1k to spare on investing. Suggestions??

[niino2595]

I'm really new the Lego investing, I was able to pick up some Tumblers and other random Legos on sale but the only sets I'm really confident in are the tumblers.

I have some money to invest, suggestions and speculation would be greatly appreciated

[Alpinemaps]

Welcome to the site.

My best suggestion to you is to read read read.  There is a ton of information available to you on this site, that's already been freely provided.

Take your time, read the site, find things that are of interest to you.  Ask questions in those threads (after you have read them), to get an idea of why something might or might not be a good investment.

 

[Jackal854]

From what I see, sets with over 1,000 pieces generally only go up in value.

[mudcatsfan]

There are many ways to win.

Exclusives near end of life, then sold 1-3 years later

Clearance lego bought at 50-70% off and sold near retail 1.5 years later

Parting out sets for profit

The key is it eitehr takes Patience or Effort and those are in short supply. Money and Space are other key resources. 

Good luck to you!

 

(if it were me, i'd be calling lego B&M stores to see if they have any Xwing or Tumbler stock still)

[fossilrock]

9 minutes ago, Jackal854 said:

From what I see, sets with over 1,000 pieces generally only go up in value.

Not true at all.  Spend some time and just start reading through the site. Plenty of sets that one could have bought at 20 to 40.00 have doubled and tripled..

[zskid00]

I would go clearance shopping with that money, but pickings may be slim at this point.  Exclusives will make you money, but with some having a prolonged shelf life you could make your money quicker with standard sets purchased at a discount that will retire sooner.

[Seeyounexttuesday]

20 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

Not true at all.  Spend some time and just start reading through the site. Plenty of sets that one could have bought at 20 to 40.00 have doubled and tripled..

I think you've misunderstood jackals post. I don't think he said only sets with more than 1k pieces raise in value, I think he meat sets with over 1k pieces usually go one way in value and that's up. Where as it's more hit and miss in the smaller sets.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Pjking

[boliramirez]

try and find any of the following at MSRP , Tumbler, Sea Cow , orthanac Tower, 10240 Xwing, Death Star, Star Destroyer or AT-AT....  Other than that I would pick up IDEAS Ghostbusters, Pet Shop, Palace Cinema and probably Santas Work Shop and Ewok Village...

 

That what I think can be next EOL..... the first 7 sets are already there but you can try and get some with the stock alerts....

 

Good Luck !

[TargetZero]

Well if you want to succeed.. don't listen to anyone here but you. Do you research, know lego, know the market, spend the hundreds of hour needed if you have the passion.

 

 

[fossilrock]

6 minutes ago, Pjking said:

I think you've misunderstood jackals post. I don't think he said only sets with more than 1k pieces raise in value, I think he meat if sets with over 1k pieces usually go one way in value and that's up. Where as it's more hit and miss in the smaller sets.

No, I completely understood his posts.  I've seen it go both ways.  There are definitely some exclusives that rise rather quickly right out of the gates, but there are also some cheaper sets that double and triple in less time.  So if you bought 1 modular, and 10 of the other sets at an equal price, you may make more money in a shorter time on the smaller sets than waiting on the modulars.  It just depends.  The only difference is, for every 1 exclusive you have to ship, you will have to ship out a lot more of the smaller sets.  So the smaller sets take up more of your time.  The way he worded his posts, he made it seem like only exclusives make money, when that is not the case.  I've made some of my best profit so far on the smaller sets.  Personally, i'm a fan of diversifying, and having a mix of exclusives with cheaper sets that you think are rock solid to go up in value. . But, I wouldn't invest strictly in exclusives.  The risk is also much greater just buying exclusives.  Add into the fact that many of them are becoming heavily hoarded, while many smaller sets might not get looked at by many..

[Seeyounexttuesday]

7 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

The way he worded his posts, he made it seem like only exclusives make money, when that is not the case.  

Well I've reread it several times and I disagree. I agree with everything else though

[Jackal854]

I did not mean my post to cause so much hustle! By no means did I mean that only large sets can make money. I have made good returns on several smaller sets as well. We all have our own opinions (and levels of patience ;-) ), and I just stated mine.

[jaisonline]

14 minutes ago, Jackal854 said:

I did not mean my post to cause so much hustle! By no means did I mean that only large sets can make money. I have made good returns on several smaller sets as well. We all have our own opinions (and levels of patience ;-) ), and I just stated mine.

hi, welcome to our community.

i suggest to catch up on some pretty good reading like i did at  my beginning (Nov 2012).  here is the link..

http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/brickvesting/?page=4&d=5

do as much research as possible. just throwing money at lego is the  prob best way to lose money and spare storage space  please don't do that.  read and read.

finally (and think most will agree with me), buy sets you like to build because there might be a day when some sets are hard to sell...and well, you can always enjoy them by building.  the 1st rule of lego is it's a toy for folks of all ages no matter what

 

 

[hepcatpunk]

I'm all for helping people out, but I wish threads like these didn't pop up so much.  This feels like the thousandth one in the past week or so.  People don't bother to make intro threads anymore, they just get straight to the point, "How would you spend my money so that I can make more money?" and then you never hear from them again.  I'm coming off curmudgeonly I know, but ugh, the site's going a little off the rails lately. /rant over.

To the OP---Take Alpine's advice and buy what you like.  Oh, and I'm sure Nexo Knights will be the next big thing.

