says the guy with 665 sets in his brickfolio...lol. Yeah and at least 160 of them are Minifigures. Ha ha.

Course I've kept all of my sets from when I was kid and even some passed down from my sister to begin with so it wasn't like I was starting from scratch.

I find that the people that whine and complain about not finding these deals are the ones trying the least. The deals are available *everywhere*, as far as the targets/WMs/kmarts are concerned. If you're not finding them, you're not trying hard enough. Period. You may *think* you're trying, but you're not, at least not harder than the ones that *are* finding them. This isn't charity, this is work. What you put in is what you get out.

Yeah, try saying that after visiting my Walmarts, Targets, and Kmarts. And I sure as heck not driving 300 miles one way to the nearest Shopko on a 'maybe'. I know of the kind of work that goes into it, I do my work and research every single time I do my shopping but none of that guarantees a single thing. Just cause someone finds something for $50 at their store doesn't mean I'm able to find the same thing for the same discount. No one can really do anything more than what each store is willing to offer.

I find that the people that whine and complain about not finding these deals are the ones trying the least. The deals are available *everywhere*, as far as the targets/WMs/kmarts are concerned. If you're not finding them, you're not trying hard enough. Period. You may *think* you're trying, but you're not, at least not harder than the ones that *are* finding them. This isn't charity, this is work. What you put in is what you get out.

It's a subjective matter. Obviously there's no solid definition of what constitutes "hard enough". You might live in an area where you can find Lego clearance on demand. Or you may live somewhere where the store employees buy all of the sets the second they get the red sticker. There's alot of luck involved.

I don't know what you do for a living, but I work a 40+ hour workweek, take college courses, have 2 kids, 2 dogs, and workout about 4 days a week to run at least a marathon or two per year, in addition to several halves and 10K's. I know I do these things by choice, and instead of training or going to school I could troll Targets on a daily basis until I get a set for half off somewhere.

I still somehow manage to find the time to do occasional Lego "speed runs" of the greater metropolitan Austin area, and visit the Wal-Marts and Targets within 20 minutes of me about twice a week. I check Craigslist a couple times per day. For me, that's putting in work. That's about the extent of what I can do without giving up another important aspect of my life, so that's where I have to put the "cap" on it. You can rip me for whining and I'll accept that, but don't tell me I don't try hard enough. I've wasted far more hours than I should've putting in "work".

If you're not finding deals, of course you're not trying hard enough. That's not an insult. That's life. I never said lazy - that was someone else. I never 'ripped' anyone. All I said is if you try hard enough, meaning *harder* than the others doing the exact same thing, you'll find the deals. They are there -- if you're not finding them it's because someone already did. Let me put it this way. Do you visit *every* single store in a 60 mile radius within 8 hours of the moment stuff goes on clearance? 10 stores, 20 stores, 30 stores? No? Then you're not trying hard enough. Because there are plenty of people who *do* do this, who know to the second when stuff goes on clearance, and to the victor go the spoils. Having a job or a family or other commitments doesn't change this fact. It is what it is. You can try as hard as you're able, but that doesn't mean it's enough. For people who aren't going all out and don't necessarily know what they're doing, luck can certainly come into play. But for the people who know what they're doing and are willing and able, luck has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Not everyone has access to the big stores and as we all know, it only takes one investor to come in and clear the lot out.

If you're not finding deals, of course you're not trying hard enough. That's not an insult. That's life. I never said lazy - that was someone else. I never 'ripped' anyone. All I said is if you try hard enough, meaning *harder* than the others doing the exact same thing, you'll find the deals. They are there -- if you're not finding them it's because someone already did.

Let me put it this way. Do you visit *every* single store in a 60 mile radius within 8 hours of the moment stuff goes on clearance? 10 stores, 20 stores, 30 stores? No? Then you're not trying hard enough. Because there are plenty of people who *do* do this, who know to the second when stuff goes on clearance, and to the victor go the spoils.

Having a job or a family or other commitments doesn't change this fact. It is what it is. You can try as hard as you're able, but that doesn't mean it's enough. For people who aren't going all out and don't necessarily know what they're doing, luck can certainly come into play. But for the people who know what they're doing and are willing and able, luck has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Not luck, guys...karma. This was an interesting post. I don't think that anyone "visits every single store in a 60 mile radius within 8 hours of the moment stuff goes on clearance" because that is just crazy. Even the smartest and most try-hard investor knows when they are doing too much. IMO, unless you have "connections" inside the store, it is hard to do know exactly when something goes on clearance.

