Evaluation Corner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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