The one that got away thread

catwrangler · January 2016

chrisalddin said:

Basta said:

On the subject of classified adds (Gumtree & Craigslist etc.) you should always go in with the mindset that nothing is sold until the money has changed hands.

Anyone who thinks they can call and expect some ludicrously cheap deal to be held for days unitll you can find the time to pick it up is dreaming.

Good sellers will tell you this though "yep it's yours for X price, BUT if someone else turns up before you then it's theirs". Too many time wasters on classified adds to do it any different IMO. (This is my experiance as a buyer, I have never sold Lego on a classified site)

Thank you, this comment gave me a idea.
have a sod load of model train stuff that i not used in over 5 years, and all the 2nd hand selling shop have closed down. i don't feel i am up to doing a e-bay as i dont think i can manage the shiping of said item, but Gumtree may work. as you dont send stuff out they come to you.
still going to be a lot of work. but i could use the room it all taking up and the cash.
so thanks :)

You could also consider doing a "collection only" listing on Ebay - I did it last year when we had a few hundred old roof slates. Only thing is, I specified Paypal only (as I always do for postal sales) and the auction winner then wanted to pay in cash. I was skeptical given that he'd agreed to my terms by bidding (plus I'm a disabled woman and feel vulnerable about a buyer coming to my home) but he seemed barely internet-savvy (said his son helped him find the auction in the first place) and said people had been okay with the arrangement before.

So I arranged for my partner to be around, and in the end it worked fine - guy brought the cash, packed the van himself (you haven't winced until you've watched a man lift 500 slates) and we both came away happy. Admittedly, I don't know how typical my experience is, but I thought I'd mention it in case it's useful...

ethanjwall · January 2016

I saw a 8780: Citadel of Orlan on Ebay for 10.99, forgot about the auction, sadly, got back on and saw that it sold for only 14.99 :( whoever got that set got a very, very good steal. The set was complete, with all minifigures, instructions, and pieces, but no box.

SumoLego · January 2016

Lee said:

Sadly we cant have everything.

Bah! You're not trying hard enough.

SumoLego · January 2016

But seriously, the VW Beetle is the only one I really regret not buying at the time.

(I missed the Carousel and the CC as well, but those don't bother me much.)

And I vividly remember wanting to buy the catalogue-only custom trains from 10 years ago and then I didn't.

B_Holls · January 2016

Way back in 2011 I was on an Ebay hunt for the minifig scale Tumbler. I had it for like 80$ and got out bid and it sold for like $100 had I known that its price would sky rocket I would have shelled out more than 150.

Sethro3 · January 2016

^Shouldn't you still be on the hunt for minifig scaled tumbler considering that copy was way too large. The latest version from the Bat set was closer to the right scale, but a tad small in comparison to what I'd expect for a 2 seater.

catwrangler · January 2016

I'm not sure if this counts, but what the hell: I've been faintly confused for a few years because I have memories of having built @7134 and stored it apart from my other old Star Wars stuff, yet I haven't seen it when I recently started sorting out my Lego and bringing it home from my mother's place. Did I just fantasise the whole thing? Did it accidentally end up going to the charity shop? It definitely feels like the one that got away!

turboslot · January 2016

I never got round to buying #4184 - always planned to as it was the last POTC set I needed to complete the set. Lego [email protected] retired it while I wasn't looking and the prices doubled overnight or tripled in amazons case. Still can't bring myself to pay the big money for a sealed set so hoping I'll buy it second hand........some when.

mldj77 · January 2016

I wish I had #3450 Statute of Liberty. I do have it partially, saved it from this business that had it on display but took it down.

monstblitz · January 2016

The regrets in this thread is exactly why I cashed in some of my stocks to buy 10179 while it's still almost "affordable". Affordable in quotes, because it really wasn't. Anything you have to cash in stocks or tap into savings for is not really by definition affordable.

