This year, I have been slowly building my first Lego collection. My kids and GeekMom Jenny each have tubs of Lego bricks that belong to them individually. I felt left out after visiting Legoland with Jenny, so I started my own collection. When I started buying, I did a lot of research, so that I could get the most out of my investment in a fairly expensive hobby. The first thing I needed, no argument, was bricks. There are many ways to get a bunch of bricks at once. I started with the Lego Build and Play Box. It’s a great starter set, highlighted by its large storage box, but I’ve found some cheaper options. Here is a breakdown of the average prices I could find: 884 piece Lego Education Brick Set 779384 = 6.1 cents per brick 650 piece Lego Bricks & More Builders of Tomorrow Set 6177 = 6.3 cents per brick (discontinued and no longer available, as of 11/2016) 1,000 piece Lego Build and Play Box 4630 = 11.6cents per brick 650 piece Lego Creative Building Kit 5749 = 7.1 cents per brick
1,600 piece Lego XXL Brick Box 5512 = 13.4 cents per brick (this one has been discontinued, hence its elevated price) As you can see, the Lego Education Brick Set has some serious bang for its buck. It’s a medium size kit, with 11 sizes and 9 colors. The bricks are pretty basic, but that’s the best place to start. I get the most use out of basic shapes, because they are so versatile. Specialized pieces often have just one purpose, and don’t get used as much. The next thing I needed was a plate. Plates are the foundation that you build your creations on. It’s possible to build on a table, but plates make the whole experience simpler and more fun. Lego makes two 10″ plates, one in green for general use, and one in blue for water scenes. Generally you can find one for about five bucks. There is also an XL gray plate, which measures 15″, but it runs around $15 right now. I own just one green plate, and it is worth its weight in gold. Honorable mention goes to the Brick Separator.
Another thing that is invaluable. Saves me so much trouble when disassembling. Though these are often included in specialty kits for free. The last thing I needed was minifigs. There are hundreds of options. As a matter of fact, according to xkcd, there will be more minifigs in the world than people by the year 2019! Where to start then? This is definitely not a case for the basics. I wanted my minifigs to be special, ones I’d like looking at forever. Since Rory is my favorite character in (I mean, how could I not like a total dork with the same name as me?), I got the Series 10 Roman Commander (read: Centurion). The kids then surprised me with a pile of parts from old minifigs that they didn’t want any more. This was great because I was able to make a few that I liked, and have the ability to change things up. After that, the sky (read: wallet) was the limit. There are so many themed kits it would take an enormous amount of money to get them all. I suggest ignoring sets like the ones, for example, because the scenes are not versatile at all.
This makes me sad, because I love everything. I just don’t have room in my house for a permanent installment of Krang’s Lab, and it’s not fun (for me) to keep building the same thing over and over again. There are a couple of exceptions. If you love one of the kits so much that it’s worth its own place in your home, buy away. GeekMom Jenny has three Lego Architecture sets that have their own shelf in her office. Also, Lego Creator sets are somewhere between free form and regular kits. Each of them makes three things officially. I love the LEGO Creator Fierce Flyer 31004, which has three official builds: an eagle, a beaver, and a scorpion. The only rule of buying Lego products is to never buy something you won’t use. If that means you never buy basic kits because you’d prefer to build a Lego Delorean, that’s okay! Buy things you love, so you will get the most out of them. One last thought: If you are buying for your kids, let them help pick out the pieces they want.
Our kids keep a running list of which sets they might like to have. This is mostly so they know what they want to buy with monetary gifts, and so we know which sets to buy them as a surprise or as a gift. (Kit prices are current as of 11/21/2016) It was summer 2011 and my 19-year-old son Ryan was returning home after having completed his freshman year at the University of Florida, where he’s studying computer science. He had done well but had no concrete plans for the summer. My husband Jim and I didn’t want to see Ryan turn into the quintessential lazy teen – up all night hanging out with friends or playing video games, then sleeping away most of the day. We suggested to Ryan that he look into getting a summer job, although with the economy stalled, jobs, especially for teens, were in short supply. Instead, Ryan came up with an interesting business plan and asked us to front him a few dollars, which we did. Ryan’s business idea was to obtain and then resell used Lego sets.
