Future Marine looking into Long Term Investment

[Veegs]

I'd stick with the biggest possible sets given your circumstances - the Sopwith Camel and T1 are great, but if space for boxes is an issue and/or you aren't looking to make lots of (eventual) transactions, the most expensive sets will likely be a good match for you.  I'd like to believe that the SSD and DS will be retired in five years.  I'd like to believe it....

 

I think it will take a huge UCS set from the new films to force TLG to retire them, though, so a lot of speculation.

 

Modulars seem to be the best bet, especially if your window is five years.  I'd be willing to bet heavily the GE, Pet Store and Town Hall won't make it five years, and even though the FB is heavily owned it is still doing alright post-EOL. 

[Mos_Eisley]

Orthantic is an awesome set, I.think it will be a huge winner and maybe even a sleeper but it's still new so your return might range longer then say r2d2 who has almost made its 2.year mark

The Orthantic is probably a sleeper, Orthanc is not.

[holleman67]

The Orthantic is probably a sleeper, Orthanc is not.

Op knew what I was talking about...and that set isn't talked about much from what i see

[TeenyTinyTokyo]

Well, based on all the research I've been doing (which is excessive, I assure you) plus I've gotten to talk to a lot of hardcore collectors in the course of my job as you might imagine, it seems like the sets I need to be focusing on should be exclusive (preferably), have a ton of display value, and a certain aspect of collectability if at all possible. Orthanc is on my maybe list because of the minifigs, and the definite display value of the tower - although it probably will be last on my list if I buy it all, it actually doesnt sell that well in my store and I'd hazard to assume that if a set isn't popular in life, it won't be in death. 

I already have acquired Tower Bridge for my investment plan, next up with be Sopwith and VW I think (my store's starting to run low on them, I'd hate to miss an opportunity because I couldn't make a decision) Then I think I'll do GE, Pet Shop, and R2D2 depending on how my funds look. I'm definitely looking at picking up Architecture Studio while it's back in stock, if it ends up being discontinued and multiplying in price as it was a few months ago, I think it may be worth a look. What do you guys think? I'm thinking Winter Village only if I decide to be diligent enough to continue collecting holiday sets in the future, so that one may end up getting pushed off the wagon if funds get low.

[allen9917]

Forget about the disney princess line and focus on the exclusives. The only thing you did not mention is the Arkham Asylum.  Yes it will not retire as soon as the GE and VW T1 camper, but five years from now it may have the largest ROI. Superhero is the gold mine and AA is the best and largest set in the theme. There is no way this set won't at least triple its MSRP a few years after EOL. No way. You will regret if you don't have a couple of these 5 years later. 

[remy1492]

Good luck. Im sure dallas will tell you lots. I left my SoCal home for USAF pilot training in TX and am still away 15yrs later.

1. Invest in TSP and 5k/yr in a Vanguard Roth IRA every paycheck before buying legos. While deployed etc you wont have to think about it. In fact set up a Vanguard targeted index fund 2060 retirement fund now so your first paycheck starts funding it. Then put at leadt %5 into TSP.

2.as for legos. I left a lot of my guns toys etc with my parents. PCSing loses stuff. My movers have trashed and stolen a lot of stuff over several moves. youll be away and out and about with little time or space to store or handle large boxes of stuff. Most young guys own what they can fit in the trunk of a car and for good reason.

if i want to buy anything long term only to sell later, i ship it to moms. And i sell it on ebay when i take leave and go home.

(Mom did put a $5k helmet collection in an outside storage that mice ate into. Lost it all. And since then my mom doesnt move my stuff and forget)

So use the parents house but make sure they know its not garage sale fodder. As for kits...

id buy 1million chima speedorz :-)