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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/14/2016 in all areas
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Welcome to the site. My best suggestion to you is to read read read. There is a ton of information available to you on this site, that's already been freely provided. Take your time, read the site, find things that are of interest to you. Ask questions in those threads (after you have read them), to get an idea of why something might or might not be a good investment.6 points
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5 pointsHad to finally let mine go, could not say no to $6900 CDN. Hope there is a new one and can buy that also. I did have a Bricklinked one that my son and I put together before TFA came out, so I have enjoyed the build as well as the proceeds.5 points
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I bet we start to see crapola like that over the next year. It's getting weird. Even my old honey holes that were easy pickings are now being swarmed by competition. I went to a TRU the other day, and it was filled with two other "investors" that were picking and chatting and had no problem filling carts up with what I would deem "too early junk". That was a bit of a spooky experience, because I DO my research quite a bit on stuff, and they seemed to have done none. I wouldn't have done what this one 20 something was doing loading up on new star wars items, some superhero sets, speed racers, etc all at TRU inflated retail costs . Then I went to my local BAM which had at one point 6 UN Architecture buildings two weeks ago. I was considering buying a couple, but passed, then I went back this week, and they were all gone. I'm starting to even think the architecture line, which has a small but fanatical fanbase, is now becoming swarmed by resellers. 2 years ago, most sets like Sungnyemun, Robie House, Burj, Guggenheim, etc were hardly hoarded like most of the sets are now and I attribute the rise in costs to many of those older architecture sets to the fact that not many people were buying them to hold. Don't get me wrong, this christmas selling season was great. I just sold another Farnsworth house at 120 a day ago which gave me about a 96% return on investment from my buy-in, and the prices on Fallingwaters, Sydney Opera Houses, etc are definitely at a spot, where doubling your money, even after fees if you bought in at discounts are a given. But, do I think this will continue like this next year on the six sets that just retired? I'm not so sure... I actually have some doubts on many of them. Add in all the extreme rookies that have flooded this site over the last couple weeks that don't even seem to have much knowledge about lego, and it's left me thinking that it's time to be a lot more selective this year, but scale down on my buying by 60% compared to last year, with the goal of buying things I would open, but then just hold them in the box for a year or two. If things go south, then they become birthday and christmas presents and i'm not out on a huge loss.5 points
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4 pointsR.I.P. Alan Rickman https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/british-actor-alan-rickman-dies-69-125725714.html4 points
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I just sold a SC with a large hole in the front of the box but still sealed on CL for $350 cash.4 points
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3 points
I really dislike the idea of going through children's books, the novelization, and Aftermath prequel to get answers to some of the questions. They could have taken more time in the movie to explain the setting better and the state of the universe without getting bogged down in my opinion. I think cutting scenes has more to do with the financial incentive to keep the film shorter so they can run through more screenings per day.3 pointsJust a note: If you are nervous about using your credit card on-line or internationally etc. for something like this... I just purchased another batch of tickets to add to my previous 7 (was this a ploy, adding new really cool items ongoingly???) ...anyway, I just used one of those generic nameless drugmart gift-card, pre-paid masted cards everyone gets for Christmas & usually never gets around to using (or simply doesn't have any free cc slots in their wallet so they float around the desk for months) and it was accepted without any problem. Even with the US conversion from it's Canadian host $ value. enter the number, exp date, and code from the back, Trick is instead of entering your own name in the boxes at payment you enter the name printed in scrolly font on the card - in my case it was "Ideal Choice" (without the "The" preceeding the name). seems to work just fine, got an acceptance message & receipt. it's easy.3 points3 pointsThe rebels weren't alone in that. Everything the empire built was a piece of crap too.. Tie's with no shields, single missiles taking out a death star, a lone a-wing destroying an ssd, logs toppling at-st's.3 pointsWell I only bought the one ticket, but its a great thing your doing. Hopefully will buy a couple more before the end of the month.3 points3 pointsAnd his performance as Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest was brilliant!3 pointsHow do you think Luke gets around Ahch-To?3 points
