Lego have unveiled their new Yellow Submarine set, featuring miniature figures of The Beatles The set was put forward to the idea’s section of Lego’s website by Beatles fan and singer-songwriter Kevin Szeto – before it received the necessary 10,000 votes to go into production. READ MORE: Radiohead, Daft Punk, The Smiths and all your favourite bands – made from Lego Now, the set has been unveiled – featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, along with the submarine itself and a miniature of Jeremy Hillary Boob from the ‘Yellow Submarine’ animated movie. See a trailer for the set tomorrow. Lego’s Yellow Submarine set is said to be available from November. For more information, visit here. It will be around 550 pieces and is reported to cost £50.As toy fads come and go, one company continues to design products that are simultaneously addicting, challenging and boatloads of fun for both kids and adults. We're talking, of course, about Lego.
Though Lego's tiny, interlocking bricks have provided hours of entertainment to millions of people since 1949, it's the minifigure, first released in 1978, that brought life to this childhood favorite. See also: Stop-Motion Video Features Lego Ninjas in Fierce Battle In honor of 35 years of Lego people, we consulted Lego Minifigure Year By Year: A Visual History to learn more about this iconic toy. Check out 15 fun facts we learned about the little inhabitants of Lego world. The Defense Department's budget for every year since 1976 Photos: The dying art of pottery in the ancient town of Thimi Photos: Relics of segregation era remain in the South In Pittsburgh, 'Fences' and August Wilson's Hill District Oscars memorial leaves out Arquette's transgender sister Business Markets and Stocks News Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico Profits as Revenue Outpaces Rising Costs Oscars draw 32.9 million viewers, lowest rating since 2008 Pittsburgh: Warhol, August Wilson and best cake in America
Near an All-Time Low, Is J.C. Penney a Buy? Ground broken on new $1.6B terminal at Los Angeles airport Is Bitcoin Finally a Serious Currency -- or Maybe Even a Solid Investment Vehicle?People are always looking for the next hot investment. With today's volatile stock market and falling real estate prices, people are looking for someplace safe to invest their money. I'm here today to make a case for LEGOS. That's right, you read it correctly...Maybe, but let me show you some interesting tidbits and data that help me substantiate my claim.In 2000, LEGO was named "Toy of the Century” by Fortune magazine as well as by the British Toy Retailers Association, beating out such other classics as the teddy bear and Mattel's Barbie. These simple, colorful and durable blocks have been around since 1958 in their current form and are more popular than ever. The LEGO Group works with other top entertainment franchises, such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, to keep their ideas fresh and popular.
Fifteen 'billion' components are produced every year by the LEGO Group. They even have a line of LEGO video games that are available on all current video game consoles. Impressive, to say the least.I know what you are thinking...How does this information make me money? Well, first of all, it indicates that LEGO is a solid company that keeps up with the times and puts out a quality product. Secondly, it shows that people, both young and old have a love affair with these little plastic bricks and will pass this interest to the next generation. Both these ideas are important in building a strong foundation for the LEGO Group's future and gives an investor a little piece of mind when plunking down hundreds of dollars to buy a new LEGO set for investment purposes.Before we look at the data that backs up the idea that LEGOs are a solid investment, let us discuss what LEGO investing actually is. When I 'invest' in LEGOs, I usually buy a new or used set that is MIB(Mint In Box).
MIB means that the LEGO box was never opened or the parts used in any way. The box is still factory sealed and in good condition and is stored carefully in a smoke-free and clean environment. Investing in older and rarer sets that have been assembled(box has been opened, obviously) is also an option for investment, but for our discussions here, we are talking about sealed boxes.When speaking of LEGOs as investment vehicles, I like to associate LEGO sets with stocks. There are thousands of different LEGO sets, just like stocks. Both can be bought and sold rather easily. As with stocks, there are LEGO sets that are top performers when it comes to investment purposes and then there are your dogs, or poor performers. But unlike stocks, most of the LEGO sets that have been created over the last 50+years have increased from their original MSRPs(Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) if they were kept in MIB condition. That's more than a lot of stock investors can say. How many times has a new company's stock price tanked soon after launch?
Too many to count, I'm afraid.Take a look at the chart below...This is a chart of the 30 largest LEGO sets from the year 2001. The year 2001 was chosen to show a ten year time frame when comparing the MSRPs to current values, which is a common investment time period. After that, the percentage increase/decrease over a ten year time frame. gets its information directly from eBAY auction results and averages out these results to get current new and used values. eBAY is the most accurate source for used and older LEGO sets in the market today. On any given day, there are 200,000+ LEGO listings on eBAY, both domestically and internationally. LEGOs are one of the five most active categories on eBAY, which also includes collectible baseball cards, stamps, coins and Barbie Dolls as other active categories. As you can see from the data, over 80% of the LEGO sets increased in value, some drastically. Some of the sets even tripled and quadrupled in value over a 10 year time frame, such as set# 10019(Rebel Blockade Runner) and set# 3724(LEGO Dragon).
That's some serious money if you had the foresight to purchase a few of these sets 10 years ago. To put it in perspective, compare these 30 LEGO sets to the 30 largest US companies that make up the DJIA(Dow Jones Industrial Average), which is the benchmark for stock investing. Back in October of 2001, the DJIA was at 9075.14 points. In September of 2011, 10 years later, the DJIA was at 11153.98, for an increase of 22.9%. During the same time period, the total increase for the 30 largest LEGO sets of 2001 is 123.5%. That is over FIVE times the gain in value over the DJIA. To be honest, it is amazing how these 'toys' increase in value. The world wide economy has been in a major recession for years, yet there are some sets that show 100-300% increases during that time period. has a feature, called the BRICK INDEX, that will show you the Top 25 LEGO sets/items that have increased in value the most over a 6 month time frame. The BRICK INDEX also has another option that shows which sets have increased the most over their MSRP.
It is quite common to see 100%+ increases in market value in popular categories like STAR WARS and the TOWN(Modular Homes), even after a couple of years. One reason for such an increase in value could be the fact that LEGO discontinues sets after a couple of years, thus creating a sort of a 'limited' edition for each set. That, plus the fact that most of the LEGO sets are opened and built, not put away and saved to sell at a later time for profit, also increases their value.Investing in LEGOs is not without its drawbacks, though. As with any sort of collectible, the safe storage of the collectible is very important. It is no different with storing LEGOs. Although the actual LEGO brick is pretty much indestructible under normal conditions, the LEGO boxes and instructions need special care. Due to the fact that maximum value is obtained when a LEGO set has a box and instructions that are in excellent and sealed condition, an organized and safe storage method is required. A system of shelves in a spare room works well, but it takes up a lot of space and a lot of potential investors might not have the extra space to put aside for thousands of LEGO bricks.
LEGO boxes come in all sizes, but if you have a rather large collection, they start to take up entire rooms, unlike coins or stamps that take up minimal space. Also, the storage area needs to be dry, smoke-free and out of direct sunlight. The LEGO boxes also show shelf wear relatively quickly, thus reducing values even more.Another issue that confronts the LEGO investor is insuring the entire collection. Insurance companies look at you like you have two heads when you tell them you want to insure LEGOs, but with some collectors and investors, they might have tens of thousands of dollars worth of bricks and boxes in their basement. After speaking with my insurance agent, he stated it was possible to insure a LEGO collection, but a breakdown of the individual sets and their current market values are required. can help with a current market value of a person's LEGO collection by using their BRICKFOLIO tool. enables a collector to input their entire collection of LEGO sets and get up to date values for the entire collection.