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The country's finest Federally employed janitor on a billion dollar war machine- or as the government calls me a us navy sailor

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO step this way, i got some questions for you

Wow, dad of the year award to you. I get annoyed when my 6-year-old wants one of my series 11 minifigs I'm trying to sell and you are giving a 2-year-old a Death Star!

Most of you will know R2D2 from Star Wars and of course the LEGO Set might be on your list when it comes to investments. (I guess if some investors did actually build the sets they own they could build a small droid army ^.^ ) Since it's an awesome LEGO model I guess that a lot of you own one for yourselves as well. Doing most important research on the internet I found some nice R2D2 MOCs/Versions that I'd like to share with you all because I think they are awesome and add some spice to the normal model. Hope you enjoy them.

Every good Investor should either be buying the Batman Ayslum now and then when you have the money, or if you haven't started yet don't wait to the last minute like it seems like alot of would be investors do. The set has been out for about 2 years so avoid the panic buying and spending money you don't have buy charging big bucks on those Credit Cards. As this set will always bring big money, I got 4 more today so by the end of October I will have about 30 and still will be buying them each month. So as most waited to the last minute on the SSD and Haunted House and some got none to only a few, and some got a good deal of them. So please don't miss the boat on this set. Ed

Indeed. It's always good to keep in mind the disclaimer "past performance does not guarantee future success." The unfortunate fact that many here will find out in the not too distant future is that the performance of sets currently on the secondary market post-EOL does not provide any indicator of what the currently-available sets will do post-EOL. Although the secondary market demand for Lego sets is robust, it is not bottomless and prices tend to stagnate when a set is held in large quantities by a large number of sellers. Everyone who is dreaming of future returns on par with the current performance of exclusives that have already retired should expect much slimmer margins in the future simply because there is a substantially greater amount of capital being allocated to modulars than there has been in the past.

Set of Mixels Series 1 - $114.95. Most I have got for a set so far, they are creeping up! Also sold Volectro solo for $23.95 x2 yesterday

I'm a high school guidance counselor. It basically gives me time to think about what I want to be when I grow up. Which is, of course, never.

Whoa whoa whoa back the truck up! Who said anything about giving him the Death Star? That bad boy is mine but I'll LET him play with this one.

Yeah, definitely 3,796 pieces, 7 missing. Yeah. ***Note, posted for comedic value only - Not actual DS***

Alpinemaps performs: "I've Smooshed Everywhere" I was totin' my pack along the dusty Carlsbad road, When along came a semi with a high an' Lego logo-covered load. "If you're goin' to Legoland, Mack, with me you can ride." And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside. He asked me if I'd seen a road with so much dust and sand. And I said, "Listen, I've smooshed every road in this here land!" [Chorus:] I've smooshed everywhere, man. I've smooshed everywhere, man. CMFs are running bare, man. I've breathed that Mixel air, man. Of flipping I've had my share, man. I've smooshed everywhere. I've smooshed at: TRU Reno, Discovery Chicago, Wal-mart Fargo, Target Minnesota, Walgreens Buffalo, TRU ca Toronto, Mom & Pop at Winslow, CVS Sarasota, Jewel/Osco Wichita, dumpster in Tulsa (Quizno's), Craig's List Oklahoma, Series 1 in Tampa, 2 in Panama, 3 in Mattawa, 4 La Paloma, 5 Bangor, Emazers house in Baltimore, 7 in Salvador, Series 8 Amarillo, 9 in Tocapillo,, I'm a killer. [Chorus] I've been to: Lego store in Boston, Simpsons Figs in Charleston, skipped Louisiana, Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana, Monterey, Faraday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa, Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa, Tennessee to Tennesse Chicopee, Spirit Lake, Grand Lake, Devils Lake, Crater Lake, for Pete's sake. [Chorus] I've been to: Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika, Schefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica, Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport, Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond du Lac, Davenport, Idaho, Jellico, Argentina, Diamantina, Pasadena, Catalina, see what I mean-a. [Chorus] I've been to: Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Gravelbourg, Colorado, Ellensburg, Rexburg, Vicksburg, Eldorado, Larimore, Atmore, Haverstraw, Chatanika, Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika, Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City, what a pity. [Chorus] (I've smooshed everywhere) OK joke runs out of steam, too many damn places in that song.

What are the odds that Slave I UCS retires before DS?

This month I will surpass 600 sets in all. Here are some photos...

