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In case it's useful I built this set not to long ago and the exact contents were: 4x1, 2x2, 2x3, 1x4, 2x5, 1x6, 2x7, 1x8, 1x9, 1x10, 1x11, 4 large tires, 2 medium tires, 8x16 flat top plate, 5 instruction books and sticker sheet

Here's my very first MOC that I just finished up. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I'm planning on making about 4-5 more different rail cars in the next few weeks and then I'm going to try my hand at building an engine.

Again? Twice in the past few months and they put out a new box this week.

Resellers that return kits because they want mint boxes cause extra burden and expense to retailers and another reason retailers ban people. I am glad you said it first because I am tired of saying it and reading about people complain mint boxes. My theory is: the only people that worry about mint boxes are resellers that worry about their marketplace feedback. I believe the end customer is not concerned about a mint box unless they are fanatical collectors. If you message me presale about wanting a mint box, I will ban you from ordering from me. I don't want the hassle.

Braniac attack at target yesterday. Saw this on the shelf!?!?!?

Maybe we should have a box condition discussion thread. Like I said before another issue with EOL buying is obtaining MISB sets, not sure when they became kits, especially if target is just recycling returns. There are other sets that are hard to get MISB in the mail like EV (due to its weight to surface area ratio) but one thing about the Tumbler it does look nice MISB with its shiny black finish. As a reseller and a collector box condition matters to me and some of my customers. I know most recently with UAHQ some international buyers were glad just to get the set and asked if shipping would be less without the box since they were going to build it. Also, I know when I am buying a set to add to my collection I always look for MISB as with time this can be a reflection on how the set was taken care of, smoke free, pet free, climate controlled, and so on. I recently added Lego Castle Giant Chess Set to my collection and payed well over $1000 for MISB knowing I was not going to build it but display it in its box. This may be an exception since the set and box have unique display qualities, but when it arrived (shipped with the utmost care and excellent packaging) it was as if I hand picked it at the Lego store myself. I am also a builder of sets but if I want to build a chess set I can just grab one of the many Pirates chess sets I just picked up on sale from LEGO Shop at Home. MISB will help differentiate your set from the hundreds of others for sale and will also help command a higher price in time. That being said I never list MISB as ones perception of Mint may be different then the others, I use "Collecters Quality" instead. I know from selling SW Black Series, amiibos, and Pops that collectors of items not intended to be opened box condition matters and these tend to be the same people that always leave feedback. There is a market for MISB Lego sets and if you want to go with dented, creased, stickered sets that is fine just make sure that is clear in your listings so you do not have to deal with those buyers. Popped seals is a different story you have to do open verified or no box.

When did 10240 and 10237 actually retire in the US? Sold out does not count as both have been there before. Once officially gone I expect things will change, both tapped almost 3 hundred at the eaely sold out status. Sea cow is sold out as well. I do think it highly unreasonable for an investor to expect 50-100% return once something goes to sold out. This place needs some perspective.

Wait until pictures of the bottom surface...

Merry Christmas! Here's my Christmas card to BP.

Actually, isn't that sort of what the Jedi did? Take small children from their families, indoctrinate them into their cult and then send them out into the universe to spread their morality and message?

The Obligatory Winter Creation by Jonas

Box damage absolutely should always be disclosed on the front end. Always...

R2-D2 and SSD in 1 go. I'm a happy man.

Only the Toy Shop....

So I started on a mad frenzy of a superhero mini figure collection today. Buying all kinds on brick link and eBay. I was putting together a prototype of a display and going through mine and my dads boxes of LEGO for pieces I could use to sit the figures on, and I come across a large bag of something that immediately catches my eye. What seems to look like a whole bag of night wings from Arkham Asylum. As well as batman masks and joker heads. I nearly fell over. I ran upstairs to ask where did we get these??? My dad would never have anything fake. After asking, he tells me "Oh yeah, Lego sent me those as a favor for when I hosted Lego night at our local Danish Club". I actually remember that party and I don't remember him bringing these. They were in one of many lego boxes we have. My gut tells me, my Dad completely forgot he even had them and obviously did because when I showed him, he had no clue they were there. And they are 100% legit!! I have the black legs as well, still putting them all together. Just missing the spikey hair. 76 total Nightwings without hair. Another 119 Nightwing heads!! 5 Batman's 5 Joker's from older rare sets including the Comic Con exclusive box set. *********** Just purely looking at ebay and brick link sales. Heads go for around $10-12 a piece Torso's also around $12-14 a piece. Joker's are another $25ish each. Did I just find the mother load!!??? Gotta be close to or over $3,000 here even without the hair. and just today I was buying figures and saying I want the real Nightwing...the blue one that I know well but it was way to expensive and BOOM...I find these. I'm still in shock. PS - Don't know what the cats and dog are from yet. Any help there would be great.

