What's the most you've ever spent on a set?

Brickarmor

This is less of a "brag" thread than a place for mumbling, red-faced confession... I didn't see any other topics dedicated to precisely this question, so I figured I'd start one. Replies, for those of you who so choose to make one, are certainly welcome to be short and to the point, though I have a feeling many of you have a wonderful story to justify your purchase. With so much talk about aftermarket appreciation on the one hand, and enviable deals on the other, I'm curious as to how other folks have fared when (like me) you find yourself coming late to the game, browsing Brickset, and stumbling upon that must-have.

Okay, so after the preliminary fireworks, mine is rather lackluster, but it's simply the truth. It's also sure to change in the very near future. $85 for the Mars Mission Hypersonic Operations Aircraft, used but complete with manuals, no box. Worth every penny.

cynthilina

Ill confess after this weekend, I have about 1200 ready for may the 4th. Not really a set but one of the largest total purchases I will be doing so far since January.

CCC

Not a set, but I just spent 240 Euro with a seller on bricklink. Just random parts and minifigs for general MOC'ing. Those little bits soon add up :-o

Steve_J_OM

My recently purchased (though it hasn't arrived yet) Death Star is the most I've spent on a set - €430 from [email protected]

It's mad, when I came out of my dark ages I could never bring myself to spend over €30-40 on anything. I remember one of the first sets I became quite taken with was Creator set 6753 (Highway Transport) but I thought it was insanity to spend €85 on one set, so I passed on it. That was only 2 years ago - it's amazing how quickly you become desensitised to the price of Lego!

BuriedinBricks

$280ish on a NIB IF. Worth every penny.

I expect this to be chump change compared to some of the posts I see on here. Those with multiple DS sets tucked away easily beat me.

monkeyhanger

£275 on a DS, the wife thinks it was a very reasonable £150 :-)

Steve_J_OM

^^LOL!

natro220

$375 for the UCS MF on May 4th a couple years ago. Best...purchase...ever.

Yellowcastle

$375 USD for 10179 Falcon

starfire2

$550 plus shipping for a NIB sealed Green Grocer.

mathew

Technically a trade with a fellow BS member, the Imperial Flagship. Kept it sealed for a month as I debated whether to hold onto it for resale or to build it. My three year old son kept harassing me to build it so I gave in ; ).

LusiferSam

I can answer this question in a couple of ways. In terms of shear dollar amount at $400, the Death Star was the most expensive set I've bought. The most expensive retired set I've bought was the 309 Church. And most expensive set I've bough pre-element are the Five Cyclists.

Brickarmor

It's mad, when I came out of my dark ages I could never bring myself to spend over €30-40 on anything. I remember one of the first sets I became quite taken with was Creator set 6753 (Highway Transport) but I thought it was insanity to spend €85 on one set, so I passed on it. That was only 2 years ago - it's amazing how quickly you become desensitised to the price of Lego!

Exactly! It wasn't six months ago I shared my wife's aghast expression that some idiots would pay $100 for little interlocking plastic pieces. Now, it's ONLY $100 (to me). And I'm the idiot for not scooping up IF at retail!

And I guess I should have qualified the question. Not that I'm not interested in the most people have dropped in one purchase, but something about the ratio between a single set and one's personal record is, I dunno, more compelling maybe... I'd have to redo my answer as well if we shifted the question to that of a total purchase rather than a single set...

vader34mt

$360 on the DS on this past brick friday...only pulled a 10% coupon, was hoping for 20 or 50%

this was one set that i knew if it did go EOL i wouldnt want to miss it, so i didnt take any chances

mathew

It's mad, when I came out of my dark ages I could never bring myself to spend over €30-40 on anything....That was only 2 years ago - it's amazing how quickly you become desensitised to the price of Lego!

Yep. I hemmed and hawed buying the log cabin of all things. Next it was hiding MMV under the bed from my wife. Then I really kicked myself for spending $350 on a few sets after we got our tax refund. Thing is that I feel that I've now purchased all the sets that I really want and am content... at least for awhile.

hoyatables

Bought the IF for $275 cash a couple of weeks ago. Followed shortly by the IS for $235 on Amazon last week. And depending on the sales/VIP points, may very well top both with a DS purchase this Friday . . . .

mathew

I will say that I would like to have the Imperial Shuttle side by side with the Imperial Flagship. Since you own both I would like to hear which you like better.

hoyatables

I will say that I would like to have the Imperial Shuttle side by side with the Imperial Flagship. Since you own both I would like to hear which you like better.

