Hi all!  *sigh*  I'm needing some help.

I was looking for Legos for my boys for Christmas.  I ran across an ad on my local Craigslist for over 30 sets , mostly Star Wars sets without mini figures.  The poster stated that she didn't know if the sets were complete, but that she just went through the X-Wing and it was 99% there.  She was asking $150 for the lot.  Hubby and I decided to purchase it and we drove the hour down there to pick them up.  We got them home and began to go through them.  Low and behold, most of the Star Wars sets are missing a major chunk of their builds.  (For example, most ships are missing at least one wing.)  I am at a loss of what to do.  We had purchased these with the intent of giving them to our boys (we have 5 boys) for christmas after putting them back together, but they're so far from complete that its not worth while.  And on top of that...one of the sets is is almost complete has been...kraggled together with superglue.  I am not a Lego reseller, so I have no clue what to do.  We've put $150 into this lot, but I don't know how to not take a loss on it, let alone have something for my boys for Christmas.  

Any help/advice would be much appreciated. 

Here's a list of sets that were included (though how complete they are...  )

7256-1 Jedi Starfighter and Vulture Droid
7255-1 General Grievous Chase
7250-1 Clone Scout Walker
5994-1 Catapult
8668-1 Side Rider
6212-1 X-wing Fighter
6208-1 B-wing Fighter
6206-1 TIE Interceptor
6205-1 V-wing Fighter
7656-1 General Grievous Starfighter
7655-1 Clone Troopers Battle Pack
7009-1 The Final Joust
4939-1 Cool Cars
7737-1 Coast Guard 4WD & Jet Scooter
5618-1 Troll Warrior
5615-1 The Knight
8970-1 Robo Attack
8961-1 Crystal Sweeper
8256-1 Go-Kart
8164-1 Extreme Wheelie
8036-1 Separatist Shuttle
8015-1 Assassin Droids Battle Pack
8014-1 Clone Walker Battle Pack
6747-1 Race Rider
6743-1 Street Speeder
5972-1 Container Heist
8188-1 Fire Blaster
8084-1 Snowtrooper Battle Pack
8060-1 Typhoon Turbo Sub
7571-1 The Fight for the Dagger
5867-1 Super Speedster

You could always give it to your kids as bulk bricks and they can make their own mocs?

I would start off by selecting what sets you would "Prefer" to give your boys for Christmas. Then inventory what parts are missing.

You can go to the below link (Missing Parts) to order replacements. (often times LEGO will send you replacements free of charge b/c their CS is top notch)

Missing Bricks

In your case the minifigs may be the hardest part and also some select (unique parts) in the sets.

You still have time to get these missing pieces before xmas. Don't get too overwhelmed.

 

Edited December 9, 201510 yr by pstebbing

Thanks for the tips - I'm working on pulling out sets that are mostly complete at the moment and seeing if our bin of 'extras' can fill in the holes.  I'm really crushed as I was hoping quite a few of these were more complete then they are.  I feel like I was mislead by the ad, as the owner stated that she had gone through one and it was complete.  The others are so far gone though, that I don't know what to do with the remnants.  

What is the best thing to do with the partial sets?  most are not super high valued sets.  I'm hoping to be able to make back what I've invested in them.  Do I piece them out (and if so, how do I do that)?  Should I stick them on eBay?  Or try to reconstruct them and then sell them?

I did know that getting the mini figures back would be the hardest bit, but I didn't anticipate that these were so far from complete.  I would have held off had I known. :/

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2015 at 0:42 PM, cloud_weaver said:

Thanks for the tips - I'm working on pulling out sets that are mostly complete at the moment and seeing if our bin of 'extras' can fill in the holes.  I'm really crushed as I was hoping quite a few of these were more complete then they are.  I feel like I was mislead by the ad, as the owner stated that she had gone through one and it was complete.  The others are so far gone though, that I don't know what to do with the remnants.  

What is the best thing to do with the partial sets?  most are not super high valued sets.  I'm hoping to be able to make back what I've invested in them.  Do I piece them out (and if so, how do I do that)?  Should I stick them on eBay?  Or try to reconstruct them and then sell them?