Merry Christmas! I'm excited to share the 6 "nanoscale" architecture models which I submitted in the Advent calendar contest at Brickset. 6 "nanoscale" LEGO Architecture models based on designs in The LEGO Architect book.Creating what I call "Nanoscale" LEGO models which meet the constraints of the advent calendar contest is a really interesting challenge. Specifically, the parts need to fit easily in the small compartments of the official LEGO Advent calendars, and the model should use 20 parts or fewer. Nanoscale Prairie house on right, More detailed LEGO model from the book on left.I'm also excited to share instructions to build one of these models as new bonus materials for LEGO Architecture enthusiasts, and readers of my book, The LEGO Architect. (Admittedly, this model uses 21 pieces to achieve the preferred design, but you can easily modify it to use 20 bricks.)Detailed instructions show you how to make this tiny model using only 21 common LEGO bricks.It's a pleasure to share these directions with other LEGO enthusiasts, especially around the holidays when people have some time to build LEGO projects. (I also hope that The LEGO Architect was part of your holidays.) Visit http://brickarchitect.com/book/extras/ to download and print directions for this model, as well as a tiny Neoclasssical monument.Merry Christmas and a Happy LEGO-filled New Year!---tom

Hope you did the right thing and lit it on fire and walked away.

I know a movie is great when the internet tells me it's great. Sometimes it will decide later on that I was wrong, and then I will know that it sucked.

The Brave Little Toaster?

I am so glad I'm extremely easy to please. Loved the whole movie. Is it brilliant, original, etc, from a critical standpoint? I have no idea, and I'm happy not to lol.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/24/entertainment/mark-hamill-star-wars-children-hospital-feat/index.html

It's that time of the year again. Coming together with your family and beloved ones. Maybe building some LEGO together ;-) I hope you all can enjoy this special time of the year and I wish you a great time and a Merry Christmas!

In for 3 and I hope one has a slightly damaged corner so that we can pop it open

A few things on sale.. 76021 for $35.. this is better then the CT deals. http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=28819486

Considering the prequel trilogy, Disney are so far treating the material and universe better than Lucas has! And I do love the merchandise push. Lucrative for us, is what I think heh heh heh.

You cracked me up. Were you seriously looking for originality from Hollywood?

I believe that this movie was meticulously planned. Maybe not as a complete story, definitely not as an original story. It was designed and planned to bring people back into the fold. For those disenchanted with the series due to the prequels and 1000 novels and comics that muddy things up, it was a palate cleanser. It reset people back to the Star Wars that they remember. The people who wanted new and different were the ones most disappointed, while those who just wanted to get back to the classic Star Wars at any costs and those who just wanted to be entertained loved it. For me, I am in another camp, I find things to like in all of the Star Wars stuff, so this movie made me happy. I recognize that people have legitimate concerns and gripes about this film, but some of the haters are just gonna hate. There was nothing more or less intrinsically wrong with this film than most things that we get in cinemas nowadays. It made my wife and kids excited to watch and they all want to go again. I'd say it did its job well. It brought back fans, it created new fans and it amused fans that were always there. Is it going to have enduring appeal? Possibly, but more because of its position amongst the rest of the series than on its own merits.

I don't think anyone ordering online is expecting mint. We all just want undamaged. Tears, rips & opened are issues. Anything else is fine by me. If I require mint, I buy in store. If I missed the boat & buy at a later date, I'd like disclosed a pancake. But I don't wanna pay what the going rate is for that box. I wanna pay less & would expect others to as well. "Fair is fair, Billie Jean."

The title of this thread is "What Lego set did you sell today and for how much?"

What matters is delivering what you say you'll deliver. If a seller, whether an individual or giant corporation, does not state there is box damage, it is reasonable for me to expect there is not any. I don't worry over scuff marks or a crease here and there, but more serious issues such as tears or loose factory seals are a problem and will drop the resale price by 10% or more. I get lots of messages from potential buyers wanting to be reassured that the box is mint. Collectors do care about this, even if they plan to build the set. It's not my place as a seller to tell them 'LOL you're dumb for caring about the box'. I'm thankful that people willing to pay 2 x MSRP or more for my sets exist in the first place, and I'll do what I can to address their concerns. If I spent $500 for a Town Hall and it arrived wrapped in brown paper and flattened in shipment, you can bet I'd file a claim with eBay ASAP. There's no excuse for such sloppiness when dealing with items of that value.