Well, for now they are side-by-side MIB in the attic. The IS was more of a "hedge bet/investment" purchase -- I'm excited by all of the great reviews, but it personally isn't all that appealing to me. I'm planning to resell (though I am tempted to pick up a second one on Friday depending on the deal that is offered -- 20% + double VIP + the fig might do it for me).

As for the Flagship -- holding on to that one for a rainy day. Planning to see my folks in a couple of weeks and come back with my childhood collection -- which includes the Caribbean Clipper and Black Seas Barracuda. Plan to reassemble those two first, leading up to the Flagship down the road.

scratchdesk

So far for me it was $275 for the Death Star II off ebay. Second highest... I believe was the Republic Dropship + AT-OT Walker for around $175 from FAO or the Sandcrawler for the same price off CL.

The_Brick_Builder

$421 for all sealed Cafe Corner bags. Second highest was the Death Star. :)

legomyLEGGO

I think I spent about $350 for a Green Grocer, NIB.

Other than that, in one transaction I spent around $800 in CMF Series 6, once. It hasn't happened again, nor do I expect to. Needless to say that I got quite a few complete sets from that.

oldtodd33

If I remember correctly, I paid a little over $300 each plus shipping for my 7740 http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7740-1 and my 7750 http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7750-1 and my 7730 http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7730-1 . I don't count my DS because I saved up $200 in VIP points for it.

samiam391

I will say that I would like to have the Imperial Shuttle side by side with the Imperial Flagship. Since you own both I would like to hear which you like better.

I have both, used and built. Personally, I like the IS better than the IF.

AvengerDr

I have spent £530 so far to bricklink new and original pieces for an UCS MF. £100 just for the two light bluish grey mast rigging and radar dish.. And I have yet to buy another 1500 bricks.. (excluding the 60 levers as they seem to be unavailable on this world.. unless I want to burn another 100£ or so)

The excuse I give myself is "well I started, now I might just as well finish it.."

Renny

I feel so bad saying this but I spent $2000 on a msib 1st edition Falcon. That is a future investment set though as I bricklinked another to actually put together and enjoy.

LegoFanTexas

Leaving out investment sets...

The largest single item is UCS Falcon, paid $1,500 recently for a new copy of that from a fellow bricksetter, thank you to "you know who you are". :)

I kicked that one around a long time, it is an insane amount to spend on a single set, but I've paid more per part for smaller sets, so in that respect is isn't soooo bad...

My wife thinks I'm completely nuts... :)

voidstar

I think the interesting stories are about what people paid for a set they missed (after retirement), both in absolute $ terms and % of RRP. Those are the real sob stories!

Looks like @Renny "wins" by $ amount so far! I paid $344 total for a MISB GG; that was painful then but looking at the prices now I don't feel too bad.

As for %, I paid 320% of RRP ($160 total) for 7093-1 (skeleton tower). I think I can count on one hand the # of sets I've paid more than double for.

Renny

Unfortunately this is a contest I don't want to win :) That's the really bad part about being a big Star Wars fan and getting into Lego late. Missing out on some really awesome sets like the UCS Snowspeeder (spent $775 on msib) or great minifigs like Cloud City ($925 msib). At least I think I am done with my super expensive back log purchases.

voidstar

I hear ya... GG was my limit. I'm bricklinking CC and MS, with some substitutions. I'm not enough of a purist to pay that much for a complete set, but modulars are easier to make acceptible substitutions to than star wars. Plus the appeal for them is not in the minifigs.

andyscouse

$270 each for 2x 10030 (Imp Star Destroyer) back in 2004; was on sale from $330

Will be beaten this weekend with 10188 (DS) ...

jadedanc

Reg price for the SSD, well my loving husband actually bought that one for me, by myself was $300 for a GG 2 mths ago from a fellow BL...THANKS! I love it!! Hoping to get DS soon, unfortunately my $ situation is an issue ATM so I won't be able to get it this promo but I have $120 VIP Pts saved up to help defray the cost when I can (hopefully VERY soon)

emilewski

For me it was $535 a couple of months ago for a Taj Mahal (instructions but no box) off ebay. I still need to bricklink about 7 pieces it was missing but I must say I am pleased with it.

lulwut

$150 on a built Pirate IF. Otherwise +$200 if the the SW IS going on sale this week, it's a new record for me.

fyrmedhatt

My biggest outright purchase was $300 for a holiday train last christmas for my wife. On top of that I estimate I spent at least $400 for each of my bricklinked Cafe Corner and Market Street, but I never added up my purchases (never had the stomach to do so...).

