10214 - Tower Bridge

[gregpj]

"My MOC is bigger than your MOC."

 

If you're making money or see that the sets you own are appreciating in value, then your investment strategy is working for you. It's funny, I think if people read emazers post properly, they'd realize he didn't go out and say buy it yesterday at full retail. He's using coupons for a discount... He already has some stocked up (presumably some were gotten for great deals)... He's hoping for a further sale later this year. But in typical "I'm right you're wrong" attitudes found all over forums on the internet... <insert holier than thou speech here.>

 

I appreciate the info emazers, thanks.

 

Personally I don't think I'll have any more capital to invest any time soon (renovating older homes is expensive) and I'm more of a long-term investor so I won't flip the sets I currently have to reinvest. If the opportunity to buy more SSDs, Tower Bridges or Fire Brigades arise, then so be it. Otherwise, I'm happy with where I sit.

[cambridge02138]

I could have bought 3 arkhams for 360 from amazon at that last sale, put them in storage for two years, then made 300 in profit. Or, I could buy 3 helms deeps at clearance for 300, and sell them in january for 240 profit. That's why eol dates are important. If you have the capital to do both, then by all means, please do. I had to choose one or the other. The quicker I make a profit, the sooner I can roll that money into a more expensive, less discounted set. If I buy a tower bridge with my helms deep profits, then i can afford to let it sit for years without worrying about the purchase price eating into my start up capital.

 

Well said, Diabolos80.  

[Damnation666]

With all due respect, Damnation666,

Emazers has provided far more useful information than you have.  While EOL dates might not be as useful as deal details, EOL dates are still useful.  If you come across great deals on amazon, walmart, kmart, etc., please do post them.  Again, Emazers has provided far more useful information than you have.  Knocking members who have consistently provided good advice (e.***., Emazers) is unwarranted.

This is not about emazers.  This is about EOL dates and buying sets way before EOL dates at a discount.  Many here will pass on a great deal because a set is not near EOL.  You are blinded by EOL dates.  All I'm saying is that there are other factors that are more important than EOL dates.  I feel very confident in my choices a year ago in buying the SSDs and Tower Bridges at a discount.  If the sets are not discounted again, then I made a wise choice.  If they are, then maybe I could have put the money to work elsewhere. See my point?  The EOL date will not cause me to lose 25% of my investment, only LEGO, Amazon or another retailer discounting a set could do that.  

[gregpj]

Premature speculation But my wife says it happens to a lot of guys...

 

"Premature Speculator" ... The next "member award?"

[stackables]

Still need HH.  Sale please come again soon

[c666187]

This is not about emazers.  This is about EOL dates and buying sets way before EOL dates at a discount.  Many here will pass on a great deal because a set is not near EOL.  You are blinded by EOL dates.  All I'm saying is that there are other factors that are more important than EOL dates.  I feel very confident in my choices a year ago in buying the SSDs and Tower Bridges at a discount.  If the sets are not discounted again, then I made a wise choice.  If they are, then maybe I could have put the money to work elsewhere. See my point?  The EOL date will not cause me to lose 25% of my investment, only LEGO, Amazon or another retailer discounting a set could do that.  

 

I have not heard anyone say that they would pass on a great deal since the item is not close to EOL, that is something that you have fabricated in your mind. Maybe your wording was simply confusing..

 

I think that the majority of people here would buy any lego set that was a great deal, regardless of EOL.

[ExoBro94]

I appreciate the info emazers, thanks.

[Teebo542]

I was wondering what you guys would invest in, the Super Star Destroyer or the Tower Bridge with Helms Deep?  Similar costs, is it worth getting two sets heading out fairly soon vs. one set?  Also, has anyone played that TRU facebook game to earn coupons?  Curious if it is worth it.  Thanks

[buddytheelf]

TB/HD combo: You are diversifying and limiting your downside while keeping the same upside.  In fact, you may be increasing your upside: an expensive set like SSD might take longer to double in price b/c there are relatively few people willing to shell out 800 on a set.

[Ed Mack]

While many LEGO sets will go on sale multiple times, many sets do not and of those, a lot are discounted early in their retail life cycle.  EOL dates are important to people with limited funds and/or space for the most part.  To someone like myself, I will look for the best deal then pull the trigger, regardless of EOL dates or speculation.  In my mind, I win at this game if I can buy a set well below MSRP, but my method does not work for everyone.  emazers information is welcome and interesting, but as others have stated, there are other factors that might be more important depending on your investment strategy.

 

As I always stated, there are many, many ways to make money in LEGO investing...both short and long term.

[emes]

Thanks emazers for the useful info, as always.

