Retiring Soon - open speculation

[Lordoflego]

^at least something is  

[cory730]

When the 977 sets in my 50 mile radius  hit 70% it will be for me. And aside from all the comments has any of the non smart a$$ members recall a retired set showing up in such crazy numbers to a store and they immediately go to 50% off. That is what made me get excitered. 

[Lego Templar]

[iahawks550]

37 minutes ago, cory730 said:

When the 977 sets in my 50 mile radius  hit 70% it will be for me. And aside from all the comments has any of the non smart a$$ members recall a retired set showing up in such crazy numbers to a store and they immediately go to 50% off. That is what made me get excitered. 

Worriz' fire bike

[micbelt]

37 minutes ago, cory730 said:

When the 977 sets in my 50 mile radius  hit 70% it will be for me. And aside from all the comments has any of the non smart a$$ members recall a retired set showing up in such crazy numbers to a store and they immediately go to 50% off. That is what made me get excitered. 

 

Joker steamroller in 2015, dozens in stores showed up all at once and immediately went to 50% in a lot of areas.

 

[legodelorean]

3 hours ago, Phil B said:

We all started with 0 posts and 0 reputation, and we have all posted stuff that others didn't like. You'll be fine

Excellent post. Post of the day.

[terrymc4677]

1 hour ago, micbelt said:

 

Joker steamroller in 2015, dozens in stores showed up all at once and immediately went to 50% in a lot of areas.

 

...and of the 55 that I ended up with I'm still staring at 44 of them. That set sucks. Nobody is buying at $40-$45, and I'm not taking a loss on them, so into the cryogenic vault they will go. Maybe 2k years from now my future kin can make a couple of bucks on them. To think, I was so enamored with that set that I actually started a thread singing it's high praises. This experience is why I would be VERY cautious on loading up on FOT in bulk. The scenario is very similar, but to each his own.

[Pseudoty]

2 hours ago, cory730 said:

When the 977 sets in my 50 mile radius  hit 70% it will be for me. And aside from all the comments has any of the non smart a$$ members recall a retired set showing up in such crazy numbers to a store and they immediately go to 50% off. That is what made me get excitered. 

@cory730 if you haven't let it go and lesson learned. You can post a link to half off SSDs and some people on here will still find something to complain about. "Oh deal doesn't work for me I am banned from the lego store." Or "box is too big to LTH let alone ship" one more "$200 for all grey bricks" 

I found your post interesting and informative about the set and appreciate it even though I am not buying any it helps me manage current ones I have and gain knowledge for future sets and deals. 

The 99 cent dimensions deal had nothing to do with me I don't buy dimensions and I don't live near that store. Also wasn't renting a van to do a roadtrip to load up so I stayed out of it. 

@Migration I don't know how to use quotation marks, or commas and I am man enough to admit it and have no desire to learn now so please don't come on here correcting my grammar  

[bigreen]

Still on 70751 ToA: why brickset list life time of this set as retired in north america as from 02 Sept. 2015 to 18 Feb. 2017? is this just a joke?

[Phil B]

3 minutes ago, bigreen said:

Still on 70751 ToA: why brickset list life time of this set as retired in north america as from 02 Sept. 2015 to 18 Feb. 2017? is this just a joke?

Brickset pulls availability data from LEGO Shop at Home for each region. So if it shows as "Sold Out" over there, Brickset will report it as "available until" that date. If LEGO changes the status back to available, Brickset changes its "available until" into "- Now".

[cory730]

52 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

@cory730 if you haven't let it go and lesson learned. You can post a link to half off SSDs and some people on here will still find something to complain about. "Oh deal doesn't work for me I am banned from the lego store." Or "box is too big to LTH let alone ship" one more "$200 for all grey bricks" 

I found your post interesting and informative about the set and appreciate it even though I am not buying any it helps me manage current ones I have and gain knowledge for future sets and deals. 

The 99 cent dimensions deal had nothing to do with me I don't buy dimensions and I don't live near that store. Also wasn't renting a van to do a roadtrip to load up so I stayed out of it. 

