General Collecting and Investing Forum

Hi and sorry in advance if there is a topic about this already. I recently bought a used set that was supposed to be 100% complete. After auditing the pieces, it was missing nearly 10% plus some of the pieces appeared to not be part of the original set as advertised. Counting pieces can take quite a bit of time, exceeding 10 hours for large sets. As a result of this experience, I am concerned that I will go through this exercise with all my used set purchases. So if I'm going to wind up spending over 10 hours counting pieces whenever I buy large used sets and some of those pieces are not original, I was wondering how much time it takes and money is saved by buyin…

I'm piecing together my 6286 set (Skull's Eye Schooner) that I bought nearly complete. I've taken it apart, cleaned it, inventoried it, and have purchased the seven small pieces needed to complete it. Now, when I list this on Ebay, do I: 1. Rebuild the set, take pictures and list it, then a: take it back apart to ship b: ship as a built set 2. Don't rebuild the set, and use stock pictures, and ship in pieces I don't have instructions. Is it worth the cost of purchasing instructions, simply in order to sell "with instructions"? It's a pretty cool set and I may just end up keeping it, making all of these questions a waste of time.

I'm sure some of you do this already but when shipping whole sets with box, I wrap up the box in used plastic retail bags to maintain some sense of water proofing before putting in a box with packing peanuts or bubble wrap for shipping. Everything from the nice yellow bags from the LEGO store to the crappy, thin bags from the grocery store I save for this purpose. I bring this up because today an eBay buyer let me know that the box I shipped him was left on his front porch by the mailman in what must have been a heavy rain. The box virtually fell apart but the LEGO set inside was still protected by the plastic bag it was wrapped in. He was grateful and so was I!

This message has been posted 1 year ago, and I still do not see anything like that on ebay (for instance). Would you guys be ok to add this "VIB"(******/U) inside the description of your unsealed lego sales ? Instead of: write: The verification only concerns bags number (meaning the buyer may not receive a lego box full of small soldiers), so you can also add something like: Main pieces (wheels, sails, minifigures) have been checked. Little bricks can still be missing. If many of us use these "VIB" acronyms it will be help both sellers and buyers if it becomes a standard.

About time! Leg Godt is reporting that LEGO will be soon selling some watches suitable for adults, and quite frankly, older kids. They will be available this November. They are quite pricey though... Not sure I'd get one because of that steep price tag. LOL. Quote from the Leg Godt article: Lego has had a line of watches for a few years now, but the designs were decidedly targeted at kids. And since the building toy probably has as many adult fans as children who love it, Lego will be releasing a new line of watches this November with designs geared more towards its grown-up fans. That being said, no one is going to mistake any of the styles in the new line a…

I'm travelling to a few places in Asia next month, and was wondering if any BP members could suggest places to get LEGO, or if it's even worth getting with the different exchange rates. I'll be in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka), Hong Kong & Macau, and Singapore & Kuala Lumpur. I've done some searching and have found Click Brick in Osaka and In's Point mall in Hong Kong. Is there anything exclusive to these countries?

Hey fellow pickers! So, I have an Amazon Chase Reward Card. I've had it for several years, and I've never redeemed anything. I could be a responsible adult and use that cash elsewhere. But I could also make an investment here. I can basically do one of two things here. 1) Use those points directly on Amazon or 2) Redeem the cash, then transfer the cash to my PayPal account. So, I have a grand total of $201.05 to spend. I could buy one set like Tower of Orthanc, or a modular (Grand Emporium, etc.). I could buy 2 $100 sets. I could buy 4 $50 sets. I could buy 4 White Boba Fett polybags. I could buy 2 Alfred the Butlers. If you had $201.05 to s…

Here is an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal I found on my Twitter feed this morning. Read the full interview here.

Greetings fellow pickers! As I mentioned in my introduction post, my Lego fever began running rampant last year when my nephew dug out my old Black Monarch castle last year. I decided I'd purchase a large lot and begin collecting again. I bought a 20lb. lot of assorted colors from eBay. After sorting through and figuring out what I had, it turns out that I had about 80% of set 6210 (Jabba's Sail Barge) and about 40% of set 6209 (Slave I 2nd Edition). None of them came with the minifigs, but I did eventually track those down. I was mortified at how much the minifigs were. That being said, these are 2 iconic sets, and I have them proudly displayed on my desk at …

If I plan on rebuying the sets that I grew up with and loved so much! Few I remember off the top of my head: 6270-1: Forbidden Island 6378-1: Shell Service Station 6395-1: Victory Lap Raceway And much more, but need to do some research what I had... What about you all? Don't you wish you had a time machine to tell young self not to be so foolish?

About 6 weeks ago I got banned from the Lego.com site for being too good of a customer (buying too many items). I challenge you to try getting banned from virtually any other retail store for buying too many items. Coach handbags is possibly the only one I can think of. Can you imagine getting banned from a car dealership for buying too many cars? How about McDonald's banning you for buying too many hamburgers? In fact, according to the New York Times many retail stores have VIP and concierge services which are extended to customers who spend a lot of money each year. Not only did I not get such a benefit extended to me, I was told to hit the bricks (pun intended). What t…

What will you do when you run out of space for new LEGO sets? Taking some apart is not an option for me. Luckily my mom said that when she gets her next paycheck she will buy me some bookshelves.

