His stellar career made the beautiful game look like child's play - and that's exactly what David Beckham has been indulging in since he retired.The former England football captain has spoken again about his love of Lego, revealing the children's toy 'calms him down'.He told the Sunday Times Magazine he loved making Lego creations with his children and even bought a £210 model of London's iconic Tower Bridge. Chill out: The former England captain, pictured at the GQ Man of the Year Awards, also revealed recently that he likes building Lego Brave: The £210 Tower Bridge kit is not for the faint-hearted, and recommended only for over-16s 'The last big thing I made was Tower Bridge,' he told the magazine. 'It had about 1,000 pieces. I think Lego sometimes helps to calm me down.'The Tower Bridge model costs £210 and is more than 3ft long, including more than 80 windows, a black taxi to drive across and a drawbridge which opens and closes. But the price was small fry compared to the value of one of the football legend's previous purchases - a Lego Taj Mahal.The 5,900-piece kit is no longer sold by Lego and has become a collector's item, commanding a second-hand price on Amazon of £1,300.
One model is on sale for more than £2,900.But despite its value, Beckham never finished building the marble mausoleum.Revealing his love of the toy bricks in 2010, he told a Q&A by search engine Yahoo: 'It's going to make me sound really weird but when I was in Milan I had such a big amount of time on my hands that I found online that there's a Taj Mahal Lego that you can buy. Collector's item: Beckham also owned a model of the Taj Mahal, now worth between £1,300 and £2,900 Career highlights: Beckham enjoys Lego so much that a film of his life was made using plastic bricks Riding high: The former star footballer is enjoying his retirement from the game by playing with his children 'So I bought it and started building it when I was in Milan.'I only built some of it because I got injured halfway through... not building the Lego!'I know it's not a career but I love doing it. My boys are the same - they're obsessed with building Lego.'The former England captain's love of Lego is well-documented - and his career highlights were even immortalised in plastic blocks last year by Japanese filmmakers Mori Pictures.In today's magazine interview, Beckham gave an account of his average day in his new family home in Kensington, west London.He only spends five minutes getting ready for the day
, he revealed, and likes going to his local pubs for a pint because 'the people there know me'. He also relaxes by cooking or drinking a glass of red wine.It may appear as no more than a popular children's toy, but investors were able to secure a better return buying Lego sets over the past 15 years than from the stock market, gold or bank accounts, a Telegraph analysis found. The value of the FTSE 100 is no higher than it was in February 2000, meaning the average annual return to savers over the past decade and half is just 4.1 per cent once dividend payouts are included. By contrast, Lego sets kept in pristine condition have increased in value 12 per cent each year since the turn of the Millennium, with second-hand prices rising for specific sets as soon as they go out of production. Modern sets are performing even more strongly, with those released last year already selling on eBay for 36 per cent more than their original price. The analysis found none of the main investments favoured by savers matched returns on the plastic building bricks.
Savers who invested in gold received a 9.6 per cent annual gain over the past decade and a half, while those who went with a savings account or Isa generated 2.8 per cent, according to investment company Hargreaves Lansdown. Some Lego sets that once sold for less than £100 now fetch thousands on the secondary market. Many of the highest prices are for old sets based around films such as Star Wars or landmarks or brands such as the Taj Mahal in India or the Volkswagen Beetle. showed even sets based on everyday scenes such as police stations and town roads are soaring in value. The largest percentage rise in price for any Lego set has been on "Cafe Corner", a model of a hotel which went on sale in 2007. The set, which has 2,056 pieces, originally sold for £89.99 but the price has risen to £2,096 since it went out of production – a return for investors of 2,230 per cent. , said the top price would be fetched only if the Lego had been kept in its box, in perfect condition.
Used Lego is less valuable, but can still be worth hundreds of pounds more than its original price. "The neat thing is that all sets are retired at some point, and several hundred are retired each year a movie run ends, a licence expires or the Lego company wants to refresh its range," he said. "That means anyone with a set at home – large or small, it doesn't matter – could have quite an investment on their hands if it's in good condition, as this stuff appreciates very well in value." Most second-hand Lego is traded and bought on eBay. BrickPicker pays eBay for a breakdown of sales and compiles its own database of values and growth rates. How to invest in shares with a 99.4pc chance of success • Telegraph investor weekly newsletter: best tips and ideas Mr Maciorowski said tens of thousands of investors across the world were pushing up prices of rarer sets. He said the growth rates would continue. "Lego investing is not hitting bubble-like status," he said.
"That is partly because the Lego company doesn't promote the secondary market, it wants to sell direct to customers." Price rises can be disrupted if Lego restarts production of sets it had previously retired – but usually the effect is temporary as investors snap up the new stock, Mr Maciorowski said. The most popular type of Lego is Star Wars themed, accounting for 10 of the 20 most expensive sets. The Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon is the most expensive, having gone from a retail price of £342.49 in 2007 to £2,712 today. Two slightly earlier models, the Death Star II and Imperial Star Destroyer, which were released in 2005 and 2002 respectively, also fetch more than £1,000. Mr Maciorowski said the new Star Wars film, Episode VII – The Force Awakens will give the old sets a "new life" in secondary market. "Demand is going to be off the hook," he said. "Sometimes when the next instalment of a film comes out it boosts interest: the new Fantastic Beasts films, for example, should also see demand pick up for some of the recently retired Harry Potter Lego."
Laith Khalaf, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The returns from Lego look pretty awesome, but investors need to beware that the value of collectables can be vulnerable to fads. "There’s absolutely no harm in buying some pieces as a hobby, and you may well make some money, but as a main building clock for your retirement I would suggest sticking to more traditional shares and bonds." Seven Lego investing tips from a pro If you are interested in a particular Lego set, buy one to build and one to save for a rainy day. Even used Lego sets can appreciate to values higher than the retail price. Putting away a few large and exclusive sets to resell in years down the road can be very profitable. Limited edition and seasonal sets do very well in the Lego secondary markets. Any sets with short production runs usually appreciate well. The rarer, the better. Invest in Lego sets that were released after 1999. Pre-2000 sets were not really great investments. Many sets were basic and uninspiring.
There are a handful of vintage sets that are viable collectables, but most have plateaued in value and many are in poor condition. Keep the Lego boxes, pieces and instructions in excellent condition. Save all the components of a Lego set. Keep them in a dry and dark storage space. No sun ... no moisture. The better the condition, the more the set will sell for in future. Stack Lego boxes vertically like books. Horizontal stacking causes boxes to crush and seals to break.Both small and large sets can appreciate very well percentage wise. Lego mini figures are very valuable. 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