For the mid price investor... what are the "can't miss" sets to start buying?

29.99 up to 49.99 sets or so.

So far the new Hulk Lab Smash and Captain America vs Hydra sets look really good due to the new minifigs in them. Haven't seen much of anything else yet. The new Star Wars sets are lame so nothing there. 

I assume you mean new sets being released this year? If that is the case, at this point I`d say very little/nothing.  Buying now is way to early for most of this stuff. There are a couple that, we can only speculate, may be in higher demand come Christmas, but potentially too early to tell. For investing, trying and focus on sets that have been out a year or more, that stuff will be gone much quicker. Buying new sets now, unless you get a solid discount or are able to quick-flip them doesn`t really emulate a solid investment strategy. You want a quicker, larger, faster return if possible, and if there are sets you really like now, keep an eye on them to purchase closer to their EOL 

I assume you mean new sets being released this year? If that is the case, at this point I`d say very little/nothing.  Buying now is way to early for most of this stuff. There are a couple that, we can only speculate, may be in higher demand come Christmas, but potentially too early to tell. For investing, trying and focus on sets that have been out a year or more, that stuff will be gone much quicker. Buying new sets now, unless you get a solid discount or are able to quick-flip them doesn`t really emulate a solid investment strategy. You want a quicker, larger, faster return if possible, and if there are sets you really like now, keep an eye on them to purchase closer to their EOL 

 

Well said, but is this taking into account any sets that might fly off the shelves? I'm still new to the game, but have there been any examples of sets that were highly sought after, and retired fast without ever seeing sale time? I'm talking sets like Captain America's Avenging Cycle, Wolverine's Chopper Showdown, and the Hulk Helicarrier Breakout.

Friends and Disney Princess sets should be good. 

Well said, but is this taking into account any sets that might fly off the shelves? I'm still new to the game, but have there been any examples of sets that were highly sought after, and retired fast without ever seeing sale time? I'm talking sets like Captain America's Avenging Cycle, Wolverine's Chopper Showdown, and the Hulk Helicarrier Breakout.

Yes, there are quite a few examples of this. It`s definitely possible to predict, that takes a skilled eye or just dumb luck, but I was mainly referring to investing in sets in general. These highly sought after sets are few and far between, and absolutely there is the possibility to make a large amount of money. If you think you know of a set that will be in high demand like those listed, Minecraft, etc, absolutely stock up early. There is nothing wrong with holding sets longer, that depends on your personal amount of cash flow. If you can sink money in for longer periods of time comfortably, do it, that`s awesome   Goes for anyone. Those sets you mentioned there had a reasonable shelf life. For some reason a small, for lack of better word, "bubble" formed around them and the price inflated very quickly. They were literally available 1 day and gone the next. People panicked and bought in. 

 

I guess to directly answer your question, that opinion of mine doesn`t really fit the context of these kind of sets. More so for the general sets that will retire and gradually rise over time. There aren`t any 100% guarantees, it`s very much a combination of skill and gamble, but the rewards can be quite substantial if you do it right. I`m still earning myself, and that`s only one perspective. There are lots more, I`m just saying as a general rule, you want to buy sets as close to retirement as possible while trying to get the largest discounts. Not an absolute by any means, more so just a rule of thumb to apply with most sets.