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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.

Hello everyone, My Lego collection will not stop growing and I have finally reached my limit of keeping the boxes. As of now I flatten them and put them in the closet. My question is....what now? Will there ever come a time when the boxes are worth anything? Do I hold on to them, sell them, burn them, or does anyone want them for some reason? I have just shy of a thousand sets so I know its hundreds of boxes. Im in Alabama if anyone thinks they would like them.

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

+ "Send money to a friend" via PayPal to your payment list. No fee will that.

Town Hall $475 free shipping. OK, in keeping with the spirit of the thread, I'm listing the this at quite a bit cheaper than I can find it elsewhere. This is free Priority shipping in the continental U.S. with signature confirmation, Check or money order only to keep my costs down. I've been on Brickpicker a while and have 100% positive on E-Bay.

Thanks for the advise.

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.

Not sure what price this is supposed to be but I see this as $4.99-$7.99. That said, it's probably $9.99...

Bottoms up.

MOC: Quality Hammers & Tools by Chris Goddard

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.

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

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

The correct term for this phenomenon is POOF.

I don't want to sell sets while on my deathbed. No thanks

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.

When studio originally came out with price of $150 it went out of stock/temporarily unavailable/sold out (can't remember which one) for a long time and it got to the point where I was able to sell couple for $299, so who knows, it could end up like exo, or maybe like female scientists....or remember first cuusoo minecraft cube? (21102), it was going for really high amounts before it came back...but now.....eh

I would be willing to pay TRU full price...

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.

I don't think I say this enough but I love mark Hamill. https://spidercrimes.wordpress.com/2016/02/23/mark-hamill-appalled-he-wont-be-getting-oscar-for-force-awakens/

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'

Picked up this one before it gets too far in price (could not get a hold on this while it was still available), found it for a decent price compared to Ebay. Funny thing is that the seller, who I've met in person for this (always a pleasure than having things shipped), covered up the set with plastic because it was a slightly rainy day and set could have been damaged. Nice touch.

I understand that the big players have tax exempt status so that's some savings, but how would anyone have picked up the Tumbler, in large quantities at $125? Thats something like 37.5% off. Not trying to be argumentative, I'm legitimately curious, as I don't recall BOGO, massive discounts, or clearance on this item. if there some secret squirrel club that qualifies you to buy exclusives, in bulk, at steep discount, can I get handshake and password please?

Tumbler retired? Just grabbed 3 this morning.

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

leaving those 50% off star wars sets??? i would have even grabbed those city and minecraft at that price.

I knew Janet Reno and I can tell you one thing, this set is no Janet Reno.

You are a nicer person than me, I wouldn't have even accepted a return.

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!