Leaderboard

My sales are fewer but for bigger dollar amounts the past couple of days. I'll take shipping less and making more. Sunday at about 2 a.m. my time I'll get emails from about three buyers freaking out and wanting to know if I'll have what they just bought out in the mail in the next half hour. When I don't answer immediately (because I'm like, you know, asleep...) I'll get five emails each from the same people to wake up to on Sunday morning, just to tell them no, I can't ship on a Sunday. Then on Monday and Tuesday I'll have half a dozen desperate people who just realized that Christmas is on Dec. 25 this year begging for overnight delivery. I'll put on my fake serious-sad face that I learned from TV anchormen and tell them sorry, we don't offer overnight shipping. On Dec. 24 at 6pm I'll hear from three people who purchased books to go by media mail in the past 5 days and want to know why the hell they aren't there and do I realize I've RUINED CHRISTMAS?! (I do it every year... I should change my handle to justascrooge). And then, a blissful silence will fall on Dec. 25 precisely at midnight. I consider it a Christmas Miracle. A series of small orders will occur on Dec. 25 and 26 from remarkably sane people and sales will increase nicely for the remainder of the month as people spend their Christmas gift money or realize that their lame relatives, once again, failed to get them what they wanted so they have to buy it themselves. 'Tis the Season.

This seems to happen a lot. Open it man, enjoy it. Especially if you have more than one. I felt the same way in the past but then I woke up and realized that money isn't everything.

Best way to eliminate trolls. Just don't reply to there comments or argue with them back and forth.

If you're planning out your entire investment strategy based on what one guy posts in these forums, you're going to fail. Emazers has more experience than most in this game, and he was giving his educated opinion. I'm willing to bet not a single person on this forum thought that this set would be gone right now. Lego is always changing the rules of the game and sometimes you're going to be caught off guard. Emazers has always said to buy early and often if you want a set in order to protect yourself in case Lego pulls the rug out from everyone. Read the advice on this board, do your own research, and make up your own mind instead of blaming others.

Emotionally, I have that problem with Super Heroes sets. I've never been into the comics they're based on, so if I just buy based on my own interests I'd never touch 'em. But you've got to consider past performance. Folks love Batman. I mean, even Wyldstyle fell for him.

What are you guys looking for? I'm genuinely asking. While most of the trolls are annoying to me, they do keep things going, in my opinion. If every topic stayed exactly on topic at all times, every topic would be exactly the same. Set releases, set goes on sale at various times, set is close to EOL, set is gone. The chatter would all be the same just changing set name and number. This is probably better for its own topic, but since it's being brought up here I just thought I'd ask here.

This thread needs bleach like nobody's business! I've already lost days of my life reading (or scanning past) meaningless drivel in these forums. It seems to be getting worse by the week. At this rate one of two things is going to happen sooner than later - these forums become yet another low-rent hangout for trolls, surpassed by a "better" site that doesn't tolerate as many childish displays of egoism and misunderstanding, or, the authorities here finally decide not to tolerate as many childish displays of egoism and misunderstanding, and implement "features" that make it harder on all of us to accomplish that. Do your part and stop with the digital litter. Please. Sincerely. Thank you.

Some people make a living selling this "crap" all year long - The world is by no means ending on 12/25.

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear. -Buddy the Elf

The best sources for replacement Lego strings I've found have always been in commercial fabric & weaver supply shops or the "loom store" (but I think they are just a one-off local company). They carry "cotton thread" spools in numerous gauges & colours that can be a nearly perfect match. You can replace with better colours to match your build such as realistic brown ropes, tan-green anchor lines etc. (if you're not a purist of course) If you have a sample of the thread you are trying to replicate they can probably order the exact gage/colour you need. You might try searching for "cotton thread suppliers" or perhaps "nylon thread suppliers" with more location specific luck.

Amazon's cheapest is $230. This thing is solid. If I find some at msrp believe I'm buying them

To be fair, if he had actually taken the advice in that same post to buy it whenever he could and not leave it too late, he wouldn't be without one now. Some people always need someone else to blame for their own mistakes.

