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Here are some pics of my Winter Village display. Those of you with WV scenes will recognize them. And yes, this is the display with the "Where's Waldo?" Gingerbread Man. it appears he is in one pic here - can you tell which one? I apologize ahead of time for the bad lighting in my dining room. The Winter Village Cottage and Post Office square Winter Carnival square Bakery and Toy Shop square Here are some vignettes from the Display: Puppy Love Music Echoes through the square Training the dog Fun in the Snow with Dad Cat Fight!

Wow, this sounds like a really spectacular way to conduct your business. And anyone wonders why they may take steps to stop this behavior, like scratching out barcodes?

The customs officals actually did call me about one of the packages I sent him claiming gift for a crawler. They were confused, but I told them to check this thread---at only $450, it WAS a gift! I hope they get up to a grand in a couple years, and he cleans house. I like to see people win!

Wow...am I exhausted. Took the day off work because I couldn't keep up with sales and shipping, plus get to all the sales I wanted to...and needed to arrange the 300 sets that were delivered over the last week or so. Whelp 2 out of 3 ain't bad as they say. Caught up with the shipping and hit a bunch of sales....but house is still a disaster. Had to call ebay for a limit raise---just like frog warned....didn't think I would hit the selling limit so fast---it was ridiculous. Spent almost an hour on hold getting limit raised from 5 to 8k a month---and I am nearly at the 8k now--with no recourse until mid January. First time I have read the site today---12 hours of shopping and shipping today. And I loved it all! I am in this for the long haul now. I love the hunt, the sale, and thrive on pack and ship. Dealing with idiots on ebay is painful. I'll post the messages I got if I can still retrieve them..and I snapped a few photos while I was out...but forgot to take a couple I will have to relay verbally. I'll post a few pics....but highlights: Tons of jets and technic trucks and cranes and Gotham bats were bought. Anyone ever notice the uncanny nature of how many tru are right near Wendy's!? Found a 2013 advent Star Wars Found 4 ripped open and reseated sets with missing pieces labels selling for above retail. Cars legos everywhere and even Pharos quest and Atlantis were found. New lord and hobbit are everywhere and stacked deep, as well as man bat. The box art on lotr sets will sell them alone...same with new city sets..some are impeccable box art New skylanders wave is expected Monday. Jolly bumble blast was out though--snagged some of them. Oh--and the minifigure sets were on the regular shelf not priced from back in oct. I had no interest so didn't ask...but there was a lot...of only one set though..forget which The pictures: Wendy's RIGHT across from tru. All package pictures were separate stacks and all OUTbound for once! Hulk was opened and missing pieces for 69! Box was destroyed on side and back. I think I found the last 2013 Star Wars calendar in the wild today. Also hit 4 walmarts. Destroyed! Nothing of value left, shelves empty.

When I want to build a set I buy it used. Sell your last new one and buy it used for 50-75% of cost. Why pay more just for opening the box?

Wow---you should have rolled your profit into an english comp class at your local community college.

It is solipsism to think one's own personal preferences actually matter when it comes to something the size of this market. As an investor you have to divorce yourself from personal preferences and subjective thinking. The market believes Fire Brigade is the best Lego set ever and it will preform as such after EOL. Despite being out four years, despite being bought and cherished by tens of thousands it will be a set that performs as well if not better than other retired modular. I believe the popularity and widespread appeal scared a lot of investors from hording this set en masse, and that will prove itself out immediately after retirement. I like the BWing. I have three, bought two half off on May the Fourth. It will slowly appreciate as a lot of EOL Lego does but it will come nowhere close to the numbers Fire Brigade or some of the EOL Superheroes stuff will show.

I think the question marks you left out were: 3. Hide from wife. 4. Build half the sets for fun.

Here's how this site works. 1. Click on posted links. 2. Buy 20-30 of each set. 3. ?? 4. ?? 5. Profit!

One good thing to come out of this is I've been able to add a new person to my ignore list and no longer have to page through their nonsense.

There's no doubt the FB is a fantastic set and what it will increase rapidly in value over the next decade. However you make it sound as if the Bwing is awful. It's still a good investment in my opinion. While I agree that Lego city has a massive following, the Star Wars theme still has tons of sets that have increased significantly in value, even if it's following is small (which I believe it is a lot bigger than you think). As 'do not insert' said, it all depends on the person, it's unfair to generalize in the manner that you are.

