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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/10/2016 in all areas

  1. This is an investment site, I fail to see how inventory levels is worthless gibrish .. In fact I would be willing to pay for a service that provides real live tracking of this stuff .
    13 points
  2. Didn't win the Powerball, so I had to resort to buying another Tumbler.
    9 points
  3. Funny I was thinking the same thing except for the part about QF Arch and SW sets, been there done that. Perhaps need to move this talk to another thread as to not spam the Tumbler thread. Ttyl I got to go workout, seriously. Thank you for that valuable contribution. Some members extract relative data from these posts based on past performance and not only use it on the Tumbler but to aid their decision making process on future sets. Kinda like reading the racing forum prior to picking your next horse the more information you have the better so please don't suggest we censor the "spam" on a forum intended for it.
    8 points
  4. 8 points
  5. And the newest X-Wing is.... http://www.bouwsteentjes.info/lego-star-wars-75149-the-sacking-of-jakku-gelekt/
    6 points
  6. This will stay for at least a year in my opinion. Would not even be surprised if it was retired together with GBHQ. Latter basically does not have an Ecto1 because there is already a separate set. At least a year? I just can't see GBHQ being dependant on Ecto-1 sticking around. The way I see it is Ecto-1 goes before the new line of movie sets this summer.
    6 points
  7. Completely agree. If I ran the company, I would order a production run of printed cockpit pieces in numbers roughly equal to the production of 10240. Then offer them free, one each to anyone who mailed in a barcode from a 10240 box or could show through their LEGO Shop at Home order history that they had bought the set directly from Lego. It would be a relatively inexpensive goodwill gesture for the company to make, and easily worthwhile to maintain UCS buyers' loyalty. It would also be the right thing to do.
    5 points
  8. As someone who's been trading the financial markets for over 15 years (I'm also a LEGO collector and small time flipper) , I'm always fascinated by articles like this. If there's one lesson that has stuck with me over these years it is that once you start getting stock tips from the shoe shine guy, it's time to get liquid (not saying this article reflects that. In fact the opposite as it's on a niche website). I'm not sure brickvesting has reached this point yet, but it feels to me the tipping point is near. Probably the most concerning thing I've noticed is that the msm (mainstream media) has picked up on the trend. Time and time again it has been proven that happens you are closer to the end of the trend than the beginning. Maybe it's time for a LEGO bear market? After all, the average bull market in stocks lasts somewhere around 6 years. After that one can generally expect the market to fall between 40-50% prior to reaching an actionable bottom. Anyone remember this magazine cover from 2005? TIME Magazine was almost entirely responsible for creating what's known as the magazine cover indicator.
    5 points
  9. Update to this crazy story. Of course the buyer never returned the item and never sent any documentation verifying they received their package with rat feces inside. I called eBay customer support last night, had them review the case & messages back and forth with the buyer. eBay closed the case in my favor. They also did NOT refund the buyer since they did not return the package. Some of these buyers and the stories they come up with are ridiculous!
    5 points
  10. Would like to share and also want to hear your experience.... I started investing in Lego in Jan, 2013. I don't remember where I read this in Brickpicker forum. However, I remember some experienced member wrote something very similar to the title, "in order to sell $60,000 worth of Lego in one year, you should have $180,000 in inventory". Because I read that, I decided to actively sell for one year starting late Jan, 2015 to see whether that was true or not. According to the Brickfolio, current value of my inventory is $ 183,597.18. After almost one year of active selling, I have had $ 59,485.52 in sales, minus all the fees/shipping cost, and original cost of sold sets, the net profit is $16,646.05. The original cost of all the sold items was $29,218.82. So, the numbers are quite similar to the statement made by that experienced member. Over this one year, I spent time researching/learning how to sell, how to pack (gradually getting more and more efficiently)...... I do enjoy the process, and I see this as my hobby. Even it takes time, but It does not affect my job at all. Investing in Lego is fun and hope it would last for a while. But we are all witnessing the gradual change of Lego investment environment.
    4 points
  11. New and improved version........Handsomer. Just as Humble.
    4 points
  12. 4 points
  13. And that´s how Trekgate Data Services was born....
    4 points
  14. decided to not pull the trigger this week on jokerland today and instead bought 7 chances for a town hall and 7 chances for a mystery box. jokerland isn't going anywhere anytime soon.......I hope. I like this website and the cause a little more than a beast boy and star fire minifigure anyhow:) do I get a giving back thing underneath my name and if so, how? sorry, I am a noob at this stuff.
