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    • ZULU
      Hello guys, My second article will discuss Architecture Sets! As a reminder, the first one summarized my experiences with buying second hand lego sets and bulk. Even though the conclusions were probably predictable to many veteran BrickPicker, for me jumping in the water of the secondary hand lego market was the best way to learn where the culprits are of this trade. For those who are not interested in discovering the tips, I can summarize by telling you I live by the NICHE rule now: Net Incoming Cash per Hour of Effort. In other words: I'm building a stock of MISB sets. And that brings me to the main topic of this second blog: what to buy and what to leave out? Are Architecture sets worth it?
      The name of the trade for me is more than just buying up large 'licenced' sets at discounts and wait for 2 years. I want to work out what sets could be sleeping under the radar and get those right. Maybe 'Architecture' fits that bill? I'm not sure, but lets find out! And let's see if my analysis confirms whether "FallingWater" could be the investment in this space or not... Investing is all about getting a lot of cool quality product at the brink of the retirement date. The "sleepier" the set, the better. As not many investors will be 'panic buying' it when it is gone, and you'll have ample time to stock at attractive prices. Therefore this article will explain why I think Architecture is sleeping. Second, I will show you why retirement has very much arrived and what it has and could mean for a couple of sets out there that you can still stack at reasonable prices. Through the article, you'll find reasons why people like and dislike these mini-buildings. Personally, I started off disliking it: too expensive, small, wrong scale, no playability, boring colors... But once I read and researched them, I also saw the positives: High quality, artistic, nostalgia, some luxury aspect, souvenir-like, easiliy show-cased, beautiful booklets, attractive collector items, strong design aspect, rich end-customer, sustainable demand from tourism... As you can read on the forums, the jury remains undecided on Architecture. In fact, many invetsors are frustrated as the retirement for these sets wasn't the "classic" two years. And this is a good thing. It means there could be some undiscovered jewels yet, waiting to be bought cheaply and sold for a fat margin by the smart first mover. My interest got particularly triggered when I saw how 21016 Sungnyemun behaved: the set was retired and rapidly doubled in value. Why? Is there a parallel for other sets possible? I never really looked into Sungnyemun, but I should have. Let's not miss out on the others - so I think. And that's what the article is about.
       
      Architecture has "Sleeper Potential": 4 reasons
      1. A mediocre track record.
       
       
      Let's start by looking at the numbers above. The CAGR rate from BrickPicker's site is +11.27%.
      Therefore this theme sits just below the average 11.41%. Perfect! That means many investors will look elsewhere. Obviously the picture could change as more sets come EoL. Sungnyemun and the first Sears Tower just to name a few made very good progress once taken off the Lego-factory production line. People who bought the Robie House below RRP can sell it today at 200E. That's nice, but only for investors who waited for a discount in 2013 to get in.
      2. Adults Only Lego.
       
      Architecture is not the kind of set you will see in teh window pane of a Toy R Us. You have to look for these sets: they are a little hidden in the classic kids' toy store. The Lego-group doesn't promote them aggressively. The typical Lego Store has some architecture sets in the right back corner of the shop, hidden between gimmics and Cusoo. Whilst their kids are attracted by the bright colors and cool pictures, parents will browse through the shops, ask advice and pick an architecture set that has the most artistic and nostalgic attraction for them. Maybe they have seen these buildings during travels. Design, nostalgia,... these little statues can decorate an appartment for example. And taste is personal: some like Eiffel, others Pisa (this article is going awry)...
       
      3. High Quality, High price per part
       
      Most sets carry a premium price tag. It feels they are "luxury toys" for less price sensitive buyers who would after visiting one of the World's Wonders buy a 50$ lego-souvenir. It should come as no surprise that the 21021 Marina Bay Sands which was sold exclusively in Asia targeting tourists and testing demand for very exclusive sets is trading above the 100E mark. If tourists are ready to buy a 40E catalogue after a visit of Guggenheim in NY, it makes sense they also could buy a little Lego-building as a souvenir to bring home to family and have the booklet with stories, pictures and history added for the same price. Millions of tourists visit Paris, London or Sydney every year, therefore there should be continued interest. Once the production line stops, demand could start outstripping supply and trigger a new price equilibrium. 4. Part out value: negligeable No need to mass-acquire architecture sets for their parts. Many sets use very basic bricks and cost as much as the bricks themselves. A traditional store will look for part out values twice the amount of dollar value of the set. We can be pretty sure that the market isn't going to be flooded with the rare flat name tiles of the buildings. One can only hope that these 4 reasons will be sufficient to make these sets fly once they are end of line. The only risk of them being 'bad sellers' is that the entire concept would be stopped. That would hammer investment returns, as the longer "Architecture" would exist, the more adult fans it would generate, the more collectors would want to have the entire series, and the better the returns. Based on the comments on their website, lego's commitment to sustain the line is there. The challenge for the architecs is to come with a minimalistic approach to make scale models with small bricks. This was an idea started in the 60-ties and rediscovered 40 years later. Through its partnership with Chicago architect Adam Reed Tucker, the Architecture line - reproductions of iconic buildings rendered in Lego was launched in 2008 with the Sears Tower. My best guess is that all future creations will keep that"artistic appeal" and serve to enhance the brand image of the lego group accross all ages. I also gave customer service a call, asking them whether Architecture Studio would come to Europe. They confirmed it would be available during Q3 2014 (the soonest), and that demand for this set in Europe was huge, reinforcing their commitment to have more geographies tapping into the theme .
      And now comes the interesting part. There's a new wave of sets that have gone EoL. Will investors who are sick of waiting for FallingWater to retire, see their prayers answered? Three additional sets have already retired. Did you spot them too? Are they worth it? First of all, it's clear that Robie House has gone. It didn't take that long for this set to trade back at MSRP. Next gone are Lego Architecture 21004 Guggenheim Museum and Lego Architecture 21008 Burj Khalifa. And my best guess is that the 21009 Farnsworth House is gone too as there's no more stock in the US. The Amazon website give a similar picture. In fact, the Burj is already trading at a premium there, but not yet on BrickLink. If you want to get in, now is the time.
      A good buy is somthing you will be able to sell quickly with a premium. Obviously, that implies we need to look at supply and demand stats. Using 6 month data from Bricklink.com (up to May 2014), I tried to get a first impression on what is popular and what investors have overstocked.
       
