Brickvesting
LEGO Investing Articles
108 blog articles in this category
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BrickPicker.com was designed and created with the LEGO investor and collector in mind. Through the use of eBay's Terapeak data, we have given the LEGO enthusiast current prices and growth trends of various new and retired sets. We try to keep our information and data fresh and accurate and give the LEGO investors and collectors out there tools in which to make smart LEGO purchases. One such new investment tool we have included in our LEGO set data is called the CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate.
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The differences in retail prices that Lego attracts across different countries and regions is an often talked about subject. There is always a feeling that Lego, both with its own stores and online shop and with the suggested retail prices that most big Lego retailers use, doesn’t exactly play “fair” when it comes to pricing. The reasons for that are many and varied and are beyond the scope of this article. But what I would like to do is present some evidence that may help put into perspective s
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This article attempts to describe Craigslist experience of buying bulk Lego lots and provide some lessons learned from newbie perspective so others can benefit from experience and hopefully not make same mistakes that I've made.. I've been fan of Lego since childhood, never really entered a dark age there was always a set or two or three around the house most of them were technic. I seriously considered Lego investing 3 or 4 months ago and turned to Craigslist bulk buys to offset the burden of
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"You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." These are the words of Morpheus, a prophet in the sci-fi thriller The Matrix, and I think they accurately describe the choice many Brickpicker members face early in their investing career. Should I try to learn and understand the Lego secondary market, or take it for granted that it will exist as
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After a somewhat long absence from writing articles, I decided that a good way to try and get back into the rhythm was to revisit one of my 2013 articles, The LEGO December Effect. For those of you who have not had the time to read the previous article, back in 2013 I noticed an interesting price trend for the most expensive sets: they seemed to take a big deep in value in the month of December. Back then, I decided to compile some data for a few of the most expensive sets at the time and d
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I have done several articles about selling on Ebay, and several other BrickPicker members have as well. You can tell by just trying to sell on Ebay, or reading there articles that selling on Ebay includes quite a few different choices about how to list: Do I offer Free Shipping? Buy it Now or Auction? When do I end the Auction? I have been doing a lot of different articles touching on each of these and I wanted to touch on another big one that I felt could have an impact on sales and also offers
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In today's world, there are many swindlers and shysters trying to separate you from your money. This theft and deception even finds its way into the world of LEGO bricks. As a LEGO collector and investor, there are many places to buy LEGO sets. One of the best is eBay. But there is an ever increasing illegal practice that is occurring on the eBay site and similar auction sites and the LEGO fan needs to be aware of it. It's called “drop shipping.” Just to be clear...drop shipping, by itself, is n
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Last year during the Force Awakens Force Friday push, @Fcbarcelona101 wrote about the new LEGO offerings. I wanted to take a quick look at the new offerings for the new Star Wars prequel Rogue One: A Star Wars story. Oh yeah, that's right, it is a prequel. I know that a lot of people don't want to hear that word associated with Star Wars, but it is what it is. The first thing I would like to discuss are the Constractions or constructible action figures. There are 3 of them for the Ro
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No quiet "moo moo" noises being heard regarding the 70810 MetalBeard's Sea Cow set. It's quite impressive when any set increases over 40% from MSRP ($249.99) within only 2 months of "availability" *. Currently, MISB prices are $350 on average (bricklink, amazon, ebay, brickpicker) * note: availability varied by region and retailer. While most Lego collectors and investments were buying sets
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Amazing how much money people have! Seriously, this goes to show the amazing appreciation and love for the world of Lego Star Wars. Either the person here has too much money to blow, has no idea what they are looking for on eBay or is just plain crazy. Looking at the numbers the Brickpicker database, we know that the current going rate for a Used #10179 UCS Millennium Falcons is $1125.39 USD, which is way below what this fellow paid. Next month when we run our numbers, I will be very interested
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I was strolling through my local Walmart and saw two Cloud Cuckoo Palaces. Aware that this set was becoming hard to find, I decided to purchase one to part out. I knew that parting out a set is something that many Brickpickers would like to know more about; therefore, I decided to write an article based on my personal experience. This article is for members who would like to have more knowledge on this subject. Without further ado, let's get started! Part I: Know Your Set Before you buy a
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There comes a time, in some LEGO collector's lives, that their hobby of collecting LEGO sets and bricks becomes something a little more than a hobby. The AFOL(Adult Fan of LEGOs), with the so-called 'hobby' of collecting little plastic bricks, has ended up spending years and thousands of dollars on these 'toys.' The last thing anybody wants to happen is to lose the entire collection to fire, flood or theft. LEGO sets and bricks, like coins, stamps, and rare art can be worth a pretty penny and sh
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Good news for some, bad news for some and irrelevant news to others! Must be a BigBlueDogBricks post by yours truly, Veegs! "The True North Strong and (Almost?) Free - Loonie Slide to 59!" That phrase plays on the words to our National Anthem O Canada, and is possibly amusing to some? First, a link to the article - although most major Canadian papers had this or a variation on it today: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/macquarie-loonie-forecast-1.3401644 As the art
