Hello from the Midwest!

[DP112]

Hello All,

I ran into this site awhile back when doing some research on Legos for my son.  Long and the short, he was really wanting the latest Star Destroyer that came out, but when we got around to Christmas shopping, it was sold out.  Tried to find it everywhere, but was not successful.  However, I did run across this site, which was rather interesting.  The night before I found this site, my wife showed me that infamous article about Legos being worth more than gold, and we had a good chuckle.  Then, while searching, I found this site, and saw the Lego investing was quite a serious bit of business.  As someone who works regularly with securities investments and an old fan of Legos (my brother and I had huge boxes full of loose bricks), this whole thing is just fascinating.

With that, I have a couple of newbish questions.  First, what do you think would be a good, cheap, set investment?  As fun as this whole thing looks, I'm not ready to jump in with both feet.  I'm looking for a cheap set that has a decent chance to appreciate in value, but if it doesn't, I'm not out a bunch of money.

Second, any ideas for some good Lego sets for kids?  My six year old loves Legos, but has mostly been focused on the Jurassic World set.  He's trying to save money for the Indominus Rex set, but after that, I'm not sure what we'd do.  He likes some of the Star Wars, but not too much (other than the big ships).  For Xmas, he got the Benny's Spaceship, but seems to have no interest in Lego Movie stuff other than that.  He's always asking about Technic stuff, but that's quite expensive, and I'm afraid mostly too hard for him, though he built that Benny's Spaceship the day after Xmas in about three hours.  If it wasn't for a couple of misplaced pieces which resulted in a catastrophic collapse, he'd have had it right.

 

Anyway, thanks in advance for reading my post, and have a great one!

[Sandwraith]

Welcome!

That's how it starts for many people: "hmm, i can't find this set in stock anywhere, and why is it so expensive on the secondary market?!" quite an eye opener.

31 minutes ago, DP112 said:

With that, I have a couple of newbish questions.  First, what do you think would be a good, cheap, set investment?  As fun as this whole thing looks, I'm not ready to jump in with both feet.  I'm looking for a cheap set that has a decent chance to appreciate in value, but if it doesn't, I'm not out a bunch of money.

Depends on what you consider a cheap set. I don't delve too much into the smaller sets, but maybe someone else can give you some pointers. There is also obviously tons of information throughout this site with varying opinions on how each set will perform once retired. Maybe take a look through the current LEGO inventory via a catalog or their site, find what set you think looks interesting, and punch in the set number here on the site and read through the comments on said set. In the end much of it is speculation and actual retirement prices can be unpredictable at times.

Good luck!

[dcdfan]

You're supposed to purchase a Tumbler when first joining. As far as a small set, I would say probably an Ecto-1 before the new one comes out or a United Nations building. Welcome to the site...

[lobo1969]

Welcome!

[Rodeogeorge]

Welcome. A couple cheaper investment choices:

If you can find a shuttle tyderium for $50 at Walmart... get it. Another controversial set is the ecto 1.

Have fun!

[DP112]

38 minutes ago, Sandwraithx157 said:

Welcome!

That's how it starts for many people: "hmm, i can't find this set in stock anywhere, and why is it so expensive on the secondary market?!" quite an eye opener.

Depends on what you consider a cheap set. I don't delve too much into the smaller sets, but maybe someone else can give you some pointers. There is also obviously tons of information throughout this site with varying opinions on how each set will perform once retired. Maybe take a look through the current LEGO inventory via a catalog or their site, find what set you think looks interesting, and punch in the set number here on the site and read through the comments on said set. In the end much of it is speculation and actual retirement prices can be unpredictable at times.

Good luck!

Basically this.  "Well darn, I can't find it anywhere.  OK, let's see if I can find some good eBay deals HOLY CRAP IT'S $170?!"

To me, cheap would be the $20-$30 range.  I've read a few comments about Rey's Speeder Bike, or whatever it is.  That seems like a good place to start, maybe?

[terrymc4677]

Welcome aboard. As others have already mentioned, the Ecto-1 was the first set that came to my mind regarding your question about an inexpensive "starter" set to invest in. It has a $50 retail price. You can get them for a little less if your local TRU stocks them by coupon/promo stacking. It's a beautiful model based on a very popular pop culture movie franchise/vehicle. The only negatives that I can see is that it's a popular investment choice, so many will stockpile it (I've got 30 so far. Aiming for 50), and it has the chance to possibly be around longer than we would like. With the release of the new Ghostbusters Headquarters, this set may stick around longer than "normal". 

