Passing up on Old Sets Found in the Wild?

SpaceCake

Recently found a sealed box of Series 3 CMFs in a toy shop. Any advice as to buy/don't buy? If I did pick them up they would be purely for resale purposes. Although I kind of get the impression that S3 really wasn't that great besides a couple of figures. Also, does anyone have a decent method/lie to use for the sake of getting a discount? Beyond just asking for a bulk-buy reduction on a discontinued product...

Would really appreciate some insight on this one!

SilentMode

Possibly haggle? I haven't done it myself, but if you're offering to buy all of them you might get cut a deal.

SpaceCake

So do you think they're actually worth buying? Series 3 just doesn't seem that popular as far as I've noticed. And the fact that there is still a whole unopened box on the shelves would support such a thought...

:\

SilentMode

I think a full box would be worth holding on to as a long-term investment. They have been around for a while but they're starting to disappear from shops.

LegobrandonCP

Remember this: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=2269 ? That is another way to get some S3 minifigs.

SpaceCake

Haha, some of the comments in that article make me even less inclined to go back and pick up the box! Think I'll go and have a word with the manager and see if he/she is willing to do a deal on the whole lot. If I can get them for less than retail then I might just nab them.

Thanks for the advice!

:)

mressin

I'm not so convinced about the monetary/trade value of older sets. My own impression is that generally, old small sets which were generally available are not that high in demand.

Pitfall69

I would suggest that you should save your money and invest in something else. I sold some series 3 minifigures a few weeks ago and they were the Elf and the Mummy. If these are going to be in the VIP set, then I suspect that it will lessen the value of the series 3 minifigures.

herbertdsherbert

I have an old rare set worth investing in if anyone is interested, please take a look. needs to go to a good (collector) home

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150820958113

SpaceCake

^

Ok, ok, ok.

You don't gotta post it in every thread!

._.

herbertdsherbert

oops sorry just the 2

CCC

Bear in mind that S5 could be had for £1.00 / £0.95 in John Lewis / Debenhams when they "retired" around Christmas / New Year.

Pitfall69

For investment purposes I don't think CMF is the way to go unless you had invested in Series 1 way back. I have been selling my extra minifigures and I am lucky to get what I paid for them. Unless you get an awesome deal I would steer away from any Series.

zjygkmatt

One day, people will want them more than currently. I say get them. Whenever i see lego older than a few years in places I feel some people dont look, like mom and dad run toy stores, I will get them because I know if people knew they wouldnt still be around. Just my opinion on it though.

Pitfall69

I agree one day someone will want them, but he wants them for re sale purposes and if they don't go up in value (which I haven't seen really) the longer he holds on to them, the less value they will have.

Im in the US, so I am going to base my theory on being in a similar situation here. If I saw a sealed series 3 Box I personally wouldn't buy it because I don't see the series 3 box keeping up with inflation and I would factor in Bricklink and Ebay and PayPal fees. I wouldn't risk sitting on the box to re sell it hoping for a big profit. This is of course what I would do. Everyone is different.

LegoFanTexas

^ I agree with @Pitfall79

These are not "collectible", in the sense that they will become valuable, they are only "collectible" in that you can "collect" them all.

For some foolish reason, I have a case of Series 6 and a case of Series 7, but I would have preferred to not buy them. They are in the closet, forgotten about, until some future day when I'm hoping they will have value, but I won't buy more.

Since buying those, I have found that Series 4 is still widely available in bulk from Lego distributors, hundreds and hundreds of cases. I hear Series 3 was even worse.

Bleah! :)

AvengerDr

There was a Yoda bust set at ~RRP some months ago in my local toy shop in Italy. If it is of interest to anyone I can check whether it is still there.. but the box looked really beaten up.

SpaceCake

There was a Yoda bust set at ~RRP some months ago in my local toy shop in Italy. If it is of interest to anyone I can check whether it is still there.. but the box looked really beaten up.

Seriously?! It must've been sitting there for damn-near ten years!

