The Lone Ranger 2013

[@rtisan]

Ya, these really are an unfortunate case. I sold a couple of trains (2 for $120 CDN each) and stagecoachs (also 2, $40 each, were not paired Trains) over Christmas. I didn`t buy anything else for investment in this theme, glad I didn`t. Honestly should not have bought any Trains or Stagecoachs either, thought they would do somewhat better than they have, but nope. Still available at retail in Canada at least very easily, as others have pointed out. Have a couple more of each so will see what happens in the coming year. 

[Shislerocco]

i invested slightly in the trains but didnt go much further than that. I have a complete set of everything so if i dont go opening something maybe the entire line including poly bags will be worth a buck. 

 

overall im not gonna sweat it cause ill just keep it for myself due to the little i spent on it besides the train. 

 

who would have thought...trains are always supposed to do good. i find it slightly odd that the CARGO trains appreciate better even though there is a cargo train out all the time. just different colors and slightly diff style. 

 

This train is at least unique in some ways to others out there. 

[BrickLegacy]

Sold a couple silver mines and trains on BL, slightly below retail but for a small profit. Wanted to free up space and capital, and win some more political points in the polls with Mrs. BrickLegacy.

I'm hoping to keep a stagecoach and a few trains for long-term holds. Not just for the profits, but also to satisfy the hoarding in me.

It was hard to lose on the train at $50.

[KShine]

I would be happy to take the Constitution sets off people's hands.

[jaisonline]

I would be happy to take the Constitution sets off people's hands.

Ha. Please create a trade classifieds ad and at least i'll respond.

[stoltzjl77]

I'm still holding 2 Trains and 2 SMS's, and a lone Comanche camp. Since there is so little $ tied up in it and not much shelf space, I'm waiting it out. I'll give it another Christmas season to hit my exit price for the trains. I might give up on the other two sooner. SMS is a great set, great playability, cool pieces - it's really a shame it isn't performing better. On the other hand, as noted above it is still available for $60-$65ish from a couple of online retailers (including WalMart.com) - and it's still less than a year from EOL, so it's a bit early to give up.

[zskid00]

My buy in for these sets was so low that I can't lose.  They are fun little sets with a niche theme and I will gladly track them in 2015 and most likely sell my trains, stagecoaches, and cavalry sets for double what I paid for them.  Not bad since I bought them all just 12 months ago.  

Edited December 30, 2014 by zskid00

[justapilgrim]

Commanche camp is awesome, won't get another teepee any time soon

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

[jaisonline]

Just a FYI for some of the newer members. Some of them might even be reading this thread without posting.

What I'm about to type is just my opinion through Lego and other investing. My experience is from the Toy Story, City, Monster Fighter, and Cars theme.

You will notice that some members bought Lone Ranger sets at a very low price (say 50% off) and they don't mind holding onto LR sets.

This is good advice but you need to see what works for your portfolio and strategy.

Myself? I give pretty much all sets 1 year to appreciate from MSRP (aka retail price) and not the price I paid. MSRP is a far better indicator of growth since everyone will have one common baseline as a starting point. Additionally, the highest 12 month ROI % is 99% of the time during the first year. Then the 2nd highest 12 month growth period will be the 2nd year.

Note: MSRP will vary by country.

Now If I see good growth during the any set's 1st year after retirement, these sets will be held another 1-3 years.

So what do I do with sets with below avg growth (from MSRP) during the 1st year? (For example, the 10227 UCS B-Wing which sold got $199.99 MSRP and appreciated to $215 (or so) after 12 months. ). I usually sell most if not all of these sets since the money can be used elsewhere (also known as opportunity cost of keeping something). (

I ended up selling all my 10227s which allowed me to buy 10224 Town Hall, 10226 Sopwith Camel, 10228 Haunted House, and Arkham Breakout sets. Thus...

So please follow your gut and invest to match your strategy. Don't fall in love with sets or wait too long for them to appreciate from MSRP since "they are other fish in the sea).

Happy investing and new year.

[Ciglione]

I have 650 euro invested in this theme. I will keep them for another year. Otherwise I will pull the plug.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Ciglione

[TheDarkness]

So please follow your gut and invest to match your strategy. Don't fall in love with sets or wait too long for them to appreciate from MSRP since "they are other fish in the sea).

 

This is the key. I certainly have had issues in the past of hanging on too long but at the same time it isn't money I have necessarily needed to be freed up. If I need the money then I sell. Considering these sets I acquired for 50% off or lower, if they hit retail I have a 100% return. It is why I have managed to make money on rubbish such as Cars. So many people also have derided themes such as this and Pirates of the Caribbean when there is money to be made depending on your entry point. Sometimes it takes a bit longer, other themes shoot up like a rocket, others struggle to get back to their full retail point but it all depends what your buy in price. Considering 4 of the 6 sets would net me a minimum 100% return before fees I am pretty happy, especially as the rise continues. 

