Hello folks,

what is your opinion on getting some service trucks as an investment? I was stopping by my local TRU last night and saw they had 3 or 4 left for 139 each. I did not buy them right away because the price seems kind of high. I wanted to ask for your opinion as I am still relatively new to this and my feeling tells me that Technic sets grow at a much slower rate than other sets.

Thank you.

Long shelf life (for Technic), old pneumatics and not one of the greatest ever builds mean it probably won´t do as well as construction equipment. Thee are better places to put that amount of money in my opinion.

Follow your gut. I don't sell a lot of technic because it's a theme that doesn't interest me, but there are some gems in this theme once in awhile. This set does look pretty cool, though. That being said, retail on this set is $130 plus tax, so any discount you can apply will pretty much just wipe out the "TRU tax". Dropping $140 plus tax on a set you aren't sure about could be an expensive lesson to learn down the road. Personally, I'd put that money towards something else you feel more comfortable with. Perhaps someone with a little more experience buying &a selling technic can chime in on this set's potential?

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by terrymc4677

Long story short : this set is a loser.

But again, Depends on your buy in!

 

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by Windsorian

35 minutes ago, biniou said:

Long story short : this set is a loser.

Bought at the price the OP was looking at, probably, unfortunately

33 minutes ago, Windsorian said:

But again, Depends on your buy in!

 

As always. Got lots of these last year for 40-50% off and sold them all at RRP (or over in a couple of cases) over Xmas. It can be done, but if you havent already bought at a deep discount, i would move along to the next opportunity

13 hours ago, Windsorian said:

But again, Depends on your buy in!

It applies to anything so it's not an argument. You can even consider all prince of persia are great investments... if you buy them for 1$.

Well, Calli says they are at $139 in his local TRU and I really think he has to stay away from this 2013 set because I would dare even say that some 2014 technic sets will perform better.

Unlike yesterday I'll take some time to explain my point of view:

- a 2013 technic set still on shelves... if it's the only 2013 set available in this store (and 3 or 4, not just 1), you already have an hint about the desirability for this set among customers.

- this set is a 2013 set and (in europe...) it has been available 6+ months on the LEGO Shop at Home after the other 2013 technics sets retired (42009 excepted of course). Poor seller.

- meanwhile... 42006 and 42007 sets (from the very same line, availabilty, etc) are already performing extremely well. I've already sold all of my 42006/7 sets with nice profits (to invest elsewhere), while in my country the 42008 is still available in some online shops (!) at MSRP and man this is a very, very bad signal.

- 2016 sets that are incoming are great, it will be even harder to sell a loser set with profits (BTW 2015 sets are meh overall, so it was easier to sell older technic sets last year).

- I'm not sure that all investors are aware of which set has the potential to be a good one and which set hasn't, so I would fear that the offers for this set will be too large compared with demands.

- In my opinion, 30% profits are the minimum ROI you can expect otherwise it's a waste of time (money could be invested elsewhere to get 40-50% profits within a year or so). Meaning a set bought $139, once you consider ebay and paypal fees, has to be sold for $205 (+$15 shipping). How many time, since now, will you have to seat on your set to see it reach such a price ? 2, 3 years ? Right now sellers are struggling to resell this (retired) set on ebay at MSRP...

 

Note that these points apply to europe, maybe it's different in the USA but I really don't think so...

Edited January 31, 20169 yr by biniou

Thank you for your detailed advice! My gut feeling told me to not buy it, especially because it was not discounted.

If 42007 is a great performer, don't you think that 42036 will be performing similar?  I just got one for me to build and put on my desk at work as I am a motorcycle rider myself. I'd assume that other riders who like to build Legos (especially in the winter months when the bike is in storage) will appreciate this model. Is it the wiser way to go?

7 hours ago, Calli said:

If 42007 is a great performer, don't you think that 42036 will be performing similar?  I just got one for me to build and put on my desk at work as I am a motorcycle rider myself. I'd assume that other riders who like to build Legos (especially in the winter months when the bike is in storage) will appreciate this model. Is it the wiser way to go?

I was wondering about that, too, but this model isn't as appealing as the 42007 set IMO.

I think it will be a nice investment, but not as much as the 42007 (2013). If you're ok to invest in such small sets you can go for it, though it's a bit early (don't be in a hurry and wait for a nice discount).

Note that previous motorcycles are 8051 (from 2010), 8291 (from 2008, 42007 is sort of a remake of this one), and 8420 (2005). We can suppose the next model after the 42036 (2015) will be a X-trail or a muscle bike, on 2017/2018.

Edited February 2, 20169 yr by biniou

Why did 42008 stick around for an extra year if it was not a good seller? They just produce too many maybe?

34 minutes ago, MarxMarvelous said:

Why did 42008 stick around for an extra year if it was not a good seller? They just produce too many maybe?

Not a whole extra year (more around 6 months) but it has been avalaible after the others were sold out. Too much sets produced considering the low demand, that would be my guess.

1 hour ago, MarxMarvelous said:

Why did 42008 stick around for an extra year if it was not a good seller? They just produce too many maybe?

Zero demand from tow truck company CEOs ?  They'd rather be outside making money when it is snowy/icy/wet/slick

Got mine at 50% off and looking to sell €120. Few queries but no one matching yet.