This piece should have covered how Lego bought Bricklink and effectively took control of its own resale market.

The speculators tend to cause the Lego group to over estimate the demand for sets. Collectors and casual consumers are what grew the hobby. Speculators can ruin it. People see the returns and think they can do the same without knowledge. I’m glad we have people that resale parts and sets. It’s definitely not easy. But I think there are things that can harm the hobby. Never thought I would see a video talking about Lego affordability. Odd way to describe it. Sealed set selling is too annoying for me. I prefer to sell by the piece

I loved Lego when I was a kid and always thought I can buy good ones when I grow up. Then when I make my own money, the price of Lego increased dramatically. Then this...

Biggest lesson of 2022 in the stock market: Nobody knows what is going to happen next, so practice some humility and follow a strategy with a long term edge.

"Lego Tron" (points to the Voltron set). Today everybody and his grandmother are Lego investors.

Biggest issue by far is people coming into the hobby with none of the love and expecting to just make money and scalp.

Knowing how to spot the set and knowing when to sell it is really key. I think it's a great hobby to make a little extra money on the side, but should really not be taken as a serious method of investment

What I love about Lego is their ability to meet demand, we've never had significant problems with scalpers while sets were in production.

It’s a really good investment for people who actually like to open and play with them. I buy most of the big sets, open them, build them with my kids, play with them, then sell them a couple of years later when my kids are sick of them. Even used, you make a huge profit, especially if you can sell locally and avoid shipping. The huge earnings are a happy byproduct of actually enjoying the set for legitimate play collectors. I have made thousands all while actually enjoying the product.

Correction, she said like wine, no no, you can still sell it open because some like just wanna build but not pay the cost of new or go into lego trade in shop!

He's so happy about the Recession coming in, like he's super excited to be witnessing it.

I've been collecting Legos for over 10 years. You will NEVER see a Lego set decrease in value especially Lego star wars. The community is massive and all the sets are interactive. I'll be playing with Lego the rest of my life

I considered doing this a while back when buying sets to build myself. One to build, one to sit on and sell later. I decided just to buy myself more sets to build. No regrets.

buying products with the intent of flipping them for a profit: scalping buying legos with the intent of flipping them for a profit: investor makes sense to me

The concept of supply and demand has existed since the dawn of time. Some people invest in cars, or wine, art, watches, antiques, toys, or a million other possibilities. Are they all scalpers and spoiling the fun for everyone else? Of course not. Rare items increasing in value is an economic principle that's been around forever. If you didn't get around to buying something when it was readily available, why would you expect to get it for the same price when it's no longer on the market? People will always pay a premium for something that is rare. Lego is no exception, so why do some people expect it to be any different to any other product or commodity?

The good thing about Lego is that unlike mechanical watches or something, you CAN get the sets new when they come out without much trouble.. they manufacture enough of them.

It’s sad really. I respect those who take their time to do all of this, but as someone who loves to simply BUILD and display them, I feel a bit of emptiness when all anybody wants to talk about is how much they’re worth..

The term 'scalpers' is meant for people that buy things like music concert tickets with no intention of going - tickets with a very limited supply, for one venue, on one specific date. Whereas Lego sets are on the shelves for anything between 1 and 5 years, and are available online and in stores worldwide. So if someone wants to buy 10 identical sets during that time, they are not scalping, because anyone can buy those same sets (as many as they like, at retail price or on discount), within the same time window. It sounds like investors are being labelled 'scalpers' by people that are either jealous (because they don't have the time, or money, or space available), or they don't really understand the term scalpers properly (or indeed the Lego investing market). There's plenty of stock for everyone - kids, adults, builders, and resellers/investors. Just enjoy it, and if you want a set - then just buy it at retail or discounted when its readily available. Simple.

When theres a video about Lego investing by the Wall Street Journal, then the market is far too saturated

Lots of storage space required for the average person to make any real money.

Great serie on niche markets

As someone who's been buying Lego STARWARS products since 2000 I figured this was a growing niche that's only going to boom. *Edit had to fact check the year my Dad bought them for me and changed the year.

loved this niche markets, make more pls

Hobbies should never be about " how much it's worth " just enjoy it

There are inaccuracies in this. The Lego TIE fighter helmet was not originally $30. Retail value was $60. Big difference

Now it’s too many Lego investors here in Thailand. I think in the future, the resale price will not create huge profits like today or in the past. Another point is Lego also release too many lines/sets it’s getting harder to buy all or estimate the future prices. For those reason, I’m out. 😂

Although I like my set to have value, I sincerely hope people don't "invest" in this kind of thing. It is purely because there are already so many cases where all these "investors" that have near to no interest in the thing itself and purely looking out for monetary gain just destroy the hobby. Lego is precious not because of the set rarity alone, it is because it has a community, and there will be no community if people cannot afford it.

Should of interviewed me

I have a massive LEGO collection, worth over $13,000, that’s great but I buy them because they look cool and make me happy not to sell them and make money

Cool that WSJ covers Lego investing! :)

Imagine being his kid and not being allowed to play with all the legos

Quit messing with a toys price and jacking up a market that is already insane. scalpers suck and will never get any of my money.

