NEW BRICKPICKER MEMBER FAQs & INVESTMENT QUESTIONS

[Escape Nerd]

Hello! New Brickpicker member here. I'm in my late 40s and I have been reacquainted with Lego since my son showed an interest a few years ago. I played as a child and into my early teens. It's good to be back at it. My passion is Lego puzzle boxes, and writing articles about Lego for an American puzzle magazine. 

I'm posting here to ask a few questions. I'd like to interview someone who has attended a Lego conference for my next article. If you can send me a message, I'd be happy to ask you a few questions about your experience.

Also, I have a few sets I'm looking to appraise and sell, including the one pictured below. I heard this was the place to find out what the sets are worth. Can someone shove me gently in the right direction?

Thanks!

 

[Ed Mack]

On 2/16/2020 at 6:16 PM, Escape Nerd said:

Hello! New Brickpicker member here. I'm in my late 40s and I have been reacquainted with Lego since my son showed an interest a few years ago. I played as a child and into my early teens. It's good to be back at it. My passion is Lego puzzle boxes, and writing articles about Lego for an American puzzle magazine. 

I'm posting here to ask a few questions. I'd like to interview someone who has attended a Lego conference for my next article. If you can send me a message, I'd be happy to ask you a few questions about your experience.

Also, I have a few sets I'm looking to appraise and sell, including the one pictured below. I heard this was the place to find out what the sets are worth. Can someone shove me gently in the right direction?

Thanks!

Welcome to the site.  Nice set.  Really old sets like these Classic Space sets are all over the place in value.  Some have sold for big money, while others don't get much love.  These sets need an emotional connection to be worth something.  Unfortunately, age doesn't always mean more valuable with LEGO sets.

Our price guide is temporarily down.  It will be up shortly.  

[Escape Nerd]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try my luck auctioning the sets on a FB auction site for my region. Wish me luck!

[Eckrox]

Hey, I'm new to your site.  I have started collecting legos the last year.  I've mainly bought the Creator Expert series as well as some other exclusive sets like the Disney Castle, Harry Potter castle and Batmobile.  

My simple questions is this:  How do I best use the site?  How can I best choose the lego sets to invest in?  What information do you provide.  I was reading some articles online and they said that this site was good in that it projected ROI much like stocks.  How do I find out how well the sets I've purchased are doing.

Thanks for your time.  I'm excited to be a contributing member of your site.  Thanks,

Chris

[Belac]

10 hours ago, Eckrox said:

Hey, I'm new to your site.  I have started collecting legos the last year.  I've mainly bought the Creator Expert series as well as some other exclusive sets like the Disney Castle, Harry Potter castle and Batmobile.  

My simple questions is this:  How do I best use the site?  How can I best choose the lego sets to invest in?  What information do you provide.  I was reading some articles online and they said that this site was good in that it projected ROI much like stocks.  How do I find out how well the sets I've purchased are doing.

Thanks for your time.  I'm excited to be a contributing member of your site.  Thanks,

Chris

Welcome,  Some of the features of the site are currently offline for updates and such. Plenty of good reading to do still. Plus regular deals updates and a healthy, informative, and somewhat entertaining forum.  So i guess what I'm saying is... get out while you still have time😇

[BrickU]

12 hours ago, Eckrox said:

Hey, I'm new to your site.  I have started collecting legos the last year.  I've mainly bought the Creator Expert series as well as some other exclusive sets like the Disney Castle, Harry Potter castle and Batmobile.  

My simple questions is this:  How do I best use the site?  How can I best choose the lego sets to invest in?  What information do you provide.  I was reading some articles online and they said that this site was good in that it projected ROI much like stocks.  How do I find out how well the sets I've purchased are doing.

Thanks for your time.  I'm excited to be a contributing member of your site.  Thanks,

Chris

Picking Lego is like picking stocks.  Some years are better than others.  After a few years, you will start get a lot more right than wrong.  Although, the game has changed the last few years.  The production of more Lego factories around the world means tougher roi.  Buy in price is super important.  Just remember, bigger isn't always better.  Good Luck!

Edited March 29, 2020 by BrickU

[Shortbus311]

Hey, I'm new to your site.  I have started collecting legos the last year.  I've mainly bought the Creator Expert series as well as some other exclusive sets like the Disney Castle, Harry Potter castle and Batmobile.  
My simple questions is this:  How do I best use the site?  How can I best choose the lego sets to invest in?  What information do you provide.  I was reading some articles online and they said that this site was good in that it projected ROI much like stocks.  How do I find out how well the sets I've purchased are doing.
Thanks for your time.  I'm excited to be a contributing member of your site.  Thanks,
Chris

Like the others said, buy in price is super important, there is very rarely a time that it is smart to pay regular price for sets.

I tend to avoid the larger sets for the most part and stick with picking up sets that are in the $30-$70 range. It is a lot easier for a $50 set to reach a 3x-4x buy in price than it is for a $200 set to reach that. Plus, I am on the east coast and if a west coast buyer buys my large set, all of the sudden I am staring $50 shipping fees in the face.

Also, when you buy sets is almost just as important as price. Look for sets that are retiring soon (within the next 6 months or so)... normally it isn't worth buying a set that just hit store shelves a month ago, as your money will be tied up in that set for a long time. Waiting for it to retire (normally about 2 years), then waiting on the quick flippers who bought their sets on clearance right before retirement to sell through their stock, and waiting on prices to get up to a acceptable level to make it worth having your money tied up in that set for 3 years.

[MrMeticulous]

Hello all. New here by way of the youtube page. 

My name is Shane, 41 from North Carolina. Long time fan, resurged collector and builder. 

