nana

Have you ever bought any discontinued set?

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I am fairly new to Lego, mainly interested in Lego houses or buildings. There are many sets that I would buy with no doubt if they were still in MSRP, like the Emerald Night Train, Green Grocer... However, the price of a set can be already doubled even if it has only been discontinued for one year. On one hand I could use that money to buy several more great sets, on the other hand some of the discontinued sets are so tempting. The only discontinued set I have bought now is Winter Village Toy Shop this month, since my winter village really can't miss a nice Christmas tree. Maybe it will be the only one. I know sometimes I am just torturing myself. :blush:

Edited by nana

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You can download the instructions and Bricklink the parts. If you do a little substituting for the rare ones you could probably build those sets fairly reasonably. You could do Green Grocer for about US$ 200 or so I think? I'm not quite sure as I need to look into doing one myself.

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When I got back into LEGO in '07 I bought most of the Forestmen and all Ninja sets. Deciding whether you want say 1 old set or maybe several new sets would depend on how bad you want the old set. Of course, it also could depend on when the new set came out. If it just came out, there's always going to be another opportunity for a while to get it.

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I do both, have been collecting the new sets (All kingdom before it was stopped, and now collecting LOTR) but also recollecting the older sets as they have alot of character. Means the best of both worlds (Bar my poor wallet) for me.

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You can download the instructions and Bricklink the parts. If you do a little substituting for the rare ones you could probably build those sets fairly reasonably. You could do Green Grocer for about US$ 200 or so I think? I'm not quite sure as I need to look into doing one myself.

Discontinued sets do usually (as far as I can tell) end up cheaper that way, but it's a lot of bricklinking and you'll probably need at least 10 stores or so. A friend of mine wanted to see how much the Imperial Flagship would cost that way - not including shipping, it was around 180-200 USD, which is not bad, but it took him probably at least three days of work to figure that out!

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You can download the instructions and Bricklink the parts. If you do a little substituting for the rare ones you could probably build those sets fairly reasonably. You could do Green Grocer for about US$ 200 or so I think? I'm not quite sure as I need to look into doing one myself.

For Green Grocer, if you substitute all the 1x8 sand green bricks, it would be still over $300. Then it's better to buy a used complete one at ebay for $400. Too much for me and I gave it up.

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I'm in the same situation really...pretty much everything I wanted as a youngster (and therefore still want! :snicker: ) is long since discontinued, but I never thought of using Bricklink this way. The individual pages for each set have an inventory section as well so it makes the job fairly straightforward from that point of view. Cost is going to be an issue though, since some parts are inevitably expensive due to their rarity so it could soon add up.

Modular sets seem to be particularly pricey, but I guess that's because they're very popular and have so many parts (I love the look of them too). But yeah, the Greengrocer goes for astronomical prices second-hand; I have no choice but to hope it gets reissued and pick it up then. :shrug_oh_well:

I've bought a couple of sets off the 'bay but TBH the prices there are even higher than the likes of Bricklink!

Edited by Martin_B

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I have taken the BrickLink route for those modulars that were discontinued while I was in the dark age. I haven't actually kept track of much I have spent (that way I don't have to lie if the husband asks), but I would hope it is less than buying the whole sets.

I try to keep the cost down by not buying the instructions or box and I have substituted moulds and colours for those parts that are very expensive. For example, I use dark bluish grey for the 2x8 arches, 1x2x3 windows (instead of the panels) and a black roof in my version of the cafe corner. The missing pieces are still on a wanted list (the one I call "Nice to have", as opposed to "Must-haves") and I may buy them over time.

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I have yet to buy a discontinued set. There are many sets I want from my youth that would be discontinued now, but I haven't came around to making a full-fledged purchase. I agree that bricklinking certainly can be cheaper in the long run, but it isn't always easier. It is nice to have the original box/instructions/pieces, but at the same time making small substitutions aren't always glaringly obvious. I was bricklinking Cafe Corner and Green Grocer, but then I stopped due to lack of time. But I came across the dark red roofing of CC from LEGO so that is one of the biggest things to switch. I don't really like the dark blue usage in CC, so I was going to change all of that anyway. So comparing a used CC vs bricklinked CC, I think I'll be safe to to the latter, but no it won't be a complete discontinued set. So in regard to the topic, no.