@Migration I don't know how to use quotation marks, or commas and I am man enough to admit it and have no desire to learn now so please don't come on here correcting my grammar  

Another adult on here. I will add you to my list. Thanks

[Mos_Eisley]

17 minutes ago, cory730 said:

Another adult on here. I will remove you from my list. Thanks

?

[legodelorean]

1 hour ago, terrymc4677 said:

...and of the 55 that I ended up with I'm still staring at 44 of them. That set sucks. Nobody is buying at $40-$45, and I'm not taking a loss on them, so into the cryogenic vault they will go. Maybe 2k years from now my future kin can make a couple of bucks on them. To think, I was so enamored with that set that I actually started a thread singing it's high praises. This experience is why I would be VERY cautious on loading up on FOT in bulk. The scenario is very similar, but to each his own.

I only bought two and I regret buying two. I gave one to my son for his birthday and the other one I still have is still in my closet.

[krnbk2]

4 hours ago, cory730 said:

When the 977 sets in my 50 mile radius  hit 70% it will be for me. And aside from all the comments has any of the non smart a$$ members recall a retired set showing up in such crazy numbers to a store and they immediately go to 50% off. That is what made me get excitered. 

Did you see any discrepancies with the quantity you are seeing on the tracker and what is actually showing up in stores?  I ask because because I was at 2 stores today, one that showed 90 on the tracker with 0 in store and one that showed 55 with only 10 in actual stock.  In both stores I had multiple employees verify this.   

[cory730]

Been to 4 stores and all were accurate.  40-80 all 4 stores. 

[Villager Chris]

Thank you guys for responding – a lot of sense and advice that I will take on board.

I do a lot of lurking in the background and I have learnt a lot from BP. I try to read some of the posts and always do a search for a Set number before I post something. Sadly I have not yet seen a heavy discount or uncovered any gems, and I invest a lot of time searching. 

To be honest I thought that Lego would be a friendly, gentle place to share a hobby. I am not into competition at all. I want to build a wide-ranging collection that will help me when I retire in about 10 to 15 years – hopefully pass the sets to my children who could sell them to help pay for their University tuition (or student social life more likely). Yep my outlay is a lot initially, but where else can it be invested? This will slow down (and has done) when I treat Lego like fine wine – right now I’m tasting a lot of cheap plonk and I currently have a hangover!  That said, I have enjoyed buying 90% of what I have.

Good luck all with your investing. I will slow down in more ways than one. Rightly, and perhaps not before time, my expectations have changed. But I still stand by what I said, it is not always nice to post here. I have noticed there is a large 'silent majority' who just read. Maybe they are intimidated or don't want to post, I don't know. Or maybe it is just a sign of the drawbacks of any social media with ranking systems.

Cheers, Chris 

Edited February 21, 2017 by Villager Chris

[Val-E]

Try posting on 4chan, Reddit or putting something in the wrong thread or using a comma instead of a full stop on Eurobricks and you´ll discover a new type of friendly! This forums is fluffy and cute in comparison.

 

[mudcatsfan]

10 hours ago, terrymc4677 said:

...and of the 55 that I ended up with I'm still staring at 44 of them. That set sucks. Nobody is buying at $40-$45, and I'm not taking a loss on them, so into the cryogenic vault they will go. Maybe 2k years from now my future kin can make a couple of bucks on them. To think, I was so enamored with that set that I actually started a thread singing it's high praises. This experience is why I would be VERY cautious on loading up on FOT in bulk. The scenario is very similar, but to each his own.

you WERE right Terry. This set had everything. THE most Iconic villain (with unique nods to the Jack Nicholson incarnation), thugs, 2 attractive unique vehicles, Batman, Robin, AND Bat Girl (who at the time was not readily available). All that for 30-60% off retail and in quantity.

How were you to know that they ran the freaking presses, Bat Girl was about to become dime-a-dozen, and some 30-40 EVEN better batman sets were about to flood the market with the Batman Movie in short order.

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? I SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT??!?!?!?!

I mean you, how were YOU supposed to know that. Ahem.

