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Welcome to another BigBlueDogBricks post that will surely set the Lego investing world afire: today size matters, as we delve deep into the largest sub-theme sets to see what ol' Veegs thinks will be worth targeting. As always, you (hopefully) know your region best and also read the Daily Deal thread so when these sets can be had with a solid discount you are ready, metaphorically, trunk popped, to throw Lego sets in. So why are these large sets often my bread and butter as an investor? Perhaps a couple factors: Benefits of Large, Non-Exclusive Sets 1) Kids get the smaller sets for lesser occasions and want the biggest one for Christmas. Sometimes that large set is gone by the parents get around to buying it. Pretty simple. Bad for Timmy's parents, good for the secondary market, good for Timmy when he opens his Indominus Rex. 2) I have the boxes – with the right sized box that fits most large sets, I can ship to neighboring provinces for around $12-13 CAD, and even to the coasts for $20 or under. I therefore find it easy most of the time to have the lowest price + shipping for Canada. Having a snug (but not too snug) box that minimizes your empty space will make you more competitive as a seller, and since a lot of themes have a desirable 'large' set, getting a bundle of good boxes can make a big difference. 3) Sales: While exclusives have been much harder to get on sale (no impossible, but definitely harder) some of the sets on my list will likely be purchased by Brickpickers from 25-50% off or more in the next year. I might not nibble early in the year at a paltry 20% off for most of these, but as the year goes on and more information about future waves comes out (helping me decide which are most likely to move to sold out/retired quickest) I might be tempted. For example, 20% off Cinderella's Romantic Castle would probably be enough for me as (at least in Canada) getting Disney Princess sets at more than 20% off has been terribly difficult since the line launched. City sets, however, will begin to interest me at 30% off or more. Anything close to the full MSRP of $149.99 CAD makes me blanch. 2016 Large Sets Shopping List I targeted sets in the $75 CAD and over range, as long as they aren't from the Hard to Find section of the official Lego site. In the $75-100 range there are 37 sets, and in the $100+ range there are 82. Granted, from this list are a whole lot of sold out sets that haven't been marked 'retired' yet, but are for all intents and purposes gone, but there are still quite a few options. I pored over these sets to come up with those that I think should be purchased this year. At this point, as they are available from Shop at Home (and other retailers, or will be as restocking takes place after a busy holiday season) these are not MSRP buys. These are sets that I want to keep an eye on when I'm out running errands with the kids, or when I'm scanning flyers, so that when I see a big enough discount I can nab them or know which stores have them in droves (and might slap a clearance tag on them). I also stayed away from any sets released in the last few months in general unless I think they might have a short production run. 1. Imperial Shuttle Tyderium 75094: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart Probably no surprise here – Original Trilogy, Star Wars is hot and will likely stay pretty hot for some time. Iconic ship (to most?) and ships tend to do a little better than playsets in my experience. This jumps out at me like the AT-AT and Imperial Star Destroyer did. 2. Indominus Rex Breakout 75919: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart Dinosaurs rule, paleontologists drool! Despite that not making much sense, I can assure you that the I-Rex sells, and even before Jurassic world, kids loved and bought Dinos. The previous Dino range was easy to profit from for the savvy investor and I have a hard time believing The Lego Group is going to devote enough production capacity to this set to keep it widely in stock for Christmas 2016 – and even if they do, I can't see buying I-Rex at a discount ever being a long term money losing proposition. 