Prediction of worth for Series 10 "Mr. Gold"

[@rtisan]

Wow, that`s wrong on so many levels. It`s unfair yes, but it`s also false advertising depending on how you look at it. The boxes state packs may contain a Mr. Gold. If they have been searched and looted, at will not sure the packs likely didn`t have one to begin with, but to place the possibility in the consumer`s mind knowing full well they will get nothing is wrong IMO.

This is disgusting and very unfortunate. I suspect my local Walmarts have done the same thing though, because out of 7 boxes during my recent trip, I only found 15 Roman soldiers. I should have found 40ish at 6 per box. There were others missing too. Unless someone got a head start, which is possible, and I can`t say for sure.

I hate TRU, but sadly up here I don`t have any other options for sets when sales come. Yes a 20% off promotion only gets me 10-15% off in reality, but there is nothing else available and my business goes there.

[Sauromosis]

I can top that...went to a TRU yesterday and an employee had written the type on every bag in permanent marker! The other one said "oh wasn't that nice of her?" And I thought, "she wasn't doing it for charity." I was going to hit up some local big box but Ed is right. Probably a waste of time.

[Rich B]

You better get ready for the horror stories. If employees at any large box store have a clue about the potential value in a $3 small bag, you will be lucky to find anything of value in these sets. They will be stolen. They will be opened. Better off buying a SEALED CASE of 60 Collectible Series 10 Minifigures. At least you stand a chance of getting a complete collection.

Yep click on the above link and play it safe. It's going to get very nasty/messy trying to track down mr. Golds in the stores.

[emes]

You better get ready for the horror stories. If employees at any large box store have a clue about the potential value in a $3 small bag, you will be lucky to find anything of value in these sets. They will be stolen. They will be opened. Better off buying a SEALED CASE of 60 Collectible Series 10 Minifigures. At least you stand a chance of getting a complete collection.

Yeah, this has nothing to do with TRU specifically, rather it's going to happen at any retailer that sells these minifigures.

I have personally observed employees at an LLDC smooshing minifigure bags in their store for other series, so it's impossible to believe that they won't do it for series 10 as well. I'm sure we can also assume that the employees at the LEGO stores will be doing this too.

The investment play on this one is what Ed mentioned...buy a sealed box and hang on to it.

[c4dreams]

I agree this is not a flaw of the retailer. Rather, Lego has made a poor decision with this Mr. Gold and all the other minifigures. They should be sold in hard plastic of some kind where it's not possible to tell the difference between what is in each bag. That would avoid this problem. Or at least have non-gold figure that's the same as Mr. Gold, thus people wouldn't be able to tell the difference...

[stephen_rockefeller]

How is it not the flaw of the retailer for allowing this ridiculous behavior???

[Ed Mack]

Yep click on the above link and play it safe. It's going to get very nasty/messy trying to track down mr. Golds in the stores. Unless every single Mr.GOLD is accounted for...which they won't be, investing in these sealed cases is almost guaranteed to make a profit for a smart investor. Yes...guaranteed. Stop wasting your time in Walmart, Target or TRU feeling packages and looking like some wackjob. Buy cases. I can't make it any simpler and clearer to everyone out there. End of rant...

Edited for harsh language!

[stephen_rockefeller]

Garbage companies hire garbage employees who in time become garbage managers.......maybe a little harsh on my part but I believe this to be true!

[terrymc4677]

Yep click on the above link and play it safe. It's going to get very nasty/messy trying to track down mr. Golds in the stores.

Unless every single Mr.GOLD is accounted for...which they won't be, investing in these sealed cases is almost guaranteed to make a profit for a smart investor. Yes...guaranteed. Stop wasting your time in Walmart, Target or TRU feeling packages and looking like an a-hole at the same time. Buy cases. I can't make it any simpler and clearer to everyone out there. End of rant...

LOL...thanks for the laugh, Ed. that made my day!

[cohens714]

I totally understand that people think this is unfair but honestly why wouldn't the employees do this. They make no money and I doubt they are treated great so what would stop them from trying to make $1000 easy. I bet most people on here would do exactly the same thing. Employees are allowed to buy stuff so they are just buying something that happens to be super valuable on the secondary market.

[stephen_rockefeller]

Did I miss something? They aren't buying anything, they are opening a sealed case, feeling for Mr gold and then putting them on he shelves......I'm assuming that is he case anyway, they might be buying them but I highly doubt it.