Who knows what the future holds for it, but I would sit there so many times looking at the Ebay listings and prices and every few months, I'd think, "Damn. If only I had bought it at X price". At the time it seemed insane, but a year later seemed like a bargain. One day while staring at the listings again I imagined what I would think at age 50 or 60 (in my 30s now) and the price was Lord only knows what. That's when I decided I needed to do whatever it took. It might not ever pay off, but at least it won't drive me crazy anymore.

Yodalicious · January 2016

^ And, value be damned, you got something you wanted. Sometimes there's something to be said for just going ahead and getting something you want that you enjoy. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Milcheax · January 2016

Holiday season 2014. Brother and I are in the King of Prussia LEGO store.
The DeLorean (#21103) set is on clearance at $25/each.
There were over a dozen still remaining.
Neither of us had the cash/credit to spare on a few.

Now they're up to 80+ on ebay and Amazon.

wardm · January 2016

Haunted House is the one... The others I missed, like lots of the older modulars, I can live with!

Lego91 · January 2016

Compared to your stories this is laughable, but I still hate myself for it: It was the first or second year after I started to buy LEGO and I already had a couple of Creator sets, my favourite theme. I went to a second hand/charity sale thing and there was this Creator set I did not have yet but I decided against buying it because it was a motorcycle. Price was like 5€ or something like that. Now a couple of years later I buy every Creator set that comes out, even those I do not like and I still regret not buying that damn ugly blue motorcycle. That was set number #6747 And the same happened a later with #6752. Still not fully in collection and I decided against buying it (it was retired already) at a fair because I thought the price was too high. Safe to say: This has never happened again since then.

EDIT: I plan on buying both sets, but I have to plan my money carefully and so the current sets have priority.

Oh an my parents giving away my Duplo bricks. I still have vivid memory of everything and in all honesty I could cry because I don't have it any more. I had no idea when they did that (they did it secretly because I wouldn't have allowed them to do it). I miss my figures and the white walls with the doors that move to the side. *sigh* I was so angry when I found out about it and I think some of my adult love for Duplo is because of that. Trying to ease the feeling of loosing my Duplo.

monstblitz · February 2016

I saw a Craiglist ad for a Lego table last night including Lego. It was a moving sale and billed as must go. I've been on a hunt for a bigger table for the kids so I sent an email about it.

This morning dude emails me back with some pics and said to make an offer. I couldn't make much out in the pics, but I saw what looked like modulars on the table. I'm not that into modulars, so didn't recognize any of them. Off the top of my head I offered $200. He countered with $250. I accepted. Went to pick it up and when I got there he said he wouldn't sell. Turns out one of the modulars was Green Grocer and his wife found out what it was worth right before I got there.

Looks like I almost stumbled into a bargain. I wasn't looking to take advantage and would have hate to have been responsible for dude getting a divorce, so alls well that ends well. His wife is seeing $$$$$ and thinks she's going to make a $1,000 off an incomplete set with no box. She doesn't realize those are for sealed sets and that she will have to catalog every single tiny piece to sell on Ebay. I told the guy good luck shook his hand and was on my way. Had I driven further than 10 minutes I would have been much more upset about the whole ordeal.

Bricklover18 · February 2016

Townhall I looked at it in the lego store, liked it but got the grand emporium instead. Wanted to buy it later online but it was sold out

legomental · February 2016

Bricklover18 said:

Townhall I looked at it in the lego store, liked it but got the grand emporium instead. Wanted to buy it later online but it was sold out

I did exactly the same but I do still like grand emporium better and therefore don't regret it. I'm not buying any of the old modulars I don't have (missing four retired ones) but I think I might bricklink a copy of green grocer this year if I can find time as it looks a fun build

Rsa33 · February 2016

legomental said:

Bricklover18 said:

Townhall I looked at it in the lego store, liked it but got the grand emporium instead. Wanted to buy it later online but it was sold out

I did exactly the same but I do still like grand emporium better and therefore don't regret it. I'm not buying any of the old modulars I don't have (missing four retired ones) but I think I might bricklink a copy of green grocer this year if I can find time as it looks a fun build

Green grocer is my fav build of all time, simply beautiful, you will not regret it!

