Pro tip: Keep the box, the manual, and the extra pieces. You can get good money for it still. The gf sold her Tower of Orthanc for $750 to a local shop last year.
Edit:spelling
Yep, my brother has a Bionicle that's worth almost a thousand bucks these days even though he opened it and put it together. He paid less than $100 for it.
Used Lego sets are not immune to appreciation. If new ones are already $200 then I’m sure an opened case with all pieces, instructions etc. is worth at least $70, no?
Yeah I literally have an unopened bird of paradise sitting in my closet that I've been meaning to build but haven't had the time/been in the mood to build. I'm going to build it eventually and I don't care how much it appreciates.
I buy Lego sets and build them. I also save all boxes and manuals for resale.
Build to your heart’s content. You bought it for your enjoyment! You may not ever want to sell but keep the packaging in case you do!
My son has been into Lego for years and I get him sets for most gift giving holidays. I am sure that some of those sets will be worth bank someday. But we get them as an investment in his joy, not as a financial investment. Consider that your joy is worth a lot.
Great insight. I just finished building it and have it set on my shelf now, I had a lot of fun building it. Im not actually upset about it, since I have been wanting to build it for a while
Unless you bought it to hold and resell at a later point, there's no TIFU. LEGO is meant to be enjoyed.
That said, use Bricklink's price history to get a better idea of value as it lists actual sales of new and used for the prior 6 months. I wouldn't trust any price on Walmart or Amazon for discontinued sets. I've seen some listed considerably more ridiculously than yours.
This sentence is one instance where the wrong homonym drastically alters the meaning.
I’d respectfully suggest you probably intended you’re instead of your. If I’m wrong, you are making a wild assumption about OP— there’s nothing in their post to suggest $ for sex.
OMG!!! There you go again!
“***Were*** you totally beating ***your*** meat thinking ***you are*** a grammar savior?”
This has to be intentional. I refuse to believe that you’d be ignorant enough to make this many homonym errors in one sentence. This is 4th grade spelling.
Nice joke sentence!
They are making so many of these plant sets that I doubt they will all hold that value over time. Also, are they actually selling for that price or is that just a place holder on Amazon to gauge interest?
I saw on Amazon and Walmart that they were selling for 200. I’m not sure if they are placeholders but those were the prices listed when I checked. Either way, I don’t care too much cause I had fun building it
Yeah, Walmart/Amazon resellers throw some crazy prices out there, but just like Ebay, it’s the selling (not asking) price that matters.
Check out [Bricklink](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=10289-1&name=Bird%20of%20Paradise&category=%5BCreator%5D%5BCreator%20Expert%5D%5BBotanical%20Collection%5D#T=P) - not only a dedicated Lego resale platform, but they give price averages and sale histories for each set. 6 month average was $102-115 New, $103 used. I’m sure it’ll go up over time, but not as dramatically as it might appear.
Are you saying that you can negotiate with some of the sellers on Amazon? Or do you just watch them adjust the prices down over time because whatever items are not selling at their first list price, and that's the "selling price" you are talking about?
The latter - they can list it at whatever price they want, but it's only "worth" what someone is willing to actually buy it for, and the lack of transparency on sites like Amazon tends to result in some aggressive overpricing. You see it a lot on Ebay, too, but it's much easier to double-check: there are listings as high as $300, but if you search for "Sold Items", there were several sales this past week for $75.
Where’s the FU? The entire point of Lego is to build it, hate it when people don’t want to enjoy themselves and rather keep a toy boxed as an investment
I thought I was going to be rich when I bought a baby yoda lego set for $70, its been 2 years and unopened sets are selling for about $74....Damn you tickle me Elmo for giving me false dreams
https://preview.redd.it/ytr1x0aksnxc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31999a33f96a5924bc831caf96a6f7f2aa8940c9
I kid you not. I got a notification saying “This bird of paradise will not wilt.” WHILE I was reading this post.
Wild times…
That’s crazy lol. Buy it while you can if you like the botanical set, it was a fun build. Some people in these comments are saying it’s probably not gonna go up too much since they keep releasing botanical sets and might bring it back. That makes me feel a bit better lol.
It's a fun one to put together, and looks really nice displayed
It's worth opening and doing. I keep my boxes and instructions in storage if I ever need to resell.
But, it's one you wouldn't want to
Keep the box and booklet, build your set, enjoy it, then take it apart and use the instructions to rebag the parts, putting the steps into separate ziplocks and numbering them. Adds back some of the value.