yep from 100 cost basis to 350 in 24 to 36 months stock market much better3 pointsIn this series of articles, I would like to take a look at the more expensive, most sought after sets of all time. Instead of reviewing the sets I thought I would address the parts of the sets that make them so rare and valuable. New collectors may wonder why they can't just build these popular and expensive sets out of the LEGO pieces scattered throughout their house. Inexperienced buyers may have concerns over what parts might be replaced in used sets that they are buying. People looking into bulk lots might want to know what clues in a lot would indicate that one of these popular sets are present. The first set on my list is 10212 the UCS Imperial Shuttle. I know that the Millennium Falcon 10179 is much more popular, but I want to do it justice, so need more time to work on it. The Imperial Shuttle, 10212, was released in 2010. The original retail price of this set was $259.99. Used complete sets sell from $400-$500 while New in box sets sell for $550-$650. The box shows a total of 2503 pieces including 5 minifigures. New collectors would probably balk at the price tag for this set. It's hard to fathom why a bunch of little plastic bricks that seem so ubiquitous could ever be worth that much. Sadly, that's not really close to top of the mark for sets, and these collectors shouldn't wait too long to have that band aid ripped away. The first reason that this set is not one that you could just assemble from all of your kid's loose bricks is because it is 2503 pieces. I guarantee that your kid would notice that many missing pieces. These pieces are not just random, they were selected, designed, and tested to go together to make the best representation of this iconic ship. Some of these LEGO pieces are very common, but you still may not have enough of them to fill in this set. Let's take a look at the pieces that are most common in this set. (apologies that the stock photos do not always reflect the color of the pieces in this set, they are for reference only) There are: 133 White 1x1 Technic Brick with hole Element 6541 133 Black Technic Pin with Friction ridges with center slot Element 2780 108 Blue Technic Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Element 6558 106 White Plate 1X1 Element 3024 82 White Plate 1X2 Element 3023 58 Light Bluish Gray Technic Pin 1/2 Element 4274 58 White Brick 1X3 Element 3622 52 White Brick 1x2x5 Element 2454 etc. As you can see, the volume of some of these elements can be intimidating. Even though most of these elements are common and cheap, most vendors on Bricklink do not carry the inventory to cover your needs for these pieces. You'd have to make multiple purchases, pushing the average cost of these pieces up, due to all of the shipping and handling charges. Of course your savvy Briclinker will know to either have multiple wanted lists running, to spread out their costs, but still a lot of pieces means a lot of separate orders. Apart from the Large number of common pieces, you also have some specialty pieces that make up a set. The specialty pieces are ones that are either unique to the set or in so few sets as to make no difference. The unique and specialty pieces in the sets tend to have values that reflect a large proportion of the total value. This causes some collectors to forego the piece in favor of a cheaper alternative, whether it is the same piece in a different color or completely different pieces that serve a similar function. Unethical resellers will replace these pieces and not tell the end users who may not know to look. In some cases, people have made fakes. Spotting fakes is important, but not the focus of this article. For most UCS sets, one of the most expensive pieces is the sticker. The sticker is unique to the set, large and limited in number. Some people require unused sticker, while others are content to have them applied. For the 10212 Imperial Shuttle, there is one sticker sheet that has a large sticker that describes the vehicle and 5 smaller stickers that represent computer screens. Sticker sheet The stickers for this set sell in the $40-$50 range. Bought separately attached to their elements The large sticker should run about $20-$30 and the individual computer screens $10-$15 each. The Large Sticker is attached to Element 90498 Black Tile 8X16 with Bottom Tubes which is only available in 12 sets. Most of those sets are UCS sets. It's a relatively cheap part at around $2, mostly because it is in the Rhino and Sandman Supervillain Teamup, a relatively inexpensive set that many are parting out. One of the harder to find elements is 32 White Technic Lift Arm 1X7 Bent Element 32348. It's available in 8 other sets and averages $.50-$.60 each. It's currently available in the Ferris