Good and Bad Years for LEGO, looking back 5+ years

LegoFanTexas

Someone commented recently that this year is shaping up to be a great one for AFOLs.

That got me thinking, how great have the past 5+ years been for AFOLs, so I looked at the sets from each yet and picked out the ones that I'd want to keep from each year.

I'm curious as to other's thoughts, are there any weak years (I think 2012 was actually rather weak), strong years, anything missing from this list? Anything that shouldn't be on it?

In 2013 we had:

#10234 - Sydney Opera House
#42009 - Mobile Crane Mk II
#10237 - Tower of Orthanc
#10232 - Palace Cinema
#10236 - Ewok Village
#10937 - Arkham Asylum

In 2012 we had:

#10228 - Haunted House
#10225 - R2-D2
#10224 - Town Hall
#10226 - Sopwith Camel

In 2011 we had:

#10221 - Super Star Destroyer
#8110 - Unimog
#10217 - Diagon Alley
#10220 - VW T1 Camper Van
#10219 - Maersk Train
#10231 - Shuttle Expedition

In 2010 we had:

#10214 - Tower Bridge
#10212 - Imperial Shuttle
#10211 - Grand Emporium
#10210 - Imperial Flagship
#8043 - Motorized Excavator
#10155 - Maersk Container Ship

In 2009 we had:

#10196 - Grand Carousel
#10197 - Fire Brigade
#8258 - Crane Truck
#10195 - Republic Dropship/AT-OT Walker
#10198 - Tantive IV
#10194 - Emerald Night

In 2008 we had:

#10189 - Taj Mahal
#10188 - Death Star
#10185 - Green Grocer
#10184 - Town Plan
#10187 - VW Beetle

In 2007 we had:

#10179 - UCS Falcon
#10181 - Eiffel Tower
#10182 - Cafe Corner
#8275 - Motorized Bulldozer
#10178 - Motorised AT-AT
#4957 - Ferris Wheel

------------------

Good? Bad? Ugly?

Basta

Nice list, just about every set on that list I have or would love to have. I currently have 16 of the 39.

2008 was a good year, and of course the only year I do not have any sets from :(

DadsAFOL

2008 was the pinnacle of modern expert/UCS sets. Its the only year that I have all of the ones on the list. (I have 23 of the 39). But 2013 is right up there. I think 2014 will be even better, even though we only know 3 of the exclusives and have rumors of others.

hewman

You're short changing 2009, #10193 Medieval Market Village. However, if you built it after sets that were released after it I can understand it not being as impressive to you as it is to some of us. But I don't begrudge you leaving the B-WIng off the list.

I'd probably add almost all of the winter village sets including the trains to my list. Even the post office which is my least favourite I could never see myself getting rid of it.

None of the years are duds but I think there's a general trend of improvement over time.

LegoFanTexas

^ How on Earth did I miss MMV? :) I only have a stack of them to the ceiling!

And yes, I did build it, but I built it right at retirement, so perhaps it was less impressive because of that. Had I built it on release, it might have meant more.

B-Wing? Yes, I thought I'd get flak if I put it on the list. There were a few others I left off because they weren't quite "ultimate" enough.

Yellowcastle

I like this idea but I think a year should be valued beyond just the few exclusives that stand out. If that's our only litmus, then I think we'd be hard pressed to differentiate one from the next. It would be interesting to weight the quality of the years themes and then compare the annual aggregate. And a year should get a bump for how exciting its one wave themes were, both licensed and unlicensed.

2007 could win on its own just for the Falcon and introduction of modulars.

2010 brought us CMF, the tower bridge, imperial shuttle and frigate, the shuttle adventure, public transport and the best Harry potter sets ever. A great cargo train and interesting Toy Story theme, though, could not resuscitate a lackluster city, Star Wars and Castle portfolio. Also, new themes PoP, World Racers, Atlantis and Ben 10 fell flat.

My favorite is easily 2012.

2012 brought us Friends, Superheroes, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Haunted House, R2 and the underrated Monster Fighters theme. Additionally, I think it was one of the strongest City offerings in 10 years and arguably the best overall Star Wars batch ever. Not to be outdone, Duplo rocked it with an awesome photo safari, great zoo and Disney Princesses! :o)

EKSam

@LegoFanTexas you forgot the Pet Shop. :-) but a great list nevertheless

@Yellowcastle 2012 was a great year, the Haunted house is one of my favourites.