    4 points
  15. Limited run Batman UCS Vehicle. Did not understand the second guessing of this set at all. IMO it should surpass EEE quickly as the best performing retired exclusive of 2015/early 2016 (funnily enough EEE was another small run exclusive that got hate and sat a long time with the retiring soon tag yet it is beating every other recently retired exclusive handily). I understand people worrying that this set was massively hoarded but in the case of limited runs that is actually beneficial. This is no DS or Red 5 that were produced in massive numbers for years. Resellers could have purchased every Tumbler ever made and the price would skyrocket. This is the last Lego exclusive I invest in. Time to move on to quick flipping Architecture and medium Star Wars sets full time for me. I D\don't know if it is true or not but there was a rumor early on in late 2014 that TLG would lose money on every Tumbler produced and only decided to make it as a limited run set as a nod to its DC fans. As things have played out it sounds validated to me. That should tell you something of its potential.
    4 points
  16. It's not comparable. 6862 was out forever, clearanced forever and has these really rare minifigures: superman, wonder woman, and let luther (sarcasm). Nothing is really special about it. Final battle possibly only appearance of Hank Pym and yellow jacket, a cool ant, currently only ant man minifigure, short shelf life, not readily available throughout its production run, and clearanced and gone before we could blink. Not apples and oranges, it's comparing apples to dog poo
    4 points
  17. After the recent Telegraph article going viral all over the world stating that LEGO bricks and sets were better investments than Gold over the past few years, one has to wonder what other investment vehicles do LEGO bricks outperform. With the recent roller coaster on Wall Street and foreign markets, a question presents itself...Are the LEGO secondary markets and LEGO collecting and investment in general, more stable and profitable over the long haul than other more high profile investments? Let’s analyze some data… With 2015 coming to a close, the final financial year-end data on stock markets, crude oil and gold prices is available. Take a look at the major stock market and commodity returns for 2015 stated in an article from the USA TODAY: A quick analysis indicates an overall poor year for most major indexes and benchmark commodities. Only the tech heavy NASDAQ escaped the carnage and posted positive gains for the year. Now, compare the above chart to the “average” LEGO set returns over the past five years and this is what you find: Now, when I say, ”Average LEGO Set,” I am referring to the “mean” appreciation of all LEGO sets in our database. The Return On Investment is calculated from the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). There are thousands of LEGO sets in our database that get aggregated into these figures, some new and available at retail, but most retired and no longer available at primary retailers. The data shows a very consistent pattern for LEGO sets over the past five years. Even when other major investment vehicles were having a hard time getting into the black in 2015, LEGO sets held their ground. In an overall bad year for investing, LEGO bricks and sets still appreciated close to historical levels. Themes like Jurassic Park, Mixels, Speed Champions, Ideas and Lord of the Rings all had banner years, while Friends, Monster Fighters, Minecraft, DC Comics and Marvel Super Heroes themes all took a huge hit. There are many sets that appreciated very well, while others stagnated or fell in value. Just like stocks, the trick is picking the right sets. Now, before everyone goes out there and dumps their stocks, bonds and gold for LEGO sets, a potential LEGO investor needs to realize the pitfalls of investing in little ABS plastic bricks. First off, they are difficult to store and take up a lot of space. LEGO boxes play a large role in their values. The better the condition, the higher the value in most cases. They are susceptible to moisture and sunlight. Boxes are large and delicate, and a person can easily fill up a small room with a moderate LEGO collection. Another issue with LEGO investing is their expense. Their impeccable quality comes at a high price. They are very expensive toys. Period. Unlike stocks, bonds and gold, they are not liquid. A person has to sell and ship them to realize profits. This takes time and effort. Buying LEGO sets is easy. Selling and shipping them is not. Speaking of selling them, many LEGO secondary market sites such as eBay and Amazon charge high commission fees...ranging anywhere from 10-15% (Unless of course you sell on Brick Classifieds with ZERO commission and fees). This takes a huge bite from your appreciation. Granted, if you choose wisely and pick the right LEGO sets to invest in, these negative factors can be overcome, but many people do not choose wisely and end up failing at this endeavor. So are LEGO sets a better overall investment and more stable than stocks, bonds, gold and crude oil? At this point in time, probably, if you choose the right LEGO sets to invest in and buy and sell them with some creativity and frugality. What they seem to be is more consistent. Take a look at the chart below: A quick glance indicates a rather steady growth pattern for LEGO sets, while the various stock market indexes are quite turbulent. Even when stocks were down, LEGO sets yielded in the 10% range. Pretty solid. While the LEGO secondary markets will probably never take off into stratospheric levels like stocks did in 2013, there are multiple individual LEGO themes and sets that could explode in growth at any given time. To find those sets, one needs to research the markets and study the products. It also takes effort to find deals on LEGO sets when purchasing and work to properly list, package and ship LEGO boxes. Experience also matters. While a novice can make profits from investing in LEGO sets, it often takes experience in buying, selling, packaging and shipping to maximize profits. LEGO investing is no longer “easy” money as it once was, but if you educate yourself, make prudent choices, adapt to changing trends and get a little lucky, you can still see solid profits...