Wheel 10247. You also need 8 Light Bluish Gray 40 Tooth Technic Gear Element 3649 which average about $1 each. There's a light Gray version which lazy builders might include, even though it is incorrect, because they don't want to take the time to verify it is correct. The windscreen 6267 is only available in Translucent Black in 3 sets. One of those sets is currently available and less than retail LEGO City Train Station 60050. Before that set was released, this element was more than likely fairly expensive, since the other set it was available in was the Grand Emporium. There are 4 Trans Clear Technic Gearbox 2x4x3 1/3 that usually costs about $1-$2 each 6588 It's not a terribly uncommon piece (available in 20+ sets) but only the Imperial Shuttle has this many. A cheap piece that is only available in 4 sets is the White Windscreen 7x4x2 Round Extended Front Edge 89762. The only reason that I can conceive that this piece is inexpensive is that it was available in a very cheap, common set, Freeco Speeder 8085. Element 3046a is also a cheap rare element. It is available in 3 sets. It's a light bluish gray 2x2 double concave slope. It's available in the SpongeBob Squarepants Flying Dutchman 3817 and Sith Fury Class Interceptor 9500. Both of which were clearance in the past couple years. My final rare element is the White slope 2x2x3 Double Convex Element 3685 It sells for about $3-$4 and you need 10 of them. It's available in 4 sets including the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium 75094. Of the 5 included minifigures, Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper are found in other sets but the following figures are available only in this set: Imperial Shuttle Commander Imperial Pilot Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight with Pupils (although this figure is found with a watch) The last thing that many collectors consider when purchasing this set and the most obvious thing that you could see in a bulk lot are the 4 instruction books. These books, as a set, sell for between $40-$75 and are available in the $100 range. If you've got a box, that gets you closer to the upper range of $500 than if it is missing. The hard parts of putting this set together are the rare elements and the sheer number of pieces. The average LEGO collector could probably get 25-33% of the way to completing this set. The rest would take a lot of time and money to buy in multiple lots. People who have used Bricklink to build sets like this typically look back and determine that they have spent more than the average sale price to accumulate the pieces of this set. Value is a tricky thing. It's hard to explain to someone who is not involved in the hobby, because they just see a lot of plastic bricks. Collectors see the rarity of an old piece that is well constructed and was not common while it was in production and has become less so since then. New collectors come into the hobby every single day, and some that have been collecting for a while have begun stretching out to the more expensive sets. The UCS Imperial Shuttle is in the middle of the pack as far as cost goes in the world of UCS sets. Quick quiz: I lifted some pictures from an auction that closed a couple months ago. Could you pick out this set from the photos? Would you know that this was a UCS Imperial Shuttle? What if I gave you this picture? In the weeks to come, I will be exploring the pieces that make up each of the Top 25 Most Valuable sets, Ultimate Collector Series, and Modulars. Images in this article are the property of http://rebrickable.com/, Bricklink and LEGO. ****************** Quick note from jaisonline. As mentioned in the article, the 10212 Imperial Shuttle has been selling for $400-$500 (used) and $550-$650 (new in box). So how much would the bricks, manuals and sticker cost if we "bricklinked" our own 10212? Using current used prices on bricklink.com, it would cost $539 (before postage) to purchase everything except the box in used condition. "2,488 Items in 226 Unique Lots totaling US $538.90 ready to be uploaded into your inventory." Postage can easily add an addition $100. Thus, 10212 is an example where it makes sense to buy the set (new or complete) in one transaction. View full blog article2 points
Only sold one set today. Friends Pet Salon 41007 $59. Not bad for a clearance item $11 buy in, $6 to ship. Shame it will take a year or longer to sell the other 14 at that price.2 points2 pointsI'm all for helping people out, but I wish threads like these didn't pop up so much. This feels like the thousandth one in the past week or so. People don't bother to make intro threads anymore, they just get straight to the point, "How would you spend my money so that I can make more money?" and then you never hear from them again. I'm coming off curmudgeonly I know, but ugh, the site's going a little off the rails lately. /rant over. To the OP---Take Alpine's advice and buy what you like. Oh, and I'm sure Nexo Knights will be the next big thing.2 pointshi, welcome to our community. i suggest to catch up on some pretty good reading like i did at my beginning (Nov 2012). here is the link.. http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/brickvesting/?page=4&d=5 do as much research as possible. just throwing money at lego is the prob best way to lose money and spare storage space please don't do that. read and read. finally (and think most will agree with me), buy sets you like to build because there might be a day when some sets are hard to sell...and well, you can always enjoy them by building. the 1st rule of lego is it's a toy for folks of all ages no matter what2 points
