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Finally got around to building the GE with my son. This was the last build in a 4 set lot from last Dec. I'm missing 4 windows and a couple of trivial elements that I subsituted for now. For me, the build wasn't as interesting as the Fire Brigade and Palace Cinema (only modular buildings built so far). Part of this low opinion might be my low desire to build it. I've kept putting it off and unloaded all of my MISB sets last month. The revolving entrance and escalators were my favorite parts to build. Everything else was pretty basic, As I built each floor, the set grew on me though.

I'm at the 20% off or no dice stage in our relationship.

Bad plan for multiple reasons. 1. As a community here we try to discourage stock manipulation techniques like this. If you want it now, buy it now. Don't buy it now, return it next week, and buy it again for an extra $5 bucks off per set. Some retailers will price adjust when an item is reduced soon after your purchase, but this doesn't apply to extra LEGO VIP points. 2. Unless it's an issue with the LEGO product on your order, LEGO Shop at Home does not cover return shipping fees, shipping the item back is going to wipe away the extra VIP points. If you're near a physical LEGO store you can return LEGO Shop at Home purchases, but I believe the limit is $200. 3. Buying 5 of the combo packs and then returning them, just to buy them again for extra VIP points might put you on LEGO's radar for abnormal buying habits, it could even lead to a LEGO Shop at Home ban.

3x HL Malls $54 Avengers Tower $30 for me 2x Morro Dragons $17 Flash speeder $15 Snow speeder $19 My wife just called and found the elusive $30 60080 and 2x$30 IACs. Gotta love random WMs on road trips.

I picked up the Resistance Troop Transporter (75140), Imperial Shuttle Tydirium (75094), and the Flash Speeder (75091) yesterday. Thinking about going back for the First Order Transporter (75103), and the new Millennium Falcon (75105) tomorrow. YEEE HAWW $$$

I found a ISD at TRU for $115. That was a pleasant surprise--I'm guessing they found it in the back (?). Every time I go to that TRU, they have some random older set (and just one). Over the past two months, I've purchased a Jedi Scout, B-Wing, and AT-TP from this store (all on separate visits). Another thing I thought was strange was that they had two Slave I's on the shelf. Returns?

Is Daphne getting frisky in there, or my eyes deceiving me?

Professionally Obliterated by Our Forum.

LOTR meets Jurassic World

My first useful post, rather than asking for help, have been here for a few months and have had the benefit of the knowledge here. Came across my first sort of deal and thought i should share. ebay is offering 30% off final value fees until the end of 29th feb for up to 100 listings. It's only valid for private UK sellers who meet the seller performance standard. You'll get an invite when you login to your account if your entitled.

The boxes are absolutely worth something, sometimes a lot (especially the larger sets, or any older ones). If you are absolutely committed to getting rid of them - sell them as a lot through Brickpicker (pickup only). If you are ever planning on selling the sets, having the pristine boxes available for them will convey a sense that the sets were obviously well taken care of. They will present themselves better in listings, sell quicker, and for higher prices than your competitors.

I'm happy for every awful set they release this year as I still have a backlog of sets from my want list that need to be purchased.

saw this, didn't know if its been on here yet or not http://lego.gizmodo.com/someone-figured-out-how-to-build-a-tiny-rolling-bb-8-us-1761492071

I agree with Alucard1982. We have been doing this for 8 years.. And are right at the cross roads of deciding if this is still worth doing. I definitely think there is still money to be made with selling lego , but it is not easy to make money selling lego, and there is more risk involved now. It requires a lot of research and strategy. Timing has a lot to do with it. And like Alucard1982 has said, there are so many people dumping their stock (me included) . (It is the big players and the little players dumping their stock.) .And it is hard to compete with stock being sold below retail. It also has gotten buyers on the BSS pages used to getting bargains. And in turn demanding them, and refusing to pay what we think are "Reasonable Prices" . I will probably still sell lego , but I will be much more strategic, and lower volume . You just have to stay a few steps ahead of the bulk of the competition. And any of you who have been doing this for a while , will already know how to do that. Any new to the game will have to learn fast. Probably a good idea is to start out slow. See if you can actually make money selling lego , before buying too much.

