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I made my very FIRST sale ever! Sold a handful of polybags on Bricklink (IronMan, Martian Manhunter and Lake Town Guard). Wow, does that feel good.

I find all of this fascinating. So let's consider this seemingly widespread idea that Lego doesn't care about and/or maintains a positive view of resellers (financially, at least)... Just think of it this way: Assuming each individual buying Lego has a finite amount to spend on the product (because assuming otherwise would be insane), why on Earth or anywhere else would the company want to share any of that income with us? Let's take the Tumbler as an example, from Lego's perspective: Ideally, every individual who actually wants a Tumbler to keep will buy it directly from an authorized store - online or otherwise. It is foolishly shortsighted to think that "a sale is a sale", and that Lego shouldn't care what happens afterward; because for every Tumbler bought at $300 from a reseller there is $100 less that will be spent by someone on OTHER Lego products. Of course this is not strictly/directly true, but the concept is blatantly obvious to me and surely dominates the perspective. If you are an economics expert able to disprove this assumption, please be my guest. I like education. Otherwise, on the most obvious core business level, reselling hurts the manufacturer in a significant way ($$). But not all reselling is created equal. What sort of product is most susceptible to this kind of lost profit scenario for them? Certainly not the minor stuff. Mixels are not the concern here. Almost anyone buying Lego in the first place has another $5-20 to spare for whatever small set they want. It's the big exclusives, naturally, that hurt the worst. Expensive, difficult to find sets are not as widely distributed and therefore harder to deliver directly to the target consumer in the first place. Those consumers who want but can't afford it all, at least right away, or right now, may hesitate to buy... then one day find out they waited too long and suddenly TH at retail is a thing of the past. Perhaps they aren't even getting it for Christmas since the price went up so much. What happens if they really want it, though? They pay a premium to a reseller and then cannot afford to buy the PS or PC or PR as early as they planned, (read: at retail), if at all. That's what I'm calling the direct effect of reselling on Lego's profits. Indirectly, too, that person may become frustrated and give up on the modular line entirely. Perhaps they move on to another line of Legos, or perhaps another manufacturer gets their $$ next time. In almost any case, the end result is less money flowing from that consumer to Lego themselves. Again, I know it doesn't always work this way. The pattern of an immediate and drastic rise in value of EOL (or those soon to be) exclusive sets of 50% or more tells us that there seems to be plenty of demand to meet the supply (of reselling), so far. But I think, given that we are in a period of extreme Lego sales growth, it is a pattern that will eventually sputter and die. Nevertheless, this pattern just makes it that much more obvious how much more money the target consumer COULD be spending on Lego sets at retail. Anyone think Lego not paying fairly close attention to the secondary market at any time? Seriously? Oh and besides the whole losing money / sharing profits issue? When the average target consumer is pissed off at the whole reselling trend and tells Lego about it, possibly using lots of not-so-nice words, and/or threats to take their money elsewhere, guess what? Lego probably ought to do something about it. When brand store employees give constant feedback about dealing with all the phone calls from the same resellers each week, followed by the multitude of identical questions and disappointed visits from target consumers due to sets being unavailable, over and Over and OVER, it has got to have an impact. No one with any business sense at HQ is cackling with glee over shelves being empty when demand is still there. So, back to the Tumbler. I can't believe this and RI haven't substantially entered the "something wicked" discussions, yet (and Mars Rover, for that matter). Personally, I see the recent highly limited distribution practices as an experiment toward limiting the reselling phenomenon... in parallel to whatever exactly is going on with unpredictable retirement of exclusives. By controlling the rate of distribution of these limited production sets AND making it more random when they both appear and disappear, the target consumer who doesn't closely track such things stands a MUCH better chance of finding one for themselves at retail, do they not? Of course, other factors have to fall in line for it to happen... but personally I think I am seeing some evidence that this is exactly what is going on. And as Ed has said again and again and again, the savvy, dedicated reseller who rations their purchases out over time and chooses sets wisely based on empirical data more than the reactionary herd mentality, WILL be able to keep up with most of it, and perhaps even reap greater rewards (at the expense of the herd, no less). Meanwhile, Lego DOESN'T MIND this type of reseller quite as much, because they are not constantly emptying shelves and causing big hassles jumping from one EOL (or newly released limited production) set to another. Yes they do still steal some profits down the road, but if they do so acting more or less as the target consumer would, what can really be done about it?. Remember, no one likes drama. The wise ones around here have already camouflaged themselves from the hammer fairly well, and are now encouraging others to do the same, because the more that thing is swung around the less safe it is for everyone here. Sparks are beginning to fly. The number of "investors" is growing exponentially, it would seem, and acting so undisciplined at times that a threshold of tolerance (by the public, by retailers, and by Lego) is quickly being reached. If we are only 3.7% of overall sales (a completely random number, fyi), but 60% of the non-monetary problems (and rising), guess what? Action is going to be taken. Could Lego modify their business model to include and gain an advantage from a significant sector of individual resellers? Probably. Should they? I doubt it. The reasons go well beyond the current marketplace. Perhaps the hypothetical "experiments" going on lately are designed to answer just that question, though. All I know is, unless you are in this for a quickie, it's time to wake up. Your friendly, fatherly alarm clock has been ringing for a few weeks, now. Stop snoozing. Times are changing. Kudos to those who have already started to adapt.