    3 points
  18. After the recent Telegraph article going viral all over the world stating that LEGO bricks and sets were better investments than Gold over the past few years, one has to wonder what other investment vehicles do LEGO bricks outperform. With the recent roller coaster on Wall Street and foreign markets, a question presents itself...Are the LEGO secondary markets and LEGO collecting and investment in general, more stable and profitable over the long haul than other more high profile investments? Let’s analyze some data… With 2015 coming to a close, the final financial year-end data on stock markets, crude oil and gold prices is available. Take a look at the major stock market and commodity returns for 2015 stated in an article from the USA TODAY: A quick analysis indicates an overall poor year for most major indexes and benchmark commodities. Only the tech heavy NASDAQ escaped the carnage and posted positive gains for the year. Now, compare the above chart to the “average” LEGO set returns over the past five years and this is what you find: Now, when I say, ”Average LEGO Set,” I am referring to the “mean” appreciation of all LEGO sets in our database. The Return On Investment is calculated from the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). There are thousands of LEGO sets in our database that get aggregated into these figures, some new and available at retail, but most retired and no longer available at primary retailers. The data shows a very consistent pattern for LEGO sets over the past five years. Even when other major investment vehicles were having a hard time getting into the black in 2015, LEGO sets held their ground. In an overall bad year for investing, LEGO bricks and sets still appreciated close to historical levels. Themes like Jurassic Park, Mixels, Speed Champions, Ideas and Lord of the Rings all had banner years, while Friends, Monster Fighters, Minecraft, DC Comics and Marvel Super Heroes themes all took a huge hit. There are many sets that appreciated very well, while others stagnated or fell in value. Just like stocks, the trick is picking the right sets. Now, before everyone goes out there and dumps their stocks, bonds and gold for LEGO sets, a potential LEGO investor needs to realize the pitfalls of investing in little ABS plastic bricks. First off, they are difficult to store and take up a lot of space. LEGO boxes play a large role in their values. The better the condition, the higher the value in most cases. They are susceptible to moisture and sunlight. Boxes are large and delicate, and a person can easily fill up a small room with a moderate LEGO collection. Another issue with LEGO investing is their expense. Their impeccable quality comes at a high price. They are very expensive toys. Period. Unlike stocks, bonds and gold, they are not liquid. A person has to sell and ship them to realize profits. This takes time and effort. Buying LEGO sets is easy. Selling and shipping them is not. Speaking of selling them, many LEGO secondary market sites such as eBay and Amazon charge high commission fees...ranging anywhere from 10-15% (Unless of course you sell on Brick Classifieds with ZERO commission and fees). This takes a huge bite from your appreciation. Granted, if you choose wisely and pick the right LEGO sets to invest in, these negative factors can be overcome, but many people do not choose wisely and end up failing at this endeavor. So are LEGO sets a better overall investment and more stable than stocks, bonds, gold and crude oil? At this point in time, probably, if you choose the right LEGO sets to invest in and buy and sell them with some creativity and frugality. What they seem to be is more consistent. Take a look at the chart below: A quick glance indicates a rather steady growth pattern for LEGO sets, while the various stock market indexes are quite turbulent. Even when stocks were down, LEGO sets yielded in the 10% range. Pretty solid. While the LEGO secondary markets will probably never take off into stratospheric levels like stocks did in 2013, there are multiple individual LEGO themes and sets that could explode in growth at any given time. To find those sets, one needs to research the markets and study the products. It also takes effort to find deals on LEGO sets when purchasing and work to properly list, package and ship LEGO boxes. Experience also matters. While a novice can make profits from investing in LEGO sets, it often takes experience in buying, selling, packaging and shipping to maximize profits. LEGO investing is no longer “easy” money as it once was, but if you educate yourself, make prudent choices, adapt to changing trends and get a little lucky, you can still see solid profits... View full blog article
    3 points
  19. Is this a joke? That's what you think constructive criticism is? Telling someone they're being ridiculous? Well, then, sir, you are being ridiculous. "Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one."
