Community LEGO Blogs
LEGO Blog Articles Submitted by the Brickpicker Community
259 blog articles in this category
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Hello, I'd like to tell you about an idea that I had. I'd like to make June 25th Give a Sick Kid a Brick (Break) Day. This would be a day where we can give to a little served cause. It might not even cost you a dime. I don't know how many of you have had a sick kid. My child's been to the emergency room more times than I can remember and admitted to the hospital for observation 3 times. The children's hospital is just as dreary, just as stark and joyless as an adult hospital. Somehow it see
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The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Arizona is set to have their grand opening on April 22, 2016. They are located in the Arizona Mills Mall 5000 S. Arizona Mills Circle. Tempe AZ 85282. Tickets are $22 for a single day admission, and you have to book a time for entrance. An individual annual pass is available for $65, or $60 per person for a family of 4 or more. The incentives for the annual pass holders include a 10% discount in the LEGO retail store and a 20% discount in the cafe as well as skippin
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It happens to the best of us..... You haven't built a LEGO set in a week or two. It's a slow day, you're bored, and you've got some spare time on your hands. You glance lovingly at your secret stash of LEGO sets and notice the pristine Pet Shops 10218s sitting on the shelf. They're mocking you - daring you to break those beautiful seals. Grabbing a set off the shelf, you carefully open the package before dumping the glorious contents onto the kitchen table to g
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In a 2 day competition, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Arizona conducted a unique job interview searching for their new LEGO Master Model Builder. In the food court of the Arizona Mills mall 46 applicants participated in a build off to find the most qualified person for the job. What is a Master Model Builder? They are the person that creates the models and displays that decorate the location. They are the face of the LEGOLAND location, communic
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Many Lego-related blogs are written about modern sets. This especially applies to investment-related blogs. In a series of articles I try to generate enthusiasm for some of the more interesting vintage Lego sets. We enjoyed building them as kids, whereas probably more often we jealously admired them in our best friend's collection or in the Lego catalogue we devotedly picked up in the toy store. This is primarily a blog of nostalgia. However, investing in vintage Lego can be an interestin
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When I first got into LEGO as an AFOL I was looking at all of the Star Wars sets that I had missed and how much they cost. It became necessary to figure out a way to get the sets cheaper or make more money. I knew that some people must be making money buying bulk lots and taking out the stuff they wanted and selling the rest. That seemed like 2 birds with one stone. I looked at the bulk lots on Ebay, realizing that most of what I would get from these guys were common pieces. So I started
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INTRODUCTION The LEGO Group has developed numerous Star Wars sets over the past 16 years, but the most coveted, and generally most valuable, are those with the Ultimate Collector's Series (UCS) label. What exactly, defines the term Ultimate Collector's Series? Brickipedia provides this definition: "The Ultimate Collector's Series, or UCS, is a sub-theme of sets. UCS sets are meant to be more detailed and aimed at
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For decades, the problem with collectible toys has been degradation of the materials. For most toys made in the past 40 years or more the main component is ABS plastic. ABS plastic breaks down and changes color as it ages. This process can be accelerated via exposure to UV rays (sunlight or fluorescent bulbs), Heat, and chemical reaction to other plastics. Most collectors have fought a losing fight to prevent their lighter colored plastics from turning yellow (or green if there is a blue
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Hello. My name is Elaine, and I am a Lego addict. I have often said this in jest, but I’ve started to realize that it is not a joke. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was check Brick Picker for the deals buzz. As soon as I had put the kids on the bus, I started planning my buy of the day. Since I went to see “The Force Awakens” (again) last night, I was feeling like I needed some more Star Wars sets. I took to the web, and made a plan to go to TRU (since it was Thursday) t
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For as long as I can remember, people have been puzzled by my interest in many things that were “for boys”, and I have been equally puzzled by why toys have a gender at all. As much as I am genetically and physically female, I have never been one to adhere to the likes and behaviors deemed appropriate to my gender. I am a builder and a creator. Both of my parents worked as computer engineers (although I used to think they worked on a train), so my brain and its nurturing were focused heav
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Recently, Arizona news outlets had stories about 50,000 LEGO bricks being dumped at a local shopping mall. Was this some weird Santa sighting? No. Did the ghost of Ole Christiansen manifest all of the bricks there? Sorry. It was in celebration of the beginning of construction of a LEGOLAND Discovery center at the Arizona Mills Mall. Arizona Mills is located in the city of Tempe, part of the larger Phoenix Metropolitan area. The attraction is scheduled to open in S
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There are a lot of great reasons to get into polybags; sometimes they show up in your Lego orders for free or after buying enough product, sometimes you see a nice box of them in a store with a sale or clearance price tag and wonder if there is any value there. Sometimes you see them being discussed on Brickpicker or another Lego forum and simply decide you *must* obtain a certain polybag because it is pretty darn cool or fits perfectly into your Lego MOC. Whatever your reason, I'd like to out
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Looking at the world from the ground is a lot different than in a hot air balloon. On the ground, you see details, colors, and textures of everything in front of you. In the air, you see what the overall landscape looks like, and all of those small details combine to form a picture of the earth's terrain and landscape that we cannot see from ground level. These overhead views can provide a weath of information about the nature of the area's weather patterns, climate and even its inhabitants. As