We love our Bricks and Minifigs!

I dont really care that much to invest into lego, I love building legos because It keeps your mind off things and your just focused on building. If I invest in lego I usually only grab a 5-10 of the smaller sets and 1 to display.

It’s a whole lot harder than it looks. If you have a spare room to store Lego for the 5-6 years often needed to turn any sort of profit, you might be better just renting out the room

You should also make sure your investment is covered by insurance, and that you are not living in a disaster prone area such as floods, tornados, wildfires, etc.

LEGO is for building and enjoying…

If worse come to worse, the parts alone can be sold of piece by piece on the secondary market. So even if an investment, if you bought in during a sale, you can partially recoup.

The real winner here is Lettrick, that got a free ad on WSJ to talk about his business.

One idea is to buy two sets that you like. One to build and one to hold. I done that and it works. Currently have the Lego Creator Harley Davidson and the Black Camaro.

What seems to be missing is a lot of expenses and equivalency. Storage, even if it’s an empty room in your house is still an expense that can be calculated. It’s estimated an extra living space is worth 5.9 percent on average. Like if you paid 300,000 for a house and are using the extra room as storage, that’s 17,700 storage expense, not even factoring in the terms of the mortgage, which I would assume significantly increases that number. Shelving cost, personal time put in, are all expenses that can be calculated also. Equivalency also seems to be missing. Average inflation year to year has been around 3.5 percent, and even higher the last couple of years. I would love to see these factored into the profit. It seems like the break even point is actually a lot higher than original retail value.

Then Lego makes the old sets again and ruins the market😂😂

Like any other collectible, you need a buyer. If you don’t have a buyer at your price, it doesn’t matter. As with the rise and fall of economy, you have to wait till it’s the right time to sell it when you can get top dollar which is not right now.l when people are selling because they need cash to live. You also need adequate space to store and protect these sets for the long haul. Additionally you need to keep in mind the fees and shipping that go along with selling as well as the tax reporting that comes with places such as eBay and PayPal.

They need to fact check this a little bit. Dude points to Voltron and calls it Tron, then the video lists MSRP of $100. It also lists the original MSRP of the TIE pilot helmet at $30… there are already prospectors in this hobby/market. Falsely positive info like this will only create more and tank the market for everyone.

Years ago I tried to do this and bought two Lego death stars. After holding on those huge boxes for a couple of years and moving them across states. I finally sold them. I did make a small profit. But definitely not worth the space they took in my house and cost of moving them

As someone who collected comic books as a kid hoping to make a fortune, collectibles are not a very good investment and are highly speculative based on trends. There is also the problem of inventory and ensuring items are maintained in good condition because often times they are at high risks of damage. My mother is getting into vintage and antique items through thrift shops hoping she can make a fortune or getting a good deal but these items are taking up way too many space and prone to damage. People think collectibles gain value over time but from my experience it can greatly depreciate. I had a comic book worth $30, 10 years ago and now it’s only selling for $5. In fact it doesn’t seem like the comic book industry is very hot. I’ve seen older comics at collectors shop sell much lower than what it was a decade ago!

The crazy part about it all is he only touched on selling collector/exclusives sets for 4x the original price. If you delve into the more niche Lego themes like Bionicle, which has long been discontinued, some of their figures are selling for 10x what they were originally sold for. And then you have super exclusives like the Mr. Gold minifigure…

The fact i still have that big ninjago set still in the box unopened with no damage is crazy.

I remember ebay selling Chinese knockoffs of the millennium falcon collectors edition when "investors" were selling the authentic set for thousands. I'm glad Lego reissued them.

the amount of time and effort necessary for someone to be successful in this market, would be equal to starting your own business minus being at the whims of lego.....

I'm guessing they are rounding up on prices. The Tie Fighter Helmet is selling for $180 to $195

Do they collect for enjoyment as it should be or just for profit.

Amazon (eBay) fees and high shipping cost killed it long time ago.

Here’s where this video lost me, “this tie fighter pilot was originally $30” BS! Maybe because he used rewards or some other type of points to buy down that price but bruh that set was never $30. Be honest with this type of investing.

Obssesed with the BIG LEGO Billund set on the table. He has taste. :)

Well now that WSJ did a piece the bubble must be about to burst

Good thing I bought two ucs imperial star destroyers before they retired

It used to be worth doing this, when not many people were doing it, but now so many people are 'investing' in LEGO that the market is saturated and you can just Bricklink loose parts to build any set you want.

I’m here as a true lover of lego looking to invest in a hobby for my nephew and I as well as a potential source of secondary income for myself. Any tips?

I would love to get into lego. Unfortunately, i am from a developing country and the lego star wars series is so expensive. Even a cheap set is 1/8 of my monthly rent and a decent set is half a months rent.

as a long time lover of lego, i have literally zero sympathy for anybody who buys lego for the sake of resell. makes it worse for people who are just looking to find their favorite sets and actually enjoy them. i can understand those who buy it, enjoy it, and resell when they no longer play with it, but that's as far as it goes imo

As long as he's not buying 15-20 of these things to scalp them, I don't see the problem here. Sometimes people find out that they missed a cool set that's no longer being produced. I recently spent $180 for a new-in-box Apollo rocket, which was more than retail, but worth it IMO considering that it isn't in production right now.