Why are you selling your T1 Polys? They should have no problem going right back to $50+ in no time at all.

Let's not! Sale prices are a good enough gauge for the purpose of this thread. It lets folks know what's selling and for what price. Everyone can keep their profit numbers to themselves.

At least the next Idea review sets are cool.

The Town Hall is retired as far as I know and I do not believe it will make a comeback with the exception of a sporadic and short lived in stock appearance. While LEGO can indeed change their core philosophy and reproduce retired sets, I haven't heard such a drastic change is coming. But a change is coming nonetheless. Reproducing retired sets would reduce the value of LEGO sets on the secondary market and I don't believe LEGO wants to reduce the value of their product, either on the primary or secondary markets. LEGO is very smart and does pay attention to the values of their sets on the secondary markets regardless what many think. The two work hand in hand with one another. The perceived high values on the secondary market filters over to the primary market every day. Many LEGO fans or collectors will pay $400 for a set because they know it increases in value after retirement. If this sets dropped in value after use and time, how would buying patterns change? Quite a bit I would say. LEGO has ALWAYS been an expensive product. When I was a kid 40 years ago, till now, it has been an expensive product. But like with anything that is of high caliber and finely produced, there is an increased price tag. You get what you pay for is very true with LEGO sets and people don't seem to mind paying for this higher cost, because they know they are buying a product made with the highest standards and the potential to increase in value after purchase. Should you buy a Town Hall now at $300 if you don't have one? Probably. I bought a Cafe Corner at $575 and a Taj Mahal at $400 and that has turned out well. I'm not saying the Town Hall will reach those levels, but it will be a non hoarded, short production run Modular, so I say there is a good chance of this set hitting lofty numbers.

I brought this one back to discuss the old grey/new grey editions. I had noticed that you were lashing out at Danny (2 years later), but after seeing how much effort you put into it - I just didn't have the heart to tell you.

I don't think Danny will be responding since the thread is from over 2 years ago.

Sales are starting to pick up for sure. Just yesterday sold: Cap America Avenging cycle $43 2x Wolverine Chopper for $95 each 2 x Umbaran MHC for $50 each Hulk minifig promo polybag for $39 Clone Troopers Battle pack for $34 Makes me feel like I priced the 6866 too low, but I only paid $15 each. Had 10 only have one left.

Not really liking either of these. Pretty disappointed.

This article will help educate you: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/you-see-sneakers-these-guys-see-hundreds-of-millions-in-resale-profit/

I have been into the LEGO investing game for about a year now. Mostly impart to all the good deals shown here I have a nice stash going. I definetly want to move some sets I aquired at deep discount this year to recoup some money for future investing. Question is when is the right time to list on ebay. For Black Friday? after Cyber Monday? 2 weeks before the 25th? When does the mad dash for desperate parents begin!? Thanks for any insight on the matter, hopefully we all make a Scrooge worthy profit margin this holiday.

seal (or box stamped) codes would be one way to figure out which grays are likely in the set. ha

lol I didn't even notice! Over 2 years ago the prices might have been less (though I don't really know ^.^). haha I'm lying on the floor laughing now ;-)

You don't think it's a bad idea them coming to your house?

May I say, "don't count your chickens before they hatch" Post when you get the cold hard cash and we will be impressed with your savvy business acumen.

I needed 3 pizza palaces to complete my sets, had no problem finding them for $25 on ebay to buy. Figure it is worth the 5 extra bucks instead of hunting them down. I don't want to sell sets at $115, I'm gambling they will go up from here although it sounds like there are tons sitting out on shelves at TRUs around the country now.

Have not heard, but there is a poster showing off the new sets in this months Lego Club magazine. Said poster is now hanging in my sons room. Marketing 101 at its finest.

Lol, "The Best of the Worst". Now there's a title I have a legitimate shot at!

LEGO Ideas results for sets #009 and #010. The winners are.................both LAME!!!!!!!!! A f'ing bird? really?