The world is made up many types of people. Each of these individuals make up their own mind on what a good deal is to them. As some of you were saying here, luck does play a role. I know Ed has stopped at target and found tons of great deals just by walking in the store and not knowing anything special about clearance or any other deal. Then there are people like me who does not drive around at all looking for deals. Almost 100% of my shopping is done online. I look to use Amazon, eBay etc. I always try to get Free shipping. To me, my time is more important sitting behind this computer, working on the site, then driving around to 20 Walmarts to save a few bucks. I personally don't lose sleep over not getting Helms Deep fro $5 cheaper in the store. I have more fun waiting for my UPS buddy to pull up every morning and deliver my bounty and it makes it feel like its Christmas all the time. In the end, whenever I sell the sets, someone who works a little harder will make a higher profit price wise, but I didn't have to waste time and gas driving all over the place to get it. My point is. People can collect and invest in any way they see fit. There is level that says you are working hard enough. Its totally up to the individual.

It's a subjective matter. Obviously there's no solid definition of what constitutes "hard enough". You might live in an area where you can find Lego clearance on demand. Or you may live somewhere where the store employees buy all of the sets the second they get the red sticker. There's alot of luck involved.

I don't know what you do for a living, but I work a 40+ hour workweek, take college courses, have 2 kids, 2 dogs, and workout about 4 days a week to run at least a marathon or two per year, in addition to several halves and 10K's. I know I do these things by choice, and instead of training or going to school I could troll Targets on a daily basis until I get a set for half off somewhere.

I still somehow manage to find the time to do occasional Lego "speed runs" of the greater metropolitan Austin area, and visit the Wal-Marts and Targets within 20 minutes of me about twice a week. I check Craigslist a couple times per day. For me, that's putting in work. That's about the extent of what I can do without giving up another important aspect of my life, so that's where I have to put the "cap" on it. You can rip me for whining and I'll accept that, but don't tell me I don't try hard enough. I've wasted far more hours than I should've putting in "work".

+1 to this.

Truth of it, there is only so much a person can do realistically before they are just killing time and fuel. I have a few Walmarts, Kmarts, and Targets in my vicinity and all of them are the large ones, so they do offer a good variety but no discounts really or at least on any kind of routine. I have found a couple of semi discounts but it is rather sporadically and by chance I even find them at all. And that has been done by visiting each of them and going throughout the store. So no lack of effort there, just the store's manager not deciding to discounting the items I'm looking for.

Not trying hard enough? You can't do anything more than what your retailers offer the items for. And if you're visiting every store in a 60 or even 30 mile radius just to perhaps find so much as a single deal, well now you're just wasting gas and nothing was saved. Unless you're Superman and can hear a Walmart Rollback soon as it happens or have a friend that works at Target and is 'in the know', how can you honestly know the exact second something goes on sale?

It is tiring having bupkis in the way of some of these grand deals I've heard about are not available to me in my area, but I do have a couple Super Walmarts, Super Targets, and a Big Kmart with a decent selection throughout, and then there are plenty of Five Below's about so I'll always have access to the Minifigures and some rare polybags. Add to that, I've made friends at each of them, so in a way even if the discounts don't happen by my way, at least I am 'discounted' in other ways.

I can agree that everyone has their own definition of "luck" and "trying hard". There's been alot of good and interesting conversation here. After reading all of these posts, I'll add that it's also a matter of perception. Everyone's individual circumstances are just so different, and we all have our own "threshold" of how far we are willing to go and what we are willing to do to get a deal. One other thing I'm somewhat ashamed to admit is that I thrive from the "thrill of the hunt" maybe a little too much when I really don't need to. I'm a supervisor at my work, and although I'm still an hourly employee, my boss is pretty lax with me clocking a couple of OT hours here and there because he knows we are so busy. I often have the choice of sticking around andmaking time and a half, sometimes I do, other times I don't feel like it. But if I could translate the time I've wasted walking toy aisles into time at work, I'd probably have a few hundred bucks to spend. However, I still often desire to hit the stores on the way home, hoping I'll come across some "deal" that will fulfill that "thrill" I was looking for.

