My story

[JaredSP]

So a week ago my wife and i decided we wanted a project to do for the upcoming weekend and we randomly stumbled upon a lego set. We were on lego.com and found the largest set was the tower bridge. So i hopped on amazon and bought it because im a prime member. It arrived and then saturday came along and we got to work. We were done around midnight, we basically built non stop until we were done and we had a great time. Now we used to do large jigsaw puzzles together 3000+ pieces but we had more fun building the bridge. Its now Sunday and i decide to look and see if there are other lego sets similar in size or even larger for us to do and thats when i came across this whole world i didnt know existed. The lego collectors world feels so big and so intimidating and confusing to me. For us we just want to build it because we loved the time we spent together building. So i saw that other sets of similar stature were the taj majal and some star wars stuff really about it. There really arent many of this scale. Now those large ones that i just mentioned are in the $1000+ range and hard to find and stuff and that seems really ridiculous to me. We arent collectors we just want to build them. I can afford to spend $1000 and buy the taj majal but then we build it in a few days and now what? Maybe display it for a little while, maybe pack it back up in the box, who knows. We just want something fun/challenging to build as a couple. In doing some searching ive come across the Kinex sets. Those seems fun too but im not sure thats the kind of stuff we want to build. Im here looking for help, answers to questions and maybe some ideas. So here come my questions for you experts here on the forum. So we bought this tower bridge and for now were going to display it for a little while but i suspect eventually it will find its way back into the box. Whats the best way for me to re-box it and keep it so that if i did want to resell it i wouldnt lose too much value? When it comes to my next purchase ive put a few bids in on ebay on a few sets. The taj majal, the carousel, Eiffel tower. Is there something i should be keeping a look out for when buying these sets so that im not paying top dollar for a set thats not worth it. Remember my plan is to build it, im not a collector? Are there sets out there that im unaware of that we might enjoy building? Are there other company's or other similar types of things for us to build that we might enjoy that you guys know of? I really look forward to speaking with some of you to discuss my situation. Thanks Everyone for reading Jared

[stephen_rockefeller]

Hey Jared, Crazy how LEGOS appreciate in value huh? I think there is a good mix of people on here who either solely invest like myself and people like you who build as well, while you dont invest right now, I think its something to look into eventually, if nothing else just to support your future building purchases. All the huge sets are well known, its not like there is a huge set hiding somewhere out there that no of us know about. If you are into Star Wars there are some fun, big builds, The Super Star Destroyer, The Death Star, R2 D2 and a lot more. The Modular line are big builds as well and will go nice with your Tower Bridge. Another idea would be to get a large amount of bulk bricks and create something. Like I said I don't build but I pay atention here and other sites that discuss builds. In my opinion there is no reason to spend all that money on a Taj Mahal just to build it, but that is only my opinion. You cant really put a price on quality time with the wifey, so if you think you two will enjoy building it and you have the money by all means go for it. The Statue of Liberty is a big build was well but like the Taj Mahal will cost you some dough! I hope this helps a little and I am sure other members will offer their thoughts and opinions. As for re selling sets after you build them, keep the box in good shape, make you you account for all the peices. most re sellers just package the peices in zip lock bags, not sure if there is a certain bagging method, maybe some else on here would know. If you have the money to spend, which it sounds like you do. I would buy 2 of all the sets you want to build, which some people on here do. One to build and one to keep MISB (mint in sealed box) to invest! I have a feeling as you get more into this site you will want to become an investor.

[JaredSP]

Another thing i thought of and idk if its real. People that make their own builds and stuff, does anyone release like blueprints for custom builds. Where then i can go buy lots of loose legos and build. Or is there a site where people can rent it for like a week and return it, if not there should be. like if someone has the taj majal on this site and wants to rent it to me for two weeks id pay like $100 easily to do that.

[stephen_rockefeller]

Another thing i thought of and idk if its real. People that make their own builds and stuff, does anyone release like blueprints for custom builds. Where then i can go buy lots of loose legos and build. Or is there a site where people can rent it for like a week and return it, if not there should be. like if someone has the taj majal on this site and wants to rent it to me for two weeks id pay like $100 easily to do that.

Ha ha ha I doubt anyone would rent you their Taj, as its quite a treasure in the AFOL world. You can always get decent sized lots of loose bricks on Ebay and you can also get intructions on some custom builds. There are other sites to get bulk bricks but I not sre the names.

[Ed Mack]

Hi Jared...Welcome to the site. Breaking down your questions into a couple of main topics... The best way to keep the value of a used LEGO set high is to take good care of the LEGO box and instructions. Keep them dry and from being crushed, ripped or damaged in any way. No tape on the box is a good suggestion. Keep all the pieces in zip-loc bags. From an quality and interesting build standpoint, do you like STAR WARS? If you do, the Ultimate Collector's Series sets are great... R2-D2, Super Star Destroyer, Imperial Shuttle, any of the Death Stars, Star Destroyer, Darth Maul, Yoda, etc.. If you like structures, Stephen's suggestion of the Modular Buildings(Town Hall, Pet Shop, Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium) is a great idea. You can buy all of them and make a complete town block. There are other large sets as previously mentioned, but they are pricey. What you can do...and this leads to your last question about renting, is to actually buy used larger and pricier sets, like the Statue of Liberty and Taj Mahal, on EBAY, build them and resell them a couple of weeks later for the same price. You'll have to pay a commission to EBAY for this sale, but consider that your rental fee. Hope that helps...

[cbaker1974]

If you do eventually get into the modulars, there are a few sites on the web that have instructions for custom builds

http://www.brickcitydepot.com/

http://www.brickbuilderspro.com/

Fully Brick Models is a seller on ebay who sells them also:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/fbmodels/m.html?item=290786488049&pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item43b439aef1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

[bnb123]

http://www.legolease.com/ Rent the LEGO Set you want. Not sure how it works, but it might be just right for you guys.

[tigereyes5811]

What you can also do is pick a Theme that you like and buy all the sets and spend a weekend building them and displaying them. Another theme you might be interested in is the Architecture Theme. They have a Set called the Robie House and that is a 2,276 piece set. You can pick up all of the famous land marks and build them. The Building Modulars will definitely keep you busy if you pick them all up. Especially the Town Hall for the price. Good Luck on your search and whatever you decide to do. If you have any questions just ask Ed. He's better then Google. Lol

[JaredSP]

Thanks everyone for all your responses. Everyone was very helpful. So we kind of decided we want to go in the direction of building a town sort of. We are big disney fans and we came across a guy that recreated different Disney rides/attractions and we would love to be able to do something like that. I emailed the guy that created it and im awaiting a response. For now i bought the r2d2 and the harry potter diagon alley because we are also big potter fans. If anyone has any input on us building our own Disney rides and such please msg me or post here. Random question. Where is the best/cheapest place to buy loose lego bricks for us to just build with on our own? I see different listings on ebay but i dont know what price is fair or what i should be looking for in general. Thanks again everyone

[cbaker1974]

On eBay about $5 per lb or less would be considered a good deal. Craigslist and yard sales are probably the cheapest options for bulk bricks of mixed parts. For specialized parts you'll want to use bricklink...or if you are near a Lego store visit the Pick a Brick wall.