        Supply 6 Months Sales Wanted List Average Sold
      BL Price RRP Months of Supply Long-Term
      Demand Indicator Big Ben 132 66 52 26 29,99 12,00 79% Brandenburg Gate 284 41 49 25,5 34,99 41,56 75% Burj Khalifa 73 70 43 20 24,99 6,26 66% Empire State Building 186 18 68 17,3 19,99 62,00 104% Fallingwater 109 32 134 67 89,99 20,44 204% Farnsworth House 115 47 80 43 59,99 14,68 122% Imperial Hotel 94 16 49 114 129,99 35,25 75% John Hancock Center 9 38 99 73 19,99 1,42 151% Marina Bay Sands 36 129 69 112 na 1,67 105% Robie House 38 64 86 146 199,00 3,56 131% Rockefeller Center 100 54 56 31 34,99 11,11 85% Sears Tower 13 16 80 46 19,99 4,88 122% Seattle Space Needle 147 13 64 18,5 19,99 67,85 98% Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 136 46 84 30 39,99 17,74 128% Sungnyemun 34 108 58 50 34,99 1,89 88% Sydney Opera House 181 58 52 30 39,99 18,72 79% The Eiffel Tower 181 58 52 31 39,99 18,72 79% The Leaning Tower of Pisa 133 46 39 31 34,99 17,35 59% The White House 206 31 77 42 54,99 39,87 117% United Nations Headquarters 94 47 37 45 49,99 12,00 56% Villa Savoye 78 17 50 57 69,99 27,53 76%  
      Personally, I found the data sample small but nonetheless interesting. Supply - Demand The data is only indicative obviously, but we can clearly see that investors might have to wait a long time before the stock has gone on the Space Needle and Empire State Building (> 5 years), Brandenburg Gate and White House (3.5 Yr)! FallingWater sits at a little less than 2 years which is mainly due to its lacklustre sales volumes during the observation period. Once the set would be officially EoL, I would suspect the supply to dry up fast, making this set quickly rare. Remaining stock on Khalifa is only 6 months! Even though the sets isn't very popular, a squeeze up of prices is very possible as this isn't produced by lego anymore. The Wanted-List Next indication for long term demand is the 'wanted list'. The higher the percentage, the better the long-term interest from collectors. Guggenheim, White House, FallingWater, Farnsworth House score well on this rating. Note that people aren't in a hurry to get the recent buildings: UN, Pisa, Eiffel don't score well. The "Wanted List" is used by investors who are price sensitive and want to wait for a set to depreciate before buying. That explains why some more expensive sets (Robie, Sands) score higher than lower priced items. Note that it isn't clear how high the price on the Robie House can go. This is the most expensive Architecture set, and it would be interesting to see whether that higher price tag would limit appreciation potential. Wrapping this up: conclusions & what to buy? All in all, everyone should come with you own interpretation of this table I guess. My personal conclusions based on the research I did on the Lego website, through Q&A with friends, family and lego fanatics, the data from BrickLink and the European Amazon sites is as follows: Architecture
      will do well EoL: Robie, Sungnyemun, Marine Sands are recent proof of this will be there long-term for adults, tourist, collectors and creative minds (studio) has come to a first EoL cycle: Guggenheim, Khalifa, Farnsworth are gone/going but still available @ RRP shows sustained potential from collectors remains under the radar for now: it could be hiding "sleepers" doesn't warrant investment too soon: wait for retirement and unless Robie House breaks the 300$ mark, stick to the 20 - 100$ range Clearly, My opinion on this line of products has changed drastically from negative to "constructive". I will keep close track of this area for the coming months. There could be something brewing there and who know where the CAGR will be in a couple of years! Keep you eye out for... (in order of preference)
      Thanks for reading. Hopefully, you will offer me your views on this topic as well.
       
    • Lenjon
      Licensed Sets: The Issue with Investing.
      It's common knowledge (and a common complaint) that sets from licensed themes often cost quite a bit more than those that are non-licensed. It makes sense of course, The Lego Company has to pay for the right to make sets based on characters that they didn't create and those who buy those sets of course have to pay their share in turn but the higher cost is still, especially for investors, a bit of a difficult pill to swallow. Investors must also face the fact that even some sets that are part of a strong licensed theme can bomb pretty badly, so what is one to do?
      Why Invest in Poly-bags?
      When looking at potential investments in licensed themes poly-bags (this post is specifically looking at those that were/would be available for retail purchase and contain a minifigure and is not addressing poly-bags that were promotional/exclusive only or are simply mini-models of larger sets) make a good choice because the price is quite low (CA $4.99) yet they usually have some pretty valuable or interesting pieces and/or either a main character that's otherwise hard to come or a soldier, which is good for "army-building" as some people like to do. Another good thing about poly-bags is that even if they don't appreciate much in value they can probably be resold at around the same cost as the original purchase price, but of course it's best to make informed decisions when investing in order to make a good profit.
      To help gain an understanding of what makes a good poly-bag we can take a look at the Bricklink price guide sold averages for licensed poly-bags (and as stated before ignoring those that did not contain minifigures and/or were only available through special promotions) that were released in the last two years (2012-2013 at the time of this post).
      Set Number/NameYear of ReleasePiecesThemeAverage Sold Price (BL)30160: Batman Jet-ski201240Super Heroes> DCCA $14.4530212: Mirkwood Elf Guard201227The Hobbit> An Unexpected JourneyCA $12.2230166: Robin and Redbird Cycle201340Super Heroes> DCCA $12.2030163: Thor and the Cosmic Cube201225Super Heroes> MarvelCA $10.3230167: Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone201324Super Heroes> MarvelCA $9.0130058: STAP201224Star WarsCA $8.6630211: Uruk-Hai with ballista201221Lord of the Rings> The Two TowersCA $7.1630165: Hawkeye with equipment201224Super Heroes> MarvelCA $6.2030213: Gandalf at Dol Guldur201231The Hobbit> An Unexpected JourneyCA $5.6930210: Frodo with cooking corner201233Lord of the Rings> The Fellowship of the RingCA $5.4030270: Kraang's Turtle Target Practice201336Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesCA $4.89Looking at the graph above you can see that the poly-bags are listed in order of value (greatest-least) and that four of the top five poly-bags are in the Super Heroes theme. It's also important to note that most have figures who were only otherwise available, at the time of the poly-bags release, in sets above CA $39.99. Another thing to note is that all of the poly-bags that don't include a vehicle have somewhat unique/hard-to-find parts in them instead such as
      30212: Mirkwood Elf Guard has a green wine glass, a large mushroom and some tree/foliage 30163: Thor and the Cosmic Cube has a clear transparent 1X1 block 30211: Uruk-Hai with ballista has a Halberd and some robot arm pieces 30165: Hawkeye with equipment has some earth blue 1X2 smooth tiles and a compound bow 30213: Gandalf at Dol Guldur has some green vines, a sword and a brown telescope 30210: Frodo with cooking corner has a dark transparent bottle, a gold goblet and a sausage 30270: Kraang's Turtle Target Practice has some nice transparent violet pieces along with some robot arms  
      What's the Key to a Good Poly-bag?
      So while we can see that most poly-bags don't often resell below the retail price what are the important signs of a really good poly-bag? First thing is that you want it to contain a character who's popular (obviously) or one that it would be good to collect multiples of. And while it's good for a poly-bag to have some unique/semi-rare pieces, they seem to do better if they contain a vehicle of some sort.
    • comicblast
      Have you ever wandered around the LEGO Shop website and come across the Seasonal theme? Glanced through the page quickly and admire the seasonal accuracy of the small sets? This small collection of LEGO sets not only offer great holiday memorabilia, but also superb investments!
      Seasonal sets are sets released during certain times of the year, ie. Winter, in relation to different holidays or events, ie. Christmas. These sets are often only available for a few months, and generally once they are sold out, they are gone, save a select few sets (for example LEGO Winter Village sets, which tend to reappear annually).
       
      HISTORY
      The theme was first released back in 1977, with the solo debut of the 246 Santa and Sleigh set. It was nearly a decade before LEGO produced another Seasonal set, and only in the last one-and-a-half decades that the celebratory sets have been more regularly (1997-present). Information from Brickipedia.com When the theme first started, the sets were small, with fewer than 100 pieces in most cases. Eventually the theme evolved to include larger sets, including the Winter Village sets we know so well. These sets have already been included in an article by adewar titled LEGO Winter Village Sets: Hot Holiday Profits or Bitterly Cold Returns? so they will not be included in this article because adewar did such a great job on the article and his analysis of the sets.
      INVESTMENT BACKGROUND
      If one were to look under the list of Tools & Data BrickPicker kindly offers, you would come across the CAGR by LEGO Theme webpage which compares the Compound Annual Growth Rate of different LEGO themes - over 90 in all. (click here for a list of articles which discuss CAGR). CAGR is a great way to get an overall, general picture of how a particular LEGO set or theme has performed and the percentage return over time. Ranked at an impressive #2 best Compound Annual Growth Rate, just behind LEGO Minecraft, it is obvious that this theme is no joke. What makes this theme so much less popular to investors, if it performs so obviously well? There are a variety of factors that tend to weigh in on this.
       
