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It is getting more and more difficult to move up in the US in my opinion. The costs of basic necessities are going through the roof. Healthcare costs are insane. As a small business owner, it is just churning dollars and paying yourself with a salary that in many cases hasn't increased in years. It's a slow suck. Sure, people who choose the right profession or business at the right time can move up, but most Americans are just treading water, with stagnant wages and increased living costs. I used to be a lot more positive, but hard work and persistence doesn't always translate into success now. Even a quality education puts you in a huge hole financially before you get a decent job. Many Americans are in a daze, working harder for no status gain, more worried about managing their Facebook account than their bank account. Yet the stock market keeps chugging along, blowing off worldwide events and changing the rules to suit their needs. Maybe investing in LEGO makes sense in the new "bizarro" we all live in.

Just got back from my local Target (Greater Vancouver Area). This weekend only spend $50 in store and receive a $10 gift card free valid store wide. I bought $50 in groceries to get my free gift card. I also noticed my store had the new imperial Star Destroyer 75055 on sale for $105 (reg $149.99) 30% discount! I didn't see this sale in their flyer, so not sure if this is sale chain wide or not. So I bought my groceries, put them in my car, and went back in to buy the set. $105 less 5% using my Red Card: $99.75 plus 12% HST = $111.72, less $10 gift card: $101.72! PLUS THEY GAVE ME ANOTHER $10 GIFT CARD for my purchase! The fine print says one gift card per customer but they don't seem to enforce it. It was the same teller for the second purchase and she knew I had just got the gift card a few minutes earlier but was happy to give me another, I didn't even ask for it.. Pretty sweet deal I think. I wanted one for my collection and I doubt I'll ever get it cheaper than that. Might be worth checking your local Target store this weekend if you want one. Good luck!

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Sold 8 RI today between 80-86 today @ amazon. Sweet $$

Prob because HH is unique and interesting. GE is kinda boring compared to it.

Found this on a link at YahooFinance, kind of neat http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-dream-illustrated-with-legos-brookings-200611923.html

As long as my family is healthy, we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and some money in the bank, I'm happy. I really have no desire to live any kind of extravagent life. So I would agree that not everyone is looking to get to that Q5 level, and the "American dream" differs quite a bit depending on who you ask. My parents keep nagging me to buy a bigger house because the kids have to share rooms in our current home. Oh no! lol. I think its funny, my parents were of a generation where they crammed 6-8 kids into a tiny house, and they always told me how much fun they had growing up. I think people get this idea in their head that if they aren't constantly upgrading then they aren't successful in life. The kids are perfectly happy sharing rooms, and we like our home the way it is for the time being. Honestly, the only time I ever thought about moving was to have more room for stashing Lego

i wouldn't go that far There are many sets that aren't boring when compared to the HH. POTC ships, Palace Cinema, new & old Tumbler, VW T1, 10188, Arkham, etc... just to name a few. When it comes to Lego sets based on houses and buildings, I think 10228 will be long remembered and has a chance to be considered as one of the more iconic sets of recent times. Thus, I think decent demand will still be there for this set even 5+ years after retirement (as long as it's not refreshed) and we can't say that for most of the sets produced every year,

KMart? They'll create a listing, everyone will order, and then receive Deloreans instead.

looks like some 39.99 exo's are going back to target next week. also I am a true believer on this set and all IDEAS/CUUSOO sets. have 29 on hand and ordered another 11 this morning. if this set is not available in November/December, there will be hay to be made, but still long term i think this set and all IDEAS sets will be cash money.

Just sold one on Amazon this morning for $100 Ship by: 08/26/2014 Item: LEGO Cuusoo 21110 Research Institute Condition: New Listing ID: 0823ODK***** SKU: 3Y-5O5I-ACN1 Quantity: 1 Order date: 08/23/2014 Price: $99.99 Amazon fees: -$16.54 Shipping: $5.49 Your earnings: $88.94

No wonder interest has waned, they only put out 2 episodes every 4 months.

It sure didn't look like Dusty Rhodes to me???

If you really wrote "gamboy" instead of "gameboy" or "game boy", you have the reason why you did a disappointing selling. (because of ebay's referencing and browsing)

pssst we still need him around to fight those pesky knockoff bricks/minifigs sellers from China

Can this thread be moved to members only? Otherwise we are going to see another kind of article...

I don't agree with this: "The company stirred excitement this month by offering a line aimed at girls called the

Here are two of the three sets being built. I completely agree with the title. I'm hoping to launch the Truck set before this week. Lair build. Van build.

sold an RI on amazon at 94.51 +5.49 shipping = 100 earlier today. after fees and shipping 300% return in 3 weeks. now if only the rest will sell at that price... otherwise i can wait. this is fun. thank you new york times web link.

i have heard people say that all of sets i sent to amazon were MISB but the one they shipped to the customer and which got returned is not mine. one thing to consider with "FBA" is amazon ships "the item" on your behalf. not-necessarily its "your item". what i mean is they will ship the item sold on your behalf. its reduced in your inventory. that don't mean that the actual item shipped is yours. why i am saying this is for following reason: say you are in california. you signed up for FBA. you send your stuff to amazon. they will most likely put that in their warehouse somewhere in california. now when the sale is made based on the buyers location they are going to ship the most cost effective way for them. so lets take the extreme and say the buyer is in the east coast. then amazon will most likely look for the inventory in east coast i.e PA or MA and if they find the same item there then they would ship those. it might belong to someone else but sold and shipped on your behalf. ^ this is a very likely scenario that would happen. hence potential for some unruly exposure...