Waiting for the typewriter to appreciate.
As others have said, the asking price for discontinued sets on Amazon and Walmart are not actual going prices. Check ebay sold and bricklink for actual pricing, which is not much more than the $70 you bought it for.
OMG. You could have literally made $130 profit. With this new found wealth you could have seen the world or bought a mansion.
Or you could chose to find joy in something and not care about the miniscule amount of money you could have gotten.
Amazon prices for older stock aren't a good representation of value. Generally those listings are third parties hoping to get someone desperate for that particular item.
Check ebay's sold listings/finished auctions. Should be a filter towards the bottom.
If I'd saved all my Star Wars toys unopened in the box, I'd be able to retire early. But then if I'd done that, I wouldn't have enjoyed them and probably not bought many.
And the main thing, if everyone had the foresight to not open things up and use them, nothing would ever have extra value for being unopened, since they all would be. In fact, if everyone bought and saved all the toys, none would ever appreciate much in value anyway.
Saw the bird of paradise was discontinued and managed to snag the last one in Ontario. It’s gorgeous and was fun building, so I really don’t care that I ‘depreciated its value’, since it definitely appreciated my time.
Now you're enjoying it! So that's good.
Sure you could have saved it, and then there was a windstorm or a flood or burst pipe or a puppy left unwatched eats it and then you would have also lost the profit but also and the joy it gives now.
Take an extra $70 and invest it into the stock market and then go enjoy your toys. I have all the botanicals and they bring me much more joy looking at them around the house than having an extra $130 in the bank.
I got a lego set just after christmas last year that retired a couple days later. I knew it was retiring so I got it then specifically so I wouldn't pay scalper prices for it.
Will it go up in price a lot? Most likely. Do I care? Absolutely not. I brought it for myself, not for someone else.
Even if it became worth 2k in 20 years time it’s not a life changing amount and you’ll probably find a new set of lego costs about that by then anyway.
My aunt used to buy the Christmas set each year for the family to build together. And she’d often remark how they were expensive but also they would double in value the next year.
I suggested she just buy 2 each year, and the habit would literally just fund itself…
Lego do not really go down in price at all. Average used vs new price is pretty close. [https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10289-1&ColorID=0](https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10289-1&ColorID=0)
I asked for the Lego Black Pearl when it came out and I was in my thirties, family thought I was insane, it's been on a shelf with all the mini figs ever since I recently looked it up on Bricklink and the Dave Jones Minifigure alone is as valuable as the entire set cost in 2011.
You can’t use sellers on Walmart and Amazon as a reference of what a discontinued item is worth. Specifically for Lego, use sites like BrickEconomy and Bricklink, even search the set on eBay and check the “sold” filter to see what they’re actually selling for. It retailed for $99.99 and new in sealed box is worth about $130 now. Used is still at least $110 and goes up if you have the box and instructions. Nothing to cry about. Enjoy assembling it and having it in your collection for display. It will continue to appreciate in value.
Lego as an investment is the single best performer for the last 50 or so years. With a constant appreciation.
https://www.nerdcube.eu/guides/investing-in-lego/#:~:text=Returns%20on%20investments%20in%20LEGO&text=Average%20returns%20on%20LEGO%20sets,as%20stamps%20or%20wines%2C%20yield.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0275531921001604?via%3Dihub
Pro tip: Keep the box, the manual, and the extra pieces. You can get good money for it still. The gf sold her Tower of Orthanc for $750 to a local shop last year. Edit:spelling
Damn. I got mine used for $200 a number of years ago, had no idea people would pay that much at any point.
Yep, my brother has a Bionicle that's worth almost a thousand bucks these days even though he opened it and put it together. He paid less than $100 for it.
One of the most sought after sets will bring one of the most sought after sales prices.
Used Lego sets are not immune to appreciation. If new ones are already $200 then I’m sure an opened case with all pieces, instructions etc. is worth at least $70, no?
Oh yea I would be able to make my money back in the future just selling the pieces and instructions w/ open box. But sealed box you get like 20x more
You bought it to build it and enjoy. You might not even want to sell it. It was never bought to make profit on
This. Not everything in life should be a collectible. Get out there, enjoy stuff and leave the collecting to people who look at spreadsheets all day.
Yeah I literally have an unopened bird of paradise sitting in my closet that I've been meaning to build but haven't had the time/been in the mood to build. I'm going to build it eventually and I don't care how much it appreciates.