      Like said previously, LEGO Seasonal sets don't last long. In 2013, the average availability of currently retired and non-promotional Seasonal set in LEGO's US online website was 100.5 days, or about 3 months. Much less than that of a normal set which can range from 1 year to 3 years of shelf life normally. When is the last time you saw a major BrickPicker topic about LEGO Seasonal sets? It is quite obvious from the low number of threads that these sets are under the BrickPicker radar. Even glancing on eBay, there are fewer listings for LEGO Seasonal sets than most other sets, even though both might be un-retired and widely available to all LEGO consumers. So, not only do LEGO Seasonal sets have short shelf life, they have less attention focused on them than a normal LEGO set, ie. Chima Cragger's Command Ship or Monster Fighters Vampyre Hearse.
       
      A GLANCE AT THE SETS
      Below is a table with a short biography of each Seasonal set that was released non-promotionally between 2010 and 2013. Does not include sets in the Winter Village Series or any ornaments.
      Set Number & Name Year Released Season/Holiday Retail Price (USD) Current Value (ROI) Return of Investment (USD) CAGR 40004-1: Heart 2010 Winter/Valentine's Day $4.99 $12.36 $7.37 25.45% 40005-1: Bunny 2010 Spring/Easter $9.99 $18.13 $8.14 16.07% 40008-1: Snowman Building Set 2010 Winter/Christmas $4.99 $10.20 $5.21 19.57% 40009-1: Holiday Building Set 2010 Winter/Christmas $4.99 $10.37 $5.38 20.07% 40010-1: Santa with Sleigh Building Set 2010 Winter/Christmas $4.99 $12.33 $7.34 25.38% 40011-1: Thanksgiving Turkey 2010 Fall/Thanksgiving $4.99 $10.00 $5.01 18.98% 40012-1: Halloween Pumpkin 2010 Fall/Halloween $1.99 $4.25 $2.26 20.89% 40013-1: Halloween Ghost 2010 Fall/Halloween $1.99 $5.26 $3.27 27.51% 40014-1: Halloween Bat 2010 Fall/Halloween $4.99 $5.22 $3.23 1.13% 40015-1: Heart Book 2011 Winter/Valentine's Day $4.99 $12.73 $7.74 36.64% 40018-1: Easter Bunny 2011 Spring/Easter $4.99 $11.12 $6.13 30.62% 40020-1: Halloween Set 2011 Fall/Halloween $4.99 $7.70 $2.71 15.56% 40023-1: Holiday Stocking 2011 Winter/Christmas $3.99 $9.05 $5.06 31.39% 40024-1: Christmas Tree 2011 Winter/Christmas $3.99 $12.06 $8.07 44.59% 40029-1: Valentine's Day Box 2012 Winter/Valentine's $4.99 $18.26 $13.27 91.29% 40030-1: Duck with Ducklings 2012 Spring/Easter $4.99 $14.76 $9.77 71.99% 40031-1: Bunny and Chick 2012 Spring/Easter $4.99 $9.93 $4.94 41.07% 40051-1: Valentine's Day Heart Box 2013 Winter/Valentine's Day $4.99 $14.54 $9.55 191.38% 40052-1: Springtime Scene 2013 Spring/Spring $7.99 $9.95 $1.96 24.53% 40053-1: Easter Bunny with Basket 2013 Spring/Easter $4.99 $11.75 $6.76 135.47% 40054-1: Summer Scene 2013 Summer/Summer $4.99 $11.31 $6.32 126.65% 40055-1: Halloween Pumpkin 2013 Fall/Halloween $4.99 $11.80 $6.81 136.47% 40056-1: Thanksgiving Feast 2013 Fall/Thanksgiving $7.99 $13.36 $5.37 67.21% 40057-1: Fall Scene 2013 Fall/Fall $7.99 $13.00 $5.01 62.70% 40058-1: Decorating the Tree 2013 Winter/Christmas $7.99 $11.69 $3.70 46.31% 40059-1: Santa Sleigh 2013 Winter/Christmas $7.99 $14.40 $6.41 80.23% For your convenience, I've done a little number crunching for you. The highest CAGR per Season/Holiday from 2009-2013 that had more than one set per category was Winter/Valentine's Day, followed by Spring/Easter and Fall/Thanksgiving (complete rankings found at the very end of the article). When I first saw this ranking I was surprised that Winter/Christmas was not in the bunch. After looking at the overall numbers, there were 7 Winter/Christmas sets compared with 2-4 sets for the other 3 categories, which means that the other categories are less saturated with Seasonal sets than the Winter/Christmas category. In addition, Winter/Christmas sets are very repetitive, with numerous Christmas tree and Santa's Sleigh sets. Rather than doing an analysis of all the Seasonal sets, I put together analysis' of the two most recent 2014 Seasonal sets: the recently retired 40085-1: LEGO Teddy Bear and the 40086-1: LEGO Easter Bunny set which is still available at the LEGO Shop.
      40085-1: LEGO Teddy Bear
      127 pieces - $9.99
      Winter/Valentine's Day set

      LEGO S@H Product Description:
      The LEGO 40085-1: Teddy Bear is the largest Winter/Valentine's Day set to be released, as well as the first to offer more than a build of a heart, or a heart-box. I think it was a great choice by LEGO to go with a bear, and the set looks fairly accurate. As you can see from the build, there are a lot of SNOT bricks (Studs-Not-On-Top), and overall I think it is a great little LEGO set for the piece count. Expectantly, this set has done well, especially after only a month of retirement (hint: part of the season/holiday with the highest CAGR and, well, a LEGO Seasonal set). So far, this little set has increased by 57.76%, and will hit $25 no problem. Jeff Mack did make a post, encouraging members to buy this set, so take it from the pros... These sets are going to do really well later on! Please note that unlike other smaller LEGO Seasonal sets, this set does not come in polybag packaging. Rather, it is a boxed set.
      40086-1: LEGO Easter Bunny
      106 pieces - $9.99
      Spring/Easter set
       
      LEGO S@H Product Description:
      The 40086-1: LEGO Easter Bunny is visually very similar to the 40085 Teddy Bear. Once again, this set is very accurate for the piece count, and is very poseable with moving arms and ears. Investment-wise, I think this set wouldn't perform as well as the Teddy Bear primarily because we've gotten other LEGO bunnies before, whereas the Teddy Bear is extremely unique. Nevertheless, I expect this set to at least double in value in two year's time, which is still an extremely good return. Please note that unlike other LEGO Seasonal sets, this set does not come in polybag packaging. Rather, it is a boxed set.
      READ HERE OF YOU SKIPPED OVER ANY OR ALL OF THE WORDS ABOVE!!
      As a reader myself, I know that a lot of times, our eyes simply skip over large blocks of text and try to find the "important" part, which often times can be more interesting though not necessarily more important (I strongly reccommend you read the above paragraphs)! As a result, I've kindly provided a summary of the main pros and cons of investing in LEGO Seasonal sets.
      Pros of LEGO Seasonal Sets:
       
