Leaderboard

This is an excellent thread. Way too many people concentrate on buying and don't ever try out selling before they are just too deep. I am one of these people and I have long since learned my lesson (I think). For the first year and a half all I did was buy. I bought up over 1000 sets during this time. I would say that I was addicted (still am). The point came where because of money and space it was time to offload some of my sets. In order to buy more I would need to start selling first. So in January of this year I started selling. This was an eye opener. I know everyone says that it takes time to list, sell, package, ship, etc but you really don't understand until you do it yourself. It is very time consuming. You also have to expect there will be problems. Lost packages, buyer returns, etc. This all eats in to your profits and time. I know a lot of people say large sets are the way to go and I agree to a point. Just know that those sharks on eBay/Amazon looking for sets to scam people on aren't looking for small inexpensive sets. I've got burned a few times already and it is always on large sets. A mint condition Imperial Shuttle returned banged up and opened, a Robie House returned destroyed after FedEx left the package in the rain, a AS returned because the buyer "bought it for someone who didn't like LEGO", a Robie House and AS on the way back now for a mystery reason, 0 feedback buyers everywhere, etc. Some of these can be avoided with experience and others are just part of the selling process you have to deal with. And here comes the big one everyone is warned about over and over but never really understands until they sell.... FEES. The fees are much more of an impact on your bottom line than you may think. Make sure you find a good fee calculator online and just play with it a little and enter some values in for sets you have. See what you must sell at to get a certain return on your investment. This is easy and takes just a couple minutes but it will be an eye opener for some who haven't even thought about the selling side of this yet. Make sure you add in estimated shipping costs and add a little for supplies. I know most people don't think about tape, boxes, paper, ink, etc but it adds up very quickly when you start selling at a higher volume. As an example I have spent $40 this year just on packing tape itself. I made the mistake as I am sure a lot of others do of thinking if rough times come or I need the money to reinvest I will just sell a bunch of sets and be fine. The truth is it takes a lot of time for things to sell. Like others have posted its not like selling stock. It will take months before you can sell a large inventory of sets. If you need your money fast you will be basically giving your sets away to sell them fast. Many times I have been the lowest price and still had to wait weeks for the item to sell. To sum this all up I am still learning but I feel much more confident that I have gone through the selling process and know what is involved. It will actually change your investing and buying decisions. It has drastically changed mine and now I am making more money and spending less time because of it. Since I started selling in January I have sold almost 600 sets totaling just over $37,000. This has allowed me to grow my investment to over 2100 sets and make much better investment decisions. If anyone wants the exact numbers on profits, fees, etc on those 600 sales you can PM me. Buying is only half of the investment process. Make sure you try the other half before you get in too deep.

Nice job with the list. I have added a Packing Code textbox to the brickfolio, so if you chose to want to start populating that, then I can start to group and aggregate data to see what is going on here. It will automatically remove and uppercase the data so that it is formatted nicely. How badly do you want that other information added? I have no problems adding it, but I just want to know if what percentage of people will really fill out the case pack info or the other codes that you are tracking there.