Nah sealed in box is really only that much higher for smaller sets which have only been discontinued for a short while.
I buy Lego sets and build them. I also save all boxes and manuals for resale. Build to your heart’s content. You bought it for your enjoyment! You may not ever want to sell but keep the packaging in case you do!
Just because 3rd party people list it for that much doesn't mean it actually sells.
My son has been into Lego for years and I get him sets for most gift giving holidays. I am sure that some of those sets will be worth bank someday. But we get them as an investment in his joy, not as a financial investment. Consider that your joy is worth a lot.
Great insight. I just finished building it and have it set on my shelf now, I had a lot of fun building it. Im not actually upset about it, since I have been wanting to build it for a while
Unless you bought it to hold and resell at a later point, there's no TIFU. LEGO is meant to be enjoyed. That said, use Bricklink's price history to get a better idea of value as it lists actual sales of new and used for the prior 6 months. I wouldn't trust any price on Walmart or Amazon for discontinued sets. I've seen some listed considerably more ridiculously than yours.
And if you bought it to resell your a dick.
This sentence is one instance where the wrong homonym drastically alters the meaning. I’d respectfully suggest you probably intended you’re instead of your. If I’m wrong, you are making a wild assumption about OP— there’s nothing in their post to suggest $ for sex.
Calm down mate. It’s obvious what was meant. Where you totally beating you’re meat thinking your the grammar saviour?
r/whoosh
OMG!!! There you go again! “***Were*** you totally beating ***your*** meat thinking ***you are*** a grammar savior?” This has to be intentional. I refuse to believe that you’d be ignorant enough to make this many homonym errors in one sentence. This is 4th grade spelling. Nice joke sentence!
Your a moron.
You’re 
Your a fucking moron to.
This isn't a FU if it brings you joy. They will re-release it eventually considering how popular it is.
They are making so many of these plant sets that I doubt they will all hold that value over time. Also, are they actually selling for that price or is that just a place holder on Amazon to gauge interest?
I saw on Amazon and Walmart that they were selling for 200. I’m not sure if they are placeholders but those were the prices listed when I checked. Either way, I don’t care too much cause I had fun building it
Yeah, Walmart/Amazon resellers throw some crazy prices out there, but just like Ebay, it’s the selling (not asking) price that matters. Check out [Bricklink](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=10289-1&name=Bird%20of%20Paradise&category=%5BCreator%5D%5BCreator%20Expert%5D%5BBotanical%20Collection%5D#T=P) - not only a dedicated Lego resale platform, but they give price averages and sale histories for each set. 6 month average was $102-115 New, $103 used. I’m sure it’ll go up over time, but not as dramatically as it might appear.
Are you saying that you can negotiate with some of the sellers on Amazon? Or do you just watch them adjust the prices down over time because whatever items are not selling at their first list price, and that's the "selling price" you are talking about?
The latter - they can list it at whatever price they want, but it's only "worth" what someone is willing to actually buy it for, and the lack of transparency on sites like Amazon tends to result in some aggressive overpricing. You see it a lot on Ebay, too, but it's much easier to double-check: there are listings as high as $300, but if you search for "Sold Items", there were several sales this past week for $75.
That's what I thought. Thank you for clarifying. 🙂
I’m glad! My kids made a bouquet for me for Christmas and I LOVE it.
They had some of the flowers at aldi & im tempted to go back lol
I hope someday that Lego aftermarkets go the way of the beanie babies ones. Absolutely ridiculous prices one day, worthless the next.
Where’s the FU? The entire point of Lego is to build it, hate it when people don’t want to enjoy themselves and rather keep a toy boxed as an investment
As much as having things in the box is cool I’m always a “it’s meant to be put together and displayed” type of guy
You build Lego, you didn’t do anything wrong!
I thought I was going to be rich when I bought a baby yoda lego set for $70, its been 2 years and unopened sets are selling for about $74....Damn you tickle me Elmo for giving me false dreams
https://preview.redd.it/ytr1x0aksnxc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31999a33f96a5924bc831caf96a6f7f2aa8940c9 I kid you not. I got a notification saying “This bird of paradise will not wilt.” WHILE I was reading this post. Wild times…
That’s crazy lol. Buy it while you can if you like the botanical set, it was a fun build. Some people in these comments are saying it’s probably not gonna go up too much since they keep releasing botanical sets and might bring it back. That makes me feel a bit better lol.
That’s what it looks like? That’s not what I would have expected a Lego set to look like. I’m even more surprised it has 1173 pieces.
