Lego worth more than gold- The Daily Show

TheMaker37

Don't know if anyone posted this yet...It is a day old just got to it on the DVR...It is great!!

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/e5186e/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-livin--on-the-street---netflix-and-kill

KingAlanI

Good stuff.
The LEGO part comes in at about 3:15.
It's about LEGO being a better investment rather than particular pieces being worth more than gold.

monstblitz

My family laughed at me when I sold my stocks a couple months back to buy 10179.  Now whose laughing!

1265

^^
And how much did you pay for the 10179? 

Came64

I can't watch the video, cause I live in germany. :(

AllBrick

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.

Fauch

some people even invest in food. those must be the kings of the world after the nuclear holocaust.
well, actually I would vote for the guys with the guns.

all that investing stuff mainly shows the stupidity of the system, how anything can reach totally silly prices until the market inevitably collapses, because hey, the market can regulate itself, right?

pharmjod

AllBrick said:

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.



Nor would they buy gold. In that event you are better having guns and ammo, non perishable foods, water and liquor.

TheLoneTensor

AllBrick said:

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.

I would think an endlessly creative, zero-tech, entertaining thing like a Lego set would be worth infinitely more than a hunk of yellow metal in a holocaust situation.

MattsWhat

It's interesting that we say the bubble will burst for Lego when everyone seems to be comparing it to gold.  The bubble hasn't burst on gold yet as far as I'm aware, and it's been a while to say the least (I know, you can't produce more gold to reduce the value, blah blah).
Also, quite a lot of things are more expensive than gold (a mr gold for example, gram for gram he is 10 times the price of gold in fact) so I'm not even sure that it's that much of a compliment.

Fireheart

1265 said:

^^
And how much did you pay for the 10179? 

I noticed that there is a 10179 on eBay currently for £8k GBP... With gold they can produce more and more of the same and it has a stable value ( most of the time). With Lego what would happen to the value of a set like 10179 if say for the 40th Star Wars anniversary next year a new updated MF UCS was produced? ( Maybe that's why so many have appeared in the past few months for sale?).

MattsWhat

Who are these people producing more and more gold? I want to meet one.

TheLoneTensor

Btw, the person who is experiencing only a 12% return is not doing a very good job at Lego "investing."

SprinkleOtter

TheLoneTensor said:

Btw, the person who is experiencing only a 12% return is not doing a very good job at Lego "investing."

No, no they are not...

MattsWhat

TheLoneTensor said:

Btw, the person who is experiencing only a 12% return is not doing a very good job at Lego "investing."

Hmm.. I'll call you on that (having not watched the video and being a pedant about the choice of words).  Investing generally doesn't involve lots of work (that would be work) just leaving your money sitting there and normally the interest is calculated yearly.
I would say someone who (without working to clean, sort or endlessly bargain hunt) buys Lego sets and turns around 12% in a year (including storage costs, selling fees, postage costs, losses due to idiots etc. again without wasting undue time 'working') is doing a pretty damn good job.
And anyone that can do better than that year on year (without it being their job as stated) should tell me how because I could do with setting up a pension scheme that can offer those kinds of returns - people would be all over it.

Brickarmor

LEGO increases at an average rate of 12%; ebay takes 10%, Paypal 3-4%. And what's the inflation rate annually?

SprinkleOtter

^
On average. Most sets don't come near that.

cheshirecat

^ Although you wouldn't invest in 'most' sets. Only the good ones.

TheLoneTensor

MattsWhat said:

TheLoneTensor said:

Btw, the person who is experiencing only a 12% return is not doing a very good job at Lego "investing."

Hmm.. I'll call you on that (having not watched the video and being a pedant about the choice of words).  Investing generally doesn't involve lots of work (that would be work) just leaving your money sitting there and normally the interest is calculated yearly.
I would say someone who (without working to clean, sort or endlessly bargain hunt) buys Lego sets and turns around 12% in a year (including storage costs, selling fees, postage costs, losses due to idiots etc. again without wasting undue time 'working') is doing a pretty damn good job.
And anyone that can do better than that year on year (without it being their job as stated) should tell me how because I could do with setting up a pension scheme that can offer those kinds of returns - people would be all over it.

A couple thoughts.  First, saying that investing generally doesn't involve work is a bit off-kilter.  Investing in anything is a LOT more than simply parking money and watching it grow.  Highly successful investors do an incredible amount of actual work researching, watching, analyzing, balancing, organizing and acting.  Any other kind of investing is either woeful (CD's, money markets) or simply relying on luck.

The type of Lego investor you describe there is exactly what I mean by not doing a very good job, so yeah, if they turned 12% by simple breathing, that's great.  However, I feel that a qualified Lego investor doing lots of work, even in this current climate, will earn much more than that.

It's like the old adage.  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

MattsWhat

^okay, with work included then anyone in the know can do better.  But I would argue that investing is just the capital being thrown at it afterall, I do a lot of that work but don't call it investing as I don't have a lot of money.  If you include all your time it becomes just a job and even turning £1000 into £2000 in a year (100% return on investment sounds amazing) is useless... who wants to work all year for just £1000 (even if it is your hobby) - I can do much better than that getting any job in the country, even working part time.
I can't argue that because I bought a Tesco uniform at the beginning of the year for £15 that when I earned £15,000 all year I invested with a 10,000% return - that's just not true.  But that is what is being claimed if someone says they are a lego investor when they spend hours and hours doing it as a job really - it's that claim that is flooding the hobby with people trying to resell.
This isn't your fault @TheLoneTensor , you just happened to mention the 12% return - everyone uses the language the same as you, it's probably just me being weird.