SirBen

@LegoFanTexas 2013 also brought us #10233 - Horizon Express

Missing_Pieces_15

2008 I received 852293-1: Castle Giant Chess Set from my then girl friend now wife for Christmas. Basically that gift introduced me to her affection for LEGO, Brought me out of the dark ages and four years later we were married. Since then we have purchased at least one of every set on your list except the technic sets and 10181 Eiffel Tower (which I fully expect to procure shortly). It goes with out saying but I have a soft spot for all those listed 2008 sets as well as the complete Castle line. @LegoFanTexas Great topic, thanks for all your posts!

LegoFanTexas

Missing_Pieces_15 said:

@LegoFanTexas Great topic, thanks for all your posts!

Thanks. :)

I thought it would be nice to have a bigger picture. We can be so focused on 15 minutes that we don't step back and see the larger image.

I spent some time looking back at 1995-2000, I'll perhaps start another post soon regarding THAT era. :)

Bumblepants

It would probably be fair to add on some of the bigger Architecture sets like Falling Water and Robie House and the Studio. Not really my thing but I know a fair number of AFoLs really dig them and they are aimed squarely at advanced builders. Also the limited Technic Crawler. I know that ruffled some feathers for some but it moved me from 'not interested in Technic to 'holy crap I must have that and what else does Technic make these days?' Can't wait to build mine.

LegoFanTexas

Yellowcastle said:

I like this idea but I think a year should be valued beyond just the few exclusives that stand out.

True, but I was more thinking of all the topics about PR, the Simpsons House, the new UCS sets coming, the new Movie ship, etc.

Those all get talked about so much, I thought it was nice to step back and see where we've been and how it looks from above.

Yellowcastle said:

If that's our only litmus, then I think we'd be hard pressed to differentiate one from the next.

Maybe...

But I'd put Taj Mahal, UCS Falcon, Cafe Corner, and Death Star on top of the pile.

Yes, we had Eiffel Tower before and Tower Bridge after TM, but TM is really the one that stands out as epic in my eyes.

Yes, we've had big play sets before and after, most recently Ewok Village, but there is really Death Star, then there is everything else.

Yes, we have many modulars and 2,000+ part amazing sets like Haunted House, but Cafe Corner really started it all, without it, we wouldn't have the whole line.

Yes, we have UCS B-Wing, UCS SSD, UCS X-Wing, UCS TIE Advanced, etc... but frankly the UCS Falcon really stands out on its own, far and away the king of the lot. UCS ISD is a close second, but it is from another era.

Yellowcastle said:

2007 could win on its own just for the Falcon and introduction of modulars.

Yep, UCS Falcon stands above everything else, in terms of size, weight, price, etc. At the time UCS Falcon was introduced, it was about double the price of any other LEGO set ever made. It probably suffered in sales because of that. Before that you had UCS ISD and UCS DS II, both of which were $269. Then UCS Falcon came out, $499. That was so expensive I'm sure a lot of people at the time thought, "yea, that's nice, but $500 for LEGO, that's nuts!". No one is laughing now.

UCS Falcon made possible sets like Death Star and UCS SSD, I don't think either would have done as well without it coming before.

Cafe Corner, in short, did for everything else 2,000+ part, that UCS Falcon did for expensive LEGO. It made possible a lot of things that probably never would have happened otherwise.

Yellowcastle said:

2012 brought us Friends, Superheroes, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Haunted House, R2 and the underrated Monster Fighters theme.

The others are nice, SH, LotR, etc...

But Friends stands out as something special. Friends is something that will be noted and talked about in 10 years. It is, give or take, TLG's 5th try at "girl LEGO", and the first to be successful.

But it hasn't just been successful, it has been "blow the doors off and shoot for the stars" successful. I think it surpassed even TLG's expectations and for sure has blown away all the naysayers who talked it down at launch.

It has done something that perhaps only Star Wars has done, it brought in a whole new group of fans, girls who otherwise would not be playing with any LEGO, at all, of any kind. It is the "gateway LEGO" that will bring in a whole new generation of girls who won't touch police and fire sets, but will be all over a beauty salon and bakery. Say what you will about "girl sets" and "boy sets", that is the reality and LEGO hit a grand slam on that one.

