Collections: Lord of the Rings/Hobbit vs. Harry Potter

[mauro23]

Hi all,

first of all I am really a completionist. This means that I like to have either the whole theme or no sets from a theme.

But as anyone knows the exception proves the rule, therefore I have Temple of Arjitsu as unique set from Ninjago or could also live with the fact to have ships from the Pirates of the Carribean only. But in both cases I am not a big fan of the theme/movie itself.

Now I am thinking about selling Lord of the Rings/Hobbit or Harry Potter sets - I have all of them in sealed condition. My problem here is that I like the movies from both themes, although for me the Lord of the Rings was more epic than Harry Potter. Hobbit in opposite is even not such good as Harry Potter was.

Regarding the sets of the themes, I have often heard that HP sets are much better than LotR/Hobbit sets, so this is really a dilemma to me how to decide. But the most important thing is that I want to sell them not from investment point of view but just to reduce my amount of sets - 900 at the moment. (But I have still less favourite themes which I would sell for first).

What would be your choice knowing my explanations from above:

1. Sell HP only

2. Sell LotR/Hobbit only

3. Sell Hobbit only but keep the Hobbit House due to the fact that this is the most wanted set from the Tolkien's world on BrickLink.

4. Sell them all

5. Keep them all

A reason for your decision would be realy fine.

Thanks Mauro

[justapilgrim]

You are a collector not a seller

[KShine]

I would suggest that you sell half of the sets from each of your themes (just to see what happens).

[fossilrock]

Harry Potter is definitely much more lucrative, although the Lord of the Rings sets are slowly growing and I think as the amount of sellers dwindle it will continue to rise.  The Hobbit sets are pretty much a lost cause, I think.   About half of that theme hasn't even risen beyond what was RRP, and only a select few seem to have any profit margin.  However the LOTR sets are all growing and each quarter seem to get a little bit more of a boost.  I still think if you hold your Lord of the Rings sets for 5 more years you will do well.. Sealed MIB sets from that theme will only grow in value.  I'd keep them..and ditch the Potter which is probably tapped out at its pinnacle.

Edited June 16, 2017 by fossilrock

[KShine]

2 minutes ago, fossilrock said:

Harry Potter is definitely much more lucrative, although the Lord of the Rings sets are slowly growing and I think as the amount of sellers dwindle it will continue to rise.  The Hobbit sets are pretty much a lost cause, I think.   About half of that theme hasn't even risen beyond what was RRP, and only a select few seem to have any profit margin.  However the LOTR sets are all growing and each quarter seem to get a little bit more of a boost.  I still think if you hold your Lord of the Rings sets for 5 more years you will do well.. Sealed MIB sets from that theme will only grow in value.  I'd keep them..and ditch the Potter which is probably tapped out at its pinnacle.

The Hobbit sets have not done well, but since even the LOTR sets took a while (some still taking a while) before they started moving - time will tell (collectors do/will certainly want the Dwarf minifigs). 

 

[MrToes16]

If I were to pick the longevity of the themes and their value, Harry Potter will be the one that stands out. There is so much more accessibility to the HP world like Pottermore, Wizarding Worlds @ Universal Studios, Broadway shows, etc... LOTR/Hobbit, not much else outside of the movies, books, and a fan base that isn't getting younger..

That being said, if you qualify yourself as a collector and care about the value of a theme over another, HP theme will likely be the one to increase in value better over time. I would go for potential of increasing value.

Then again, if you qualify yourself as a collector and have more of an attachment to a theme over another, personal preference is really going to be what makes the choice for you.

 

personally, I'd pick option 3 if I had to.

5 hours ago, mauro23 said:

3. Sell Hobbit only but keep the Hobbit House due to the fact that this is the most wanted set from the Tolkien's world on BrickLink.

 

[donbee]

HP books are for kids, and teachers will continue to endorse them for grade school for years to come.
Thus their demand will continue. I don't know how high their prices will fetch, but I do believe it's cap will be significantly higher than LotR.

