Does anyone buy Lego but not open or sell it?

[ks6349]

Does anyone buy Lego but not open or sell it most of time? 

I have been buying hundreds of sets in recent years but 98% of them are not opened or sold.

Normally when I have time, I take them out, look at the boxes, and put them back into the wardrobe where my Lego sets are kept.

For the 2% that I will open and play, the box is usually damaged or in bad condition. For perfect or nice box, I really don't want to open them.

Is it a psychological problem?

But I enjoy this habit so much and doesn't feel any pain. Does anyone here do the same?

Edited October 14, 2022 by ks6349

[MAB]

This is called sealed box collecting and plenty of people do it, with variations to it.

If I am going to keep a set sealed, I normally buy two. One to open and enjoy, the other to keep sealed. Probably plus a few more sealed sets to sell once retired.

[Feuer Zug]

I have a few sets sealed to remind me of places I got them, but not many. The Billund Airport is one such set. Like @MAB, I got a the maximum allowed. Built one, saved one, and not sure what I'm going to do with the third. I might have the shelf above a small closet with unopened sets.

[1963maniac]

It's a good investment. Generally. better than you can do on the stock market.

You know one thing I don't understand is people throwing away the boxes? I mean a set is bought for kids or whatever, and the box is thrown away. Those long lost boxes are what makes the set worth more as time passes. And, what about those building instructions too?

[Yperio_Bricks]

15 minutes ago, 1963maniac said:

You know one thing I don't understand is people throwing away the boxes? I mean a set is bought for kids or whatever, and the box is thrown away. Those long lost boxes are what makes the set worth more as time passes. And, what about those building instructions too?

I am one of those who throw away boxes  I also throw away instructions. Actually paper is a resource and gets recycled  Personally i don't care about the value of a set as it is a hobby i want to enjoy for the rest of my life. For me it is not an investment and i will never sell my Lego.

[MAB]

1 hour ago, 1963maniac said:

It's a good investment. Generally. better than you can do on the stock market.

You know one thing I don't understand is people throwing away the boxes? I mean a set is bought for kids or whatever, and the box is thrown away. Those long lost boxes are what makes the set worth more as time passes. And, what about those building instructions too?

Opened modern small sets are never going to be worth much, with or without the box. Having the box will not make a huge difference in the future. There are just too many sealed sets and those are what future collectors will want if they care about the box. Whereas people that want the (used) set won't care about the box. It is not like the pre-2000 days when it was uncommon for someone to buy then store new sets. I've also sold many older boxes and instructions to collectors piecing together vintage sets. That is only possible since many were destroyed once the set was opened. These days huge numbers of people are investing in new sets that are kept sealed. I have recycled 1000s of set boxes after parting them out for sale. To have stored them all would have cost way more than their value.

I can understand keeping the boxes of larger sets although even with these, boxes are unlikely to make a huge difference in the future again due to how many people are storing perfect sealed sets that future collectors will have access to. And if they buy to display the set, they are unlikely to care about the box.

[The Brick Boss]

I always open my Lego. 

[Johnny1360]

46 minutes ago, Poodabricks said:

I always open my Lego. 

Guilty of the same, also only save maybe 10% of the boxes, they take up far too much space, in my world anyway, lol. I even mix up my parts with parts from other sets, unless It is an absolute great set or a highly collectable set that I just pick up without really looking for. I do hang on to the instructions though, which are quite heavy and also take up valuable space in my micro apartment.

As far as value, I think far too many people overestimate the value of LEGO, I doubt seriously any of my LEGO sales  will amount to anything other than some pocket change.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Johnny1360

[ks6349]

It's a big misunderstanding that boxes will take up a lot of space. I think many Lego boxes, if not all, are designed to be so compact that there wouldn't be too much space left. Space is money, no one wants a box bigger than necessary, TLG wouldn't want, retailers wouldn't want, normal fans wouldn't want. You can use the original box to keep and sort a played set very well, unless you mix up one set with another but in that case, you would probably have to mix up many sets together in a big container or otherwise, there wouldn't be any real reduction in storage space. Only in this way you are going to save up the space but it will be a big headache when you want to build the sets again in the future.