      With retail prices usually around $4.99 to $9.99, and usually marked down after the season ends, these sets are VERY affordable. Solid returns, with the average set bringing in 45.06% per year, according to BrickPicker's numbers. Easy to store, since many of the sets are polybags, they can be thrown into a plastic tub, smooshed, pressed, jostled, and still come out in great condition. Others are small boxed sets, which don't take up a large amount of room, great for the storage-challenged investor. Exclusive to LEGO S@H, and they have limited shelf life, helping to boost their secondary market price. Remember: generally the shorter the shelf life, the more "potential investment energy" sets have! Cons of LEGO Seasonal Sets:
      Though the percentage returns are extremely high, the amount of effort that goes into selling these is much higher. Not a huge quantity of these sets are bought and sold, so getting rid of a high number of a single set could be problematic. Thanks for reading my article on LEGO Seasonal sets! Overall, I highly recommend buying and investing in LEGO Seasonal sets, especially for the novice investor. These LEGO sets don't require much initial investment, and therefore aren't extremely high risk. Though the selling might take longer than other large, expensive sets to sell, the overall Return of Investment (ROI) can be much more than that of largers sets! Don't hesitate to leave your thoughts below, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have!!
      Average CAGR per Season/Holiday - 2009-2013 (* - only one set in respective category)
      Sources: Brickipedia.com, Brickset.com, BrickPicker.com, LEGO S@H. **Article header image created using Adobe Photoshop CS3.**
    • Lenjon
      Whether you are a major fan of the Star Wars saga or if you only know of the films through what you hear from others one cannot deny the powerhouse that is the Star Wars theme. But with over 70% of star wars lego sets being remakes you need to know how you can make informed decisions to protect your investments. Even with the gradual decline in popularity (save for UCS models and some of the other large sets) among AFOLs one can be fairly safe when investing in most Star Wars sets based on any of live action films including, though to a lesser extent, the prequels (though it's probably best to avoid the majority of sets under the Clone Wars sub-theme) So how can you know if a remake of a set will do well? This article aims to provide what is hopefully an easy and efficient way to find out. That being said one of the hazards of investing in the Star Wars theme, which among licensed themes only seems to affect this one, is that almost every set from the live action films has been remade at least once, in fact the X-wing alone has been remade on the minifigure scale five times the first model being introduced in 1999 with a rerelease of the same model in 2002 then a remake in 2004 another remake in 2006 with the most recent remake in 2012. Now there are two main problems that occur when investing in remakes one affects the newer model and the other affects the older model. The problem with investing in a new model is that some AFOLs look specifically to buy the older models for nostalgia. Indeed there is something about many of the older lego sets, whether it be the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia or the simplicity of the sets themselves, that seems to draw some buyers and collectors. This is obviously bad for investors who were hoping that the newer model would be more appealing to the buyer. The problem with having invested in older models is that newer models are for the most part constructed much better and with a finer attention to detail and though it's unlikely for someone to invest in older models on a large scale, given that they have already experienced significant appreciation, it's important to remember that almost every model gets remade again eventually. The newest wave (March 2014) of Star Wars sets  consists mostly of remakes of ships and playsets from Episode III which was the most popular (referred to by some as the least terrible but still pretty bad) film from the prequel trilogy. The remakes this wave consist of:
       75038: Jedi Interceptor (a remake of the 2005 set 7256: Jedi Starfighter and Vulture Droid, but a remake of the same ship in different a colour-scheme was released in 2012 as 9494-1: Anakin's Jedi Interceptor)  75039: V-Wing Starfighter  (a remake of the 2006 set 6205: V-wing Fighter, but a grey and black version of the fighter was released in 2011 as 7915 Imperial V-wing Starfighter) 75040: General Grievous' Wheel Bike (another remake of a 2005 set 7255: General Grievous Chase)  75041: Vulture Droid (while not a direct remake the most recent version of the vulture droid came out in 2009 as part of 7751: Ahsoka's Starfighter and Droids)  75044: Droid Tri-Fighter (remake of 2010 set 8086: Droid Tri-Fighter)  75042: Droid Gunship (remake of 2008 set 7678: Droid Gunship)  75043: AT-AP (remake of 2008 set 7671: AT-AP Walker). How Can You Avoid Falling into a Bad Investment When Looking at Remakes?
      To get an idea of how a remake may perform in the future we could take a look at how the previous version is doing but another potentially more helpful way is to look at how models that have been remade multiple times before have done in the past and are doing now. The examples here are of the X-wing, Y-wing and TIE Fighter. Now for simplicity's sake only three versions of each set are listed and the remakes were are all released about six years apart from each other. *One thing to note is that the first Y-wing was released in a set along with Darth Vader's TIE Fighter
       
      Set Number/NameYear of ReleasePiece CountBrickset RatingRetail Price (USD)Price per BrickCurrent Market Value (USD)7140: X-wing Fighter19992664.47/5 (30 reviews)$29.99$0.28 (New)
      $0.13 (Used)
      $0.11 (Retail)$73.766212: X-wing Fighter20064374.66/5 (72 reviews)$49.99$0.14 (New)
      $0.09 (Used)
      $0.11 (Retail)$57.449493: X-wing Starfighter20125604.61/5 (13 reviews)$59.99$0.11 (New)
      $0.07 (Used)
      $0.11 (Retail)$61.09 
       
       
      Set Number/NameYear of ReleasePiece CountBrickset RatingRetail Price (USD)Price per BrickCurrent Market Value (USD)7150: Y-wing Fighter19994094.17/5 (14 reviews)$49.99$0.21 (New)
      $0.11 (Used)
      $0.12 (Retail)$87.337658: Y-wing Fighter20074544.53/5 (58 reviews)$39.99$0.12 (New)
      $0.06 (Used)
      $0.09 (Retail)$55.009495: Y-wing Starfighter20124584.28/5 (8 reviews)$49.99$0.13 (New)
      $0.07 (Used)
      $0.11 (Retail)$57.45   
       
       
      ;
      Set Number/NameYear of ReleasePiece CountBrickset RatingRetail Price (USD)Price per BrickCurrent Market Value (USD)7146: TIE Fighter20011714.18/5 (19 reviews)$19.99$0.25 (New)
      $0.13 (Used)
      $0.12 (Retail)$43.257263: TIE Fighter20051593.95/5 (27 reviews)$19.99$0.40 (New)
      $0.15 (Used)
      $0.13 (Retail)$64.139492: TIE Fighter20124134.45/5 (18 reviews)$49.99$0.14 (New)
      $0.09 (Used)
      $0.13 (Retail)$59.26 
      ;
       
