10185 - Green Grocer

[Andrewreed7]

These are photos from the website

(previous page)

Edited June 10, 2016 by Andrewreed7

[Phil B]

My humble opinion: You stumbled upon a great find. The seal in the picture looks pristine, flap is still very tight. If they are not asking an insane amount of money - go to the store, take a shipping scale with you and note down the weight of the sealed set (e.g. from Bricklink, or ask if someone here is still sitting on a mint sealed GG for a reference weight) and ask the store owner kindly if he would mind if you weigh the set before buying. If the weight is within a few grams of the reported weight) - I'd pull the trigger. Even more so if the store has a return policy (in case you find an obvious problem with the box once you get home, before opening).

[jonnyhanukkah]

10 minutes ago, Phil B said:

My humble opinion: You stumbled upon a great find. The seal in the picture looks pristine, flap is still very tight. If they are not asking an insane amount of money - go to the store, take a shipping scale with you and note down the weight of the sealed set (e.g. from Bricklink, or ask if someone here is still sitting on a mint sealed GG for a reference weight) and ask the store owner kindly if he would mind if you weigh the set before buying. If the weight is within a few grams of the reported weight) - I'd pull the trigger. Even more so if the store has a return policy (in case you find an obvious problem with the box once you get home, before opening).

Yeah in this case, if the return policy is good, I would buy this, take it home, open it up, inspect it, and then pat myself on the back if all of the bags look complete and accurate.  You're better off opening it up at home even if you're selling it just to verify the contents and save yourself future hassle if an eBay buyer questions it.

[gregpj]

Yeah in this case, if the return policy is good, I would buy this, take it home, open it up, inspect it, and then pat myself on the back if all of the bags look complete and accurate.  You're better off opening it up at home even if you're selling it just to verify the contents and save yourself future hassle if an eBay buyer questions it.

If the store is dodgy, open it up after paying for it. They won't be able to accuse you of replacing the contents that way.

[Andrewreed7]

Thanks guys, I picked it up and all the seals look pretty good, however the box is a little creased at the end as shown in the previous photos, do you think thats anything to worry about?

I weighed it and its coming in at 2890 grams when it should be 3180, but this could be my scales I guess.

Has the actual box itself ever been produced as a fake or anything? Just wondering if that is something I should worry about?

 

Cheers guys!

[chrisynd]

35 minutes ago, Andrewreed7 said:

Thanks guys, I picked it up and all the seals look pretty good, however the box is a little creased at the end as shown in the previous photos, do you think thats anything to worry about?

I weighed it and its coming in at 2890 grams when it should be 3180, but this could be my scales I guess.

Has the actual box itself ever been produced as a fake or anything? Just wondering if that is something I should worry about?

 

Cheers guys!

You need to test and/or calibrate your scale then and be sure it's accurate. Use something with a known weight to check against - a sealed food container with listed weight for example. 

Being near 300g off is not within a "margin of error" - that's a lot of bricks, a whole instruction manual, etc. I'd say your max safe range is probably 10 maybe 15g either direction. This all assumes the Brickpicker weight is accurate. Maybe another BPer with the set can confirm. 

And so far as fakes - there's no known ones of a full boxed modular. Anything is possible but it seems unlikely. 

What's more likely (if there's a problem) is that someone opened it and did a careful job of resealing it up. I have seen this before. Once, I popped the seals on a new Ninjago set and pulled out a bag of nuts, chips, and a vintage Hustler. 

Give the box a good shake and see if it sounds "right". Lego bouncing around has a fairly distinct sound. You should also be able to identify the instructions moving and maybe tell if pieces seem loose instead of bagged. 

Edited June 11, 2016 by chrisynd

[Andrewreed7]

Thanks very much, I checked the scales with a liter of water and theyre accurate, is there anyone on here that has one sealed they could weigh and double check for me? Or even one thats built, as that should be close enough I would imagine?

Thanks heaps guys

[MarleyMoose]

I'd just open it and make sure it's legit. The lost value of being open is minimal. 