D:

AvengerDr

@SpaceCake: it was still there when I went back at the end of February. I'll go back home in Italy during the Jubilee bank holidays so I'll go have a look. In Italy they seldom do sales on toys. Family-owned shops such as that one don't even know what words like "sale", "discount", "shelf-space" mean. So it is not uncommon to see sets forgotten on the shelves...

CCC

^ I can vouch for that too! I can remember buying sun faded boxes that had been in window displays for years in my favourite toy shop in Modena. They normally had their original price label on too, with the real unfaded colours underneath. The good thing is that their prices don't rise with inflation!

Pitfall69

I only buy 1 case of CMF's I keep 1 set for me. 1 set for my daughter and i will sell a set online and the extra minifigures. If im lucky, I'll get what I paid for them. Again, if you ever see Series 1 laying around I would grab it...maybe even Series 2, but I wouldn't invest in any other series unless you get them pennies on the dollar.

SpaceCake

I only buy 1 case of CMF's I keep 1 set for me. 1 set for my daughter and i will sell a set online and the extra minifigures. If im lucky, I'll get what I paid for them. Again, if you ever see Series 1 laying around I would grab it...maybe even Series 2, but I wouldn't invest in any other series unless you get them pennies on the dollar.

Yeah, I'm slightly regretting not grabbing a case of S2's I saw a while back. Mentioned it on here and somebody else grabbed them.

Sound advice and much appreciated!

:)

Thezoofox

^ wasn't me. I only got 4 packs :-)

BoiseState

1 and 2 yes.. Anything older forget it.

BoiseState

Newer I mean.

CCC

^ It depends. If you can feel them, do so. Pick out the elves, Romans, etc and you are on to a winner.

GothamConstructionCo

Pass up the series 3 and pick up a box or two of the olympic collection on release for overseas sales and quick turn around sales during the games. Don't forget to push for a bulk discount.

SpaceCake

^ It depends. If you can feel them, do so. Pick out the elves, Romans, etc and you are on to a winner.

Which of Series 3 do well besides the Elf Warrior though? I've already stuffed a couple of sealed Romans into my "hoard", figured they can only get better!

CCC

^ Elf, Samurai, Gorilla Suit Guy all still do quite well. Fisherman, Indian, Baseball are not too bad either. Tennis player sells well during wimbledon.

AvengerDr

Just today I called Lego about a very old set that was I bought abroad which was forgotten on their shelves.. a ISD (6211). After having finally found somewhere to put it I started building it.. And I coulnd't even complete the first page.. I counted every single piece and I found out that were more than 20 pieces missing.

So i called them this morning and at the end the girl asked me to tell her a number that was printed on the side of the box. But I wasn't able to find it.. does anyone know where it exactly is? She agreed to send them anyway..

LegobrandonCP

It is usually on the sticker that holds the box flaps together.

Pitfall69

Well yes, obviously certain individual minifigures do well, but we were talking about a whole box.

AvengerDr

Almost completed my round of family owned toy shops in my hometown in Italy.. lo and behold I found a MISB 10178 Motorised AT-AT at 149.99€.. I didn't have enough cash with me (already almost spent my monthly CC allowance on Amazon.es...) so for the moment it is still where it has been for the past five years..

Is it worth buying? I won't be able to carry the whole box with me in the UK... so I'll have to carry the individual bags and build it someday...

Sigh 10178.. just one set number shy of the real jackpot...

For the record they also had a General Grievous statue and a huge box of a Space Police set which unfortunately I have just forgotten the set number, any idea about what it might be? I wasn't able to see the front picture as it was stacked beneath a ton of other boxes. If I decide to go for the AT-AT I'll note it down. They also had a 10198 (less rare I reckon). In another shop I found two Alpha Team boxes (4746 and 4748), a power miners box and an oddity I wasn't able to find here in the DB. A box labelled "Lego Studios" (or lego cinema? my memory is terrible) with a Stephen Spielberg signature on the side. Set number IIRC was 1143.

monkeyhanger

AvengerDr: should've sold a kidney to get 10178, great set, my second SW set bought. Not sure on prices right now, but unique due to its power functions. Got mine for £62 at Argos. 10198 hasn't been out of circulation very long, so hasn't gone up hugely yet. Are you after investment pieces or display here? 10198 looks great on display, and 10178 is well proportioned with most other Hoth stuff even if the very top of it isn't entirely movie accurate.