I just want to further touch on a vital point that ED has made in that LEGO investing is heading towards a bear market. I like to use Kenny Rodger's The Gambler as an analogy to LEGO investing and from the signs and the writing on the wall I think that we are at, or at least getting close to the "...know when to walk away, know when to run". Whilst I warmly welcome you to the fold Gazza, I think your arrival couldn't have been at a worse time. Whilst I welcome a plethora of new people to the game around this time every year, fast forward a couple of months and a vast majority of them fade into obscurity, never seen or heard from again. However, signs have been appearing that have me slightly worried about any future prospect or viable return in investing short/long term. Facebook, as ED has eluded to has seen a significant increase in (clueless) investors and for those with a keen eye a lot of major players on the BSS pages are dumping their stock. While this maybe the time of the year to offload inventory to payoff credit cards, take a holiday, etc; it is quite heavy compared to the inventory "dumping" that occurred this time last year. Another is the constant refresh of highly collectable items (I used items for a reason) that have retired, this is evident in the Winter Toy Shop, Bumble Bee & Hot Dog Keychains, and now the Chicken costumed CMF. Whilst it is widely known that LEGO refresh/rehash their sets every few years, a big one being the City theme, however this is starting to spill out into other theme, possibly negating any returns for a longterm hold strategy. Where does this thought process stem from - Is it a result of LEGO being lazy? A combat measure against resellers? Cyclic Market? While others firmly believe that LEGO is gunning for the investors, I personally think its a little of column A and a little of column C. From a personal viewpoint, I think LEGO has fallen victim to its ego, believing that consumers will purchase anything and everything from them regardless of quality due to the fact they are the biggest Toy maker in the world. This is evident by themes such as Chima, Ultra Agents and now Nexo Knights, whilst these themes appeal to a certain market - my point is evident by what is left after a sale/christmas rush in the LEGO isle. Another sign would be the increase in the LEGO currency that is more valuable than gold, well it is, if tabloids are to be believed. We all know where I am going with this point, so I'll leave it there. Anywho, happy to welcome all the new members, I can't stress enough - DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Those with experience are more often than not willing to provide guidance and help out with potential winners/losers - but we will not assist those who simply come on here without doing the regulatory reading and ask "What should I buy for max $$$". - J

Talked to someone with some knowledge regarding coupons. Jan - March are designated as Baby months @ Tru/Bru. Regular coupons to resume starting April. Fwiw .

Try buying some of the phoney " tracked mail " labels on the internet. They dropped my INR's by 80% when i used them. I never send anything less than £30 requiring a signature.

Purchasing 5 Sandcrawlers IS the buying pattern of a reseller.

Amusing to think the only thing 'exclusive' here is the throwaway box. LEGO has rereleased characters from the Minifigures line before with brick calendars, accessory packs, and similar odd items through Shop-at-Home or their physical locations but those items at least included some kind of actual build and usually only the figure minus his/hers unique accessories therefore there still was something missing you could only acquire by buying the original blind packs. I suppose this is simply running off the minifigure cube principal tried with Target now somewhat with Toys R Us so it is just a box and character though honestly I believe they missed an opportunity for a buildable chicken coop. Also could have featured the latest egg piece from Angry Birds as well.

One left! LEGO® The Tower of Orthanc 10237 $236.80 reg: price $295.99 save $59.19 (20%) SALE (their words) http://www.target.com/p/lego-the-tower-of-orthanc-10237/-/A-14663023

I consider myself a serious collector. I keep every box. If it's an expensive set I picked up used or new without a box, I try to purchase a good quality box off BL. I haven't had much luck buying boxes on eBay, but if you have exclusives, UCS, large set boxes, there absolutely is a market.

Oh yeah, it's $9.99, just look at the Valentine's and Easter sets to see the pattern. Of course, it's almost March and LEGO is still selling the V-day dogs on sale at $7.99 and still hasn't sold out. I have to guess there is substantially less demand for these sets than the vignettes. Then again, maybe LEGO got so excited over sales on last year's seasonal sets and have overproduced this year.

If you want to sell them on ebay you could create a listing under toys --> wholesale lots. This allows you to put multiple items under one listing. Obviously if you have that many boxes you'd want to pick your larger move valuable set boxes otherwise your listing would be more trouble than it's worth. You can also put up an ad here: http://community.brickpicker.com/forum/61-lego-trading-forum/ or post on BC.

I'd say dumping stock might have something to do with job losses and the fact that the economy is going down the tube and people need money. They may well be liquidating because they need cash to pay down debts, which are the Achilles heel of this country's economy. I read somewhere that 50% of Aussies don't even know how much interest they are paying in their credit cards. It is also a slow time of the year. Are we in a bear market I don't know but bear markets can be a good thing as the less competitive players will get flushed out. I reckon anyone with experience selling City or Star Wars knows that reissues/new models are part of the game and timing is everything. This isn't new. I do agree that Lego is dropping the ball, with lower quality such as cracked bricks in sets, the cheaper feel of CMFs (that are Chinese made) and obvious cash cow/ money grab crap coming out this year. TLG is a weird beast and IMO as far as investors go, I think that they are not trying to destroy them, but more so manage them. The re release of the Chicken guy will help calm down people who are unhappy about paying high prices for a single figure. Not sure if you've all noticed you get 5 shark guys in a box, whereas older suit figs were rarer. However, I don't think they will do anything crazy like re release 10179 but then again who knows. One thing that Lego must know is that resellers are a necessary evil and they are a big source of revenue for them. It's not the 80s and 90s anymore where the market was kids and parents. As far as BSS goes, I no longer sell there as I can't and/or won't compete. I've heard of people stealing sets and others getting 20% off for sets, plus another 20% through store connection cronyism. Whatever it is, it seems like it has reached saturation point. eBay is where I sell most stuff. I'd say if you find it fun go for it Gazza. You can make some good returns but at the end of the day that's what this realistically is. It's not an easy investment and despite what some might say you won't get rich from it. The logistics are too much. If I were rich, I'd consider equities, property or commodities or EFTs, as they require much less physical maintenance. Property, like lego is not liquid, but if you manage to make money flipping a property it's akin to selling one big lego set, rather then selling a thousand of them. FWIW, I'm bearish on the Aus property market, but that's another story.