Thats generalizing - I have plenty of other themed lego sets, including a modular and a TB. Your same argument can be applied for someone who doesn't care as much about modular and city because I go and see that stuff outside my house everyday. I dont remember the last time I walked down the street and saw a B-wing, or the Tower of Orthanc, or Hogwarts

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-profits-what-people-dont-understand-2013-10

Yea, Pirate wants his spot back. I kid, I kid.

To me, a properly done Sandcrawler would mean that it can actually hold at least 3 Jawa sized humans inside.

Why leave now? You have been upsetting people for 2 days in this thread. Lol

The 10% Percent is good this Saturday, just seen the sale paper, thats if you are using the Toys R US Credit card.

Capitalism at its finest level

I have sold 9/10 imperial flagships... i cant seem to let that last one go. A part of me is this set is F***ing amazing and i need to build it while the other side is 500$ to invest in more legos. Also this was my first lego investment ever so i might have a "personal" attachment

Right, let's all rip off the LEGO store whenever possible. As long as it's for a good cause, it's ok.

Or more desirable ? How many of those boxes were marked personally by the LEGO employees ? Those are now special edition boxes

There is no right or wrong answer and all investing is a gamble as to what the future will hold, you use your knowledge, experience and information you have access to to change the odds more in your favor. Typically once a set is retired it will have a spike in price, then will slowly increase in price for 3-5 years. At which point most sets fall out of demand, why? maybe the theme is old and boring, maybe new pieces or colors have been released making that old set undesirable, in the case of themes like HP and SW sets are often reproduced like the multiple versions of the xwing, in the case of pirates and trains newer sets are bigger and better and people dont want the old sets, the santa fe was the most expensive hard to find train at one point but when the maresk train came out the santa fe dropped in value. So how long should you hold? no one has a crystal ball, but from my experience most sets are ripe for picking around 1-2 years at which point if my inventory is full i will sell to make way for new sets, i recently have cleared out many of my imperial shuttles, emerald nights, maresk trains, etc... to make room and fund purchases of LOTR and other newly retired sets, sure those older sets my appreciate more still but the profits and space was used to buy heavily discounted newly retired sets that i feel will have a significant ROI in 1-2 years. I would rather have a 100% ROI in 1-2 years than a 200% ROI in 3-5 years, sure the 200% ROI is better but in the same time period i can do multiple 100% ROI sets, so no i dont get the "peak" price of the set but thats ok because ive sold multiple sets and totaled many times more profit. Plus for those who have a nagging wife like me, i have to show her that im selling sets on a regular basis or she gets cranky and sceptical of my alternative investment strategy, often i just rearrange my boxes to make it look like ive been selling when i really havent haha.

Not on the brickfolio page but you can if you download your portfolio as an Excel file.

Thanks..That made me feel better.

I'm on the opposite side of the fence - clear winner in my mind at 50% off in the future. Perhaps part of the problem is psychological - when there are plenty on store shelves and discounts are huge investors tend to be a little wary. We ask ourselves why they aren't moving sets at this price...and some of the above posts are some good reasons. That being said, it comes from a great theme with probably at least another wave coming next year (I think Emazers said the license was until 2015) and once they dry up at retail and have been retired a year or two...

In stock at TRU.com right now. Stacks with $25 off $100 and the free Clone Liuetenant.

I also think a lot has to do with a lack of patience too. A lot of people wanting EOL like the Zombies in four months but 2 year run really is standard on normal sets. We all know it takes one person to take everything off a store shelf and how it doesn't take long to empty Amazon's inventory when we suspect a discontinuation.