LotR requires more advanced reading skills than a lot of Americans have. It's not really a children's book. It has a large cult following, but one that would rather buy a real, steal sword than a plastic Lego thingy. It will mature nicely, but I doubt it will ever have the demand that HP has with children.

[KShine]

As a collectible, HP has the secret ingredient.

[fossilrock]

The dwarves from all the various hobbit sets are all pretty decent in terms of value.  Same goes for all the individual characters in the Lord of the Rings that were only included in one set.    It's just the sets they are from are practically worthless without the minifigures included.  The only sets that dont fall in that category would be the Lonely Mountain,  and An Unexpected Gathering - those sets have seen pretty good value.  If you also bought 100's of the Riddles for the Ring set at clearance you might have doubled your money, but overall...that's about the extent of it so far.  It's been pretty weak overall.  I personally was expecting more out of the theme.  I think this holiday season i'm parting way with my hobbit stock and taking the measly profit they will bring, but will continue to hold the LOTR investment sets for a while longer. 

[Rodeogeorge]

The Harry Potter line has a lot going for it, as described above. Namely, you can actually get Harry Potter in the sets. The same cannot be said for the LOTR line. Big miss.

[Huskers1236]

1 hour ago, Rodeogeorge said:

The Harry Potter line has a lot going for it, as described above. Namely, you can actually get Harry Potter in the sets. The same cannot be said for the LOTR line. Big miss.

No joke.  How a version of Sauron was never made is beyond me.  Lego really screwed up LotR with the sets that they made and we've seen countless lists of wants from fans only to get crap like Pirate Ship Ambush which is in the regular film for about 5 seconds..  

Outside of Unexpected Gathering, Hobbit sets were pretty bad as well.  Lego did very will with Harry Potter sets but I feel they had more to work with there as well.  More building locations to work with and vehicles to make.  Even then they had lots of remakes.  3 trains and 4 castles(5 if you count Battle for Hogwarts).  

[Ed Mack]

It's all about the quality and variety of the sets.  Harry Potter had a wide variety of sets that included creative vehicles, landmarks and characters.  LOTR sets were more based on rocks, bushes and wood.  Vehicles sell  and appreciate well in any theme.  The LOTR sets have few worthwhile vehicles.  

[Huskers1236]

2 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

It's all about the quality and variety of the sets.  Harry Potter had a wide variety of sets that included creative vehicles, landmarks and characters.  LOTR sets were more based on rocks, bushes and wood.  Vehicles sell  and appreciate well in any theme.  The LOTR sets have few worthwhile vehicles.  

But when they were given the possibility for a vehicle, they didn't take it.  I'm looking at you Oliphant and Fell Beast(no cars in Middle Earth).  They were in the latter two movies and shown prominently in the largest battle of the movies but hey, at least we got that boat with Peter Jackson on it ?

[donbee]

Yes. An oliphant would've been awesome.

[mauro23]

Thanks all for their insights!

[Legojona]

On 2017-6-18 at 0:31 AM, donbee said:

Yes. An oliphant would've been awesome.

That is awful mate... This morning I woke up a happy content person, but now I know what I am missing in life: That Oliphant set!

[donbee]

That is awful mate... This morning I woke up a happy content person, but now I know what I am missing in life: That Oliphant set!

Maybe I can MOC one from the Chima set

 

Wow... mind blown.

Did I just find s good use for a Chima set?

[Huskers1236]

37 minutes ago, donbee said:

Maybe I can MOC one from the Chima set

 

Wow... mind blown.

Did I just find s good use for a Chima set?

That's the kind of crap that drives me crazy.  Freaking Chima you make a mammoth but not LotR?  I get it's not exactly at detailed as an Oliphant would need to be but c'mon.  Now we get a 48,000 piece Lego Ninjago Movie set but they couldn't bother with a Minas Tirith that folks were begging for and several were made for Ideas/Cuusoo but all were turned down.   Ridiculous.  Obviously I'm still salty from that franchise but it was crazy what they decided to not make.

[donbee]

Has anyone submitted an Oliphant idea?
Anyone wanna pay me to build one (reference to another post)?