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Didnt want to talk about any LEGO set, whats retiring, F5 button pushing, DD, etc .... on this milestone post ... Just want to give thanks to the founding fathers of this site and of course the contributing community. Over a year and a half ago when I stumbled upon this site I didnt think I would be where Im at today with LEGO investing. Crazy is all I can say!! Cheers to many many more posts and a profitable LEGO investing venture!

I've been attending the BrickCon Public Expo in Seattle for years, but had never displayed my models before or participated in the longer 4-day Private Convention. I just completed an in-depth write-up that goes "behind the scenes" at one of the largest and oldest LEGO conventions for AFOL's. Some of my highlights: Seeing large LEGO models get re-assembled was really interesting. I loved playing the LEGO games like the "Blind Build" shown here. Displaying my models for the first time to the Public was really cool. As always, there were impressive new models on display at the Public Exhibition. LINK TO LONGER ARTICLE AND MORE PHOTOS: http://tomalphin.com/2014/10/brickcon_2014_behind_the_scenes.html I hope you find this behind the scenes look at BrickCon to be interesting. If you got to attend too, what was your highlight from the show? Sincerely, ---tom

so they help you get ready for halloween to go out trick or treating?

Hi. I'm back. Interesting tax discussion, but I feel that my thread got derailed as a result, so please post tax advice elsewhere. Thanks! How am I doing with the selling? Well, I avoided selling for a few months, but put about 40 sets on eBay the other day. 5 have sold so far (3 Batman sets, 1 Ninjago and a Chima CHI Temple). The profit is not huge (

I don't care that you are at your target and done with this set. I think your analysis that there is still plenty of time left to get this set is completely inaccurate though. Certainly there has been scattered availability across multiple retailers but this trickle of remaining stock has been depleted almost instantly and even shop at home has been sitting in sold out status for nearly a month. Sets that will continue being produced almost never do that. The signs have been pointing to this one being effectively (not officially) retired at this point.

Yoda is looking rather pink today... http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=3947-1

I think he was doing his best Emazers impression....

I'm not too impressed with this set. I do like how the scattered skeleton pieces can complete a full mini-figure.

Oh yeah, definitely. With the rate of exclusives being announced especially in the year 2014 its obvious they will stop rhe bad ass sets. What about the Tumbler then, or the Sandcrawler...or the Slave I, or Volvo front loader? Whatever the percentage is, AFOL have the cash to buy those amazing sets... LMAO! At last someone whose brain hasnt melted of all the pages populated with spam... Funny thing is.... i've been working and still do business with some of the largest OEMs in the auto business. Sometimes, actually quite often decisions are based on personal view or pure human politics inside the company. Certain people at the top have the political weight to swing things however they like, just because they want to...regardless of being right or wrong. Having these examples in front of me and seeing what happens with the TH there could be thousand of different reasons as to why this set had a shorter life... The majority here are over thinking and filling the forum with cluless speculation like old pensioners sitting on a bench and discussing the politics in a small town in the middle of the Italian countryside...

I haven't read this whole thread, but it seems like everyone is speculating that TLG may be doing away with AFOL sets altogether simply because TH is retiring before PS...if that is the gist of the past however many pages of this thread, that has to rank up there with one of the dumbest things that I've ever seen speculated about on this board. TH retiring before PS only means one thing...TH is retiring before PS.

So i was walking around Meijer yesterday and on the shelf were these two retired sets on the shelf. they did not have a tag or anything, they were just sitting there. I know these were not there the week prior so they must have been hidden in the stockroom or something. Any anyone experienced this before?

I hope Santa finds it in his heart to create a few more HH's for us good little boys and girls of brickpicker and gives it to Target to mail it out to us. Thank you Santa.

Rome wasn't built on a day ;)

Nope, and yesterday was 10 business days, so I sent another message to CS, who told me to resend the fax. Did that just now, waiting another 10 business days until Nov. 12, and then I'll probably get excitable and start calling everyone including the U.S. Marines.

I hear ya - I have way more stock than I ever intended to buy. Hanging around this site will do that. Even if I sell 50/100 sets a year, I have enough stock now to last a few years (assuming I don't buy more...) I've actually had some good success with City - maybe it is just me, or luck, but I got some sets at a really big discount and have been happy with the returns. Certainly not every set, but there are some with nice CAGR%s.