I did know that getting the mini figures back would be the hardest bit, but I didn't anticipate that these were so far from complete.  I would have held off had I known. :/

Take heart, you didn't necessarily do all that bad at that price (depending on how much is really missing)

By your list of sets above my scanner tells me you have the following possibilities:

If all the sets were complete (or completed by yourselves) the lot would have a value of $543.35 (Us) according to the Bricklink.com 6 month sales average.
(this of course requires you track down the manuals, minifigs & missing parts & account for what would probably be many many individual shipments)

If you were to sell the individual parts in a Bricklink store (again if all the sets in the list were complete, since the missing parts are unknowns at the moment) your resale value (Bricklink 6 month average) would be $760.14 (Us)

Unfortunately you mentioned that the figs were missing so you'll take a hit there, total minifigs x64 would be $222.32 (Us) leaving the remaining value of the parts (if completed) at a reduced $537.82 (Us)

If you are wondering what you should have (if all the sets were completed):

total parts = 5823 
different parts = 1558
minifigs = 64
different minifigs = 57

 

It's not likely that rebuilding & completing the sets would be cost effective, if there's more than a couple hundred missing parts, the most expensive minifig is valued at just $11 & most are under $4...

but all that's not to say there's not a whole lot of play value there!

As a kid (and even now) I would have lost my mine if I received a huge bin of Lego.  Had way more fun making my own stuff then following directions. I've got two suggestions for you.

A. Give to kids as is.  

B. Sell the whole lot as is for just enough to make your money back (lower fees here and would probably be sold fast)

That lot screams "left overs" my guess is someone cherry picked it then sold off whatever they didn't want to deal with. Still, your best option is probably giving it to your kids as is. All in all that's not a terrible price to pay for bulk and I can just about guarantee your kids will love it. More often than not my kids wind up playing with my un-sorted bulk. 

 

5 boys? That's pretty close to the opposite of my dad's family, he was the only boy out of seven kids.

If I was in this situation I would list them all in one lot with a buy it now price slightly above what you would be happy with. Put a "best offer" option on the listing and set up the parameters to auto accept an offer within your acceptable parameters. Make sure to check the box for immediate payment once their offer is automatically accepted. 

Be very thorough with your descriptions, use your full allotment of photographs, and make sure to mention that there are no mini figures. Somebody will buy this for parts. The kragled set is junk. Throw that in the garbage. Once it sells ship it immediately and wash your hands of it. Attempting to replace all of the missing pieces is a very time consuming process and there is no way you will be able to complete the process before Christmas. I am still working on a large bulk lot that I purchased last summer, and I try to work at it every night while I'm watching tv. It can't be done properly in two weeks.

We have all had a similar experience like this. The important thing is that we all learn from it. As for gifts for your kids...check out the brick classifieds. There are plenty of good deals on there from sellers you can trust.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

As a kid (and even now) I would have lost my mine if I received a huge bin of Lego.  Had way more fun making my own stuff then following directions. I've got two suggestions for you.

A. Give to kids as is.  

B. Sell the whole lot as is for just enough to make your money back (lower fees here and would probably be sold fast)

This is a very good point. There's a lot to be said for imagination in terms of LEGO building and construction versus using instructions and being limited to what you can do.

total parts = 5823 !!!

Figure it out and be happy! you did great.

12 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

This is a very good point. There's a lot to be said for imagination in terms of LEGO building and construction versus using instructions and being limited to what you can do.

5823 parts for $150, that works out to $0.025 per brick. Just think about it: we were all congratulating ourselves in the daily deal thread on scoring the LEGO Large Creative Box for $30 on Black Friday at midnight ... that deal works out to $0.02 per brick, and likely much less variation in bricks then what you've got there (granted, new bricks versus used, but nothing a nice dishwashing liquid bath cannot solve). So make nice bundles of the lot, give those bundles to the boys and tell them "random building challenge, let's see who can make the best build!" .....

This is a very good point. There's a lot to be said for imagination in terms of LEGO building and construction versus using instructions and being limited to what you can do.

5823 parts for $150, that works out to $0.025 per brick. Just think about it: we were all congratulating ourselves in the daily deal thread on scoring the LEGO Large Creative Box for $30 on Black Friday at midnight ... that deal works out to $0.02 per brick, and likely much less variation in bricks then what you've got there (granted, new bricks versus used, but nothing a nice dishwashing liquid bath cannot solve). So make nice bundles of the lot, give those bundles to the boys and tell them "random building challenge, let's see who can make the best build!" .....

Well put. Couldn't agree more.

Big A$$ pile of Lego for Christmas - here you go boys build me something I have never seen before!!!!