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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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 great LEGO investment? Why do certain sets do better than others? These are questions that LEGO investors should ask themselves before diving too deep into the world of LEGO investing. I realize that rare and limited edition sets (e.g. 41999 Crawler, 21100 Shinkai Submarine,) are some of the best investments, but I will not be covering these types of sets. With rare or limited edition sets, the most challenging part is finding them. It is not hard to decide if you should buy the
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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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Seemingly out of nowhere, Mixels have taken hold. These small polybags have become popular enough, that a smart investor needs to consider whether adding Mixels to their portfolio makes sense. What are Mixels? LEGO says, "Mixels features a world of colorful creatures who can mix and combine with each other, with hilarious and surprising results." Mixels are a collaboration between LEGO and Cartoon Network. This includes the LEGO toys, but also includes a variety of multimedia approaches, in
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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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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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So Far TLG has produced three Minecraft Micro World sets: 21102 LEGO Micro World - The First Night, 21105 LEGO Micro World - The Village, and 21106 LEGO Micro World - The Nether. The original Minecraft set was designed by Mojang on CUUSOO and began to make its way into houses in 2012. The set was such an incredible hit that the LEGO company actually ran out of the set, and had to get another shipment in. That only lasted about fifteen minutes and TLG had to get another shipment of the set.
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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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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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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
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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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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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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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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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In the first part of the series I started about Chima and my belief that this line will be a winner, I talked about the fact that there were a few sets with short lifespans that were worth taking a look at before they were gone forever. Lets go back over a few of my main points of why the first Chima sets to retire may be the best ones to have: Chima seems to be popular among Children Chima has a TV Show driving its popularity This a Lego theme - they will not let it fail Short production r
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Looking back at the individual series that Lego has done that now make up the Lego Super Heroes Collection (Batman, Spiderman, etc.) we see some of the most successful Lego sets of all time. Though not too many of the current ones have retired, the ones that did have not disappointed in the least so far. Captain America's Avenging Cycle has been one of the shortest investments to doubling or tripling your money that many of us have ever seen. The Hulk Helicarrier - really a weak set besides the
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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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There has been a rather lively debate about the suitability of the new Microfighter line as an investment vehicle. Few new lines have been as polarizing as Microfighters (I'm taking about you Chima), it seems that you either love them or hate them with few taking the middle ground. For those that haven't seen them, the Microfighters line consists of a small build of some of the more recognizable Star Wars ships with a "seat" for a mini figure. The effect of having the minifigure seated in such s
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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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* 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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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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Next up in my list of sets I am looking to horde this year, I am going to go through the Ninjago line and pick out the best sets. In reality, this shouldn't be extremely hard since the theme itself has over 40% lifetime CAGR. Almost every set from the first line of these has been a winner - really almost every set that has retired has been a winner. However, I am going to try to narrow down the obvious winners and, for myself, see if I can hone in on the obvious winners. I will mention this a c
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Welcome to part 2 of the Disney sets! While going through these sets for this set of blogs, I think I have gotten even higher on them. Obviously I am going to go over why on each of the last 3 sets, but I think overall there are some big reasons to think that these sets will be huge down the road. So let's take a look at the last three (All CAGR values based on a two year run and two years of retirement): 41053 Cinderella's Dream Carriage Lego.com Description: Lead Cinderella on an enchan
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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