Hmm A remake would kill the profit imho and ed would buy the th's with pleasure... So iam not sure - i still think its not good to have more than 3 modulars @the same time

Awards Labels are mostly given on november and december, no ? Who knows, maybe you should try to explain that your life as a reseller would be better if they confirm it's retired. Lego can't stop to argue that they are very nice people.

If you don't already have all the information you are looking for, I have a little more. This is only looking at Bricklink and not Lego Pick a Brick. Brickficiency is a program that most people aren't aware of. It is a tool that can import an xml wanted list from Bricklink and calculate the lowest number of stores your list is contained in as well as cost (before shipping of course). I ran this on a parted out list for the 10185 Green Grocer including Minifigs and excluding instructions. At first I ran the tool only looking for stores in the North America. It got through 3 store combinations with no luck and 4 store combos will take HOURS to calculate. I expanded the tool to look at stores in all countries, here is what it found in 10 or so minutes before stopping the calculation. 2 Store Combo - 1 Solution Total - $1502.06 from 1 Portugal and 1 UK store 3 Store Combo - 3 Solutions Match #1 - Total $884.47 from 1 NY, USA - 1 Portugal - 1 UK (Portugal and UK are the same as in the 2 store combo) Match #2 - Total $1049.02 Match #3 - Total $1479.58 4 Store Combo - 2 Solutions Match #1 - Total $847.03 from 1 NY, USA - 1 OR, USA - 1 Portugal - 1 UK (NY, Portugal and UK are the same as in the 3 store combo) Match #2 - Total $881.01 There may be better combos if you let the tool run all day. And as many have already mentioned if you substitute out some of the more expensive parts (1x8 Sand Green) with smaller parts it could cut the cost greatly. That 1x8 in the Match #1 of 3 stores was running $3.55 each, x 50 = $177.50. The 1x2 Sand Green w/ Groove is also a larger cost at $184.24. There is nothing really to get around that part. Those two parts are making up for 42% of your cost. Seeing as you can get a used set starting around $650, finding all the exact parts isn't worth it. (BL pricing) Hope this info helps.

Buy exclusives. They will retire and be worth more money afterwards. You can quote me on that.

Got my 79017 which in reality was 79015. With prime I asked for replacements for both and sending other 2 back. We will see what happens .

Just got a call from my local Intertoys.. they have 2 factory cases TH for me in stock, can pick them up tonight at a 15% discount!

Yes, because this one has been so readily available since it sold out from shop at home, right? I mean it's been coming in stock for all of 2 minutes at a time and some of the orders are getting cancelled. It's only selling for $100+ over retail on eBay in less than a month after going to sold out status. But don't worry, you still have plenty of time left to get these. Just make sure you're at your computer all day and night or you have a super script to check stock 24/7

R2 is certainly always going to have some popularity, it's very displayable & cross platform-able to non-Lego enthusists. but collectors horde it so there will be allot of MISBs always floating around much like the SSD. (same as the sandcrawler) Don't count out the X-wing, it's been rehashed several times & has been around for awhile BUT if the UCS Tie fighter does make an appearance it's a natural paring that will likely payoff. EV is a play set! - it's nearly irresistible to just break open & build (soo many interesting bits & builds) - this one will have a lesser volume of MISB remaining after it's run so this one is where the money might be hiding. (same as Death Star)

If you truly think this (I don't think you do) then it would be completely ridiculous of you to stay in this business. You should Sell off off your stock and jump ship if you think this way (you don't).

Touch

Oh, how we miss the Frito's Chili Cheese Wrap

Good catch. I made sure I had the correct one of the two but didn't look at the years available.

Yes. My Tower of Ornthac was on backordered status yesterday and says "please contact customer service" today with complete/cancelled next to the item. I think there's something wrong with their website as all my previous shipped orders now say "in process". Also, Santa's workshop has completely disappeared from the site.

DS R2 Sandcrawler B- Wing X -Wing or just buy them all lol

According to this link there should be two #3 and two #5. I don't have any first hand experience to confirm.

Big Zoo Duplo set

LOL That, too! I hope everyone who missed out on HH was able to pick one (or a few) up.

I am half inclined to give up on this losing battle for one and just wait for the prices to plummet after halloween. I would gladly pay $220.

FINALLY! In for 4 (1, then back for 3). Hopefully won't be dinged up. It's ironic, was refreshing all day at work. Had all info ready. Then I when it was actually available, I was on my phone and had to re enter all my info, all while getting a plate for supper! Was for sure it would poof while I did that. Crossing my fingers on good packaging!

