New Brick Picker

[LegoMas]

I'm pretty much brand new to brick picking.  I got into it when I found a couple of nice Star Wars sets at a second hand store and looked up their values. I guess I always new that the bricks had value, but the idea of attempting to figure out if they were complete was off-putting. However, I realized that brick picking fits nicely with my current addiction to board game collecting (1000 games and counting!). Since then I've found some great deals for legos including a few free curbside pickups (one yesterday had 100 minifigs) and a like new 6073.  I find the thrill of looking through large lots for pieces to be one of the main draws for me at this point.  Thanks!

[oneknightr]

Welcome! If you enjoy doing it and like the thrill, then you've come to the right place.

[HappyHawkeye]

Welcome!

Just remember:

 

[brickvoyeur]

21 minutes ago, LegoMas said:

 I find the thrill of looking through large lots for pieces to be one of the main draws for me at this point

I still say this is the best way to make a sure profit. Buy bulk that has plenty of recognisable sets in it, build, split, and sell. 

Even with thousands of new in box sets in the basement, and even more in various warehouses... I can't help the draw of buying bulk lots. I think it's because you already can gauge profit based on market values versus the guesswork involved in buying sets available at retail. 

[KShine]

The thrill is gone - but I do occasionally still feel a little bit of a tickle.

Edited August 20, 2020 by KShine

[LegoMas]

7 minutes ago, brickvoyeur said:

I still say this is the best way to make a sure profit. Buy bulk that has plenty of recognisable sets in it, build, split, and sell. 

Even with thousands of new in box sets in the basement, and even more in various warehouses... I can't help the draw of buying bulk lots. I think it's because you already can gauge profit based on market values versus the guesswork involved in buying sets available at retail. 

I think for me it's just a similar rush to picking in general.  I've been picking part time since high school and the thrill of the hunt for rare stuff is just in my blood. Large lots of lego, so far, have been giving me a similar thrill. I bought a 60 lb lot this weekend for $100 and going through it, checking numbers and putting together sets has been one of the more enjoyable post-picking experiences I've had. It probably helped to find that there were a lot of pieces for late 90s and early 2000s sets and even half a 6285 set in there. I guess I always thought that it would be like going through board games to check completeness (which is a pain), but I'm finding it to be a lot more enjoyable. 

[BillyBricks]

54 minutes ago, LegoMas said:

I think for me it's just a similar rush to picking in general.  I've been picking part time since high school and the thrill of the hunt for rare stuff is just in my blood. Large lots of lego, so far, have been giving me a similar thrill. I bought a 60 lb lot this weekend for $100 and going through it, checking numbers and putting together sets has been one of the more enjoyable post-picking experiences I've had. It probably helped to find that there were a lot of pieces for late 90s and early 2000s sets and even half a 6285 set in there. I guess I always thought that it would be like going through board games to check completeness (which is a pain), but I'm finding it to be a lot more enjoyable. 

Until you realize that the bottom half of the 60 pound lot is made up of roughly 50% LEGO, 30% cat hair, 15% dirt, and 5% dead bugs. Then it becomes a little less enjoyable. 

I also love the treasure hunt of going through bulk to seeing what's there, but I've found that I just don't have the time for it right now. I need to start working on shape recognition with my 2-year-old related to rarer pieces that are only in a few sets. 

[TheOrcKing]

Welcome to the site, LegoMas.

 

1 hour ago, LegoMas said:

I realized that brick picking fits nicely with my current addiction to board game collecting (1000 games and counting!).

That is an impressive number of board games. Does your collection include from vintage to modern? What about variants?

[oneknightr]

Speaking of board games, as a kid, I had the Milton Bradley Dark Tower game. My brother and I loved it and played it for hours. Do you have that in your collection LegoMas?

[dennugsmello]

Board game collector and seller here. A modest 200 games in my personal no sell collection. Made some very high returns of Kingdom Death Monster over the years. 

Anyway, welcome aboard. 

[LegoMas]

2 hours ago, BillyBricks said:

Until you realize that the bottom half of the 60 pound lot is made up of roughly 50% LEGO, 30% cat hair, 15% dirt, and 5% dead bugs. Then it becomes a little less enjoyable. 

