71010 - Minifigures - Series 14 Monsters

[Brenner]

On 3-12-2015 at 9:43 PM, Spelunkin_Paul said:

I've got about 40 packs of these.  Haven't done anything with them yet.  What method have you had the most $uccess with selling these?  Sell them blind, or open and sell what you know you have?  I can tell what a couple of packs have, but I can't tell what some of them are by smooshing them.   

Good question...wonders me as well...

[Kenxxx]

Depends on how much time & effort you want to put into it.  Selling them as individual blind packs is easy, but sell price will be limited to whatever the low/average rate is in your area.  If you can smoosh them and identify higher valued items, you should be able to get a higher price for those.  If you can't tell by smooshing, you can open them with a careful, small, razor blade slit in the back of the package, near the bag seam. With a flashlight, you can peek inside and identify each one.  Note in your offer that the "original package has a small slit to identify and guarantee the contents, but contents have never been removed... item is unused".  This may be valued slightly less than a "mint, sealed package", but should still sell for more than a blind pack.

[oneknightr]

I noticed that Wolfman is now selling for more than Tiger Lady on eBay. Looks like that's the one to get. Besides Wolfman and Tiger Lady, I've been picking up zombie cheerleaders as well. Any others you guys think I should focus on?

[Dr Jedi]

Just put the finishing touches on my 96th set of this series, and I think I'm calling it quits there.  Needless to say, I'm quite bullish on this series.  I'm looking at this as a 1-2 year hold for me.  We'll see where prices are come this Halloween, but by fall 2017 I feel certain I can get $100-$120 per set.  We'll have to see what the high- and low-end individual figures are going for to see if it makes sense to split the sets up.  I kinda have hopes that even Frankenstein, the Pirate and the Scientist will be sought after once these things are gone from store shelves.  

[mudcatsfan]

13 minutes ago, Dr Jedi said:

Just put the finishing touches on my 96th set of this series, and I think I'm calling it quits there.  Needless to say, I'm quite bullish on this series.  I'm looking at this as a 1-2 year hold for me.  We'll see where prices are come this Halloween, but by fall 2017 I feel certain I can get $100-$120 per set.  We'll have to see what the high- and low-end individual figures are going for to see if it makes sense to split the sets up.  I kinda have hopes that even Frankenstein, the Pirate and the Scientist will be sought after once these things are gone from store shelves.  

Woah.

That's some serious confidence. 

Did you use the feel method or open then up for conformation? 

Do you find much difference in final selling price on a sealed vs verified set? 

 

[stackables]

16 minutes ago, Dr Jedi said:

Just put the finishing touches on my 96th set of this series, and I think I'm calling it quits there.  Needless to say, I'm quite bullish on this series.  I'm looking at this as a 1-2 year hold for me.  We'll see where prices are come this Halloween, but by fall 2017 I feel certain I can get $100-$120 per set.  We'll have to see what the high- and low-end individual figures are going for to see if it makes sense to split the sets up.  I kinda have hopes that even Frankenstein, the Pirate and the Scientist will be sought after once these things are gone from store shelves.  

Is that like 7k invested in these?

[dcdfan]

Just put the finishing touches on my 96th set of this series, and I think I'm calling it quits there.  Needless to say, I'm quite bullish on this series.  I'm looking at this as a 1-2 year hold for me.  We'll see where prices are come this Halloween, but by fall 2017 I feel certain I can get $100-$120 per set.  We'll have to see what the high- and low-end individual figures are going for to see if it makes sense to split the sets up.  I kinda have hopes that even Frankenstein, the Pirate and the Scientist will be sought after once these things are gone from store shelves.  

Good job! You didn't wanna do just 4 more sets...?

[supergman]

Local Target had 6 full boxes, open on the shelves, 3.99/each.  I asked about them being clearanced, was told that they are not.  Odd.

[Dr Jedi]

If I run across some clearanced figures, I may try to make it an even 100 sets.  But I'm happy to stay at 96.  I feel that I've invested enough in this line.

I bought the vast majority of these figures in massive lots through ebay.  I was buying lots of unopened figures, anywhere from 70-500 figures at a time, for an average of $2 - $2.50 each.  $2.50 per pack was my cutoff, but I was able to get the larger lots for a lot closer to $2 flat.  I just did my best to verify that these lots hadn't been previously searched.  I got kinda fortunate with the ratios of some of the rarer figures in some of those large lots.  I then bought large quantities of specific figures that I needed to complete sets from people I met through various avenues, and these were generally bought for less than retail.  All told, I've got about $43 invested in each set.  