10194 was released in April 2009 for $99.99. It remained available on lego.com and amazon until Oct / Nov 2011. The nearly 1,100 element set consists of 3 minifigures, an A3 Pacific inspired steam locomotive, a tender and a dining car. It was also released with Power Functions and track (called K10194 Emerald Night Collection) http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/K10194_Emerald_Night_Collection One of the earlier press releases can be found below. http://brickset.com/article/247/10194-emerald-night-is-real! I've been a Lego train fan only since late 2012 with my first Hogwarts Express 4841 (to run around the Christmas tree) and 9467 The Ghost Train purchases. I just missed buying the 10219 Maersk Train (later bought this MSIB). The Toy Story Western (open) Train and Lone Ranger Constitution Train (MISBs) are also in my collection. A MISB 10132 Motorized Hogwart Express was recently sold. All my opened sets have been modified to work on 9V track. After a year of hunting for a good deal, I finally was able to purchase set 10194 complete (w/o box) for well under the current brickpicker used value of $255. As of last month, I've observed new 10194s selling for $310 to $375. http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=10194-1 The brinklink inventory can be found at. The average cost of bricklinking this set w/ used parts will cost around "1,082 Items in 189 Unique Lots totalling US $217.76" during the last 6 months. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=10194-1 A couple of elements are pretty pricey. - Tan Window 1 x 4 x 3 Train with Shutter Holes and Solid Studs on Ends run about $4.40 each (10 needed and are exclusive to this set) - Dark Green Slope, Curved 2 x 4 x 2/3 No Studs without Bottom Tubes with Two Gold Stripes Pattern run about .60 each (18 needed. also exclusive to this set) For detail pics of the box and manual (8 bags), please refer to this Eurobricks review... http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59204 Let the building begin. Unused stickers will not be applied My previous build threads. 7780: The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc : http://www.brickpick...-croc-batman-1/ 7782 The Batwing: The Joker's Aerial Assault : http://www.brickpick...arison-to-6863/ 7786: The Batcopter: The Chase for Scarecrow : http://www.brickpick...-for-scarecrow/ 10123: Star Wars Cloud City : http://www.brickpick...ars-cloud-city/ 10173: Holiday Train : http://www.brickpick...-holiday-train/ 10179 UCS Millennium Falcon : http://www.brickpick...lennium-falcon/ 10226 Sopwith Camel : http://www.brickpick...-sopwith-camel/ 10181 Eiffel Tower : http://www.brickpick...l-tower-advice/ 10194 Emerald Night train : http://www.brickpick...-emerald-night/ 10196 Grand Carousel : http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/13647-building-10196-grand-carousel/ 10225 UCS R2D2 : http://www.brickpick...0225-ucs-r2-d2/ 75059 UCS Sandcrawler : http://www.brickpick...59-sandcrawler/ 21021 Architecture Marina Bay Sands http://www.brickpick...rina-bay-sands/ 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 : http://www.brickpick...busters-ecto-1/

Mini Cooper Polybag 8/1 Free with $99 Purchase Looks like possible UCS Slave1 on the 18th Per the Brick Fan. Link

You always upsell, never down sell someone. Jeez

As someone that is going to try and sell a couple of these down the road, I don't care why someone buys this. It's not my job to educate them on their purchase or what is or is not a "good" deal. I don't care if it's for their kids, themselves, of if they want to light it on fire.

Then you seriously need to rewatch it, because Vader spends most of the movie on the Executor. Here's its badass introduction:

This doesn't seem like "young children" set to me. Maybe the DS or the Sandcrawler, or Ewok Village, but not this one.

Where exactly are you selling? If eBay, as it sounds like, you do take returns (or you offer full refunds without requiring a return) - "no returns" only works for certain buyer complaints such as the buyer changing their mind; the first time a buyer opens an item not as described case, you'll find out that you take returns, regardless of whether the item really was as described or wasn't. You also have little to no choice about dealing with people with 0 feedback - you cannot block them, you cannot (within eBay's rules) state that you will not accept their purchase, and if you are in the habit of cancelling their orders, you will find yourself with a defect rate for cancellations beyond what eBay will accept and will no longer be selling there. Amazon is even more stringent.

Last year was my first as a seller, and I had no problem meeting the minimums. I think this year is actually better - if I recall, last year the 25 sales had to be between Sep 1 and Oct 31, and the restrictions started on Nov 1 - so you have more time this year. 2 things - first, lots of people start buying Christmas gifts in September so demand is already picking up then. Second, as others have noted, it's pretty easy to get 25 sales if you're doing it just to get ratings/build your numbers. Just realize you aren't going to make huge (or any) profits - but once you're qualified, you will rake in big $$ in Nov-Dec. Wal-Mart has their clearance in July-August, so stock up on stuff at 40% off and get your money back selling in Sep-Oct, then bring out your big money-makers for Nov-Dec. No sweat. Good luck and have fun!