In 10 years, Haunted House and R2-D2 will be nice, but a memory for most. Friends is likely to be going strong and to make a real difference for the company.

And that is a win for everyone. :)

tamamahm

I think we are remiss too if we do not give a nod to the last HP release. That was really the last time there was a standard line that had enough female/male minifigs and enough variation in sets that would strongly appeal to both boys and girls. It is the only line/theme ever, where I have bought every single item from my girls, (My son was too little, or I would have likely had to buy multiples of sets as well.) and those years were special for us in the world of Lego.

That release was truly something rare and special and magical for my girls.
From an AFOL perspective, though, perhaps not as important of a milestone, but I do think an important wave for all kids, but in particular for girls for what it stands for... That Lego can actually make a line that appeals to both genders. From an AFOL perspective, though, the minifig printing was important, and without HP first, I do not think we would have had as rich minifigs for LOTR.

I agree with your assessment of Friends, and I think from an AFOL perspective it imore important than my beloved HP line because of the variation of new colors, new parts and new ideas. All three of those are highly critical in my opinion, and truly is the place where I am seeing any innovation. I think because of that Friends is probably the most important items coming out of Lego because of it's potential to impact All of Lego in terms of innovation.

I think the Lego movie sets shows that influence. The trash chomper AND cloud Cuckoo palace are top of the list right now for my 7 year old son. He desperately wants the cute snail and uni-kitty.

SuperTramp

You missed the Technic Crawler from 2012?

Did you also leave the Crawler 41999 from 2013 because it was a limited Edition release?

Hardrada

If I wanted to highlight one year according to what was on the shelves at that time (so not only sets that were introduced that year) then I'd pick 2009 as my favourite year. I mainly collect Castle and Trains (with Creator houses and some City stuff to go along the trains).

In 2009 my favourite Castle wave was still going strong with dwarves and trolls. Favourites: #7036, #7037 and #7041. #10193 MMV was just released this year, too.

On the Trains / City front we had the fantastic #10194 and Cafe Corner and Green Grocer were still on the market with both still being in my top 4 among modulars. (Pet Shop and Parisian Restaurant occupying the other two spots.) #4954, the best Creator house so far was still on the market and so was #7994 the ship in which I like a lot more than the one in #4645. And a mention goes out to #7641 as well, the bus is great and the building is quite substantial for a City set.

RomanticWarrior

I'm an AFOL but I'm not that interested in the large "10XXX" type sets (I have 8 from your list up there). So, for me, this list doesn't really give a feel for each year. As @Yellowcastle pointed out, 2012 was the best year for LEGO in quite some time. Batman finally came back. The Avengers sets were all decent. Monster Fighters completely blew my mind. Then, there were two themes that I really like but didn't have the money to get into because I was too into everything else.: Dino and LotR.

I'm not that impressed with 2014 so far. I don't like the look of the Simpsons house. The LEGO Movie sets are too quirky and weird for my taste. Star Wars is a lot of remakes in which I have no interest. I am looking forward to the Batman and Agents and possibly the Arctic stuff, but other than that ?

LegoFanTexas

^ And that is why LEGO is doing so well, if you don't like *this*, they have *that* to sell you. :)

No worries, if the flagships aren't your cup of tea, enjoy what is.

LegoFanTexas

Hardrada said:

If I wanted to highlight one year according to what was on the shelves at that time (so not only sets that were introduced that year) then I'd pick 2009 as my favourite year.

That is a good point, I posted when the sets came out, but for awhile there a bunch were stacked up on top of each other.

2009-2010 had a lot piled up, I came out of my dark ages Dec 2010 and didn't at the time understand how LEGO worked, so I just missed a lot of those sets at reasonable prices.

If only I knew. :)

Hardrada said:

#4954, the best Creator house so far was still on the market

I came really close to putting that set on the list actually. That house is, by far, the best house I think Creator has ever done. The aftermarket price reflects that as well I believe.

legodude

The biggest mistake in the last 5 years was hands down, the complete fumbling of LEGO Universe. That was a PR disaster. They flopped out hard on it, and should have took immediate action to fix its problems earlier. A sad case of too little, too late.

LegoFanTexas

^ I came in on the tail end of that... I tried it, but it seemed... weird... never got into it...

They sure poured a ton of money into it, didn't they?