There's no way they're going to make a Big Bang Theory set and underproduce it.

bazinga!

Ok as an example, just sold another RI for $105 on Amazon. Amazon credits me $7 towards shipping. So $113 minus shipping then?

I think this line is going to do very well in the coming year. The 'TRU exclusive' nightmare is finally coming to a close, which has clouded the actual potential of this line over the last ten months or so. Even now, there are still a few VCs and werewolves floating around at TRU in Canada (as well as the other sets in the line in other places at MSRP), so I don't think we'll see the best gains until next Halloween and 2016. That being said, I think this line has classic appeal and unless it is remade in the next 12 months or so those that stuck by the MF line will be rewarded. Or I'm delusional.

Huh, I have found the little plume first on about every Goddess I have. I always try to shake the bag to get the accessories to a corner to feel them so it stands to reason why it's this way for me. Overall, yeah, the spear is a very obvious indicator for her but that doesn't mean somebody else is wrong if they have a different strategy.

Last Dec we saw Heartlake Vet and Stable go and they have both done very well. I'm not seeing a big winner from friends go this Dec. Olivia could but it's been around a long time, it will do ok but I don't see triple in the first year like the vet. I think the cruiser will stick another year, it's only 18 months old. Am I sleeping on a big friends retirement? The cheapest Heartlake Vet on amazon right now is 139.99 This set could be had last fall for $35. Was a better investment than the mars rover (so far) and way easier to get. Don't sleep on friends my friends

Wrong, spear is the easiest and fastest to feel.... period.

So siehts bei mit zur Zeit aus.... Ein bunter Mix aus allem, aber normaler Weise Kauf ich lieber Exclusiv Sets, wenns die anderen aber zum halben Preis gibt kann man ja nicht nein sagen: Wie siehts bei euch aus ??

Ridiculous? If I buy something then I expect good condition. Big noticeable damages are not something you need to keep (Eol excluded). I didn't pay $200 for a box that's been through the meat grinder.

Picked up another 50 or so today. It's good to see that these are for sale again.

It is reasonable. LEGO introduced about 8 exclusives this year, they have to keep the outflow at the same rate if they don't want to inflate their exclusive selection. The question is which of these two scenarios will happen: LEGO will keep up current rate of incoming new exclusives which will have shorter production runs. Recent retirements happened to restore the balance of inflow-outflow. LEGO will introduce less exclusives per year and trims its overall offers. To understand this phenomenon you have to think about why LEGO has such a large selection now. I believe they extended the lifetime of older exclusives to discourage resellers, however this resulted in an inflated supply. The exclusives were imagined with a ~1-2 year lifetime initially and they only changed their minds because of the resellers. They had to see by now that this strategy is useless, since FB, GE and other old stuff still have the same behaviour as if they were only 2 years old when retirement is felt in the air. The date of the retirement doesn't matter overall, because mass buying occurs mostly when the signs are there. However keeping this many sets in production increases costs significantly and the demand is fragmented between them. I don't say capacity issues because if there are less sets then more of the same ones will be bought, however that makes logistics and planning much easier while reducing occupied shelf space. With these in mind and the fact that the "extended lifetime strategy" turned out to be basically useless LEGO can only win by trimming its exclusive selection. On the other hand we can firmly guess that the new golden age is partly a result of the rise of the AFOL market, mainly because those people probably buy much more sets to their children than an average parent. To draw in adults they need some kind of diversity. Trimming the market too much could kill this effect. Also what I see is that new exclusives are top sellers for months after introduction, even go out of stock, I think casual collectors buy the new stuff first because those are conceived to be the best and are represented best in the related media. The demand over time is U shaped: first the collectors, then a flat line with little activity and resellers at the end. LEGO wants to reduce the duration of the low demand phase. Therefore it is reasonable to speed up the circulation of sets. So this is what I believe LEGO will do: Introduce exclusives at the same rate as now to exploit the large demand after introduction but returns to 1.5-2 year long production cycles to reduce costs. Battling resellers will be done by other methods, for example selling exclusives online etc. We will see.

First of all who ever said there was price equity for American (or Danish) products when sold in China that it would be at US Levels? Do you really think that when people buy MS Windows and other products "legally" in China they pay what the US rate is? I think not. Second if the China plant is a JV with a government owned entity I am sure product will move. Who knows, but if you know how to integrate well to China you do fine. Just my opinion.

How about if LEGO reverses course and decides to cater to children almost exclusively? What happens if LEGO stops producing these upscale sets for AFOLS? What's replacing the multitude of AFOL sets retiring this year and early next year? How valuable will these current AFOL sets become?