[cohens714]

Did I miss something? They aren't buying anything, they are opening a sealed case, feeling for Mr gold and then putting them on he shelves......I'm assuming that is he case anyway, they might be buying them but I highly doubt it.

You might be right but I assume they are getting them out and buying them. They only cost a few bucks and they are allowed to buy things so why not feel around for one and then just buy it and they are done and can now resell it and haven't stolen anything.

[stephen_rockefeller]

You might be putting too much faith in human behavior lol

[rcdb1984]

Incase anyone is wondering, I went to the Lego store today, (no mr gold) yet they had the series 10 and a bunch of people were feeling for whatever they wanted. I asked about the promo on monday....the "find mr gold" They hand out a sticker and have a big cardboard poster of him...Thats all....waste of time, so find him in those new sealed boxes.

[Large_Milkshake]

I went to WhSmith in UK today, had loads of boxes and loads of collectors trying to find mr gold, had no luck :(

[Anakinisvader]

This isn't anything new with store employees. It happens all the time with Hot Wheels, Star Wars figures (or any other action figure) and such. The good ones almost never hit the retail shelves because an employee gets them first. I really don't think them employee is to blame. I'd probably do the same. Everyone is out to make a buck on things in this economy. Heck I even knew a Store Manager for Kay Bee toys that used to get all the good stuff before it hit the sales floor. Some people feel this is wrong or immoral or unethical but opinions are like bellybuttons... everybody has one and no matter how much people cry foul, this is going to continue whether we like it or not.

[sadowsk1]

You better get ready for the horror stories. If employees at any large box store have a clue about the potential value in a $3 small bag, you will be lucky to find anything of value in these sets. They will be stolen. They will be opened. Better off buying a SEALED CASE of 60 Collectible Series 10 Minifigures. At least you stand a chance of getting a complete collection.

Agreed.

[Sauromosis]

Yep click on the above link and play it safe. It's going to get very nasty/messy trying to track down mr. Golds in the stores. Unless every single Mr.GOLD is accounted for...which they won't be, investing in these sealed cases is almost guaranteed to make a profit for a smart investor. Yes...guaranteed. Stop wasting your time in Walmart, Target or TRU feeling packages and looking like some wackjob. Buy cases. I can't make it any simpler and clearer to everyone out there. End of rant...

Edited for harsh language!

What's the upside? Sell in three years for 350?

By then Mr. Gold will be worth 50-100 bucks.

[cohens714]

This isn't anything new with store employees. It happens all the time with Hot Wheels, Star Wars figures (or any other action figure) and such. The good ones almost never hit the retail shelves because an employee gets them first. I really don't think them employee is to blame. I'd probably do the same. Everyone is out to make a buck on things in this economy. Heck I even knew a Store Manager for Kay Bee toys that used to get all the good stuff before it hit the sales floor. Some people feel this is wrong or immoral or unethical but opinions are like bellybuttons... everybody has one and no matter how much people cry foul, this is going to continue whether we like it or not.

It's also worth noting that a lot of people see everyone here as just as bad as anyone doing this at a store. Buying up a bunch of inventory and hoping something goes EOL so you can sell for a bunch of money to some parent who's kid is dying for a set at xmas time isn't exactly super honorable either but everyone here, myself included, is happy to do it. My point isn't to jump on anyone here as we are all doing something very legal and there is nothing wrong with it but looking at it from a different perspective it can also be seen as pretty greedy.

[Ed Mack]

Yep click on the above link and play it safe. It's going to get very nasty/messy trying to track down mr. Golds in the stores. Unless every single Mr.GOLD is accounted for...which they won't be, investing in these sealed cases is almost guaranteed to make a profit for a smart investor. Yes...guaranteed. Stop wasting your time in Walmart, Target or TRU feeling packages and looking like some wackjob. Buy cases. I can't make it any simpler and clearer to everyone out there. End of rant...

Edited for harsh language!

What's the upside? Sell in three years for 350?

By then Mr. Gold will be worth 50-100 bucks.

How about sell three weeks after it goes EOL for $350? This is a short term flip. Easy money unless LEGO releases more or makes up a story that they are all accounted for. This is money in the bank. Smart investors are hoarding these cases. I better just shut my mouth now and let everyone waste their time in Target and TRU. ;-)

[redeemed763]

Its not honorable? I have absolutely no the problem with it, if we are buying sets and affecting things, we certainly are not making them go EOL faster. If we didn't buy them, they would discontinued anyway and the parent wouldn't be able to buy that set at Christmas time. This is how it worked when I was a kid, before ebay ect. I saved and saved for the eldorado fortress and when I had enough saved, it was gone. There was no ebay to turn to, Al Gore hadn't even invented the internet yet, I had to move my hearts desires onto the new, less impressive Lego sets.