Next do Pokemon cards - collecting, grading, etc.

Even Goodwill is selling small bags of assorted Legos for $30. I think there is a bit of a Lego bubble right now. As their sales increased over the pandemic (due to everyone being at home) but I doubt they would stay high

While I've received great pleasure out of constructing and displaying several Disney Lego sets in recent years, speculators will potentially enjoy a few dollars profit or possibly suffer financial losses. Doesn't sound like theirs is a worthwhile pastime to me.

I just got back into Lego a year ago and i really hope this doesn't turn into the next Pokémon craze because it is going to suck for the collectors/Hobby enthusiasts.

I cannot imagine "displaying" a Lego set. I guess I'll put it next to my DVD collection.

It only works for lego. Too many „Investors“ on the market now.

Toys for kids brought buy adults and never taken out of the box

It’s a mixed bag. I’ve made a few hundred dollars off some sets. I’m also sitting on several sets (esp the London Tower Bridge) that, due to a hugely saturated market, probably won’t be increasing in value for another 10 years

00:26 retail price for that set was not 30 bucks.

What’s the return per year?

Here I am, having worked in a Lego Store, slamming my head on the table

Cool. Lucas is one of those guys that has 5 or 6 of the same set in his shopping cart, while I'm saying to my kids, "oh well, sorry guys." I can't stand people like this. Ninjago sets? Think of the kids dude. You're a Father yourself.

I can't wait until Wata or CGC start grading Lego boxes too!

📈🔥

Lego investors are awful. I've worked in an auction house before and I've seen people get disappointed when their "$10000 priced item" (because they saw someone else asking the same for it) only for it to been sold for a few hundred bucks because no one wanted it. Lego investors work the same way where they see someone posted something on ebay for a ridiculous high price and now suddenly everyone thinks thats what its worth. I saw a new star wars set being sold for $75 + another $10 for shipping when you can go to target and get it for $40. It just got released and people are thinking they can make +25% profit within weeks of its release. No if you do that you're dumb. Then theres the minifigs. No lego minifig should be $20 or more. Thats insane. I can see if there were some really old sets or having a limited release like the chrome c3po but a normal clone trooper? Screw that. I get people want to make money but all this is doing is ruining it for people who just want the set and don't care about resell value. Maybe some child really liked a certain Minecraft set and wanted to buy it. The msrp was $40 but now its $200. If you're going to do investments with lego, at least be smart about it and make it a price people don't look at and say "wow you're an idiot" because it'll just sit as "for sale" for years and no one will buy it. If they weren't going to buy it cheaper before, what makes you think in 2 months they're want to spend more?

The tie fighter retailed for $60 though, not $30

LEGO Star Wars has risen 200% more than the S & P 500 since its creation!

Recently bought Bugatti Chiron Lego Set $350 compared to same model Sian Lamborghini $450. Bugatti is retiring soon (not Sian yet) and will be worth lots of $$$ after it's retired like Porsche GT3 where I bought for $300 and it peaked at $2000-3000 during pandemic

Love it

Let us remember what happened with vintage video game sales and the people that do the rating of the game condition and the auction houses that are all in cahoots

BS on the Lego Batmobile!! There are hundreds for sale for $300-$350 and when the seller pays Ebay/Amazon fees then he will be lucky not to lose money!!

I have been doing this for over 24 years.

I kind of really hate this… I just want to be able to buy and enjoy a set that I never got as a kid. But when I see people hoarding them, like gold bricks, forcing the price far beyond what I can afford, it really annoys me. Of course, people can do whatever they want with their legos 🙄

So he buys in bulk and is the reason some people don't get it at all? Thanks.

It takes Lego seconds to decide to reprint or reissue those rare sets to plunge the price. Don't think it's a good investment.

The problem with art or collectibles is that the value is based on nothing. Perception is what drives the prices but they have no more value than they had when they were first made

Investors better not make the prices crash beanie baby style. Lego fans have a good thing going right now. Plus big time AFOLs just buy the sets they want anyway so in the future nobody is gonna be trying to get a UCS falcon when basically everyone that wants one has one

Very easy to make profit in Lego Products. Purchase products from secret suppliers ( Discounts rate) sell at high price online

Man is outperforming top Hedge Fund managers

There's a massive problem where tons of lego sets are selling out and videos like these promoting a false sense of investing are not helping.

There's no way the tie fighter pilot head sell for that much i see so many of them

FYI; If it already hit the news, it is no longer a viable grift.

Well LEGO is not like wine. If you open it up and use it, you can still reuse the LEGO. You still have it. Yes you lose the seal, but not the set itself

it can be annoying that these sets appreciate so much compared to retail price. bricklink is the main source of lego around the world on the re-sellers market however has just been bought by lego fyi

Yeah, I've invested thousands in Lego in the past 2 years. It's a great side hustle.

whats the tree house set at 1:54?

0:20 Lego Tron? Mate thats clearly Voltron

What would be nice is for a company that can build an app with AI integration that can detect, categorize and label Lego parts.