Investment Value: Helicarrrier Vs. Ghostbusters Firehouse

[anothergol]

Of course you have to sell more small sets to make the same amount of money, but small sets sell quite well as many people buy them. The number of people that will pay $600 for a $200 set if there are similar $200 sets available at retail is not so high. It probably won't be too long until they redo a modular. They might

not do a cafe corner again, but a cafe on a corner (and probably look better than the original, fitting in better with more recent modulars). Or another fire station in five years time. While you can still collect them all, I imagine some people will aim to have a nice display rather than a display of everything. A row of 12 looks good. Is it necessary to spend a grand getting an earlier one when you could buy four future ones for the same price?

Except that small sets are designed to be impulse buys in stores, whereas you don't buy from BrickLink or even Ebay the same way, & even just the added shipping is a problem.

And as for modulars, I think that it makes sense to buy everything back until the Parisian restaurant, because older modulars didn't look as great & detailed & may not fully fit, while the few ones since the restaurant are great & I can imagine the future ones will remain in the same style for a long time.

Were you talking about dino sets from 2012 btw? I thought you were talking about The Lost World.

Well dinos make sense as well, not only they're timeless, but Jurassic Park keeps them alive constantly.

But, for ex, small Chima kits.. that would be the worst to invest in. Because some themes are strictly for kids, and kids grow up, and you'd have to wait 20 years until some adults will wanna buy the sets of their childhood. They will certainly be ready to pay a lot, but during those 20 years, no one will want them.

I've myself bought a Legoland Space set, it makes even more sense for them to be overexpensive, new or used.

Edited February 9, 2016 by anothergol

[Actor Builder]

Go to brickpicker, we don't need your kind here.

I second this.

If you're going to buy LEGO, buy LEGO because you like LEGO and plan to build and enjoy LEGO.

I love capitalism, but at least TRY building the sets first. If you don't love them (Highly unlikely) then sell them a few years later opened.

It will still fetch a good profit, and you'll have had fun building.

[wgemini]

I second this.

If you're going to buy LEGO, buy LEGO because you like LEGO and plan to build and enjoy LEGO.

I love capitalism, but at least TRY building the sets first. If you don't love them (Highly unlikely) then sell them a few years later opened.

It will still fetch a good profit, and you'll have had fun building.

Or buy two, build one, sell one.

[Actor Builder]

Or buy two, build one, sell one.

That is also acceptable behavior.

[Japanbuilder]

Hard to say I don't look at them as a monetary investment. My hope really is that they get passed down through the years for as long as the plastic holds up and end up as heirlooms of sorts among my kin.

I see these things fly off the shelves these days, moreso than I remember as a kid. Not sure how "rare" or valuable any of these will remain for an extremely long haul of time. If Disney is true to their word about Star Wars ,in particular that they will be belching out content and merchandise for the franchise like mad, then may well work against those sets if the market is glutted with all sorts of SW stuff. Similarly with the Marvel Universe (another Disney thing right?)

Depending on how the new Ghostbuster movie does the Firehouse seems like a better deal as something to hold on to so long as that is the only source for the figures and a lot of those building parts in that quantity.

[Captain Pirate Man]

I say this as a MASSIVE fan of the original 2 films, but I do believe that this reboot film is going to kill the Ghostbusters franchise. Not that it's been alive and well to begin with, but I do think this new film will flop, and seal the fate of the franchise. As a result, given the hefty price tag of the firehouse set to begin with, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not a "best seller". As a result, 20 years from now, it could potentially be a rarer set imo, which would only drive UP the price. I don't expect it to be worth thousands of dollars, but perhaps double or even triple face value now.

That's my 2 cents.

[wgemini]

Speaking of investment value, do you keep your expensive (but built) set on display or do you break them into pieces and MOC with them? They are way too expensive as doll houses, albeit extremely high end ones, but it will be a huge pain to find all 4600 pieces if you do decide to sell it later on.

[MAB]

Except that small sets are designed to be impulse buys in stores, whereas you don't buy from BrickLink or even Ebay the same way, & even just the added shipping is a problem.

And as for modulars, I think that it makes sense to buy everything back until the Parisian restaurant, because older modulars didn't look as great & detailed & may not fully fit, while the few ones since the restaurant are great & I can imagine the future ones will remain in the same style for a long time.

Were you talking about dino sets from 2012 btw? I thought you were talking about The Lost World.

Well dinos make sense as well, not only they're timeless, but Jurassic Park keeps them alive constantly.

Yeah, 2012 sets. I got a load of the smallest one for £2 a piece on clearance. My last ones recently sold for £15 or so. Lots of people do buy small sets on BL and ebay. There is the shipping problem, but I normally find people buy multiples of a small set.

But, for ex, small Chima kits.. that would be the worst to invest in. Because some themes are strictly for kids, and kids grow up, and you'd have to wait 20 years until some adults will wanna buy the sets of their childhood. They will certainly be ready to pay a lot, but during those 20 years, no one will want them.

I've myself bought a Legoland Space set, it makes even more sense for them to be overexpensive, new or used.

You'll be surprised. It depends on the buy in price. I bought a very large box (60 sets) of one speedorz set, at £1 a set, as I wanted some of the parts in it. The minifigs alone sold for between £1.50-£2.00 each in batches of 10, I kept the interesting parts and sold off the other parts as a job lot for about another £40. One of my best investments of last year! I wouldn't buy at RRP, but if you can get a decent price, then there is always profit.

Edited February 10, 2016 by MAB

[dr_spock]

Speaking of investment value, do you keep your expensive (but built) set on display or do you break them into pieces and MOC with them? They are way too expensive as doll houses, albeit extremely high end ones, but it will be a huge pain to find all 4600 pieces if you do decide to sell it later on.

Generally speaking for maximum return on investment, unopened sets with the box in perfect condition will fetch the most money compared to used sets.

[anothergol]

Yeah if you've opened the box, the value will plummet - just like with any other toy.

Even if your box isn't in good state, the value will go down.

And one good reason to buy an old set new in box, even if you wanna open it, is that you'll otherwise have to rely on the seller as for the quality. And "used" can mean pristine with all stickers properly applied, as it can mean dirty & discolored, missing parts & all stickers ruined.

In a way it's too bad, because parts aren't necessarily in good shape even new in box - the box can have been moved a lot and its transparent parts will be all scratched, prints on tiles can have defects, while when you have a pic of the built used set, you can check the quality.

That's why I'd like BrickLink to have the same state categories as BrickOwl - "used" can mean anything, and even "new" doesn't mean "perfect". But ok, that's for parts, since sellers generally tell about the quality of sets.

[Offsurfing]

The way I look at this is.

We bought the monster figthers series because my liked it. All 12 packs.

I bought the ghostbusters series cause I liked it. And making a marshmallow man.

My daughter Elvis cause she liked it.

My son Minecraft cause he likes it.

We opened all of them and kids play with them. If they go up in value bonus I guess. But if your kids can't pay with it what's the point to me as the kids won't make a link and memories with them. (Like my Star Wars first 12 original figures Zwingli, falcon and tie fighter my son plays with)

But I see value in things I I was thinking of investing in sets that cross two interests of collectors or more. 

Ie monster haunted house. 1. Monster Series collectors. 2. Modular collectors. 3. Ghost busters collectors. 4. Scooby Doo collectors...5. Monsters are always in fashion and the set covers almost every type of mainstream monster.

ie ghostbusters firehouse and Ecto -1. Ghostbusters collectors. 2. Modular collectors. 3. Movie buffs (ie tv series collectors). 4. Lego ideas sets approved collectors. 

Anyway that's were I would see value. Or look for value.