I find that the people that whine and complain about not finding these deals are the ones trying the least. The deals are available *everywhere*, as far as the targets/WMs/kmarts are concerned. If you're not finding them, you're not trying hard enough. Period. You may *think* you're trying, but you're not, at least not harder than the ones that *are* finding them. This isn't charity, this is work. What you put in is what you get out.

when I had to travel for work last December and target and Walmart had all those sales I hit around 12 targets and 8 Walmart in one day. It was all relatively on the way and I routed accordingly. It was work. Some were complete busts while others were some epic finds. If you can't find a good deal you need to hone your skills.

when I had to travel for work last December and target and Walmart had all those sales I hit around 12 targets and 8 Walmart in one day. It was all relatively on the way and I routed accordingly. It was work. Some were complete busts while others were some epic finds. If you can't find a good deal you need to hone your skills.

I have exactly two Walmart Supercenters, one Super Target, and a Big Kmart near me that I visit frequently and those really are the only ones around me in any kind of vicinity. Anything else is about a 2+ hour drive (maybe longer) one way from where I live and they're not grouped together well at all so who knows what the inbetween trips would be like. You even admitted that some stores had good deals but others didn't. Somebody else in the thread for posting clearance deals said they went to one Walmart and found some awesome deals, but went to the very next one and everything was at retail. Well now those just blew out of the water what Pirate said about the deals being available everywhere, because if they were all of those Walmarts you visited should have had the same deals then or at the least similiar in what was offered. Heck, right before and after hearing someone here finding some great half off clearance at Kmart, I visited my only one almost daily. Guess what? Nothing. And that was after scouring the entire store and even asking different employees about any kind of deals on Lego. Still nothing. Now if I wanted a tshirt, that would have been a different story.

The truth is it works for a few of you because you're surrounded by a selection of stores (at least that is how it sounds), whereas I am not. That's the truth of my situation. If Walmart did have the same discounts at each of their stores, we wouldn't be having this conversation but a member pointed out in an older thread all of those discounts are handled by the individual district managers. The company can say to sell something for a certain sale and the manager can still simply not do it for whatever the reason. If I did have the selection of you and some others, I guess at least one of them might have the discounts but I do not. And even if I did, no such discount is guaranteed.

In any case, it's getting awfully tiring hearing that I need to 'hone my skills' as if it were attainable like kung fu mastery, or I'm somehow 'not trying hard enough' or at all to find something that just isn't there for me to find and seldomly available if it even does occur. I don't have a Shopkos in my state and until a month or so ago, I never even heard of it and it's no wonder. They are not in every state and not a major retailer (yet).

If my nearby retailers and maybe the really out of the way ones don't have the deals, what else can anybody expect me to do? You can't force a deal to come out from nothing or expect to drive across the entire state on a 'maybe'. I haven't found any real deal in store very often save for some very odd ones I was insanely lucky to find like a Seaside House for $35, a Sith Nightspeeder for $14.97, and not even a handful of others. Mostly I have been doing pricematches at Target with Amazon. That really has become my main and (since this year and around the end of the last) only means of getting any discount. So far I've done this a number of times (too many to really remember each specific set) but I'm sure I saved close to $90 or so I'm guessing in sales collectively. No where near these amazing half off sales on great sets but more like 20% to maybe 30% off or so. Only half off sales I've ever seen were for some of the Games sets but no one cares about those really, and the Planets.

Course I did find possibly 50 of the Naboo Starfighter/Naboo for $2.78. That was wierd. Seemed like a good enough reason to stock up if any. But that had nothing to do with skill. It was just plain ol dumb luck I stumbled across these at all like every other sale anyone has ever seen. To say finding sales has to do with skill is like saying you can win the slots with skill. And then to say, if I don't find what I'm looking for I'm not trying hard enough is like saying if I haven't found a white stag yet then I'm obviously not trying hard enough.

You can call me many things, but lazy or unskilled is not it. You can only find what is there to find in the first place.

+1 to that Orc King! My wife scouts our retailers with me several times a week, and I have yet to find anything that beats what I can get most anyday on Amazon, all these people getting 50% off and 70% off very hot items is completely unheard of, if we worked on harder at it, it wouldn't matter if we did make occasional hauls of massively discounted sets, we'd go completely broke and have zero life left. There must be certain stores and areas that have the deals and others that do not. Classic example before I end my own rant, I have 3 shopkos in my region and not a single one had a set that I wanted that was even RETAIL price, let alone below that the whole time the crazy sales were happening. I'd go in and see an Uruk Hai battle for $45 BOGO 50% off, thats not what others are bringing home. I was visiting and calling them every few days, and nothing changed, they had almost no lego in stock after christmas and once they stock the shelves, the sale would go away.

