So as I’m typing this I’m bidding on a set from 99’, one of which I remember more so than Pokemon, granted I’ll always love Pokemon-- to put perspective I played with Duplos before I could walk, but I digress. My question was if there was anyone out there that could help me with the history, cultural influence and the market of Lego and where it may, or may not go.
I collected Star Wars Legos for a bit. As well as some of the larger Creator city sets. Not sure what sort of info you are looking for though… long term collectability/ value?
As you can imagine crossover sets that touch on multiple elements are what will hold the best value. Most notable is Star Wars.
The early city sets that they continue to expand on and release new sets for will likely see growth as well. Green Grocer and Cafe Corner are quite pricey.
One of the things with Legos is that a lot of the sets can be remade easily and cheaply compared to the boxed value of a set. So for many sets the value is more in the box and instructions than it is in the pieces themselves.
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This exactly! What piece stood out and helped the hobby grow and what pieces remain “grails” if you will. Just wish there was an E4 for Legos where we can talk about the market, collections, sets and such
I collect Lego BIONICLE sets, mainly from 2001.
Lego has a great potential to rise in value, at least the sealed sets.
Like mentioned above it’s a bit harder for loose sets to increase as much in value as a lot of parts may get reproduced at any time.
Serious Lego collecting is quite niche still though, it’s hard to find serious communities or collectors, most people have a whole different mentality and just see Legos as toys and simply want the parts to build with.
This can sometimes make it harder to collect sealed sets too, as a lot of people open them, don’t care about box conditions or to ship them properly etc.
Not sure how familiar you are with buying or selling Lego but the best place to buy sets and parts other than ebay is definitely Bricklink, it’s always the go-to place for AFOLs (Adult Fan Of Lego) 
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I’d love to see! I remember when it came when the articulation was unlike anything we’ve seen and that’s why I gravitated to it.
Hmm, generally speaking a lot of sets don’t trade hands like Collectible Cards do. There are a few different Lego collectors that I’ve come across. Some that collect specific series, some that collects specific set types (UCS or polybag sets for example) and some that collect sealed sets.
I don’t know anything that truly helped the hobby grow though. One thing that Lego has going for it is once a set is out of production it doesn’t get made again (though variants do). For instance the At-At Walker. The first one actually walked which was awesome. I think there have been 2 versions since, and neither of them had the walking feature.
Biggest demand always seemed to be for the largest sets that were older. The early UCS sets, large iconic building sets like Taj Mahal and Eiffel Tower. Shorter the run they had or the older the set the more value they seemed to hold. I suppose grails would be those sets still sealed? But that kind of ruins the fun of assembling them if they stay sealed. That’s why I always preferred open sets when buying them secondhand.
Bionicle is amazing, I love the world and mystery, how unique and well made the first years are. It’s truly special.
Here’s my complete 2001 sealed set collection!
I also have a complete collection of the loose sets and some other Merchandise etc scattered around
2001 Toa Mata on display.
2016 Overlord Makuta MOC.
Complete Krana collection with a display frame I custom built.
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On my phone, but will post a proper reaction when I get home. All I remember is the GBA Game that was on an isometric plane that was impossible to control.
I’ve flirted with collecting the sets I remember as a kid, mainly the Islanders, Aquasharks and Rock Raiders. A couple years ago I rediscovered my Rock Raider sets and had a blast building them all. I just think this set is so cool.
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If you want a good lego forum sort of like E4 take a look at www.brickpicker.com/ … I’ve been there for a long time and there are a lot of passionate collectors there. I use the forums more for the investing side of things though, as the returns on lego are quite insane if you know what you’re doing.
I own quite a lot of sealed lego that I’ve been buying over the years and that site actually has some great tools to keep track of prices and portfolio growth.
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I also collected Lego Star Wars for a bit when I was a kid. Had a bunch of super sweet stuff, eventually sold it off for much less than I paid. Would be cool to still have them now, I remember spending the money on pretty stupid stuff.
My favorite part of the Lego sets was building them, I could never be a sealed collector.
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I dabble with it here and there. I try and go for minifigures and Star Wars.
I purchased the recent release UCS Millennium Falcon and try to keep my sets sealed.
I’m particularly fond of the SW Microfighters series. Very cool small builds. I appreciate the creativity that Lego enables, it’s truly a wonderful toy.
That’s a cool set I’ve been thinking of getting that one to build 
As for the guys that had the original version sealed, here’s an accurate visual of that particular investment …
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Oh…the nostalgia hit hard with this.
I used to have most of those Bionicles. Wasn’t there a golden bionicle? I have vague memories of which ones I owned but I do remember a gold one. Thanks for sharing by the way.
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Awesome post, and funny that we have so many cross collectors here. BrickPicker and E4 are the 2 forums that I go on most frequently and it’s strange to see the worlds collide. Lego was a massive part of my childhood, and I recently came out of my “dark ages” (high school lol). I have every Modular and right now I’m trying to acquire every Ideas set.
The past few years I have also sold several thousand dollars worth of sets and parts on BrickLink, which was already mentioned above. I started by “parting out” sets, then I realized how much work that was so now I buy sets on clearance, hold them until they retire, and then sell them for retail or above. My ideal buy-in point is 50% off, so even if you just sell the sets at retail (Lego sets do a remarkable job of holding their value), you’re starting at 100% ROI. Not too shabby. Here’s my latest pickup from a local grocery shop. Can’t wait to flip it and re-invest my money, maybe I’ll pick up some of those awesome Bionicles or Rock Raiders you guys have showcased:
Side note, I currently work at Lego Buy, Sell, Trade Franchise called Bricks and Minifigs, so I’m getting paid to sell Lego. Not too shabby!
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This is basically what I do, just keep an eye on what’s retiring and when I feel like it’s getting close buy a couple of sets when stores have a 20% off or better sale. The Star Wars Super Star Destroyer was a great example of this, I bought two at AUD$500, they retired a month later and had completed eBay sales over AUD$1000 ever since.
Buying sets when their on sales lets you at least break even as a worst case most of the time if a set doesn’t do well post retirement, or make a small profit if you need to cash out early.
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I don’t collect Legos but I really like them and sometimes I like to check what’s new. I have a F1 Ferrari Lego garage from 2007 which is something I’m going to keep forever, it’s so cool but the stickers are starting to peel off by itself… Any suggestions how to make the stickers stay? I also have a few Ferrari Lego cars in general. I’ve got few boxes of Harry Potter Legos too from the time I was a fan of it.
My mom should have all mine and my sister’s other Legos saved somewhere, I remember loving the pizzeria and gas station as a kid.
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@youngbambino and @pierce time to go start a Pokemon thread over at brickpicker it sounds like. See who is lurking in the shadows there that cross collects Pokemon.
I loved Legos growing up and hope someday my kids will enjoy my old Legos as I have saved them all. I even have all my father’s Legos from when he was a kid. A few full totes worth. My favorites were always the Lego City themed sets. @thetropicalwoodsman Rock raiders was my next favorite theme of sets. I didn’t have too many of them, but my buddy had almost the complete set. We also both had the computer game and loved that. Did you ever play? I actually got nostalgic several years back in college and went back and re-played it.
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I love lego. Like every child, I used to love making up my own stuff. Never liked the sets you have to complete.
My brother is a senior designer at Lego, and it got me back into it when his sets were released. They’re mad expensive these days!
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