    3 points
  20. If you unfocus your eyes, you'll see a sailboat.
    3 points
  21. My 4 year old son saw the commercial yesterday. Now whenever I ask him a question, he keeps saying, "Yes, it's in the battle manual."
    3 points
  22. Been there, done that...20 years...Get out while you still can....
    3 points
  23. Looks so fresh for a car that's 130 years old! :-D
    3 points
  24. Look like Lone Ranger will have some company in the clearance bin soon.....
    3 points
  25. The buttface ugly boat contest has some strong entries this time around.
    3 points
  26. I've got 16 each of 10237 and 10240, so I hope y'all are right. But we need to apply consistent standards here. I referred to availability at LEGO Shop at Home, that is to say, shop.lego.com, not brick and mortar stores. The very fact that inventory is lingering at brick and mortar stores so long after being sold out at LEGO Shop at Home is not a good sign. I have been following both these sets through brickpicker.com's stock tracker. No one has to take my word for anything. Just watch the Amazon third party seller prices, and compare them with what we saw in 2014 for, again, literally every retiring exclusive. It's not even close. If the recent mediocre appreciation of retiring exclusives doesn't bother you, that's fine, but there is no question that appreciation rates are dropping. I watched ToO average around $250 shipped on Amazon throughout December, and R5 average about $10 more. If that's enough of a post-retirement bump to make you confident about loading up next on EV, Sandcrawler, etc., go for it. And never mind Pet Shop and Tower Bridge. Looks like the grandkids will be picking up those puppies direct from LEGO Shop at Home at MSRP.
    3 points
  27. Maybe we can change the thread to "What Legoish set..." [emoji15]
    3 points
  28. I absolutely agree. ( glances at thread title)
    3 points
  29. While I appreciate the comments about the picture from all members, I think it is a rather innocent and fun picture that exemplifies the fun of LEGO. One does have to be careful of what is posted on the internet, but in this case, I really don'r see any major problems if the parents are the ones who posted the picture.
    3 points
  30. I like what you did here. Make it look like you're just taking a picture of Lego display but in reality you've captured the image of one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen in a Lego store!
    3 points
  31. He's asking about $17 a pound. For that much work, you'd probably want to be in somewhere in the neighborhood of $4-$6. If he had sets that were mostly built, could show the minifigures, and the amount of work that you would have to do was a lot lower, it would be closer to his asking price, but $17 a pound is just way too high. You'd still have to sort through 215 lbs of LEGO to make sure there were no megablocks or other stuff. You'd have to spend the time to clean them and filter through to put together sets. Your profit per hour, if this is your first time doing bulk, and you don't have a system, would be piss poor. It's als disheartening to try to sort through all of this without a quick way to recoup your costs.
    3 points
  32. look what showed up today! 23 copies Some really old seal codes... 11R4 and 34R4.
    3 points
  33. Thread updated with official pics from Lego's facebook page. ------------------ side note: Makes me wonder if this film is set on the 1990s or so. I'll look for more details to identity time period. The Ecto rebootcar appears to be a 1984 Cadillac Superior Hearse model. I found some film still pics of the car on the web and Paul's tweet and replies about his lego comment.
    2 points
  34. I seriously need to make an eye appointment...
    2 points
  35. still good, for not putting everyeggs in same basket, 1-2 is ok to have
    2 points
  36. The Empire trailer was a lot better than these 2.
    2 points
  37. moment of "thanks" for the GB crew and their car we grew up watching.
