nerdsforprez

Investing in Lego for actual money is a fool's errand. If you do it just to get your kicks out of monitoring the ebbing and flowing of a sets value then go ahead, that certainly can be fun, but if doing for $$ stop and place your hard earned money elsewhere. I have done it for years and I enjoy it b/c I like to see the ebbing and flowing of set values. But it is not a lucrative venture. And that is coming from someone who has had and sold the old Millennium Falcon, Cafe Corner, and old Statue of Liberty and sold each for thousands (along with many others). But like I said, not lucrative... for each that has yielded good returns there are many that have flunked. And despite what you might thing, they are not predictable. Lastly, don't forget these important points. - The value of a set does not mean, at all, that you can or will sell for that amount. Stocks, which unless you are buying some really esoteric stuff, you can buy or sell at the an amount that is posted and updated to the second. A Lego set might be valued at **** dollars, but you might only get a fraction of that. Or.... if you do sell at the going value, it may take months and months to find a seller, not to mention a lot of work and effort on your part. I do not know how things are in Canada, but I have much better success selling in Europe than even here in the US. Which means sometimes I have had to wait 8-12 months to find a buyer at a price I am willing to part with my set. - Fees, fees fees. I am not, and was not creative nor did i look around for better apps or sites to sell on. I used BL. But BL charges huge fees. Same with Paypal. They quickly eat up any possible profit. - Shipping costs are only going up up and up. I do not see this balancing anytime soon, especially with globalization of the shipping industry. GL trying to predict shipping costs in 15 years. I certainly would not want to. - So many other headaches. Storage, insurance on your item (if not insuring the item outright, you sure will when you ship, which is a cost you likely will bear). - Not to mention you cannot necessarily control the way Lego boxes will mature. I always stored my sets inside, climate controlled rooms in my home. They mostly aged fine, but after 10 years even in the best of conditions tape can come undone, edges wear, and colors can fade. This can decrease the sets value or at least turn away buyers. Most are fairly sophisticated now, and if they are spending several hundred to over a thousand on a set they will want to see updated pics. If those pics are not pristine, you will lose buyers. hope this helps....again all this comes from someone who started in the mid 2000's. I had 41999 and many others. Stopped about five years ago. It was fun at first, but NOT lucrative. Stopped b/c became too big a headache. TB I would definitely say this is not the case. I mean, depends on your definition of recent, but with Cafe Corner, MF, and old Death Star yielding huge returns I think folks began to take notice a long time ago. Like about a decade ago. Brickpicker.com, a site dedicated exclusively to investing in Lego, began many years ago. I don't know exactly how long ago but I know it is over eight. So, by my definition, I would not consider 8-10 years ago, in terms of when folks began to take notice of the investing opportunities of Lego, as "fairly recent." I do not believe this is a good example to go off of. This was a limited edition set where a limited amount of sets were produced, not to mention essentially a remake of another set with simply s different shell. Something that has never been replicated in the Technic line, and may never be. But, even though I don't agree with the example, we arrive at the same conclusions. Investing and collecting Lego is not as lucrative as it once was, if it ever truly was in the first place.

Liftarm beams positioned directly on top of panels is a great look. Seamless. Wonderful functionality.

Does everyone really equate 8110 and 42043? 8110 was a great set but the steering was abysmal. Like off the charts abysmal. I still have a rendition of it, heavily modified, on my shelf. I had to modify the steering, among other things, because it was so bad. Sure 42043 had its shortcomings, but at least in my memory nothing that equated to the lousy steering of 8110. Also, whether or not it is justified to US, perhaps it is to TLG... but a 6x6 with 42099 tires and planetary hubs...perhaps this is what TLG is thinking in terms of setting the sets price point? Again, not saying I agree with the justification, but might it serve at least in part to their thinking?

Nice thread. Here is something I did not see, but admittedly I did not read the whole thread. The QUALITY gap between Lego and clone brands is narrowing. The VALUE gap between official Lego and clone brands, considering price, what they offer in additional colors, etc. is RELLY NARROWING. Or worse, may be reversed altogether....