Here's one Winter Village set up:

So the answer is no?

I figured this topic is in need of a good bumping so here is a Eurobricks topic where member Dirk1313 has somehow already acquired the set and modified it into a convertible! This certainly is one sweet ride. It seems scaled well with action figures or Lego's Scala dolls from back in the day.

Yeah, just like how the 7965 has been holding back the 10179 for the last 2 years

The nightmare stagecoach could use the skeletal horse from 9462 Lol The Monster Halloween Picnic, are those 2 minifigs in the middle suppose to be in the middle of ehem "passionate things" ? It makes sense if you ever watch the Halloween movies :D

Well, that plus ALL of Episode V where Vader invades Hoth and chases the Falcon across the galaxy in the Executor. But other than that, yeah all it does is blow up. :-D

3 more characters are shown in the latest LEGO Club Magazine. http://www.thebrickfan.com/more-lego-collectible-minifigures-71007-series-12-minifigures-revealed/

Jeff closing this very thread due to "waste of bandwidth"

People saying a set will retire <enter date> with absolute certainty though they really have no @$#%@#$ clue?

My wife's um....errr....cycle

We certainly have some high level execs from TLG among us.......I mean how else could some of you speak with such absolute certainty about these sets. I would think having such a high profile job within TLG wouldn't afford you the time to be on these forums all day but I sure am grateful that you are.

I am really looking forward to a new post with some relevant EOL update information. I think this will be as rare as answers to my SDCC thread questions.

Car. Step 4 of 23 done Step 10 Step 17 Step 19 Car complete. Sent from an iPhone using the Brickpicker app

New sellers are just silly - Thinking that they have rights We might also want to mention that a seller is responsible for items lost or damaged in transit (even when the buyer refuses to pay extra for insurance).

Locomotive complete. Sent from an iPhone using the Brickpicker app

good choice. like rock said, pick one and have no regrets. personally, I would go with the 3 GEs and never look back. The Fire Brigade showed us how the modular completists adore this theme (much like Winter them fans) and will PAY secondary market prices. This is one of 3 or 4 themes that staying available for retail for 4+ years won't hurt too bad. The global demand is there like Star Wars sets. While the GE might not jump in price like the fabulous looking FB, it's a corner. I can easily see the GE tripling in price in 2-3 years after EOL to $450 (or $1,350 3 sets). I'm not sure 10221 will hit $1,350 w/in 3 years post EOL after the initial price jump (like what we have been experiencing with retirement rumors). I can be completely wrong with my prediction but my gut tells me to go w/ the GEs.

well, just take a look here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ETeqoGQ_bs3ESVQmdGcDAn3X9mGEVe2d7eGOjcyLxrA/pubhtml All [0-9][0-9][A-Z][0-9] format codes are in line with lifetime of many sets.

Hard to go wrong with me motley crew.....oh yeah. SPACESHIP!!!!!

I don't know what it is, somehow, Halloween themed MOC's come across as edgy and cool, while the Chrismas ones just seem a little cheesy. The one above is by all measures an excellent MOC, but I can't help but picture it in the home of an old lady with WAY too many cats. I would add that I think the Grand Carousel would look good with a FEW slight winter mods.

I could see Lego deciding to continue to produce SSD just to make this thread explode...

I put in a bid for that used complete Grand Carousal with box that sold for $1,325 earlier today. No, I wouldn't allow myself to win that auction. I really want that set.

I did a quick build of 3930 - Stephanie's Outdoor Bakery which was as you can expect from a small polybag-esque sized set. I think the only truly unique piece here is the umbrella with a couple purple swirls on the top that reminded me of The Joker for some reason and then turns out it is available in Joker's Steamroller as a sort of wheel cover. I am glad to see the milk carton had printing on one side without a dreaded sticker in sight. It's funny how back then when I first looked at the boxes for the Friends sets thinking those colors are some very strange choices to be placed together yet afterwards when the actual physical product is sitting before me, all I can see now is how much they pop out above everything else because of those tones with such vibrancy. Anyway, I am in the middle of 79010 - The Goblin King Battle with just the Goblin King

lol .. he wants us to tell him good job .. why do people even ask these silly questions .. when they clearly know the answer ..