Thanks to Alpinemaps I am on the mixel side, I have so many and sold so many I feel like the Star Trek Tribbles space station episode.

Well, I thought I would join the mixel train. I decided to stockpile flurr after talking to some BPers and reading the threads. He seems to be the hot ticket and wanted to make sure I had plenty'o'stock of him. Then I'll complete the blue sets and carry on with filling out the complete sets of 9. I don't know how slumbo got in the pile, he must have felt left out.

Listen to the market. Sometimes it will show you a demand you never anticipated.

Three weeks ago. If people aren't buying yet, they certainly are looking.

At least we wouldn't have frenzies like this. But I think it is good advice nonetheless. If there's a good reduction on a set you like, buy it. Don't wait til the last minute. I think it is an issue with consumers in general... wait price not low enough... wait some more, it can be lower... ah let's wait another bit, 40% off means it can be 45% off too...whoops... sold out

It's still better than the working title, "Gungans Arise".

This is the only Blacktron set I had as a kid and I thought it was awesome. The color scheme and asymmetrical design were 180% different from the other space sets that Lego was making. Unfortunately I didn't get any more Blacktron sets, but I remedied that over the last year I now have the complete Blacktron I collection.

I can see where this fits into this thread. Please let me know what you decide. Very curious.

Use a shorter network cable,

It's currently on 'Call to check' status. Which, as we know, will result in further heartbreak.

So I called Amazon (technically I clicked to have them call me) about a couple issues with my recent orders. Maria actually predicted that I would like a refund for the $10 they charged me for "Free" shipping on a HH and got that done straight away. Then I moved on to the SC with cut seals and extra seals on top of them... I think all I would have had to say is "I want to exchange it". But I explained the seals as well as the significant damage to the box and mentioned I couldn't be sure it was really new. Because the item was OOS @ my price, she had me choose another seller at $186, {the cheapest "fulfilled by Amazon"} and purchase it as a replacement, then put me on hold to issue an immediate refund for the new purchase. Also issued a free upgrade to next day delivery without my asking for it. Emailed me a link to a prepaid label to return the "bad" one. Simply an outstanding customer service experience.

I brought the excessive buying/coupon use/return topic to everyone's attention so that a few people might listen. It wasn't really directed at anyone specifically. I usually stay out of these conversations, but TRU and their policies and how members interpret them and/or take advantage of them is always a hot topic around here, so let's try to come up with a reasonable approach to the topic. I am not here to dictate to people how to spend their money or run their business, but being that we are all in this together in a non-direct way, I think it is wise to help some inexperienced members out. First off, we are not all flippers who buy in massive quantities for a short term gain. Many of these conversations(this one included) on this site are leaning towards the short term angle, which LEGO does not like to be quite honest. I don't want a novice investor to think that this is the only way to invest. A promo like the recent Bricktober event was a mess and it should have been implemented more clearly from the start. I cannot fault a buyer for acquiring multiples of these sets if given the chance, but realize there could be consequences to those actions. It is situations like this which can lead to other consumers complaining to corporate TRU or LEGO about the evil resellers buying up massive quantities of sets. It is my opinion that resellers in general have to be more discreet in their buying habits. As more and more people enter the world of LEGO investing, I know it will be difficult to control some yahoos. Some people don't care about the collectible or commodity they resell and change from collectible to collectible as much as they change underwear. I get it. Not everyone views LEGO sets and bricks in the same way. Unfortunately, the situation has already caused many retailers to respond to this sort of excessive buying, return and coupon use. I think if we all could be a little more careful moving forward, harsher restrictions and retailer policies won't be implemented.

nothing lego related but bought 93" teddy bear for my daughter

Soon people will want sets to retire before they're released.

Maybe the Town Hall retiring had nothing to do with sales.

I have 6 Town Halls. Will pick up four more to make my goal, from B&M stores, as they are still receiving TH shipments. Am good to go there, but thank you for your literary critique and insinuation. I do nearly all my purchasing from multiple Lego stores in Southern California (6 total) and two in Arizona, and though it is the often-critiqued "heard it from a store employee" - I see these folks nearly weekly and have a good pulse on what is happening, at least, in the stores. The managers of these stores speak very highly of PS sales, and speak about the slow-movement of the TH. Three managers that I highly trust and respect feel this is the very basic reason for the TH retiring out of order. It takes up a lot of shelf space. It is expensive. It isn't selling nearly as much as the other modulars. That is the basis of my opinion. I know nothing of internet sales and trends; My opinion of what is happening at Lego B&M's is qualified. Until six weeks ago, in the B&M stores, the TH was still warming shelves, as it has done for a long time. The PS has been a consistent seller. More so than PC still, less so than PR.