[BrickLegacy]

10 hours ago, terrymc4677 said:

...and of the 55 that I ended up with I'm still staring at 44 of them. That set sucks. Nobody is buying at $40-$45, and I'm not taking a loss on them, so into the cryogenic vault they will go. Maybe 2k years from now my future kin can make a couple of bucks on them. To think, I was so enamored with that set that I actually started a thread singing it's high praises. This experience is why I would be VERY cautious on loading up on FOT in bulk. The scenario is very similar, but to each his own.

I still love the steam rolller. Fantastic looking set with cool figs.  I sold through all of mine but I wish I would have kept one (can't tell you how many times I've said that).  

And yeah Terry - it sucks when sets go on unexpected massive clearance after you stockpiled them.  Happens to the best of us.  Hopefully you were able to score some deals late last year at TRU and Target to offset the hit on these.

Did you consider parting them out by chance?  I have no clue what the going rate is for the vehicle and figs but might be worth a look.

[red panda]

16 hours ago, Phil B said:

Chris, I think you're coming in at a time where the LEGO reselling party is coming to an end. I'm not saying there is no more money to be made; what I'm saying is that the ship is full and the general consensus is that people joining now are going to have a hard time turning this into something truly profitable. Many here are getting more close-lipped on their strategies, as there is now a lot of competition. Plus, the general state of the LEGO market is post-euphoric, with too many sets out, too many people buying for reselling/investment, a reduction in buyers and big discounts around that were unheard of even 1 year ago. Combine that with an influx of new forum members over the last 1-2 years, with many coming with the expectation that they'll be handed their fortune on a golden platter, and you can understand why there is a lot of sarcasm around.

This has nothing to do with you as a person. There will always be some headshaking when people hear about you plonking down 2k GBP in less than 8 weeks, but you own your own decisions. Read into the comments what you want, but see through the sarcasm and understand that some people use it to express concern about your strategy. Nobody here would chase you away - but many (myself included) will post about the victories and the extremes, not about the daily grind of investing/reselling LEGO. You might want to consider such a posting strategy yourself as well.

There is a ton of info around on this forum, and lots of comradery and compassion. Take your time to get familiar with what is appreciated (deals! success stories! fruitcakes! delivery failures! set news!) and you will find that this forum will become a second home.

And yes, everyone posts something sometimes that gets a negative response from others (epic deals in Target, anyone?). Just read it as it is intended: an opinion on what you posted, and use it to shape what you post and how you post it in the future.

We all started with 0 posts and 0 reputation, and we have all posted stuff that others didn't like. You'll be fine

Excellent post. I have been buying Lego for several years. I don't sell at the moment, my view was always 'one day I'll resell if I find myself out of work', yet up to now am still in work, so the Lego accumulates in the loft, but I can see that more people have got in to this, and all of the above points are well made.

I think it's nowhere near as easy as 'read a few forum threads, buy licensed sets, sit back and wait', which largely probably worked a few years back, but is more likely to burn people now.

Key is to find a strategy that works for you. I have changed dramatically what is heading up the stepladders in to the loft these days. I have a different strategy that I am confident in, but it's still a guesstimate on my part, but one based on 15 years experience of Lego, so you need to have faith in yourself.

I will say that I do think more than ever it does pay to have diversified investments which for me absolutely can include some physical product or investment. Fiat money, currency or whatever term you want to use is under genuine pressure. Lots and lots of countries have debt to GDP at very high levels, even above 100% in some cases, very difficult to repay back. Default isn't exactly an option due to the impact this would have on confidence across the world, so sooner or later we'll probably get some genuine inflation to inflate some of the debt away, that's my working hypothesis! Of course again I could be wrong, but I feel currency as an investment is rather vulnerable and volatile, and will remain so for some time, so I don't mind having money tied up in physical product like Lego, even if physicality also has its own different risks. It's the old adage, do your own research, balance your risks etc, etc.

Edited February 21, 2017 by red panda

[fossilrock]

I think buying for your kids education is the wrong approach.  I used to think that way, but now I won't consider it.  What I will say is that I usually invest in 2 to 10  copies of certain sets I like, well since 2012, most of the themes I have collected with my son (LOTR, Star Wars) are pretty much free when I combine the sales from the investments.  I'm now rolling to the point where I sell one AT-AT from 2014, and I can use the profits to buy all the sets that just came out last week at the 20% TRU discount this week. Just selling through AT-AT's and ISD's that I hoarded, pretty much paid for all of our personal collection from that year. Selling Republic Gunships paid for 2013... Selling x-wings from 2012... well you get the gist.  One theme though that I haven't invested in but paid for was our modular collection.  If I ever sell it i'll more than likely get my money back.

