New Zealand: "Where to find Lego"

[pigpen]

Anyone in Wellington know about the Lego expo this weekend coming? there is a sign on the Basin side of Mt Vic tunnel advertising it.

[Coopa182]

Had a chat to the folks at Tauranga TW about the Simpsons set and figs - they reckon June.

Just ordered a box from Toyco. 20% off so will keep a set plus a few extras, then flick the rest off on TradeMe :-)

[harmacy]

Just ordered a box from Toyco. 20% off so will keep a set plus a few extras, then flick the rest off on TradeMe :-)

Is that shipping now? I see the expected date is 21 May.

[Coopa182]

Is that shipping now? I see the expected date is 21 May.

Pre-order so it would be nice to have them within 3 weeks :-)

[Legoman]

Has anyone else looked at that Star Wars UCS collection on Trademe? Sheesh. The guy is asking a mint for them. Not a bad collection, but I'll be very surprised if he gets a local buyer at that price.

[harmacy]

Yeah - saw that. I too will be very surprised if it does go as is. He would be way better off selling separately, as there would be people around who need 1 or 2 sets to complete their collections - like ME!

I'd hope for that price they are in top condition too - no ageing, yellowing, damage, missing parts etc.

Oh well - good luck to him!

[vmln8r]

I'm actually not in NZ now, but I'm curious about that Wellington show. Went to one at Capital E last year that disappointingly didn't have a single MOC, just collections of stuff built straight from the box.

And yeah, that auction seems excessive; I wonder how it compares to BL data. From what I know, it's only the UCS MF and ISD that are worth the big money, right? I wish people would realise there are better investments out there than Lego, it would make browsing through TradeMe much more efficient.

[harmacy]

The Q&A on the auction are pretty entertaining...

I'll be honest, and say that if I could could get $20k for my UCS set collection, I'd sell them in a heartbeat. Is that bad?

[vmln8r]

Indeed it is. Very curious to see if it sells.

No, at least not for you, and I would do the same (if I had Star Wars); you'd be getting a lot more money than the collection's actual value. But that's a one off; and each to their own, but I simply cannot understand the logic of those who look at Lego purely as a monetary investment.

[nk4002r]

The Wellington show was great fun for little kids. As far as I can tell only 3 person's collection were displayed:

1) The local Toy World manager had most of the large UCS, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Eiffel tower on display along with 2 Lego store displays (2013 Star Wars figure line up and another with 2 smaller EP3 sets).

2) There was another person with a MOC train and building combo plus a line up of some of the most impressive Technic larger sized cars (2x Silver champions, 4 x 4 and the red car) plus some tractor (including a very early and the modern red with the green attachment) and backhoe loaders plus motorized bulldozer and excavator. And the original Technic space shuttle, very nice collection, although some sets were dusty.

3) There were a couple MOC Yellow Cranes including a really interesting MOC fly-jib (?) attachment on the latest motorized Mobile Crane - very cool.

About 1/3rd of the school gym was fenced off and had tons of Lego parts for kids to build and enter into the National Building competition with a streamlined photo process - every entrant received a Lego Movie promo polybag. Some age group (7-8 year old) speed building competition had mini police helicopter polybag handouts. Those 2 events were run by 2 Lego employees? There was also a Ronald McDonald show - but I didn't see that, but noticed the actors. The event was ran by Rotary club and the entry fee was $2.

I was also impressed by the huge collection of Lego advertising sails displayed - Bricklink calls them retail display flag - there must have been 50 of those...

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Unfortunately lots of TM novice sellers use the Amazon Market Place asking prices as valid sales data. More realistic would be to use the Bricklink completed sales information. I bought high-priced UCS X-Wing and Star Wars Technic sets from non-Lego-fans that were missing lots, had damaged (cracked or faded) pieces (plus modern color replacements) - but were priced according the international standards. I intended them for my collection, but was shocked at the bad condition... I am not saying that the UCS collection is in bad condition.

Edited May 6, 2014 by nk4002r

[harmacy]

Where was the show held?

[nk4002r]

http://www.karorirotary.org.nz/events/lego-expo/

[pigpen]

I too was at the expo, I think the room was a bit small for the crowd but the right size for the display. There was not much advertising for it, only one I seen was on the fence by the Mt Vic tunnel. But I do have to hand it to McDonalds marketing team. There was a smell in the Hall of a McDonalds restaurant but not a burger or fry to be seen. I am sure if they put a call out next year a lot of us AFOL's would be more than happy to show off our MOC's etc.

[kiwishark]

Evening all!

I found a box of the Simpsons minifigures in Whitcoulls Takapuna today. Grabbed 2 bags. 2 Milhouses. Bother!

Box was pretty full.

[Nikkiwi]

Is anyone else who took their kids to see the LEGO movie sick of hearing "Everything is awesome" yet? or is it just my ones who sing it incessantly?

[harmacy]

I have a a feeling I'm about to get flamed..... Ive just seen that big UCS auction was relisted. I asked this question -

'Hey - constructive feedback here - check out brickpicker.com for a great indication of what these sets SELL for on ebay. Good luck with the sale.'

Ive got a brickfolio for all of my sets - including all of the ones he is selling, plus a few more (Grievous, Imp shuttle, Naboo, SSD, B wing...) and my used value comes in at USD $6200 or around NZD $7200.

