My husband very recently passed away and he was an avid Lego collector. We have many kits that have been built, and the Lego's all co-mingled. How do I go about knowing the value of these? All instruction books are still available.  We have also added to the loose pieces with yard sale finds and Lego store buys. He delighted in just buying the Lego's after he had torn down his initial very large set up. One yard sale I came upon a bucket of minifigs, and he was just besides himself. I love that he found so much joy in this. But now I need to know what to do with everything as eventually I will need to downsize.

Thank you.

sorry for your loss. are you able to provide pictures ?

Not yet, as I have to put it all together yet. He has his Legos in two different areas in the house and it will take me time to bring the Lego's all to one place to do that. I just didn't know where to start.

Sorry for your loss. Bricklink.com is a great resource for judging the value of sets, but you will still need to have an idea of what you have so you can search appropriately. Otherwise you're just guessing or scrolling through looking for your sets.

As mentioned above, if you posted some photos here everyone should be able to identify most of it if it's assembled. Will help you get a better idea of what you have.

Post a pic of all the instruction books

Thank you. I have lots of sets that have never been assembled, and lot of bricks, etc. that are loose and have been assembled, then dissembled. At one time we were working at sorting them all to set up a Lego workroom for him to just freestyle, but that never came to full fruition.

I can do that sooner than later. Thank you for that suggestion.

Our condolences for your loss.

If you are unfamiliar with the wide variety of LEGO parts, another good resource is Tom Alphin's Brick Labels (http://brickarchitect.com/labels/  --- the contact sheet PDF file contains a printable letter-sized paper version) which can help you identify loose bricks.  Each picture has the part name and number, which matches the description on bricklink.

Depending on your time frame, one thing to consider is that it's often easier/faster (although not a lucrative) to sell things off as bulk lots rather than trying to rebuild the sets.

But to start, posting pictures or a spreadsheet with the set numbers from the instruction books is a good first step to identifying what you have.

 

Thank you. And thank you all for the advice. I am not in a hurry, just didn't know where to start and I appreciate the help immensely. Now I have a starting point and can began to get organized.

My condolences.
As for a starting point you should decide how you want to sell it. You basically have two options: as quickly as possible, or maximize profit.
In order to maximize profit, you will need to catalogue the Lego you have as thoroughly as possible. There is plenty of grey in between the two options because of time. There is a point where you spend so much time, it’s not worth the value.

Here’s what you can do. Gather any unopened sets, they will have the most value. Pictures would be nice if you want to sell to us, but really set numbers are all you need.
Next, gather all of your manuals/boxes. Record the set numbers.
BrickPicker has a great feature called “lot calculator”. It’s very easy to use, just input the set numbers. It will give you values for the sets. The values are not very accurate, but they will help you determine which sets are more valuable than others.
So if you have to start gathering pieces for a previously assembled set, you can just seek out the most valuable sets. The rest you can auction off, or sell in bulk.

That’s what I’d do. I hope this helps.

Sorry for your loss. A few scenario comes to mind:

• What do you think your husband would want to do with it? Pass it down to his children or grand-children or you think he would of eventually sell it?
• Base on the instruction booklets, see what eBay value is, assume no parts are missing and you are willing to take the time and effort to list all sets, take pictures and deal with shipping and possibly customers complaining about missing parts that you don't even know it is and end up having to deal with refunds or chargebacks.
• The easiest and hassle free is to take a few good pictures with everything. Complete builds, loose parts, instruction booklets and just do a lot sale in your local craighlist/kijiji. Know your total value base on your eBay research then offer a discount for the lot since it's cash and no shipping, it will be worth giving a bit of discount.

Edited June 14, 20187 yr by tacsniper

Thank you ALL for the very considerate and helpful suggestions. It really helps to know what direction(s) I could take. I will be using all the info to better work through the Legos. He loved them so. Unfortunately, the "children" are not interested and there are no grandkids. Thank you again. It is so very much appreciated.

He loved them so. Unfortunately, the "children" are not interested and there are no grandkids. Thank you again. It is so very much appreciated.

Others have already touched on the various methods to move Lego, so I've got nothing to add to those excellent suggestions, but what you just said is why I would box it all up and store it.

It sounds like Lego was your husbands passion. The kids might say now that they don't want them, but all kids go through their "dark ages" when Lego isn't very high on their interest level. Twenty years from now when they are going through the attic and they come across their fathers old collection I bet they will be grateful that you held onto it. It will bring back many great memories. Unless you absolutely need the money, I'd consider hanging onto it.

I wish you the best with whatever direction you decide to take.

Thank you for another perspective. Everyone here has been very kind and considerate in the replies and have given me a lot to think about.