What's your best find/deal ever?

[Kit Figsto]

Over the years, I've gotten lucky with some eBay scores (though I've never had the same clearance luck that people online seem to get...), so I'm wondering what impressive deals other people have managed to find, whether it's from the internet, secondhand/thrift stores, garage sales, or just plain clearance sales at regular stores.

Some of mine that spring to mind -

I got a sealed 6799 Showdown Canyon on eBay a number of years ago for $35, when that set was going for well over $100 sealed (and still is at the present).  The box was even in good shape, the plastic piece in the front had yellowed really badly over the years, so I pitched that, but the actual cardboard wasn't even damaged.

7144 Slave I, sealed, for $40 on eBay, again, a couple of years ago.

I just grabbed 4477, the original T-16 Skyhopper, for $40 sealed a few months ago.  The seller claimed it had a damaged box, which was why it was going for around half of the normal price, when I got it, the "damage" was literally just some of the surface of the box in the corner being torn due to a price sticker being removed.  The rest of the box was in better shape than most brand new sets I see in stores.  Even still, I open and build all of my sets, so the box condition hardly matters to me.

When I was a kid, there was a store in a small town that a relative lived in which, for whatever reason, had a bunch of toys from the late 90s/early 2000s still on the shelves as late as like 2010-11.  It wasn't a secondhand or antique store or anything, I think it being a small town, they just truly didn't have a lot of inventory turnover.  I remember seeing some larger LEGO stuff, but I was still somewhat young, so I either couldn't afford them or they were too advanced for me.  I did, however, get both a sealed 4576 Duster Xalax racer and 3542 Flip Shot, both sealed, for the original price, almost a decade after they were originally sold, which is kind of an odd one.

The biggest one that I regret not buying was a complete 10123 Cloud City for roughly $700 about three years ago.  All of the pieces were there, I don't know if it had Boba and Lando, but I'm almost positive that it at least had Luke and Leia.  It was kind of odd, because it was at a store that sold used LEGO (and typically is known for being really overpriced compared to BL sellers), but this one was actually going for quite a bit less than that set typically went for at the time.  Ah, well, it wasn't meant to be.

Got any good ones?

[JesseNight]

Found new 10274 Icons ECTO-1 last year on Black Friday for €130, that's about it for me (but only recently back into this hobby).

[MaximillianRebo]

Got the Solo TIE Fighter on eBay for about $40 usd second hand with all figures - including the Mimban Trooper. I checked all the fig parts multiple times to see that the Lego logo was in all the right places 

Edited January 21, 2024 by MaximillianRebo
Mimban Trooper, not Mudtrooper

[Peppermint_M]

For LEGO? I managed to pick up the Agents Mobile Command Centre for £30, but that was near enough the year of release/a little past discontinued. I was able to get Rapunzel's Castle Bedroom for £1 on clearance. Most recently: Fantastical Treehouse £20. An absolute steal, I had wondered if there was a mistake, but no. So yah, I have been lucky with the clearance deals. 

[Kit Figsto]

16 hours ago, MaximillianRebo said:

Got the Solo TIE Fighter on eBay for about $40 usd second hand with all figures - including the Mudtrooper. I checked all the fig parts multiple times to see that the Lego logo was in all the right places 

I didn't realize this set was so expensive, I guess partially because it's the only one to include the Mimbian trooper minifig?

3 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

For LEGO? I managed to pick up the Agents Mobile Command Centre for £30, but that was near enough the year of release/a little past discontinued. I was able to get Rapunzel's Castle Bedroom for £1 on clearance. Most recently: Fantastical Treehouse £20. An absolute steal, I had wondered if there was a mistake, but no. So yah, I have been lucky with the clearance deals. 

I'm shocked that the Dreamzzz set was that cheap already!  

[Peppermint_M]

2 hours ago, Kit Figsto said:

I'm shocked that the Dreamzzz set was that cheap already! 

Weird supermarket pricing I think. I am not sure about US stores (but likely they are the same) but supermarkets use toys and the like as "loss leaders" to draw people in to the shop. Then, they are more likely to buy the money-maker items and possibly be snared as repeat customers. Around the run up to Christmas (So, about the time they are clearing out the August/September Back to School gear) this particular store starts stacking up the large and interesting toys, there are a good number of other supermarkets in competition in a small area so they want something big to attract customers. This brand also has a "warehouse" brand store, where you go in, order from a touch-screen catalogue and staff bring out the stock or have items delivered to your home. That might be why they have the bigger sets on such a short turnover, the warehouse brand section puts up the budget for loss leader stock because someone walks in and might browse the catalogue and get a £500 TV they had been looking to get. 

I take full advantage of the weird turn around on LEGO, but I do get annoyed when the prices are slashed and I am not around to get some! (My brother's friend used to work there and would message us, either to get us to the store, or to purchase on our behalf!) 

[Toastie]

6 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

For LEGO?

Heehee ...

[Peppermint_M]

2 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Heehee ...

Ah heh... In my defence, I have had some epic deals on Zoids and books too...