I also love the treasure hunt of going through bulk to seeing what's there, but I've found that I just don't have the time for it right now. I need to start working on shape recognition with my 2-year-old related to rarer pieces that are only in a few sets. 

Yeah, that's definitely been the case.  Though for me, that's just a part of the job. As long as there aren't needles in there it's probably going to be significantly less dangerous then some of the barns I've picked through. Honestly, it's a bit like noodling. You're sticking your hand in there hoping to catch something and boom!  So far I've been trying to take out the stickered pieces and then washing everything else in a bath for 24 hours.  Is there a better method?

 

2 hours ago, TheOrcKing said:

Welcome to the site, LegoMas.

 

That is an impressive number of board games. Does your collection include from vintage to modern? What about variants?

Everything.  I've got antique 19th century stuff and pre-releases.  I often buy out entire collections of games, so I'll get up to 250 games at one time and then sell them off. But yes, I've got just about every variant you can imagine. I've come across some really crazy stuff in barns back in Kansas...

1 hour ago, oneknightr said:

Speaking of board games, as a kid, I had the Milton Bradley Dark Tower game. My brother and I loved it and played it for hours. Do you have that in your collection LegoMas?

Not currently.  I've had it in the past and sold it. It's a fun game, but it's hard to find for under a couple hundred. I imagine that the prices will go down with the release of Return to Dark Tower (https://restorationgames.com/return-to-dark-tower/). 

59 minutes ago, dennugsmello said:

Board game collector and seller here. A modest 200 games in my personal no sell collection. Made some very high returns of Kingdom Death Monster over the years. 

Anyway, welcome aboard. 

I'm not big on backing kickstarters, but I have serious regrets on missing KDM.  Thanks! 

Edited August 20, 2020 by LegoMas

[brickolodon]

5 hours ago, HappyHawkeye said:

Welcome!

Just remember:

 

just a reminder buying for good price not that easy (i mean you make money when you buy for good price) any more

[HappyHawkeye]

14 hours ago, brickolodon said:

just a reminder buying for good price not that easy (i mean you make money when you buy for good price) any more

good point - I'm getting out of the game and this is definitely a contributing factor. If I could still stack Toys R Us coupons & get any set for 40% off at the drop of a hat I'd probably still be loading up my trunk once a week.

That being said, with the money people are willing to pay recently, I'm giving up easy money regardless of how good my buy-in prices are. My real fear is losing the ability to sell on Amazon and having to push inventory one piece at a time again. Did it for awhile early on, I couldn't handle that now that I've been spoiled by FBA.

[redcell]

On 8/20/2020 at 2:50 PM, LegoMas said:

I think for me it's just a similar rush to picking in general.  I've been picking part time since high school and the thrill of the hunt for rare stuff is just in my blood. Large lots of lego, so far, have been giving me a similar thrill. I bought a 60 lb lot this weekend for $100 and going through it, checking numbers and putting together sets has been one of the more enjoyable post-picking experiences I've had. It probably helped to find that there were a lot of pieces for late 90s and early 2000s sets and even half a 6285 set in there. I guess I always thought that it would be like going through board games to check completeness (which is a pain), but I'm finding it to be a lot more enjoyable. 

If you can keep it up, this is a good way to make a modest amount of money selling Lego.  I used to do this, but it got to be very tiresome after a while.

[MasamuneHonjo]

5 hours ago, redcell said:

If you can keep it up, this is a good way to make a modest amount of money selling Lego.  I used to do this, but it got to be very tiresome after a while.

You mind defining 'modest amount?'

[Cheese]

5 hours ago, redcell said:

If you can keep it up, this is a good way to make a modest amount of money selling Lego.  I used to do this, but it got to be very tiresome after a while.

I second that.  Although I do miss the chase of a bargain or unearthing a retired set hidden in the amounts new sets, I don't miss having to constantly track sales, pricing, and getting to the post office.  Especially don't miss worrying whether I am going top get scammed by some eBayer.  I only now dabble and only have a few sets left.  Now less than a 100,  having had at one point over a 1,000 sets in my inventory.  Rather sit back and watch others do it and focus on building MOCs and my other hobby which is Comic Books.