I open all my figures, but don't assemble them.  I've sold lots of minifigures over the years, and I've never noticed a particular premium placed on unopened figures.  I'm sure there are some people that prefer the figures to be unopened, but if the figure has never been assembled, and isn't exposed to smoke/pets, I've never had any trouble selling them

[jackanape]

Managed to get just over three boxes of these when they went on clearance at Tesco for 0.60p a bag. So my total outlay was only £111 for 185 minifigs. I put a box to one side and I've been flipping them at £2.00 a figure to get back my investment (think I need to sell 10 more to break even). Then I smooshed the rest and I have enough for six complete sets, which I think I'll hold onto until Halloween (see how they look then). The oddments I'll probably sell off as individual lots at that time too.

Really like this set as I bought a few for myself early doors, so hopefully it'll do well, as at the bargain buy in I can't really lose.

[wobbl87]

14 minutes ago, jackanape said:

Managed to get just over three boxes of these when they went on clearance at Tesco for 0.60p a bag. So my total outlay was only £111 for 185 minifigs. I put a box to one side and I've been flipping them at £2.00 a figure to get back my investment (think I need to sell 10 more to break even). Then I smooshed the rest and I have enough for six complete sets, which I think I'll hold onto until Halloween (see how they look then). The oddments I'll probably sell off as individual lots at that time too.

Really like this set as I bought a few for myself early doors, so hopefully it'll do well, as at the bargain buy in I can't really lose.

Thats brilliant! Wish i had gone to a store rather than believe the internet that it wasn't an offer. boooo. Do you have an ebay listing?

[feed]

35 minutes ago, jackanape said:

Managed to get just over three boxes of these when they went on clearance at Tesco for 0.60p a bag. So my total outlay was only £111 for 185 minifigs. I put a box to one side and I've been flipping them at £2.00 a figure to get back my investment (think I need to sell 10 more to break even). Then I smooshed the rest and I have enough for six complete sets, which I think I'll hold onto until Halloween (see how they look then). The oddments I'll probably sell off as individual lots at that time too.

Really like this set as I bought a few for myself early doors, so hopefully it'll do well, as at the bargain buy in I can't really lose.

You know you’re losing so much value by selling them now when they’re still kicking around at discount.  Even if you held them for a couple more months you’d have a better return.  And if you really had to move some now, you should have bulk listed them on brickclassifieds.  No eBay fees and consolidated shipping costs, everyone would have been better off.  Worth thinking about next time you have clearance stock you need to shift.  

 

[jackanape]

3 hours ago, feed said:

You know you’re losing so much value by selling them now when they’re still kicking around at discount.  Even if you held them for a couple more months you’d have a better return.  And if you really had to move some now, you should have bulk listed them on brickclassifieds.  No eBay fees and consolidated shipping costs, everyone would have been better off.  Worth thinking about next time you have clearance stock you need to shift.  

 

To be honest, I'm fairly new to buying/selling so the only capital I have is what I bring in through selling items (LEGO or otherwise) and what I choose to invest from my own savings/wages. I can get free shipping through my workplace, so my postage costs are nil. So my only hit are the ebay/paypal fees, and even after those I'm making a profit of £1.10 per figure. My goal was purely to sell enough to cover my outlay, then hold the rest back for a while and make the real money on them down the line.

However, the brickclassifieds idea is a good one - one that didn't occur to me - so thanks for the tip. I do doubt there are too many still kicking around on sale (at least in the UK) - as it seems most stores got cleared out on the day the price got lowered, and certainly every shop in my local area has no stock (I did check, trust me). There are plenty of ebay listings in the UK for series 14 figures, and a bunch lower than mine. However, I kept my bags sealed which seems to be driving sales. But I've sold enough to almost cover my costs, so I might scrap the ebay listing and take the classifieds route in future.

@wobbl87 If you are near a store then it's always worth swooping in to see if they have stock, even if it seems like a wild goose chase. Personally I was in Tesco looking for reduced Lego Star Wars stuff, but happened upon these instead. Bought a box there and then, then went back later and cleared out the remaining stock. They also had some 75049 Snowspeeders too, which have sold out everywhere else, so I grabbed those as well. The worst that can happen is you waste a short trip (if the store is local).