 

It's amusing on here how some people speak as if there's one best strategy for buying and selling LEGO or anything that generates secondary market profits. There's not....there are as many ways as there are people on this site to make money at buying and selling items in a secondary market. Different people are better at different approaches, and ultimately one person might take different approaches with different themes or items.

 

EOL information is valuable to me. All things held equal, if I know a set is near EOL and I can acquire it at a discount, then I'm likely to buy that set as opposed to putting my money into other options that are further away from EOL. This is because to me time is an important consideration, and investing in something closer to EOL is a more efficient way for me to hit my desired rate of return more quickly. If I can hold something for a shorter period of time, and more quickly generate my desired return, then that's what I'm going to do. I'm also likely to use EOL information as an indicator of what I will likely see discounted in a retail situation.

 

I've said this before as well, but it's worth repeating. My personal focus is to never worry about the raw dollar amount returned on any buy/sell transaction. Rather, I focus on the percentage return and I have a target that I expect to hit or exceed for every thing that I buy/sell. Personally, if I generate $3 on a $10 investment, I've achieved the same percentage return as earning $30 on a $100 investment. To make serious money as a picker you learn pretty quickly that this is a volume business, and you have to do many transactions at a sustainable rate of return to generate significant revenue.

 

I also don't particularly care if I buy something at a discount or not, as long as I can generate my desired rate of return in a reasonable amount of time. While it's great to get a discount, and it makes life easier, it's not absolutely necessary to get a discount to achieve sustainable and significant profits in secondary markets. In fact, my wife just purchased about 200 non-LEGO items at retail which will easily sell for a 30-50% return within about a 6 month period.

[Grolim]

Tough choice!  Get both!  I don't think you'll go wrong with either option.  But the TB/HD might be slightly faster to appreciate.

[Grolim]

Thank you once again for the info emazers.

 

All information that has a decent level of accuracy is valuable and any serious Lego investor knows this.  EOL dates, Sales info, pricing history, release dates, stock levels, comparative set data, theme data, long term averages, etc etc.  All have weight in investment decision making.

 

What an individual investor decides to do with that info will often be different, as it should be, for many reasons.  But there is no doubt that increased access to any of that information is a good thing.  There is no perfect future investing strategy, but there are many right ones.

[Anakinisvader]

Thanks emazers for the useful info, as always.

 

It's amusing on here how some people speak as if there's one best strategy for buying and selling LEGO or anything that generates secondary market profits. There's not....there are as many ways as there are people on this site to make money at buying and selling items in a secondary market. Different people are better at different approaches, and ultimately one person might take different approaches with different themes or items.

 

EOL information is valuable to me. All things held equal, if I know a set is near EOL and I can acquire it at a discount, then I'm likely to buy that set as opposed to putting my money into other options that are further away from EOL. This is because to me time is an important consideration, and investing in something closer to EOL is a more efficient way for me to hit my desired rate of return more quickly. If I can hold something for a shorter period of time, and more quickly generate my desired return, then that's what I'm going to do. I'm also likely to use EOL information as an indicator of what I will likely see discounted in a retail situation.

 

I've said this before as well, but it's worth repeating. My personal focus is to never worry about the raw dollar amount returned on any buy/sell transaction. Rather, I focus on the percentage return and I have a target that I expect to hit or exceed for every thing that I buy/sell. Personally, if I generate $3 on a $10 investment, I've achieved the same percentage return as earning $30 on a $100 investment. To make serious money as a picker you learn pretty quickly that this is a volume business, and you have to do many transactions at a sustainable rate of return to generate significant revenue.

 

I also don't particularly care if I buy something at a discount or not, as long as I can generate my desired rate of return in a reasonable amount of time. While it's great to get a discount, and it makes life easier, it's not absolutely necessary to get a discount to achieve sustainable and significant profits in secondary markets. In fact, my wife just purchased about 200 non-LEGO items at retail which will easily sell for a 30-50% return within about a 6 month period.

In the immortal words of Hollywood Hulk Hogan: "Amen Brother".

[brandon90820]

This is not about emazers.  This is about EOL dates and buying sets way before EOL dates at a discount.  Many here will pass on a great deal because a set is not near EOL.  You are blinded by EOL dates.  All I'm saying is that there are other factors that are more important than EOL dates.  I feel very confident in my choices a year ago in buying the SSDs and Tower Bridges at a discount.  If the sets are not discounted again, then I made a wise choice.  If they are, then maybe I could have put the money to work elsewhere. See my point?  The EOL date will not cause me to lose 25% of my investment, only LEGO, Amazon or another retailer discounting a set could do that.  

I don't like buying at a discount when the sets have an easy 2 years left in them (example=Amazon Arkham sale) because for the same $ you could buy another set that is retiring and in 2 years could be making you a lot instead of saving a little now to make that little back later. Buying close to EOL yields faster return that can be put into more sets. Sitting on a set that was bought on discount early in its life will make you an extra $50 or whatever it was discounted when u do sell it and your % will look better for that set, but in the same time you could have bought a set sold it, and bought another set. I think it is just preference; people have different strategies on investing and that suit their $ and space needs.