Source: The Brick Fan

With all these sales on, don't forget to ensure you keep your rewards cards handy. I have been cashing in rewards points for Frequent Flyers, Fly Buys and MyerOne for more gift cards to use later. Stack those on top of the 20% off sales and you start picking up R2-D2 and Arkham sets for $150.

Maersk EEE ship.

If he's shooting for 30% margins, that's a somewhat realistic goal. However, I question the wisdom in laying out one's strategy so clearly on this website. I know that there are others that do so, but all such posts are based on the assumption that the secondary market is deep enough to absorb all of the sets that will be stockpiled by those who copy that strategy while leaving enough room for the original poster to continue executing on the strategy. Personally, I wouldn't be (and am not) so upfront about what I'm doing because, although it is certainly neighborly and considerate, it does little but foster additional competition, which ultimately undermines the viability of the strategy.

Sitting on a pile of 79110 Silvermines. Quite lame thing so far. Wonder if merchandising them as "Geronimo" instead of "Lone Ranger" would be advisable ...

As a doctor you probably have some income to help you out. Lol.

My Sopwith and Town Hall arrived yesterday very well packed, in fact probably too well packed! Came with a mountain of air packets. Had a hell of a time finding somewhere to store it all haha. Boxes do seem to be pretty old, but the wear isn't too bad. The seals codes aren't visible due to being worn out.

High school teacher, married w/2 pre-teen boys, computer science & math background... AND a relatively-new AFOL and investor!

I wondered if anyone was going to notice that.

Space Miner

Train collectors don't need every single train to come with motorization. it is easy to just pop the motor parts onto whichever engine(s) from your collection you want to run. If every engine came with a motor, battery pack, IR receiver, and remote it would unnecessarily raise the prices. The key thing is that there be a way to "officially" and easily motorize it.

Prices for this set seem to be higher now than last year, there do not seem to be the large discounts around. Could be a sign of EOL coming soon.

I don't think that they will be officially retired before Christmas, but I do think that the GE will be OOS everywhere and the only place to buy it will be from sellers on eBay, Amazon, Bricklink, etc..

What also made Walmart pretty decent last year was the fact that 30% off was on top of any sale price. If a $20 set was on sale for $16, you got the 30% off the $16. It made for some pretty decent deals for me.

Apparently they will be adding a scene to Sparks of Rebellion when it premieres on ABC on October 26th featuring the Inquisitor and the James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader. I am really liking what they are doing with this series so far. http://www.cnet.com/news/james-earl-jones-to-voice-darth-vader-in-star-wars-rebels/

When I was there today, the store was very quiet. One or two regular people. They may have looked at me oddly, but if they did, I didn't notice. I did notice one of the employees look over at me with a "oh, geez, it's one of those" grins on her face. But, at the end of the day, it's on a display, I'm being polite and not disruptive, I'm not keeping people from getting to the items (nor telling them they can't have one that I've already moved), and we were all good.

You probably will be shocked, but if you look at the list of "middle men", I bet 70% of them will be from this forum

BA don't you know those vicious thieving greedy 3rd party middleman resellers that stock up skids of sets to flip short term and long term? Who are they I did not know such people existed on this site? ROFL

That's some hot bacon. :whistle:

Posted a year and a half ago Invest: When Will the LEGO Death Star Be Retired?:

Sure it is. Lego probably considers profits to some degree, but what matters most to them is when it is time for a set to go. That question is answered by The Schedule, which sits next to The Banhammer in an undisclosed location somewhere in the general vicinity of Area 51.

Take it to lego store to exchange for undamaged set! Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

2013 was great too! We had FB, which I stocked up on, and WCS, which I thought was a waste at $20, since it just came with an ugly helicopter and some "Deadpool" guy I'd never heard of... Honestly, Deadpool? What was his mother thinking?

NEW / SEALED Death Star II (10143) - $450 Bought it from a company intranet page. Couldn't believe my eyes! How often do you see a set that's almost 10 years old still sealed like that. Woman's husband got it years ago as a gift...always meant to built it and set it up on display. They moved a few times and he never built it. Wife found it in their basement recently and said "he'll never build it" and decided to sell it. They must not like to sell things on eBay/CL so they "low-balled" it on her company site. My mother actually saw the ad and forward it on. Picked it up yesterday...seals are perfectly in tact. This set is a monster and I'm a happy camper!!!