      What Does This Tell Us? 
      Now obviously because all the models are various "ages" there are going to be differences in the prices (one interesting thing to note is that all the X-wing models are at a retail Price per Piece Ratio of $0.11) and while Brickset ratings are a good gauge for measuring future potential a high rating amongst remakes doesn't necessarily mean that that specific version will have the best return. Another factor to consider is how much of an improvement the model is over the previous version, but while this is still important it doesn't end up having much influence as the minifigures. Indeed even if the new model/playset itself is a significant improvement over past versions a better determinant of the potential for a remake is whether or not there are any updated and/or exclusive figures that are included with that version. For example: while the 2005 TIE Fighter (7263) didn't do much to improve on the original model (7146) the inclusion of the exclusive light-up Darth Vader has greatly boosted the appreciation setting 7263: TIE Fighter up to have the best current market value ($64.13) amongst the two other TIE Fighter model. Another example is of how the 2012 Y-wing, which has an exclusive celebration Leia and yellow R5 series, is already almost  doing better than the 2007 model, which only included a smiley faced rebel pilot and a old variant of a red astromech droid.
      So How Can You Know if a Remake Will Do Well? 
      Essentially the important thing to take away here is that even if a remake improves greatly upon the original it's also very important to have better or more exclusive figures than the previous version, however and this is, as always, very important to note, the price should as always be considered. A cautionary example is that of the most recent model of Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator which was a massive improvement over the previous versions and boasted new variantss of Padme, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul (all of which were also vast improvements over their previous versions) plus the brand new minifigure Panaka. This set surely would have been a fantastic investment had it not been at the high price tag of CAD: $ 89.99 (USA: $ 69.99/GBR: £ 59.99) which hindered the return prospects. So as an easy way to remember the important factors when looking at investing in a remake, I came up with the acronym  P.I.E. which stands for Price (you should always be price conscious but you should also compare the remake price to that of the original). Improvement (upon the older model). Exclusive (an exclusive set is usually good but this is more about the figures and while a new variant of old an figure is good, an exclusive or brand new figure is nearly always better).
      How do the New Remakes do When Analyzed with P.I.E?
      75038: Jedi Interceptor a model of one of the more popular ships from the prequel trilogy that was featured prominently in Episode III. Price: CA $29.99 which gives it a good PPB (Price per Brick) ratio of $0.11. The previous version had a PPB of  $0.10 but also included a vulture droid. Improvement: The ship is much sturdier and more accurate to the movie than model 7256 from 2005 and has a new spring shooter on the underside. Exclusive: Both the minifigures are new variants of common figures, however the recent redesign of Episode III Anakin has only appeared in two other sets both of which were store exclusives (Toys R Us and Target respectively) 9526: Palpatine's Arrest (CA$ 119.99) and 9494: Anakin's Jedi Interceptor ( CA $49.99) so he's kind of hard to find. P.I.E. Analysis: 75038 will make a solid investment once it reaches EOL. Even though 9494 had a very similar design and was exclusive to retailer Target, the different colour-scheme and higher PPB ratio ($0.13) will make it distinct enough to allow 75038 perform well. 5/5 75039: V-Wing Starfighter based on a ship that was barely seen in Episode III and wasn't very popular. Price: CA $29.99 gives this set a pretty good PPB ratio of $0.12. The previous version had a PPB of $0.08. Improvement: The original V-wing (6205) was a solid but small set, something which this bulkier and more formidable model fixes. Exclusive: The minifigures are new variants of older figures with the clone pilot being fairly uncommon and popular. P.I.E. Analysis: 75039 will likely make a good investment post-EOL (boosted a bit by the inclusion of the clone pilot). Despite the fact that 7915 Imperial V-wing Starfighter was similar it had a different colour scheme and a higher PPB ($0.13) which gives this set the upper hand. 4/5 75040: General Grievous' Wheel Bike is another vehicle that was featured prominently in Episode III but wasn't particularly popular. Price: CA $29.99 puts this this sets at the desirable PPB ratio of $0.10 but even so feels like it should be $5 cheaper. The previous version had a PPB of $0.18 but had several large custom pieces. Improvement: The new wheel bike is far better than the 2005 version, this time using a bunch of pieces put together around an oversized technic rim instead of just two 8X8 round plates. Unfortunately this set fails to include Obi-Wan's large reptilian mount which was one of the major components of the 2005 version. This puts 75040 in an uncertain position investment-wise. Exclusive: Another set with new variants of existing figures this sets features Obi-Wan with leg printing and a slightly more detailed torso but the same face and hair as the variant from 9494: Anakin's Jedi Interceptor. Grievous uses body, head and leg pieces which are superior to the 2005 variant but mostly the same as his Clone Wars variant save for a change of colour (tan for Clone Wars, white for Episode III) and face printing. P.I.E. Analysis: 75040 will probably make a very good investment post-EOL. Compared to the 2005 version 75040 is far and away better especially when looking at the figure but it's missing a major component from the original (Obi-Wan's mighty steed). This along with the vehicle not being too popular itself puts 75040 in a dubious position investment wise. 3/5 75041: Vulture Droid is a model of the more common ships from the prequel trilogy that has appeared in several sets and is semi-popular. Price: CA $29.99 gives this set a pretty good PPB ratio of $0.12. The most recent set to have a vulture droid also had Ahsoka's jedi starfighter with a PPB of $0.14 . Improvement: The new Vulture Droid is much bulkier than its predecessor which contrary to a popular saying isn't always better since the Vulture Droid is supposed to be a small, nimble ship that is mass-produced in order to overwhelm the enemy but this version looks more like a sturdy bomber than a quick attacker. Exclusive: This set contains three minifigures two of which are semi-uncommon but pretty dull (a pilot droid and a buzz droid) with the third being a Neimoidian Warrior which is a brand new figure that is very-well done but based on a character that was hardly even seen in Episode III. P.I.E. Analysis: 75041 will be a risky investment even post-EOL. This set is much larger than previous versions which unfortunately makes it less accurate in comparison. The inclusion of the new Neimoidian Warrior could significantly boost appreciation later on but it's probably not likely. 2/5 75044: Droid Tri-Fighter is based on a ship that was seen only briefly at the beginning of Episode III. Price: CA $39.99 which gives it a good PPB ratio of $0.11. The previous version had a PPB of $0.09. Improvement: Only slightly improves on a model that was well constructed and accurate but not very popular. Exclusive: The minifigures are all new variants of existing figures. While the battle is very common, the buzz droid is dull and the red security droid is semi-rare, Chancellor Palpatine is quite a rare minifigure having been released in only two sets both of which were over CA $120 with one being a Toys R Us exclusive. Palpatine is a particularly good addition to this set since he was one of the most important and prominent figures in the entire Star Wars saga. P.I.E. Analysis: 75044 will be a good investment post-EOL. Despite the fact that the Tri-fighter isn't notably popular 75044 will have a good return due to the inclusion of the rare Chancellor Palpatine. 75042: Droid Gunship is also based on a ship that was only seen briefly in Episode III. Price: CA $59.99 which gives this a good PPB ratio of $0.11. The previous version had a PPB of $0.09. Improvement: This is quite a bit bigger, beefier and more imposing than the old model (which itself was pretty good) and it has the new spring shooter. Exclusive: The battle droid and super battle droid are both quite common and the new green clone trooper is feature in one of the new battle packs but this is the first time that Chewbacca has ever been redesigned which is kind of ridiculous since he's one of the main characters from the original trilogy. P.I.E. Analysis:75042 will be a solid if not very good investment The inclusion of the currently exclusive redesign of Chewbacca should be especially helpful to this set.  75043: AT-AP is based on a vehicle that was seen quite a bit in Episode III. Price: CA $74.99 gives this a a very good PPB of $0.08. The previous version had a PPB of $0.10. Improvement: This version of the AT-AP is a bit bulkier and stands much higher than the previous version and features the new spring shooter. Exclusive: This set features two battle droids and a super battle droid along with a new and much improved Clone Commander Gree and the brand new figure of Tarfful the wookiee. P.I.E. Analysis: 75043 will make a very good investment.
    • Migration
      "OUR EXCLUSIVE"
      Those two little words on Toys R' Us' website in regards to the Grand Emporium (10211) sparked a minor uproar recently among Lego investors. What does this mean? Will it change the Emporiums expected immanent retirement? Will 10211 languish forever at inflated TRU prices post EOL ala' Vampyre Castle? Should we all dump our large and exclusive sets in favor of poly bags and mini figures? Breath people, take a step back and chill. I, humbly, submit that it will have no impact what so ever.
      First the obligatory history lesson. Released in 2010 Grand Emporium (10211) is part of Lego's modular building line. It has 2,182 pieces and comes with 7 mini figures, all for a MSRP of $149.99. As of the first quarter of 2014 it is considered among the favorites to be the next modular to be retired by Lego, and as a corner building and large exclusive the set is expected to perform well post EOl.
      While TRU may consider The Emporium to be theirs, Wal Mart and Target may beg to differ. 10211 is available on both their websites, although Target has it listed for $159.99. (As of mid April 2014) This may be residual warehouse stock that needs to sell through but, I find that unlikely as the set has gone OOS at Target at least once since the TRU exclusive designation. It is also still available at S@H for regular retail, currently back ordered, but can still be purchased.
      There is precedence for TRU making an exclusive out of a large, close to EOL, set that was previously more widely available. Set 9468, Vampyre Castle, from the Monster Fighters line was a widely available set that drew the "Our Exclusive" badge at TRU close to EOL. 9468 was also expected to perform well after retirement, but hasn't done as expected. First off, Vampyre Castles' official retirement date is February 1, 2014. Given the very brief time frame and TRU's inflated prices this set simply has not had sufficient time to sell out, it cannot and will not appreciate until that happens. Second, it's only been retired for two months. Patience, wait it out. 9468 had an MSRP of $99.99, TRU has it for $109.99. Vampyre Castle is no longer in production, so whatever stock that TRU has is it. In this case OOS on TRUs website is the new "retired".
      One of the core principles of investing is "Buy and Hold". With this type of investment strategy TRU claiming a post EOL set as an exclusive and keeping it in the general marketplace a while longer is of little concern. Once Lego quits producing a set it's only a matter of time before that set is gone from the wild and the secondary market will take over. Will TRUs actions cause this to take an extra few months? Sure. Does it make any difference in a sets price ceiling two years later? Not in the least. If such a brief amount of time was such a detriment to a sets performance post EOL no one would own SSDs or Death Stars or Fire Brigades or...
      The other side of this is the Technic line which had been a TRU exclusive for many years until very recently. Anyone invest in Technic while TRU was its sole US seller? Of course and with some very nice returns. Unimog, tracked crane, or quad bike anyone?
      The whole point of this is to not over react. TRU keeping a modular alive a few extra months in no way will harm your future returns. Will this continue with other modulars? Only Lego and TRU know that answer.
    • Noodlenut
      "Should I invest in the Fire Brigade?"
      "Yes."
      "No."
      "Maybe so."
      "It has been available for way to long.  Collectors and investors already have all that they need.  You will have to wait a LONG time before the set appreciates."
      "It is a modular. That alone will make the set a winner.
      " I have seen this conversation take place in the Brickpicker forums many times.  The most common reply that I saw said something like "Everybody's brother (and dog and cat and pet gold fish) has one of these.  Don't risk your money."
      While very knowledgeable people took both sides, it is clear that the Fire Brigade has been a winner - but why didn't this set fail?  The Fire Brigade was available for five years, wasn't it?  Most importantly, is a repeat possible?  
      The Orc Forge was a steady investment.  People loaded up on these sets and bought more whenever possible.  What made it better was that if you spend $75 dollars or more, you got free shipping and (depending on the time) a free polybag or minifig.
      We have not seen the predicted value surge.  The set can still be bought at $60 dollars - the price that it was hovering around right before it retired.  This set has a bright future, but the results have not been as expected.
      These are two very different examples.  One had very low expectations and performed remarkably.  The other had very high expectations.  Even though the Orc Forge is still appreciating, the Fire Brigade was the better investment.  Both sets were bought in large quantities by investors.
      Now before everyone jumps on me in the comments telling me "The Orc Forge is still appreciating," I would like to clarify that I do not think that the Orc Forge is a bad investment, but that it is appreciating slowly.  I am suggesting that the reason for this slow growth could be because it has flooded the market.
      In this article we will discuss whether a set can "flood the market" or not using past examples.  What can a market flood do to the value of a set?
      Part I:  The bubble
      Oh boy.  Here we go again.  While the bubble is talked about a lot in the forums and is quite a controversial issue, there are a few things we can learn from this concept.
      As more people become LEGO investors, there will be an increased demand and availability for certain sets.  Most likely, the market will not crash in one big explosion.  It will start with cracks at the foundation, that creep up to the top, eventually destroying the secondary market for LEGO (if there is such a thing as a bubble.)
      Some of the cracks could be caused by flooding the market.  We should start paying attention to how many sets flood the market compared to how many are good investments.
      What I am trying to point out is that IF there is a bubble, we will continue to see a rise in the numbers of sets bought which could lead to a flood in the market.  Not something to spend much time fretting over, but something to consider when buying a set.
      My personal opinion is that IF the market is flooded, the following buying frenzy will pick the market up from the dust, and we will continue to live happily ever after buying and selling toys.
      Part II: What is the effect?
      I will use the Orc Forge as an example in this part.  We can all see that the Orc Forge has not been a failure, however, this set has not lived up to its positive predictions.
      I believe that the Orc Forge could be worth $70 to $80 dollars if so many people had not bought it.  The Orc Forge, although with a positive appreciation at about 150% of its retail price, can be found in large amounts on eBay.  This was a popular product with investors - maybe a bit to popular.
      Minecraft: The First Night is not retired yet, but its popularity went down a bit when it became widely available.  When considering a set to flip, resale value can be inversely proportional to the availability of a set.  This can also be true when considering a set that you think is flooding the market.
      I do not believe that a set can become a complete failure because it has been widely available and distributed.  When a set is bought in large amounts, it tells us that it is popular.  There are always new LEGO fans and buyers that will be interested in old sets, no matter how available they were.  As more are bought, the availability will go down, and the set will grow in value.
      If a set does flood the market, it might slow its growth down a little bit, but I think that that is the most that it will do.
      Part III: How does this happen?
      A set can flood the market when someone predicts early retirement and people buy lots of the item, expecting it to no longer be available at retail price.  Here is where I would like to point out a few facts:
      The Orc Forge hung around for a while, allowing many people to buy lots of them.  The Fire Brigade did not wait before it retired.  It sold out, and then it was retired.
      This is an important fact that we should notice.  From this, I have drawn the conclusion that a set does not flood the market in its life time, but in its last few days when the buying frenzy occurs.
      Part IV: The Fire Brigade

