Subject:
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Re: How do you view your LEGO collection?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sat, 9 Dec 2000 17:01:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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935 times
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<sigh> I couln't answer this without writing a novel... :]
In lugnet.general, Eric Kingsley writes:
> Do you view your LEGO collection as an investment in your...
>
> A. Mental Well-being. (Its just something you have fun with).
> B. A financial investment that should increase in value over time.
> C. A tool for financial gain (you sell your creations and/or parts)
> D. Other
> E. Some combination of the above.
K) I use it as a cover to smuggle contraband, with proceeds
helping to prop up dictatorial regimes in small developing
nations. This gives me a big kick of Vitamins A) and C).
Hehe. Man I hope "Big Brother" doesn't read this and believe
it..., I cross the Canada/USA border every working day! :]
A) mostly for me. I only use B) to rationalize purchases,
and have since given up on it because I don't believe it.
I had a bunch of LEGO as a kid (still have it), mostly classic
space. Some 20 years later as an "adult" determined that I will
never outgrow being a kid, I'll occasionally buy some silly
little toy thing to put on my desk at work. The sort of things
that I can fiddle with while waiting for the computer to
finish crashing. I bought a couple small LEGO sets.
Right about then LEGO released the first of its Star Wars sets,
and I just had to buy an X-Wing. That's when I saw the
catalogue inside the box and all the other cool stuff I
could get (Star Wars mostly). The LEGO renaissance pretty
much took off from there. I've gone at Star Wars sets with
an almost completist approach, buying even some that I
think really suck..., but only if they're on sale cheap.
The collecting has spilled over into other themes that I
like, such as Aventurers Egypt (got Indiana Jones written
all over it), Divers (I grew up on the Bay of Fundy),
Pirate ships (only ships, but they cost too much for me
to have more than 2 at present), Space Port and racing
TECHNIC sets (I'm an aerospace engineer), and a train
set or two (also cost too bloody much). Some I'm
a little more completist in than others, mostly the
Divers and Adventurers Egypt. I also collect stuff
that was in production when I was a kid, mostly classic
space and some town.
C) In the process of shopping for these sets I noticed
that I was spending a fair bit of money. :] That's
when I also noticed I was seeing rarer sets on the
shelf in Canada that people couldn't get in other
areas, such as the USA. So I started an experiment
of buying up a bunch and selling them on BrickBay.
I'm always looking for the get-rich quick scheme
that'll let me retire at 30, but somehow I don't
think this is it :] There's too much time involved
in just packaging the sets for it to pay off for
me, compared to what I could earn in overtime at
work.
HOWEVER, it's more *enjoyable* than overtime at work,
thus why I don't mind it so much. So to Eric's
question, I only get into Vitamin C) as long as it
provides A. Having it help support A) like many
other people say is purely a bonus.
Like Kevin Wilson, my "for sale" stuff is completely
separate from my keepers. The sellers stay in the
boxes in a corner until they are gone. The keepers
are opened, built, displayed, and eventually sorted
into my pieces to make MOCs (not for sale). I've
only just recently begun sorting the pieces for
MOC-making, and still have a lot of work to do. The
only thing I've built so far are entries for Todd's
Classic Space Contest, Bless that boys inspired
mind! :]
I also don't mix my kid LEGO with my modern LEGO.
As an aside, I have way too many (expensive) hobbies.
Product of a very short attention span. These include
radio control airplanes, fine scale modelling (plastic
models, mostly 1/48 modern aircraft), computer-related
junk, automotive (motorsports), etc., etc. It remains
to be seen how long I'll keep up the interest in LEGO.
I miss the other hobbies..., and there's a pilot's
license beckoning me...
> I realize many of you would answer E but I have been wondering about this
> because of some of the recent threads that I have seen involving people being
> Upset about bulk ordering decreasing the value of their collection or other
> people seem to think they hold some copyright on a certain combination of
> bricks and how they are assembled and expect to make money on this.
I'm defintitely not in this crowd. I think bulk is awesome. I
think (whatever becomes of) custom sets is awesome. I believe
people who gripe at/about TLC for doing things that make good
business sense need to come back to reality a little. TLC doesn't
and shouldn't particularly care if the parts-sellers and
MOCsmiths can no longer make money peddling second-hand wares.
These folk have been getting a "free ride" on TLC's coattails,
and more power to them for it. But like all good things it
doesn't last forever.
I'm really curious to know how many people declare their
LEGO-related profit as capital gains on their tax filing...
> Now I can see where some people consider it enjoyable to be able to sell sets
> that they designed, created directions for, and collected the parts for. Thats
> great for them but to claim some kind of right to their assemblage of parts to
> an extent that they would be upset with me if I reverse engineered it for my
> own personal enjoyment is just plain crazy IMO. If I own the parts I can
> assemble them as I please and no one has a right to get upset with me for
> borrowing an idea that they posted publicly for all to see (unless I try to
> sell it but even then it would have to be either an exact copy or so close a
> match that there is no doubt where the model origionated from).
Eric, I agree with you fully. I still don't understand the
people who actually buy these MOCs. And the prices! I know
it's not cheap to produce MOCs without bulk ordering to help.
Maybe that'll make the MOCsmiths be able to have a larger
market, as their set prices should drop much lower than
today?
As for copyright, well, I could see some pretty nasty court
battles. To me, anything I create using LEGO or anything
else, is owned by me. I can claim copyright on the MOC
as much as on a painting, building design, etc. If
someone substantially copies it, I can press after them.
But I only have a case (in Canadian law at any rate) if
I can show that I suffered damages as a result. In
many cases, the only damages suffered by the MOCsmiths
would be if someone else gained something from it,
be it sales profit, a contest prize, etc.
And in the case of sales profit, now the original
MOCsmith is in dangerous territory, namely with
TLC. Depending on what's in their sets, the
disclaimers, etc., and on how they marketed it,
they could get nailed for TLC for copyright
infringement themselves. At they very least
they could have the tax cops all over them...
It might come down to the ruling that the MOCsmiths
can sell all the plans they want, they just can't
sell the pieces to go with them.
Maybe some of the MOCsmiths have input here,
those that have looked into their rights in
this regard.
> Anyone have any thoughts or am I just crazy and most everyone just uses their
> LEGO for the same reasons I do?
I think mostly everyone are in our category. However the
ones who are making money are more prominent (on LUGNET at
least). And everyone wants in on the action, so its
growing. It can only sustain itself when the buyers are
the general uninformed (non-LUGNET) public in my opinion.
A very thought-provoking post, Eric. It's definitely been
on my mind for quite some time...
KDJ
_______________________________________
LUGNETer #203, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | How do you view your LEGO collection?
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| Do you view your LEGO collection as an investment in your... A. Mental Well-being. (Its just something you have fun with). B. A financial investment that should increase in value over time. C. A tool for financial gain (you sell your creations (...) (24 years ago, 8-Dec-00, to lugnet.general) !!
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