Brickvesting

[box type="shadow"]Editor's Note: This is the first article written by one of our members, Tim Mahoney(timinchicago). What a great contribution to the site. Hopefully this is the first of many great articles by Tim and hopefully more get submitted by the rest of our members. Tim received 500 BrickPoints for having this article published on the site. -Jeff[/box] “Dark Age”: the period of time between when a person loses interest in LEGO and when they rediscover it as an adult. It is not much of

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

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

An interesting article was released at the 2012 New York Toy Fair by The LEGO Systems, Inc. Basically, it describes LEGO's year-end highlights and illustrates LEGO's continued growth in the U.S. Toy Market. Let's take a look...     The seven basic bullet points of the article also illustrated to me that the 'secondary' LEGO sales market, such as EBAY sales, will remain strong into the future in my opinion. The children builders of today will be the AFOLs of tomorrow and the AFOLs drive the secon

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

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

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

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