Evaluation Corner
LEGO Evaluations
62 blog articles in this category
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10230 Mini Modulars Set Information Name: 10230 Mini Modulars Theme: Exclusives, Advanced Models Year Released: 2012 Pieces: 1356 Minifigures: None Price (MSRP): $79.99 US / $99.99 CAN / $99.99 AUS / £59.99 UK / 69.99€ EU Summer 2012 brought us a unique and exclusive set known as 10230 Mini Modulars. The set was not only an exclusive to the Lego Brand Retail and Shop @ Home, but was also only available for VIP cardholders. Capturing the essence of the first five modulars released by Lego (Mark
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On this second entry of the BrickIndex Spotlight I will be focusing on one of the last real sleeper sets of the past year or so: The Zombies from the Monster Fighters theme. The Zombies set was a Target exclusive, meaning that people could only purchase it through them or an actual LEGO store, thus causing the set to have a more limited availability than the average LEGO set. Even more, The Zombies only lasted for a few months and was retired very soon and without notice, a couple of facts that
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Lego Chima is a very interesting theme to say the absolute least. When the them first came out, I think my collective thoughts on each set were "What the hell is that?". To a certain extent I still ask myself that, so I had always had a pretty negative view of Chima along with many other posters on the forum. I see some people prop up a few individual sets, but they are certainly not called out as targets for big time investing. In fact, I think that even the lowly Lone Ranger theme (I say lowly
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Much has been said of all the shiny new Star Wars and Super Heroes sets for 2014, but in my opinion Cuusoo has the most interesting and potentially most profitable sets this year. For now I want to take a look at 21104, Curiosity Rover. It is some what of an enigma. An S&H limit of only 1 and a "Limited" designation in the catalog has given the Rover a wild ride and it hasn't even been out for two months yet. It seems that upon its initial release it sold out in mere 7 hours and each subs
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Bigger is better...Isn't that the saying? Big LEGO sets get all the love, especially when it comes to the investing and secondary LEGO market. What's not to love about a 5000 piece 10179 Millennium Falcon or 10189 Taj Mahal and their returns? I'll tell you what's not to love...their current prices. These large iconic LEGO sets sell more than a lot of cars do. In other words, thousands of dollars. Not every LEGO collector and investor is a well-to-do AFOL, that has thousands of dollars of discret
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There are certain LEGO themes that just seem to explode in growth on the secondary LEGO market. Most of the time, popular investment LEGO themes do well after the theme is retired or goes EOL (End of Line). But on occasion, there are LEGO themes that appreciate higher than MSRP before the theme is discontinued. Popular themes like Ninjago, Friends and the CUUSOO line of LEGO sets have shown remarkable growth in values on the secondary LEGO market, even though most sets are still available at
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Welcome to the first entry of what I would like to think of as a revamped Evaluation Corner article. The idea behind this new format is to offer a little more historical and analytical data when evaluating sets for potential investment, in a more visual way. Hopefully you will like it; be sure to add your feedback or comments! Historical & Theme Analysis The topic of this first article will be the recently released The Brick Bounty – 70413. The “Pirates
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* As I was preparing to publish this article, Ed Mack announced the Brickpicker sponsored fundraiser in benefit of the St. Paul School of Burlington, NJ. I truly encourage you all to visit the following link and make a donation; besides supporting a great cause you will be entered for a chance to win some really cool, retired sets worth thousands of dollars (and appreciating as we speak!). I truly wish the St. Paul School the best, FCBarc
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The Sandcrawler is without a doubt one of the most iconic vehicles in the entire Star Wars universe. Ever since C-3PO first spotted this gargantuan transport, Star Wars fans have been very attracted to the idea of owning their own version, along with its extremely popular operators, the Jawas. Back in 2004 released its own version of the Sandcrawler. That set remains a pretty accurate version of what we originally saw in the movies
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LEGO Seasonal sets have proven over the years to be solid performers in the LEGO secondary market. From the "Winter Village" series to the Holiday polybags to the small promotional sets that LEGO gives away with purchases, Christmas themed sets perform very well. Let's take a closer look at a few of the Christmas themed LEGO sets. On a personal note...My favorite time of the year is almost here...and I'm 200% ready for it! The Christmas cards are sent. The house is decorated. The lights are
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I thought it would be a great idea to check in on some sets that don't get a lot of press around here to see exactly how they are doing now. I love 'where are they now' editions of TV shows so if nothing else posting this will please me, and perhaps others like me. Also, I think learning from history is better than not learning history, so for new(er) members, these type of posts might be instructive at best or eye-rolling at worst. I was casu
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First, yes, yes, I know the Coast Guard isn't actually part of the navy, although did you know that at any time the President can transfer the USCG to the Department of the Navy, or that Congress can do this during times of war? So, accuracy aside, just let it slide as it makes for a better title. Who doesn't like Village People references in the Lego investing world? Now, down to nuts and bolts and anchors. The City Theme doesn't get a lot of posts and discussion, which is just crazy as its
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As an avid LEGO collector and investor, I like to read as much as I can about the various LEGO sets in existence, both new and old. I try to keep informed by reading the multitude of quality LEGO sites, forums and blogs out there. One such quality site is the Brickset site. Brickset has a nice review section for a lot of the sets and I was sifting through some of the reviews for the LEGO 10188 Death Star and found a review by a Brickset member(Chills) that mentioned that the reviewer's wife t