That's how I approach this now.  It's definitely not for anything more than just getting my kid to have a pretty stellar collection (which he now has), and when people see it they are like "wow, you spend a lot of money on lego" and little do they know.  I will say, 2015's retirees have not taken off very well.  2012, and 2014 were great years.  2016 has promise in the Star Wars theme.

Regardless, it's all in how you approach this.  If you are looking to buy a yacht and retire, good luck with that.  If you are just doing this as a hobby and for fun... money can still very much be made to where this hobby can become relatively inexpensive if you don't go too deep, and don't get to the point where you wish you didn't buy 40 of that one set (granted, I still have a JW theme that I bought way too early to get rid of).

[Sprocket77]

15 hours ago, Lego Templar said:

 

 

THAT'S AN EPIC MEME

 

 

 

[terrymc4677]

8 hours ago, mudcatsfan said:

you WERE right Terry. This set had everything. THE most Iconic villain (with unique nods to the Jack Nicholson incarnation), thugs, 2 attractive unique vehicles, Batman, Robin, AND Bat Girl (who at the time was not readily available). All that for 30-60% off retail and in quantity.

How were you to know that they ran the freaking presses, Bat Girl was about to become dime-a-dozen, and some 30-40 EVEN better batman sets were about to flood the market with the Batman Movie in short order.

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? I SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT??!?!?!?!

I mean you, how were YOU supposed to know that. Ahem.

Yeah, it seemed to have everything going for it at the time. I figured $75-$85 almost two years after retirement wouldn't have been too far fetched. What's baffling to me is that nobody is buying (on eBay at least, I don't sell on Amazon so I haven't checked) this set for UNDER msrp. 

8 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

I still love the steam rolller. Fantastic looking set with cool figs.  I sold through all of mine but I wish I would have kept one (can't tell you how many times I've said that).  

And yeah Terry - it sucks when sets go on unexpected massive clearance after you stockpiled them.  Happens to the best of us.  Hopefully you were able to score some deals late last year at TRU and Target to offset the hit on these.

Did you consider parting them out by chance?  I have no clue what the going rate is for the vehicle and figs but might be worth a look.

I still like it too. It's a cool set, but for whatever reason we seem to be in the minority right now. Like I said, I'll put them away for a couple more years and who knows. Maybe by then a lot of stock will have sold through and these might begin to rise. I usually like to hold for at least 2-3 years anyway, but since I have so many I figured I'd try to move a few now, but no takers, at a premium price anyway. I'm not one to play the part out game. I work 60+ hours a week at my "real" job, so the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is breaking down and separating a bunch of Lego sets. I'm on vacation in a few weeks. Maybe I'll break down a couple then and see what happens. 

[BrickLegacy]

1 hour ago, terrymc4677 said:

Yeah, it seemed to have everything going for it at the time. I figured $75-$85 almost two years after retirement wouldn't have been too far fetched. What's baffling to me is that nobody is buying (on eBay at least, I don't sell on Amazon so I haven't checked) this set for UNDER msrp. 

I still like it too. It's a cool set, but for whatever reason we seem to be in the minority right now. Like I said, I'll put them away for a couple more years and who knows. Maybe by then a lot of stock will have sold through and these might begin to rise. I usually like to hold for at least 2-3 years anyway, but since I have so many I figured I'd try to move a few now, but no takers, at a premium price anyway. I'm not one to play the part out game. I work 60+ hours a week at my "real" job, so the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is breaking down and separating a bunch of Lego sets. I'm on vacation in a few weeks. Maybe I'll break down a couple then and see what happens. 

Why don't you put the old man to work on the part out  ?

[terrymc4677]

Why don't you put the old man to work on the part out  ?

Now THAT is the best idea I've heard all day. He is retired so he has plenty of time available in between bingo sessions and the early bird special. I'll look into that.