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Found 21301 - Birds at TRU for MSRP so I picked it up. But the find of the day for me was a 60052 - Cargo Train sitting on a shelf at Target. No price tag, no clearance tag, so I scanned it and it came up $59.98. Needless to say, I bought it!

$20,000.00!!! NICE!

Friends don't give friends Chima sets

In the words of the famous Tyler Durden "The first rule of requesting damaged box discounts is: you don't talk about requesting damaged box discounts." "The second rule of requesting damaged box discounts is: you don't talk about requesting damaged box discounts."

Just a FYI for everyone else... 10%, 20%, etc... refunds for just popped seals is why stores will eventually stop giving partial refunds for crushed boxes.

@brickcrazyhouse Love it! This is what the GH should have been.

LEGO should have given LotR the Simpsons treatment. CMF and exclusive once a year.

Resellers buying from resellers is the best outcome once the supply is fixed. Supply remains unchanged, demand remains unchanged, and the minimum price to break even has increased.

I give it as gifts. Maybe that's why we don't get invited back the next year.

So, you've stumbled across brickpicker.com and are overwhelmed by the number of different threads, blogs and sets. First, welcome to this community. Lots of users will happily welcome you, others, maybe no so much. Especially if you populate different threads with a variation on 'what should I buy' or 'is this a good set to invest in'? I'd argue both of these questions (other than gifs and sarcastic rejoinders) form the basis of every single thread, so instead of asking about a particular set, check out the thread dedicated to that set and start at the beginning. I can almost guarantee that some posters like it (some will even give logical reasons why) as an investment and some posters don't (also, sometimes logical). It is your job to weigh these pros and cons and decide where your opinion rests. You, of course, are free to post questions like the two mentioned above, but the answer will probably just be rehash of things already mentioned in the thread earlier. That, and forum members may be slightly less inclined to be helpful if they feel you posted it because you are too lazy to go back and read the whole thread. They might even be sarcastic/mean about it. A tidbit of Advice If you've read the thread and still want advice, at least try to be specific. Perhaps state the price and quantity you are considering and your ideal hold time. I bet a post that asks a question in this manner will be much better received. I know I'd probably answer this question with a little more insight and help than I would otherwise offer. Now, that is for a single set which has a dedicated thread. What if you are a new investor/collector/browser or Lego aficionado and you want to ask about several sets at once? I offer you this, a shopping list of what you should be buying today (according to me). I am looking for these same sets for one reason: they are either sold out or retired from either the Europe or North America shop at home and I believe they aren't coming back. I also believe that they have some potential, and carry a very low risk because they are becoming harder to find at MSRP or on sale anywhere. That isn't to say they can't be found – some might be found quite online still, depending on your market. Others might be in store only, so this shopping list is a handy thing to check when out with the family browsing retailers and trying to kill time. Veegs' Awesome Quick Guide of the Best Hopefully Soon to be Officially Retired or Already Retired in Some Markets Lego Shopping List. (Items may come back into stock. Not an official guarantee. Veegs is not responsible for your investment choices. Success rate may vary wildly.) Architecture: A nice range for all budgets! This line is one of my favorites, and I think the new Cityscapes, while neat, aren't as desirable as the standalone sets, which will hopefully push demand for older sets. Availability in Canada isn't great, but I think Barnes and Noble in the US still have some of these (your area may vary). No clue about Europe or other markets, but I'd keep my eyes peeled for any of these. Imperial Hotel 21017 Villa Savoye 21014 United Nations Headquarters 21018 Bradenburg Gate 21011 Leaning Tower of Pisa 21015 Seattle Space Needle 21003 At this point, I'm a buyer of any/all of these at MSRP CITY: Quite a few City sets qualify for my list, but these are two I particularly like. The Ice Breaker was a Toys R Us exclusive (at least in Canada) and boats are, in short, awesome. The Snowplow is pretty cool, and there is no remake (yet) on the horizon. Could this be the next Logging Truck? (I bought a lot of them...still not enough) Unique City sets often do well, and despite the constant police/fire sets, the themes overall CAGR% is rock solid, so there is money to be made on this theme with the right sets. I'd include Coast Guard Patrol 60014, too, if you can still find it. Arctic Ice Breaker 60062 Snowplow Truck 60083 Disney Princess: I am a huge Princess fan. I think this theme is on the cusp of doing some great things for investors, and have a separate blog in progress. For now, though, I think this is the best pick of the four that meet the sold out/retired criteria. Only Rapunzel set so far (minus a 2014 polybag) and a massive fan base (including