AvengerDr

I own a 10198 and have built it and displayed but it has been EOLed right?

Unfortunately I have missed many of the sets released during my Dark Ages which ended just recently.. so I'm trying to catch up what I can. I don't own the 10178 but I was debating with myself whether it's worth a marked up price (149€) but yes, if the owner did know about how much it is worth on ebay or BL he'd ask twice for it. BL's lowest price in EU is £220 and that's around 270€. I passed up on a 8129 earlier this year that I found in a TRU in Munich which was being sold at 129€..

If he had two I'd build one and sell the other.. but he only has one that I could see. Is that one of the sets that could potentially have the Chrome C3PO? It has the 30th year anniversary on it..

sidersdd

Almost completed my round of family owned toy shops in my hometown in Italy.. lo and behold I found a MISB 10178 Motorised AT-AT at 149.99€.. I didn't have enough cash with me (already almost spent my monthly CC allowance on Amazon.es...) so for the moment it is still where it has been for the past five years..

Is it worth buying? I won't be able to carry the whole box with me in the UK... so I'll have to carry the individual bags and build it someday...

Sigh 10178.. just one set number shy of the real jackpot...

For the record they also had a General Grievous statue and a huge box of a Space Police set which unfortunately I have just forgotten the set number, any idea about what it might be? I wasn't able to see the front picture as it was stacked beneath a ton of other boxes. If I decide to go for the AT-AT I'll note it down. They also had a 10198 (less rare I reckon). In another shop I found two Alpha Team boxes (4746 and 4748), a power miners box and an oddity I wasn't able to find here in the DB. A box labelled "Lego Studios" (or lego cinema? my memory is terrible) with a Stephen Spielberg signature on the side. Set number IIRC was 1143.

The Spielberg set was probably 1349.

monkeyhanger

AvengerDr: Yep 10198 is now EOL. 10178 is the greatest AT-AT to date IMO. The most recent one has crap legs, but a bit more accurate on the top of the body. Overall proportion, good legs and the fact it walks makes 10178 the winner for me. AT-AT didn't drag me out of my dark ages, but I got it because it's my fave vehicle. It was only a year later I started to backfill with other Hoth stuff and now have a decent Hoth shelf with the other stuff. Better get those Hoth battlepacks quick. I think they have EOLed, but stock remains in some places, [email protected] stopped selling them a while back.

GIR3691

My local Walmart has a 7744 City Police Headquarters (from 2008) in a semi-beat up box, sitting on its side in the bikes section, for $92 (which is actually over retail).

I left it.

AvengerDr

Well I guess I'll bite and *if they still have it* I'll get it tomorrow morning...

AvengerDr

Well I went there this morning and bought it.. the owner woulnd't give me any discount :( and.. the horror... while removing the price tag they ripped a small part of the box :( I wasn't able to stop them on time.. but I was going to open it anyway.



I took another picture of some other forgotten lego sets..

monkeyhanger

You won't regret buying it. Great set. Not too bad at £120 after conversion from Euros.

Dmsmith

Was at a Zellers today and saw 2 Aqua Raiders Crab Crushers. They had them at clearance for $50. Boxes were both in bad shape.
they have been there since 2007

SpaceCake

rel="AvengerDr">... and an oddity I wasn't able to find here in the DB. A box labelled "Lego Studios" (or lego cinema? my memory is terrible) with a Stephen Spielberg signature on the side. Set number IIRC was 1143.

Hehe... I remember those LEGO Studios sets... Still have quite a few bits and pieces kicking around from when I was a kid.