3. Cinderella's Romantic Castle 41055: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart The rumored summer castle set for Belle leads me to believe we might finally get a large Disney Princess retirement. I think it is a worthy gamble. The biggest Friends set to retire (Summer Riding Camp) did well for me (and others) and I want to be in on the ground floor here. Yes, a couple small sets retired last year, and this year brought some mid-sized action (Cindy's carriage and Rapunzel's Creativity Tower) but I'm willing to bet this is one worth having. If all else fails, I'll open several and build my daughter a truly massive princess castle. 4. Scooby Doo Mystery Mansion 75904: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart I tend to believe sales for Scooby weren't up to par. I'm basing that on anecdotal evidence (tons in stock around me) as well as the fact that a few times the Scooby package has been on sale, including before Christmas. With #chaos in mind, I tend to think this is a one and done wave and will be gone this time next year. Of course, if another wave materializes (although nothing from the summer set leaks indicate Scooby is getting more sets) I'd reconsider my opinion, but with a mansion and the mystery machine in wave one, I think wave two would be a harder sell to consumers. I've been eying local stock and am hoping for a 40-50% clearance. 5. City Spaceport 60080: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart What is going on with CITY!!?? Some more sets with very short runs mixed with my memory of The Mine 4204 being available forever. As a mini sub-theme with fewer sets than a traditional City sub-theme, I'm not sold on this having a long availability. Space is popular – I sincerely thank TLG for letting me sell all my old spaceports before releasing this update – and if I can get this with a decent discount I'll bite. I don't believe as strongly as some others on this list that it is going to be gone this time next year, but it just might. 6. Lego Friends Heartlake Grand Hotel 41101: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart Probably not going anywhere anytime soon, but scarcity around Christmas had this selling well. That puts it on my radar. At this point in the product cycle (lean months over the spring summer coming up) before presumably another holiday boost, this might be the best time to get some on sale in any kind of number, and this is one I wouldn't mind having quite a few of. 7. City Deep Sea Operations Base/Exploration Vessel 60096 & 60095: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart These are down on the list, but I still wouldn't pass on these with a good sale. The base seems harder to find in store around me, and scarcity often breeds profitability, so I might give this a slight nod. I'm also a little down on the vessel with two more bloody City sets with boats just hitting shelves (police boat & fire boat). I won't go deep on these unless we're talking clearance prices. 8. Heartlake Airport 41109: Buy from LEGO | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Walmart A Toys R Us exclusive in Canada, this set tickles my fancy. I did well with the old passenger plane and the Cargo terminal, so I'm inclined to think even a pink and purple plane can soar into profit-land. Friends sets tend to stick around sometimes – I'm looking at you Devil Dolphin Cruiser, but with it only being at TRU up here in the north, I might have to get a couple if it goes on sale at some point this year. It is on my radar, but distant. Final Thoughts Why did I stop at eight? Besides it being a lucky number for me, I also suffer from something called 'finite resources' and 'finite space'. I would rather have quite a few multiples of the sets on this list than skimping on these to nab random clearance deals. Not that I won't be tempted by clearance finds, but I probably will rein myself in and stick to getting sets I believe in, in numbers big enough to need another order of 24x16x4 inch shipping boxes. Happy hunting! Veegs (BigBlueDogBricks)

