Some rare Lego sets are now selling for literally thousands of pounds online, as enthusiasts snap up the popular toys. But it's not just rare pieces that are selling well, with standard sets now frequently worth more than when they were new and even old bags of unsorted bricks in demand. “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," said Bev Channell, event director for Lego event BRICK 2015, running at Birmingham's NEC this week. “It’s well worth searching through your old sets to see what treasures are hiding there.” The bigger, rarer sets tend to be worth the most - but with Lego frequently refreshing its range that means any old set that's large enough could be worth upwards of £1,000. Currently, these are the most valuable sets: Sadly, to get the best prices for your Lego, it needs to be “mint in box” - which means not opened since it was bought and still factory sealed.
The good news for people who want to play with their toys is that you can still get good returns for assembled models – as long as there are no pieces missing. The easiest Lego sets to sell are Star Wars themed, with Millennium Falcons, Death Stars and X-Wings all selling well – and some prices in the thousands. But there's much more than just Star Wars selling. A look at the best-selling kits on BrickPicker shows trains, play houses, dinosaurs, Harry Potter sets, Back to the Future Deloreans and Pirate sets all featuring. Most of the sales take place on eBay, with BrickPicker providing lists of the top selling and biggest rising prices – as well as a tool letting you compare the price of sets. You can also search on eBay for sold prices of similar sets. If you've got a box of Lego, rather than a specific set, you can bulk-sell as well – although prices for these are a lot lower. That said, if you have the time and can split the box out by category (be it Star Wars, pirates, Medieval, Technic or whatever) these smaller – more specific - bundles will frequently sell for more than a job-lot of unsorted bricks.
To get the most value, you need to be selling pristine-condition Lego toys. “As with any sort of collectible, the safe storage of the collectible is very important,” Ed Mack explains in a piece on How to make money from Lego . “Although the actual Lego brick is pretty much indestructible under normal conditions, the Lego boxes and instructions need special care.” That means quite a lot of space to store them all if you're trying to make money from them, and possibly adding the cost to your insurance. Then there are the seller fees on eBay. And the shipping costs – remember, Lego is bulky and could cost quite a bit to ship. And if you're selling to a collector, they'll expect it to arrive in good condition, so packing costs go up again. Oh, and don't count your profits before you sell – the price of a set can drop fast if Lego re-introduces it while prices can rise as well as fall in line with demand too. Is Lego better than gold? 500+ VOTES SO FAR The market for old toys on eBay is much bigger than just Lego.
If you've got some old childhood clutter just gathering dust, here are 8 ways to tell if your old toys could be worth more then just memories while our guide to getting the most cash when selling old toys on eBay can be found here.Wheel Lego18 WheelTerrestres LegoLegos LegosReviews MocsNews ReviewsMassive ErectionTrucks SciChristopher'S FavsForwardThe Lego Car Blog | The Best LEGO Cars on the Web! | LEGO News, Reviews & MOCs | Cars, Trucks, Sci-Fi, Aircraft & MoreWhether you have a classroom full of bricks and RCXs or a brand new set of Technic beams and NXTs, teachers who use LEGO materials all have a common problem—how to organize those all of those pieces. So, how do you organize your pieces? surveyed 133 educators from around the world on how they store their pieces. Reviewing the results, we found that educators are using two main methods for storing LEGO pieces: bins and kits. While both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, we see that educators are finding creative ways of mingling the systems to meet their own needs.
In case you were unclear, kits are the LEGO Mindstorms original boxes. Obviously, this is the most convenient (and most popular) method of organization. It requires no additional cost, and kits stack conveniently for trouble-free layaway. Many of the educators of older students (high school, college) use the kits as students may find it necessary to take their creations home over a weekend. Kits also aid in accountability. A number of educators said they sign out a kit to a group of students for the semester. This allows teachers and students to know exactly which pieces are missing from which kit, and which students are responsible for the missing pieces. Kits are naturally divided into sections for a more organized arrangement that can make it easier to find and use pieces. However, for many educators, while they like kits, the existing LEGO kits don’t do the job. Some dislike the sturdiness of the boxes (which don’t survive falling of the table) and others prefer finer sorting compartments.
A number of alternative storage boxes (tackle boxes, craft storage containers) were recommended that you can check out in the sidebar.If you’ve ever tried sorting pieces into kits, you probably know it’s a tedious and time-consuming task. Sorting a LEGO MINDSTORMS Education Base Set (NXT) with 431 pieces can take many students an hour or more. Younger students in particular can have a difficult time sorting all the accurately pieces in a timely matter. The quality of student sorting often leaves teachers with multiple kits to organize on their own. One teacher reported sorting kits every Thursday night in the summer while watching his favorite TV shows. Kits can also be confining. While it’s a great challenge to work with in the confines of the kit, often students who are newer to LEGO building need just one more wheel, beam or brick to make their creation work. This is particularly true for more open-ended projects done without building instructions. Moreover, students are often really excited to have the freedom to build whatever they have in mind.
Over 60% of the survey respondents said they regularly allow students to use extra pieces, while many of those in the “Other” category said they have a classroom box of LEGO pieces or a box of lost and found pieces that they will let students use for special projects.Bins are an ideal option for fast and easy sorting. Bin systems typically have containers where pieces are sorted by type (i.e. a whole container for beams or a whole container for pulley wheels). 23.4% of participants in the survey claimed to use communal bins as their main organizational method. Bin systems help to avoid the tedious task of keeping track of which pieces are missing from which kits by having communal resources. Bins allow for faster and easier sorting and more flexibility in students designs. If a student needs just 2 more beams to make their design work this can be easily accomplished (without having to worry which kit they came from)When you start purchasing your organizational method, it can get a little expensive to purchase all the storage containers.
In addition, many classrooms just don’t have the space for a bin system. A bin system can also be difficult to manage for educators who teach in different rooms or have to share the materials with other teachers. With a bin system direct accountability for lost pieces is virtually impossible. An instructor could realize that three motors are missing, but would have no idea which student had used the missing motor last.One of the interesting results of the survey was many teachers reported that they have created their own systems — alternatives to the traditional kit or bin storage. Several respondents reported that they make custom kits (or mini-kits) for students. A mini-kit generally consists of pieces that are in short supply or that the teacher wants students to be accountable for. A typical NXT mini kit might contain the NXT, motors, sensors and wires in a small plastic storage container. Students generally receive a mini-kit they are directly responsible for but use the classroom bins to get the beams, bricks, and connects that they need.
This system retains many of the benefits of both bins and kits. Students have the freedom to “think outside the box” but are still accountable for expensive pieces. Similar to the bins, mini kits and bins rely on having enough pieces to have well-filled bins and complete kits.Regardless of their organization system, educators all responded that it was important to have students be accountable for LEGO materials. Many respondents said they used the “trust and honor” system, encouraging students to take good care of their kits. A large number of teachers reported that each group was responsible for a kit (full or mini) and inventory was taken at the end of the semester. Teachers generally had a small fee for missing pieces or allowed students to replace them from the classroom lost and found kit. Some charged all students a lab fee to cover the small pieces that are lost each year. A few teachers had a contract that students and parents signed (see an example in the side bar) to convey the student’s responsibility in taking care of the materials and the costs for materials.