Looking for a nice set that has very good investment potential. have around $300 to spend, Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Is there a site where you can find out how many sets a single piece is found in? I think I saw something mentioned before about putting in your loose pieces to see which different sets it could makes up?

Yeah, you know the rest. When I read the story of the BPer here who opened up a box of puzzle pieces instead of LEGO I thoroughly enjoyed freaking out and waving my arms around and generally joining the discussion. I really didn't ever expect, though, that I'd have my own story to tell! Bought a Daily Bugle on clearance at a local Kmart a few weeks ago. Got to parting out our pile of Daily Bugles tonight, opened this one and... yeah, LEGO bags containing a lot of random junk toys. Some of them are actually either reglued or heat sealed. Pretty amazing, going to return it tommorow. In my defense, when you see the photo of the seal, it doesn't look o…

Thought this article was on point to us since it involves reselling. LEGO is not the only one banning resellers. I live in the city and there is a Lululemon store about 3 blocks from me. The retail prices are through the roof. The least expensive pair of basic men's workout shorts start at $59 and go up from there. I've seen 20-somethings with $500 worth of yoga clothing in the checkout line. I thought this paragraph was noteworthy The retailer changed its stance after a couple of weeks.

Anyone collect these? What is the best way to find them for cheap? I checked @ Shop and $15 for a pair is a bit pricey, right?

All 4 options are 30% off at my local WalMart. I've spent most of my money on recently EOL items like Spiderman's Doc Ock Ambush/ Mines of Moria/ Attack of the Warg's / Constitution Train/ and Goblin King. Which has the greatest upside potential? 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush 75005 Rancor Pit 79007 Battle at the Black Gate 79003 An unexpected Gathering Thanks!

This is mostly academic, since I am sure the amount of actual price realization will be small: But for just giggles, if you had to choose ONE of the following sets to get 20 of for investing, which would you get - and why? (Assume you were paying $10 a piece) 79005 - LOTR - Wizard Battle 76008 - Super Heroes: Iron Man Vs. Mandarin Ultimate Showdown 75000 - Star Wars Clone Troopers vs. Droidekas 75001 - Star Wars Republic Troopers vs Sith Troopers

I bought several loose sets through CL. Anyone who has done this before have any good strategies for going through and separating sets?

I will sell a lot of lego items starting tomorrow evening CET. So my wife saw some pictures for my item descriptions and told me: ,,hey that looks like modern art, you should print some of them and we can hang it on our walls" I laughed and then i looked again on my pics. I thought that it really would be funny to have some of them hanging on our walls. (of course without the weight specification on the pictures... removing them with photoshop would be easy) The pictures were made with a Canon eos 20d. Background is a white table. I used photoshop to pimp the pictures. (more contrast and brightness) What do you guys think? Lego pictures as moder…

Hey All, Back into collecting after a while on the sideline. Love minifigs as do most and a bunch if other stuff, I'm all over the map. Had a bunch of stuff I sold off as a kid and now wish I didn't, probably like most everyone. Anyway, now that I'm older I gave a bit more cash flow and the ability to buy multiples for investment purposes. Some I'm sure I'll keep for my personal collection but will be looking for great deals to flip or sit on with other stuff. Anyway, here's what went down at Target today. Felt like I was getting good deals but I honestly don't know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, was able to score almost a full case of S11 mini figur…

Ok everyone, I need some feedback here please. I have the opportitunity to buy 10 Fire Brigades and 10 Grand Emporiums (all NISB) for a total of $4000 from a friend who has been sitting on them and now needs the money. That comes out to $150/ea for the GE's and $250/ea for the FB's.. The question is should I or shouldn't I? What do ya think, good deal or not. I'm on the fence with this one.

I am a new lego investor within the last year however, I'd like to think of myself as pretty smart when it comes to buying them on the budget that I have. I see people writing on here how they have 30 of one set or the guy who got 100 VH. What would you give as advice as far as where, or what to pick up. I see a lot of people stating they got amazing deals on some lego's but wondering where these occur as all the places I ever look I find nothing like what I read. The set I have the most of would be the Spidey Chase which I have 9 of I typically go for 3 of each. Thanks for your input and advice in advance!

So I have a list of sets that I want to collect over time. I do not want to pay more than the market value according to this site though. Why is it that people are posting NIB sets on ebay for WAY more than the market value? Do they expect to sell them for that, because obviously they don't sell. The best thing to do would be to let people bid and see how high it goes. I don't think anyone is going to pay 1500 bucks for something whose market value new is only 350. I'm sure this has been discussed before, but it just seems so illogical to try to get hundreds more than something is worth. I know it's been going on for years but ...yeah...I don't get it.