Here is the list of current, former, and upcoming polybags in the LEGO world. If you've found a polybag that's not on this list, or have any update to give us, please note it in the comments below. This information is put together from a number of different sources on the Internet, including real world reports. Availability in your area may vary. This information is US-based. Polybags Currently Available Set # Theme Set Name Locations Status Date 30312 City Demolition Driller TRU Current 30315 City Space Utility Vehicle Legoland Current 30285 Creator Tiger TRU Current 30259 Elves Azari's Magic Fire TRU Current 30112 Friends Emma's Flower Stand TRU Current 30203 Friends Mini Golf TRU Current 30205 Friends Pop Star Legoland Current 30202 Friends Smoothie Stand TRU Current 30204 Friends Wish Fountain TRU Current 30291 Ninjago Anacondrai Battle Mech TRU Current 5002144 Ninjago Dareth vs. Nindroid TRU Current 30294 Ninjago The Cowler Dragon Target Current 30286 Seasonal Christmas Tree TRU Current 30272 Star Wars A-Wing Starfighter Legoland Current 30274 Star Wars AT-DP Legoland Current 5002948 Star Wars C-3P0 TRU Current 30276 Star Wars First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter Target Current 30278 Star Wars Poe's X-Wing Fighter Target Current 5002938 Star Wars Stormtrooper Sergeant TRU Current 30275 Star Wars TIE Advanced Prototype TRU Current 5003084 Super-Heroes Hulk TRU Current 30303 Super-Heroes Joker Bumper Car Legoland, Walmart Current 30305 Super-Heroes Spider-Man Super Jumper Walmart Current 30604 Super-Heroes Cosmic Boy DVD/Blu Ray Preorder Mar 2016 Polybags Coming Soon Set # Theme Set Name Locations Status Date 5004409 Bionicle Accessory pack Unknown 2016 5004404 City Police Chase Unknown 2016 30471 Creator Helicopter Unknown 2016 30472 Creator Parrot Unknown 2016 30474 Creator Reindeer Unknown 2016 30397 Disney Princess Olaf's Summertime Fun Unknown 2016 30398 Friends Adventure Camp Bridge Unknown 2016 30371 Nexo Knights Knight's Cycle Unknown 2016 30373 Nexo Knights Knighton Hyper Cannon Unknown 2016 30374 Nexo Knights Lava Slinger Unknown 2016 5004388 Nexo Knights Nexo Knights Intro Pack Unknown 2016 30372 Nexo Knights Robin's Mini Fortrex Unknown 2016 30421 Ninjago ? Unknown 2016 30422 Ninjago ? Unknown 2016 5004391 Ninjago Sky Pirates Battle Unknown 2016 30605 Star Wars Finn (FN-2187) Unknown 2016 5004406 Star Wars First Order General Unknown 2016 30279 Star Wars Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle Unknown 2016 30446 Super-Heroes The Batmobile Unknown 2016 5002946 Super-Heroes Silver Centurion Unknown 2016 Polybags That Have Not Been Sighted Set # Theme Set Name Locations Status Date 5002942 Bionicle Bionicle Villain Pack Unknown 2015 30217 Duplo Duplo Forest Random Bag Unknown 2015 30218 Duplo Duplo Snail Unknown 2015 5002931 Friends Disco Dance Floor Unknown 2015 5002928 Friends Party Polybag Unknown 2015 30292 Ninjago Jay Nano Mech Unknown 2015 5002920 Ninjago Ninjago Accessory Pack Unknown 2015 5002922 Ninjago Ninjago Role Play Unknown 2015 5002919 Ninjago Scenery and Dagger Trap Unknown 2015 5002939 Star Wars Phantom Unknown 2015 30304 Super-Heroes Avengers Quinjet Unknown 2015 Polybags No Longer Available Set # Theme Set Name Locations Status Date 30311 City Swamp Police Helicopter Target No Recent Sightings Jan 2015 40140 Creator Flower Cart Lego.com No Recent Sightings Jan 2015 5002941 Bionicle Bionicle Hero Pack Lego.com No Recent Sightings Mar 2015 30283 Creator Off-Road Legoland No Recent Sightings Mar 2015 DRWU Jurassic World Dr. Wu TRU No Recent Sightings Mar 2015 30313 City Garbage Truck Target No Recent Sightings Apr 2015 30293 Ninjago Kai Drifter Lego.com No Recent Sightings Apr 2015 30256 Chima Ice Bear Mech TRU No Recent Sightings Aug 2015 30320 Jurassic World Gallimimus Trap GameStop, TRU No Recent Sightings Aug 2015 30246 Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Target No Recent Sightings Aug 2015 30314 City Go-Kart Racer Target No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 30228 City Police ATV Kmart No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 30188 Creator Cute Kitten TRU No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 40146 Creator Lufthansa Plane Lufthansa No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 30284 Creator Tractor Lego.com No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 40055 Seasonal Halloween Pumpkin TRU No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 5002947 Star Wars Admiral Yularen Lego.com No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 5002125 Super-Heroes Electro TRU No Recent Sightings Oct 2015 5002943 Super-Heroes Winter Soldier Lego.com No Recent Sightings Oct 2015