The "prophet" who has 90% of BP drinking the Kool-Aid. Anytime anyone says different or has a different opinion than his, the Kool-Aid Mafia accuses that person of being a hater and jealous.

So back on topic. I've noticed a uptick in orders this week for lower end sets < $50. I'm moving a lot of clearance finds for nice profits, except Chima. Gonna build a fort I guess. Did manage to unload all the SGE I had for $7 profit each. Looking like I will be stuck with the 4 Frozen Friends Collections I have, or gifts for my daughter's classmates... I wasn't in the game last year, so I can't compare, but I am happy with this year. I'm not going to go buy a Ferrari, but will have some profit to reinvest in better sets.

It doesn't matter. It can be the greatest set anyone has ever seen, but if stores have it and every reseller on ebay and Amazon has it in quantity, the price won't go anywhere.

My sales stopped when two things happened - I raised my prices from $122 to $125, AND I added individual and small set Mixels to my store. My individual sales have been fantastic, but my full sets stopped selling. I'm fine with that. I'm holding steady at least at $125. I'll let people undercut me for now, and then slowly increase once again when I start getting sales again.

A couple people have been wondering why you should be investing in this set now, at RRP, considering it's everywhere again. Because that's when you invest. Buy 'em up now. While stock is plentiful, and they are easy to get. And then sit and hold. These will sell out again. They will either be TOOS, or they will be gone forever. If they just go TOOS, price will shoot up a bit. If they're gone for good (like everyone was assuming for awhile), they will see their old numbers. And, once it is retired, it will go through the roof. I don't know about anyone else, but now is the time that I'm stocking up for the long haul on this set.

Steal the women! Rape the horses!

I think we need to summarize the last 5 or 6 pages. Fallingwater is a great set. So are most Architecture sets. They have no minifigures. Patience is needed. People are not making money flipping the a $100 set for $130. Real resellers flip Elsa's Shiny Shack or whatever it's called.

Kids' room from the 80s by LegoJalex

It's not just Lego I take to the extreme, I am also an avid fan of Christmas lights, and so I thought I'd share my Christmas light display with all of you: Anyone else taking it to the extreme with Christmas decorating? Thanks, Jim

I wonder how many of us simply ran out of money and room to hoard the AA. The SSD, TH and HH will do that to you.

I meant that I never saw it discounted on SAH.

Well, TH was truly out of the blue. With AA, I bought 13 of 'em just before EOL. Hoped for 3 more, but that may have to do. What I took for signs were the limit reduced from 5 to 2, the Tumbler being released (so two exclusives in a non-SW licensed theme; never happened before), and toward the end, the set being discounted at LEGO Shop at Home Europe and then selling out over there. This left Americans with about a week to stock up from LEGO Shop at Home and Amazon, which is six days more time than we had with R2 after it sold out in Europe.

There's nothing wrong with my reading skills, thanks very much. FWIW I never take anyone's EOL predictions on here as gospel, much less make an investment decision based on one. Something you might have been wise to do yourself by the sounds of it, but I guess you had to learn the hard way. Better late than never, as they say. The only advice I've ever taken from emazers is that large exclusives are worth looking into and it's best to buy them before the scramble starts. Pretty sensible advice I would say. Beyond that, I just read various opinions and try to come to my own conclusions based on what suits my own situation best.

If you're ever in Windsor, I'll definitely need you to come over for tea. You just seem so damn pleasant!

many questions are answered by google. too bad i didn't even buy 100 shares during their IPO bidding process

I'm going to call out some fail in my own post here. While I think the amount of small time people jumping in has a small impact, the big timers have really impacted the market this year. Even with Amazon going OOS they help keep the prices down because of the sheer volume they know they have to get moved. People with close to 500 units of multiple sets are willing to sell many sets at smaller margins and hold prices down for weeks. Not a complaint, just means you have to think outside of the box a little bit :-)

I would definitely hold your price. This might take a small dip after Christmas but a new Falcon isn't likely to come out until next fall at the very earliest and there will be plenty of Star Wars hype continuing to build throughout 2015 that should keep prices rising in the short-term.