GIR3691

$150 each for Cafe Corner and Green Grocer (got the rest on discount).

LegobrandonCP

Don't know if I should be proud or ashamed. My biggest ever LEGO purchase was the FB at $150. Biggest purchase and set ever in my collection. :-/

LegoFanTexas

Don't know if I should be proud or ashamed. My biggest ever LEGO purchase was the FB at $150. Biggest purchase and set ever in my collection. :-/

Be proud... Everyone has their space or place with everything in life... I learned long ago that if I compared myself to everyone else, I would always find someone with more this or better that and I'd never be happy.

Sometimes I just stand in my house and say "wow, how lucky am I, I'm very grateful for all the blessings life has brought me.

So that is cool, enjoy the heck out of it. :)

wertyjj

My biggest purchase was the Town Hall. 200.00

andyscouse

Don't know if I should be proud or ashamed. My biggest ever LEGO purchase was the FB at $150. Biggest purchase and set ever in my collection. :-/

Proud!!

Even if it were $50, but you love Lego, that's nothing to be ashamed about! And FB is a great build! Did you get any other modulars yet?

Oldfan

$475 (or whatever the retail price was) for the 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon. With my limited budget, I try my darndest to buy the sets I really want when they are new from LEGO, because all the retired sets I want are selling for 10x MSRP on the secondary market. It really stinks to pay $300 for a retired Year 4 HP set...maybe I should try liking the "unpopular" themes, less fun but cheaper!

On second thought, no. I want my LEGO to be fun...

AvengerDr

^ we should have another thread titled "the money we wish we had spent before the price skyrocketed".. I walked past a UCS MF during my Dark Ages.. the memory haunts me still :(

LegobrandonCP

@LegoFanTexas Thanks for the wonderful advice. I'll have to keep that quote in mind and just think about how grateful I am for even being able to own a LEGO set.

@andyscouse Nope, only FB so far. I look forward to get the GE on my birthday near the summertime. I don't think I'll bother including the CC, GG, and MP in my modular street layout.

Yellowcastle

@AvengerDR - Here ya go!

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/1736/the-one-that-got-away

gmpirate

Excluding investment purposes . . .

I really don't buy retired sets if they are selling for a premium but I did pick up a UCS Falcon, complete w/box & instructions, for $1050. I just can't bring myself to open a sealed set :P

AvengerDr

^ What if the box is full of megabloks? There's only one way to know... :D

gmpirate

^ picked it up in person already built.

gmpirate

Or if you are referring to the sealed set -- I purchased all my sealed Falcons directly from Lego ;)

joee

Mine was actualy $140 for a used version of 7163 which was actually for my son for Christmas. For myself I would it would just be $90 for Black Monarch's Castle I bought used a few months back.

madforLEGO

Don't know if I should be proud or ashamed. My biggest ever LEGO purchase was the FB at $150. Biggest purchase and set ever in my collection. :-/

No need to be ashamed. Heck be glad you are not crazy like the rest of us ;-)

Spent about $320 for each DS (2 of them)(Whatever the BOGO at TRU worked out to be)

I'm guessing most members, while spending a lot of money as a whole, probably have not spent all that much on a specific set, as most are pretty savvy to get the cheapest price for a set :-)
I'm also guessing the UCS Falcon, after it sold out, is probably going to be the biggest amount that you will see on this thread.

BrickDancer

^ we should have another thread titled "the money we wish we had spent before the price skyrocketed".. I walked past a UCS MF during my Dark Ages.. the memory haunts me still :(

^I did this for EN, KC and IF. EN was full on the shelves during Black Friday for $72, but since I was only 2-3 weeks out of my dark ages and didn't think I liked trains, I let it slide. Fast forward 2 months to January, and I bought 2 for $150 & $175 respectively. King's Castle I saw one time on the shelves but didn't recognize it was going EOL, so didn't give it a second look. 1 month later I paid an extra 50% to get it at $150 :ouch: IF was a close call, saw it once on the shelves and passed on it, only to realize it was going EOL. Went back and it was gone. A few weeks later, Lego NA finds a pallet and a thread here helped to get a second bite before it was gone for good, picked up 2 at the time for RRP plus shipping. Learned my lessons from these, currently have 1 copy of DA & VW Camper way ahead of EOL to be on the safe side until they go on discount closer to end.

gollum

About a year ago, I purchased a 10030 AND 10043, both MISB, for $1000 total from Craigslist. My girl thought I was nuts...until I sold them and showed her the profit...lol.