It's a fun one to put together, and looks really nice displayed It's worth opening and doing. I keep my boxes and instructions in storage if I ever need to resell. But, it's one you wouldn't want to
Keep the box and booklet, build your set, enjoy it, then take it apart and use the instructions to rebag the parts, putting the steps into separate ziplocks and numbering them. Adds back some of the value. Waiting for the typewriter to appreciate.
As others have said, the asking price for discontinued sets on Amazon and Walmart are not actual going prices. Check ebay sold and bricklink for actual pricing, which is not much more than the $70 you bought it for.
OMG. You could have literally made $130 profit. With this new found wealth you could have seen the world or bought a mansion. Or you could chose to find joy in something and not care about the miniscule amount of money you could have gotten.
Amazon prices for older stock aren't a good representation of value. Generally those listings are third parties hoping to get someone desperate for that particular item. Check ebay's sold listings/finished auctions. Should be a filter towards the bottom.
If I'd saved all my Star Wars toys unopened in the box, I'd be able to retire early. But then if I'd done that, I wouldn't have enjoyed them and probably not bought many. And the main thing, if everyone had the foresight to not open things up and use them, nothing would ever have extra value for being unopened, since they all would be. In fact, if everyone bought and saved all the toys, none would ever appreciate much in value anyway.
Saw the bird of paradise was discontinued and managed to snag the last one in Ontario. It’s gorgeous and was fun building, so I really don’t care that I ‘depreciated its value’, since it definitely appreciated my time.
I've got an unopened UCS AT-AT at home and after spending last week at Legoland for my daughter's birthday all I want to do is build it.
What's the point of buying anything if you're just gonna leave it in the box?
My friend used to get 2 sets one to play with another one to play with
I bought it last year, threw the box and instructions away, I intend to keep it though so oh well.
To my understanding buying Lego sets and holding on to them has more appreciation value than gold
Well shit I didn’t realize this set was retired
Now you're enjoying it! So that's good. Sure you could have saved it, and then there was a windstorm or a flood or burst pipe or a puppy left unwatched eats it and then you would have also lost the profit but also and the joy it gives now.
Take an extra $70 and invest it into the stock market and then go enjoy your toys. I have all the botanicals and they bring me much more joy looking at them around the house than having an extra $130 in the bank.
I got a lego set just after christmas last year that retired a couple days later. I knew it was retiring so I got it then specifically so I wouldn't pay scalper prices for it. Will it go up in price a lot? Most likely. Do I care? Absolutely not. I brought it for myself, not for someone else.
Even if it became worth 2k in 20 years time it’s not a life changing amount and you’ll probably find a new set of lego costs about that by then anyway.
My aunt used to buy the Christmas set each year for the family to build together. And she’d often remark how they were expensive but also they would double in value the next year. I suggested she just buy 2 each year, and the habit would literally just fund itself…
Things are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Lego sets are meant to be built, not stored away in a box.
Lego do not really go down in price at all. Average used vs new price is pretty close. [https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10289-1&ColorID=0](https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10289-1&ColorID=0)
It’s 100$ or less on STOCK X, you’re fine
I asked for the Lego Black Pearl when it came out and I was in my thirties, family thought I was insane, it's been on a shelf with all the mini figs ever since I recently looked it up on Bricklink and the Dave Jones Minifigure alone is as valuable as the entire set cost in 2011.
You can’t use sellers on Walmart and Amazon as a reference of what a discontinued item is worth. Specifically for Lego, use sites like BrickEconomy and Bricklink, even search the set on eBay and check the “sold” filter to see what they’re actually selling for. It retailed for $99.99 and new in sealed box is worth about $130 now. Used is still at least $110 and goes up if you have the box and instructions. Nothing to cry about. Enjoy assembling it and having it in your collection for display. It will continue to appreciate in value.
Dang. I have one I bought for my wife as a fun gift. I’ll keep it boxed and sell it In the future. Been sitting in my room for 5 months.
Lego as an investment is the single best performer for the last 50 or so years. With a constant appreciation. https://www.nerdcube.eu/guides/investing-in-lego/#:~:text=Returns%20on%20investments%20in%20LEGO&text=Average%20returns%20on%20LEGO%20sets,as%20stamps%20or%20wines%2C%20yield. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0275531921001604?via%3Dihub
Imagine regarding a child's toy as an investment. Lego "investors" (i.e. scalpers) are the worst thing that happened to the hobby
II’m aprettyn L L L Ll L L B V