Edited October 14, 2022 by ks6349

[RichardGoring]

14 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

It's a big misunderstanding that boxes will take up a lot of space. I think many Lego boxes, if not all, are designed to be so compact that there wouldn't be too much space left. Space is money, no one wants a box bigger than necessary, TLG wouldn't want, retailers wouldn't want, normal fans wouldn't want. You can use the original box to keep and sort a played set very well, unless you mix up one set with another but in that case, you would probably have to mix up many sets together in a big container or otherwise, there wouldn't be any real reduction in storage space. Only in this way you are going to save up the space but it will be a big headache when you want to build the sets again in the future.

My experience has been that you save a lot of space with lose bricks in bags compared to the space a box takes up. While I agree that space is money, you also have to consider that as an expensive product, people often expect to get something of a decent size for they money, so box size has an impact on consumer psychology in the store.

[ks6349]

4 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

My experience has been that you save a lot of space with lose bricks in bags compared to the space a box takes up. While I agree that space is money, you also have to consider that as an expensive product, people often expect to get something of a decent size for they money, so box size has an impact on consumer psychology in the store.

But the fact is many Lego boxes are not in a significantly bigger size than necessary. Booklets and brick bags are often very compactly packed in a box.

[Johnny1360]

15 hours ago, ks6349 said:

But the fact is many Lego boxes are not in a significantly bigger size than necessary. Booklets and brick bags are often very compactly packed in a box.

It is odd, to me, you see it that way. In my experience, you could easily pack two sets worth of bricks into most all boxes. Even flattened the boxes are very large and stacks of different sized boxes become unwieldy and space consuming. Not sure where you live either but around here cardboard and paper make a wonderful home for rodents and insects as well. I will say this though if I were interested in reselling LEGO it would definitely still be in an unopened box, or new. As far as opened sets, I still maintain that box saving is a waste of time and money 90% of the time. If I want the box I would always buy new.

[LegendaryArticuno]

On 10/14/2022 at 6:28 AM, ks6349 said:

Does anyone buy Lego but not open or sell it most of time? 

I have been buying hundreds of sets in recent years but 98% of them are not opened or sold.

Normally when I have time, I take them out, look at the boxes, and put them back into the wardrobe where my Lego sets are kept.

For the 2% that I will open and play, the box is usually damaged or in bad condition. For perfect or nice box, I really don't want to open them.

Is it a psychological problem?

But I enjoy this habit so much and doesn't feel any pain. Does anyone here do the same?

Yes, it's called mental illness. If all you do is take the box and look at it then store it away with no purpose, then you have a problem.

Just writing this post should raise some red flags for someone with rational thought and spark some change.

 

[ks6349]

16 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

It is odd, to me, you see it that way. In my experience, you could easily pack two sets worth of bricks into most all boxes. Even flattened the boxes are very large and stacks of different sized boxes become unwieldy and space consuming. Not sure where you live either but around here cardboard and paper make a wonderful home for rodents and insects as well. I will say this though if I were interested in reselling LEGO it would definitely still be in an unopened box, or new. As far as opened sets, I still maintain that box saving is a waste of time and money 90% of the time. If I want the box I would always buy new.

I think cardboard and paper will only make a wonderful home for rodents and insects if they are wet and dirty. I throw away dirty boxes and keep only nice boxes.

[JaBaCaDaBra]

On 10/14/2022 at 4:29 PM, Yperio_Bricks said:

I am one of those who throw away boxes  I also throw away instructions. Actually paper is a resource and gets recycled  Personally i don't care about the value of a set as it is a hobby i want to enjoy for the rest of my life. For me it is not an investment and i will never sell my Lego.

No my cats get them first....
They LOVE empty boxes.

[Peppermint_M]

11 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

Yes, it's called mental illness. If all you do is take the box and look at it then store it away with no purpose, then you have a problem.

Just writing this post should raise some red flags for someone with rational thought and spark some change.

So, does the fact that I like to line up my Hotwheels cars by casting and then stack them back in their box mean I have a mental illness? Or is it actually a case of being neurodivergent, that it is a "nice thing" for my brain to line up toy cars. I am very aware that I am not neurotypical, as such I know that some days it is good to just set out and arrange something until my head is at peace. There is nothing wrong with doing that in any collection. Be it a figure collection, a LEGO collection or a Library of books. 

I hope that this is a case of language barrier and not malice.

 

1 hour ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

No my cats get them first....
They LOVE empty boxes.

We need pictures! Cats in LEGO boxes are certainly something that belongs on a LEGO forum...