In any case, it's getting awfully tiring hearing that I need to 'hone my skills' as if it were attainable like kung fu mastery, or I'm somehow 'not trying hard enough' or at all to find something that just isn't there for me to find and seldomly available if it even does occur. I don't have a Shopkos in my state and until a month or so ago, I never even heard of it and it's no wonder. They are not in every state and not a major retailer (yet).

In some ways, finding deals is like kung fu, you only get better the more challenges you have. However, there is a point where the number of hours, gas, time, etc spent looking and driving to stores actually decreases your overall profit margins. Plus, some methods work for some people (anyone live near a Shopko it seems) and not for others.

At the end of the day, I have to agree with one of the poster upthread: a lot of what people post are BS. It sure is easier to tune out the BS ;)

To really hone your skills, you have to relocate so that you live within walking distance of multiple Shopko stores.

I thought it was all BS too, until the receipts started getting uploaded, either every one of them is an absolute master of photoshop or a lot of those deals are true. I don't doubt that some people can get better at finding deals, they start to notice patterns in the stores around them and get good at predicting sales and deals from them. However, in other areas, this just doesn't work since you need to get at least some sales to base that info on, if nothing ever goes on sale, how can we learn when to buy? I should clarify, I have seen some sales at the major retailers, but with a little simple math and knowledge of the sets current going price on Amazon, they don't wind up being cheaper at the store. All the sets that stay on sale on Amazon for weeks, I do see them occasionally on sale at Walmart, but after tax, it just winds up being a wash or more expensive.

This thread really went off track...here's what I'll add: 1. Picking is a skill like any other. It can be learned and improved. 2. There are literally deals everywhere and significant money to be made. 3. I know this site is about LEGO, and if your reason for doing this is because you're into LEGO that's cool, but you will have some very inefficient picks and would most likely be better served by shopping known deals such as online sales and B&****** coupons. 4. If you are going to retail pick, learn how to pick several different items. You're at the store anyway. If you walk into a store you need to make something, otherwise expenses will kill any potential profit. No, I'm not going to tell everyone exactly which items to buy right now (but I do drop hints from time to time). Knowing what to buy requires research...it's not like I have some magic 8-ball telling me what to buy. It entails risk and you really have to work at it to get good at it and make significant profits. 5. Try to control for expenses in any way possible. When my wife pick she usually does it by hitting a series of stores in a few days. It's not uncommon to start at 6 am and go to 10 pm, but only 3-4 days per month. You'd be amazed how many stores you can hit in a day. Like anything else, this has to be balanced with other commitments and responsibilities. 6. I travel almost every week, so when I retail pick it's often because I'm in another city. I also don't have to pay for my rent car or fuel, which is ultimately what makes it doable. I'm also usually just sitting in a hotel room in the evening, so I have plenty of time on my hands when traveling. 7. Do not underestimate storage, inventory control, and your overall processes associated with listing, selling, packaging, etc...

I been asked alot am I sure about The Monster Fighters and the LOTR Helm's Deep really going to stop being made in June, Yes they are, Its on the Official Lego order form for people who buy wholesale, and I have Emailed the form to a number of guys on here. But do not no about the Haunted House, so it would not hurt to pick one up once in a while. Now even though The Monster Fighters and Helm's Deep stops in June, these will still be around for the Holidays. And here is another thing that i know about, when Toys R Us and Target have there Black Friday Lego sale 6-8 months a head of time. Well chances are both store's no what sets they will have on sale, a good guess Target will have the VC for sale $74.99, and TRU could have the Ninjango 9450 Epic Battle for $90 like they had the 2507 set for $91. When I was ordering wholesale, my rep told me the store has to put the order in for how many they want, say target wants 20,000 VC they have to get the order in about 6 months or more. Now I don't no who is having what but thats a heads up on how they get there Black Friday sales set up. About 4-5 years ago Target and Tru sales were always $50 each Target had the 6211 Star Destroyer $50, then the AT AT, Troll Fortress was $60 TRU had The Falcons, Twilight.

I think retailers in Europe are still able to order Battle ofHelm's Deep from Lego until the end of this year.

Thats possible, another member from Europe has stated the same. I never thought the Lego would continue producing a set for one market while stopping for another.

Thats possible, another member from Europe has stated the same. I never thought the Lego would continue producing a set for one market while stopping for another.