Here is a quick guide for smooshing (feeling) the new 71011 CMF Series 15 packs. Smooshing is a term used by Lego fans for feeling the CMF packs' hidden contents to determine which minifigure is inside it. You should be able to identify each minifigure by feeling for the 1st accessory on the list below. The other accessories can be used for back-up identification purposes. Farmer: round hat, pitchfork, pig Astronaut: visor (like a big fingernail), oxygen tank Frightening Knight: ball with soft spikes, shield, bucket helmet Clumsy Guy: crutches Tribal Woman: feather head piece (like a V), baby basket (like a loaf of bread) Flying Warrior: spear (stick with sharp point), wing pieces Faun: curved leg piece, head piece with horns and long ears Animal Control: net (kind of like thimble), skunk Janitor: long stick with a bump toward 1 end, mop head (hard wavy mushroom shape), cap Ballerina: wavy flat circular piece, hair piece with bun Laser Mech: jagged sword piece, armor Kendo Fighter: two swords, helmet with weird curves Shark Suit Guy: shark shaped head piece, flipper arms Wrestling Champion: trophy, hair piece with mullet Jewel Thief: grappling hook, gun piece Queen: puffy skirt (about the size of 2 stacked 2x4 bricks, cannot miss )

Welcome to Week 4 of the Top 10 Best Selling LEGO sets as listed by LEGO S@H. How does this Blog work? While the LEGO Shop at Home best sellers list is updated weekly, we will be updating it every Wednesday. The list includes only sets. Minifigures, keychains, Pick a Brick and other products are excluded. If not enough sets are listed on the S@H Best Sellers page, the weekly entry could be shorter than 10 sets. I will comment only on those sets that are new to the list, or that for whatever reason may stand out on a particular week. For example, if a set has been on the list for 10 weeks in a row, then it may warrant a comment or two. I am keeping an Excel spreadsheet with each set that appears on the list, its weekly placing (if any) and the total number of weeks that it has been on the list. I will try to publish it for the first time in one of the next few entries. For now, this is a US based best sellers list. Pretty simple! Note for this week: Once again, the list of top sellers includes less than 10 sets (5!). We are trying to figure out how we want to deal with this in the future as it seems that it might happen more often than I would have imagined. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at this week's Top Sellers. Top 10 (5!) Best Selling Sets (LEGO S@H) #1: 40201 Valentines Cupid Dog - Previous Week: #1 - Buy Now! #2: 10251 Brick Bank - Previous Week: #2 - Buy Now! #3: 75827 Firehouse Headquarters - Previous Week: #3 - Buy Now! #4: 75105 Millennium Falcon - Previous Week: #4 - Buy Now! #5: 75102 Poe's X-Wing - Previous Week: #5 - Buy Now! Extremely short list this week, more so than the previous one. Having said that, it seems to be pretty clear that The Force Awakens continues to prop up some of the first wave sets, especially the Millennium Falcon and Poe's X-Wing. The Millennium Falcon is kind of expected, and if we had compiled this list back when 7965 was still available I am sure we would have seen it in the Top 10 pretty often. On the other hand, Poe's X-Wing takes one of the most adored ships in the SW Universe to a new level, with a pretty cool color scheme and an appealing minifig collection. The Top 3 also remains unchanged, with the seasonal Valentine's Dog keeping the top spot for the 3rd week in a row. The other 2 sets, Brick Bank and GB HQ, are still benefiting from being new releases, so we should see them drop a little once the initial hype is gone. As always, feel free to leave your views and suggestions in the comments section below! Thanks for reading.