my daughter). Disney toy collectors are out there (my daughter watches so many Disney un-boxing videos and such...I experience it first hand) and I doubt we're getting another Rapunzel set anytime soon or a remake – rumors have Belle coming this summer. I love this set. Rapunzel's Creativity Tower 41054 Friends: Quite a few others on the sold out/retired list but I gravitate towards these two. The Mall is a good anchor set for any town, and the last large Friends set to retire (Riding Camp) did well. I think this will do just fine in 12-18 months. I opted for the Beach House over a couple other mid-sized sets because Heartlake seems to have a boatload of stores but not that many houses. The new Emma's House and Livi's Mansion (although the mansion seems smaller than Emma's house?) bring some balance, but I think this set is one folks will pay double MSRP for to add to their collection. Heartlake Shopping Mall 41058 Stephanie's Beach House 41037 Ideas: Gorgeous set, and the growth in the European market has me believing in this set more every day. From the dedicated thread for this set I know folks are still able to find this in North America and use coupons or other magic to get it on sale. Your skill level and experience may dictate that, but I still think it is a great set at MSRP. Birds 21301 Pirates: Short run for a theme, and this is the flagship of the line. Still floating around at MSRP in Canada, but plenty got in on sale recently. I suspect if it is available around you, you can probably wait and get it on sale. Unlike others on this list, I'd prefer this at least 20% off before going nuts. The Brick Bounty 70413 Marvel: I was going to include Guardians of the Galaxy but I've already discussed those sets here: Ant-Man is growing like Wolverine's Chopper Showdown did and should be sought out in your region and purchased. Easy to store and probably easy to ship, great set for a brand new investor to track down and buy. Check recent sold listings on eBay to see what I'm talking about! Ant-Man Final Battle 76039 Star Wars: These will be the hardest to find, even at full retail price. In case you didn't know, a new Star Wars movie came out in December 2015!!! There are a few others I'd throw on this list, too, but I think these four are the best of the recently sold out/retired lot. At least in the North American market. Imperial Star Destroyer 75055 AT-AT 75054 MTT 75058 Mos Eisley Cantina 75052 The Hobbit: Stragglers are still out there from the third wave. It had the shortest run that I can remember from any/all of the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit waves and scarcity drives demand. Impressive sold listings for Lonely Mountain and Mirkwood Elves so I'd snap up remaining stock of this final wave. Unlikely to ever be made again and a huge fan base, coupled with the fact that there are no decent Medieval sets on the horizon (I'm not counting Nexo Knights, people!) There are many other sets that fit my criteria (sold out or retired in at least one market) but I think these are your best bets, even at MSRP. That being said, I happily nabbed plenty of sets not on this list but at a discount. Obviously, if the set is sold out/retired and you can get it for clearance prices, you probably don't need me to tell you to consider it (unless it is Ninjago, The Lego Movie or Chima, then consider longer...still might not be a great buy in) and probably nab it. Remember items marked clearance probably won't be in that store when you come back, so don't hesitate too long. Do a quick check of Brickpicker values or a scan of recent sold items on eBay, and if you see it trading significantly above the clearance price I'd probably advise pulling out the plastic and buying. Also, as per my exclusives 2016 article, no need for a new investor to start throwing money at exclusives! I doubt we're getting a surprise winter/spring retirement of a bunch of huge sets (sarcasm – I expect zero, maybe one Star Wars set around May the 4th) so put your money into sets that are already primed for post-EOL growth. Probably the safest place to put cash, and you can get your feet wet selling some of the sets on this list tomorrow (Ant Man, for example) or in a few months. I daresay all of the sets on my list will be able to be sold for a decent profit in 9-10 months. Low risk, short hold time (if needed, most will benefit from longer holds before plateauing but nothing wrong with cashing out sometimes) and good to great upside. Winner, winner, buy BigBlueDogBricks a chicken dinner. All photos courtesy of brickpicker.com, opted for one per theme discussed otherwise I felt it would be a little too picture-happy. Happy Hunting, Veegs View full blog article

Yeah. It's best to check out the VW camper thread for elaborate views on this phenomenon.

If I spend X amount of hard earned money on any item, I expect said item to be deliver in a new and gift quality condition .

Honestly, architecture is one series I never buy through lego.com. You are basically getting 5.00 off on this set. Amazon.com will usually dip lower than that over the year, and you can also score them much cheaper at book stores, if you know how to play the right game with coupons and discounts.. Although, I do think this set is awesome, and one of the best of the architecture series. You should definitely have at least one of these MIB in your portfolio of sets, if you dont' have one.

