So I've come across a guy with a decent amount of older SW sets, all are used some are complete but many are missing 1 or 2 pieces or a minifig or two.

 

Investing aside, theres some sets here that I've really wanted to build for myself and this guy is asking on average about 20-40% less than the brickpicker value of the sets used. In some cases, it seems like a fair deal. The question is what to get? I really shouldn't be spending money on personal sets again but this kind of opportunity doesn't come around too often. 

 

Anyway, there are two gems for me here: a complete Imperial star destroyer for 120 and a Jawa Sandcrawler 10144 for 150, but the problem with this one is he says its missing 3 of the droids. I'm not sure which ones yet as I havent met with him yet, but it could really drive up the price if I have to bricklink or ebay the rarer ones.

 

Besides this, he has some smaller sets at decent prices, I'm hoping to meet him tomorrow. Anything I should be looking out for? Are there any particular sets that are more "fun" builds that are recommended? I feel like the two I mentioned are most iconic to my liking of the series.  

 

The sandcrawler is a great deal for 150. Never had a chance to get one but its been on my list of retired sets I want to get.

If it is for yourself, you would be crazy not to grab them.
If it is to resell, well, the cost of the minifigs on the droids shouldn't be too high really. From what I can recall I certainly didn't think much of them in my set.

Sandcrawler! I recently watched the brickshow review and now I want one bad.

I would grab both those quick! I did a lot of craigslist bulk buys before my collecting so I have a huge amount of sorted brick. I piece the sets back together take pics, then sell them complete. That way you can enjoy them and still make a profit. The rare figs can be costly to replace.. Jawas red troopers .. But worth the effort and part of the fun. Older cool sets.. Sail barge, gungan sub, slave 1, twilight.. If you need parts I have spares

You would be nucking futs to not pick up the sandcrawler.

With the Sandcrawler, if the seller has all the Jawas then I wouldn't sweat it too much about the missing droids whichever ones they are. Just one Jawa minifigure goes on average for $23-$25. I would hope to have the Gonk Droid in there too since 'it' goes for around $12-$14. (Only part exclusive to it is the front panel.)

You would be nucking futs to not pick up the sandcrawler.

Well, there's a nice way of putting it! Ha ha!

If you don't get that sandcrawler, you probably have a bad motivator. Heh.

So the consensus is that the sand crawler is well worth it even without the droids - ok. I don't need much convincing on that. Any thoughts on the ISD?

Sandcrawler is great, I'd definitely grab that.  The ISD I guess is the 6211/  Which means it's below the current used price list of $157 so seems a decent deal.  I have never built one but it looks like a good build experience.

Go for it dude.

If the 6211 is 100% complete, that's a fair price, but not amazing.  As long as the 10144 has Owen Lars and the Jawas, you should be fine at $150, as complete they seem to be clearing $200 now.  A couple of the droids are just brick built, so they are nothing special.  It is a great set, and really big.  I love mine, though it's not built right now.

I wouldn't pick up the ISD at that price for investment, but I would for personal. I have 3 from bulk and it's a really cool set, but at 150 I don't see a huge upside but a large downside if something is wrong.

I now have text communication with the seller and should hopefully be meeting with them today. Here's a couple other sets that interested me somewhat pasted from their list:

 

 

7261?clone turbo tank $60.00 (no instructions and 1 part)

8097?slave 1 $55.00

7751?ahsokas starfighter and vulture droid $40.00

7672?rogue shadow $22.00 (missing 1 mini figure)

6210?jabbas sail barge $85.00 (missing 1

If it has all the figs, I'd grab 8097 in an instant. Same with 6210. The missing rail on the skiff is probably part 6583 which you can grab for $0.20 on BL. I would skip 7672 personally. It's not that fun to build, isn't a great display piece, and is all-around quirky IMO. Vader's apprentice is the only thing holding value, so if he's the missing fig then its even easier to pass. I would also skip 7675 at that price. An ok build, but fragile when completed, and the new version looks pretty much the same. The gunship might just be up to your preference. If the stickers and books are in good shape, and your not dying to run out and buy the new one this summer, then it's a pretty good deal. Make sure Asaaj has her skirt (pricey), and that Cody isn't the missing "robot" (he probably means one of the little spy droids, which you can build yourself with common parts).

Yeah, good price on the Barge, especially if keeping it.  7676 is also a good deal if all there, as already stated, though with the new one coming out, you could get that for just a few bucks more on sale at some point.  Heck, same  with 6210, though I still like the original better.

Still makes me sick I found a NIB Imperial Star Destroyer clearanced about 5-6 years ago for $30 and flipped it for $120 at Christmas.  I had no idea about Lego investing then.  Live and you learn...

Well, I my hesitation on the missing pieces to the sandcrawler cost me. The owners promised it to someone else and I lost out. It actually turned out to be an interesting but probably awkward situation for the other guy, as he showed up immediately after I did and the woman and her kid selling the stuff were telling me "talk to the guy, maybe he will let you buy it". An overweight 18 or 19 year old kid came in and refused to acknowledge me at all, wouldn't meet eyes with me or anything, grabbed the sandcrawler and left. I tried to tell him I would be building the set with my son, but no dice. I got the feeling he was kinda scared but trying to hold his ground, so I just left him alone. I didn't want to act like some kind of bully. He probably wanted the set as much as me and my kid, and didn't look like an investor, so I didn't feel like it was going to someone who was just going to flip it.

 

That being said I still got the Slave 1 and the Imperial Star Destroyer. Pretty sweet. Was gonna get Jabba's barge, but it was covered in a really thick layer of dust and just didn't look appealing, I felt like I'd prefer to just buy and build the new one.

You should have distracted him with a chili dog. Fat jokes. I watch too much Family Guy.

You should have distracted him with a chili dog. Fat jokes. I watch too much Family Guy.

 

Ha ha. I know its cruel to stereotype, but he looked like one of those "Call of Duty" kids you see once in awhile in gamestop, wearing a mario brothers t-shirt, chunky and introverted, but I bet if I played those games he'd be on there whooping my tail left and right and calling me some kind of expletives the entire time.

Buy them all, see if he will do a major discount! 

Someone already tried that and they told the guy no. I guess he offered 800 for everything they had initially (it was around 40 sets) and they refused. It didn't matter, and was a good thing for them. Because by the time I got there, about 15 sets were already spoken for with more people coming to see what was left. I was fortunate that she promised the ISD to me, because other people wanted that, too. Legos sell so fast around here its insane.

Ah bummer, where abouts is this? that sounds like serious competition!

Austin, Texas. This would be an excellent place for someone to unload vintage stock for high prices. I'm actually thinking I may go ahead and release a good portion of my vintage action figure collection in this market. If it's as competitive as Lego is, I should be seeing some good returns.

Thread Reborn! So, i bought a large lot, and it included instructions for 6210 Jabba's Sail Barge and about 90% of the parts. I'm missing one sail, one of the large brown slopes from the front, a couple of the stickered side hatches, and the two tan crosshatched base plates. Also, the only minifig I got was Leia.

The question is, should I bricklink the parts and sell the complete set, or just sell it as is as a parts lot?

Tough question, considering the new one is releasing soon. My understanding is that the old Jabba fig doesn't come cheap either so you would have to make sure that you don't spend more than you can reasonably profit. I guess it would be smart to calculate the cost to bricklink the missing pieces, factor in how much you paid for the lot, and then determine how much you would have to sell it for to make a profit that's worth your while. The barge I saw I chose to skip in favor of getting the new one. I'm wondering if more AFOLs will be like me or want the original more, that's the big question.