Jackad7 · February 2016

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=141907973965&alt=web noooooo I'm almost in tears. I've wanted an Ayala secura for so long and I missed it by seconds. Oh my gosh this us the biggest letdown I've had eveer.

Jackad7 · February 2016

Jackad7 said:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=141907973965&alt=web noooooo I'm almost in tears. I've wanted an Ayala secura for so long and I missed it by seconds. Oh my gosh this us the biggest letdown I've had eveer.

Now that I have recovered I wasn't almost in tears but I did vocalize some choice words with a mild frustration.

Fauch · February 2016

@monstblitz if there were several modulars you could have tried to still get them for 250, without the green grocer

monstblitz · February 2016

Fauch said:

@monstblitz if there were several modulars you could have tried to still get them for 250, without the green grocer

Oh I tried that. I was really mostly interested in the table he had, so I asked him his price for the table and other Lego besides Green Grocer. He refused as he wasn't sure if Green Grocer pieces might be mixed in, which I could understand. He never even got back to me with a new price. I'm sure they are trying to make that $1200 they think they can get for it and failing miserably.

wakko · February 2016

monstblitz said:

Fauch said:

@monstblitz if there were several modulars you could have tried to still get them for 250, without the green grocer

Oh I tried that. I was really mostly interested in the table he had, so I asked him his price for the table and other Lego besides Green Grocer. He refused as he wasn't sure if Green Grocer pieces might be mixed in, which I could understand. He never even got back to me with a new price. I'm sure they are trying to make that $1200 they think they can get for it and failing miserably.

Does he lives in Rose Hill area? Wondering if we talked to the same dude..

Rambo_Beyonce · February 2016

Grand Carousel is still the only set I would be willing to pay current value for. One of my top 5 favorite sets all time.

Steve_J_OM · February 2016

Some forum members might remember this, but there was someone who posted a thread on here - I want to say 3 years ago - selling his collection, in which there were some major EOL gems. Among those gems were the Cafe Corner and Green Grocer, each at roughly RRP (and while I can't remember exactly how long ago this was, aftermarket prices were certainly 4x RRP by that time).

I was among the first to happen across the thread, because there were no replies. I was out when I saw it, so I was looking at this spreadsheet on my phone with unbelieving eyes. It felt like one of those 'if it looks too good to be true...' situations, so I sent him a PM asking him some questions - I can't remember what at this stage - but while I was doing so there must have been dozens of others just saying 'ME PLEASE' and of course I lost out. The thread exploded, and it turned out that the guy was known to @Huw and completely legit.

I think my girlfriend was forced to ask me multiple times if everything was okay with me for the rest of that afternoon.

monstblitz · February 2016

wakko said:

monstblitz said:

Fauch said:

@monstblitz if there were several modulars you could have tried to still get them for 250, without the green grocer

Oh I tried that. I was really mostly interested in the table he had, so I asked him his price for the table and other Lego besides Green Grocer. He refused as he wasn't sure if Green Grocer pieces might be mixed in, which I could understand. He never even got back to me with a new price. I'm sure they are trying to make that $1200 they think they can get for it and failing miserably.

Does he lives in Rose Hill area? Wondering if we talked to the same dude..

Yep. That's the guy. I see he has a new ad up now but I haven't even asked about it. Half a day was enough to waste on that venture. The guy seemed nice enough, but I think the wife pulling the strings behind the scene will make it a losing transaction. Good luck to you if you decide to make another run at it!

KingAlanI · February 2016

There were a lot of sets I was unwilling or unable to buy as a kid. For example, the #7140 / #7142 X-Wing was only $30, but that was a lot of money to me back then.

