Pick A Brick Store Selection
James writes:
We have no lego stores where I live, however we will be spending a week (part at Disneyland and part at Legoland) in California. Where is the best place to buy things and what different options are available at those two locations? For example, I’ve read that the PAB options are different at the two (legoland by weight vs downtown Disney by volume).
Do you have any tips or suggestions for shopping at either location?
Dear James,
The typical LEGO Brand Store offers Pick-A-Brick in two sizes of plastic cups. Many of these stores have very similar inventory across the USA. You can check out inventory information here:
Stores at theme parks could have a better selection of elements. Your mileage may vary.
Sincerely,
LFan
VW Beetle
Brian writes;
I was wondering if you could give me any input on the Volkswagen Beetle set. It has gone on sale for $89.99 so this might lead me to the following conclusions:
(1) the item may be retired soon
(2) it wasn’t as popularOf course I say that and there have been several that have dropped in price and went on to be double after they retired. Would you recommend the beetle as an investment piece? Thanks for the help.
Dear Brian,
Yes. The VW Beetle set is now selling out online and at retail locations. TLG could have reduced the price to clear out old stock and make room for a LEGO Direct to Consumer product like the new 10211 Grand Emporium set.
An iconic sports car likely would have sold very well for TLG. More fans worldwide voted for the Beetle. My guess is that a Ford Mustang fastback would have been very popular in North America.
The Beetle will be a decent investment because it contains a large amount of dark and light blue plates and bricks. In addition, Lego fans and VW fans will be interested in this set. However, I would not expect a gigantic jump in value found in other exclusive sets such as the Statue of Liberty.
Sincerely,
LFan
Purple Elements
Mike writes:
Do you have any idea why purple bricks are so rare, compared to the other main colors?
Dear Mike,
It is difficult to achieve color consistency with purple. This is why these elements are less common and rarely used together in one model. Fans complained about this consistency issue with the Harry Potter Bus set:
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=4695-1
Sincerely,
LFan
Collectable Minifigures
Kyle writes:
I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about the first round of collectable minifigs that are set to be released in June 2010?1. Are these exclusive to Lego Stores and/or Lego Shop@Home?
2. Will there be different levels of rarity (i.e. common, uncommon, rare)?
3. Has TLG stated how many bags will be in a case or display?
4. What countries will these be released in?
Some of this info may or may not be available yet, but anything you might have (or be able to uncover) would be great.
Dear Kyle,
Rumor has it that these figures will be available in multiple retail locations. The display photo indicates 32 packages per case. Logically these would contain two copies of each 16 different figures. We do not yet know which countries will receive the sets.
The larger issue will be supply and demand. Resellers and AFOLs will likely go to stores and buy an entire case. Hopefully TLG will offer entire cases on Shop at Home or a later “complete set” version for collectors. This could be similar to offerings from sports card companies.
Sincerely,
LFan
Winter Toy Shop, Round 2
Joe writes:
An update, for the curious… I didn’t see Joanie’s kind suggestion in time and missed my chance to buy from any of the LEGO stores (despite calling several across the country).
I’ve contacted LEGO directly, and they’re not forthcoming with their plans on this set. The set is selling for (on average) $110 on the secondary market — almost twice it’s original price. They’re currently selling the set to Europeans, but not to the US market.
It’s logical to assume that the set may be released again this Christmas, but if that doesn’t happen, the re-sale price will have skyrocketed by that time.
I’m pretty frustrated at the whole thing. The set was available for a matter of weeks, then disappeared without warning. When I received my Holiday catalog with the set on the cover, it had already sold out.
I think it’s pretty disgusting that so many people bought this set in order to re-sell it. Why should the end-buyers (me) lose the chance to buy a great set because re-sellers bought them first? If LEGO plans to re-release the set in the US, what’s the harm in letting us know ahead of time? And why isn’t the set available in the US currently?
Dear Joe,
I do not think you should blame people who bought this set for resale. Currently only 48 sellers on BrickLink are offering this set. LEGO was an extremely popular toy for families this year. They are the ones who kept this set as a top seller and caused it disappear so quickly. The set offered exclusive minifigures, hard to find elements, and had a very reasonable price per piece ratio. It could have been sold by LEGO in the $80 USD range.
Fans and brick resellers were both surprised at how quickly this set sold out. TLG underestimated the popularity of this set and should have made a larger original run.
TLG is very secretive about future product offerings, even if it involves bringing a product back. This is done to prevent the competition from producing similar competing products. The one good thing about high sales is that LEGO will likely sell this set again or a similarly designed set next year.
Sincerely,
LFan
Early Target Clearance?
Polywen writes:
This past weekend, random Target stores across the country had the entire line of Atlantis sets on sale for 50% off in their clearance section. This makes little sense to me. The next nearest Target would have the sets, but at full price. Do you have any insight as to why Target would do this? The sets were only released to Target in January. They’ve barely been out for half a month. Did someone make a mistake? These stores must be loosing money on the stock.
Dear Polywen,
This early clearance was likely an internal price mistake. Several years ago Batman sets were listed with incorrect prices. This allowed great deals on certain sets and terrible prices on others. These pricing mistakes are usually isolated and rare.
Sincerely,
LFan
Lego Train Track on Baseplates
Frankie writes:
Hi,
Do you have any recommendations on ways to attach Lego train track to the Lego baseplates? It’s easy enough with the straight pieces, of course, but the curves don’t fit. How do other people solve this problem?
Frankie
Dear Frankie,
Please check out the following resources for information on fan solutions to Lego track layouts:
http://indylug.org/blogs/jkyle/default.aspx
http://www.brickpile.com/track-layout-geometry/
Sincerely,
LFan
Sets in the Attic
Andreas writes:
Hi,
As my parents recently cleared their attic I had to take over all of my old lego. The sets are from the late 80’s / early 90’s and most are in their original boxes with the instructions. It is mostly city, castle, pirates, technic and some space. I didn’t realize that there was such a huge market for used lego and I have some question concerning the fundamentals of this.
I haven’t yet decided if I should keep it all or try to sell it off but I’m also considering saving them for a while as an investment. How do you expect the future market for lego to evolve?
Does keeping them in sets make them more valuable? Also, how much does the box and instructions add to the value? Some are in quite good shape while others are crushed and torn. Is it wise to keep the sets apart or can I mix them up for my nephews/nieces to play with for the time being and then sort it out if I decide to sell them in the future?
Andreas
Dear Andreas,
All Lego sets will increase in value over time. Boxes and instructions add 25% or more to the value of a used set.
My recommendation as a fan is to keep the sets. Vintage sets are great for relatives to play with. If you ever have children, it can be rewarding to build with them.
Certain old sets are worth hundreds of dollars and include very rare elements. Research prices of large sets at www.bricklink.com and www.ebay.com. You may want to build these valuable sets and store them separately from the main collection.
Sincerely,
LFan
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