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So, what is BigBlueDogBricks (Brick Classifieds Store) up to, you ask? Swimming in sales is the answer, and since those sales have resulted in money, I'm swimming in cash flow. Granted it is mostly just numbers in my Paypal account, so the swimming is more metaphorical than anything else, but I'm definitely in a Micheal Phelps kinda place. So, with money coming in from sales and inventory moving pretty much as projected I have some spare capital to reinvest. I believe the time has come fo
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Good news for Lego Ideas completionists and set 21301 fans, the Birds set is being heavily discounted by Lego store and shop at home web sites. The latest US-based sale seems to be working as shop at home is now sold-out and inventory is drying up at their physical mall stores. This is also a good sign this set is near retirement. I like this set's investment potential compared to most sets since Birds doesn't seem to be heavily hoarded
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Tracking your Lego investments is one of the most important topics that are discussed on the BrickPicker forums. Since I see quite a few questions popping up on the forums about how to keep track of your Lego investments, I figured I’ll write a blog article about it and maybe some of you will find it helpful. Terminology First we need to get our terminology straight as it will help us to pick out appropriate tools for the job. There are few ways you can treat your Lego business. Long term
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Arbitrage is a term used to describe the practice of using price variances between different markets in order to make a profit. This may mean different geographic markets such as countries, regions, states, or even cities and towns. The term can also cover selling in different time periods if you are buying in today’s market and holding to sell in a future market. In the modern financial world using arbitrage is a common tool and it is what helps keep most international markets and prices stabl
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I recently wrote an article, LEGO Bubble...Fact or Fiction, in which I compared the recent Baseball Card collectible's market bubble and its subsequent bursting, to a potential LEGO investment bubble. The main point of the article was to show similarities between two comparable collectibles' markets and to question whether or not the LEGO collectible's market would crash and burn like the Baseball Card collectible's market did several years ago. While doing research for the article, I came acros
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Convention exclusive. The two words many LEGO collectors dread to hear and several investors become giddy over. To some, these highly exclusive sets with their limited availability can be the Holy Grail of a LEGO collection. They are extremely hard to obtain, and can be very expensive unless you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. In recent years as the popularity of LEGO has skyrocketed, these exclusive sets have become even more coveted. Retailing for just $40, th
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The Pitch: I was listening to Sting's 'Demolition Man' and patting myself on the back for getting some Demolition Site sets about $60 CAD off retail when I thought others might be interested in my thoughts on Sting and Lego. Seeing how past construction-type sets fared seemed like a good point of comparison, and I had a suitable soundtrack. Unfortunately, the lyrics are a bit foreboding considering I am advocating for Demolition sets, but if nothing else they forced me to be a bit conserv
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I have to admit, I am addicted to Lego store displays. I love them. I scour eBay and Bricklink for any sort of Lego display. From Agents to Star Wars, they are awesome in my opinion. But what are they really worth and are they a good investment? Lego store displays are rare for the most part. These plexiglass covered, Lego dioramas can be found at any local Toy R' US or Target. The thing that makes them rare is that they are not for sale to the public from Lego or any department store. Rumor ha
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Introduction to Asia: In recent years, The LEGO Group has seen its sales of our favorite toy brick rise greatly, especially in Asia. Here, the local LEGO Scene is abuzz with activity, with annual sales seeing a 35% increase across Asia in 2013. With the recent opening of Legoland Malaysia just over a year ago, with another Legoland slated for Japan in 2017, its not surprising that the brick is becoming so popular. I am aware that many of you have questions about what the LEGO Scene in Asia is
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J457GQKR7R25 LEGO investing is becoming more and more popular as both LEGO fans and even some more conventional investors begin to realize that there is more to our beloved bricks than just the fun to be had playing with them. With a little bit of effort, they can turn a tidy profit, as well. My first experience with selling LEGO sets was when I first discovered eBay. I happened to have a few Castle sets tucked away, and I was delighted to find that I could sell them to eager collectors for an a
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Definition of "Speculative Bubble": A spike in asset values within a particular industry, commodity, or asset class. A speculative bubble is usually caused by exaggerated expectations of future growth, price appreciation, or other events that could cause an increase in asset values. This drives trading volumes higher, and as more investors rally around the heightened expectation, buyers outnumber sellers, pushing prices beyond what an objective analysis of intrinsic value would suggest. The bub
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There has been a lot of success in the world of LEGO investing, but there have also been many losses. In a previous article, I wrote about successful sets, but to be successful, we must know how to avoid failures. There are many things that can make a set flop, like an unpopular theme, bad minifigures, poor design, etc. We must know the good from the bad, learn from the past, and carefully evaluate all advice given to us in able to succeed in LEGO investing. Unsuccessful Themes of the Past
