Requesting Valuation of Yellow Castle

JMTodd · January 2013

Hi all,

First time to post so my apologies if this topic has been touched on before. I have an addiction to buying Lego 375/6075 sets as it was my most memorable set from my childhood. I recently just came across a 6075 (yellow castle) with an almost perfect box and the plastic lid was still glued to the packaging. All of the bags still intact, a full, never touched sticker sheet and all of the instructions/catalogs. Basically a brand new set minus the shrink wrap.

I would love to hear opinions on value?

Thanks for your time,

J

samiam391 · January 2013

J,

First off, welcome to the forums!

Second, eBay "completed listings" is always a great way to determine value of a set.

Here's the link to show you average prices of 6075 yellow castle:
http://www.ebay.com/csc/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=lego+6075&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

Make sure to find a listing that most accurately represents the item that you are looking at purchasing if you are trying to ascertain value.

Typically on eBay buy it now prices are higher than auctions.

Another site that is good at determining value and going rate of a set, is Bricklink (BL). Here is the link to show you average prices of 6075 yellow castle:

-Current items available on BL:
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=38390

-Price guide:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=6075-2

And on a side note, I don't know where you are buying this item (eBay, CL, BL, etc..), but I personally always try to get some sort of a "deal" that is less than average value ;-)

Best of luck!

JMTodd · January 2013

samiam391,

Thanks for the links. I currently own five boxed 375/6075 but had never come across one that was sealed. I saw one months back, claiming to be shrink wrapped and mint sealed, go for around $1500.00 USD but have never seen another. Just curious.

Thanks again for the links and the welcome!

J

rocao · January 2013

samiam391 gave you a thoughtful answer, and the approach would work well for most sets, but a brand new 375 is not one of them.

It is a rare find, so rare that you're not really going to arrive at a valuation by sales history. Instead, it is worth what someone will pay for it. There are some -- like me -- that would pay very handsomely for it. The tricky part is finding that small niche.

Unfortunately, the reality is that its rarity is not going to translate into the value that I think it should relative to some newer and less rare retired sets.

JMTodd · January 2013

rocao,

So true...I really enjoy the old and the new, but to see those sealed bags literally brought back memories from when I was about 5 years old opening the very same set. Sounds corny, I know.

Some of these high dollar and large piece count sets like the Mellinium Falcon and Cafe Corner are really cool but they will NEVER touch the 375/6075. IMO the four knights are the coolest minifigs ever created by Lego....

Thanks,

J

rocao · January 2013

Total agreement here. The coat of arms are so simple, yet they tell an entire story.

If you get a chance, please upload some photos of your set. Maybe we'll spawn a Yellow Castle collecting renaissance ;)

samiam391 · January 2013

My apologies J, rocao (as always) is of course 100% correct. I'm more of a minifigure guy, and didn't immediately recognize the rarity of this piece.

However, considering it is rare, I'm definitely interested in the piece and can give a little advice on it since I've had a few of these situations before.

As rocao already said, this set, considering what it is... well.. it's worth what you are willing to pay. Not to sound insulting to the set, especially since this is classic LEGO, but it is a small little castle, made out of yellow bricks. If LEGO released this set today, I doubt you would find any one that would purchase it. Looking at the picture, it's a bunch of 2x4 bricks. With that in mind, value of the set in general, if released today, is a few bucks.

In other words, sentimental value and rarity are going to make up the entire value of this piece. As you've already mentioned, you have 5 of these sets opened. Seems like the sentimental part of this set has been appeased well enough!

So that narrows it down to the only real buying factor it seems is: rarity and you wanting it for your collection. With that in mind, it's all what you are willing to pay. You won't be seeing many of these copies again, and perhaps this is the last one you will see all year. If you are that intent on completing your collection, my advice would be to buy it sooner rather than later. Opportunities for items as rare as these only come up once in awhile (obviously), and when you have the chance, it's wiser to pull the trigger in my humble opinion (depending upon price of course). We obviously all want a deal, but if you see it pop up for market price, go for it. Considering just how rare this item is, you probably aren't going to see one at a "deal" price, unless you are very, very lucky (don't bank on it in this world...). If the person offering this set to you wants market price (Your best guide for that is $1,500), than take it. However, also keep in mind that someone may have overpaid on that last auction with the $1,500. If I was you, I'd make the seller put out the first number.

Do be wise before making the purchase.. make sure bills are paid, etc.. Don't let emotions come into play when buying this piece and pay, for example, $10,000 (just so you can have it right away), when the amount of $1,000 suffices.

Anyway.. just the regular ramblings of me.. but I hope it helps you somehow. Best of luck on the purchase, I hope you end up getting it and for a good price! :-)

JMTodd · January 2013

If I can figure out how to upload (new here) I will do so tomorrow...Off to bed now...

On a quick side note, I have been watching eBay for 375 and 6075 daily for about 6-12 months and recently, even complete sets missing a few of the castle stickers AND missing the box have been going for around $175 (maybe a seasonal uptick before Christmas?).

Have a good evening -

J

samiam391 · January 2013

Incidentally, there is one on BL that is open box, but has sealed bags:
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=brasletty&itemID=23431232

rocao · January 2013

^ I wouldn't sell my copies for that :P

You may or may not know this, but the biggest problem with collecting 375/6075 is finding ones that actually have original pieces.