Wegmans (local supermarket chain) had a ton of 2015 LEGO at 50% off this January. I could've been quicker to buy more of it (although I did end up with a lot)

chrisalddin · March 2016

i am posting this here, as i thing this counts as a "one that got away."
as many of you know i am after 3x #31050 Corner Deli to turn in to a MOC.
in 3 week's time from now i will have set aside the money for this.
however right now. i dont have it set to one side.
so when Tesco did the 3 for 2, offer the offer i plan to buy this set with. i was not a happy Bunny.
i just dont have the cash right now.
it is now also out of stock.
it sucks. Tesco could not have waited 3 weeks or done it last week?
in the end i have decided that i need to keep a bigger cash buffer for out of the blue offers.

CHAINSAW · March 2016

I totally missed my chance on buying a really good deal on the sandcrwaler. I waited a couple hours to long. :(

sonsofsceva · March 2016

This is a decade ago now, but in my Dark Ages I was in TRU with my infant and passed the LEGO aisle with the Vikings on the endcap. I thought the vikings and mythology were awesome and almost bought them, but passed them up. Ninjago and Elves dragons are much better than those older versions, but something about Vikings makes me still feel I missed the opportunity.
Also, I do remember many years ago seeing Death Star II on clearance at Target and thinking it was ridiculous that someone would pay $90 for any LEGO set...

CHAINSAW · March 2016

sonsofsceva said:

This is a decade ago now, but in my Dark Ages I was in TRU with my infant and passed the LEGO aisle with the Vikings on the endcap. I thought the vikings and mythology were awesome and almost bought them, but passed them up. Ninjago and Elves dragons are much better than those older versions, but something about Vikings makes me still feel I missed the opportunity.
Also, I do remember many years ago seeing Death Star II on clearance at Target and thinking it was ridiculous that someone would pay $90 for any LEGO set...

Omg wow that death star must have been a pain to pass up now. :(

Jackad7 · March 2016

I missed a mislabeled UCS Yoda the other day on ebay. It was just labeled "Lego yoda" not.under the proper tags on ebay so unless you knew what it was when you accidently found it you wouldn't find it. I bid 125 and it ended ar 140. Not horrible but I still wish I didn't let it slide.

TyresOFlaherty · March 2016

I knew this was going to happen, but I only collect Star Wars sets from eps 4-6 (and 7 now, too, obviously!), and I thought the Ghost (75053) and the Phantom (75048) were neat sets, but I hadn't seen Rebels yet. Now I've been watching them with my 3 year old son, and just kicking myself that I didn't purchase them before the prices spiked online.

monstblitz · March 2016

After hearing about a few lucky scores about Gamestop iron patriot promos I stopped by one to see what they had. They showed me a handful of them but claimed they were for an upcoming promotion. When I called them on that they said, "Oh yeah, they are leftover but we are going to use them for another promotion. I'm sure they know what they are worth and just stashing them away for someone else or themselves. What a tease. I would have bought something to get my hands on them but they weren't biting.

sonsofsceva · March 2016

@TyresOFlaherty You should try a local KMart. My local one still has the Ghost on the shelf at MSRP.

William_Townsley · March 2016

I missed out on a Grand Carousel on Gumtree Yesterday for £250 it was still sealed...

CHAINSAW · March 2016

sonsofsceva said:

@TyresOFlaherty You should try a local KMart. My local one still has the Ghost on the shelf at MSRP.

Wow, really? Awesome!

MattsWhat · March 2016

sonsofsceva said:

@TyresOFlaherty You should try a local KMart. My local one still has the Ghost on the shelf at MSRP.

I was going to say "plenty on Amazon for a decent price" but you found him something better.
Just be grateful you are that side of the water, they are a comfortable 2x rrp over here already! And they seem to be pretty rare, not a single one came up from my wanted thread. Damnit.

chrisalddin · March 2016

MattsWhat said:

sonsofsceva said:

@TyresOFlaherty You should try a local KMart. My local one still has the Ghost on the shelf at MSRP.