Well I've reread it several times and I disagree. I agree with everything else though2 points
Well if you want to succeed.. don't listen to anyone here but you. Do you research, know lego, know the market, spend the hundreds of hour needed if you have the passion.2 points2 pointsThe new blonde Ghostbuster looks suspiciously like cartoon Egon:2 points2 pointsIt would have been hilarious had some TFA stormtroopers died due to friendly fires when they circled and executed the villagers on Jakku (yeah I understood dark comedy)2 points2 pointsSo they could wear those helmets which effed with their ability to shoot straight, thus missing Luke/Han/Leia in the Death Star and letting them "escape" while tracking them to the hidden Rebel Base. It was all part of the "Plan." That's some serious foresight on behalf of the Emperor.2 points2 pointsI forgot Stormtrooper armor that didn't protect them from anything. What's the point?2 points2 points2 points2 pointsAccording to the cartel office president, the reason for that is that TLG fully cooperated with the investigations, certain managers were fired and thorough internal measures were taken by TLG to prevent these things from happening again. Source: http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article150909205/Lego-setzte-Einzelhaendler-massiv-unter-Druck.html I'll translate some other relevant passages in that article: "TLG has acted contrary to the prohibition of resale price maintenance, said the cartel office. On the basis of that non-cartel rule, producers of goods are not allowed to limit the freedom of resellers to set the prices for the goods." "In 2012 and 2013, distribution employees of Lego had forced resellers in the north and east of Germany to fix prices. This regarded exclusive articles. According to TLG some 20 sets were at issue. Those sets, and the designated resellers, were kept track of in a regularly updated list, according to the cartel office. If the resellers didn't act in accordance with this imposed rule, they would receive fewer of those items, or none at all, according to the investigators. In some cases, clearance sales were influenced." "TLG accepts the verdict of the cartel office and won't appeal."2 points2 pointsI don't get how this was missed unless....... Perhaps serious collectors ignored it in favor other models. The Lego Movie itself appealed to kids and families, most of which probably don't spend that much on Lego sets because I constantly hear them complain about how expensive they are. This model would not have been in their sights at all. But for me, as a collector, I could tell this would be a good one just based on what it was.....a really big steampunk pirate ship.2 pointsbecause we are nerds who would also exile ourselves on an island that's accessible only by using 70810 or 101792 points2 pointsOne sold for over $400 shipped on eBay today with only 26 sellers for New BIN. I guess the old "but for every 3 SC I can get 5 PS" herd mentality doesn't always work. So what is up with the two threads for the same set? Can someone please explain what the blog does like are posts in there sent to news sites or twitter. I just find it confusing and more time consuming to have to read both.2 points2 points2 pointsSaw these a couple of weeks ago at Target. It was in a big blue display box that I haven't seen. My first reaction was, "I don't remember Harry Potter driving a blue car in the books."2 pointsThere are only 34 listings on ebay. 9 sold on Jan 11th. The last three all went $350, $375, $398. Rarity is going to help this quite a bit. Big thanks to the pessimists that scared everyone off this one.2 points2 pointsThis is my recommendation to every new investor rushing to the scene: Imagine a world without BrickPicker. One where people make simple decisions on their own. In this world, one would choose which sets to buy and when to sell them, without help. Are you going to make the right decision every time? No, but you aren't going to anyway. But what you will have every time is more experience. The people who have been the most successful at this had nobody to ask for help. Nobody to tell them how to do everything. You'll be far better off in the long run if you don't let the majority make your decisions for you.2 pointsAlright, I'm selling likes! I've already bought some raffle tickets, but just for fun, for every "like" this post gets from members who joined before the time of this posting, I'll spend an equal amount on more tickets, up to $250. If it gets beyond that, I'll figure out how much more I'll spend. Let's set a like record!2 pointsEvery article should contain your sentence... LEGO investing is no longer “easy” money as it once was...2 pointsComments about the ethics of parenting and posting pictures of children on the Internet aren't the purpose of this thread. If you've got a concern, please contact the poster through PM or Report the post to the mods.2 points