[ExoBro94]

I personally will be passing on the Fire Brigade as an investment. I just want one to start my modular collection. I will however, be picking up a Tower Bridge for investment purposes. 

[Quacs]

I will (almost) always buy Exclusives if they are discounted significantly. To damnation's point, if Palace Cinema were to be discounted tomorrow at $120, I would purchase two. If I saw the the Police Station with a discount, I would likely pass. Non-exclusives are, for the most part, easier to get on BOGO or discounted on Amazon.

[kerrmando]

All that I will say is that ALL information regarding sets is helpful in Lego investing. I bought quite a few of each of these sets on sale, and I'll buy quite a few more of each of them before they retire, and I'll be happy. 

 

Any information that any member wants to pass on is good! But insulting others investment types is retarded. I use both investment strategies mentioned above. For me its not usually about how much money I can make, its more about how much I like the set. There are sets that I own that I could 500% profit on. However, I like them and no one gets sets I like >_<

 

so whatever floats your boat, let my hippy guy make you all chill

[Snowcrash]

Thanks for the info Ed.  I'm not shocked to see any of these sets finally hitting retirement, it's been a long time for all of them.  Any word on the Sopwith Camel, GE, VW Camper, or Pet Shop?

 

Every investor has to craft his or her own strategy.  This forum is very useful for sharing information, but in the end we all have to go our own way and decide what our particular risk tolerances are.  Just like in every other investment

 

I, for one, will try to pick up a few more of each of these sets over the next few weeks since I think even at full retail all three will return well above the Lego market average in the next few months.  I will not, however, be panic buying every SSD/Tower Bridge/etc. I can lay my hands on.  They're all big and bulky, and I'm not totally convinced that I'll see a significantly better return on any of them then I will on HDs/VCs which I'm finding in abundance on clearance locally.  I just want a few of each in my portfolio in case one of them happens to be the next big hit down the road.  That's my strategy, it may not work for everyone but even I don't have unlimited money and space to devote to this investment...

[Sauromosis]

Given the number of false rumors, I don't think anyone can say it's obvious when a set will retire.  Thanks very much for this post emazers, I will act accordingly.

[Legolanche]

I'm new to this but am thinking of picking up 2-3 SSDs if the signs of retirement are true.

 

2 to break even on the 1 (given time).  3 if I want to break even on other Lego stuff.  This goes with the assumption that it'll be worth at least twice as much within a year or two.  Being a n00b I'm not confident.  The SSD isn't nearly as iconic as the SD which would have been a given.  But I still think it'll do pretty well.

 

As for city and creator stuff I haven't researched much about them yet.

[ExoBro94]

I'm new to this but am thinking of picking up 2-3 SSDs if the signs of retirement are true.

 

2 to break even on the 1 (given time).  3 if I want to break even on other Lego stuff.  This goes with the assumption that it'll be worth at least twice as much within a year or two.  Being a n00b I'm not confident.  The SSD isn't nearly as iconic as the SD which would have been a given.  But I still think it'll do pretty well.

 

As for city and creator stuff I haven't researched much about them yet.

 

I honestly don't think the SSD will double at that pace...

[Veegs]

I honestly don't think the SSD will double at that pace...

I'll second that.  While I do see growth, I'd be suprised to see it double that quickly...but I am very conservative in my analysis by nature.  I like to pleasantly surprised when my investments exceed my expectations!

[janedoe]

So if I told you the SSD would go on sale for $300 tomorrow and go EOL next year, would that cause you to buy one tomorrow if you were planning on buying one or would you wait to get a better deal 8-12 months from now and risk losing a 25% off sale?  Well that situation happened last year and many chose to wait and they will never get that deal again.  Point is, if the set is a good deal, the EOL date is unimportant, buy the set early and wait.  If you bought this set last year, you already made money if the set never goes on sale again, $100(on $400 invested) in fact.

 

Having EOL dates is great, but the people who buy sets at the proper price and sell them right before a set plateaus are the ones who make money.

 

I'd gladly bet on trying to get a discount on a set that shows or is near EOL, and as late as possible before they completely disappear from retail shelves, as opposed to stocking up on a new discounted set that likely has 2 years before EOL.

 

Glad I waited on the Technic Motorized Excavator when they were $140 each from TRU. Although it was almost a month later that they all began disappearing, which I would have no qualms picking up at retail price, it was a guarantee gain in the shortest amount of time.

[Jackson]

There are sets that I own that I could 500% profit on. However, I like them and no one gets sets I like >_<

 

 

What sets?