Roy vd M. Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) Hi there, Until now I didn't find the time to introduce myself on this forum. I'll try to keep it short, which won't work. I'm a 38 year old bloke from the Netherlands. Like most of us, I loved playing with Legos when I was a kid. It was my favorite toy by far. Here a little timeline: 1999-2007 In 1999 I started collecting Star Wars Lego and other Lego insofar more or less heavily discounted. Till that time I was a boxed-Dinky Toys collector but my interest for Dinky Toys was running low. My plan was to keep all Legos boxed and to sell them at a profit later on. I was in college then and literally none of my college friends would understand what I was doing and why I was using my limited living space to store all those Lego boxes. Let alone, why I wouldn't play with them. In 2001 I picked up a 4709 Hogwarts castle plus a whole bunch of other Harry Potter stuff. I thought these sets would do well in the future, given the popularity of the Potter series. I also used to go to toy stores to ask for display stands (knights + Harry Potter) which they gave me for free, sometimes including original box, sometimes even completely new. I'd say 'if I bought 40 of these knight sets I'd empty that display stand. Could I get that stand with it then?" and they wouldn't hesitate. The stuff was thrown away anyway. Also I remember telling everyone who wanted to know (as well as those who didn't) I was convinced TLG would go bankrupt and cease to exist in a couple of years. I remember thinking that would happen around 2003. The reasons for those thoughts were that the newer sets weren't (in my view) fun to play with, the themes were (in my view) less and less interesting (ZNAP, anyone?) and bricks kept growing in size. Wasn't building supposed to be putting bricks together, rather than using one large brick? Check 4990 base plate to know what I mean. Fortunately TLG changed their tactics in time. Beginning of the zeroes I also bought large second hand batches of bricks + instructions, sometimes boxes to go along. I had a series of nice '80s boxed large town sets on display. I had all the larger grey castle sets boxed. I had a collection of '60s small boxes which I much liked because of the pictures on them (e.g. a captain smoking pipe while he and his kid were building Legos) and I had a series of '60s vehicles like the Mercedes trucks and VW Beetle cars, some boxed. End of 2006, beginning 2007 I stopped actively collecting / hoarding. 2009 Beginning 2009 I decided to sell the collection. Girlfriend (who likes Legos by the way) came living in the same, small, house and interest had faded. Finally all sets were assembled and everything was sold. I had a nice profit but no miracles. Looking back I can say I sold too early. At the time I wasn't aware of the Taj Mahal set, let alone of things to come. Admittedly, if I had been aware of the TM set I probably would have ignored it. 2011-2012 Girlfriend and I were living in new, larger home. We went to Lego World show (annual event in the Netherlands) and I decided I liked the modulars. Bought fire brigade, shopping mall, pet shop, Tower Bridge, wanted the green grocer and cafe corner but even in 2011 those sets had risen in value quite a bit already. The purpose of the purchases was building fun + investing. I thought 'why couldn't the new modulars be -almost- as popular as the old ones'. In 2012 I bought town hall. The concept of retiring sets -> added value didn't cross my mind at that point. When I needed some space on the shelves and seeing online that none of the modulars had risen in value, I sold all large sets in 2013. As I always keep the boxes in good condition and I never throw away any bags or spare parts, I got a good price for the sets or at least I thought I did. Had I only kept them for one more year... well, one thing I did keep and that's the three first winter sets (toy shop, bakery, post office), glad I did. 2015 Now being fully aware of the concept of retiring sets -> appreciation (not alone with Star Wars / Harry Potter sets but with all interesting sets, especially the larger ones), and armed with the knowledge to be found on this great board I decided to have a go once more. My interests lie with Star Wars, architecture, advanced models, seasonals and Technic. Edited January 3, 2016 by Roy vd M. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neosphinx Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Succes met je investeringen! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomander Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Hey Roy Thanks for your advice earlier 38 year old here too with rediscivering interest in Lego. Male 35-40 years is the most common demographic on this site. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brickcrazyhouse Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 hello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenner Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Welkom Roy! Nice story! Good luck after your second escape from the Dark Ages 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emielvk Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Lots of 38 year old males hahahaha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobo1969 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Welcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOrcKing Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Welcome, Roy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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