IIIJRFIII: Hey Guys, Old Lego Fan, Introducing myself and some questions

IIIJRFIII

Hey guys, Glad I found this fourm. In short Im 24 year old, took my old legos down from the attic and now hooked on them once again lol. I was always a lego fan, but sadly I stopped playing with them around the year 2000. Mostly becuase of the non-old school vibe I got from playing with them. They would give you one piece that would do that job of 10 pieces 5 years before. But I still have my old Lego so Im happy. In short I didnt know Legos had such a following like its does. I am looking to buy new Legos but, the sets from when I was a Kid, from the late 80's early 90's: Castle Sets. I been looking on the web the past few weeks and found some of the sets I wanted but some of them brand new are close or over $1000. The others went from being $60 back when the came out to $250. I mean I dont know if these people are ripping us off or what. So is there any good sites I should know about when looking to buy new old legos? I'm looking for all castle froms back in the day. They only castle I cant find is the Black Knight's Castle 6086 . I saw the Black Monarch's Castle 6085 for a whopping $850 dollors on one set. Id be willing to pay the money, I really would becuase it makes me so happy but, I want to ask you guys the pro's what to do before I go ahead and buy anything. Thanks guys cant wait to show you my sets!

NicksBricks

A few years ago I purchased a few castles I missed back in the day. Try www.bricklink.com. Compare that to the prices on eBay and Amazon.

Istokg

Specifically....
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=4680

Si_UKNZ

Welcome back to the fold - old Lego castle is also what brought me out of my dark ages (along with a bit of technics). Mixed parts are very cheap, so if you want to MoC an old style castle, it's one of the cheapest things you can bulid.

There are plenty of bargains to be had on ebay, but plenty of ripoffs too. In general, the more patient you are, the more likely you are to get a bargain - just set up loads of saved searches with price limits.

I'd highly recommend you try the latest castle though, especially as it's reduced in many places at the moment (in the UK at least) - the last couple of castles are much closer to the old aesthetic, and I think you'll be very very pleased with some of the details in the castles right now.

atkinsar

^ Do you mean the 2010 Kingdoms castle? If so, I've not seen this discounted much at all in the UK, any pointers as to where you've seen it?

Si_UKNZ

yes, that one, on amazon as usual ;but its back up again, close-ish to RRP. For the whole of march it was at about £68, which is about 15%ish off I think. Also seem to recall it was discounted at argos.

drdavewatford

I had the same question @atkinsar - I've not seen the Kingdoms castle reduced much either. I'm not generally a Castle guy so won't get the latest incarnation unless I can grab a big (i.e. 30% at the very least) discount on it. Looks like we'll be holding out for the Argos 3-for-2 later this year, then.....

IIIJRFIII

Guys I can not thank you all enoff for your help. You letteraly saved my 100's. This site you guys told me about,, brink-link is amazing. Iv been looking at this set..http://www.chowrentoys.com/servlet/StoreFront for the most part besides ebay. But now I will deffenttly use brink link. Im here in the U.S. witch is good becuase alot of the sellers on brink link are also here. I want to make a lego lay out like I saw in the magizines when I was a kid, they looked like model rail road lay outs but for legos. Here the pic that started it all for me when I was a kid, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/Lego_1992_Castle_castfront.jpg and thats what I will aim for. I cant belive how much money these old legos went up over there years lol. The new castles are getting better you guys say? Like more little pieces instead of fews big ones?

Si_UKNZ

^ Not that different in terms of large v small pieces, but http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7946-1 for instance has great details, and generally looks better than the old ones, while being in the same style as the old ones. The new minifigs look much better too with their shiny armour etc - get one (or one of the smaller new sets) and youll see what I mean.

StuBoy

Another thing I found when I got back into Lego was the light gray pieces from the older sets have changed colour to light bluish gray (not sure when this happened, around 2005, I think. I'm sure someone will know). Just thought I'd let you know! It took me a while to work out why all the new pieces looked so different to all my old ones.

Good choice on 6086, I love that set! A lot more minifigs than you get in today's sets.

atkinsar

^ you've just mentioned probably the biggest scandal in LEGO history (certainly from the customer stand point anyway). Check this link out for a bit more information: http://www.fbtb.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1859

drdavewatford

^ Interesting to see forum member DaveE wading into the linked discussion on FBTB.

war44lock

Castle is my favorite theme. I got Black Monarch new in 1989 and still have it now, I also bought the new Kings Castle recently when I saw it for $129.00 NZ (down from $220 NZ) and I really like it. The main thing for me is the detail on the new Kingdoms stuff. Less figures but way more detailed they look great. I am also searching out old castle and pirate sets but they do hold and even increase in value so its hard. Patience is the key as said by Si_Dorking but for sets with instructions and a box you will have to pay. I think the Kingdoms sets are worth a look though, even more so the new ones coming soon. There isn't that big a difference in the parts used. Good luck and happy hunting!

rocao

@IIIJRFIII: If you intend to build and display the sets, I would give strong consideration to seeking out good condition used sets rather than MISB examples. You would literally be costing yourself several hundred dollars in value by just breaking the seals.

In this case, Bricklink would be more dependable than eBay in finding the highest quality used sets since many Bricklink sellers are fellow hobbyists that understand quality demands. Don't be shy about putting a seller to the task of proving their set is in "excellent used" condition by asking for follow up photos. You may also have noticed by now that you can purchase individual pieces on Bricklink, which is a good way of swapping out pieces in a set that aren't up to snuff.