worried father

[joneyyy1981]

hey guys great place you have here..

 

all my son wants to do is play golf or build lego ? he has quite a few sets now and is starting to save his pocket money to buy higher end sets now, and i dont want it to just go down the drain.

he likes to build the lego & has done for the past 3 years, i have some question regarding what he should do after he has built them, in case he wants to sell them on a few years down the line?

 

1) is lego only worth top dollar unopened?

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc?

3) what happens if a piece is missing? can you just find another piece and add it to the set?

4) i also cannot find any discussion on the ghostbusters firehouse set on this forum? 

 

happy holidays guys... party on

Edited December 29, 2016 by joneyyy1981

[c_rpg]

Hi and welcome.

1. Lego is not worth top dollar per se. Only certain sets are and it's difficult to say which ones are going to be worth a lot, if any.
2. I'd say yes, if you have the space. Flatten the boxes and keep the instructions. Throw away the plastic bags.
3. Depends on the piece. If a piece is missing, you can usually get a replacement from Lego. Older parts and minifigures might not always be available, but there's alternatives (e.g. bricklink)

I guess he doesn't use the bricks to make any of his own creations? In that case, it's pretty easy to keep everything together.

[Sandwraith]

Welcome

[Loghamel]

17 minutes ago, joneyyy1981 said:

1) is lego only worth top dollar unopened? - Always worth more unopened.  But loads more fun opened.

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc? - Only the box is necessary and it's not worth that much more if you have it.  Usually not worth the hassle of keeping.

3) what happens if a piece is missing? can you just find another piece and add it to the set?  If it's the exact same piece, yes,  you can just replace it.  bricklink is a great place to start.

4) i also cannot find any discussion on the ghostbusters firehouse set on this forum? 

 

 

[MrToes16]

My thoughts

 

1) is lego only worth top dollar unopened? Time can change that answer. An unopened set is usually worth more the majority of the time depending on the quality and demand. But the same opened set say 5-8 years from now may be worth more than an unopened version today. (obviously the unopened version may still be worth more but again time and demand will dictate what is worth "top dollar") It goes without saying that nothing is ever guaranteed.

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc? The old saying goes "someones trash may be someone else's treasure". It all depends on your level of interest in it all. There does seem to be a market for keeping every little piece of a set together (boxes, instructions, stickers, posters, etc...) This may come down to a question of "what is your time worth?" If you think you want to be able to squeeze every possible dollar from reselling a used set in the future, then yes keep it all and keep it safe and as nice as possible.

3) what happens if a piece is missing? can you just find another piece and add it to the set? As mentioned before, Lego offers a way to find missing pieces through their customer service. Standard and not-so-rare pieces can be found through places like Bricklink or sometimes the pick a brick wall at a store. The rarity and age of a piece will determine if it is possible to replace and how much it will take to do so. 

 

[Loghamel]

2 minutes ago, MrToes16 said:

Time can change that answer. An unopened set is usually worth more the majority of the time depending on the quality and demand. But the same opened set say 5-8 years from now may be worth more than an unopened version today. (obviously the unopened version may still be worth more but again time and demand will dictate what is worth "top dollar") It goes without saying that nothing is ever guaranteed.

 

 

No, time can not change that answer.  If one is talking about the same set, the unopened one will always be worth more.  If you are talking about an older set opened versus a newer, unopened remake, that is something different entirely.

[HappyHawkeye]

1 hour ago, joneyyy1981 said:

all my son wants to do is play golf or build lego  he has quite a few sets now and is starting to save his pocket money to buy higher end sets now, and i dont want it to just go down the drain.

think of it this way - money spent on golf & high end lego sets is money he can't spend on drugs 

[marcandre]

My 10 yo nephew just wants to play ps4 all day. Would be thrilled if that were golf and lego instead. And I hate golf! Welcome to the forum

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by marcandre

[MrToes16]

1 hour ago, Loghamel said:

No, time can not change that answer.  If one is talking about the same set, the unopened one will always be worth more.  If you are talking about an older set opened versus a newer, unopened remake, that is something different entirely.

No, the question was is Lego only worth top dollar as unopened. I never said the unopened set would be worth less. I said the opened set in time can be worth more than the same unopened set today. New and unopened will always be worth more but the demand and market price for said set can outweigh it's condition in time. 

And since you brought up remakes (yes still something different but still applicable here),  10188-1: DEATH STAR was probably worth more unopened the day before  75159-1: THE DEATH STAR was released than the day after. Time and demand at play.

[Locutus001]

Welcome to the forum!