1974

According to Mads Nipper, it was the most expensive single project ever in the history of LEGO

Legofanscott

The only set i liked from 2013 was the technic crane, tower of orthanc is just a huge pile of black bricks, sydney opera house is just plain BORING the others were nothing special either

2012 wasnt very good either but HH made up for that year, i feel sorry for new fans in 5 years time who wont be able to buy it, unless ofc its still out :D

Legofanscott

LegoFanTexas said:

^ I came in on the tail end of that... I tried it, but it seemed... weird... never got into it...

They sure poured a ton of money into it, didn't they?

^ seems like theyre doing the same with TLM

As for 2014

Im really not getting all the love for the simpsons house, there is so many faults wrong with that set.

Maybe for some reason they had to compromise on a few design aspects

I can imagine there will be alot of mocs done to make it look better

brickupdate

I love all the reflections here, especially for the non-flagship type sets. How LEGO is just doing great things on smaller sets from different series, how Friends is really serving the overall LEGO community, and how even Duplo is on a great track. Oddly, this has become a "problem" for me, that I am seeing little moments of greatness in so many corners of the LEGO universe.

I recently got rid of most of my LEGO, but kept:
1. The entire last Harry Potter wave. just loved it, especially Burrow and Diagon Alley
2. The modular series. Friends still come over who would never collect toys, and they are just drawn to them.
3. Haunted house, for the same reason
4. Some older LEGO stuff like classic castle, plus a lot of individual minifigs.

Overall, the sheer number of new parts and colors coming out of Friends and Collectible Minifigs is amazing. I love all these lists here - thanks everyone!
-Dan

pvp3020

Aside from the sets @LFT listed in the first post, personally 2013 was a bit of a disappointment for me and definitely the worst of the last 5 or so years in terms of sets. Legends of Chima does nothing for me, and I wasn't overly impressed with the rather limited offering from the otherwise excellent Ninjago line. The latest Hobbit sets aren't a patch on the first wave, especially with no equivalent of Bag End, and City mostly bored me last year, apart from one or two of the vehicles.

Galaxy Squad and some of the SH sets are ok, and I loved all the LotR and SW releases.

2014, on the other hand, is looking to be quite a good year already. The Lego Movie sets are fantastic, precisely because of their quirky weirdness, and the Simpsons House is a must have despite the totally inaccurate layout inside. PR is also one of the best modulars ever.

dougts

I too found 2013 to be rather lackluster outside of the Exclusive offerings. Unfortunately to me 2014 looks even worse thus far. So many SKUs spent on the odd, wacky, and fully undesirable LEGO Movie sets, no space, no castle, no pirates, the first wave Star Wars sets are absolutely awful, City is same old same old, it looks like we won't get a summer LOTR wave at all. Very little to love thus far, outside a couple Creator sets, and the Parisian Restaurant of course.

Here's hoping the summer wave is much better - it usually is.

Legoboy

@Dougts, spot on.

CCC

dougts said:

Unfortunately to me 2014 looks even worse thus far. So many SKUs spent on the odd, wacky, and fully undesirable LEGO Movie sets, no space, no castle, no pirates, the first wave Star Wars sets are absolutely awful, City is same old same old, it looks like we won't get a summer LOTR wave at all.

What do you mean no space, no castle, no pirates? There will be ... it's just that these are now all being covered by The Lego Movie sets. :-(

Dad

I have a mint sealed #4954 somewhere. It's the one set that every time I see it I take a look and say to myself...' I swear I'm going to crack you open and build you one day' I just get drawn to it somehow.

legodude

LegoFanTexas said:

^ I came in on the tail end of that... I tried it, but it seemed... weird... never got into it...

They sure poured a ton of money into it, didn't they?

It was packed with LEGO Easter Eggs, it was a lot of fun if you like MMO's and video games.

1974 said:

According to Mads Nipper, it was the most expensive single project ever in the history of LEGO

Oh I believe it, it was easily a full scale AAA game.

legodude

dougts said:

I too found 2013 to be rather lackluster outside of the Exclusive offerings. Unfortunately to me 2014 looks even worse thus far. So many SKUs spent on the odd, wacky, and fully undesirable LEGO Movie sets, no space, no castle, no pirates, the first wave Star Wars sets are absolutely awful, City is same old same old, it looks like we won't get a summer LOTR wave at all. Very little to love thus far, outside a couple Creator sets, and the Parisian Restaurant of course.