It's a LEGO forum and it's also about money as well. I think we could mange to have an intelligent conversation on the topic if people respect one another. Or maybe I'll just lock it and we can discuss the EOL of the Duplo Big Zoo.

I sold. Mine at 70 two days ago and am now regretting it. I freaking *** tripled up after fees and am sour. Maybe I'm just being a greedy jerk

ha they do per family now since people got smart

Bottom line, if you try, you will, for the most part, succeed. Imagine that. This holds true for just about everything, not just wealth.

At the risk of sounding pretentious I bought the set because it feels... significant. Full disclosure: I also find Alf pogs significant.

Can't order from Walmart directly, need US CC :(

I bought a Lego set from South Korea once, and delivered on time with the right item (no fakes). They offered free shipping too! Read their feedback first, that would help. the one you should wary of are sellers from China. They have strange ID, zero feedback, and offering Lego at bargain price.

that guy is me

I know this guy down the street that will list them for me ;)

Hell, everything seems boring compared to the Haunted House. You may like to visit the Grand Emporium but you want to live in the Haunted House.

Wondering how much higher these will go and at what point I will be kicking myself for getting rid of 30 already. I listened to all the seasoned pros on here that said we were all delusional that the $35 Rover could hit $150 by X mas because sets don't quadruple in a year. Hopefully this set will crash and all will be well in the world of Lego investing. That was late night sarcasm

It all depends on your risk tolerance.....would you chase after a train after it has left the station. If you consider yourself an experienced runner you would, otherwise there will be another train departing soon.

You took the words out of my mouth.

congrats B-A ... nice to have some stock now come and buy some of my SSD's with the new found wealth

Im a fan of combining if its hard to get rid of the other thing. DIscount it a bit and - shipping and the quicker sale it can be worth it.

Sitting on four already and you guys make me think of buying even more... should i buy two more at

No kidding.. A 25% spike for RI over on Amazon today..

True dat! One man's trash is another man's shipping and packing material.

Actually the best movie I a Your profile pic reminded me that the best movie I saw this year was the reshowing of Raiders of the Lost Ark I saw the other night as part of a film classics series our theatre chain was doing this summer. I still need to get all of the Indiana Jones lego sets.

That's an excellent counterexample. Wish I'd thought of it. For that matter, how can Lego retire the SSD when they're still making 75003 (A-Wing) to smash into its bridge? I think this means 10221 is coming back later this year.

Sometimes google can be your friend... http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/02/lego-colors-introduction/ What's the real reason? Color is injected into the mold at the same time as the ABS pellets. They used to used pre-colored pellets. Some have criticized the QC in China but by all accounts they are using the same equipment over there... What is theorized is that Lego uses a China-sourced ABS in China which is lesser quality. Bromine is also added to the mix when molding a piece to reduce the flammability of the ABS but unfortunately that chemical is apparently quite susceptible to UV rays.

(2) 42009 from Amazon UK. Exchange rate has been moving in favor of the US dollar bringing each set to 167.00 and change delivered. Not quite as cheap as the Meijer Bonanza late spring. Will bring my inventory count to (4). Slowly accumulating. My average price is under 160.00 each.

You are the Georges Melies of brick movies !

This set is now listed as Retiring Soon. Do you have enough? I know this is quite a popular set and I honestly am very interested to see what happens with this thing. Buy From Amazon Buy From LEGO Buy From Walmart Buy From Target

If we're depending on customers in China, we're in serious trouble. China makes its own "legos" in huge quantities at low prices. Everyone talks about how China and India are the future. No, they're not. China is a giant fixed-investment ghost-town building ponzi scheme, and India is a third-world nation with a first-world debt problem. You would be hard-pressed to find a functioning democracy as fiscally incompetent as India. If it were in the euro zone, everyone would be talking about it as the next Greece. Anyway, Lego's future, like its past, is North America, western Europe, Australia, and the "western" Asian countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Lego itself claims to have big, bold plans for China. Good luck with that. It hasn't worked out very well for other western companies. Basically, you enter the Chinese market, all your IP gets stolen, and then the government prosecutes you for being an illegal foreign monopoly.

Someone needs a hug Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Thats unforgivable. I would have put myself up for adoption.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/helpcenter/helphub/home/ If you've already been there and CS is closed, call them tomorrow. They'll walk you through the process. Basically, they may be willing to dispute the chargeback on your behalf. That doesn't mean they're going to win against the cc company, and if they don't, you don't either. Meanwhile, the money will be taken out of your account or backup funding source. If this buyer did the same thing to a lot of sellers, PayPal will be more likely to try to dispute it with the cc company. If you're the only one, you're probably out 12 bucks. If you had a brick and mortar store, you'd have shoplifters (and still have chargebacks ) - it's annoying as heck when it happens, but you figure it into your cost of doing business and you move on.

Classic!