[Erik Leppen]

1 hour ago, Peppermint_M said:

So, does the fact that I like to line up my Hotwheels cars by casting and then stack them back in their box mean I have a mental illness? Or is it actually a case of being neurodivergent, that it is a "nice thing" for my brain to line up toy cars. I am very aware that I am not neurotypical, as such I know that some days it is good to just set out and arrange something until my head is at peace. There is nothing wrong with doing that in any collection. Be it a figure collection, a LEGO collection or a Library of books. 

Except that I would think that storing boxes filled with Lego is a pretty darn expensive way to enjoy boxes. I mean, if OP wants to enjoy boxes, sure go ahead, but why then not just buy empty boxes on Bricklink for a fraction of the cost, or open their boxes and sell the contents to get most of their money back and make their hobby an order of magnitude cheaper?

I think if someone buys a Lego box, and then doesn't use the part that has the value for everyone else - the contents - then I would say this person has a problem judging the value of things and a really expensive way to enjoy boxes. Of course I can't look into their room to see if we're talking 10 City sets or a room full of exclusives, but in any case they're not using 90%+ of the monetary value and could save a buttload of money by making a rather small change to their hobby.

In any case, there's lots of unused bricks lying around waiting to be built with... At least you (peppermint_m) are actually using the cars - not just their packaging.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Erik Leppen

[MAB]

On 10/14/2022 at 11:13 PM, RichardGoring said:

My experience has been that you save a lot of space with lose bricks in bags compared to the space a box takes up. While I agree that space is money, you also have to consider that as an expensive product, people often expect to get something of a decent size for they money, so box size has an impact on consumer psychology in the store.

I've opened 1000s of sets and have the same experience. And often if I won't be parting them out for a while but selling off the minifigs straight away, I'll open them up and store the parts back in the boxes, typically requiring less than half.

6 hours ago, Erik Leppen said:

Except that I would think that storing boxes filled with Lego is a pretty darn expensive way to enjoy boxes. I mean, if OP wants to enjoy boxes, sure go ahead, but why then not just buy empty boxes on Bricklink for a fraction of the cost, or open their boxes and sell the contents to get most of their money back and make their hobby an order of magnitude cheaper?

I think if someone buys a Lego box, and then doesn't use the part that has the value for everyone else - the contents - then I would say this person has a problem judging the value of things and a really expensive way to enjoy boxes. Of course I can't look into their room to see if we're talking 10 City sets or a room full of exclusives, but in any case they're not using 90%+ of the monetary value and could save a buttload of money by making a rather small change to their hobby.

 

Some people enjoy knowing they have a mint condition product, exactly as it left the factory. Enjoying the box doesn't necessarily mean enjoying the box art. It means enjoying the sealed box. If you open it up and sell the contents, you have an empty box which is useless to someone that collects sealed boxes.

[Toastie]

On 10/15/2022 at 12:19 AM, ks6349 said:

But the fact is many Lego boxes are not in a significantly bigger size than necessary. Booklets and brick bags are often very compactly packed in a box.

I believe, this simply depends on what you personally define as "compactly packed boxes".

I have some experience with the Dark Side (as in BB Specials); with these, "compactly packed boxes" may actually become what it means: A package with close to zero space in it. These folks also don't print any glossy stuff on the box: It is just cardboard with a small sticker on it for identification. Just ordered a €150 BB Specials set for a friend - about 3000 pieces. The box is 50x30x20 cm3. I am not aware of >any< LEGO box for this piece count (and there are hardly 1x1 pieces in there, believe me, it is a large functional building) even coming remotely close to this small size. They are usually inflated in volume by a factor of 2 up-to 3 (have such TLG sets as well).

I just want to get this into the clear. As far as I have learned over 58 years of the LEGO experience, TLG has - for decade after decade - sold more and more valuable air in their boxes. Size matters, as always. Be it just the box. They are not alone - the more expensive the product, the more inflated the box - everywhere. As LEGO becomes more and more expensive, so do the boxes. At constant piece count. Not astounding for a globally operating for profit enterprise, calling themselves "premium".

Keeping boxes is absolutely fine. Keeping them closed is fine. Just do whatever is feeling fine - to you!!! That is all what counts.

I have - well - this and that from TLG. I have kept only one part of a box - and put it up on one of my walls: The front of the LEGO Mindstorms 1.0 RIS - because it changed everything for me. All other boxes went into the recycling bin (OK, back then it was the trash). Hopefully, they make other boxes from them.

Best,
Thorsten   

 

[ks6349]

9 hours ago, Toastie said:

I believe, this simply depends on what you personally define as "compactly packed boxes".