In the US market, we have both ToO and R5 widely available on eBay and Amazon for around $250 with free shipping. Deduct eBay/Amazon/PayPal fees, and profit is almost nil if you bought near MSRP. So yes, I'd call that failure to appreciate. 4-6 months post retirement was plenty for any number of large exclusives retiring last year to reach 50% over MSRP. If you think today's secondary market is even as healthy as 2014's, you're ignoring a huge amount of evidence to the contrary (I didn't even mention Sea Cow sitting on Amazon at MSRP months after being 'sold out' on LEGO Shop at Home).

After watching episode vii, I can say that the prequels are starting to look pretty good...

Burlington Northern EMD SD40-2 by JBIronWorks

Winter Village 2015 vista 5 by Sandro Damiano

* As I was preparing to publish this article, Ed Mack announced the Brickpicker sponsored fundraiser in benefit of the St. Paul School of Burlington, NJ. I truly encourage you all to visit the following link and make a donation; besides supporting a great cause you will be entered for a chance to win some really cool, retired sets worth thousands of dollars (and appreciating as we speak!). I truly wish the St. Paul School the best, FCBarcelona101* Read Ed’s Announcement Raffle Entry and Donation Page ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As of this writing, the LEGO Imperial Hotel (Architecture) stock continues to decline. All signs seem to point out the set is up for retirement very soon, with LEGO Shop at Home discounting it since Black Friday and a new line of larger Architecture sets in the horizon. I felt that analyzing the Imperial Hotel would be a good idea for an article; maybe we can help bring the stock levels down to 0! The Architecture theme as we know it today was introduced in 2008, even though LEGO had already released some sets under the same name back in 1962. That first line, however, had absolutely nothing to do with what we currently see in stores. Let’s begin with a high level analysis of the theme as a whole. Theme Analysis The Architecture theme consistently receives praise in the forums as a result of its perceived positive performance, but how does its average CAGR compare to the average LEGO set and some of the other popular themes? As you can see, the Architecture theme underperforms both the Star Wars and Advanced Models theme, as well as the entire LEGO set average of 11.54%. While this does not seem to support the theory that Architecture is a great performer, we have to remember that CAGR is somewhat skewed by the length of time sets have been retired, as well as the fact that currently available sets have really low CAGRs (as they are still available at retail). If we were to only take into consideration the CAGR of retired sets, the picture would be significantly different. Of course, we would have through the whole process of removing currently available set from the rest of the data series in order to have an apples to apples comparison. However, that is extremely time consuming for the larger themes like Star Wars, and I believe that for the purpose of this article focusing on the Architecture line alone clarifies the point. With an average CAGR of over 24% for retired sets, we can conclude that the line is actually quite successful. One other argument for the Imperial Hotel is that it belongs to the Frank Lloyd Wright “collection”; an unofficial sub-theme that has been attributed with superior performance by some forum members. But, are FLW buildings really that different from the average Architecture set? Let’s take a look. Above we have a graph of the growth over retail for each of the currently retired sets in the Architecture theme, with the FLW buildings grouped for the ease of comparison. It is pretty clear that when taking into consideration all of the retired sets, the average growth over retail is significantly higher for the rest of the theme (222% vs. 112%); That takes into account 2 data points that could be considered outliers, however. The JHC was the first set to be introduced, so we can expect that collectors will want to have it as part of their collection more than some of the rest, while Sungnyemun was available for purchase at LEGO Shop at Home for less than a year according to Brickset data (around 237 days). If we were to take those 2 sets out of the average calculation, the rest of the theme would show an average of 113% growth over retail, pretty much in line with the 112% of the Frank Lloyd Wright collection. In light of this, I am not sure I can buy the argument that these FLW designs perform significantly better than the rest. Set Analysis The Imperial Hotel is one of the largest Architecture sets released to date, and has been available for close to 3 years at the time of this writing. With over 1,000 pieces, the detail LEGO designers were able to capture in the model is nothing short of impressive; they really were able to capture the essence of the real structure and at the same time create a model that can be easily displayed on an office desk. Another factor that I believe will help the performance of the set is the appeal to Asian buyers, especially in Japan. The performance of Sungnyemun makes me think that buyers from countries where this structures are located and the relatively higher LEGO prices in those markets push demand toward US sellers that are able to ship internationally. Finally, and this is just my perception of this, the Imperial Hotel set seems to have been somewhat overlooked by some Brickpickers. I just have not seen as much discussion about this set before LEGO discounted it for Black Friday. In these times of increased competition and hoarding, it is sets like this that could continue to provide returns more in line with what LEGO investing produced in the past. Future Performance With the set seemingly going into retirement within the next few months, I wanted to try and forecast its future price appreciation over the next couple of years. While the data we have is very limited and the market is changing dramatically, it is always fun to speculate and share opinions about future set value! First of all, let’s take a look at the performance of the “closest” set of the theme, the Robie House. As on previous articles, remember that the values that are outside of Brickpicker’s data set are estimated AND the 2015 value is as of November. I think we can all agree that the fast appreciation this set has experienced should start to slow down in the coming months; eventually, we can expect marginal growth as the set plateaus. As mentioned before, I expect the Imperial Hotel to perform slightly better (percentage wise). The graph below shows the projected performance of the Imperial Hotel. The graph assumes retirement in January of 2016. The result is a growth over retail of around 145% by the end of 2020, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of close to 12% over the period 2013 to 2020. Final Thoughts I am a believer in the Architecture line, and having had the time to go over the performance of previously retired sets has only strengthen this belief. I truly think that, for whatever reason, they are somewhat under the radar and have the potential to produce some of the most consistent returns in the LEGO investment universe. View full blog article