They did this with 10184. It went EOL in EU 3-4 months before the US.

This led to a large price difference.

They did this with 10184. It went EOL in EU 3-4 months before the US.

This led to a large price difference.

I'm curious about this process too. TLG must produce large batches of these sets which then sit in warehouses prior to being shipped around the world as the orders are made. I assume that currently the Monster Fighter theme, for example, is done as far as production is concerned and has been for some time. Now it's just a matter of selling off the existing/remaining stock on the warehouse floor.

While technically still "orderable" I assume Lego would be angry if Walmart or another large retailer suddenly placed a moderate sized order for, let's say, 10,000 Vampyre Castles today 1 month before the cutoff. Right now I assume Lego is producing sets for the 2013 Christmas season, so to fill that order a production line would have to be shut down and repurposed to produce Monster Fighters again for a relatively small number of sets. Sets Lego will probably tell the retailer that should have been ordered months ago when that line was still open and being produced.

Would Lego even do this? Would they just tell the retailer "sorry, we have 2,300 left and that's it". I assume if the order was large enough Lego would take it. Likewise, they wouldn't screw up their entire production schedule to do a limited run of a few hundred sets for a small chain. There's probably some internal guidelines the company has established for this type of situation...

I'm sure they would be happy to direct them to their new product offerings, I doubt Lego would do another run just because a retailer wanted more, retailers are familiar with Lego's procedures, either way, I doubt they would get burned by something like this happening.

I highly doubt Lego would redo their production quantities for a late order. Just doesn't make sense

I'm sure they would be happy to direct them to their new product offerings, I doubt Lego would do another run just because a retailer wanted more, retailers are familiar with Lego's procedures, either way, I doubt they would get burned by something like this happening.

It depends who the retailer is. I work for large fortune 500 company, and we would do anything that Walmart tells us too. They are so large, and they are our largest customer. If it's Walmart, Lego will make another production run in order to avoid making them mad and losing shelf space.

Lego likes to take its orders early in the year so they can project how many to produce.   Many retailers put their orders in at Toy Fair in February to guarantee their stock. 

Here's my two cents.

If you're going to make the argument that the deal is always out there, I'm going to flat out tell you that you are wrong. Some of the members live in very affluent, upscale towns and cities. Places LEGO either sells strong or sells out. To say you just have to drive around harder is ignorance.

I have gotten some insane deals, and I mean insane. 60 percent or more off is an easy thing to hit here come clearance time. I work hard at it, yes. I hit every Walmart, Target and Kmart within 45 minutes of me roughly every week or two. I like the thrill of finding an epic haul. Sometimes I'm at my 24hr Walmarts at 1 or 2 in the morning.

But don't confuse things. My hard work only pays off because I live in a poor area of the U.S., one of THE poorest actually, and most people down here who are struggling to make gas, food, or rent money can't afford the high MSRPs of LEGO. So, they sit on the shelf until they have to move in the next line, and in comes the clearance deals. If I tried to replicate this back home in Atlanta, I can assure you my success wouldn't be anywhere near what I'm used to, even with more effort put in on my part.

The fact is, some people will get lucky, some will get more out if they put more work in, but the true deciding factor determining your LEGO profitability aside from working captial is going to be the place, and thus the market, you live in.

Here's my two cents.

If you're going to make the argument that the deal is always out there, I'm going to flat out tell you that you are wrong. Some of the members live in very affluent, upscale towns and cities. Places LEGO either sells strong or sells out. To say you just have to drive around harder is ignorance.

I have gotten some insane deals, and I mean insane. 60 percent or more off is an easy thing to hit here come clearance time. I work hard at it, yes. I hit every Walmart, Target and Kmart within 45 minutes of me roughly every week or two. I like the thrill of finding an epic haul. Sometimes I'm at my 24hr Walmarts at 1 or 2 in the morning.

But don't confuse things. My hard work only pays off because I live in a poor area of the U.S., one of THE poorest actually, and most people down here who are struggling to make gas, food, or rent money can't afford the high MSRPs of LEGO. So, they sit on the shelf until they have to move in the next line, and in comes the clearance deals. If I tried to replicate this back home in Atlanta, I can assure you my success wouldn't be anywhere near what I'm used to, even with more effort put in on my part.

The fact is, some people will get lucky, some will get more out if they put more work in, but the true deciding factor determining your LEGO profitability aside from working captial is going to be the place, and thus the market, you live in.

THIS EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!