I am not familiar enough with Best Offer to advise on that part of it, but, yes, wait for payment. IF the payment comes through in three pieces and eBay gives you three different reference numbers, you will need to ship in three separate packages. If the payment comes through in one payment and eBay gives you one "ship now" reference number, you will package them together.

I think another one is coming out next year, with a bigger bell and sound brick.

Here was my last build. It was a challenge but in the end it was worth it

I took advantage of the shopko bogo40 and 20% off coupon today and came home with the following Benny's Spaceship x 10 @ $67.51/each. Cloud Cuckoo Palace x 8 @ $13.49/each. Captain America vs Hydra x 6 @ $13.49/each. Man-Bat Attack x 2 @ $13.49/each. All prices are after tax and were made in store. Discounts equate to 36% off retail. Not the greatest, but not too bad either. I don't have any of these sets yet. The Benny's and Cuckoos will be for Christmas flipping. The super hero sets will be held long term.

Dunno. But if yours make that noise, you should call a plumber or eat less rice and more fibre.

Two thumbs Up!...again. nice work ufema....as always. still love the minifig back to front builds! Who's going to create the custom UFEMA Cinema modular where the lego build movies are shown? I'm thinking that ufema needs his own thread/section where you can click on a set from a list and watch the build.

Ordered Parisian Restaurant today. Will build it next weekend. All because of people posting here how great it is. Hate you guys... Could have spent the money on an extra TH

How many kids errrrrrrr disguises do you have?

As a mere Plebian, my heart is broken and filled with humility at the cost of your Martyrdom in sharing 100.00% accurate information that is above question or rational analysis. And having "only" twelve of this set is tragic as well. Others may not appreciate your prophetic brilliance- and what it has cost you- but rest assured there are those of us who do see the shinning, brilliant Truth of your missive as Biblically important.

You're biased frenchie

Just read through this thread, and for anyone that missed it- someone with the name "Bricksexpert" chimed in last year. The nice thing with that Handle is you don't have to change it a bit if joining Ashley Madison.com, etc. On topic: completely, completely unfair this set became inaccessible in the U.S. So long before it has in Europe. Please take back The Beckham's. Give us the SSD instead.

Everyone wants what they can't get

Big Lebowski pinball was revealed today. They nailed it, looks incredible. http://www.pinballnews.com/games/biglebowski/index.html

I think that - for anyone who is not from the US - the Lego investing could be extremely challenging. This is something I often think about, but after reading Gondorian's posts, I thought to share my feelings with you all. As a foreword, I am a sales executive (I am in the wine business), and I travel abroad a lot. USA is one of my most frequent destinations. This to say that I have a deep knowledge of selling techniques (and I deal with Americans a lot ). Said so, whilst I think I am an experienced "seller", I still did not figure out how to make decent and constant profits with Lego in my country (Italy). Our market is infinitesimally smaller than US market in general, and for Lego in particular. We have a plethora of unsuccesful Ebay auctions, because the lack of demand is not driving prices down to more reasonable levels. Sellers are just asking A LOT of money for sets nobody is going to buy at that price. I am not talking about the iconic sets we all know, but even smaller or more recent sets are just too expensive. Furthermore, the only and unique source of reasonable discounts (30% or more) is Amazon.it. We are missing the "crazy" (for our standards) discounts the US fellows are having almost daily. We are missing Target, Walmart, and the other big and aggressive retailers. B&M clearances do happen, but it is totally random, so, the chances of getting profit from smart buys are fairly limited. The other point is that Lego Movie in Italy was not as succesful as in other countries, and we all know this helped US sales a lot. Finally, I think that European investors should look at US investors profits, resources, storage rooms and inventories in a detached way, otherwise we would just buy too much, and sell too little. We are not selling in the US, and we have to deal with it with no regrets...just a little bit of envy I know that there are other Italians and EU members here, and I would like to hearing their opinion too. Ciao!

What Lucas never understood is that spaceships, laser swords, and bad guys with cool helmets, all that appeals to kids already. Star Wars never needed teddy bears and Jar Jar to get their attention. And even the ewoks wouldn't have been so insulting if they weren't involved in the last great battle of the trilogy. AND they kept interrupting the best duel ever filmed. Ewoks suck.