The original bricks will have the imperfection from the injection molding on the side, whereas newer bricks have it on the stud with the LEGO writing. This is true of all vintage sets of that era, but 375/6075 was the most commonly pieced together from new parts.

The reason was there was a non-authentic, reproduction sticker sheet widely available from 2000-2002 from an eBay seller. It was actually a pretty good reproduction, and those years were the heyday of repurchasing old LEGO sets on eBay, so a lot of "enterprising" people bought the sticker sheets, and made the set up with newer pieces. They were generally pretty easy to spot since they usually lacked instructions, and the rarer, out of production pieces.

Pitfall69 · January 2013

All the pieces needed to create the castle shouldn't be that hard to replicate. You can easily find sets that are less desirable made during the years the Yellow Castle was made. Now, the hard part is obtaining the correct minifigures. In my experience with early minifigures I always look at the hands to determine the age. Obviously the head needs to have a solid stud, but the hands are the key. The older yellow hands look much different than the the newer ones. Over time they fade. It was like they were made with a different plastic than those used for the bricks and the heads. If the bricks are correct and the box and the instructions are good I then look at the hands and that pretty much gives me the determination whether it is authentic or not.

rocao · January 2013

It's not at all trivial to replicate. From memory, the yellow double convex wasn't available in other set from that era, and the hinge and red window weren't in any other set in sufficient quantity. Sure it's possible to source all the castle bricks with bricks from that era, but not with the goal of obtaining them cheaply to make money selling them as 375/6075.

I'm sorry I wasn't specific about the minifigures. They certainly are difficult to obtain. What some people were doing were buying just the minifigures and rarer parts, replacing the stickers so they looked pristine, and swapping in new 1xn new yellow pieces.

JMTodd · January 2013

Morning all,

That is really interesting on Bricklink, hadn't seen that. Here are a couple of pics. I didn't realize that the original sealed bags came with 4 extra masks...

Have a great day all,

J

Crownie · January 2013

Why is the nicest box on the bottom?!

I had to laugh when @samiam391 suggested not letting emotions come into play when purchasing because I figured if you're buying it for nostalgia in the first place, you've already lost that particular game.

Is this the only LEGO set you collect so extensively? It sounds kind of nice to me - to have a focus on just one particular set, as opposed to... well I'm perpetually finding new sets every week that I wish to collect, lol.

mathew · January 2013

Yeah, it seems to be a obsession within an obsession. I've sometimes liked a set so much that I want to buy a mint box just to tuck away (I think this is common with AFOL). I looked up the recent sales for this set on ebay and a mint NIB sold for $200 on 12-24-12.

rocao · January 2013

^ Putting 1 and 1 together, it looks like JMTodd won that auction in December. Is that right? Great price, either way.

samiam391 · January 2013

Crownie said:
Why is the nicest box on the bottom?!

I had to laugh when @samiam391 suggested not letting emotions come into play when purchasing because I figured if you're buying it for nostalgia in the first place, you've already lost that particular game.

Is this the only LEGO set you collect so extensively? It sounds kind of nice to me - to have a focus on just one particular set, as opposed to... well I'm perpetually finding new sets every week that I wish to collect, lol.

@Crownie- Haha! True, probably a lost battle/sentence already, but I figured I'd shoot in a reminder to not overpay because of emotions. :-)

Although.. it seems nostalgia has already taken its toll on the wallet with 5 of those sets all stacked up nice and purty!

Pitfall69 · January 2013

Well...I guess the question is what release is worth more? Is 375 rarer than 6075 or visa versa. According to the Lego Collectors Guide 6075 is more rare, but how accurate is the guide? Both sets are not exactly the same. The sticker sheets are different in color.

Pitfall69 · January 2013

I would say based on past and current selling prices of 375. I would value 6075 at $1,650.

JMTodd · January 2013

rocao said:
^ Putting 1 and 1 together, it looks like JMTodd won that auction in December. Is that right? Great price, either way.

Nailed it...When I saw the Buy It Now price I about fell out of my chair...fingers have never worked an iPhone so fast.

Thanks for the discussion all. And regarding my "obsession within an obsession", it extends to 6083/383 as well. I also have purchased all of the modulars this year minus the Marketplace and CC. Added 4 custom modulars as well. And my wife thought that taking away my Call of Duty on PS was a good idea until I replaced it with Legos.

J

samiam391 · January 2013

^Sounds like the LEGO bug has taken yet another person.

I'll warn you now, get back that Playstation now, or say goodbye to your savings! ;-)

Pitfall69 · January 2013

I have an Xbox obsession.

Pacific493 · January 2013

I haven't read through all of the posts in this thread, so I apologize if I'm retreading the same ground as others. The value in the set that you bought is in the sealed bags and unused sticker sheet. I have seen an unused sticker sheet alone sell for between $100-$200 . That being said, the value of the set really depends on how quickly you would want to part with it. If you wanted to flip it quickly for a quick profit, I would say you could probably get between $700-$1000 on ebay...maybe a bit less, maybe a bit more. If you're willing to list it on Bricklink and wait, I don't think that $1200-$1500 is unrealistic.