How do you track the value of your LEGO collection over time?

[royalfan]

I’ve been trying to get a clearer picture of how my collection is actually performing over time, and I’ve found spreadsheets pretty limiting.

They’re fine for tracking purchase price, but once you try to:
- keep values consistent
- calculate ROI properly
- track changes over time

…it starts to get messy quickly.

Another issue I ran into is that a lot of price references are based on listings rather than actual sold prices, which doesn’t always reflect reality.

And being based outside the US, I also found constantly converting values into my local currency pretty tedious.

Curious how others here are handling this?

Are you using spreadsheets, any specific tools, or just tracking things more casually?

—

I ended up building a simple tool for myself to solve this (mainly using BrickLink sold data and keeping everything in one currency), but I’m more interested in how others are approaching it.

[SpacePolice89]

For me it is the opposite. I have no interest in the value of the sets I own because I don't see them as investments and only buy sets that I like and want. I focus more on the value of sets that I want to buy and try to buy them if the price is low or reasonable. I mostly use Bricklink for checking prices. 

[Toastie]

13 hours ago, royalfan said:

Curious how others here are handling this?

Not anymore. Why not - here we go:

1965 - At age 3, I got my first LEGO set, 323. My parents got me some smaller LEGO sets later on, money was a serious family issue.

1996 - Dark ages faded, I had a "job". My daughter was born. Looked into Duplo ...

1998 - Mindstorms ... barely could afford it (my wife is responsible for me getting it)

Years, or better decades, later - I tried the Brickset inventory thing, just to get an idea, what "it" is worth ... quite some LEGO stuff assembled, as my wife and I had a job ...

2024 - I realized that the competition is doing so much better than LEGO ever will.

2025 - Last entry on Brickset inventory thing. It simply does not make any sense anymore. Old LEGO is good LEGO, but all the new stuff is mostly expensive LEGO garbage.

2026 - Whatever "it" is worth, it will go to my now two daughters, or to charity, or into the trash can. 

As of today, I am enjoying my LEGO world every second. For me, it is - part of my life, I never want to miss. For others, it may very well be - ABS.

Which is absolutely OK! 

Best regards
Thorsten 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Toastie