It is tough to compete with sellers with 1000+ feedbacks

GE, TH, and HH all seemed to have quite a few instances of availability after they sold out from LEGO. SSD, SC, and now AA have dried up much quicker. I wish I had acquired more of this set (you can never have enough, right?) as I currently sit at 4 plus I have 2 loose nearly complete sets. My stock room is bursting though with the plethora of effective retirements this year. I just couldn't buy them all and didn't have the capital available in the past couple years to stock up on all these sets. It has been a fun and exciting year though.

My 2 cents... I see many posts about buying this set (and others) now during a very short window of opportunity. From my investor's perceptive, it's a great set and I'lol eventually own my fair share. Just be aware this set will be available throughout 2015 at many (if not all) online retail web sites. Thus, this set isn't a "must buy" now unless it's for building, a gift, etc... If you are currently flipping now on eBay, Amazon, etc... please be aware of web site buyer holiday return policies and think about having a 10-20% restocking fee listed on your eBay auctions. I just be proactive and protect yourself against some crooked buyers who might return new sets to you next month (or Feb) when these are more available. For myself, I have storage space already allocated just in-case some of my eBay buyers try to return this set for refunds As you are aware, it's a larger box. Plus there are accounting workarounds to use for 2014 sale refunds that are reversed for your income tax reporting. Happy holidays and selling.

I feel you buddy!

WVC=winter village cottage 10229 WVM=winter village market 10235

I have been sticking at the $124-125 mark for some time and continue to sell through pretty well. I have a large inventory of these so am willing to sell as the price continue to slowly move upward. I definitely am not part of the undercutting game.

On the evening of the 20th I set my store on vacation and have a large Apple pie moonshine.

Put one on ebay for the heck of it. Sold within an hour. I do not understand people, paying 2-1/2x+ the msrp.

Save those finger strikes for hitting F5, UAA! For Nighthunter22: SW is Santa's Workshop 10245 I have no idea what WVM or WVC stand for. *UAA = Use An Acronym

I'm thinking the Frozen craze is coming to an end . I've really scaled back on buying , parents and kids are losing interest , and retailers are coming out with plenty of variations Disney store just released a new backpack for crying out load .

Don't even get me started on the "FDA".

I'm so anti pills and doctors and all that crap. I could care less is something is fda approved.... Do people reslly believe what they say is legit? Pills are horrible for u. I'm even weird about taking advil. All these big pharmacy companies do a risk reward estimate on possible risks. If they can make a billion dollars of of a pill regardless if it is safe or it it's coming to market one way or another. So what if they kill a few people.... They will pay out a few million to the families and still be profitable. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Brickpicker mobile app

Cool, one less impatient undercutter when it finally does eol

Remember back in the dark ages when companies could not advertise prescription meds? It would be sooo nice to go back to that. The commercials lately basically tell you exactly what to say to your doctor to insure you get x Rx.

Okay, which one of you is this? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/11297005/In-search-of-Frozen-Lego.html

Nice looking set you have there. Good luck and welcome.

Well, it's been a fun season, and championship week is finally here. Our first ever Brickpicker Fantasy Bowl will feature theplasticmanor vs ElGuapo. Playing for third place will be fatboycarney vs mikesellsbricks. 1st place gets $230, 2nd place $100, and 3rd place $30. Prize money will be sent via a paypal friends payment once week sixteen is finalized. Make sure to post a picture of the set you purchased with your winnings! Congrats to those who have made it this far, good luck in your final game, and thanks for the fun season! I'll run it again next year if we have enough interest.

I would assume that most don't have the knowledge and historical experience to be able to carry an estimate of their tax on their earnings in their head. Even if you know your tax bracket and your marginal tax, I would assume most are taking a "wait until the accountant figures it out in April next year" attitude.