I have some experience with the Dark Side (as in BB Specials); with these, "compactly packed boxes" may actually become what it means: A package with close to zero space in it. These folks also don't print any glossy stuff on the box: It is just cardboard with a small sticker on it for identification. Just ordered a €150 BB Specials set for a friend - about 3000 pieces. The box is 50x30x20 cm3. I am not aware of >any< LEGO box for this piece count (and there are hardly 1x1 pieces in there, believe me, it is a large functional building) even coming remotely close to this small size. They are usually inflated in volume by a factor of 2 up-to 3 (have such TLG sets as well).

I just want to get this into the clear. As far as I have learned over 58 years of the LEGO experience, TLG has - for decade after decade - sold more and more valuable air in their boxes. Size matters, as always. Be it just the box. They are not alone - the more expensive the product, the more inflated the box - everywhere. As LEGO becomes more and more expensive, so do the boxes. At constant piece count. Not astounding for a globally operating for profit enterprise, calling themselves "premium".

Keeping boxes is absolutely fine. Keeping them closed is fine. Just do whatever is feeling fine - to you!!! That is all what counts.

I have - well - this and that from TLG. I have kept only one part of a box - and put it up on one of my walls: The front of the LEGO Mindstorms 1.0 RIS - because it changed everything for me. All other boxes went into the recycling bin (OK, back then it was the trash). Hopefully, they make other boxes from them.

Best,
Thorsten   

 

Many people have overlooked the fact that some space within the box is important to serve as a buffer to reduce the likelihood of scratching or even breaking the parts during transportation, and before opening. In case it's really so tightly packed, chances are some parts may break or get scratched very badly.

[Toastie]

2 hours ago, ks6349 said:

In case it's really so tightly packed, chances are some parts may break or get scratched very badly

True - but the Dark Side is stuffing the DHL box around the set box with some minor recycled "buffer paper". (Or you pick them up in one of their stores - all in Germany - so I guess damage by denting (as in breaking things) is not much of an issue. Can confirm that by experience ) 

With regard to having parts in bags flying around in a spacey box: I guess with enough space for acceleration, the impact of one bag onto another upon tossing around the set box is even worse. Just my guess, though, as I am not that much into perfect glossy surfaces. I scratch my bricks and plates upon repeated assembly/disassembly anyway .

Best,
Thorsten

 

[MAB]

If the appearance of the box on a shelf was not very important, then they'd make the boxes as close to cubic as possible to save on packaging material and weight for the same volume. The fact that most boxes are large and somewhat flat (two dimensions large and one dimension small) implies that the image area shown on a shelf is important. Of course brickheadz goes against this, presumably as they want the branding of those sets to be seen as more cubic.

[ks6349]

3 hours ago, Toastie said:

True - but the Dark Side is stuffing the DHL box around the set box with some minor recycled "buffer paper". (Or you pick them up in one of their stores - all in Germany - so I guess damage by denting (as in breaking things) is not much of an issue. Can confirm that by experience ) 

With regard to having parts in bags flying around in a spacey box: I guess with enough space for acceleration, the impact of one bag onto another upon tossing around the set box is even worse. Just my guess, though, as I am not that much into perfect glossy surfaces. I scratch my bricks and plates upon repeated assembly/disassembly anyway .

Best,
Thorsten

 

I can immediately imagine that if bags of bricks are too tightly packed in a box, friction and action-and-reaction force will be so big during transportation, drop or flip-around. However, it shouldn't be enough to cause any real damage but it is likely to see more scratches on the surface of bricks.

[MAB]

If anything, parts that cannot move are less likely to get scratched than those that can, unless you are forcibly crushing the parts together. The size of the bags and number of parts inside is more about packing and sealing them. If there was not much room left in a bag once the parts had been randomly dropped into it, then there is a chance that parts would spill out if they had a different arrangement inside the bag. Plus, there needs to be enough room to crimp and seal the bag without getting the heat sealing jaws near the parts. Both these things means bags will be partially filled instead of completely full. Then when it comes to putting bags into boxes, they don't want to waste time having to arrange bags within a box to get them all in. if one bag is put in at the wrong angle on top of another bag creating a void, they don't want to have to remove everything before repacking it all. Better to use a bigger box than necessary so even if a blockage occurs, they will still all go in. I imagine that is why there is so much air space inside the boxes.

[TeriXeri]

At least for the last 2 years or so, in my experience, boxes have less empty space air in them and feel more "full".

Edited October 17, 2022 by TeriXeri