Brickvesting
LEGO Investing Articles
108 blog articles in this category
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Hi. I’m a new investor/collector/AFOL. One issue I have encountered with my new hobby was how to protect the fragile LEGO set boxes from shelf wear and the interior home elements, such as moisture from possible water leaks, dampness from high humidity areas like basements, dust and smoke. Several years ago, I discovered various brands of storage bags and thought these would be an excellent answer to these issues. These bags are large, very durable, and reusable. They would wear out with constant
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Here is the list of current, former, and upcoming polybags in the LEGO world. If you've found a polybag that's not on this list, or have any update to give us, please note it in the comments below. This information is put together from a number of different sources on the Internet, including real world reports. Availability in your area may vary. This information is US-based. Polybags Currently Available
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Ever since a Lego store opened in my area, I have been fascinated with the concept of Pick A Brick (PAB) cups. The clear cups, coming in two sizes, offer the customer with the ability to not only choose what they want from a wall of different elements, but also how much they want through packing methods that have been refined over time. As years went by, my ability to fill every nook and cranny grew. My collection of empty cups grew. And my interest in the cups as investment tools grew as well.
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Over the last few weeks I've been looking into understanding how the time you decide to purchase a set for investment factors into your real investment returns. After one of my earlier blogs on how discount amounts affect your returns I began to examine how in some circumstances buying at a higher price but later in a sets retail shelf life may be beneficial. It’s all about the Time Value of Money and the Opportunity Cost of purchasing an item when your investment capital may be better utilised
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The Proposal Looking at one and done themes, both in terms of one wave and an availability of one year (and change), can an investor learn anything? Short answer: maybe. Long answer: maaaaaaybe. I'd like to spend a little time talking about the Castle theme. Availability from brickset.com lists May 28th, 2013 to December 22nd, 2014. Yes, I know this might be stretching the aforementioned 'one and change' but actual production was likely much closer to one year with the later EOL da
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There are over 9000 LEGO sets in existence. Of those 9000+ LEGO sets, the vast majority have been retired or in LEGO terms, gone EOL(End Of Line). The common topics among forum members usually relate to newer LEGO sets, while the LEGO sets that are five years old or older, get very little attention in terms of buying as an investment. New sets like the 10211 Grand Emporium, 10197 Fire Brigade, 10217 Diagon Alley and 21102 CUUSOO Minecraft get a lot of love from LEGO investors. There is constant
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So, you have been buying LEGO sets non stop over the past few months, maybe even years, and you have noticed your Brickfolio has increased in value by 10,000% (exaggerating just a bit here). Or maybe you are a short term investor looking to make some "quick" money to fund your own collection or long term investing choices. It can be sort of difficult to decide how to start selling some of your inventory, as well as where to get the most cost effective materials so that you end up with more money
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Building your eBay Profile There are a lot of sketchy sellers on eBay, and one of the best ways to avoid being lumped in with these types is to have a solid eBay profile. For all you new users/investors visiting the site every day, don’t forget that buying the Lego is the fun part, but selling is where you actually make the money. I too love the rush of getting a great deal or discount on a set, but until I’ve taken photos, made the listing, found a buyer, packed it up and shipped it, it is just
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This month (November 2016) marks my first complete year as a LEGO reseller and active BrickPicker, as well as the second anniversary of coming out of my Dark Ages. Okay, I was reading catalogs and buying a few cool sets for my kids every year before 2014, but nothing like the full-on assault of having to catch up with all that LEGO has offered in the past. To celebrate these milestones I thought it would be a nice idea to contribute some of my key lessons from the past year back to this communit
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I have played with LEGO bricks since I was young(I am now 34), but never collected them in any way until recently. A couple of years ago, my wife got back into LEGO and started buying sets to build with our nieces and nephews. Before long she was asking for LEGO sets from me for her birthday and Christmas. Well, of course a few of the sets were hard to find so I had to turn to eBay. I was shocked by how much some of the sets were going for and that’s what turned me into a true LEGO investor. Eve
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It's well known by now, but I started a Lego business a while back in August and have been, like most of you, working to make it the best that it can be. I work in an industry where efficiency is not only the key, but it is expected to grow and thrive with every new iteration of a product or service. Without progress we have nothing, right? Well, I bring this same mindset to my business everyday. Anytime I do something, no matter if I have done it 100 times, I say "how could I have done this bet
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The point of investing in anything is to increase a person's net worth through the increased value of what we purchase. There's three main parts to an investment cycle where decisions need to be made, which affect its value: When you buy, While you hold, and When you sell. Making money the first two ways has been extensively covered, (very well I might add), by brickpicker.com. They identify stores' sites with their specified discounts, eBay listings below each item's analysis, and more. Brickpi
