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.The 10 most expensive Lego sets See all Editor's Picks The Daily Dot Bazaar Photo via Antonio / Flickr (CC-BY-SA) Remix by Max Fleishman Lego enthusiasts can shell out serious dough for the privilege of building the coolest, rarest, most extravagant sets. Lego's priciest advanced models are highly valued collector's items. The most expensive retired Lego sets can fetch up to five figures. Among the most expensive include sets themed after Star Wars and major world landmarks like the Taj Mahal. What makes certain Lego sets so expensive? It's not solely because of the number of pieces or a popular franchise tie-in like Star Wars. The value of a Lego set often skyrockets after it retires."Rarity is the most important factor with any LEGO collectible.
If a set is rare, and desirable, and continues to be rare, it will remain valuable," said founder of Lego pricing guide BrickPicker Ed Maciorowski.Here are the top 10 most valuable Lego sets according to the Lego collector's website Brickpicker: 10) Market StreetValue: $1,461.13Number of Pieces: 1248Notable features: "Market Street" is Lego's second entry in its modular building series for adult builders. The set features curved staircases and interchangeable floors. 9) Cafe CornerValue: $1,576.00Number of Pieces: 2,056Notable features: Lego's "Cafe Corner" features three stories, a mosaic, and a bicycle. 8) Eiffel TowerValue: $1,601.93Number of Pieces: 3, 428Notable features: The completed Lego Eiffel Tower is the tallest Lego model to date; standing at 42 inches. It features a French flag made out of Lego bricks. 7) Imperial Star DestroyerValue: $1,671.07Number of Pieces: 1,359Notable features: Lego's model of the Imperial Star Destroyer ship from Star Wars includes eight synchronized cannons, an Emperor Palpatine hologram, and a Lego figure of Darth Vader.
6) Death Star IIValue: $1,720.33Number of Pieces: 3,447Notable features: The Lego Death Star II is built to scale with the original and includes a super laser. 5) Mr. GoldValue: $1,831.09Number of Pieces: 1Notable features: Made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Lego's Minifigures series, only 5,000 Mr. Gold figures were produced in total. 4) Statue of LibertyValue: $1,980.67Number of Pieces: 2,882Notable features: Lego's Statue of Liberty model is made entirely of sand-green bricks. 3) Grand Carousel Value: $2,603.40Number of Pieces: 3,263Notable features: Lego's electricity-powered Grand Carousel spins and plays music. 2) Taj MahalValue: $2,603.40Number of Pieces: 5,922Notable features: Lego's Taj Mahal became the company's largest set when it was released in 2008. Value: $4,729.00Number of Pieces: 5, 174Notable features: Lego's "Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon" is the largest Star Wars set and the second-largest Lego set ever made. It features Lego figures of Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.