No, it was the peel off coupon. But I've seen the 20% one. I believe they might be one-off coupons as well. If you get one of these, can you please send me the code after you use it?

Bottoms up.

Would love to open a BL store but with my kids being so young there is no time. I bet I have 100 NISB sets to sell and cant find the time to list.....much less break apart and sort pieces. Maybe someday.

thanks, gang i'm not one to fade in obscurity so rest assured, i won't be! as i said in an earlier post, i've been doing my homework for some time but have just happened to start buying. while a novice to lego collecting/investing, i'm certainly not a novice with respect to investing generally. we all have to start buying sometime, irrespective if it was 10 years ago or a month ago. personally, i see myself more as a collector. i just like knowing that i have the sets that i've purchased. yes, it's an expensive hobby but it beats going out every weekend hitting the turps and generally wasting money imo. the minute it stops becoming fun is the minute when you have to question yourself and your motives.

A few Easter guys from Toys R Us, going for a quick flip...if they don't sell i'll give them to my nephew's.

I see the website shows the new batmobile poly, but when I went to my local, they said street date March 1st

For $10 I picked up very nice instructions for HP 4842 and 4841 off CL one town over. They were in an ad with lots of common instructions all for $40. I called to ask if they'd just sell me the HP. When I get to the house I ask "Dottie" who was in her 80's if they were selling the LEGO that goes with all the books. Her reply with a smile, "Hell no". They'll be bummed when they want to rebuild.

x3 Lego SW First Order Transporter 75103 $21ea at WM

You are not going to get banned for buying 5 Sandcrawlers. You can get banned for having a buying pattern of a reseller.

Yes, you are right. In the long term, there are likely to be good gains. Just gotta hold on that bit longer. My post was a bit of a 'train of thought' monologue. I have only been collecting since last Jan, so 40% after expenses in the first year is pretty good, and most of my sets are still on ice. I try to avoid any flipping for small gains as I'm in it for the long haul. It does take time for reseller stock to be cleared out before real EOL gains can be made. Some sets like Raptor Escape went nuts straight away, and Ant Man has also gone quite well. When the new Cap Am film comes out, they'll be sweet. It's already almost doubled in Aus. Haunted House and Town Hall were, in my opinion, the last 'white whale' sets. Grand Emporium is actually going for less than double RRP if you factor in ebay fees etc and there are still a good number of sellers. Pet Shop and Palace Cinema will see even lower returns if and when they retire, but after a few years they may still turn to gold. How many years that will take is anyone's guess. It took gold prices 5 years to triple in value from 2006-2011, so I doubt Lego is a better investment but long term is the word IMO.

Picked up 3 Falcons (75105) for $104.99 each...(gotta love the competitive price match) Is it just me or does everyone get the stink eye from people who ring you up?

Oh how these sets make me miss the 2015 vignettes.........

Yes, your fellow countryman and active BP-er @Stragus has built an awesome utility called BrickSync which does just that. Really recommend it.

walmart site-to-store with pickup in tax-free NH purchased with some 4% off gift cards. ordered 2 because that's how many are supposed to come in a case. check. closer inspection reveals these bad boys are MINTY. check check. and quite stale - October 02, 2014. ruh-roh - not a lot selling. and these are from after walmart ran out and then restocked them this month. time to order some more . I Walmart Site-to-Store for bulk ordering big sets. No banning there. just give me your money - thank you and come again. ordering for shipping to home from walmart is a disasterously different story.

Managed to get a used copy for £70, few bits missing, but nothing too terrible and mostly in good condition. Only the second modular I’ve built, other being GE (and excluding HH), decent enough built, but still not really won over by it.

The one thing I am certain of, if there is a new UCS MF, it is not going to be released in 2016. Why release it this year when Disney can wait 1 more year and release it as a 40th anniversary set? Mo' mo' mo'

Air Hockey table by norm.fm

Saw this on the shelf of a local TRU. Little Mason didn't see the investment potential of the Arctic Helicrane.

Looks like we have a few months to stock up on this one

Are you guys going to continue this all year again every time it's in and out? That was 90% of the Palace Cinema and Pet Shop threads last year.

The dude literally sold you the shirt off his back. I'd give him a hundred positive feedbacks if possible.

Man I bought another lego set off ebay and again it wasn't packaged well!!! They put it in a cardboard box this time at least but the box was the same size vertically and horizontally as the lego box with no padding and the box arrived squished in both directions. From now on whenever I buy something I'm going to put in the comments to please package the lego box with padding so it doesn't arrive damaged!