Anyone not making money on the Super Heroes line is simply foolish. Sorry, but it is the truth. I read so much about how this set won't match this, this set is too small, not worth it. Licenced sets have their fan bases. Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel, DC, LOTR. The evidence is there. Sets might not rise as much as in the past, but we also have access to bulk buying more than ever. The Super Heroes line in particular is pure bank with money to be made all the way across the board. It just seems many have short attention spans to see it!

only an immature guy ignores..... if its nonsense to you you might need to rethink a few times. As for the Bwing stuff.... I will call it a success once/if it hits 400$ ..... because if it would hit i could make average money from it buying it at retail.... if it does not hit 400$ withint reasonable time frame I call it a good passing opportunity... but my views go from retail cos i never seen it on anything less in Europe where I can order.

when they were sending free speedorz with LEGO Shop at Home orders, those barcodes were sharpied too. probably so you can't return them for full retail

I see a lot of nice picks I would have chosen myself. Ah, you have the Hoth Echo Base from 2011 in there. FOUND HIM! :yahoo:

I was supposed to buy a glass case/cabinet from IKEA during BF, but they sold out! We had some of the SW ships built, but room was a factor, so we took them apart, for now... Here are sets we have been collecting and investing! Closet space is huge!

I am not posting this to gloat, I am posting it to inspire hope for everybody who wants more Hulk sets... Today I went into a Target in a relatively busy area, and there they were with rays of sunlight beaming down on them...5 Hulk's Helicarrier Breakouts. It was the exact thing I hoped to find when I stopped in. I had opened and parted out all my Hulk sets just a week or two before they officially retired, so I was a little salty about not having any. The point of all this is... they are still out there to be found. Even if a place seems unlikely, check it anyway. That's what I did today, and it paid off. Happy hunting!

It's good to see it from the lense of a comic book fan. I hope you are right. I'm a buy and hold guy with sets. Never have a perspective how a Marvel fan look at a Lego set.

You've never been to Disneyland, have you. I recall seeing Hogwarts there...

You guys STILL arguing about the bwing vs fire brigade..geez

Lol.

Please please please please! One of my favorite Star Wars vehicles. I'm not sure why that big brown pile of junk appeals to me so much.

Glad I didn't pay... But now I have three items in my "cart" and I have no idea how to delete them. He won't respond to a cancel request, so I suppose I'll have to contact ebay customer support. And yes, I started this thread. And yes, I was 60% sure this account was bogus. But a 40% chance of scoring a $160 DA was worth the hassle. Plus, he did have good feedback for selling Lego. Hopefully everyone else is getting their money back as easily as Terry did.

Bwing ima let you finish but Fire Brigade is the greatest modular of all time.

oops, my bad. Thanks for the correction. Out of those three, Taj Mahal is the best. The playability of the Tower Bridge makes me like it more. The Eiffel Tower is just a tower. Well, unless they come up with a King Kong minifigure, put princess Leia up there, and you can reinvent your King Kong scene. Perhaps replace King Kong with Rancor or Hulk.

I must be in the minority of thinking the Fire Brigade is just an okay modular house out of all the ones Lego designed. It is nice with some good features but feels average. Green Grocer is a fancier build more up my alley and so is next year's Parisian Restaurant.

Fire Brigade is arguably the best Lego set ever. Period. Its better than Cafe Corner, better than Market Street, and better than Green Grocer. There is only two sets that compare in over all design, playability with that iconic je ne c'est quoi that makes Lego winners... and they are more than double in price and the retired one is headed for five digit gains. Fire Brigade is a monster and no matter the stockpile of FB's in closets across the globe.... it won't be enough to match demand once retired. Bwing.... meh!

Knowing my wife, I can expect my luggage out on the front door with a note that has references to good divorce attorneys. Since I did the same for thanksgiving and she was pissed.

Some of mine:

This is in the corner of my office...makes for a good conversation piece when clients come by to work with me

Posted this in the daily deals thread for today. Works out to $6 each, nice little deal. Here's pics:

So I figured if I wanted to see other people's lego displays I should post one of my own to maybe start the ball rolling. This video has pretty bad quality, it is the first video I have shot on my new phone but I think it gives a general idea. I am horribly shaky as well, it's not very smooth. I know my collection is tiny compared to many of you. I just came out of my dark ages 2 Decembers ago when I was given a little lego set as a gift and it rekindled the lego fire so I have really only been collecting a year and a couple months. I tend to focus on sets from a certain theme...usually licensed themes. I'm hoping others will post pics or video of their lego set displays. Built sets are so much more fun to look at than just shelves full of boxes! My little Lego set display https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty1WF7dvDqE