Where Are They Now? is an ongoing blog series dedicated to analyzing specific high-profile Lego sets that have been targeted for investment and sold out / retired a year or more in the past. The idea is to review and summarize a wide range of investment factors surrounding the set a few months before, during, and after it stopped becoming available at retail prices... then look at the financial performance of the set thus far, and perhaps discover a clue about future growth and/or similar sets yet to retire. I absolutely have to begin with the Lego exclusive set that blew the doors off the investment world in Fall of 2014: Town Hall. Released: March 2012 Last Available (US): October 2014 Months Availabile: 31 Retail Price (US): $199.99 Pieces: 2766 Minifigures: 8 A Little History The modular building series, starting in 2007 with Cafe Corner, quickly became extremely popular with both AFOLs and investors, rivaling Star Wars UCS as the well known "Top of the Line" Lego sets. Those first two buildings, including Green Grocer, were only available for a little over 2 years each which helps explain their astronomical appreciation. However, by the time late 2014 arrived, a pattern had obviously been established in most investor's minds that the rest of the series was sticking around approximately 4 years per set. Fire Brigade had departed in late 2013 after 4 years, Grand Emporium was several months past its 4th anniversary (and expected to retire), and Pet Shop had been available for 3.5 already. Virtually no one had Town Hall on their radar as a candidate for retirement at the time. A few savvy individuals opened their eyes in Spring 2014 when it went temporarily out of stock, but the vast majority were non-believers and focused their attention and wallets elsewhere. Popular Opinion This modular series centerpiece was also a poor seller in comparison to its brethren as it sat "gathering dust" on store shelves. Partial evidence of this fact was observed by many (including yours truly) that seal codes on these boxes were commonly a year or more old, while others in the modular series had been produced only a few months or even weeks prior to being offered at retail. Apparently Town Hall just wasn't selling. Take a look at the date stamps on posts 6 and 7 in the official Brickpicker thread to see how ignored this set was. Several possible reasons for the lack of popularity, especially as an investment, include: The $200 (US) price point - significantly higher than the other modular options available at the time. A large box that takes up significantly more space than other modulars. An arguably "ugly orange" / "boring" design, with less aesthetic appeal than many would like. Clear expectation that it would be available for at least another year. Now, Pay Attention... On Oct 1, 2014 Town Hall went to backordered status at LEGO Shop at Home, then Toys'R'Us online went out of stock. The next day, Target sold out, and Lego status when to Sold Out as well, followed by Walmart (all according to reports made in our Town Hall thread). Eyebrows were officially raised, especially given the then-recent quick disappearance of Haunted House, when many expected that set to stay widely available through Halloween. But still a large number of investors thought it was unwarranted panic, citing the double VIP point promotion as well as the in-and-out of stock "dance" that Grand Emporium had been doing for much of the year without actually retiring. That's when our illustrious troll-guru leader Ed Mack dropped an atom bomb disguised as a feather, on page 7: "Very soon, this will be the busiest thread on the site." Part Nostradamus classic, perhaps part self-fulfilling prophecy, this statement became more than true and the thread exploded over the next few days as investors and end users everywhere slowly but surely realized the huge ugly orange wedding chapel was actually going away... and maybe... just maybe... they wanted one (or several) after all. Last available on Oct. 4 from Lego US / Canada, occasional small batches of stock popped up at various retailers, both online and physical, for over a month... but you had to be very lucky or a truly dedicated soul (wearing out your F5 key or weaving scripting magic) to catch one of these opportunities. There was a final production run in weeks 38-39, corresponding to late September, that trickled out (primarily to resellers) during October. It seemingly was not too extensive, however. Show Me the Money! Meanwhile, eBay prices shot up into the $300-$350 range within a day.The Brickpicker Price Guide reflected this huge surprise retirement factor as New 10224 values reached $400 before Christmas and climbed steadily to the $530 range in Spring of 2015, before leveling off for several months. Some investors were happy to buy in at over 2x MSRP, predicting continued growth in late 2015, which simply hasn't happened. Still, the set currently shows a 25% CAGR, outstanding by almost any measure. New prices have seemingly stabilized around $550 on Amazon, $500 on eBay, and $450 on Bricklink for the time being. Brick