      True, lots of people had the Fire Brigade, but it had a quick retirement, putting people who did not have this set into panic mode.  The Fire Brigade is also a modular.  People new to the LEGO hobby that love the modulars will want to complete their collection, and it will not take much time before this set becomes known as one of the well-perfoming sets of the past.
      Part V: How do I get Fire Brigades instead of Orc Forges?
      It is always better to invest sooner than later.  Sets like the Fire Brigade disappeared quickly.  As sets get older, retirement becomes inevitable, and you have the recipe for another Fire Brigade.
      Sets like the Orc Forge, however, stay around longer than expected.  They can be a good investment, but they take more time to appreciate.
      Sets like the Orc Forge are easy to predict, but sets like the Fire Brigade are almost impossible to predict.  Again, the only way to end up with a better set is to buy sooner than later.
      Part VI: Summing it up
      Even though it is very possible for a set to flood the market, we must realize that a flood of the market alone cannot make a set fail.  Do not let one aspect alone keep you from buying a good investment.
      I hope you have enjoyed this article.  Even though it was short, I tried to include helpful and interesting information.  If you disagree with me or have your own opinion about this subject, please share it in the comments.  Thanks for reading!
    • Grolim
      This blog follows on from my previous blogs presenting the top 20 sets in terms of secondary market price growth according to the data we have available here on Brickpicker.  Apologies as I’ve been a bit slack and missed the last data update that was in January and had data up to the 10th of Jan.  As such this update will be based on values as at the end of Feb-14.  This means comparisons in the “Last Rank” column of the tables will be comparing movements from the Nov-13 positions. 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 Factory for example so have only gathered data on a few of those sets.  (I just didn’t have the willpower to gather all the data for them really).  Most of the rest are covered though. I tried to look at as many sets as possible, but there is a chance a few may have been missed, if you spot some that should/could be included please let me know The Last Rank column indicates changes in ranking from the last Top 20 Blog (Nov data)   One Month Growth (change in Market Price from last month) An entirely new set of entrants and that’s not really a surprise given volatility in prices when only looking at a change from 1 month to the next and that none of the movers from Nov-13 have popped up again here.  Interestingly the newly released 70803 Cloud Cuckoo Palace from the LEGO Movie has made the list after obvious short term supply issues and high consumer demand. It will be interesting to see if any of these sets can maintain some of this growth longer term.  Which leads us nicely onto our next time period:   Six Month Growth (change in Market Price from August 2013 ) Another list dominated by new entrants.  Plenty of recently retired sets enjoying that initial post EOL price bump.  We also get the Advent Calendar’s in a trio in the middle, obviously enjoying a Christmas spike.   One Year Growth (change in Market Price from February 2013) Black Phantom, Butterfly Beauty Shop, and Jawblade take the top spots after maintaining previous growth rates.  There are also quite a few of the much talked about Super Heroes sets that have recently retired, all translating that hype into very good growth performance.  Plenty of other great sets on this list that you’d have done well to buy at market price one year ago.   Two Year Growth (change in Market Price from February 2012) Now into the two year time frame we begin to remove some of the short term fluctuations that can occur with some of the narrower time periods. 21001 John Hancock Center has plateaued a little in recent months and has slipped back 3 spots from the top handing the crown to Fire Lord. We can now start to see some of the performers in the shorter time periods that were presented in previous articles begin to push their way through onto the 2 year growth table, like the Rocka XL, Butterfly Beauty Shop, and Black Phantom.   Retail Growth (change in Market Price from Retail MSRP) Now for the full measure of growth from the retail value of the set.  Obviously a set with a $0 listed retail price like all the promo giveaways etc are excluded as we can’t divide by zero, so that has weeded out a few of the small polybags or very very old sets for which we have no retail data.  But the list is still dominated by cheap sets that have increased by large multiples. The 1626 Angel takes top spot with a crazy 20,477% growth over retail thanks to 1 recent sale of $250 and another 2 years ago of $280 all from a set that cost $1.30 when released back in 1989. Perhaps the first “real” contender is 10190 Market Street, such an impressive result for a set in just 6 years.  Much better than another set from the same year that people often point to as the pinnacle of Lego investing…  The Batman set that slips in at number 20 becomes the first Super Heroes set to do so, and perhaps shows the way for future super hero related sets?   Conclusions These top 20 tables lists all the absolute best investment decisions you could have made if you had perfect future knowledge.  The amount of under the radar sets and “sleeper” hits have been a big wake up call for me.  We sometimes become a little circular in discussing the popular sets for investing (Modulars, UCS, etc) and lose sight of the fact that many of the best investments to be had right now are probably some of the least discussed sets.  It does mean there are plenty more topics ripe for discussion on the forums and in blogs.    
    • Migration
      Lone Ranger Lego...  
       