Your questions already have been answered several fold and Loghamel even linked the ghostbusters questions ^^ so I'll just give my opinion on 1-3

1) is lego only worth top dollar unopened?

as said before: strongly depends on the set! if he's buying it to build it then there's no question right?

the good thing about certain lego sets (as a rule of thumb: the bigger the better and the more exclusive the better) is that you will be able to resell them when you decide that you're done with it. Nobody can promise you this but a modular building for example will probably always sell for at least the price you paid for it when you bought it. Give or take a couple of dollars but that's not a bad deal.

many of the smaller sets probably won't sell for what you've paid for them but I think LEGO is one of the toys you can make a pretty penny if you sell them years later compared to other toys. I mean in the end you're paying money because YOU want to have LEGO for yourself. If one day you decide to sell it it's nice that there will be so many people willing to buy it in the first place! Your main goal buying LEGO for YOURSELF isn't to make profit out of it. But it's nice to know that you'll be able to sell it again and maybe even get some money back.

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc?

meh... if you're into that go ahead. I honestly do not know what people do with these. there are many collectors out there and even non-collectors who give the impression that the most important thing about a LEGO set is the box... but really??? of course not! if you buy a UCS Millenium Falcon maybe you should consider keeping the box, but for most sets just don't. After a certain amount of sets these boxes just take away WAY too much space!

3) what happens if a piece is missing? can you just find another piece and add it to the set?

yep you can. I mean that's the magicial thing about LEGO right? but as mentioned before: it depends. I'd rather buy a set that isn't missing any pieces.

[Loghamel]

31 minutes ago, MrToes16 said:

No, the question was is Lego only worth top dollar as unopened. I never said the unopened set would be worth less. I said the opened set in time can be worth more than the same unopened set today. New and unopened will always be worth more but the demand and market price for said set can outweigh it's condition in time. 

I hate to beat a horse that died 2 weeks ago, but that is just ludicrous.  An opened set will NEVER be worth more than an unopened one.  EVER.  That is true about anything that comes sealed in a box.  If that were the case, a person with an unopened box would simply open it and, voila!, it's worth more!  Uh, no, that's not how it's ever worked, nor will it ever work that way.  "Top Dollar" is relative.  A used, ie opened, 10179 can be had right now for $800 on ebay.  That's 'top dollar' in many people's book.  The cheapest unopened 10179 is $4500.  Not much left to say.

[Phil B]

1 minute ago, Loghamel said:

I hate to beat a horse that died 2 weeks ago, but that is just ludicrous.  An opened set will NEVER be worth more than an unopened one.  EVER.  That is true about anything that comes sealed in a box.  If that were the case, a person with an unopened box would simply open it and, voila!, it's worth more!  Uh, no, that's not how it's ever worked, nor will it ever work that way.  "Top Dollar" is relative.  A used, ie opened, 10179 can be had right now for $800 on ebay.  That's 'top dollar' in many people's book.  The cheapest unopened 10179 is $4500.  Not much left to say.

What @MrToes16 is saying is that if you have 2 sets, open one and build it, and sell the other straight away (or at least soon after set retirement), you might find that the opened set at some point in the future will end up giving you more money than the one you sold right away. E.g. selling a sealed 10179 for $800 5+ years ago is a good profit, but selling your used one today for $1500 beats that.

 

Of course, if you hold both the opened and unopened sets equally long, the unopened set carries a premium. I don't think @MrToes16's point was very strong, but he's right in what he is saying.

[Loghamel]

11 minutes ago, Phil B said:

What @MrToes16 is saying is that if you have 2 sets, open one and build it, and sell the other straight away (or at least soon after set retirement), you might find that the opened set at some point in the future will end up giving you more money than the one you sold right away. E.g. selling a sealed 10179 for $800 5+ years ago is a good profit, but selling your used one today for $1500 beats that.

 

Of course, if you hold both the opened and unopened sets equally long, the unopened set carries a premium. I don't think @MrToes16's point was very strong, but he's right in what he is saying.

Thanks Phil.  I figured i was misreading what he was saying because it seemed silly.  You cleared it up.

[LegoMan1212]

5 hours ago, joneyyy1981 said:

hey guys great place you have here..

 

all my son wants to do is play golf or build lego  he has quite a few sets now and is starting to save his pocket money to buy higher end sets now, and i dont want it to just go down the drain.

he likes to build the lego & has done for the past 3 years, i have some question regarding what he should do after he has built them, in case he wants to sell them on a few years down the line?

 

1) is lego only worth top dollar unopened?

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc?

3) what happens if a piece is missing? can you just find another piece and add it to the set?

4) i also cannot find any discussion on the ghostbusters firehouse set on this forum? 

 

happy holidays guys... party on

Here's my 2 cents on this in general...

If college in is in the future for him, I would STRONGLY suggest you sit down with him and go through the next 5+ years of financial woes where he will be on his own.  Borrowing, interest, etc... if this needs to occur.  From my own experience, it is much easier after college to manage life with zero school debt while friends and co-workers of mine are still paying theirs down (i'm in my 30's).  Now, this includes saving like crazy (still having fun but not spending crazy amounts), working two full-time jobs during summers and working full-time during every year of college except my first full year, but still picking up a part-time job to off-set weekend activities.  So now all the money that others are paying towards school-debt, I'm paying down my home debt.  