A happy belated New Year to all my readers, all nine of you. May this coming year bring you discounted exclusives, 80% clearance finds in out of the way stores on long retired merchandise and superb buyer feedback in 2016. I'd also like to quickly take a sentence to remind readers that the Mack's, a.k.a. The Founders, a.k.a. The Collectors, a.k.a. The Guys Who Made Me Take the Blue Pill, are still raising money for St. Paul's and it would be a darn shame not to support such a great cause. I could cite a boatload of research that supports the notion that giving money away makes the giver undeniably happier, or could chastise those that read content (including this rubbish) but don't want to give back in any way, but I'd rather give a polite reminder that time is running out to buy tickets and the sets up for grabs could easily be the centerpiece of a budding collection. At the minimum, there should be lots of great stockroom photo sharing when these sets find new homes, and hopefully some education for little Macks. Back to business. What is BigBlueDogBricks targeting for 2016 in terms of exclusives? I'm sure everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what Ol' Blue is favoring, but I'll give a little background in case you are new to my flow. This will be my fourth year dabbling in Brickvesting (yeah, I'm starting to feel a little bro-ish using that term...might have to coin something new) and I am now confident classifying myself as a solid middle tier investor. I see lots of new members posting in various forums and can only assume you might want to hear a little advice on what kind of buying someone who was once like you is preparing to do. Side anecdote: Just before Christmas I was contacted by a fellow in the Greater Toronto Area who wanted to buy a couple of large sets. We chatted back and forth and he correctly assumed that because I had so many listings I was doing this as more than a casual hobby (like someone 'accidentally' has hundreds of Lego sets for sale at the same time?) and he asked a few questions about Lego investing and such. Yeah, not much of an anecdote yet...Anyway, he tells me that along with his brother they are getting into Lego and think investing is cool. They opt not to buy any of my sets (although they were underpriced from ebay sales around 20-25%, and I sold a couple of the sets they were interested in within a week for more than what they thought was too steep) but he did end with an interesting question – so you're buying tons of Pet Shops and Tower Bridges now, right? I chuckled, because I think people often get drawn to Brickpicker and think the big shiny sets are the easiest way to get started. I am a prophet preaching Anything But Modulars now, though, as I believe there are quite a few better strategies to be successful that are faster and provide a greater overall return than simply picking the current oldest modular and throwing money at it. Worst. Strategy. Ever. So, if you are relatively new or just don't have a lot of capital to invest what should you buy from the exclusives? Well, I've ordered my 2016 picks chosen from all the sets under the 'Hard to Find' label on Shop at Home (Canada), along with a quick rundown of why it deserves that ranking. I'll be back soon to talk about large (but not exclusive) sets that are on my buy list, and finish up with a smaller sets hit list. Fun! BigBlueDogToys Anything But Modulars Buy List Order, Winter 2016, Exclusives Ewok Village 10236 Current Amazon.com sales rank: 149 in building sets I'm sure plenty of other investors have this at or near the top of their list. It is the oldest Star Wars large (not officially a UCS) set and, in case you don't know, Star Wars is totally a thing with people. They by and large seem to love it, if box office results indicate anything. It was listed as 'check back in February' for a few months (but was always available to buy at other retailers, at least in Canada) and is now listed as temporarily out of stock. Rumors have maybe three or four large Star Wars sets in the pipeline, so something seemingly has to give. I'm not advocating going crazy for a small to mid-sized investor (I have four from a flash sale from Walmart Canada) but it will probably be the first set I buy during the next double VIP + promo event. If you want to read a lot of Ewok love (or conversely a lot of Ewok hate) the dedicated thread is long and I can summarize: opinion seems divided, not much in the middle. I'm a lover, not a fighter, so these furballs are alright with me. Despite a good sales rank, it hasn't been around nearly as long as the modulars on my dishonorable mentions list so I'll let its current relative popularity slide. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 76042 Current Amazon.com sales rank: 344 in Building Sets A couple of whispers from far off places (Singapore, if you don't care to read the retiring soon thread religiously) have this retiring sooner rather than later. Limit is 1 from Shop at Home. It is massive. Ewoks are running circles around it according to sales rank. So why buy? Unlikely to ever be remade, I'd say, or at least not anytime soon. Difficult for small and medium-sized investors to hoard a set this large and expensive. Marvel fatigue might be setting in a bit (perhaps more of a Superheroes malaise, really) although I think the core fan base will still buy. Hasn't been around that long, but I'd still rather use double VIP to get a couple in the spring and then reevaluate. The Fairground Mixer 10244 Current Amazon.com sales rank: 840 in Building Sets Overall the worst sales rank of the sets I've chosen to focus on today, which makes me happy. Almost swapped this with the Helicarrier...consider it a toss up for me. A poor seller in a crowded Lego release schedule seems very likely to get the axe sooner rather than later. I have a couple now but would actually be quite happy to aim for double digits here. I think it is a unique kind of set and is priced well for Canada! I was happy to grab Maersk EEEs when they were sitting with the retiring soon label for months and others were buying (presumably) modulars. I've sold some of those EEEs while those that invested in other large sets are potentially still sitting on them, and I've got cash profits to put into another hidden gem. It will be interesting to see if a third carnival type set gets released this summer, or if the Friends rollercoaster (heavily rumored) and other fairground sets are released in its stead. This summer the set will turn two, it isn't a great seller at the moment and doesn't get a ton of chatter on Brickpicker. I am going to throw a little money down on this one. Or a lot. The Simpsons House 71006 Current Amazon.com sales rank: 229 in Building Sets I loved this set a couple months ago, and still love it now. Solid seller, not as flashy in sales numbers as a few other very large sets. Read more here: Sandcrawler 75059 Current Amazon.com sales rank: 285 Second oldest Star Wars UCS-type set after Ewok Village. Reasoning is largely the same as Ewok Village, as I think this won't make it to 2017, comes from a hugely popular line and looks ballin'. I nod to EV first as I am afraid the Ewoks might not make it until Q4 (a.k.a. Retirement season) but I'm willing to gamble the Sandcrawler will. Also use some Helicarrier reasoning here: massive set, big price tag and big box keeps a lot of smaller and even mid-sized investors from going too deep on it (at least most of them). There you have it – this is a shopping list of what I'd like to nab during the spring double VIP. I'm not going to panic and grab them earlier as I am reasonably confident the sets on this list will not suddenly become unavailable permanently in February, and every percent discount or promo makes me more competitive in a crowded marketplace. I'm not going to order more than one or two of each, and not in quick succession or anything crazy that would merit a ban hammer, but will spread them over a week or two as I've done every promo period in the last couple years. Honorable Mentions Volkswagen T1 – Sales rank 385. Sales number indicates perhaps (finally) a little buyer fatigue? It has been out for seemingly forever and the new box design in 2015 virtually guaranteed (at least to me) that there would still be more time in 2016 to get more (not that I need more). I'll reevaluate in a few months. Those hoping The Lego Group wouldn't want three large car models on the shelves at the same time must be gutted. Mini Cooper – Sales rank 495. Slower than the T1, so an argument could be made that it might be retired ahead of the T1, which will become the new Death Star a.k.a. Live Star. Sydney Opera House – Sales rank 412. Tower Bridge is 183. Significant difference? As far as I know, the Opera House doesn't have a new box design, while the Tower Bridge does. I'd wager this goes in 2016 and the Tower Bridge stays. Just a hunch. That being said, I personally don't like the Opera House as much as a few of the others on this list, and I don't have enough money to go 5-10 deep on every set. I can't see myself wanting/getting more than 4-5 of these. It has also been discounted in other markets which has generally been linked to sets that are on the way out. If my sales stay strong this might get some love in the next few months. Dishonorable Mentions Pet Shop – Sales rank 89. 