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I have a really bad habit of giving into some of the old sets. I got back into Lego about 15 months ago. Since, I have bought the Green Grocer, Cafe Corner, Emerald Night, etc. on BrickLink at 2 to 3 times the original cost. I usually wouldn't recommend it, but those three especially caught my eye. The vast majority of my purchases (minus loose piece orders for free building) are new sets.

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Absolutely, when I find a set I like, I don't care how old it is, I try to find it MISB. I've bought many older discontinued sets at premiums because I had to have them.

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I've had great success on eBay/US. Winning most of every set I wanted as a kid for prices that were very close to MSRP. The only time I ever spent something crazy was for the 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine at $330.

After returning to LEGO late '09 and buying a cheaper used GG in '10, I really wanted the first two. After almost another year, I found a gent selling his and his sons large city layout, including the first two modulars. He listed at buy all at once for $22,000. I've never seen anyone succeed in doing it all at once, so I contacted him saying I was very interested in many of his sets, but couldn't do it in one go, so he gave me his prices for what he wanted. I was lucky to get every set, most were discontinued, for retail or very close to retail. He was happy to get rid of the sets, and I for the prices. So keep an eye out for people doing this, or checkout other places like Craigslist, flea markets, garage/estate sales etc. You may get lucky :classic:

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I've had great success on eBay/US. Winning most of every set I wanted as a kid for prices that were very close to MSRP. The only time I ever spent something crazy was for the 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine at $330.

After returning to LEGO late '09 and buying a cheaper used GG in '10, I really wanted the first two. After almost another year, I found a gent selling his and his sons large city layout, including the first two modulars. He listed at buy all at once for $22,000. I've never seen anyone succeed in doing it all at once, so I contacted him saying I was very interested in many of his sets, but couldn't do it in one go, so he gave me his prices for what he wanted. I was lucky to get every set, most were discontinued, for retail or very close to retail. He was happy to get rid of the sets, and I for the prices. So keep an eye out for people doing this, or checkout other places like Craigslist, flea markets, garage/estate sales etc. You may get lucky :classic:

You were so lucky! The city where I live is not very big. It's hard to find some large Lego sets for sale. As for ebay, I'll need to be patient like you did.

Absolutely, when I find a set I like, I don't care how old it is, I try to find it MISB. I've bought many older discontinued sets at premiums because I had to have them.

That's exactly like the words a commodore will say. :)

I have a really bad habit of giving into some of the old sets. I got back into Lego about 15 months ago. Since, I have bought the Green Grocer, Cafe Corner, Emerald Night, etc. on BrickLink at 2 to 3 times the original cost. I usually wouldn't recommend it, but those three especially caught my eye. The vast majority of my purchases (minus loose piece orders for free building) are new sets.

Those three caught my eye, too. I persuade myself there will be better old fashioned trains in the future. Yesterday, I build the mini Cafe Corner. At least I could have the mini versions of them. So now, I feel peaceful. :)

I purchased my first Lego set this January, but didn't really get into Lego until I built the Fire Brigade last month. It was so amazing. Architect used to be my dream job.

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I'm currently going through a classic town phase, and have purchased 13 of the sets that I missed out on when I was younger. The most expensive one so far has been the 6399 airport shuttle, closely followed by the 2 large harbour sets.

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Well, I said this awhile back in a different thread so hope I'm not getting tiresome BUT; if we could afford everything we wanted, it would probably get boring pretty quickly, right? I'm hoping to stumble upon some sets I need dirt cheap at a garage sale some day. Green Grocer, brand new in the box for US$ 5 or something. Hey, it could happen! It works for me.

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I was lucky enough to get Green Grocer, but I missed on Cafe Corner. I did a CC later, after getting all the bricks on Bricklink (my collection was limited at that time), and it was something less than 300 EUR with no colour changing. I did the same for Market Street, but changed some bricks (from 1x8 to two 1x4s).

If you want Green Grocer, getting extra sand green would be great (there's a nice collection of it in Haunted house), as they seem to be the most expensive ones. And buying a set from BL brick by brick can be equally expensive as getting a used one, but you can buy a limited amount of bricks each week/month and not pay a huge amount all at once. I did it like that for Cafe Corner, and at the moment I had all the bricks collected in the box, I was the happiest (adult) child in the world. :grin:

For Green Grocer, if you substitute all the 1x8 sand green bricks, it would be still over $300. Then it's better to buy a used complete one at ebay for $400. Too much for me and I gave it up.