Kylo had also just been shot, so he may not have been in tip top fighting shape.

Don't forget, a hero (Ren/Luke) on a desert planet. I agree. I thought this movie was a rehash of previous movies. The only interesting drama in the film for me was Kylo Ren killing his own father. Although I did not like the actor or the character Kylo Ren. How is it that he got beat in a lightsaber fight by 2 ppl that have never wielded a lightsaber? Why is he wearing a helmet if he clearly doesn't need it to breath, see, hear or protect an injury? Is it a coincidence that BB-8 looks like a soccer ball? A sport that older people in the US appreciate much less than younger ppl? No, I think it is product marketing for kids to buy the toys. (yes I know adults buy the toys also). I feel like this movie was designed for a much younger audience. An audience eager to give copious 'Disney-high-fives', utter a catchphrase or hasgtag instead of expressing a complete thought, or maybe possibly just for fanboys. For them, I think this movie is a success. For me, I won't be giving up anymore money to see another Deathstar be blown up by a Rebel from a desert planet with secret base plans from a droid. Been there, seen that... The how did kylo ren question was answered by an avid fan because I asked the same question. 1- Kylo was toying with Finn until he got hit and then was going in for the kill. (Probable) 2- Rey has a stronger force as evident from the mind control part. (Less likely, she has NO lightsaber experience but he should have killed her when he had the chance, ignore the apprentice part, he's too childish to think about getting an apprentice yet) My explanation 3 - He's still a child and anger never results in a victory in a swordfight. See Mask of Zorro as an example.

43S5 in EU 41R5 in USA

Do you mean the things you state or are you just trolling?

Hi everyone I'm new to this site. I'm a little confused because I thought the 76023 The Tumbler was actually a Lego set with that actor from Brokeback Mountain in it. (No, the other one - the one with an Oscar and a last name that I can pronounce.) But reading this thread I have actually learned that "76023 The Tumbler" is actually some sort of internal code describing cardboard condition. I will continue looking though other topics to see where we can discuss the Batman set. Just kidding. I love a derail as much as anyone. Happy Holidays everyone. Now I'm going to go take pictures of all the crappy wrapping jobs I've done on my wife's Christmas presents and post about them in the 10237 Tower of Orthanc thread.

We have about 6 threads that already discuss box condition. Now run through that wall like the Kool-Aid man and we're in business.

Not everyone has the luxury of "hand selecting" mint boxes at the Lego store. Some people are just more privileged then others. Unfortunately, I have to resort to online purchasing the qty needed so I'm at the mercy of luck... If someone doesn't want my less than perfect box, no problem. At the right price someone else will take it. Never been a problem so far...

Was anyone else bothered by the leather piece on the front of Kylo Ren's mask that had the dimple marks in it? It wasn't completely smooth. It really bugged me. I know, I have issues.

Lol...well there you go. I've never delved into Belville, which is probably why I've never seen one.

This movie started with a long checklist - any storyline that could be woven together afterward just wasn't that important.

R5 and Slave 1, UCS TIE and Sandcrawler all in stock. Force Awakens sets except for First Order Transport all sold out. Employee told me the new movie has completely taken over SW set sales.

I thought you were against remakes?

Hybrid Advent Calendar MOC from my son... Cad Bane is working with the empire... they've merged a Star Destroyer with additional weapons to make a super weapon... the Ewok, Hulk and Jawa did not survive