89! That is gross. I think modulars look like easy money and lots of folks are drawn in by them, but if it keeps selling this well I'm not convinced it will even retire this fall. If you are starting out, no problem grabbing one or two, but I think it is insane to tie up too much capital here. Plenty of other sets out there that should/could retire sooner and give a cash return faster. Palace Cinema – Sales rank 145. Also gross! If the Pet Shop didn't retire, then the Cinema HAS TO, right? AMITRITE? Perhaps not. Given sales numbers, why shouldn't the Lego Group have five modulars available at the same time? As long as investors keep stocking them away, I suspect they'll retire slowly. The difficulty for me is that in a perfect world, I would have piles and piles of each set, especially exclusives but that isn't realistic. I require stock turnover and sales to drive new investment, and my success (or failure) to move stock dictates approximately what I can spend. The spring double VIP event will be a good time to add a few large sets that I hope/expect/pray will retire at some point in 2016. When each set starts doing the in and out of stock dance, I'll probably squeeze some funds together to buy some from another large retailer, but I like to get at least a couple of each targeted set from Shop at Home in the mid to late cycle of its life. If you think I should be buying more Pet Shops, sound off in the comments section! Veegs (BigBlueDogBricks)1 point1 pointGood point! Had thought about the SOH vs TB weight comparison but never put 2 and 2 together (although this slighty refutes some of my conclusions based on price per piece). Don't mean to bore everyone with stats but on a Price per Gram basis re-based using both US cost per gram are relatively stable but UK cost per gram have seen quite a fluctuation (although it still appears that brick bank is "fairly" priced. Whats quite striking is that Green grocer and Town hall are the best "value" sets at RRP. Grand Emporium (when I get the set number right) looks like a bit of an anomaly in terms of UK and EU pricing. Glad TLG didn't continue down that upward trend. (btw the PPG US is in cents and in pence for UK incase anyone cares - one day i might convert at the historic FX rates to get a better idea of pricing diffs between regions). No more table from me now - promise! Set Number Weight (g) PPG US PPG UK US RPI UK RPI PPG US Today PPG UK Today Café Corner 10182 2591 5.4 3.4 209 824 6.1 4.2 Market Street 10190 1780 5.1 3.4 209 824 5.7 4.2 Green Grocer 10185 3180 4.7 3.1 214 837 5.2 3.9 Fire Brigade 10197 2761 5.4 3.6 216 849 6.0 4.4 Grand Emporium 10211 2903 5.2 4.6 218 871 5.6 5.4 Pet Shop 10218 2820 5.3 4.3 226 928 5.6 4.7 Town Hall 10224 3825 5.2 3.9 229 950 5.4 4.2 Palace Cinema 10232 2770 5.4 4.3 233 981 5.5 4.5 Parisian Restaurant 10243 2610 6.1 5.1 234 997 6.2 5.2 Detectives Office 10246 2624 6.1 5.1 234 1008 6.2 5.2 BrickBank 10251 2745 6.2 4.4 237 1025 6.2 4.41 pointYes, they are applying now. It takes months to get approved, but it works nicely once implemented.1 pointThat's a shame. RIP. Always liked Rickman, especially in Die Hard where he played the baddie.1 pointOne must either be unmarried or have a very understanding wife to type such a comment1 pointNormal people don't pay $250 for 7965 when they can get the new MF for half that price or cheaper. A lot of our customers are not 'normal' people in common eyes.1 point1 pointExactly. There's already 2 different versions from The Force Awakens that will be in lego form, so whose to say they won't make a UCS form of them, or do like you said. One of Poe's X-wings are primed for a UCS version, and Lego would be foolish not to do it, since Poe's X-wing is one of the top sellers right now, and is constantly out of stock. I'm definitely more cautious about buying SW themes as investments than ever before. We are in new territory with these movies, as we could very much have 10 films over the next 10 years, and NOTHING in the star wars universe will be safe from a rehash or remake.1 point1 pointI think this set will surprise most on this board. The thousands in hands of resellers/investors/flippers from the last 2 weeks haven't hit Amazon's inventory yet. Once enough time has passed for everyone's Target/WM orders to arrive, get shipped off to FBA locations, processed, and fulfillable there will be a drop in price. There's only 73 offers/sellers on the original Amazon listing right now. That's the number to watch. For reference, here's offer counts/sellers over the last year or so: Oct 2014: 49 offers (this is when it was getting QFLL'd with the VIP release - buy box was $344.95) mid-Dec 2014: 107 offers (everyone QFLL for Christmas - buy box was $302.99) Feb 2015: 101 offers Mar 2015: 107 offers Jun 2015: 111 offers Aug 2015: 115 offers Oct 2015: 112 offers1 point1 pointNot only that but they have been hoarded to the max. A modular should always do OK after retirement though. I wouldn't expect returns on them as much as others with less production runs.1 point1 point1 pointI think the big issue is that we cherry pick their stock. This makes them look bad to their customers when they "never" have the most popular product in stock. Also, we exploit their best deals. So, before a deal launches at a store they don't exactly know if the deal will do what they want or not, but I can tell you what they don't want is deal useage to sell 99% of stock they would sell just fine without the deals. And that's what we do! Use deals to kill the stock that they don't need deals to sale.1 point