Classifieds currently follows suit. A substantial increase in Used values occurred on eBay (U.S.) from around $250 to $400 late last summer, continuing up to $450 now. It should be noted that the rest of the eBay world seems to have an approximate 20% premium on New over Used sets, a much wider gap than the U.S., and certainly closer to "normal". However, average Used sales over the last six months are $400 on Bricklink as well, proving strong demand for opened Town Halls. Perhaps end users hit their financial limit later this year, choosing to accept pre-owned copies at nearly half the price instead... so many doing so, in fact, that buying competition drove the Used price up to nearly New values. Another factor could be that this set is quite difficult to piece together, reportedly commanding about $500 for all pieces and instructions (no box), before adding multiple shipping and handling charges. Do we assume New prices will begin the inevitable climb upward again soon? Or will Used values dip back down a bit first as Americans realize the relatively small difference right now? One would think the gap should widen again, one way or another. From a longer-term perspective, will there be another huge increase in Town Hall values at some point in the next year or two? Or will it simply rise steadily, seeking four-digit sales (then returns) closer to 2020? No one can say for sure, but it IS going to gain value again. The only questions are how fast and how far. Several seasoned investors believe this is one of a very small number of "special" sets released in the past few years that have the potential to reach the $1000 mark. Some optimists were even hoping it would approach that threshold in late 2015. The one wild card in the game which could completely invalidate such bullish predictions is the possibility of a remake. I certainly don't see that happening, but I doubt anyone could have guessed over a year ago that Winter Toy Shop would be remade, either. If Lego ever decided to duplicate Town Hall, the value of 10224 would obviously drop like a rock. What to Do with Mine? If you are holding and can afford it, my personal advice is to keep holding. The relatively low supply of this set compared to so many other exclusives should make it an even bigger winner in the long run. Simply out-waiting sellers who are happy to take 3x their buy-in is a path to more profit for the rest of us. As more and more of these get bought and opened, a sealed Town Hall will become more of a collector's item, vaguely similar to Cafe Corner and Green Grocer before it. Of course it will never catch those sets in value, but it is a virtual lock for the "bronze medal" of modular building investments. On the other hand, if you are a buyer who missed out... seriously consider looking for a current "deal" (whether new or used), and get yours soon. It is only a matter of time before this set keeps rising in value, and if there is another big jump, you will avoid several hundred dollars of regret by acting now. I believe we are in a temporary "lull" with Town Hall's value (especially New), and if so, the more buyers that take advantage of it, the sooner the lull will be over, financially benefiting those who do. I definitely do not recommend picking up this set at current prices as a pure investment anymore, however, as fresher and more predictable opportunities are widely available. The Big Picture: Above all, realize - if you don't already - that Town Hall in many ways kicked off the maelstrom of CHAOS representing a marked change in Lego retirement (and production) schedules. Many investors "learned their lesson" when caught empty-handed with(out) this set, and adjusted their strategies to accumulate target stock numbers on subsequent exclusives earlier and more gradually. Of course, some were doing this already, and happen to have been proven smarter in this particular case. One only need glance at Pet Shop, Death Star, Tower Bridge, and T1 Camper Van to see that a strategy which works best for one set may not work for others, however. Whatever your budget and investment angle, use the retirement of Town Hall as a reminder that anything can happen, and that when the truly unexpected occurs, historical gains may be had. Additionally, avoiding the herd/horde mentality is proving to be more and more of a wise choice, starting most noticeably in the months prior to the day of infamy when 10224 became the busiest thread on the site! Special thanks to the following individuals for suggestions and editing help: jaisonline