No doubt I will revisit this thread in a few months but obviously I am pretty happy with the way the theme is going. 

[GhostDad]

In general, I'm in the 'if it hasn't appreciated much in the first year, dump it' camp.  However, with the LR train there's a separate issue.  Target clearanced these (again) several months ago for $70.  I do think that messes with predictions a bit for this set, as there are lots of flippers out there who will take their $15 profit and move on.  So I give the train another six months to show me what it can do.  As for the others, if I had them, I'd sell them.

 

Edit: True story.  I bought lots of 10144 Sandcrawlers back in the day for $100 each.  Thought I'd get $200 for 'em after a year.  But after 12 months the price was more like $160.  Awful appreciation off a $140 MSRP base.  But I love jawas and I love sandcrawlers, so I held for another 2 years and sold at $350 - $400.  It was worth the wait.

Edited December 31, 2014 by GhostDad

[KShine]

In general, I'm in the 'if it hasn't appreciated much in the first year, dump it' camp.  However, with the LR train there's a separate issue.  Target clearanced these (again) several months ago for $70.  I do think that messes with predictions a bit for this set, as there are lots of flippers out there who will take their $15 profit and move on.  So I give the train another six months to show me what it can do.  As for the others, if I had them, I'd sell them.

 

Edit: True story.  I bought lots of 10144 Sandcrawlers back in the day for $100 each.  Thought I'd get $200 for 'em after a year.  But after 12 months the price was more like $160.  Awful appreciation off a $140 MSRP base.  But I love jawas and I love sandcrawlers, so I held for another 2 years and sold at $350 - $400.  It was worth the wait.

 

Yes, I recall the Sandcrawler that wouldn't die. Amazon seemed to have a never ending supply for 100 (long after everyone else was sold out).

Edited December 31, 2014 by KShine

[GhostDad]

Yeah.  For a long time nobody seemed to want them.  Then everyone realized that was the only source for jawas and the figures alone eventually hit almost $40 apiece, if memory serves.  The vehicle itself was on the ugly side, but true to the original.

[JoshTX]

I didn't invest in these sets much at all. I was very bearish on them despite the fact that I thought they looked cool, because I had a feeling it wasn't going to atch on with the youngsters. Fast forward a year and it never really did. I spent $70 each on two Constitution trains and at the time had wished I was able to get more at that price. I thought they would take off due to being a train and the fact they came with track was a plus. I guess I saw the train as the Black Pearl was to the POTC line.

[Ciglione]

Any new developments on this theme? 

 

[Val-E]

Avoid like plague seems to still be the trend....

[justapilgrim]

Any new developments on this theme? 

 

They still suck

[@rtisan]

Yeah pretty much, dump them at your earliest convenience in favour of, well, almost anything else haha. Seriously, the theme isn`t likely to go anyplace worth keeping. Shame that even the Stagecoach the Train haven`t really done anything at all. Trains of course are pretty much always winners, but it appears we might have an exception. It`s been discussed heavily as well that this train is pretty poorly done overall (no passenger car for 1 thing). Maybe we`ll see a spike in growth in the next year or so, but I doubt it, and if it does, you can surely make more money investing the capital elsewhere. 

[iahawks550]

My golden rule that 50% off sets/themes that suck still make money applies to LR.

[Darth_Raichu]

Yeah, waste of otherwise useful shelf space  

[Ciglione]

Except for the train... you cannot even dump them at buy-in. And I bought them cheap, dirt cheap!

Well... lesson learned. The days that westerns were cool and kids playing cowboys & indians is over. 

[pickleboy]

Except for the train... you cannot even dump them at buy-in. And I bought them cheap, dirt cheap!

Well... lesson learned. The days that westerns were cool and kids playing cowboys & indians is over. 

​You get suspended and called racist for playing cowboys and indians at school these days...

[fossilrock]

The popularity of Cowboys and Indians went away in the 50s with the boomer generation.  It's funny, because when I worked in a rural town in the west that was in a tourist area only europeans and japanese tourists would still think that sterotype still exists, as they are the only ones below the age of 60 that would don a stetson.  Seriously, cowboys have been exchanged for Snowboards, and extreme sports.

Edited May 18, 2015 by fossilrock

[exciter1]

The popularity of Cowboys and Indians went away in the 50s with the boomer generation.  It's funny, because when I worked in a rural town in the west that was in a tourist area only europeans and japanese tourists would still think that sterotype still exists, as they are the only ones below the age of 60 that would don a stetson.  Seriously, cowboys have been exchanged for Snowboards, and extreme sports.

​I grew up playing Bo & Luke, not cowboys and indians.