Jack Panix said:
Twenty-four is still impressive especially if you're paying retail price. I got over hundred but I only paid 65 cents each. That's a lot of Jedi Lukes that I have no idea what to do with!
I think the first one was at retail, the next few were on sale for something like $5.48, and then I got a whole slew for under a dollar in the Kay-Bee sales. The last two were gifts from a friend who'd also picked them up from KB. I do feel lucky, though at the same time I really wish I'd picked up all the ones I found on the shelves when they were so steeply discounted at KB; I just didn't have the money for more than a few at a time.
Ah, well. I've still made some other quite nice deals at various times (not too long ago, I mentioned in this very forum's "New Acquisitions!" thread that I'd gotten a copy of River Chase clearanced for $2). In fact, probably
most of my LEGO sets have cost me something below their original MSRP (though not nearly "enough" of them!).
Jack Panix said:
That's the idea, I'd like to make the hobby support itself. Stock up on sets at clearance time and then sell them when they go out of production.
On occasion my finances have forced me to eBay a set or two I bought intending to keep for myself, but at least when that's happened I've always gotten more for them than I paid for them. I sold a total of four AT-ATs (the first one, from 2003, I think it was) at various times, and a handful of smaller sets as well (the original Landspeeder and Lightsaber Duel, from the launch waves in '99, and perhaps one or two others I'm forgetting).
The only one I've ever bought specifically with the intention of selling for a profit was a copy of the Batman set Robin's Jet Ski: Attack of the Penguin. Part of me dislikes the idea, but part of me thinks it's just sensible if I know I can profit with it, and that it'd be particularly fine if I bought my "investment" sets when they're still new and readily available, since I wouldn't be making it harder for others to find them at retail (if anything, by helping more of them sell more quickly, I might better contribute to the success and longevity of those sets, in my own tiny way). I think I'd like to try, even if only to ensure I can afford all the LEGO sets I want for myself.
Jack Panix said:
I
uploaded a pic comparing the boxes of Ambush in Cairo and Motorcycle Chase sets. The Ambush in Cairo box is smaller yet it has the same piece count as Motorcycle Chase. It also costs $1 more than Motorcycle Chase did.
That's not unexpected. Aside from inflation (and the fact many stores already price a lot of the existing $9.99 sets at $10.99 or thereabouts), it does have one more minifigure than the previous set, which tends to boost the price of a LEGO set.