I was going to say "plenty on Amazon for a decent price" but you found him something better.
Just be grateful you are that side of the water, they are a comfortable 2x rrp over here already! And they seem to be pretty rare, not a single one came up from my wanted thread. Damnit.

i would like to have this model to. but i think i going to have to want it.
if it get a remake that be cool. but until that time. it will be on my one day i like that list.
and what sucks more is i got back in to lego at the same time this set retired.
so when i 1st spotter the ghost set, it was 3 weeks before Christmas and it was already hard to find, and 1.5x RRP and i was not playing over the RRP,

TyresOFlaherty · March 2016

chrisalddin said:

MattsWhat said:

sonsofsceva said:

@TyresOFlaherty You should try a local KMart. My local one still has the Ghost on the shelf at MSRP.

I was going to say "plenty on Amazon for a decent price" but you found him something better.
Just be grateful you are that side of the water, they are a comfortable 2x rrp over here already! And they seem to be pretty rare, not a single one came up from my wanted thread. Damnit.

i would like to have this model to. but i think i going to have to want it.
if it get a remake that be cool. but until that time. it will be on my one day i like that list.
and what sucks more is i got back in to lego at the same time this set retired.
so when i 1st spotter the ghost set, it was 3 weeks before Christmas and it was already hard to find, and 1.5x RRP and i was not playing over the RRP,

Using Brickseek, I found a couple near my hometown (in San Jose, CA, if anyone else is looking for it!), now, to get my parents to go out there and see if it's actually in the store. It was at a pretty good discount.....

ARo2891 · March 2016

Check Barnes and Noble! Thats where I found mine a month ago for RRP. Plus if you're a member you can get 10% off!!

brumey · March 2016

missed out on the march double vip and chickensuit guy promo!

just couldnt find something i really want. wanted to talk myself into buying #10247 #10244, but was debating too much in the end . ended up saying to myself:"atleast you got the ninjas and the cool houses!"

CHAINSAW · March 2016

ARo2891 said:

Check Barnes and Noble! Thats where I found mine a month ago for RRP. Plus if you're a member you can get 10% off!!

Yeah barnes and noble has some really good deals.

thebeermonkey · March 2016

I'm so often the Bridesmaid never the Bride. Particularly, when it comes to the Town Hall #10224 and the Haunted House #10228. I'm either too slow and narrowly miss out mid DM or I miss out on eBay due to me humming and hawing. They are the only two sets that I currently don't have but really covet. I should learn to be more decisive. One day...

AllBrick · April 2016

Had a delve in the old memory banks recently and recalled passing on a #6866 (before I was in the know) because I'd just bought two sets with choppers and ddint want too many.

*face in palm*

MattDawson · April 2016

@AllBrick you fool! :O

For me, it was 9V trains. I could have purchased the World City, Santa Fe/BNSF/TTX specials back in Lego's official store in the Bullring in Birmingham (UK).

Over-ruled by parents... -.-

AllBrick · April 2016

MattDawson said:

@AllBrick you fool! :O

Going back to the WH Smith where I saw it (which wasn't so long ago) and demanding they search the whole stock room for more. This is happening today.

Tufted_duck · April 2016

Anyone else finding this thread heartbreaking? Its a bit like group therapy.

I've missed a few sets but really regret my childhood lego collection being given away. And then later my uni lego collection being given away because it was at my parents house and I had moved away. Less about the monetary value and more about the nostalgia.

Saying that- why on earth did i not buy the original star wars sets at the time? Because my friend had them so all i needed to do was wait til he did to have a look...

Legopassion8 · April 2016

Town hall. Dammit.

Also...

This particular KATY Perry video makes me sad. So does Inside/Out. Never realized I was so damn sensitive...

MaffyD · April 2016

My wanted list is literally full of "Why did I not buy that?!" moments for me. The most agonizing thing is that at the time, I didn't give them a second's thought, except possibly 7181: TIE Interceptor and 6869: Quinjet Aerial Battle. Anyway, their time will come. Probably. Or I'll just live with it.

@Legopassion8 - you might want to give The Good Dinosaur a miss... that movie had me in tears (it's a good film, just... emotional).

The one that got away thread

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