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"ED"itor's Note: This informative and well written article was a collaboration of Quacs and Fcbarcelona101... In 2006, a television show debuted in the US called Man vs. Wild. Originally a British show called Born Survivor, Man vs. Wild was a reality TV series hosted by the noted outdoorsman and stuntman Bear Grylls that chronicled his efforts to thrive in remote locations by demonstrating and using various survival skills. Throughout each episode, Grylls used every piece of information and nat
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Legos are an iconic toy. Through my work at www.BrickPicker.com, I have also found out they are valued as an investment vehicle for some very smart collectors out there. Year after year, new sets are released and older sets are discontinued, making those older sets more valuable with each passing year. But an untapped market within the Lego world is now emerging...Custom models and minifigures. With the advent of CAD software for the Lego community, programs such as Ldraw(www.LDraw.org) gi
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People are always looking for the next hot investment. With today's volatile stock market and falling real estate prices, people are looking for someplace safe to invest their money. I'm here today to make a case for LEGOS. That's right, you read it correctly...LEGOS. Hard to believe? Maybe, but let me show you some interesting tidbits and data that help me substantiate my claim. In 2000, LEGO was named "Toy of the Century” by Fortune magazine as well as by the British Toy Retailers Associ
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So, you have found Brickpicker and probably have already bought a number of sets that you plan on selling at some point in the future. Or, maybe you are a somewhat seasoned investor that has accumulated a large number of sets and are just now starting to sell your first few items. Either way, I wanted to give you a by no means comprehensive list of best practices for listing your items for sale. Whether you list on BP’s Brick Classifieds, eBay or some other site, I think these basic first
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After reading an earlier thread, I want to make a thread chronicling my own transition from LEGO “investor” to LEGO “seller.” I have received a ton of great advice on this site and have learned a few things along the way. I started the buying side of this in November 2012 and have completed my first several sales (November 2014). I want to point out some of the things that I learned here and did right and some things I didn't know and did wrong. Some of this information may be very basic for
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In recent weeks, LEGOLAND California has gone through another price structure change. This time, removing discounts from "Sale" and "Hard to Find" items that are carried in their shops. In year's past, annual passholders would expect to find LEGO sets priced at RRP. With a LEGOLAND California Annual Pass, a 10% discount was applied to all orders. During the years of "no discounts on exclusives," this made purchasing exclusives, such as modular buildings, a little more desirable at
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You are browsing in the construction toys aisle of your local retail or toy store. You carefully look at the three main choices of building blocks: LEGO, Mega Bloks and KRE-O. You can’t decide which one to buy for your children –they all look the same on their boxes. This article outlines the advantages & disadvantages found in both LEGO products and inexpensive alternatives so that you can choose what’s best for you. At the moment there are many alternatives to LEGO bricks on the market, t
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As a LEGO investor and collector, there are many places where you can buy new LEGO sets. In the United States, large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target and Toys R Us sell massive amounts of new LEGO sets. Great Britain has similar large retailers like Argos, Myer and Tesco. Of course EBAY is a worldwide option for new and used LEGO sets. That leads us to The LEGO Group and its Shop At Home(S@H) online site and brick and mortar stores. The LEGO retail sites make up the backbone of th
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As I was sitting on my couch one day watching Robert Zemeckis's, The Polar Express, with my two-and-a-half-year-old son, I got to thinking about trains. The Polar Express is my son's favorite movie and he knew how to say “choo-choo” before he could say “Daddy.” What is it about trains that cause children(and some adults...LOL) to run around the house and yell, “choo-choo, choo-choo” before they can say their own name? And does this same passion for trains cross over into other hobbies and wor
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Editor's Note: Here is another great article written by one of our members, Mos_Eisley. This article covers an issue that many collectors face and answers questions for those that are just starting their LEGO collections. Mos_Eisley received 500 BrickPoints for having this article published on the site. -Jeff So you’ve decided to enter the dark and alluring world of LEGO investing. Soon you’ll be scouring the internet every day for all the best deals, stopping at
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Probably I'm not the only one surprised by the early retirement of several quite recent Star Wars sets. I decided to make an overview of all non-polybag Star Wars sets in Europe and in the United States. The list below is the result. It is divided in subs '2013', '2014', 'January 2015', 'during 2015'. At least in the Netherlands you can find toy stores that still have some of these retired and Shop-at-home-sold-out sets, some even from 2013. Hopefully you will find this list useful in your shopp
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Over the years, Lego has released hundreds of 'mini' sets to the buying public. These mini sets usually were packed in small polybags and had approximately 25-75 pieces. Most major Lego themes usually had a mini set or two that related to their larger sets. Some sets had mini figures in them, but the majority(and the ones we are discussing here) are miniature versions of other larger Lego sets. They were and still are priced well below $10(US). These tiny sets were often used as "stocking s
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The universe of LEGO Star Wars is changing. Some of the changes may be too subtle to notice at first, but it began more than a year ago. Before we look into the changes taking place now, and influencing the future, let us take a look at the way things have always been. Historically the LEGO licensing of the Star Wars brand has always been consistent. Star Wars had a three-year cycle between movies starting with The Phantom Menace in 1999, the year that LEGO acquir