[Phil B]

5 hours ago, MarleyMoose said:

I'd just open it and make sure it's legit. The lost value of being open is minimal. 

Echo that. Open it but leave the bags sealed. An opened box, sealed bags set for a long-since-retired set like GG is not going to make any difference when trying to sell - at this point people buying from you are more than likely buying to build, so they'll open anyways, and if you post pictures with the bags displayed they will have confidence they are not getting a bricklinked or tampered-with set.

Separately, since you've purchased already, care to mention the price you paid (and how this relates to the current AUD selling prices)? I'm hoping you really got a steal.

[Simon74]

Let's put it this way... if I had to buy this older set I would probably buy with more confidence if the box had been opened for the purpose of making sure manuals and sealed bags were all there and intact

Edited June 11, 2016 by Simon74

[Pseudoty]

I have purchased a set with perfect seals off of the target shelf only to find it filled with puzzle pieces and a novel, at least they could have given me Mega Blocks. So with this GG why the weight difference?  Perhaps the entire set was swapped out but I would think whomever would do this would try and make the weight more accurate. What elements are worth doing this, even if they pulled all 50 sand green 1x8 that's only around 165g so then your looking at multiple elements being pulled. The only other thing is I weighed my instructions and all 3 books come out to 306g. Built set with minifigs a little dust but no extra pieces 2178g. You would just need the box weight and the empty bags. 

Green Grocer
3 Instruction Books
2 Green 16x32 Baseplates
8 #1 Bags
5 #2 Bags
10 #3 Bags
1 Blank Bag
(24 Total Bags)

I hope this works out for you.  

Edited June 11, 2016 by Pseudoty

[Andrewreed7]

Thanks very much! I weighed a box that was the same dimensions but 2cm deeper (10227) and it came to 576g. 2cm depth equates to about 11.7% extra area, so Im assuming the weight of GG box comes to 515g. So with Pseudoty's weights the total comes to 2999g which is a bit closer to my 2980g, so I think I'm safe. Only 19g difference. Thanks guys!

[asharerin]

Weight of the GG box with empty bags and extra pieces is 506g. Hope this helps!

[fossilrock]

Has anyone ever tried bricklinking this sucker?  Thoughts?  

[Phil B]

I haven't tried, but the sand green bricks are the killers in this set. I'm personally considering making a different color "Grocer" based off of the GG once I've come that far in building my modulars (i.e. in 10 years from now ).

[marcandre]

21 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

Has anyone ever tried bricklinking this sucker?  Thoughts?  

I did one a few years ago, first set I ever bricklinked. I wouldn't do one now. It's pretty expensive. The 1x8 sand green are at least $3 each last I checked and you need 50. You can sub smaller pieces. The green slotted 1x2 are also a couple bucks each and cannot be subbed. Some of the windows are also expensive but can be subbed. I remember there being a few other pricey pieces, a blue arch and a white cat, maybe some others. If you don't need it spot on it could be a little cheaper than buying used. I did not sub in case I ever wanted to sell. 

 

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, marcandre said:

I did one a few years ago, first set I ever bricklinked. I wouldn't do one now. It's pretty expensive. The 1x8 sand green are at least $3 each last I checked and you need 50. You can sub smaller pieces. The green slotted 1x2 are also a couple bucks each and cannot be subbed. Some of the windows are also expensive but can be subbed. I remember there being a few other pricey pieces, a blue arch and a white cat, maybe some others. If you don't need it spot on it could be a little cheaper than buying used. I did not sub in case I ever wanted to sell. 

Thanks.  That's good info.  If I do set forth and bricklink it, then i'll consider it a long project that may take a year to do in order to acquire the pieces.  But you're right, judging from what I saw on brickset, the blue arch and sand green pieces were the rarest, along with the white window as they were only made in at most 2 sets.  There's also a lady's wig that is only in the set, along with Hogsworth castle. I'm definitely game for making this a long project, with the holdout that maybe eventually these pieces are remade in some future sets.  You just never know.  But, I think I might fall short on trying to do it 100%.