I've perused the forums some and keep seeing "FBs, GEs" etc. I went to the FAQ link but it's broken. Is there a handy sheet for all the abbreviations, so I understand what everyone is talking about? Lol

TIA 😜

[Lego Lass]

Hi, I registered for the site a few months ago, and I've enjoyed reading through a bunch of the forums...this seems like a really fun and collegial group of folks. I've dipped my toe in the sales water recently, and like many of you, have found that everything is selling pretty great at the moment.  I'm a mom of 3 based in the Midwest, and like most of you, I'm itching to get back out and bargain hunt to replenish my stock. Looking forward to learning from everyone and hopefully having some successes that I can share as well.

Stay safe and healthy!

[S4J]

Hi All,

I am almost 40 yrs old and started getting back into lego in the last year or so.  I have an ok collection, mostly Star Wars and various Cars but also a few other sets I thought were interesting.  Some are built some are still in the box. For a while now I have just been purchasing sets I thought were cool (and at a decent price) without looking at other criteria, but after looking at some of these forums there seems to be more science to what type of sets have higher upside.  I clearly understand the power of purchasing sets on the cheap, however I typically find many of these sets I have zero interest in are the ones that are on sale.  And a part of me says these type sets are on sale for a reason.  I'd love to get people's thoughts on why they buy what they buy or certain things they look for in a investment set?  Also from a selling standpoint what's the best way to maximizing sale value of sets which are NOT new in box?  Do you all consider used sets in bulk, and trying to put them together into sets for resale?  Or is it just better to part out?  Also any insight on the best ways to sell minifigs would be helpful.  Sorry if this is a lot of questions but these are the things i'd love to pick the groups brain on? 

I hope everyone is healthy and safe and I appreciate any insight.

[LegoNoob!]

Hi everyone I am working on collecting the modular buildings. Just got my green grocer used $450     with just like $200 to buy the substituted parts. Seems like a great deal to me. Does anyone have a used or new %100 complete Downtown firebrigade, Grand emporium, townhall, cafe corner, and market street. Thoose are the only ones i need to complete my modular collection i might be picking up the first 3 i listed soon as someone decides to break up a modular building collection they are selling. I am certain they will      Anyones help would be greatly appreciated.

[2manybrix]

Hi, new member here. Please could someone let me know where the price guides are please?

[1brick@atime]

Hi. Newbie to this site and also newbie to selling LEGO. I just live to buy them on clearance! I have a few questions, hope members here can help.

1. Where do you sell new and used LEGO with success?

2. How do I price the set, is there a general guide, market value,  or recently sold price I can benchmark?

Thank you!!

 

[StLBrian]

Hi everyone I am working on collecting the modular buildings. Just got my green grocer used $450     with just like $200 to buy the substituted parts. Seems like a great deal to me. Does anyone have a used or new %100 complete Downtown firebrigade, Grand emporium, townhall, cafe corner, and market street. Thoose are the only ones i need to complete my modular collection i might be picking up the first 3 i listed soon as someone decides to break up a modular building collection they are selling. I am certain they will      Anyones help would be greatly appreciated.

For Cafe Corner and Market Street (& Green Grocer), I found that they can be pretty effectively Bricklinked if you’re willing to make a couple substitutions. For example, on CC I used DBG instead of Dark Blue for the columns & arches - It looks just fine as long as you swap out the remaining dark blue around them. Also, you can get new trans-clear doors with red frames pretty cheap. They look fine in my opinion. On MS, I swapped the white railings for black and the dark blue arches for LBG. And be sure to get the newest parts for things like jumpers which are virtually identical but the new ones are a lot cheaper. I didn’t track my spend separately, but I think they averaged out to around $200/ea including the Minifigs. One other suggestion - Don’t overlook Bricks & Pieces/Pick-A-Brick. For many elements (e.g. tiles & certain colors), they are much cheaper than getting from BrickLink. Just be prepared for a long, long wait. Good luck!


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[LW1]

I'm brand new to Legos and I know next to nothing.   That said -- a couple/few years ago, I bought a Lego 9516 because the 9516 was being discontinued because of (IMO) political hyper-correctness.   I put it in a closet and hadn't seen it since.   When I recently got interested in a possible Lego hobby, I looked up current selling prices for my old 9516.   A new/factory-sealed one seems to be going for ~$250-$300 right now -- compared to the $105 that I paid for it.   I never intended for this to happen and never thought it would, but so far so good...   

[Ed Mack]

2 hours ago, LW1 said:

I'm brand new to Legos and I know next to nothing.   That said -- a couple/few years ago, I bought a Lego 9516 because the 9516 was being discontinued because of (IMO) political hyper-correctness.   I put it in a closet and hadn't seen it since.   When I recently got interested in a possible Lego hobby, I looked up current selling prices for my old 9516.   A new/factory-sealed one seems to be going for ~$250-$300 right now -- compared to the $105 that I paid for it.   I never intended for this to happen and never thought it would, but so far so good...   

And so it begins...

[Wilko]

An old man here, helping to sort years worth of Lego. Need help identifying a small number of Minifigures, is this the place to seek help please?

[TANV]

1 hour ago, Wilko said:

An old man here, helping to sort years worth of Lego. Need help identifying a small number of Minifigures, is this the place to seek help please?

This place can help to an extent.  Your best bet would be to try Brickset or BrickLink.

https://www.bricklink.com/

https://brickset.com/

 

[Bold-Arrow]

1 hour ago, Wilko said:

An old man here, helping to sort years worth of Lego. Need help identifying a small number of Minifigures, is this the place to seek help please?

you can start a thread and post pics, you will find people are more than willing to help 

[gmpirate]

I haven’t used it but my sister uses a google app where she takes a picture of it and then gives you results.