Hi from Calgary, Alberta

[solinga]

Hi, I've already posted a few things on the Friends forum, and got a warm welcome there, but thought I'd tell more about myself here, in the appropriate place. I'm a collector. We started buying Castle and City Lego when my daughter was very small. My husband immediately became enthusiastic and I started buying Lego for him, the Imperial Flagship and Brickbeards Bounty and some Technic being for him. City theme was disappointing. Once we were putting together the Fire Station, and an actual firefighter came to our door (checking the neighborhood for fire detectors). My daughter excitedly showed him the fire engine we had just assembled. Do you know what he asked? "Do you have any girl firefighters?" The answer, of course, no, in this huge expensive set not a single female among 6 minifigures. I dashed off an angry letter to LEGO, and got in reponse a set of female heads and hair, so we could "add a girl to the brigade". Customer service impressive even if their gender neutral toy design was not. We liked the pizza place and the camper van, but recently City has become some kind of anti-utopian exclusive police/firefighting society - no longer girl friendly, so we focused on Creator sets, Medieval Market Village, etc. Harry Potter has been tempting, but I'm trying to practice some moderation. As you can imagine, we are now into Friends in a big way. By the end of the summer, we'll have nearly everything, after visiting my sister-in-law in Seattle and mother in Ohio to whom I've been shipping purchases from amazon/TRU. My sister from North Carolina will be bringing Olivia's house when she visits me. The prices in Canada are completely unjustifiable. Buying and selling is such a pain when you live in Canada (shipping is a pain), that I probably won't get into investing (much). (I may buy 2 MF Haunted Houses though.) However, my husband has been mightily impressed at how my Green Grocer has appreciated. I had bought Green Grocer to assemble, but for whatever reason we hadn't gotten around to it yet. Now we can't decide if we should open it or not. If we assemble it, it'll still be worth much more than I paid for it, but it'll mean not getting $200 from selling it NIB...what a dilemma. I really wanted to assemble it... Worse than this, I now realize I was an idiot to return a Winter Bakery to the store last December (I already owned one) when I got an extra one. What a fool I was! Now I know better. I wish I could go back in time. (I wish I had bought 2 Green Grocers! I saw how expensive Cafe Corner was...why didn't I clue in?) What brought me to brickpicker was trying to determine the value of a used City Airport 3182 I want to sell on kijiji. What an awesome site, all the research done for me. I'll ask for $80... It'll be interesting to see how LEGO investing develops. Unlike Mattel which for their adult Barbie collectors have pre-specified production runs so buyers know in advance how rare the product will be (e.***. Platinum label only 1,000 units produced, Gold label <25,000, etc.), LEGO seems to extend production on products once they figure out they are popular (Fire Brigade, Death Star). LEGO collection seems a bit of a battle between LEGO and investors as to who is going to collect a profit on a popular product. Well there you go. I wrote a lot more than I thought I was going to. Now you know all about me. I love your website. Elizabeth

[Ed Mack]

Welcome to the site.

[comicblast]

Welcome to BrickPicker! Even though Canadian prices are higher than USA ones, you are lucky you don't live in Europe, or any country outside of ******. America. For some reason, the US has the cheapest global Lego prices, even in countries where Legos are manufactured such as Mexico.

[whiteboy02]

Welcome to Brickpicker! Hope you like it here!

[Blackjack]

Welcome. :)

[@rtisan]

Welcome to the site! I live a couple hours away from Calgary, so it`s nice to meet someone who is in a similar vicinity here in Canada. Nice to know we shop at the same Lego store as well.

[dunkers97]

Welcome to the site, and you be lucky girl you live in ****** America, a lot cheaper hear than anywhere else... except for the U.S.

[solinga]

Welcome to the site, and you be lucky girl you live in ****** America, a lot cheaper hear than anywhere else... except for the U.S.

Prices in Canada are 25-30% higher than the US with a 1:1 exchange rate. For example Grand Emporium is $200 in Canada and $150 in the US. However, didn't realize even that was better than elsewhere in the world. That's getting so expensive! Thanks for the perspective. I'll still keep shopping cross border as much as I can though. In Canada I have learned that the only point of comparison is the US.

[TheOrcKing]

Welcome to the site....again. Heh. Believe me, ALL of us here have had a discussion or two about how much of a police controlled state Lego City has become with all them cops and crooks running around and yet no civilians really. Lot of city workers though, but where are the people? Sheesh. At least later this year we'll be getting some Coast Guard and Airport sets along with a big Town Square set! Creator sets are fantastic for civilian housing, although you do have to buy a number of the same one to get enough parts altogther to make a good sized home. Still, it beats Bricklinking every single part. That is quite the dilema with your Green Grocer. I would love to have so much as one of that set to build. From its original retail, it has gained some impressive figures and will continue to climb. I'm very sure of that. In a couple of years, I would not be at all surprised if it went for $1,000 one day. Market Street still surprises me in a way how much it has and continues to appreciate.

[Darth Lego]

Welcome to the site Elizabeth!

[kvasir]

Hello fellow Calgarian!

[Ronda]

Welcome!