Sold a Police ATV polybag for $5. The time it took me to research market price, take photos, list, print label, find envelop, etc is worth much more than the set. Googled the recipient's address, saw the house and decided to include a Worriz fire bike as a small surprise for the kid.

Lego trains 101: Trains are good! $$$$$

Forgot to add, this is the massive internal structure. Really impressive part of the piece in my opinion.

Ladies and Gentlemen... it is done! Final verdict coming soon.

I looked at this image and first thing I thought it was a guillotine for the Empire. Haha.

If you like it, then you should put a ring on it!

In a galaxy far far away Lord Vader gave comment to start building the Death Star II.

Close. I had to have hxckidd flex his muscles. He then proceeded to state: "i pick things up, I put them down." That's when they handed everything over.

2013 Holiday Sales - Some not all LEGO Store and S@H - November 23rd only for VIP Members - Pre-Black Friday Sale: 3x VIP points with each purchase 2nd Winter Village Truck Promo Star Wars Clone Lieutenant w/ $50 Star Wars purchase Black Friday - The deals are valid from November 29th to December 2nd, 2013 or while supplies last. FREE Limited Edition Holiday Set with purchase of $99 or more FREE $10 Gift Card with purchase of $149 or more (online only) FREE Shipping on all orders (no minimum) Receive a Free THE LEGO

This coffin will be a nice addition to my Haunted House.

This is an excellent thread. Way too many people concentrate on buying and don't ever try out selling before they are just too deep. I am one of these people and I have long since learned my lesson (I think). For the first year and a half all I did was buy. I bought up over 1000 sets during this time. I would say that I was addicted (still am). The point came where because of money and space it was time to offload some of my sets. In order to buy more I would need to start selling first. So in January of this year I started selling. This was an eye opener. I know everyone says that it takes time to list, sell, package, ship, etc but you really don't understand until you do it yourself. It is very time consuming. You also have to expect there will be problems. Lost packages, buyer returns, etc. This all eats in to your profits and time. I know a lot of people say large sets are the way to go and I agree to a point. Just know that those sharks on eBay/Amazon looking for sets to scam people on aren't looking for small inexpensive sets. I've got burned a few times already and it is always on large sets. A mint condition Imperial Shuttle returned banged up and opened, a Robie House returned destroyed after FedEx left the package in the rain, a AS returned because the buyer "bought it for someone who didn't like LEGO", a Robie House and AS on the way back now for a mystery reason, 0 feedback buyers everywhere, etc. Some of these can be avoided with experience and others are just part of the selling process you have to deal with. And here comes the big one everyone is warned about over and over but never really understands until they sell.... FEES. The fees are much more of an impact on your bottom line than you may think. Make sure you find a good fee calculator online and just play with it a little and enter some values in for sets you have. See what you must sell at to get a certain return on your investment. This is easy and takes just a couple minutes but it will be an eye opener for some who haven't even thought about the selling side of this yet. Make sure you add in estimated shipping costs and add a little for supplies. I know most people don't think about tape, boxes, paper, ink, etc but it adds up very quickly when you start selling at a higher volume. As an example I have spent $40 this year just on packing tape itself. I made the mistake as I am sure a lot of others do of thinking if rough times come or I need the money to reinvest I will just sell a bunch of sets and be fine. The truth is it takes a lot of time for things to sell. Like others have posted its not like selling stock. It will take months before you can sell a large inventory of sets. If you need your money fast you will be basically giving your sets away to sell them fast. Many times I have been the lowest price and still had to wait weeks for the item to sell. To sum this all up I am still learning but I feel much more confident that I have gone through the selling process and know what is involved. It will actually change your investing and buying decisions. It has drastically changed mine and now I am making more money and spending less time because of it. Since I started selling in January I have sold almost 600 sets totaling just over $37,000. This has allowed me to grow my investment to over 2100 sets and make much better investment decisions. If anyone wants the exact numbers on profits, fees, etc on those 600 sales you can PM me. Buying is only half of the investment process. Make sure you try the other half before you get in too deep.

It's nice but I'm very much impressed by the winter village and the wooden village at 0'20" About that train as I said before in other threads it will do extremely well in Europe and particularly in France because it's certainly the most iconic train in my country. Too bad it's not official.

I'm 40, and I run a web design, development and usability consultancy. I'm father of a four year old boy who already has about a thousand times more LEGO than I did growing up, and my wife loves LEGO too - we built the Grand Emporium recently, and I was only allowed to be the lowly parts-sorting monkey!