As far as sets that kids would like, well, all of them. We're talking about Lego, right? Lego sets are toys first, collectibles second, so any set should appeal to most kids. Joking aside, if your son is not into Star Wars, then maybe Chima or Ninjago would interest him. There are some pretty decent deals to be had from those themes. Also, the new Nexo Knights that were just released may fit the bill as well. Good luck!

[Guest brickcrazyhouse]

welcome try looking through 

A lot of good deals can be found right now at Walmarts

[bouncer]

welcome to the site.

[TheOrcKing]

Welcome, DP112.
 

7 hours ago, DP112 said:

He's always asking about Technic stuff, but that's quite expensive, and I'm afraid mostly too hard for him, though he built that Benny's Spaceship the day after Xmas in about three hours.  If it wasn't for a couple of misplaced pieces which resulted in a catastrophic collapse, he'd have had it right.

For the past couple years, there have been Technic sets within the $30 or less range that could be considered good starting points. I do not know what to suggest as models range from a hot rod to a hydroplane racer to even a cherry picker. Also it's nice how each set in the theme has a secondary build similar to the Creator line therefore if the primary design does not catch your attention then perhaps the other will or you could always just go your own way. Haha.

[Sandwraith]

19 hours ago, DP112 said:

Basically this.  "Well darn, I can't find it anywhere.  OK, let's see if I can find some good eBay deals HOLY CRAP IT'S $170?!"

To me, cheap would be the $20-$30 range.  I've read a few comments about Rey's Speeder Bike, or whatever it is.  That seems like a good place to start, maybe?

As others have recommended - the Ecto-1 would be a good one to pick up a few of. And i'd also recommend the small Jurassic World sets as i think they are pretty safe bets (Dinosaurs and all). Of course getting anything at a discount would be preferred over none at all, but that's some of the basics i'm sure you'll come across in your readings on this forum.

As for Rey's Speeder, i'm personally skeptical of the set. Only has 1 desirable figure, and the speeder bike is just sort of meh and doesn't really play a major part in the film. We will likely see Rey in many more sets, which will probably also include a specific weapon that kids will want for this figure. Again though; everyone has their own opinion on every set. In time you will learn how things work and make your own decisions based on what you believe.

[thoroakenfelder]

If you can find a couple Birds sets at TRU that probably wouldn't be terrible. The Big bang Theory set is on sale at LEGO Shop at Home. It might take a couple years to mature. I honestly see more potential in the Birds set. Ecto 1 is deeply hoarded, after the performance of the BttF Delorean, a lot of people jumped onto this one. It will still probably go up, but not as quickly as some hope.

I like Rey's Speeder because it's unlikely to be remade for a while, and it is probably the most memorable of the wholely new designs from TFA.

[Phil B]

14 hours ago, TheOrcKing said:

Welcome, DP112.

21 hours ago, DP112 said:

He's always asking about Technic stuff, but that's quite expensive, and I'm afraid mostly too hard for him, though he built that Benny's Spaceship the day after Xmas in about three hours.  If it wasn't for a couple of misplaced pieces which resulted in a catastrophic collapse, he'd have had it right.

For the past couple years, there have been Technic sets within the $30 or less range that could be considered good starting points. I do not know what to suggest as models range from a hot rod to a hydroplane racer to even a cherry picker. Also it's nice how each set in the theme has a secondary build similar to the Creator line therefore if the primary design does not catch your attention then perhaps the other will or you could always just go your own way. Haha.

What TOC said, and on top of that: My son started building Technic LEGO when he was 6 (I was a big Technic builder when I was a kid and there were some cool smaller models that we started with). Even though most are 8+ or 10/12+, he has had no issues moving on to the bigger models. He built 42009 Crane MkII all by himself when he had just turned 8, and that's quite a tricky set. As long as he has patience and is good with following instructions, the complex sets should not be an issue. Plus - if he has a question, you're there to help out! Great father-son bonding time.

 

[DP112]

Thanks for the tips, everyone.  I'll look into both the speeder and JW sets (JW would be best, as my son wouldn't care if he had 100 of each set, since they involve dinosaurs) to see what the reviews are like on them.  I'd agree, other than the MF, which will be unique for rather obvious reasons if you saw the movie, the TFA sets are quite bland.  The X-Wing and TIE look decent, but those two are reproduced so much, I just don't see them holding much value.  And the MF is expensive as heck.  Target and Wally World just don't have anything on clearance in my area.

I'll reconsider the Technic ones for him, but try to steer him towards the smaller ones at first.  He also ran into the Nexo Knights the other day when shopping with his remaining birthday money, but found more JW stuff was in stock and it was all over.

 

Thanks for the help, everyone!

[DP112]

What do you all think about 60079, the City Spaceport Training Jet?  Several places around here have it on sale for $36-$37.