[Toastie]

13 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

In my defence

In what? Your defense? Hey, this was in your total advantage! And cool!

Well, I experienced a total blast (expenses wise, quality wise, and building fun wise) with 85007 from a LEGO competitor not impinging on IP rights. That set literally vanished from the market - for very good reasons, I believe.

Best regards,
Thorsten

P.S.: Build an all LEGO piece monorail for this set (using 12V tracks), relying 95% on Masao Hidaka-type elevated track) - and ordered Tenka Circuit Cube stuff to propel it (automized). "They" said it is a display model - I say no, it is not  Guess this has to go into the Community Forum - fine with me!

Edited January 21, 2024 by Toastie

[Kit Figsto]

3 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

Weird supermarket pricing I think. I am not sure about US stores (but likely they are the same) but supermarkets use toys and the like as "loss leaders" to draw people in to the shop. Then, they are more likely to buy the money-maker items and possibly be snared as repeat customers. Around the run up to Christmas (So, about the time they are clearing out the August/September Back to School gear) this particular store starts stacking up the large and interesting toys, there are a good number of other supermarkets in competition in a small area so they want something big to attract customers. This brand also has a "warehouse" brand store, where you go in, order from a touch-screen catalogue and staff bring out the stock or have items delivered to your home. That might be why they have the bigger sets on such a short turnover, the warehouse brand section puts up the budget for loss leader stock because someone walks in and might browse the catalogue and get a £500 TV they had been looking to get. 

I take full advantage of the weird turn around on LEGO, but I do get annoyed when the prices are slashed and I am not around to get some! (My brother's friend used to work there and would message us, either to get us to the store, or to purchase on our behalf!) 

Ah, sounds very nice!  In the US, at least around me, it’s very hit and miss for clearances.  Big box stores typically will put some sets on sale after 5-6 months, some of which remain on permanent discount and some will go back up to MSRP.  With clearance, though, it’s totally dependent on luck.  Sometimes you’ll find sets that are like 80% off and sometimes a “clearance” is 20-30% off.  Costco stored here (essentially warehouse stores) also carry LEGO at usually a very good discount (30-50% or more, generally) but they only sell like 4-5 different sets at a time, which is great if they have a set you want, but if not, you have to wait 2-3 months until they get different ones in.  With clearance, though, you basically have to get lucky.

[MAB]

Some of my best retail deals were the Tesco misprices of about 2012. Portal of Atlantis, £3.49, technic pickup truck about £7.50, Toy Story sets about 90% off, Captain America cycle £2, Endor battle pack £2, and so on. Too many to remember!

And then there were cheap prices for individual parts from bricks and pieces. Palantirs 53p, Sabine Wren helmet 80p, Ghostbuster torsos were free, Dain torsos 53p, again so many.

[Martin_B]

My all-time favourite bargain was probably the 6399 "Airport Shuttle" monorail. When I was coming out of my Dark Ages around ten years ago, I paid what felt like a high-but-fair price for it - around £250 - but when I saw what good condition it was in, I didn't regret it at all. There were no missing pieces (only a couple of substitutions) and the functionality of the thing is so cool. Looking at how much that set goes for today on the used market, I'm glad that I got it when I did! Even back then, Ebay was hit-and-miss, so I got very, very lucky.

The main issue I have right now is, it's a particularly tricky set to display. It looks amazing, but I haven't figured out the best way of showing it off to visitors!

Edited January 22, 2024 by Martin_B

[CallMeCarbiz]

A couple of years ago I was really proud of myself for finding someone selling the Black Falcon's Fortress for $35. They didn't know that's what they had, I just saw a few of the minifigures and the wall panels.

 

Then about 18 months ago someone posted their child's collection (~2010) online for $100. I filled my car with the sets and containers. The entire trunk was full of bagged sets that I had dumped from her totes and laundry hampers. The backseat of my car had other containers full of sorted pieces. I still haven't gone through all of it. More than a dozen Star Wars sets; Turbo Tank, Z-95 Headhunter, Republic Attack Shuttle, Anakin's Jedi Star fighter, and loads of Clone, Droid, and Mandalorian battle packs. The entire 2013 Castle line, most of the Sponge Bob series, some Indiana Jones, City, Pirates, Marvel, DC, and Lone Ranger sets. My wife was confused and concerned when I brought the 3rd trip up and went back down for more.

The downside of this is that it kind of ruins your (and especially supportive but not into it spouse's) expectations for what your going to get for ~$100.

[Khargeust]

On a private sales website, in 2018, I managed to have these six sets in new and sealed condition for 200€ :

- 8089 Hoth Wampa Cave

- 7965 Millennium Falcon

- 9492 TIE Fighter

- 75005 Rancor Pit

- 75020 Jabba's Sail Barge

- 75014 Battle of Hoth

The seller had inherited a house in which there were all the dead man's belongings, including these boxes carefully stored in a closet. They tried to get rid of the boxes without really finding out about their value. I jumped on the ad and we were able to do an exchange in person.

I've never been so lucky!

Edited January 28, 2024 by Khargeust