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For my next try at being a Lego design star, I wanted to tap into something that could be a massive theme for Lego. It has been mentioned many times and I think most of us are pretty flummoxed that it hasn't happened yet – though we all probably agree it eventually will. This theme is Video Games. Now there are hundreds of thousands of great video games to choose from, so in this article I only wanted to look at one. This is probably the most recognizable video game character of all time and pr
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If you buy a lot of Lego sets, you know Amazon.om is a great place to get them. They usually have some of the best prices out there, they have excellent shipping terms with Amazon Prime and with their super saving shipping, and they price match everything (they actually price match everything, TRU, rather than just stating that they do…). But there is another way on Amazon to get some pretty good deals, and if you are not utilizing it, you are making a big mistake. It’s called the Amazon Gold B
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Here is a link to the new article. Hope you enjoy it! This and the myths/truths articles really were my favorite to write, but stay tuned for more... There are a few key points I wanted to stress in both of these articles: 1. Don't follow the herd when selecting sets. Make your own decisions based upon data. Instincts can play a role in investing, but good instinct is usually based upon experience. For those that have never experienced a sales cycle, your instinct has not been honed well enough
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As you know, there are now two X-Wing Fighters in the UCS(Ultimate Collector's Series) line. One was released in 2000, has 1,300 pieces, and has a retail price of $149.99 USD. The other one was released in 2013, has 1,558 pieces, and retails for $199.99. There are various affects of having another X-Wing fighter out in the market. There could be less interest in the older X-Wing because of its avalability and its current price. The newer one is more available and it has a cheaper cost. This may
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In the world of Lego Investing, one of the best ways to save yourself money and maximize your investments is by using rewards programs. In a world of advanced technology, almost everybody accepts credit cards now, and even more so, most stores now offer their own credit card. Assuming you have good credit and know how to properly use a credit card, this can be a huge advantage in the investing game. If you prefer not to use a credit card, there are many great rewards programs you can use to stil
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I run into this issue through my Lego collecting and investing constantly. I really love the set I just got and want to open it, but am I making a mistake by popping open that seal and opening all the bags inside? What if it becomes a big time seller and I decide I don't want it anymore, am I going to lose money? An even tougher conundrum comes up when I get a set for way less than retail. And the set is MISB. I paid the same amount for it that I would for a used set, so does it make any differe
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As I have said in the last two installments of this, I have really enjoyed doing these as I entertain the possibility of me being creative enough to come up with a good Lego idea. Today I decided to do another movie – in fact one of the most box-office popular movies of all time: independence Day. The reasons I chose this movie? Well, besides it being very popular and quotable, any movie with aliens and spaceships are going to have tons of good ideas for Lego sets. Everyone loves aliens and spa
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The talk of a Lego "bubble" has been discussed ad nauseum on this site, yet there is a side I thought about yesterday that hasn't been touched on yet. With thirty one themes (per Lego S@H list), TLG's product line is monstrous so it's plausible to foresee a certain segment of the Lego product line undergo significant devaluation sometime in the not-so-distant future. To figure out if any sectors are at risk, let's define what a bubble is first. The classic definition of an economic bubble condi
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Disclaimer: All references to tax law refer to US tax law under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Posts are my thoughts only and should not be taken as authoritative statements of the law. I once held a CPA certification, but it is no longer active. Please do your own research and consult a licensed professional for all legal, tax, and accounting matters. It's been said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The tax implications from selling your LEGO can vary dependi
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In the LEGO investing world, the CITY theme is one of the least talked about and somewhat ignored by most investors. Other than the trains, it seems a lot of people simply don’t pay enough attention to the theme, maybe because there are a lot of re-released sets, mostly targeted to kids or its very generic nature. Having said that, the theme is a pretty good performer overall, with a CAGR of around 13.00%, above the average LEGO set/theme, and is probably the only theme you can keep constantly e
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The success of the modular line in the Lego Investing culture is obvious. Market Street, The Green Grocer, and Cafe Corner all have seen and continued to see insanely successful growth rates, with the newer Modulars only boosting their appeal to people. Take a look at the CAGRs of the different sets below: Set NameRetail PriceCurrent Price (new)CAGRMarket Street 10190$89.99$1472.6759.34%Cafe Corner 10182$139.99$1426.2747.24%Green Grocer 10185$149.99$760.7438.37%So naturally, the Fire Brigade, as
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[box type="info" ]This blog follows on from my previous blogs (May, July, September, and October) presenting the top 20 sets in terms of secondary market price growth according to the data we have available here on Brickpicker.[/box] Again, here are some notes on the scope before I begin: I have not restricted the qualifying sets by size or age or any other dimension Information is based on US prices only Not all sets across all themes are included as I have zero interest in Bionicle/Hero Fa