Love the Grand Emporium. It makes me want to go shopping.

Thanks for the heads up! Just snagged 3 death stars, 1 ewok village, and 1 sandcrawler. I had a 15% off discount from Toys R Us due to a previously damaged order. Placed the order over the phone so they confirmed stock. Was waiting until everything I wanted was in stock before I used this discount. This at least brought the death stars closer to $500 which was where they were at before Toys R Us increased them to $599. These deals are killing my wallet however. Just received my 50 antman sets from Walmart a couple days ago so it was a $4000+ week! OUCH!!!

You picked up a website...? [emoji15]

Getting deeper...Perfect time to build some LEGO sets and buy some raffle tickets for some rare and hard to find sets. Only 8 days left...

Bike shop back in stock: http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=32886246&csm=848876601&csc=1401869&csa=857878841&csu=1401873

THIS! The key is "once the supply is fixed". People keep bemoaning how many Tumblers or whatever set end up in Reseller's hands. However, once the set has ceased production it either A) doesn't matter if scalpers own them all, or B ) Might even be better because there's an increased perception of rarity for the folks that wanted to get it, but procrastinated till it was too late. Further, not everyone believes that Lego will ramp up production just because resellers are gobbling up too many sets. Even if you are prone to believe that, do you think that's happening with a significant enough amount to truly distort the supply demand curve after retirement? Some do, but i don't, especially for a set like the Tumbler or Slave I. Demand and Supply do change after retirement, and that's where the patient brickpicker wins. After retirement, the procrastinators jump back in and every single day some new AFOL emerges from their dark ages and says, "WOW, they made that set!?!?!?" With Lego not making any more, the market shifts in the happy direction. Agreed, but now is the time to slowly build your stash at discount. Gift cards, VIP points, free gifts with purchase, damaged box discounts, etc. I've already got 5 at an average of 175 each, and i'll keep buying them in that range, rather than being forced to gobble my entire target stash at full retail a year from now.

Never get high on your own supply.

Put together some more classics: 918 and 6872

This is the advice I most agree with (other than the usual star wars stuff). People say the same things every time with large star wars sets like the red five, "too many resellers!" but when the time comes, prices go up. The 42009 is an astoundingly intricate and functional model. I don't know how I feel about buying many at retail (still ok), but it was certainly excellent with the sales. This is likely the last chance to get this set at near-retail price if you want any at all. 21301 Birds is another great pick. One year lifespan and has casual appeal across the board (meaning beyond just lego lovers). Casual appeal should not be underestimated. Everyone I know thinks this set looks great. Don't trick yourself - is the set sweet? Would you buy it yourself? For both the birds and the crane, the answer is yes - I own the models myself, and have even given birds as a gift.

My wife has strict orders to buy any and all LEGO at 50% off, no questions asked. I'll worry about it later if it's a bust, but there's always a kids birthday or Toys for Tots.

I hope getting a new young Leia and Bail Organa as part of a Rebels Blockade Runner is a possibility.

Built the UN HQ today and it looks great. Think I might build Brandenburg gate tomorrow...

I am impressed.... this is just great review you never find in 2010 but why its only 2 likes, including mine, yes, i am talking to you, new member!!!

Got tumbler from target, upc was cut out!?!?!?

It's for the better. The modulars are really nice builds. One of my childhood friends has done around 30 MOCs to compliment the LEGO official models. Once you understand some of the basics of the build layouts and learn a few advanced building techniques, there's really no limit to what you can create.

This one?

It helps those already holding because their price is still fixed while the new seller's price has gone up. It they are buying after retirement they are likely paying over MSRP while you likely paid less than or equal to MSRP, so the delta in your price and their price is basically your competitive edge. Note that this doesn't affect the supply or demand side, but it does affect the cost to acquire and ultimately the price at which the new seller will sell. Edit Forgot another thing it does - It culls the cheapest inventory and should ultimately drive the price up.

I have plenty of boxes. LOL

Came today, built today. Coin bank

Thanks for the reply and advice, will do. Thanks for the reply and advice buddy.