[fossilrock]

3 hours ago, feed said:

You know you’re losing so much value by selling them now when they’re still kicking around at discount.  Even if you held them for a couple more months you’d have a better return.  And if you really had to move some now, you should have bulk listed them on brickclassifieds.  No eBay fees and consolidated shipping costs, everyone would have been better off.  Worth thinking about next time you have clearance stock you need to shift.  

As the years go by, I become less bullish on any minifigure line.  These can take a lot of time to move just to make minimal profit.  Unless your buy in is at or around 3.00 (i'm skeptical when people claim to get under that, because i've seen discounts like that happen only once), you usually have to wait  a while for a complete set to sell, and then when you crunch the numbers, you make about 30.00 on the transaction.  Minifigures are just a lot more time consuming than buying a normal boxed set, holding then selling it.  Even series 14 is in the gutter.  I doubt we see massive rise on these, because they are massively hoarded.  Series 13, Simpsons Series 2, and Series 11 and 12 are practically money losers at the moment.  Simpsons series 1 might net you a little profit, and the lego movie versions will defintely land a profit, but barely. 

[feed]

35 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

As the years go by, I become less bullish on any minifigure line.  These can take a lot of time to move just to make minimal profit.  Unless your buy in is at or around 3.00 (i'm skeptical when people claim to get under that, because i've seen discounts like that happen only once), you usually have to wait  a while for a complete set to sell, and then when you crunch the numbers, you make about 30.00 on the transaction.  Minifigures are just a lot more time consuming than buying a normal boxed set, holding then selling it.  Even series 14 is in the gutter.  I doubt we see massive rise on these, because they are massively hoarded.  Series 13, Simpsons Series 2, and Series 11 and 12 are practically money losers at the moment.  Simpsons series 1 might net you a little profit, and the lego movie versions will defintely land a profit, but barely. 

UK discounts all of the latest CMF incl. 13, 14 and both Simpsons have been large at end of life.  50% plus.  Personally I never go over £1.50 per and generally only go in heavy below 50% and 14 has been the only one recently I haven’t picked up £60 cases but then I haven’t seen a full case anywhere locally since late November. 

I agree that they are becoming more saturated, but buy in price is everything.  The recent UK Tesco discount was 75% off retail. 
 

[kvasir]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2015 at 1:48 PM, exciter1 said:

No shortage at this Target, and they have more on an end cap. Only if I would have brought my sorting basket. I could have knocked these out in 10 minutes.

The Walmarts in my area have been shelving them one box at a time. When you actually see a box on display they are empty most of the time. This has been going on for the last few series now. I've been noticing a lot of thefts with these packs, people opened them and then discarded them if it's not the one they want. You can see loose pieces and opened packets hidden behind other boxes. Now I don't even want to hang around these to smoosh them for fear of suspicion.

[BarryZola]

Quick question, slightly off-topic. I have 3 cases (cases unsealed but contents are as it left the factory - IE 60 sealed minifigs in the quantities intended for a full box) of series 14 minifigs picked up in the Tesco cheapo sale going back several months (think they were 60p each minifig or something). Just wondering what the best tactics are for selling them on at the best profit? Would you just hold on to the entire boxes for months or years and sell as is, or part out full sets at some point etc? Cheers

[feed]

1 hour ago, BarryZola said:

Quick question, slightly off-topic. I have 3 cases (cases unsealed but contents are as it left the factory - IE 60 sealed minifigs in the quantities intended for a full box) of series 14 minifigs picked up in the Tesco cheapo sale going back several months (think they were 60p each minifig or something). Just wondering what the best tactics are for selling them on at the best profit? Would you just hold on to the entire boxes for months or years and sell as is, or part out full sets at some point etc? Cheers

You have 3 choices really, Sell individual figs, sell as series sets, or sell the boxes complete.   

Selling as full boxes is going to be a long hold as they were around for a long time with lots of supply and deep discounts at EOL.  But your buy in was low, so you’ll likely be able to move them at retail sooner or later. 

Selling as a full series set requires the ability to smoosh and you’d be left with spares, but this would probably net the most profit if selling today. 

Selling as individual figs, again smooshing required and competing with all the other single fig sellers.  I wouldn’t recommend this, unless you plan on going down the individual figs road in a big way.  

Personally and I have around 1000 14 figs in all, I’d sit on them for a year.  
 

[BarryZola]

4 minutes ago, feed said:

You have 3 choices really, Sell individual figs, sell as series sets, or sell the boxes complete.   