Here's hoping the summer wave is much better - it usually is.

That is funny because to me 2014 is the best year LEGO wise since the 90s with Pirates and Castle. I have to disagree with the undesirable part on TLM sets. There are some real gems, I mean it brought the return of a Classic Space set, A CLASSIC SPACE SET, that right there makes it worth it.

In addition we got a Ice Cream Truck and Plumbing Van for City (gotta love that Porta Potty : D ) It also is packed with unique figs that can be used in a variety of ways.

Also in 2014 we are getting that new Arctic City subtheme, that looks brilliant already with the polar bear, dog sleds and exploration equipment.

Not to mention we are getting 3 new Train sets, the Cargo Train is going to be very nice (day 1 buy) and I can't wait to see the new train station.

LEGO should have kept Kingdoms going, 2013 Castle was meh big time.
As for Pirates, they need to revamp and reimagine it, 2010 Pirates I never liked. Felt like cheaper remakes of the Classic Pirate sets.

I also hope they discontinue LOTR for good. Waste of a theme since the beginning.

dougts

^ that there is why we all have opinions, right? neither of us is right or wrong, we just like different things. Nothing wrong with that.

Like I said, I'm hopeful about the second half of the year, including the Arctic theme, but I'll wait and see. Same on the trains, which could be (lesser) rehashes of the last versions.

I do like the classic spaceship from the LM, and the ice cream truck is cool. The rest aren't anything I want to touch at all.

So many slots spent on Chima and Ninjago too. Where is this year's one-off theme (like MF, Dino, etc.) ? I guess it's LEGO movie.

bricktuary

I keep almost buying #4954 on eBay.

binaryeye

dougts said:

Like I said, I'm hopeful about the second half of the year, including the Arctic theme, but I'll wait and see. Same on the trains, which could be (lesser) rehashes of the last versions.

Images of both are out there, but are probably not the best thing to base an opinion on. Arctic is a mixed bag, to me. Too many vehicles for my tastes but there are huskies and polar bears. I'm not a fan of the apparent color scheme (organge and blue). Trains seem to be rehashes but look decent. The cargo train (at least the engine) looks like an improvement, the train station looks nice, and the passenger train looks to come with a level crossing.

dougts said:

So many slots spent on Chima and Ninjago too. Where is this year's one-off theme (like MF, Dino, etc.) ? I guess it's LEGO movie.

There are six Agents sets.

LegoFanTexas

bricktuary said:

I keep almost buying #4954 on eBay.

If you want a new one, look on Amazon, they are cheaper there. $450 delivered from Japan or about $350 if you are ok with a new, damaged box copy.

LegoFanTexas

Dad said:

I have a mint sealed #4954 somewhere. It's the one set that every time I see it I take a look and say to myself...' I swear I'm going to crack you open and build you one day' I just get drawn to it somehow.

The eBay prices are insane, lowest price right now is over $600! :)

Do you really want to build that house for $500+?

(no right or wrong answer, just asking)

dougts

ah, I forgot about Agents. Well, here's hoping that is decent, though I suppose it's just more and more vehicles, like everything else these days.

dougts

LegoFanTexas said:

Dad said:

I have a mint sealed #4954 somewhere. It's the one set that every time I see it I take a look and say to myself...' I swear I'm going to crack you open and build you one day' I just get drawn to it somehow.

The eBay prices are insane, lowest price right now is over $600! :)

Do you really want to build that house for $500+?

(no right or wrong answer, just asking)

Honestly, just build it from pieces you have/bricklink. will look exactly the same, and you can pocket the $500+

SuperTramp

There's a couple listed in Europe under $320

@bricktuary depending where you are they seem to go for around £150 on bidding in Europe.

BrickDancer

^^No pricey or rare parts in that one?

Legofanscott

legodude said:

dougts said:

I too found 2013 to be rather lackluster outside of the Exclusive offerings. Unfortunately to me 2014 looks even worse thus far. So many SKUs spent on the odd, wacky, and fully undesirable LEGO Movie sets, no space, no castle, no pirates, the first wave Star Wars sets are absolutely awful, City is same old same old, it looks like we won't get a summer LOTR wave at all. Very little to love thus far, outside a couple Creator sets, and the Parisian Restaurant of course.

Here's hoping the summer wave is much better - it usually is.