    2 points
  38. I doubt Granny is picking these up ... thousands of units hoarded over the past few weeks alone..... i will go back to my "bubble" where everything is awesome
    2 points
  39. i would also mention that shipping costs can really hit the cagr. While on a 1000 set obviously it's not a large percentage on smaller 100 dollar sets and below it can take u a significant percentage of profits and people should calculate that in
    2 points
  40. 2 points
  41. Well, you measure gain or loss net of expenses on the particular asset you sold. The remaining inventory has its original basis intact and will be realized when it is in fact sold. So your rate of return is based on the net income(after expenses) divided by your basis. I just ran my sales for mainly the 4th quarter of 2015, me net return was 92%+. This was after expenses and around 24-25k in gross sales, I cannot remember exactly. What drug it down was my poor decision to invest in epic dragon battles and a few others. Prior to those I was sitting at a net return of around 115% or so. That is darn good. Selling stuff invested in from mainly late 13-15.
    2 points
  42. It's an illusion. Clearly as others have mentioned, there has been some sorting by someone who kinda knew what they were doing, and that person probably intentionally left 2 interesting sets in there (the Penguin/freeze attack on the batcave, and a Harry Potter one) however there is no evidence that these sets are actually still there and that he didn't just take out the pieces for the set and left the instructions because they were in terrible condition so he just bought some off the net to complete the sets. From the actual pieces we can see, it's going to be an extremely enduring job sorting through all these, even my 55kg are a hard time to do that with (121lbs) and I gave up several times while doing it and just tossed them back together and gave up. Something I did notice too is how many times he uses pictures of the same mess from different angles to give the illusion that we're actually looking at a different pile of lego. I feel like this is someone who gambled buying a container or a storage room as they do on those TV shows (container wars/storage wars), saw the contents, felt like they were going to hit the jackpot because they heard that lego increased in value with time (I'm sure someone who is in that line of investment listens to the news and can be fooled by illinformed articles), then he called in someone who knew a bit about this, that person took at what had value and told him to put the rest on Craigslist and he could probably get 3k out of it by showing some of the instructions and lots of pieces (the guy in question was probably not as much of an expert as the owner thinks he is to be honest...). Now they're having you gamble on their gamble and decide whether you want to take the chance of their not being what you hope their is in this pile of crap, same way he was hoping to find some things in the storage he couldn't see from the entrance. If I had a lot of free time and no need to rush on getting some money out of the investment, I'd buy it for 1.2k max simply because that's pretty much 80% of the total value I estimate this at. Also take into account the amount of hours you'll spend sorting through this instead of earning money an other way and ask yourself whether it's worth it or not. Since I don't have that free time, the only other situation in which I'd buy this would be, again for no more than 1.2k, if I had a lot of money, and wanted to do some MOCs but couldn't be bothered to buy exactly the pieces I wanted and preferred to just build with what I got as I used to as a kid. To be honest though, that would be utopic as I really can't be bothered these days and when I do a MOC, even if I have the pieces and I know I do, sometimes I'll just buy the same pieces knew to save myself the box searching... If none of the above apply, just don't buy it unless you can really get it for dirt cheap, and sell it in smaller portions for more than what you paid.
    2 points
  43. 9500 Sith Interceptor. Picked it up at 20% discount, man what an amazing build. Really cool wing features, great on display. Expensive at full price (probably wouldn't get it) but IMO it's easilly one of the cooler TIE-like sets. And that Malgus minifig - pure beauty.
    2 points
  44. Being new, stay away from something this size. He's asking way too much money as well.
    2 points
  45. Not Ebay, but I had a similar experience on Offerup. I posted a bunch of sets totalling above $500. Someone sent a message, "I'll take them all for $200." My wife saw it and responded no thank you, they sent back a message saying "It's a fair offer unless you want them to sit on your shelf for several years." Why do people assume that if you are selling something that you need it gone immediately and are willing to take whatever bad offer comes along? also, since when is less than 40% of the asking price a fair offer?
    2 points
  46. My son and I finally built his 75105. Still strange that while Han looks older, Chewie looks younger when compared to the prep version. Ha. Anyway... Does anyone else have problems trying to fit Chewie and other minifig in the closed cockpit? He's too tall. Heck, we are having a hard time aligning both side jumpers to close the darn thing. I did do one custom mod so far. Added the floor compartment where Rey fixes the gas leak.
    2 points
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