New Brickpicker

[JustLuckey]

Hey folks, I'm new hear and thought I'd take a min to introduce myself.

I'm sure I'm part of a rare breed that played with LEGO when I was a kid (30-35 years ago), stopped playing with them in my teens, mom sold them at a yard sale (or threw them out), and now several decades later I'm rekindling my interest in LEGO with my 2 sons (ages 4 & 5).  I'm kidding about being a rare breed, I'm assuming this is pretty commonplace.

Anyhow, I like finding deals (in general), but especially on toys for my kids.  I understand that < $0.06/block on new sets is pretty good, so I tend to buy (currently, smaller 3 in 1) sets when I see that type of price point.

Although I have a full time job and established career going, I've been looking around at making at some investing on the side.  I'm a really patient guy and have a ton of space in my (half finished/half unfinished) basement for storing inventory, if needed.  For awhile, I partnered up with a colleague and invested/collected/sold comic books, but there was a low level of interest for me and my buddy's business model (although successful, but included a good bit of traveling on weekends), didn't fit my family lifestyle.  Plus I knew nothing about comic books when I got started with him and was finding the learning curve a bit too steep to be a good deal finder.

I may dip my toe into LEGO investing.  I may slowly amp my buying up on good deals several of the same new set (1 for playing, several for investing) and see how it goes.  I recently went to a consignment shop near me and found 5 (gallon) bags of LEGO (no boxes nor books), but the price seemed decent.  I bought all 5 (each about 2.5lbs) and paid $68 (after a 10% discount).  That's ~$5.44/lb.  Not bad for just stumbling upon it and the place is less than a mile away.  I know there's better deals and may check out yard/garage sales here and there, as well.

I'm just starting to sort thru the bags of mixed parts (starting by color, because the kids like helping out), but have been able to reverse lookup a few sets (using some unique pieces) that are listed for $10-25 used...I'm just not sure if I have all the parts for each set yet....but my thinking is that 1) if nothing else, my kids (and I?) can play with them and 2) this first entry level investment may pay even money with some left over LEGO to spare.  Either way, I'm not making out too bad.

Anyhow, I love the info I've found so far on the site and look forward to engaging in Forum conversations and asking (and answering?) questions in the future.

Regards,

JustLuckey

Georgia, USA

Part of bag 1 below (already pulled out the yellow, some red and black)

[TheOrcKing]

Welcome to the site, JustLuckey.

[Sfcommando14]

Welcome!  Start reading up through the different investing forums.  There is a lot of negativity about the future of investing, but there are still plenty of people doing very well at this.  The tip for all newcomers...READ and then ask specific questions.  Good luck!

[JustLuckey]

Thanks folks.  And I should have mentioned, I'm new to this forum, but not forums in general (my birthday usually reminds me of how many forums I'm registered at given the number of automated emails I receive).  I'll make sure I search before posting questions.

[donbee]

I, personally, do not like sorting brick by color. Seems intuitive, but look back to a box of uni color brick, especially black, and try to find the piece you want. A major pain. I categorize mine in a rush. And then later, if necessary, separate by type.
Make a simple system, be consistent and you can find whatever you need pretty easily. Sorting by color is easy for separating, but a sin for fulfilling.

[thoroakenfelder]

 

[JustLuckey]

@donbee I figured at sorting by color was not the best long term solution, but it did (easily) get my kids involved and thought it might be a good first step.  After having read the link that @thoroakenfelder listed, I'm going to re-sort by general type (flats, slopes, etc). That seems much less time consuming and less tedious to start.  Currently, my (mixed nuts style) storage container supply is limited, I have about 5-6, but should be enough to sort by the general type initially.  Thanks for the all the info and tip, excellent site!

[Guest TabbyBoy]

Welcome aboard the latest gravy train! ;-)

[mudcatsfan]

Out of curiosity, why do you spell Lucky with an "E" in it?

Also, Welcome!

[JustLuckey]

Pretty boring answer.  "JustLucky" was already used on whatever site I was registering ~20 years ago.  I liked the name and just modified the spelling to fit.  It stuck and have been using it on Forums, sites, etc since then.

[JustLuckey]

Since I've only sorted (by color) the 1st of 5 bags, I took the advice previously mentioned and resorted them by (general) type (Flats, bricks, slopes, tiles, etc) during part of my lunch break (I work from home when I'm not traveling).  The sorting process is almost Zen-like.  Maybe it's the OCD in me, but I like the organization aspect of it.

[thoroakenfelder]

5 hours ago, JustLuckey said:

@donbee I figured at sorting by color was not the best long term solution, but it did (easily) get my kids involved and thought it might be a good first step.  After having read the link that @thoroakenfelder listed, I'm going to re-sort by general type (flats, slopes, etc). That seems much less time consuming and less tedious to start.  Currently, my (mixed nuts style) storage container supply is limited, I have about 5-6, but should be enough to sort by the general type initially.  Thanks for the all the info and tip, excellent site!

I've got a bunch of bags where the parts are sorted down by type. My wife wants me to sort down to color in those parts bags.

[Zelgazra]

Just be careful with the type method. On a lot your size, sorting by type from the offset is probably to your benefit. If you're working through an 80lb lot like I was the past couple weeks, I'd probably only be halfway done. Sometimes it takes a double sort.... split by colour, then split by type... if you choose to recombine types with other colours afterwards so be it, but I think, from a mass of bricks, it's easier for the eye to identify 1 shape in 1 colour, than 1 shape in multiple colours.... it takes more passes over a single tray/bin to do the latter. I sort everything by colour first cause you can almost sort by colour on auto pilot... there's no thinking involved. Then I drill deeper as needed once sorted by colour.

 

Like donbee says though, come up with a system that works for you, then stick with it so you can learn it inside out... and maybe even be able to teach it to helpers. Sometimes the 'rules' we come up with are pretty random, so to have a concise list of what goes with what and why can really help... whether you have someone sorting or picking with you.   

[JustLuckey]

@henrysunset  Thank you, those links are helpful.