[Phil B]

1 hour ago, fossilrock said:

Thanks.  That's good info.  If I do set forth and bricklink it, then i'll consider it a long project that may take a year to do in order to acquire the pieces.  But you're right, judging from what I saw on brickset, the blue arch and sand green pieces were the rarest, along with the white window as they were only made in at most 2 sets.  There's also a lady's wig that is only in the set, along with Hogsworth castle. I'm definitely game for making this a long project, with the holdout that maybe eventually these pieces are remade in some future sets.  You just never know.  But, I think I might fall short on trying to do it 100%.

I'd say you'd not want to start doing this fresh from nothing - rather if you have a bulk lot that already has some of the pieces and then complete it, or otherwise fork out for a used one with instructions. BL value of all the pieces (6 mth average, excluding shipping) is currently ~$1k, without instructions. You can currently buy someone else's BL set for ~$670: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-Creator-Green-Grocer-10185-Complete-Set-with-Minifigures-/122066195046 or otherwise go for a complete with instructions one for ~$800: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-Creator-Green-Grocer-10185-with-Minifigures-and-Instructions-NO-BOX-/252482154831

[fossilrock]

46 minutes ago, Phil B said:

I'd say you'd not want to start doing this fresh from nothing - rather if you have a bulk lot that already has some of the pieces and then complete it, or otherwise fork out for a used one with instructions. BL value of all the pieces (6 mth average, excluding shipping) is currently ~$1k, without instructions. You can currently buy someone else's BL set for ~$670: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-Creator-Green-Grocer-10185-Complete-Set-with-Minifigures-/122066195046 or otherwise go for a complete with instructions one for ~$800: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-Creator-Green-Grocer-10185-with-Minifigures-and-Instructions-NO-BOX-/252482154831

I started assembling a lot of the pieces from the bulk that I do have last night, and I'm estimating I have about 60% of the set.  We have a local store in the region that people pawn their used lego pieces and sets to so they can get a few bucks back to pay their bills (i'm guessing), and my son and I raid that every few weeks.  I've literally picked up 1000's of pieces for under a few hundred bucks from that place.  It's always interesting to see what people dump.

Edited August 3, 2016 by fossilrock

[marcandre]

If you don't have the front doors yet brick builders pro has some really nice printed windows and doors you can add. 

 

[gmontgomery]

3 hours ago, fossilrock said:

Thanks.  That's good info.  If I do set forth and bricklink it, then i'll consider it a long project that may take a year to do in order to acquire the pieces.  But you're right, judging from what I saw on brickset, the blue arch and sand green pieces were the rarest, along with the white window as they were only made in at most 2 sets.  There's also a lady's wig that is only in the set, along with Hogsworth castle. I'm definitely game for making this a long project, with the holdout that maybe eventually these pieces are remade in some future sets.  You just never know.  But, I think I might fall short on trying to do it 100%.

Not sure if it is a faux pas to bring up other sites, but there is an extensive discussion on Bricklinking the first three modulars, to include possible substitute pieces for less expense, as well as pictures of modified modulars.  I have found it to be an invaluable resource:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=90358

[Simon74]

bricklinked mine recently in Sand Blue instead of Sand Green, 293 euros for pieces and 65 euros for shipping

I have bricklinked it with Cafe Corner and 3 Battle of Endor AT-ST units since I believe that doing it all at once provides overall savings

[nolanfan34]

Looks good with the blue! Thanks for posting.

[Topdog]

I am currently Bricklinking the Green Grocer.  I started it in June and only had about 30% of the parts to start.   I currently have 96% of the parts.   I have spent about $490 on it so far but a lot of that has been shipping since it's hard to find people selling large amounts together.   The parts the have been the most pricey besides the sand green bricks were the snake pattern tile x3, dark bluish grey doors type 1 x5, the white Windows for the front x4, blue arches x4 and the dark red inverted slope for the front windows x4.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Topdog

[jkris53406]

I just finished mine in sand blue. If anyone is interested, i used 61 1x1, 62 2x2 w/groove, 76 1x4,and 64 1x6. I could have used a few less 1x1 if i had ordered standard 2x2s but i had all these bricks already. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow