Evaluation Corner
LEGO Evaluations
62 blog articles in this category
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Today, we are going back in time to almost three years ago (time flies!) and taking a look at one set that had the forums and the entire LEGO community talking almost non-stop: the LEGO Technic 4x4 Crawler Exclusive Edition. Unlike the majority of LEGO sets released throughout the years, the Limited Edition Crawler was designed through a fan base contest, with one of the conditions being that the creators utilized the chassis of the 9398 Crawler. The winner model was to be selected and prod
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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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A long time ago in an investing world far, far away from 2016, a Lego Friends kit set the world afire. This is the story, as told by me, with mostly conjecture and wild assumptions. I've linked the data I perused. CamelCamelCamel Buy me now: Amazon The Boom The forums were surprisingly quiet in the official 41015 thread, but I do recall most of the chatter in the Daily D
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Where Are They Now? is an ongoing blog series dedicated to analyzing specific high-profile Lego sets that have been targeted for investment and sold out / retired a year or more in the past. The idea is to review and summarize a wide range of investment factors surrounding the set a few months before, during, and after it stopped becoming available at retail prices... then look at the financial performance of the set thus far, and perhaps discover a clue about future growth and/or similar
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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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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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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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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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It is pretty amazing that we are less than 3 months from the release of the first film of the new Star Wars trilogy: The Force Awakens. After George Lucas completed the much criticized, nonetheless enjoyable, prequels, I had come to the sad realization that we might never have another original Star Wars film. Sure, we would have the occasional mini series and other smaller productions, but nothing that would really catch my attention in the same way the feature
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Back in 2007, LEGO released the first of the 'Town Modular Buildings,' set 10182, Cafe Corner. Since that time, seven more modular buildings have been released, including the 10197 Fire Brigade in 2009. Each set can stand alone or be used with the other modular buildings to form an entire block of LEGO buildings, with sidewalks, streetlamps and other structures found on your average city block. Not only are these modular buildings attractive, creative and accurate in appearance, they have bee
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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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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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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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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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Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the LEGO STAR WARS Ultimate Collector's Series(UCS), let me tell you how a UCS set helped create Brickpicker.com... Adult LEGO fans(AFOLs) often talk about their “dark ages” when referring to their LEGO collecting hobby. Basically, the term “dark ages” refer to the time a LEGO fan stops playing with LEGO bricks(usually around the age of 12-14) and when they rediscover LEGO bricks(usually when they have kids or are old enough, with enough discretionary in
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From the most recent LEGO Press Release: "LEGO Ninjago, launched in 2011, maintained its success in all markets in 2012, with the ninja theme selling significantly better than expected." This is a statement that confounds many adult LEGO collectors and investors. Ninjas? Dragons? Snakes? Spinners? Trading Cards? What is this, Dungeons and Dragons??? Well, whatever you want to call it, the LEGO Ninjago theme is taking the LEGO world by storm. The Ninjago theme, along with another unconventional L
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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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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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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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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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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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Hi! For those who don’t know me(which is probably almost all of you, possibly even myself) I’ve been dabbling in collectibles for about two years. I have had a fair amount of success in gig posters and licensed movie posters(think Mondo, etc.) and limited edition vinyl records. In the last six months I’ve been really trying to get a foot in the door of the LEGO world. First, I love LEGO bricks. Second, I’m familiar with my post office, eBay and PayPal, and have a ready account to sell with. Thir
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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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As I sift daily through the various LEGO forums and blogs to keep informed on the latest developments in the LEGO world, one particular phrase commonly appears in a majority of the topics...MINI FIGURES. LEGO fans love mini figures. LEGO mini figures are a driving force to the popularity and longevity of the brand. It got me thinking about what LEGO sets have the most mini figures in them. Think about it, most LEGO sets that have even a single mini figure are more valuable and/or more popula
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One of the first things that I did when I got my hands on Lego bricks as a child was to build a house. Generally I liked to renovate quite a bit and keep my minifigures in quality digs. Also, I had quite a few minifigures and they all needed a place to go in my city. Where do the ubiquitous police officers and fire fighters go after a long shift? Back in the late 80’s, there was no easy solution to this problem. In the last few years, I think The Lego Group has done an exceptional job of p