TheLoneTensor

Capital is only a commodity, like cash, gold or Lego.  It's what you do with it that makes all the difference.  The fact is, if you treat investing as anything less than a job that requires work, you will get a miserable result.

You've seen a lot of folks on here talk about how being an investor/reseller is tough, and they usually want out after a while, because it turned their fun hobby into work.  I can respect that.

BrickDancer

I took a dip into reselling when stocking up on inventory in 2012-2013, then started selling it 2013-2015. It was just sealed sets and no parting out involved, so was relatively passive but it still consumed a ton of time and effort. Buying about $12k worth of inventory I was able to turn it around for $25k after all fees & shipping. And I still have about $2k left of inventory.

So yeah I definitely made more on LEGO than I would have if investing $12k in gold beginning of 2012 which was at $1,500 and now currently sits at $1,100 today.

KingAlanI

MattsWhat said:

Who are these people producing more and more gold? I want to meet one.

I suppose that means mining, and reprocessing material already out of the ground. While not production in a physical sense, it is in an economic sense.
Sometimes new sources do affect the price, one problem with economies on a gold or silver standard.

I do buy and sell collectibles. I haven't intended it as long term investment, but that has happened with stuff I kept for myself and eventually decided to sell.
It is indeed work, but enjoying the product is motivation.

prevere

Unfortunately with the media there is no balance (or depth of reporting), especially for fluffy articles like "LEGO is gold". What we need is the media interviewing the guy who invested heavily in Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruisers #7754.

And I'm going to give credit to EcommerceBytes.com for coining the first use of LEGO and gold in the same article, dating back to 2001. Great site by the way.
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y201/m03/abu0034/s06

SumoLego

TheLoneTensor said:

AllBrick said:

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.

I would think an endlessly creative, zero-tech, entertaining thing like a Lego set would be worth infinitely more than a hunk of yellow metal in a holocaust situation.

That hunk of yellow metal is pretty malleable and very shinny!  

More importantly, I can hit you in the head with the hunk of metal and take your Lego set.  And then I could feed you to a Zombie.

SprinkleOtter

SumoLego said:

TheLoneTensor said:

AllBrick said:

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.

I would think an endlessly creative, zero-tech, entertaining thing like a Lego set would be worth infinitely more than a hunk of yellow metal in a holocaust situation.

That hunk of yellow metal is pretty malleable and very shinny!  

More importantly, I can hit you in the head with the hunk of metal and take your Lego set.  And then I could feed you to a Zombie.

I could more easily hit you with a rock, or stick, or a hundred LEGO bricks stacked together, and take your LEGO sets...
;)

1265

SprinkleOtter said:

SumoLego said:

TheLoneTensor said:

AllBrick said:

If I could, I would rather invest in gold. I'm sure Lego isn't an official and universal currency.

And, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, not many people would trade food or supplies for a MISB Town Hall.

I would think an endlessly creative, zero-tech, entertaining thing like a Lego set would be worth infinitely more than a hunk of yellow metal in a holocaust situation.

That hunk of yellow metal is pretty malleable and very shinny!  

More importantly, I can hit you in the head with the hunk of metal and take your Lego set.  And then I could feed you to a Zombie.

I could more easily hit you with a rock, or stick, or a hundred LEGO bricks stacked together, and take your LEGO sets...
;)

I can easily Indiana Jones your Azz...
https://youtu.be/4DzcOCyHDqc

MattsWhat

So we're saying invest in guns then? Forget the lego for the moment because it will crash in price soon and I'll be able to steal using my gun anyway (during an apocalypse of course). Someone ought to close the predictions thread then and we'd all better find a new forum until after the apocalypse.
Oh, and when I say 'invest in guns' I don't mean buy them and then do nothing - you'll need to know how to threaten effectively to get the best returns on your investment and that takes work. 
Also, wouldn't "shinny" metal be better used hitting people in the lower leg? ;) 

pharmjod

MattsWhat said:

So we're saying invest in guns then? 



Yes

Bosstone100

Rummaging through Lego bricks is noisy. Not a good idea in a zombie apocalypse.

SumoLego

^  As long as you are not singing.  That's what attracts Zombies.  

The familiar sound of rummaging through a container of Lego only drives off wives.

MattsWhat

^and attracts gun wielding afols trying to steal your stuff.  

SumoLego

^ Yes, I hadn't considered Zombie AFOLs.  They'll be scaling walls in no time.  The sound of UCS MF satellite dishes and sand green bricks would make then unstoppable...

cleverusername

prevere said:

And I'm going to give credit to EcommerceBytes.com for coining the first use of LEGO and gold in the same article, dating back to 2001. Great site by the way.
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y201/m03/abu0034/s06

This article is a time machine:
"Stores like K-Mart or Zainy-Brainy often drastically reduce retail prices. Finding Lego at half price is not unusual."

SumoLego

I'm pretty sure the magical $5k UCS MF wasn't at half price at K-Mart and Zainy-Brainy.

BUT...  I guarantee they had a boat-load of Construct-a-Zurgs and 2010/2011 Hero Factory sets.

Fauch

SumoLego said:

I'm pretty sure the magical $5k UCS MF wasn't at half price at K-Mart and Zainy-Brainy.

in 2001? I'm pretty sure it wasn't

prevere

cleverusername said:

prevere said:

And I'm going to give credit to EcommerceBytes.com for coining the first use of LEGO and gold in the same article, dating back to 2001. Great site by the way.
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y201/m03/abu0034/s06

This article is a time machine:
"Stores like K-Mart or Zainy-Brainy often drastically reduce retail prices. Finding Lego at half price is not unusual."

Or the Yahoo auctions mention...