      Just wanted to let those three little words sink in for a second. Most on this site would agree that this line, with a couple exceptions, is not among the best of choices to place your investment dollars. I tend to agree with that sentiment. I am also a fan of building sets and as such this line is pure gold. The sets are reasonably priced,  have great builds, and come together as a group nicely. For the record I have grabbed a few of these sets at an extreme markdown  just in case people forget about the "Lone Ranger" aspect and see them for what they are, excellent Western themed sets.
      The best investment potential in this line is undoubtedly 79111 Constitution Train Chase, but, it also suffers from having "Lone Ranger" as part of its name which makes very reasonably priced among Lego trains. As of early March of 2014 it is still available for under $100. For that you get a 37 " x 22" oval track and an excellent western style engine and tender. The rest of the set is nice, but not to the same standard as the engine. My only true complaint about this train is the lack of power functions, or even the ability to easily add power to the set. What's a Lego builder to do... MOC it.
      You may have guessed by now that this blog is less about investing and more about how to add power to a train set. Although, a brief eBay check did bring up several sellers with listings for instructions only in the $30 range and one seller with a powered coal tender MOC for $109. So if you think outside the Lego box, there is money to be made here;)
      My intention was to add power while still having the set look as close to its original design as possible. With this set there is simply no way to add power to the engine without drastically changing its appearance so my first thought was to use the coal tender but decided against it. Again it would have to be modified to the point of no longer looking like the same car and I simply had no extra pieces of the dark green color so I couldn't enlarge it if I wanted to. The flat car was also out for obvious reasons. Luckily the prison car lends itself nicely, it's a large open box, perfect to hold a battery box.
                    
      The above shots shot the car in its original state, the "box" portion rests on a 6x14 plate with the wheels attached underneath. I started with a completed car and removed the 6x14 and everything underneath it. I then took a pair of 4x4 black plates and added two 1x4 tiles to them along the outer edges. I added both to opposite sides of the train motor, but it looked "empty" so I also added a 2x4 brick to each side. When I was done it looked like this.

      I then added the magnetic couplers and a 4x6 plate to each side to hold the top portion of the car.
       
      Now for the battery box.

      I then placed the box over the battery box and decided to add a 1x6 to each side to make it look like the original 6x14 was still in place. This is the finished product.


      The result looks about as good as I had hoped, while the internal jail door had to be removed the functionality of blowing of the back of the car still works fine. What I was unprepared for was the speed default on Lego train motors, turns out that if you don't have a speed controller they are set to around Mach 5 and will send a small train such as this flying off the tracks, much to the delight of my seven year old. Looks like I'll be getting the IR sensor and remote after all. There is room inside the car to add it and the wire can run through the existing hole where the lever is.
      I hope y'all enjoyed this little tutorial and who knows there may even be money to be made adding power to sets like this and flipping them, if anyone tries that let me know how it goes.
       