That is funny because to me 2014 is the best year LEGO wise since the 90s with Pirates and Castle. I have to disagree with the undesirable part on TLM sets. There are some real gems, I mean it brought the return of a Classic Space set, A CLASSIC SPACE SET, that right there makes it worth it.

In addition we got a Ice Cream Truck and Plumbing Van for City (gotta love that Porta Potty : D ) It also is packed with unique figs that can be used in a variety of ways.

Also in 2014 we are getting that new Arctic City subtheme, that looks brilliant already with the polar bear, dog sleds and exploration equipment.

Not to mention we are getting 3 new Train sets, the Cargo Train is going to be very nice (day 1 buy) and I can't wait to see the new train station.

LEGO should have kept Kingdoms going, 2013 Castle was meh big time.
As for Pirates, they need to revamp and reimagine it, 2010 Pirates I never liked. Felt like cheaper remakes of the Classic Pirate sets.

I also hope they discontinue LOTR for good. Waste of a theme since the beginning.

Yeah ive seen pictures of the train sets, they look extremely nice

Really hope that mini cooper is released this year

dougts

BrickDancer said:

^^No pricey or rare parts in that one?

just looked. everything you need is quite reasonable really

legoprods

Was going to make a Good, Bad & Ugly joke but you took it LFT!

@Dad
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPOV.asp?itemType=S&itemNo=4954&itemSeq=1&itemQty=1&breakType=M&itemCondition=N&incInstr=Y&incBox=Y&incParts=Y

dougts

^ keep in mind that is average pricing. most of the parts are available much much cheaper than average. not to mention anyone who keeps MOC parts on hand is likely going to already have a pretty good percentage of these parts - they are, like most Creator sets, mostly full of common everyday pieces

Yellowcastle

I love the fact that there's always some random set that skyrockets. It's never the ones you'd first guess. I mean I love that house too but c'mon. Is it worth the same as the pet shop, palace cinema and Parisian restaurant COMBINED???

This has to be the reason why Lego is keeping so many flagship sets alive. I have to imagine that it's the second best thing they can do to get some of that grey money.

Basta

I don't think I have ever been disappointed building a Lego set. Maybe I just have low standards or maybe I have not built enough yet :p

For me the big flagship sets are what I like, especial scale model orientated sets. So the Parisian Restaurant, Mearsk Triple E, AT-AT, Slave 1 and the Mini Copper if it is real all sound good to me.

#4954 is a great house, we got one and built it when it was out, plus picked up a new sealed set at a swap meet type market in mid 2012 for about $80. Was going to open it one day and expand the one we have, I think I'll scrap that and just buy the extra bricks needed.

nkx1

Yellowcastle said:

This has to be the reason why Lego is keeping so many flagship sets alive. I have to imagine that it's the second best thing they can do to get some of that grey money.

What's the first again?

Dad

LegoFanTexas said:

Dad said:

I have a mint sealed #4954 somewhere. It's the one set that every time I see it I take a look and say to myself...' I swear I'm going to crack you open and build you one day' I just get drawn to it somehow.

The eBay prices are insane, lowest price right now is over $600! :)

Do you really want to build that house for $500+?

(no right or wrong answer, just asking)

Probably not! I just don't think it actually pulls that money. If I put it on Ebay UK at £250 it would sit there. But lets not get into that discussion, let's keep this thread on topic! I'm enjoying it.

I get things in my head sometimes that I want / need to do so if I still have it in some years I may build it on a milestone birthday. Not telling you which one, but that's how I'd justify it to myself.

Yellowcastle

nkx1 said:

Yellowcastle said:

This has to be the reason why Lego is keeping so many flagship sets alive. I have to imagine that it's the second best thing they can do to get some of that grey money.

What's the first again?

Rereleasing the popular sets.

CCC

legodude said:

I also hope they discontinue LOTR for good. Waste of a theme since the beginning.

It was not a waste of time for anyone with an imagination that is willing to combine and modify the official sets. Of course some sets sucked, but at the price points they have to be smaller than wanted. That is true of all licensed ranges.

Hardrada

Dad said:

Probably not! I just don't think it actually pulls that money. If I put it on Ebay UK at £250 it would sit there. But lets not get into that discussion, let's keep this thread on topic! I'm enjoying it.

You could sell it and buy a used one instead for half the money (or even less). Let someone else take the value loss of opening the set. I'm doing the same with a few rarer sets in my collection.