in the last 8 hours lol... Is DS now sold out online at all major retailers in the USA?

[BrickLegacy]

Sorry guys, I am not going to read through the last 10 pages that occured in the last 8 hours lol... Is DS now sold out online at all major retailers in the USA?

If you find one that has it in stock, please report back.

[dcdfan]

Sorry guys, I am not going to read through the last 10 pages that occured in the last 8 hours lol... Is DS now sold out online at all major retailers in the USA?

Yes

[newbie77]

i think i was able to front run the 'horde'. my 3 arrived today

[Ed Mack]

Popular before retirement....more popular after retirement.

[brickolodon]

Sorry guys, I am not going to read through the last 10 pages that occured in the last 8 hours lol... Is DS now sold out online at all major retailers in the USA?

Yes, sold out overnite from amz, wmt, trgt, ....some may be BM lego stores... ...its even on CNN news, lol

[AFOL Pedro]

Seriously... if this won't become a winner we should all retire from this business. 

LOL! I didn't invest in any DS sets, but I see your point. I see it peaking near Christmas, and then residing a bit..but then slowly rising over the years to come.

[brickolodon]

LOL! I didn't invest in any DS sets, but I see your point. I see it peaking near Christmas, and then residing a bit..but then slowly rising over the years to come.

So, u just saying i need to go back and get rest of DS from my LEGO store?

[exciter1]

Sorry guys, I am not going to read through the last 10 pages that occured in the last 8 hours lol... Is DS now sold out online at all major retailers in the USA?

Short summary

[BrickLegacy]

Absolutely. I have exactly zero Death Stars by choice (except for the one in our personal collection). Since it seems this set is finally on it's way out, I am sure it will start to rise as expected, but several factors kept me away from investing in it. The high price point, the weight, the storage required, the looooooong retail shelf life with no end in sight, the potential for being scammed since it will sell at a premium, and the fact that it's more of a play set than a collectors item to be put on display. I felt there were several other exclusives that were safer plays for investing in so that's the route I took. That being said, like Ed mentioned, this is a great day for everyone who enjoys the gamble of investing in Lego, and I wish you all the best of luck. I'll have a lot of fun watching this one from the sidelines!

I respect you for your disciplined investing approach.  Something we all can learn from, myself included.

[Alpinemaps]

Absolutely. I have exactly zero Death Stars by choice (except for the one in our personal collection). Since it seems this set is finally on it's way out, I am sure it will start to rise as expected, but several factors kept me away from investing in it. The high price point, the weight, the storage required, the looooooong retail shelf life with no end in sight, the potential for being scammed since it will sell at a premium, and the fact that it's more of a play set than a collectors item to be put on display. I felt there were several other exclusives that were safer plays for investing in so that's the route I took. That being said, like Ed mentioned, this is a great day for everyone who enjoys the gamble of investing in Lego, and I wish you all the best of luck. I'll have a lot of fun watching this one from the sidelines!

Very well said.  I agree completely.  You and I can sit in the stands and cheer everyone else on.

[labfreak7]

You guys have been mentioning being scammed several times. Is this something that happens often enough to be a concern? Also please describe. Is is something that they try to return with missing parts or claim it never arrived??

[brickology101]

I have a feeling that DS will come back in stock at Target, for $600 that is.....Let's see.

[Alpinemaps]

I have something to share with you all.  Although probably better suited for the Craigslist War Stories thread.  In all the craziness of the last couple of days, and in the interest of sharing, I wanted to point you to a Craigslist ad that came up today in SoCal (Orange County and Inland Empire CLs):

 

Yes, you read that right.  $100 Death Stars!  Unbelievable, right?  We all know how it is - if it's too good to be true...

So, I decided to screw around and see what happens.  Because I'm a map guy, and maps are fun, I want to give you a idea about places that I'm talking about.  Corona and Lake Elsinore, California.

After it had been posted about 3 hours, I sent him a note - "I'm interested, I'd like to buy 2, can we meet in Lake Elsinore?"  (The important part is LE is about 15 minutes south of him (which is about 30 minutes north of me).  I don't hear anything back for an hour.  So, I drop him another note, to sweeten the deal - "I'm actually interested in 4 of them."

That finally elicited a response, after about 4 hours.

Here was the response:

Here's why the location was important.  There's basically no cities or towns between Corona and Lake Elsinore.  There's no reason he shouldn't know where a town 15 minutes away is located.  What's even more interesting is that he doesn't say whether the DSs are still available...he just points me to another CL ad that's been making the rounds for the last couple of weeks down here.

I responded back to his email right away with a "LE is only 15 minutes south of you on I-15; are they DSs still available?"  That was 8 hours ago.  Radio silence (no surprise).

Anyway, just a cautionary tale to share for a good laugh.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Alpinemaps

[brickology101]

You guys have been mentioning being scammed several times. Is this something that happens often enough to be a concern? Also please describe. Is is something that they try to return with missing parts or claim it never arrived??

One time a somebody bought a set from me at an inflated price (knew something was strange but I went with it anyway). A few weeks later he or she denied the charge on his or her credit card. Fortunately, I shipped the set with signature confirmation. However, even with this protection, I had to make a bunch of calls and justifies things with Paypal which took out the money from my account for over a week before finally putting it back. I am sure there are other ways of being scammed. Bottom line, be vigilant, and ship with signature confirmation.

[Alpinemaps]

You guys have been mentioning being scammed several times. Is this something that happens often enough to be a concern? Also please describe. Is is something that they try to return with missing parts or claim it never arrived??

Pretty much.   The concern on any high priced Lego item is that the buyer could open the item, take some or all of the contents, potentially replace said contents, and then file a Not as Described (NAD).  You'll have to give a refund, the buyer (hopefully) shops it back.  If the do ship it back, you're now the proud owner of a potentially worthless set with no real recourse.

[GhostDad]

Pretty much.   The concern on any high priced Lego item is that the buyer could open the item, take some or all of the contents, potentially replace said contents, and then file a Not as Described (NAD).  You'll have to give a refund, the buyer (hopefully) shops it back.  If the do ship it back, you're now the proud owner of a potentially worthless set with no real recourse.

Yep.  That's why I only sell large sets out of my trunk in the parking lot of Big Al's Bait 'n Tackle (Big Al is a personal friend of mine, and helps out by monitoring the entire transaction through the scope of his .50).  Cash up front, no muss, no fuss.

On a related note, signature confirmation provides zero help versus item not as described claims.  Also, it's no longer required (to fight non-receipt claims) by eBay or PayPal for any transaction under $750.

Edited July 16, 2015 by GhostDad

[brickology101]

Pretty much.   The concern on any high priced Lego item is that the buyer could open the item, take some or all of the contents, potentially replace said contents, and then file a Not as Described (NAD).  You'll have to give a refund, the buyer (hopefully) shops it back.  If the do ship it back, you're now the proud owner of a potentially worthless set with no real recourse.

Perhaps this can be avoided by blocking buyers with less than a minimum number of feedbacks, like 5 or 10. Also, since I have never experienced that particular scam so I cannot really say much on the lack of real recourse. However, I find it hard to believe that Ebay would not do anything about it.

[tacsniper]

Yes, sold out overnite from amz, wmt, trgt, ....some may be BM lego stores... ...its even on CNN news, lol

This is good news! I can now start hoarding in Canada

[jaisonline]

On a related note, signature confirmation...Also, it's no longer required (to fight non-receipt claims) by eBay or PayPal for any transaction under $750.

Interesting,  I did not know about this change.  Is it documented on the sites?  If so, please share the links and I'll move the posts to one of our shipping threads