Love this. Can't wait to see more. I can see why this one is popular, it's a beauty. I lucked out into having the tender and the dining car in bulk lot I bought (no engine). I'm missing just a couple of parts that I will have to BL. But it was to just put together even those two parts.

Assuming you are buying these to resell: 0 My normal rule is I have to buy it at half of what I think I can gross for it at least. So assuming you could gross $600 on it, that would mean that you need to sell each set for about $20ish each. There are some decent sets, but also a lot of small stuff there. They are also used, and also you would have to verify pieces. My feeling is it could be had for less. Now to build stuff, 300 is not a bad deal at all I think.

USMNT not winning the World Cup.

Well you did first mention people thinking ssd will be sold for $650 in a couple of month are wrong, which implies the set is not as good as people think it is? Combining that with the fact that the set is already sold for that price gives the impression that you did not do your research just arbitrarily under value the set. THats fine everyone is entitled to their opinion. Then you said you want this set for investment that's typical for someone who missed the boat and try to convince themselves it is not as good.

That AnakinIsVader will have the most witty response to this thread.

These are just hypothesis: 1. Could it be that lego is producing the August 1st sets and will do another run of the GE in the fall? 2. The GE is done and the amount that was produced in the supposed final run did not last as long as anticipated based on the FB sales because there are so many more investors then a year ago buying these up? 3. BS. Too much of it. I have seen both sides in this thread, "I was at store X and they had tons today and store Y hasn't had them in weeks". When I have been to those same stores and seen the opposite of what has been posted. Not calling anyone out just saying if that can't even be accurate then what is. Oh the Contra codes.

I listen to people with under 10 total posts that say they know it will retire this date.

The SSD does have numbeeed bags, I am building it now. I hope to post a build review soon.

come on man you are a veteran here you know just to ignore knuckle head statements like the the ones running rampant in this thread.

Hey Veegs, I ordered 2 last week as well from tru.ca...normally it takes 30mins-4hrs to confirm order and shipment but this time it took extra 2 business days. Could be a coincident or they were searching for stock. My 2 in Lego box came today by purolator...decent enough shape (7.5/10).

You won't go wrong with either choice both are solid. Pick one and have no regrets.

This happens quite often. A set isn't done until it gets the "retired" tag on LEGO Shop at Home. Unless that happens, there's always a chance for it to come back.

You speak of the stock market as though it can't drop. I really hope you are careful. Speculative stocks are not safe. Sure, the past year has been great and hindsight tells us all that shares in Apple would have been much smarter than investing in Lego since last July (it went from $400 to $650ish before the stock split) but you never know where the next crash is lurking. This whole market has been talked up way beyond where it should be and it will come crashing down, but only when the big boys are already out. I got into Lego because, to me, it felt safer than stocks. I could not take the anxiety of being in the stock market, with the investment value so far out of my control. I would watch the news every day, read MarketWatch.com, and my emotions would be aligned with whatever the market was doing that day. It was hell. Sure, it was great when I was winning, but surprises can come at any time. And, like Lego, you only realise the gains when you are out. You have to get out to confirm the win. I got out with

It doesn't exactly look like a mini. Without knowing it is designed around one it would just look like any other standard City car. Unlike the T1 mini which needs no hinting as to what it is, I do wonder if this would yield similar returns

Concerning the actual build, I don't really like how LEGO did the body of the car. It's just too flat and boxy for my taste. It sort of misses out on what makes the VW Mini the VW Mini.

If it`s just between these 2 sets, I`d also suggest GE. There is and will continue to be more demand than Sopwith, and there is more than likely more money in it. When it retires it will go up $100 pretty quickly, Sopwith won`t do that, it will go slower.