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The LEGO Modular Buildings series came out in 2007, and has quickly turned into every investor's dream. The first three sets that have been retired have all skyrocketed in value in a relatively short time. This Evaluation Corner installment will take a look at the Grand Emporium, set 10211. There is a lot of other great data about the Modular series that can be found in a previous Evaluation Corner article that was done on the Fire Brigade. It does a good job of illustrating the rapid rise t
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Big and bold, the 10214 Tower Bridge is one of the largest LEGO sets ever created. With 4287 pieces, the 10214 Tower Bridge is in fact the third largest LEGO set ever created. That is quite an impressive feat considering there are over 9000 LEGO sets in existence. A beautiful recreation of the grand Tower Bridge that spans the River Thames in London, this particular LEGO model would make a wonderful display piece in any home or office. But does this huge set have huge potential written all over
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What makes a LEGO set a good choice for 'investment' purposes? There are as many answers to that question as there are LEGO bricks in a 10179 Millennium Falcon, but several key factors can be found in common with the top appreciating LEGO sets: Themed/Licensed sets Large set(brick count) Exclusive pieces and/or mini figures Sure, there are plenty of small sets with no mini figures that appreciate nicely over time(STAR WARS mini building sets come to mind) and non-themed sets made with regular,
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Very impressive name for a LEGO set! But does the set itself live up to its 'grandiose' name? Also, will the set, after it is retired, appreciate like a Mercedes-Benz or will a YUGO come to mind when you think of this set's investment potential? Let's take a look... The LEGO Technic theme was launched back in 1977. It was one of the first 'themes' of LEGO. Along with the Space and Castle themes of the mid-1970s, the Technic line helped introduce LEGO bricks to AFOLs such as myself. One set in p
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There has been a flurry of activity with this set within the last couple days, and it seems to be causing a lot of LEGO investors to change their feelings toward it. Amazon had around 550 units for sale on January 9, and Toys R Us was offering it online on January 11. Even the official Minecraft site, www.JINX.com, got in on the fun and offered a small number of these for sale the same day. With all these recent offerings, the general feeling of this set seems to have shifted to an unusually ne
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More often than not, the main question LEGO investors are trying to answer is “When is this set retiring?”. As we all know, once a set is retired is when it really has the potential to start growing in value, so it is not surprising that the EOL question is as common as it is in the forums. However, focusing entirely on currently available sets may be causing investors to miss on a potentially lucrative market: sets that have already been retired for quite some time. It is not the first ti
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Jabba Desilijic Tiure...AKA...Jabba the Hutt. The biggest Alien slug this side of Tatooine. But are the LEGO sets designed around this "festering, mountainous pustule"worth anything on the LEGO secondary market? Are the older Jabba LEGO sets "sluggish" when financial growth and appreciation are concerned, or are they a worthwhile investment, "prized" by LEGO investors and collectors? Also, how does the recent Turkish Mosque incident affect the new Jabba the Hutt LEGO sets...if at all? Let's
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In 2000, the news of Hollywood’s newest power couple, noted playboy Brad Pitt and America’s sweetheart Jennifer Aniston broke. Tabloids proclaimed them “king and queen of Hollywood” and the paparazzi chronicled every step of their relationship. Inevitably, rumors of a split surfaced, and in 2005 Pitt was found palling around with a new bombshell, Angelina Jolie. Every red-blooded US News fan asked themselves, “How could this guy ruin such a good thing? They were perfect together!” As the world t
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When I write an investment piece for the Evaluation Corner or Investor's Spotlight, I usually try to keep my "investment" LEGO set suggestions to new or recently retired sets. My thought process on this is to give the LEGO investor/collector the ability to invest in a LEGO set that is still currently being sold on the primary market, basically at MSRP, or in some cases, slightly less than MSRP. Even recently retired sets are usually very close to MSRP. I mean, I could recommend an $1800.00 10
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The age old question in the LEGO investment world is should I buy a "new" LEGO set, one that has no track record or growth data to examine, or should a LEGO investor look to older LEGO sets that have appreciated well, but may have their best growth days behind them? Both have possible advantages. The newer sets can be bought easily at a discount from the retail price and can be found in mint and sealed condition with little issues. The older sets are proven commodities that have appreciated o
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I think there are many types of investors and many types of investing strategies that those investors use. We all look at different sets in different ways and I think that 80% of Lego sets or more have an investor somewhere that believes in them. If you have read any of my stuff, you know I am one of the more safe investors out there – I don't invest thousands and thousands of dollars so I try not to reach with any of my buys. Yes, I may not cash in on sets like the Zombies, but I am more intere
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LEGO Technic sets are an overlooked commodity in the LEGO investing world. Many Technic sets appreciate very, very well after retirement, yet many investors will ignore these sets. I just built my first Technic set a couple of weeks ago and I have to say, I am hooked. Loving Star Wars, I have always been a big fan of vehicles, but Technic sets take it to the next level. All the parts move, lots of sets can run with motors in them, and most are extremely challenging to build. I can not wait to