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Well, I said this awhile back in a different thread so hope I'm not getting tiresome BUT; if we could afford everything we wanted, it would probably get boring pretty quickly, right? I'm hoping to stumble upon some sets I need dirt cheap at a garage sale some day. Green Grocer, brand new in the box for US$ 5 or something. Hey, it could happen! It works for me.

Well said! I just bought Haunted House. It's also sand green. Now I am totally fine to pass GG.

I just checked your collection on Brickset. I am going to make my list, too.

I was lucky enough to get Green Grocer, but I missed on Cafe Corner. I did a CC later, after getting all the bricks on Bricklink (my collection was limited at that time), and it was something less than 300 EUR with no colour changing. I did the same for Market Street, but changed some bricks (from 1x8 to two 1x4s).

If you want Green Grocer, getting extra sand green would be great (there's a nice collection of it in Haunted house), as they seem to be the most expensive ones. And buying a set from BL brick by brick can be equally expensive as getting a used one, but you can buy a limited amount of bricks each week/month and not pay a huge amount all at once. I did it like that for Cafe Corner, and at the moment I had all the bricks collected in the box, I was the happiest (adult) child in the world. :grin:

It could be very fun to collect brick by brick. Too bad I am a busy adult who left new Town Hall in closet unopened for months. Hope when I have better income and my own house. Those sets are still on market.

Edited by nana

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I'm currently going through a classic town phase, and have purchased 13 of the sets that I missed out on when I was younger. The most expensive one so far has been the 6399 airport shuttle, closely followed by the 2 large harbour sets.

Absolutely. I want to do a modular town layout at some point, but I'm starting a 'classic' one first. It's partly as a tribute to my childhood so I can do what I wanted to do then, if that makes sense. I paid almost £400 for the Airport Shuttle including postage in the end (and I have to wait till tomorrow morning to collect it from the post office! :wall: ) but I couldn't find another one with its original box at that price, even on Bricklink. I'm sure it'll be worthwhile when I get it home!

Which leads me to another question: I know the resale prices speak volumes here, but what do fellow fans think of having the original boxes? I personally don't mind too much about the box as long as the set is complete and bricks themselves are in good condition...even the instructions are available online as a last resort. I just happened to find a lot of the boxes of my sets flattened down the other day, but I was always more worried about losing the instruction booklets. I suppose I'll thank myself if I ever feel the need to sell the sets on at a later date... :sceptic:

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Absolutely. I want to do a modular town layout at some point, but I'm starting a 'classic' one first. It's partly as a tribute to my childhood so I can do what I wanted to do then, if that makes sense. I paid almost £400 for the Airport Shuttle including postage in the end (and I have to wait till tomorrow morning to collect it from the post office! :wall: ) but I couldn't find another one with its original box at that price, even on Bricklink. I'm sure it'll be worthwhile when I get it home!

Which leads me to another question: I know the resale prices speak volumes here, but what do fellow fans think of having the original boxes? I personally don't mind too much about the box as long as the set is complete and bricks themselves are in good condition...even the instructions are available online as a last resort. I just happened to find a lot of the boxes of my sets flattened down the other day, but I was always more worried about losing the instruction booklets. I suppose I'll thank myself if I ever feel the need to sell the sets on at a later date... :sceptic:

I feel the same way as you do. I was going to throw my boxes away before I heard about resale value. Possibly those flattened boxes are of no use all my life, unless I go bankrupt or move to another country someday. Instructions are more important. But I have yet to buy any used sets. I do enjoy to cut the tape and open new plastic bags. :)

I have a question, too. If you have ever bought a used set or some used bricks, can you tell the bricks are used from the appearance? Lego is of high quality. I doubt there will be any obvious difference.

Edited by nana

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I have a question, too. If you have ever bought a used set or some used bricks, can you tell the bricks are used from the appearance? Lego is of high quality. I doubt there will be any obvious difference.

Up close, you can see minute scratches to the surface of the bricks (at least I can) but that's *really* up close with a light shining on them! So no, it's not really obvious. TBH I don't really mind whether the bricks are new or used, unless they're discoloured...apparently peroxide works on sunlight-discoloured plastic, but I've not tried it myself! EDIT: here's the article.

Edited by Martin_B

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I've purchased discontinued sets. It really depends on the price, condition and how badly I want the set.

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I've purchased discontinued sets. It really depends on the price, condition and how badly I want the set.

This basically sums up every aspect of an old set purchase.

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There's a family owned toy store where my grandparents live that still sells the last Stars wave of Bionicle sets still unopened; bought a couple of those myself.

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