They’re those snap-together bricks used to build everything from miniature houses and cars to complex, themed action sets replicating scenes from the Star Wars and Harry Potter movies. Ryan proposed a business that capitalized on his favorite childhood toy, Legos. Ryan had loved Legos as a kid and collected many sets. Just before leaving for college the previous summer, he had cleaned out his closet and sold most of his Legos on eBay for some pocket cash to take to school. He’d taken notice of the interest his Lego auctions generated and was surprised to find that many sets sold for even more than we’d originally paid years earlier. From that glimmer of success came Ryan’s business idea. Ryan’s idea was to sell “gently used” themed Lego sets, such as those featuring scenes from Star Wars and Harry Potter movies. With our support firmly behind him, Ryan placed some ads seeking Lego sets. He quickly got a few bites and negotiated to buy some large Lego collections using the seed money we’d loaned him.
The sellers were mostly young men in their 20s who’d been saving their Lego sets for years and now wanted cash more than their childhood toys. Ryan was banking on the fact that most of the sets were old enough to be out of production now and therefore considered rare. The garage soon became a storage and staging area for incoming Legos. Once he had the collections, Ryan began building each set to make sure it had all its parts. Some had well over 1,000 pieces. As an experienced Lego builder, he was able to swiftly assemble them. Ryan enlisted the help of his sister Katelyn in sorting and organizing loose Legos. Once built, Ryan photographed each Lego set and created a video showing any moving parts and action figures. He wrote compelling ads, speaking from the heart as a long-time Lego lover. Battery-powered Lego models that moved and functioned were always in high demand. Finally, with all his marketing materials ready, Ryan began placing auctions on eBay, selling each set individually for the greatest profit.
And sell they did! Often within minutes of launching an auction, the bids began rolling in. At any one time, Ryan had 20-30 Lego auctions in progress. Using the profits from his initial sales, Ryan ramped up his efforts, buying more collections and posting more auctions. At any one time he had 20-30 auctions in progress. Any dirty or dusty Legos were soaked in a soapy solution or given a bath in the tub. Once clean, the Legos were set to dry outside on the pool deck. He became more organized, setting up systems for his operations and building spreadsheets to track everything from profit and loss to customer communications. Ryan bought boxes & bubble wrap in bulk, storing the shipping supplies in his bedroom. Ryan found he was able to make two to four times what he paid for each set and occasionally, luck into an online bidding war for a rare set, netting him an even greater profit. Lego models in various stages of assembly covered every flat surface in the house.
Lego Minifigures were valuable and could be sold with sets or separately for a premium. Over time, Ryan became more savvy about acquiring product and the selling process. He learned how to find and negotiate for the most popular sets. He discovered how to word his ads and take professional-quality photos to generate the most interest. Finally, he continually sought ways to streamline the various steps leading to auction, maximizing his profit margins. Ryan purchased shelving where he placed Lego sets on auction. As soon as an auction ended and he’d received payment, he sealed the box and shipped it to the winner. Ryan set up spreadsheets to track every expense and sale. He learned basic accounting and handled his own banking and bookkeeping with precision. Looking back, the only downside of the business was that our house resembled a garage sale all summer. Lego models in various stages of production covered every flat surface. This is what guests saw when we opened our front door.
Cardboard boxes and shipping supplies occupied every shelf and corner. No doubt we will be finding pieces of styrofoam peanuts for years. Nonetheless, the mess was a small price to pay for a lucrative and fun little business. The Lego business turned our home into Ryan’s personal warehouse. Spread around the dining room were filled boxes awaiting shipping labels. Do Jim and I think Ryan has a future with his Lego business? Ryan is delighted to have the cash, having made considerably more than if he’d worked in the typical summer position at a fast-food restaurant or grocery store. And as Ryan is quick to add, “Playing with Legos is way more fun than flipping burgers.” In nearly every room, packages were scattered amid the furniture. While we don’t see Legos as Ryan’s future career, (We’re spending too much on his college tuition for that!), Jim and I were delighted to see him run a business and get a taste of entrepreneurial success. Ryan and Katelyn closely monitored the bidding on their eBay auctions.
He even employed Katelyn, our 12-year-old daughter, to build some of the sets and assist with uploading the auctions, so she was in on the venture and enjoying it just as much as Ryan. Ryan set up sound effects for any activity on his auctions. The house sounded like a Las Vegas casino with bells ringing for every bid and a cash register opening for every sale. Both kids are already making plans to resume operations when Ryan comes home for a month at Christmas and then to ramp up for next summer after Ryan has completed his sophomore year at college. Items like functioning trains were rare and would cause a bidding war that often went into the hundreds. While the money is nice, of course, Jim and I feel the real value of selling Legos is what both kids have learned. The business skills – understanding supply and demand, negotiating for product, writing ads, creating marketing materials, streamlining production, handling fulfillment, and servicing customers – are transferable to any job or business they have in the future.