Don't replace the yellow bits. Go to the drug store and get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for $2.50 and find yourself a glass bowl or casserole dish that your significant other won't kill you for putting hydrogen peroxide in. Throw the peroxide in the bowl, add said Lego parts and put out in direct sunlight for as long as it takes to make them white again. You can also use a piece of tin foil under the bowl to reflect back more sun. Technically, to get the best effect, you should also add a quarter teaspoon full of an Oxyclean type laundry powder. (I can't remember what the exact ingredient in Oxyclean is but it is the "oxy" part) The hydrogen peroxide on its own will do it though - just over a much longer period of time. I had a very yellowed set 4999 - Vestas Wind Turbine - and after about 8 hours in the summer sun even the yellowest of parts were bright white again. It saved me for sure.

will try to make an adjustment in the future.... really! pp

I am very hopeful of this set. Everyone I know who sees this loves them - they even make a great gift for non-lego lovers (for example, my 50+ mom loves birds, so I gave one as a gift). That to me shows there is a ton of non-standard demand for this; that is, folks who don't love lego, but in general love birds or models. Casual demand should not be underestimated. Too bad I didn't pick them up when they were cheaper, but they are still available at retail on amazon. They are sold out in europe and are already above retail prices - also another strong sign.

I just finished bricklinking this, but substituted some inner colors, used some 'used' parts (some are bad enough I'd like to replace later), and some from my collection. Total cost around $300 usd. Maybe a bit more - I didn't optimize my orders well enough. I only used 6 of the white convex slopes, which are expensive (four are used for the display stand, which can be any color). Saved ~$15 there. I also did not buy the plaque sticker. Some of the white technic liftarms and slopes are expensive in bulk too, notably the 4x4 bent ones and the 1x16 beams. I actually bought some extra 4x4 liftarms as I figured they're one of the linchpin parts of this set, as you need 32 of them. Also bought some extra of the Slope 75 2 x 2 x 3. Note to bricklinkers on this item: there are solid studs and hollow studs for this part. It may be easier to find the solid stud ones, as the hollow studs are on the inventory of the shuttle. Overall I'm happy, it's a gorgeous and huge model. I can never sell it due to the substitutions though. Edit: I can post a few photos later, as some of the used parts from my collection are bit yellow and I'd like to replace them. Overall $600 ish for a new set is certainly a premium, but if you have high standards and want your model pristine, I could easily see that being a better option. All of the sellers with high quantity linchpin parts for this set charge a premium, as they're aware enough to know. I spent quite a bit of time on bricklink finding the lowest number of shops in the cheapest way possible, but it was a lot of fun as I enjoy that sort of database work.

I am nominating myself for the fruitcake on eBay award. Last weekend, I accidentally listed a Poe's X-Wing w/ no minifigures for $7.99 w/ free shipping...oops. Needless to say, the listing sold within 1/2 hour of posting, so I never had the opportunity to catch my mistake. I wound up honoring the sale and shipped the set at a significant loss. It actually COST me money since the shipping exceeded my $7.99 sale price! Hopefully the seller actually leaves me positive feedback... Git your X-Wings here! Only $7.99 shipped!

I"m not sure I understand the ultimate end goal with this article. Are you wanting to get out of investing/collecting but cant because you feel you are addicted like a heroin addict? I definitely get getting caught up in purchasing too many themes, and then getting caught up in having more than is rational. I'm just a small time investor/collector, but when I look at it all, i'm sitting on over a few hundred mint sets, then have a lot of opened sets spread out over many themes. I fluctuate with this quite a bit. I started with the Architecture line, and it's steamrolled out from there. Last year, I let my son open two themes that I sort of think I should have let as strictly investments and that is JW and Scooby Doo. They now look like fads because he barely plays with them. He does play with LOTR and Star Wars a lot and he likes mixels. So, i've decided this year to only stick with SW, and i'll let him get one complete set of mixels in a theme, but quit with the "gotta have them all" concept. I'm pretty much bowing out of minifigure line too this year Even though my son occasionally wants things like Minecrap, a city set, and wants to get a lot of minifigures, and especially those poorly designed ones from kinetix like mario, sponge bob etc I don't give in anymore to this, because there's just too much out there that it's not feasible to "have them all" unless you want to buy a warehouse for a lego room. There are way too many themes to get caught up into. Sometimes you may need to pull back and rethink about all that you have and there is a point where it goes from collecting to just hoarding for the sake of. Maybe you should just refocus on going back to just getting your modular fix, and staying with that. And selling off the other stuff. Cut your losses even if you spent a little extra on a town hall. Because, now you spent way more than that acquiring more sets that you probably aren't 100% interested in. Instead of 200, you spent 2000.... We all do it! But, if it's starting to cause you financial hardship then this stuff is not worth going deep into a hole over. So, start to sell a lot of it off, recoup your costs (it's lego, unless you were buying the wrong sets, you should be able to do that).. and just refocus on a single theme. Modulars are cool in that there's only one a year. You can get by spending about 150 to 200 a year on lego that way, and that's not really that much when you think about it. I know many that blow that much in alcohol in a week. I think scaling down is a decent move if you are just looking to refocus, but keep engaged with the hobby. And really that's all you should look at lego as - a HOBBY! Not a drug. But just as a way to relax and have some fun. One of the reasons I was attracted to the architecture line was it was a small hobby (at first). It was basically 3 sets a year, so it wasn't anything more than an occasional buy. That was until my son started liking legos, then things went a little crazy, because I started buying him a lot of stuff, and then got into the investment side of things too, and then spiraled out into star wars, LOTR, modulars, UCS and other themes. . I do have an exit plan though.... and I think everyone should.

