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Hey John,
I get what you’re saying. Personally, I just don’t see the point in buying a
toy that you’re never going to play with. I bought comics solely on spec in the
late 80’s for awhile, but I soon felt like I was wasting my money because I
wasn’t even reading them. Instead of anticipating a good story with interesting
characters, I was thinking about how much it would be worth. Not the most
rewarding approach for literature, even comic books.
I have bought a total of two Lego sets and resold them for a profit, and in each
case it was because the sets were already sought after because they were out of
production for more than a decade. The difference is that I didn’t create the
rarity by trying to corner the market. With the Star Wars sets, I think that a
lot of collectors have selfishly put themselves in the position of demanding a
certain price because such large quantities of sets are concentrated in a much
smaller group of people than probably any other Lego theme. I feel that
manufacturing rarity by monopolizing the product, especially when it comes to
Lego bricks, undermines the point of the product, which to build and have fun!
I just don’t have the collector mindset anymore, and it bothers me to see such a
speculative approach applied to something that I feel is supposed to be about
creativity, community and enjoyment, not personal profit.
Dave S.
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In lugnet.starwars, David Simmons wrote:
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Hey John,
I get what you’re saying. Personally, I just don’t see the point in buying a
toy that you’re never going to play with. I bought comics solely on spec in
the late 80’s for awhile, but I soon felt like I was wasting my money because
I wasn’t even reading them. Instead of anticipating a good story with
interesting characters, I was thinking about how much it would be worth. Not
the most rewarding approach for literature, even comic books.
I have bought a total of two Lego sets and resold them for a profit, and in
each case it was because the sets were already sought after because they were
out of production for more than a decade. The difference is that I didn’t
create the rarity by trying to corner the market. With the Star Wars sets, I
think that a lot of collectors have selfishly put themselves in the position
of demanding a certain price because such large quantities of sets are
concentrated in a much smaller group of people than probably any other Lego
theme. I feel that manufacturing rarity by monopolizing the product,
especially when it comes to Lego bricks, undermines the point of the product,
which to build and have fun!
I just don’t have the collector mindset anymore, and it bothers me to see
such a speculative approach applied to something that I feel is supposed to
be about creativity, community and enjoyment, not personal profit.
Dave S.
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HI
I see what you mean. I never started collecting Legos to sell, I am an OCD
horder by nature and there is just so much you can get with Legos. I really do
not think that someone can corner the market on any Lego set as they make so
many of them. The fewest number I know of is 10,000. The first Santa Fe train
with the special lmt edition numbered tile. If I remember correctly, Lego
auctioned the number one off on ebay and got close to 1000 for it. Not bad,
they also did the next 9 and they brought in 400-500 dollars each. The purpose
of anything that people collect is not what they were intended for. Coins are
currency and stamps to mail letters. The collectables that are worth little are
the ones issued to be collectables, Danbury mint and other companies like that.
I just like to see shelves full of Legos, drawers full of parts. And the great
thing is, when my grandaughter comes, she picks out a nice big lego and we build
it. Screws up the price, but you can’t put a price on the time spent building
it with her. and she has to put all the stickers on when we do this, I just
cringe. The last thing we built was the millianium falcon. Can’t beat those
memories. I might also mention that half the joy of having a collection is
trying to get what you want to put into it. It seems less important once you
get it, the anticipation is greater than the gain usually. Back to the
subject. I don’t think that anyone can corner any Lego. And if one person has
a bunch or a few people have a bunch then when it is acquired the buyer has that
joyous feeling (and then on to something else.) A side point, I have bought 10
of the Lego McDonalds glued together promo. I figured that there is a very
limited number. I still see them go for 50-100 on ebay. Not too much of a
price and I have 10 of the dumb things. John P
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In lugnet.starwars, John Patterson wrote:
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I really
do not think that someone can corner the market on any Lego set as they make
so many of them.
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They can, however, deplete an area, making it difficult for regular customers,
especially in rural areas.
It’s incredibly disappointing to find out that a set has been released, then
drive two hours to the “local” Toys R Us, only to find that someone has
purchased the entire stock. What hurts more is to see the look on a kids face
next to you when he sees the empty shelf as well. Then, to see photos of stacks
of that same set, packed away in someone’s garage, just creates frustration for
me.
Like David, though, I’m more of a builder than a collector, so I don’t fully
understand the mindset. I can understand buying two sets, one for building and
one for collecting, but warehousing stacks of unopened sets is a bit beyond my
understanding. Like you mentioned though, it makes them happy, so I don’t
question it much.
As for me driving two hours to find empty shelves? Yeah, I could order from
Shop At Home, but where’s the fun in that? :-)
-Elroy (who has specifically collected all of the Batman sets, just to rip them
open for the minifigs, who are displayed, unplayed with, on a shelf, so I
guess I understand it a little bit)
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In lugnet.starwars, Elroy Davis wrote:
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In lugnet.starwars, John Patterson wrote:
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I really
do not think that someone can corner the market on any Lego set as they make
so many of them.
|
They can, however, deplete an area, making it difficult for regular
customers, especially in rural areas.
It’s incredibly disappointing to find out that a set has been released, then
drive two hours to the “local” Toys R Us, only to find that someone has
purchased the entire stock. What hurts more is to see the look on a kids
face next to you when he sees the empty shelf as well. Then, to see photos
of stacks of that same set, packed away in someone’s garage, just creates
frustration for me.
Like David, though, I’m more of a builder than a collector, so I don’t fully
understand the mindset. I can understand buying two sets, one for building
and one for collecting, but warehousing stacks of unopened sets is a bit
beyond my understanding. Like you mentioned though, it makes them happy, so
I don’t question it much.
As for me driving two hours to find empty shelves? Yeah, I could order from
Shop At Home, but where’s the fun in that? :-)
-Elroy (who has specifically collected all of the Batman sets, just to rip
them open for the minifigs, who are displayed, unplayed with, on a
shelf, so I guess I understand it a little bit)
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Elroy, I would call the store before I go. I have given up trying to get
anything from TRS as they are usually way behind shop at home. Also not all of
Lego sets are released to the stores. I was really lucky in that I lived 10
minutes from the Glendale Lego store and the manager would save anything I
wanted when it came in - just incase I could not get right there. Check this
out, even I really do not understand.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=332688 John P
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In lugnet.starwars, David Simmons wrote:
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I have bought a total of two Lego sets and resold them for a profit, and in
each case it was because the sets were already sought after because they were
out of production for more than a decade. The difference is that I didn’t
create the rarity by trying to corner the market. With the Star Wars sets, I
think that a lot of collectors have selfishly put themselves in the position
of demanding a certain price because such large quantities of sets are
concentrated in a much smaller group of people than probably any other Lego
theme. I feel that manufacturing rarity by monopolizing the product,
especially when it comes to Lego bricks, undermines the point of the product,
which to build and have fun!
|
One thing that should be noted here is that any set that is rare enough that
people could, in theory, monopolize the available stock, generally tends to be
released as a S@H exclusive with a limit of five copies per customer. Even
store exclusives are readily available through S@H, so anyone who really wants
one should have no problem securing a copy. Blame Star Wars all you want, but
keep in mind that the more we buy, they more they make. It’s not the initial
collectors who make these parts and minifigs so expensive, but the aftermarket
buyers. When so many people want to buy rare minifigs that only came in
expensive sets, they are going to skyrocket in price. There’s just not that
much demand for the rarest Rock Raiders minifig these days, but even some very
common Star Wars minifigs sell for a fair chunk of change because so many
people want them, and not enough people are selling them to meet the demand.
The problem is not that too many people are hoarding them to sell. It’s that
not enough people are.
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