Now of course the cost of college has gone up quite a bit since I've been there, but every bit helps and becoming financially stable is much better than tacking on interest all over the place which sadly happens to too many people.

If we are talking about a 13 year old here and not a 16 or so, then I would still suggest the conversation at some point and then listen to the other posts above.  Keep the sets together, don't get them damaged or leave out in the sun either.  Check out Pinterest or this site for multiple ways to display them.

 

[lodibricks]

18 minutes ago, LegoMan1212 said:

Here's my 2 cents on this in general...

If college in is in the future for him, I would STRONGLY suggest you sit down with him and go through the next 5+ years of financial woes where he will be on his own.  Borrowing, interest, etc... if this needs to occur.  From my own experience, it is much easier after college to manage life with zero school debt while friends and co-workers of mine are still paying theirs down (i'm in my 30's).  Now, this includes saving like crazy (still having fun but not spending crazy amounts), working two full-time jobs during summers and working full-time during every year of college except my first full year, but still picking up a part-time job to off-set weekend activities.  So now all the money that others are paying towards school-debt, I'm paying down my home debt.  

Now of course the cost of college has gone up quite a bit since I've been there, but every bit helps and becoming financially stable is much better than tacking on interest all over the place which sadly happens to too many people.

If we are talking about a 13 year old here and not a 16 or so, then I would still suggest the conversation at some point and then listen to the other posts above.  Keep the sets together, don't get them damaged or leave out in the sun either.  Check out Pinterest or this site for multiple ways to display them.

 

Where were you 20 years ago? I needed that talk (still do)

[Kenxxx]

5 hours ago, joneyyy1981 said:

2) should you keep ALL the packaging etc?

My 8 year old son has hundreds (thousands?) of dollars worth of "used" Lego sets.  I've been folding and saving the boxes of many sets and, really, think it is more hassle than it's worth. No matter what you do, the boxes aren't "mint" anymore.  I think there is only a very small (1%) group of buyers that will really want the boxes and will refuse to buy a used set without a box. Anytime I've listed a used set for sale, I've felt I had  no advantage over other sellers with no box.  Sure... maybe "no box" will fetch $47. Competing with those $47 no-box listings, my offer with box will have a tough time selling for more than $49.  And the original box will always require a larger, heavier shipping carton, making my shipping cost $2, or $3, or $6 more. Selling with no-box is almost always more profitable.  If your son is smart, organized, and can plan ahead, he should do this to get top dollar for his used Lego:

1. When building, handle the manual with care... don't rip, write-on, crease, fold, or "over handle". Storing them in numbered file folders (along with a zip-loc bag of the "extra" pieces) is a great way to protect them. When it's time to sell, a photo of your crisp, like-new manual will help.

2. Enjoy your build, and display. When it's time to take it down / take it apart, double-check that it is all there, take nice clear photos of it from all angles. Better photos = more money. Set up the items in a clean area with simple background to photograph (no pet hair, cigarette butts, nor really... anything else should be in the photos). Then, carefully take it apart. I am a big fan of taking apart my Lego sets and re-segregating the parts into numbered zip-loc bags, the same way they were when you built it. Take another nice clear photo of the numbered bags, neatly laid out next to the manual. Then carefully store it all away in a single shipping carton with the set number on the outside. Tape it shut and never open it again. When you're ready to sell, put your listing on eBay with photos of the completed set, the manuals, the numbered bags... a discriminating buyer will appreciate your care and buy your listing over the competition.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Kenxxx

[labfreak7]

My advice- don't rely on Lego to pay for college. Time spent on studying and homework may pay off more in terms of a scholarship. If you are building and saving Lego sets as an investment- yes keep the box and manuals. Break down the sets in ziplock bags and keep them in the box. Boxes and manuals with complete sets bring more money. Obviously sealed sets will do the best. Good luck, I'm in a similar boat with two boys myself. The Lego enthusiast has outgrown his sets so I am saving them for him.

[Deadfraggle]

10 minutes ago, labfreak7 said:

My advice- don't rely on Lego to pay for college. Time spent on studying and homework may pay off more in terms of a scholarship. If you are building and saving Lego sets as an investment- yes keep the box and manuals. Break down the sets in ziplock bags and keep them in the box. Boxes and manuals with complete sets bring more money. Obviously sealed sets will do the best. Good luck, I'm in a similar boat with two boys myself. The Lego enthusiast has outgrown his sets so I am saving them for him.

Don't think the O/P has implied that he's relying on LEGO to pay for college. In fact, he never mentioned college at all. Several posters have made a string of well meaning assumptions, that have turned this thread into a bit of the old telephone game on our part.

What he stated was that his son has grown really fond of collecting LEGO sets, and saving up his money to buy new sets. As a father, he is asking advice on what he can do to help his son retain maximum resale value for the future, in case he does decide to sell them.