I am really enjoying seeing all the possible submissions thus far. This build is looking terrific. I never thought there would be so many possibilities for Technic motorcycles. I have no problem with the nobby tires nor the colors. Others seem to. To each his/her own I guess. I suppose I would retain whatever you like the most and let the chips fall where they may......

Good call. It appears as though you are right.

Sometimes I have difficult responding to such posts. I mean, there are about a billion videos, reviews, etc. out there....surely the information is out there to make decisions on. We get a lot of questions such as these. I don't mean to be flippant, I really don't. I would like to help out.... but the "which set should I buy" seems so subjective, it really depends on your goals and desires as a builder. Do you like electronics? Pneumatics? Manual functions only? Don't know? All these are probably more important than your questions above. If don't like motorized functions, 42100 is out, etc.... If you are a beginner and into manual functions only, learning mechanisms, etc. I might recommend going a different route. Buying two, cheaper and smaller sets but with a better variety of pieces might be helpful. I loved 42108..... and it has tons and tons of b and c models....

yes, it is. its from the ducati. funny though....because its from TLG its considered a "legal" piece when really any cut piece of plastic should work

I use any and all. If one disagrees with using old/rare parts, at least in my mind this completely invalidates the whole idea of purism. Everything else I would want to say on the topic has already been said.

Crimony. Folks are doing a great job so far. This looks great.

what would 2020 be without a few glitches to end the year

Yea.... kinda surprised (1) it has lasted this long. and (2) we have not heard anything from mods yet. Perhaps it is because of the holidays. Perhaps they are out ....

Same. It definitely is not working.

Surprising...... I haven't been able to access it all day

Perhaps you are projecting a bit here? I see neither TLG builders as masters nor me a follower or subject (the connection I believe you are trying to make between a master and his/her subject). They build toys and try to get folks to buy them using marketing ploys if they have to. Marketing ploys in virtually all walks of business are known to bend the truth a bit. So to me this is no big deal nor news.

I have moved several times and had to store sets in less than optimal conditions. I have not yet had any noticeable changes to motor performance. Battery boxes often have corrosion on them... but I see looking through your responses this is not the case with you. I would also recommend taking apart and reassembling... hopefully this fixes your issue...

Not a third party tire, but here is a combination I came up with. Did not see it here so I will add it. Inspiration for this came as I am working on a mobile telescopic crane at this scale (42108). Quite possibly a rendition of our famous Grove 6400 crane (with 42009 tires) just at a smaller scale. In looking to see if a crane at this scale is possible I found that the tires are still to scale at this size (more or less) but just appear small. I believe this is because the side wall seems too small. On the real crane the hub is relatively small compared to the side wall. So, with this rendition of the same tire, but using a different rim, it gives the appearance of a bigger sidewall while maintaining the overall diameter of the tire. Created using Lego parts (4) Technic Wedge Belt Pulley, (2) "....." rubber belt, six gray 2L pins (without friction ridges). Kinda part heavy for one rim but they work well and solidly hold the tire in place. Before and after pics below (rest of crane not even close to done)

Not much to say other than what has been shared already other than I love the model and thxs for sharing on this forum. New ideas such as this one are certainly welcome and a breath of fresh air.

Lol.... hover bikes, that are not self-propelled, (i.e. pedaled, etc), have their own propulsion system, that have two wheels that hover above the ground, or any of the other characteristics explicitly stated in the rules thus far are allowed...

I am going to just sit back and perhaps get some popcorn. Gotta love the questions EXPLICITLY answered in the rules. I can only image what goes on in Jim and Milan's head.....

very interesting steering. looks terrific

So instructions are done? I checked out your rebrickable page and did not see them there. Do you have them elsewhere? I would be interested in building your modifications, especially the superstructure.

Chill my man. Its the end of the year, a week before christmas. Things are going to be gone. Also, if there is anything on this earth that is produced, distributed or otherwise shipped availability is going to be different than it has been in the past due to COVID-19. I would not worry nor think this is some pattern indicating Technic and its "great demand"

I like the renders. I really loved this set, and at least IMO it was one of the best sets for B models out there. Many folks came up with pretty incredible ones. Have you seen @M_longer's version? He also made some pretty great upgrades. Although I like the renders, will you be building in blocks? I would love to see a video with all the functions and the changes you have made.