Selling as full boxes is going to be a long hold as they were around for a long time with lots of supply and deep discounts at EOL.  But your buy in was low, so you’ll likely be able to move them at retail sooner or later. 

Selling as a full series set requires the ability to smoosh and you’d be left with spares, but this would probably net the most profit if selling today. 

Selling as individual figs, again smooshing required and competing with all the other single fig sellers.  I wouldn’t recommend this, unless you plan on going down the individual figs road in a big way.  

Personally and I have around 1000 14 figs in all, I’d sit on them for a year.  
 

Thanks for taking the time to share your advice, much appreciated

I'm not very talented in smooshing so I'd rather not go down that route. If I were going to go down the selling as singles or in sets, I'd probably have to remove them from the packets and sell as mint but removed from packets (put 'em in plastic baggies). All in all, I'll take your advice and sit on them whilst checking on the prices occasionally. Nice one

[gregpj]

58 minutes ago, BarryZola said:

Thanks for taking the time to share your advice, much appreciated

I'm not very talented in smooshing so I'd rather not go down that route. If I were going to go down the selling as singles or in sets, I'd probably have to remove them from the packets and sell as mint but removed from packets (put 'em in plastic baggies). All in all, I'll take your advice and sit on them whilst checking on the prices occasionally. Nice one

A word of caution... if you do sell as sealed cases, be extra careful with your description. Despite you believing (or maybe knowing if you opened them) they represent the true distribution of 60 per, what's to stop a potential buyer of claiming otherwise? I've sold a few like this and I always put a nice disclaimer that contents aren't guaranteed despite me believing they have never been altered. They only sold for a few bucks less than the going rate so it was worth it to me.

[dcdfan]

[Kenxxx]

On 10/31/2015 at 7:01 AM, Kenxxx said:

About the end of September 2015 I tabulated the last 100 individual 71010 minifigs sold on eBay, and here's what I found:

Top sellers (quan. sold): (1) Tiger Woman, (2) Banshee, (3) Spectre

Top Avg. Price (incl. shipping): (1) Tiger Woman $9.09, (2) Wacky Witch $9.04, (3) Cheerleader $8.96

Avg. of all: $7.46

 

Just did it again for the last 100 sold now (end of October 2015):

Top sellers (quan. sold): (1) Wacky Witch, (2 & 3 tie) Banshee & Wolf Guy

Top Avg. Price (incl. shipping): (1) Tiger Woman $10.39, (2) Skeleton $8.95, (3) Wacky Witch $8.43

Avg. of all: $7.44

Just for kicks, checked the last 100 sales again... for last 100 sold July, 10, 2016:

Top sellers (quan. sold): (1) Fly Guy, (2) all tied: Tiger Woman, Square Foot, Spider Lady, Pirate Zombie

Top Avg. Price (incl. shipping): (1) Tiger Woman $10.28, (2) Square Foot $9.60, (3) Wolf Guy $9.43

Avg. of all: $7.29

Square Foot was a real surprise, though there are some outlying data points for that one (a couple sales at >$13)... taking that data out, his avg. sale price is closer to $8 (still much improved over early sales).  Most consistent popular sellers from all three data samplings (always selling more than average in quantity) are Tiger Woman and Banshee.

As always: take it with a grain of salt... small sample size... not statistically conclusive.

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, Kenxxx said:

Just for kicks, checked the last 100 sales again... for last 100 sold July, 10, 2016:

Top sellers (quan. sold): (1) Fly Guy, (2) all tied: Tiger Woman, Square Foot, Spider Lady, Pirate Zombie

Top Avg. Price (incl. shipping): (1) Tiger Woman $10.28, (2) Square Foot $9.60, (3) Wolf Guy $9.43

Avg. of all: $7.29

Square Foot was a real surprise, though there are some outlying data points for that one (a couple sales at >$13)... taking that data out, his avg. sale price is closer to $8 (still much improved over early sales).  Most consistent popular sellers from all three data samplings (always selling more than average in quantity) are Tiger Woman and Banshee.

As always: take it with a grain of salt... small sample size... not statistically conclusive.

These are still in many of my local walgreens.  Interestingly, Series 15, and Disney has yet to make it to the floor of any of them.  

[Elkkthunder]

My Lego rep that makes the aisles of local toysrus, etc look pretty claimed serie 2 monsters this fall but I find that unlikely given September for the next mainline cmf series

[marcandre]

Full case of these can still be had on ebay for $199 shipped. Pretty amazing (and disappointing) this far out after release.