Hello. My name is Elaine, and I am a Lego addict. I have often said this in jest, but I’ve started to realize that it is not a joke. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was check Brick Picker for the deals buzz. As soon as I had put the kids on the bus, I started planning my buy of the day. Since I went to see “The Force Awakens” (again) last night, I was feeling like I needed some more Star Wars sets. I took to the web, and made a plan to go to TRU (since it was Thursday) to buy a First Order Tie Fighter, using the Walmart price (20% off) plus another 10% through TRUTH and 8% back in rewards. It was only 9 am. I spent the next hour itching to buy as my local Toys R Us opens at 10 am. I even considered settling for price match plus 5% off using my Red Card at Target because they were already open. I didn't used to be like this… I am a collector. I still have 90% of the sets from my youth, and I started collecting again around 2010ish. For several years it was buying a modular for my birthday and lots of sets for the kids. It wasn't until a snafu with the Town Hall that things started to turn ugly. It was October 22nd, 2014. I had a lovely birthday dinner and decided that I would buy a Town Hall as my present. I already had a Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium, and a Pet Shop. I had briefly flirted with the idea of buying a Green Grocer long after it went EOL, but decided that $500 for NISB was too much to spend. (This was some time before the Town Hall incident, but it was what first enlightened me to the existence of the Lego reseller market.) Needless to say, when I went to my local Lego Store that day, I was dealt a crushing blow. I could not understand. I was buying each modular in order, I should have had plenty of time to buy the Town Hall, but it was gone. I was heartbroken. I was devastated. I was desperate. At first, I was ready to scrap the whole idea of my Lego city. It seemed pointless to not have all of them (or at least all of the ones released since I had started collecting modulars). I was still secretly pining for a Green Grocer, and to miss out on the Town Hall too was too much to bear. Within a couple of weeks of calling and searching stores and coming up empty, I bought one on eBay for 50% over RRP. I justified it saying that if I did find one in the wild for RRP, I could always resell that one to break even or better. For a little while, I was content, but it didn't last... Fast forward to March of 2015. It was my anniversary. There was an hour wait at the restaurant, so we went to the Lego Store. It was double VIP and I was determined not to let another modular pass me by, so I bought myself current, and had a lovely dinner. The next day, I was feeling guilty about spending so much, and I came up with the perfect plan. I would buy two of every Lego set I liked, build one, sell the other when it hit 2x RRP. Perfect! I immediately pulled $2k out of a never-touched savings account (because bank interest is a joke anyway) and had the most satisfying Lego spree I had ever experienced. I felt so powerful and successful with every package that arrived. It was incredible. I wish I could have stayed up there forever… Within a few months, (but just over 90 days), the reality of what I had done started to sink in. After that first $2k, I spent at least another $1k acquiring discontinued sets via eBay and craigslist, and probably $1k buying new releases because I was still flying high and I had 5,000+ VIP points to burn. For those of you who roll big, I will put this in perspective for you: $2000 is my entire monthly spending budget for utilities, food, etc. I spent 2 months of my household budget on toys. I panicked. I couldn't return anything. I couldn't break even through selling because everything was still readily available. I watched my stocks drop at sickening rates. I wanted to take it all back, but I had gone too far. All I could do was wait and see… It was the release of Lego Dimensions that brought me to the Brick Picker forums. My stocks were still junk (TB, ToO, EV, PS, PC, Simpson House…), but my buying had calmed down some. I started watching the Daily Deals. I started hiding purchases from my family. I started getting carried away again. I started bargaining with myself. If I didn't buy a coffee for a week or if I put off a haircut or if I returned some other nonessential item, how much could I spend on Lego instead? I started exchanging my “investment” sets for things I wanted to build. The lowest point was when I returned some sets that I had bought at discount, for full exchange value, to get my husband a Red Five for Christmas. I took a few weeks off after that... I used to have other interests. I used to have a modest savings account. I still have a roof over my head and my kids are well fed, but all I see are Lego. I want to know why I got this way. I can rationalize any purchase. “It helps me relax” “I had a coupon” “I had extra money this month” “But I need to have ALL of them!” (I tell my husband that I would have been a great Pokemon trainer). Sometimes I get mad at TLG. Sometimes I blame the QFLL. Sometimes I blame the AFOL trying to reclaim a happy childhood build. The truth is, I can only blame myself for getting so caught up in a hobby that I really can't afford… This morning, while I was planning my hunt, I came upon the “why did you start?” thread. The story is slightly different, but it's really all the same. “One time_____ and then I was hooked”. I can't decide if it's genius or predatory, either way, Lego is like a drug, and we are all pushers or addicts. I have 2 Tumblers in my trunk...