People need to realise there is a MASSIVE difference of value between sets that are advertised and sets that sell. Ive seen some UCS MF's that are supposedly AFA graded that are advertised for USD $10000. Do they sell? I doubt it.

Oh well. Perhaps he is asking for more so he doesnt have to sell them:)

[Legoman]

I have a a feeling I'm about to get flamed..... Ive just seen that big UCS auction was relisted. I asked this question -

'Hey - constructive feedback here - check out brickpicker.com for a great indication of what these sets SELL for on ebay. Good luck with the sale.'

Ive got a brickfolio for all of my sets - including all of the ones he is selling, plus a few more (Grievous, Imp shuttle, Naboo, SSD, B wing...) and my used value comes in at USD $6200 or around NZD $7200.

People need to realise there is a MASSIVE difference of value between sets that are advertised and sets that sell. Ive seen some UCS MF's that are supposedly AFA graded that are advertised for USD $10000. Do they sell? I doubt it.

Oh well. Perhaps he is asking for more so he doesnt have to sell them:)

Heh,

It'll be interesting to see how/if he responds to that. He doesn't seem to like people telling him that they're not worth that much :P

I considered making a comment but figured I didn't want to get flamed either. I'll just think positively that he seriously doesn't want to sell them

In other news, next weekend is toyworld's big 'you choose the discount' promo. I'm planning to grab the Simpsons house if I can! Plus maybe the Technic crane..

[nk4002r]

I have a a feeling I'm about to get flamed..... Ive just seen that big UCS auction was relisted. I asked this question -

'Hey - constructive feedback here - check out brickpicker.com for a great indication of what these sets SELL for on ebay. Good luck with the sale.'

Ive got a brickfolio for all of my sets - including all of the ones he is selling, plus a few more (Grievous, Imp shuttle, Naboo, SSD, B wing...) and my used value comes in at USD $6200 or around NZD $7200.

People need to realise there is a MASSIVE difference of value between sets that are advertised and sets that sell. Ive seen some UCS MF's that are supposedly AFA graded that are advertised for USD $10000. Do they sell? I doubt it.

Oh well. Perhaps he is asking for more so he doesnt have to sell them:)

In all fairness, a couple of his sets are brand new... With that said - as a lot it is overpriced for my wallet and your advice is solid: brickpicker is a better price guide than what he bases the values on. On the other hand, bp is the average of US domestic eBay price, your mileage may vary after shipping them here.

I don't think the buyer has the right to comment on the pricing unless perhaps in case of a genuine offer. The best way to beat high priced sellers is to advertise the same item 50% cheaper - but I only have a couple UCS sets and I am certainly not in the position to import all these sets for resale without any profit. It doesn't sound like you want to part with your collection either.

I remember that there was a big collection of many 4-5 UCS sets and lots smaller sets from Wellington that sold for $1700 years ago on TM, but that is one of the few amazingly lucky deals.

[harmacy]

I guess Im a big believer in the market deciding the true 'fair' price, so I mostly do low reserve or even $1 reserves on most of my auctions, and let people duke it out.

In saying that, there is a UCS Falcon on TM at the mo which has a start price of $1500, BN $1800 - which I think is quite reasonable. Be nice to see some actual pics though.

Would I let my collection go? Maybe some day, but not right now - I have a Star Destroyer to build:)

[Logbo]

Some sets are really badly over priced on trademe atm.

im looking at you $820 imperial flagship

[harmacy]

In other news, next weekend is toyworld's big 'you choose the discount' promo. I'm planning to grab the Simpsons house if I can! Plus maybe the Technic crane..

Im not sure whether to get The Simpsons house or Orthanc... $279 each with the 30% voucher.

[Legoman]

Went to Toyworld today, the whole thing was a bit silly really - They 'didn't have' Simpsons house nor the MKII Crane (Or several other newer larger sets, noticeably - which they did have just a couple of days earlier). Somewhat typical of the toyworlds here in CHCH. It'll be interesting to see if they're back on the shelves after the sale.

I picked up 4 Simpsons figures and left it at that - a little unfortunate. Back to internet shopping then, I guess.

[harmacy]

Thats rough! I know personally that some TW's remove the high value stuff off shelves before these big sales. Not cool. My TW here in Tauranga is going full steam ahead with the sale and all sets are available - Simpsons house included!

Am still not sure about Orthanc or Simpsons.... Toss a coin time?

[pigpen]

Wellington TW sold out of their lot of 20 Simpson houses by 10:15 this morning. I got the last one!.

[Darth Kram]

Went to Toyworld today, the whole thing was a bit silly really - They 'didn't have' Simpsons house nor the MKII Crane (Or several other newer larger sets, noticeably - which they did have just a couple of days earlier). Somewhat typical of the toyworlds here in CHCH. It'll be interesting to see if they're back on the shelves after the sale.

I picked up 4 Simpsons figures and left it at that - a little unfortunate. Back to internet shopping then, I guess.

I'm also a bit annoyed with ToyWorld in Christchurch. Last weekend I went to pick up a Simpsons House when they had 20% off for a few hours but after talking to a salesperson I found out they were holding that and the Parisian Restaurant in the back room until the sale was over, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they're doing for this sale too. I'm still annoyed at them charging $500 for the Lego Technic 41999 Crawler when Lego direct sold it for $300 while it was available.