If you saw my post for the April 2017 LEGO Store Calendar, you probably saw that the US is finally getting the LEGO Creator Mini Volkswagen Beetle (40252) as part of a promotion. It is a 141 piece set that is basically a smaller version of the Volkswagen Beetle (10252) which was released last year. We will be getting it from April 1-15, while supplies last, with purchases of $50 or more at LEGO Stores and on [email protected] The April 2017 LEGO Store Calendar is now available and we can see some of the promotions and events for the month. April 1-15: FREE LEGO Creator Mini Volkswagen Beetle (40252) with purchases of $50 or more, while supplies last. April 1-30: FREE LEGO Friends Tic Tac Toe game with a $20 LEGO Friends purchase, while supplies last. April 1: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042) available to the general public. April 4-5: VIP Monthly Mini Build event for a Chick. April 1-16: Easter Egg Hunt at LEGO Stores.
Find all the Easter eggs and get an Easter sticker sheet, while supplies last. April 15: VIP LEGO Friends Mini Build event. Sign up is required. April 7 & 21: Family Game Night. April 22 & 29: LEGO Life meeting. February was a pretty news heavy month and here’s a recap of some of the more popular LEGO posts from the month. LEGO Disney Beauty and the Beast BrickHeadz Officially Announced – LEGO announced the new LEGO Disney Beauty and the Beast BrickHeadz which now available to everyone on for $9.99 each. LEGO Named 2017 World’s Most Powerful Brand – LEGO was named the world’s most powerful brand in the Brand Finance yearly Global 500 rankings. LEGO Dimensions Wave 8 Expansions Packs Announced – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the new LEGO Dimensions expansion packs which include The Goonies Level Pack (71267), the Hermione Fun Pack (71243), and LEGO City Fun Pack (71266). The LEGO Ninjago Movie First Trailer Released – Warner Bros. released the first official trailer for the upcoming The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
LEGO House Website Now Live – LEGO launched a new website for their LEGO House which opens in September. The LEGO Batman Movie The Ultimate Batmobile (70919) Revealed – LEGO revealed one of the new The LEGO Batman Movie sets with The Ultimate Batmobile (70917). LEGO New York Toy Fair Set Images – The 2017 New York Toy Fair kicked off and there were a lot of images for the upcoming summer 2017 LEGO sets. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Man: Homecoming Sets Revealed – During the NY Toy Fair, some of the sets for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Man: Homecoming were shown off. LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 Revealed – Also shown off at the Toy Fair was the characters for the Series 17 LEGO Collectible Minifigures. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042) Officially Revealed – The last major thing that was revealed at the Toy Fair was the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales The Silent Mary (71042).
LEGO Ideas Second 2016 Set Winner Announced – The winning LEGO Ideas project for the Second 2016 Review Stage was announced to be the Women of NASA. A reader has let me know this morning that there are some LEGO minifigure plushies that has been released in stores or will be released soon. Currently, there are four characters to choose from including Batman (853652) and Batgirl (853653) from The LEGO Batman Movie and Kai (853691) and Nya (853692) from LEGO Ninjago. Each minifigure plush will stand 12″ tall and are made with brushed tricot fabric with silkscreen-printed decoration. Update: They have shown up on . Today is the last day for the promotion to get The LEGO Batman Movie Disco Batman/Tears of Batman (30607) polybag at LEGO Stores and on . You can get it for free with purchases of $75 or more. The polybag is fairly easy to get especially with a lot of new sets already available. I’ve already done a review of the polybag if you haven’t checked it out yet.
LEGO Ideas has announced the winner of the Second 2016 Review Stage and it is the Women of NASA. This set was stated to be releases in late 2017 or early 2018. In addition, the Voltron – Defender of the Universe project is still under consideration so that could also be a set in the future. The results of that will be announced at the Third 2016 Review results. There were twelve projects that qualified for review which included Voltron – Defender of the Universe, Spaceballs – Eagle 5, The Addams Family Mansion, the Merchant’s House, the Large Hadron Collider, LEGO Observatory – Mountain View, Modular Construction Site, the Women of NASA, Star Wars UCS X34 Landspeeder, Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, Lovelace & Babbage, and The Plum Creek – The Little House on the Prairie. Honestly, the Women of NASA project didn’t really surprise me because LEGO does have a partnership with NASA and there are a few space-themed sets already including the upcoming Saturn V one for later this year.
What do you guys think if the project that was chosen to become an official LEGO Ideas set? Sound off in the comments below. If you haven’t picked up the LEGO Ideas Caterham Seven 620R (21307) yet, Amazon has it on sale for a pretty decent price of $59.99 which is 25% off the retail price. I’ve done a review of the Caterham and it is arguably one of the best LEGO Ideas sets to be released so far. With the sale going on, it’s worth picking up even more.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11It 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