CHECK YOUR LOFT FOR CHILDHOOD LEGO SETS AS VALUES CONTINUE TO SOAR
Forget investing in stocks and shares, it would seem the key to your fortune could be hiding in your loft amongst your childhood toys according to the organisers of BRICK 2015.
“With the soar in popularity of LEGO with both adults and children, the effect on the values of both rare, hard to find sets and new releases has been incredible,” explains Bev Channell, BRICK Shows Event Director. “It’s well worth searching through your old sets to see what treasures are hiding there.”
Hard to find sets have become more valuable, with even the average Lego set increasing by as much as 12 per cent each year since the turn of the Millennium – offering a better return than putting money into more trational investments.
For example, the 2007 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, with just over 5,000 LEGO pieces, retailed at £342.49 when it was released. This set now sells for nearly eight times as much, with winning bids of up to £2,712 on the likes of Ebay.
It’s not just the sets in pristine condition either as second-hand prices rise for specific sets as soon as they go out of production, while modern sets released in the past year are already selling on eBay for 36 per cent more than their original price.
The show’s BRICK Lane features retailers from all over the UK and Europe who specialise in tracking down the more collectable sets and mini figures. York-based Minifigs & Bricks is one such company whose managing director David Kirkham has turned his hobby into a profitable business.
“We look for sets and mini figures that are a little bit different such as a battery-operated light up Star Wars Darth Vadar. It was part of a set of three, with a standard figure and a small vehicle, that retailed when new for £15. Now we sell the light-up Darth Vadar on its own for £70. LEGO has produced between 7,000 and 8,000 licenced and rare minifgiures to date and I own around 3,000 of them so my own collection continues to grow as well.”
Most expensive Lego sets
Set – release date – pieces (mini figs) – retail price – current value
1 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon – 2007 – 5,195 (5) – £342.49 – £2,712
2 Cafe Corner – 2007 – 2,056 (3) – £89.99 – £2,096
3 Taj Mahal – 2008 – 5,922 (0) – £199.99 – £1,848
4 Death Star II – 2005 – 3,441 (0) – £249.99 – £1,524
5 Imperial Star Destroyer – 2002 – 3,096 (0) – £249.99 – £1,467
Lego sets with biggest rises in value
Set – release date – pieces (mini figs) – retail price – current value – growth
1 Cafe Corner – 2007 – 2,056 (3) – £89.99 – £2,096 – 2,230%
2 Market Street – 2007 – 1,248 (3) – £59.99 – £698 – 1,064%
3 Holiday Train – 2006 – 965 (7) – £49.99 – £574 – 1,048%
4 Rescue from the Merpeople – 2005 – 175 (5) – £14.99 – £168 – 1,018%
5 The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc – 2006 – 188 (2) – £14.99 – £167 – 1,011%