      Parts list.
      1. Lego Set 79111 Constitution Train Chase
      2. 2x 3032 4x6 plate dark blue/grey
      3.  2x 3666 1x6 dark blue/grey
      4. 4x 3710 1x4 black
      5. 2x 3031 4x4 black
      6. 2x 3001 2x4 black brick
      7. 88000 AAA battery box $12.99
      8.  88002 Train Motor $13.99
      9. 8884 IR Receiver $14.99
      10.  8879 IR Speed Remote $12.99
      All the parts are common and inexpensive, I had all of them in my parts bins, the electronics I ordered from Lego for a total of $55.00. This was a fun and fairly inexpensive little project that yielded a nice little powered train, or at least, it will once the IR receiver and remote arrive.
    • ExoBro94
      You've heard of it on the news, in the papers, and online. It created overnight millionaires while making others broke. Governments are afraid of it and the public is confused by it. But it is here to stay.
      What am I talking about, you ask?  Crypto-currency
      In 2009, an anonymous online entity, going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, released a tremendously well-researched and thought out paper;explaining how an online, peer-to-peer, currency which would not be regulated or backed by any government could change the face of world finance. Shortly after, he released the first example of such a currency, Bitcoin.
      Due to the technical and anonymous nature of Bitcoin (and crypto-currency in general), the digital currency adoption started out slow and within more "internet advanced" circles of people. After a few years and a minuscule adoption rate, Bitcoin started to gain notoriety. This was mainly due to the creation of a "dark-net" marketplace, The Silk Road, in 2011. Unfortunately, this marketplace seemed to specialize in nefarious and illegal activities such as drug dealing and weapons trafficking. The users of the marketplace used Bitcoin as the go to currency for transactions because its use was anonymous and incredibly difficult to track.
      Fast forward to 2013; The Silk Road was shut down but Bitcoin knowledge started to go mainstream. Services like exchanges, payment processors, and wallets (coin storage) began to spring up. The tech world seemed to catch a crypto-currency fever and it hasn't looked back since. In November and December of 2013 the value of Bitcoin sky-rocketed to $1200 per coin. People became millionaires in the blink of an eye.
      Today, there are many more varieties of crypto-currency. These currencies, such as Litecoin and Dogecoin, were created to improve on Bitcoin's original code and theory. And they are also gaining an incredible amount of traction in the financial world.
      My personal favorite crypto-currency is Dogecoin. It is the second largest coin in terms of transaction volume and active users, only behind Bitcoin. It has a massive community behind it and is gaining wide-spread, mainstream acceptance as it is easy to get into and learn.
      Now, why should you consider selling your LEGO sets for crypto-currency? There are many reasons, but for the sake of brevity in today's introduction, I will give you two.
      It is a brand new technology and you would have a chance to get in on the ground-floor on something that is shaping up to change the world. Only a relatively small portion of the population is using crypto-currency today, but as more merchants accept it, more people will use it. With the creation of online and in-store payment processors there is absolutely zero risk. These payment-processors (think "Visa" or "American-Express"), make it absolutely painless to accept crypto-currency. Many of them, such as Coinbase and Moolah, automatically transfer crypto-currency to other more "common" currency such as USD or EUR. This makes it so that you can reach an even larger audience than you are today; the people using government-backed currency and the people who are using crypto-currency.
      This is only the first post of an entire blog in which I am to educate all off you about the benefits and processes of accepting digital currency. If you have any specific questions or would like to learn more about a certain topic, don't hesitate to ask!
    • Migration
      So you've spent your time researching the best sets and held them past EOL. You've watched their value climb and the time has come to start selling them on eBay, all is well until one day you get your first angry e-mail from a less than pleased buyer. What to do, What to do...
      There is no way that you can spend any amount of time selling items on eBay or any other platform without the occasional issue popping up. While some of the forums may make it seem that every single transaction is a major battle and others paint a beautiful picture of happy customers through rose colored glasses reality is, as always, somewhere between the two. In most cases how you respond to the buyers initial contact will often set the tone for the entire exchange. While every case is in some ways unique most can be divided into two categories from your perspective; preventable issues and non-preventable issues.
      First, a quick bit about my eBay history, I have had a single eBay account since 2002 and in that time have received 4 neutrals and 1 negative (the negative came about three weeks ago and eBay removed it) against over 1000 positive. I tend to sell around 200 items per year, although I do not sell consistently. I will sell 50 or more items in a month and then not list anything for three or four months, just depends on how busy I am with my real "jobs". In the same time frame I have only purchased 10 or so items on eBay so nearly all of my feedback is from selling. As far as knowing eBays policies there is a local amphibian who has forgotten more about them than I will ever know, but I have spent over 2 decades in various forms of retail and have found that in most cases it is better to simply provide good service and only involve eBay as a last resort. I am not implying that you don't need to have a good working knowledge of policy, you most certainly do, just that by providing good service you can resolve most issues.
      Before I get into what to do after an issue is brought to your attention I want to make one thing perfectly clear. The easiest and most effective way to resolve any issue is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Take good pictures, make sure your descriptions are clear and accurate. Does the box have a crease in it? Disclose it and take a picture of it. Are you selling a new set without the mini figures or some other key element? Say so in the description AND the title. Assume that every single potential buyer is in kindergarten and needs everything explained. By that, I do not mean write a novel, no one will read it if you do, just make sure that your description is accurate and any potential fault is highlighted. You also need to be careful with how you describe your items. I have been selling on eBay for over ten years and have NEVER claimed a box to be "mint", your definition of mint and that of your buyer may vary considerably. Instead of "mint in package" try "new in sealed package", and then mention any shelf wear. I recently sold a Willis Tower with a dented box, I disclosed the problem in my listing and took a close up photograph of the damage. The buyer left me a positive. Point is be honest with your listings and take excellent photographs and you will avoid 98.764% of any potential preventable issues. And 75.6% of statistics are made up on the spot.
      No matter how careful you are in your listings mistakes will be made on occasion. You forgot that one piece in a used set, used too little bubble wrap or too much, sent the wrong item, etc... You will mess up. So now you've just gotten a message from a buyer and they aren't happy. Now what? First off, and this is important, if you anger easily or are having a bad day step away and grab a snack, or a drink. Whatever it takes to relax and respond to the situation with an even temper. Last year I sold a set and had unintentionally used a few pieces of the wrong color (I was using them as place holders and forgot to replace them with the correct pieces). The set was a used 6211 and the buyer was, justifiably, angry as I had listed it as complete minus a couple mini figures. My gut reaction was one of defensiveness and had I responded at that moment the situation would not have ended well for me. Instead I just took a few minutes to calm down and collect my thoughts and offered to either replace the pieces if they would let me know which ones were wrong or take $5 off of a $130 set. They took the five bucks and left positive feedback to boot. All of this was done through eBays messaging system. Do not under any circumstances communicate with a buyer outside of eBays system, it leaves a clear and complete record of all communications between you and your buyer should eBay need to get involved. That also brings up another point, in cases where you messed up, do everything that is fair and keep eBay out of it if at all possible.
      I define non-preventable issues as anything that happens after an item leaves your hands or if a buyer flakes out or tries to scam you. Lost or smashed in transit? Buyer decide they really didn't need that $3000 Millennium Falcon? Someone leave you negative feedback because Leia was in a bikini and they got offended (someone once tried to return a Leia from 6210 to me for this reason)? None of these issues can be prevented by you. Most of these are also simple to resolve. If a buyer changes their  mind and wants to cancel a transaction because (insert random pointless reason here) cancel it and re-list the item. It is not worth the trouble of trying to force someone to pay. Yes, it's annoying, get over it and move on. If they try and mess with you by not accepting the cancellation, so long as all communication went through eBay, it's a simple phone call and you get your final value fees back. Returns are trickier. I sell mostly loose sets, on those I state "no returns", but it doesn't really matter because if a buyer opens a SNAD (Significantly Not As Described) case I will most likely have to return the item anyway. When I do sell a boxed set I will offer a two week return where the buyer pays return shipping so long as the item is still sealed. It is better to spell out your own policy than have eBay do it for you. I have yet to have to return anything, although I have at times given small partial refunds.
      Shipping. I will not enter into a USPS vs UPS vs FedEx debate, or carrier bashing session as they quickly become. I will only say this. ALWAYS USE TRACKING. eBay will side with you if a buyer claims an item never arrived so long as you tracked the shipment and there was a scan that shows "delivered". Without a delivery scan you will have to refund the money. For items over $250 eBay requires a signature conformation, which is nice because I insure any shipment over $100 and USPS requires signature conformation for any insured item over $200. Insurance is there to protect the SELLER (that's you) so use it on any dollar amount that is higher than what you feel comfortable losing. As far as smashed packages go, pack all items well, use the correct amount of material to protect the item. If anything happens in transit, which it will at some point, it's on you. I will usually offer a small refund in these cases, which has worked so far and is much cheaper than a return. Why do you think Amazon is so quick to offer a 20% refund when they send you a padded envelope pancake?
      Up until now I have assumed that both sides were behaving honestly. What about buyers with the  intention to defraud? Protecting yourself from fraud as a seller boils down to following the rules. That, and not accepting checks from the Central Bank of Nigeria as a form of payment. I only take PayPal. It's simple, quick, and for the most part reliable. In the last 3 months I have had a handful of buyers ask about other forms of payment, one even tried to buy a BIN when I forgot to mark "immediate payment", I denied them all. The guy who tried to buy my BIN first tried to talk me in to taking a registered check and when I declined he said repeatedly that he would open a PayPal account but never did and then just stopped responding to me. I opened a case against him and re-listed the item. I should also mention that he had 0 feedback and had joined eBay the day he tried to buy my BIN.  To me the whole situation just screamed "scam". With PayPal, in order to be covered you must send to the address confirmed by PayPal. No exceptions.
      There are a plethora of ways to be scammed by a buyer, with "can I pay by check, money order, wire transfer, etc...", " I never got it", and "it's broken" being the most common in my experience. I've already covered how to protect yourself from the first two, the last one is not as simple. Even new items can be defective that's why a return policy is necessary. At the same time any return has the potential to be fraudulent. That is when you call eBay.
      In all my years of selling I have only contacted eBay a handful of times. In the aforementioned Leia bikini case the buyer tried a SNAD case, but because of the pictures in my listing showing Leia in a bikini and the e-mail exchange pointing out the actual issue (the buyer was a nut job who was offended by a pretty plastic girl in a metal bikini) I won the case. Looking back it may have been easier just to take the return and block the buyer. But, come on, my listing title was "Leia in a Bikini from LEGO set 6210". Point is, try to avoid bringing eBay into a situation, but don't be afraid to do so if all else fails. That's why they have a CS department.
      I hope that made sense and that some of you found it useful. And that I didn't scare anyone away. So long as you take care with your listings and follow some very simple rules the vast majority of you experiences with selling will be positive and profitable ones.  


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