[jaisonline]

5 minutes ago, hepcatpunk said:

I'm all for helping people out, but I wish threads like these didn't pop up so much.  This feels like the thousandth one in the past week or so.  People don't bother to make intro threads anymore, they just get straight to the point, "How would you spend my money so that I can make more money?" and then you never hear from them again.  I'm coming off curmudgeonly I know, but ugh, the site's going a little off the rails lately. /rant over.

To the OP---Take Alpine's advice and buy what you like.  Oh, and I'm sure Nexo Knights will be the next big thing.

we all were new members here at one time.  i suggest (as will other mods), to point these folks to the blogs (our Knowledge Base).

http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/brickvesting/

 

[legoray01]

If you are looking for that "Set" that will make you money there is no guarantee.  IF there was we would have no opinions, everyone would buy that set, we'd all make money etc.

Having a $1,000 to spend is great but realize that many of us spend $10,000 between November and January and each of us has a strategy.  Your question implies a general desire to invest in toys and that is great but you have to divest in the selling of those toys.

Are you willing to lose that $1,000?

How much work do you want to do when you cash out to get that $1,000 back.

What is your rate of return you are looking for?

How much storage space do you have?

What are your avenues for procuring sets? 

I can go to a Meijer and keep some nice finds for $30 to $80 that I think will do well.  If there is no Meijer around you and you have Kroger Marketplaces you might have a different approach.  If you have a Lego store near you then there is a place to go and potentially find something overlooked (like a Lonely Mountain).  When I first started to do this I bought only sets I liked.  Then after a while on reading and such I learned where I could find some sets that expanded my holdings while diversifying.   

The one golden rule that I have for myself personally is pay off the credit cards.  I use them to get points but I pay them off religiously.  Don't go overboard with that $1,000.    Read everything you can here.  Scour your local stores and look for that Christmas return that just showed up that is ebaying for 45 and your paying 25 for it.  It isn't a big set but it works (and yes it happens all the time).  IF you are really interested in investing in Legos the key is patience, work, knowledge and realistic ideas of success.   I have put my money on the tumbler, the At-At , the Ghost, recently but I have also put some money in discounts on City sets, creator sets, and even the Mine. 

But I have a strategy to divest and I have sold five sets this year already with plans to sell far more through Garage sale, ebay, Craigslist and word of mouth.   

You don't have to spend that $1,000 today - many of us buy throughout the year and buy what we think is good at the time.  A few of us will even do a buy and hold and return if we think something is happening in the marketplace that makes sense (I am raising my hand as I did this with a Death Star Last Summer when it went sold out on SAH and then I returned it to target later). 

I love Lego, and I love investing in Lego, part of that is when someone says - they are looking for a particular set and I can come up with just the right item for them.  that, as stupid as it sounds, makes me happy.  IF you only have limited funds - I would suggest you buy sets you like.  

Will you make a mistake - yes, we all do.  But if you read and follow you will also discover ways that you can make fewer mistakes and better decisions.  IF you miss out on something, SSD :-(  , well there is always something else.  Before you do anything with that $1,000 take this weekend to read all over this site and you will be better prepared.    If I absolutely had to invest $100 or $200 today and I had no choice I would go to my local Lego store and look for a Tumbler, an X-Wing, a Pirate Ship, an At-At, a Death Star (If you find one it is $400- buy it!!!!), an ISD, a Ghost or a Tower of Orhtanac  I would get one of those and if I could not find one of those I would flip a coin over a Lonely Mountain or a Pet Shop.  The other place I would go is Barnes and Nobles, that is off the beaten track for LEgo shoppers and I have heard At-Te, Jabba's Sail Barge occasional appear there and that might be worth looking into as well.

Good luck, have fun, Read lots and contribute to the forums. 

 

[pete411]

Buy some Lego. Go into cryo-freeze for 4-5 years. Wake up. Have breakfast. Sell some Lego.

[niino2595]

Thanks for all your input I pretty much got a good idea of what each of you met, all good tips lol I feel I'm off to a great start the number one rule is definitely read read research from what I've gathered.

[legone3]

My honest and serious advice is don't get into this.

It depends on each person's circumstances, but I think most people should not get into this, especially this late in the game. Even 1 or 2 years ago, the money is not worth the time and effort.

Again, this is my personal opinion.

[redcell]

17 hours ago, Jackal854 said:

From what I see, sets with over 1,000 pieces generally only go up in value.

One thing to keep in mind is that the market that you are looking at today is not the market that you will be selling into when you go to sell the items that you buy.  In the past, you are absolutely correct that the larger sets have generally only risen in value.  However, you are not the only person who has realized that and as more people have had that realization over the years, the post-EOL price curve for those sets has begun to flatten simply because there were more people buying them to sell on the secondary market.  That trend has continued and there is more secondary market supply today than there ever has been.  There is still money to be made, but I would caution you that trying to apply simple "truisms" like that is likely to leave you scratching your head in a few years and asking "why didn't these sets go up in value like I thought they would?"

[asharerin]

On 1/14/2016 at 4:35 PM, niino2595 said:

I'm really new the Lego investing, I was able to pick up some Tumblers and other random Legos on sale but the only sets I'm really confident in are the tumblers.

I have some money to invest, suggestions and speculation would be greatly appreciated

Sounds like you already have some long term holds in Lego. I would diversify and flip items that will make some good money now while you are waiting for your Lego to appreciate. Liquidate the Lego dogs you purchased. Holding them is only going to cost you money in the long run. End caps are your friend this time of year and you should be able to easily turn over that $1k many times prior to 2016 Lego retirement season.