This is still well in stock in Ireland. This thread has been hopping non-stop since Christmas, and the most popular one with new members popping up with affirmations that this set is the one in which to take the plunge, in this post-viral Brave New Goldrush. I, myself, effused with certainty here about it's enduring appeal in the distant future, primarily due to it being such a eye-catching replication of the iconic design. Now, I never was starry-eyed in new-investor enthusiasm that it would start making those eyes water by commanding blockbusting prices lickedy split, rather, maybe 2xMRSP in a couple of years. Reading here, it's appreciated quite well in the USA already. I understand the immediate rise in online prices can be attributed somewhat to a degree to investor second-guessing themselves and regret, snapping up some before it becomes prohibitive for a punt. Generally, the real indication of performance can only be gauged after a few months. I wonder where it will cap in the medium term due to the deluge of these that were hoovered up by the stampeding new investors? 7000 new members on this site alone in 3 weeks! I keep watching the new member counter on the main page - a constant roll of new members within minutes of the previous - as an indication of how many people might be getting into the game on a bigger scale, since the good news was e-preached from on high. I see a good few new speculators on the national websites. One hopeful punter even listing a tumbler for 250 euro despite it being available here from Smyths for 199! It feels like every fresh have-a-go-hero (myself included) is diving in feetfirst with the hype about this one. While you won't lose on buy-in with this set, and will certainly see an appreciaple return long term, i doubt it will breach 600 euros soon. I'd say even 500 might be the limit after 3-4 years. Of course, I could well be wrong and we's all be rich, I tells ya! Rich!!!!

Series 1 and 2 Microfighters $199.99 + shipping

You chose.....poorly. I'm sure you would be able to sell $350 each with damaged boxes in another month, so send back a grand?

Welcome, fellow Dutchman.

welcome to our community

Welcome...

Just a point re: The obviousness of The Lego Movie being "a kids' movie," and not for adults... There are very, very few modern wide-release "kids' movies," esp. with a $60,000,000 budget. Restore a brand from yesteryear in the hopes of capturing identification from post-13 viewers ('15 ex: Alvin & Chipmunks [win,] Pan [lose] ) or elongate a successful 21-min format brand ('15 ex: Spongebob [win]) are the two en vogue pitches... 99% of "kids-only" long-format media is direct to shelf. Movies like The Lego Movie may seem like a sure thing in retrospect, but it wasn't. Pan lost $80MM this year with huge brand recognition, Hugh Jackman, and a recognizable young star. Even if you kill it with script & story, you have to get people to show up... to secure distribution channels they had to show a specific, proven plan for how they were going to get 13-24 yr olds interested, and 24-39 to bring the family. They cast Morgan Freeman, Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, and Will Ferrell, then give them hundreds of witty double entendres and callbacks like every other animated feature to get people like me to bring the family... My 4 and 8 year old remember the song... I remember about 100 Star Wars callbacks. Parents were not just considered, they were counted on. No parents, no Lego Movie.

Update to this crazy story. Of course the buyer never returned the item and never sent any documentation verifying they received their package with rat feces inside. I called eBay customer support last night, had them review the case & messages back and forth with the buyer. eBay closed the case in my favor. They also did NOT refund the buyer since they did not return the package. Some of these buyers and the stories they come up with are ridiculous!

Winter Post Office by Aliencat!

So maybe I mentioned this somewhere else, but when my daughter received some LEGO for her 4th birthday, I started poking around, I found LOTR sets, and although I had missed almost all the really good ones (I did manage to pick up a TLM and TOO) this more than anything else is what I owe my return to LEGO to. The first real book my father read to me as a kid was The Hobbit, and I've pretty much been a lifer. It's actually sad to me to see the last two iconic sets drop off, although, at least I got one of each.

Cafe