[Ed Mack]

For all of you that are wasting your time playing around with these bags, what is the downside of buying a sealed case? It is only $170...under MSRP. Series 10 has some classic minifigures which are destined to go up in value, regardless of MR. GOLD. That small $170 investment can easily double, or triple in value in a short time if hundreds, or thousands of these MR. GOLDS are not accounted for. On another note....Many of these MR. GOLDs will never be accounted for. Many will be opened by kids who have zero idea about their value and tossed in a pile or toy chest. Others will be bought up by investors, never to be seen. Point is, it's like Willy Wonka's GOLDEN TICKET. Just the thought will stir interest and raise prices.

[JoshTX]

One thing I'm always thinking about when dealing with retailers is the fact that the employees almost never make very much money, and are therefore much more likely to engage in activity that may be uncaring or unethical. Why? Because the employee doesn't hold the company in high enough regard to care about wanting to help them please the customer. The retailer pays the employee low or minimum wages and no benefits, and the employee, knowing this, pulls off any shady move they can get away with as a consequence. The toy pinching thing is a perfect example, and the same thing likely occurs with many other products. Remember when the Nintendo Wii came out and everyone just had to have one? How many Wii systems do you think never made it to the shelf during that initial Christmas rush because Walmart or Target employees snagged them before they saw the light of day on a shelf? How many of those Wii systems got turned right around and sold on Ebay for 4X the amount? It pisses me off when I want something, but that anger is typically tempered when I stop and think about how they are trying to feed themselves and likely a family off 7.50 per hour with no medical benefits. I make alot more than that and I definitely busted my butt in life to earn the wage I have, but that isn't going to stop employees from doing unethical stuff, whether they deserve better or not. The Mr. Gold situation sucks, and I'm definitely going to buy cases now because its already alot worse and more widespread than I thought it was going to be. But I will say I'm not surprised at all to hear what these employees are doing.

[cohens714]

Its not honorable? I have absolutely no the problem with it, if we are buying sets and affecting things, we certainly are not making them go EOL faster. If we didn't buy them, they would discontinued anyway and the parent wouldn't be able to buy that set at Christmas time. This is how it worked when I was a kid, before ebay ect. I saved and saved for the eldorado fortress and when I had enough saved, it was gone. There was no ebay to turn to, Al Gore hadn't even invented the internet yet, I had to move my hearts desires onto the new, less impressive Lego sets.

You are kidding yourself if you believe a site like this and people like us are having no impact on the overall market. Lego will only manufacture a certain amount of sets. There are kids out there not getting sets because we all have them sitting in closets and attics. As soon as people thought Jabba's Palace was going EOL really fast they bought all of them from Amazon. You don't think there were parents looking for those sets and couldn't get them for a period of time? Again I am not saying we are doing anything wrong but the argument we are having no impact is simply incorrect. Look at this very scenario with this gold minifig. Everyone is trying to get as many as they can to turn a quick profit. You don't think some kid would be insanely happy if he just happened to find this for $3? We are buying them so that kid can't do that. How many people here would offer some kid $50 on the spot if they saw some kid leaving TRU with one today knowing they would make 10x that easy by just flipping it.

[gregpj]

It's also worth noting that a lot of people see everyone here as just as bad as anyone doing this at a store. Buying up a bunch of inventory and hoping something goes EOL so you can sell for a bunch of money to some parent who's kid is dying for a set at xmas time isn't exactly super honorable either but everyone here, myself included, is happy to do it. My point isn't to jump on anyone here as we are all doing something very legal and there is nothing wrong with it but looking at it from a different perspective it can also be seen as pretty greedy.

I entirely disagree... I'm paying money for these sets. If I buy a car, drive it for a year and sell it, that is my choice, I paid for it.

People who smoosh haven't paid a single cent to try and find the best ones. It's like living next to a car dealer and taking a new car for a "test drive" to the grocery story each time whenever you need milk.

And those who buy a case only to keep the ones they want don't count because they are getting their money back. That's like buying a random pack of 12 donuts, eating the 4 chocolate ones and returning the other 8 because you didn't like them.

Besides, it's not the kids parting with their hard earned money, it's the adults.