Early Star Wars Lego set Collection - your thoughts...

[Pete Milligan]

Hi

I'm trying to get opinions and thoughts on my Star Wars Lego collection.

Back in 1999 I made the wise descion of hunting down as many of the original sets as I could when high street stores started getting rid of excess stock in sales. I only wish I'd continued this over the years but hey ho.

As you can see by the photos the collection encompasses all the first and most of the second releases in the

Star Wars lego lines.

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...andspeeders.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...sMIB/xwings.jpg

As the photos show the MIB (Mint in Box) sets are in excellent condition having being stored in plastic storage containers for almost ten years. I'd give most of them a 10/10 rating with the X-wing sets ranging from 8-9/10 as they have a few slight bumps and creases.

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...tfedtnkatst.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...flittlesets.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...nsubtfedmtt.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/PeteMill...awingtfigtr.jpg

The MOB's (Mint out of Box) are utterly complete. Every piece and all printed literature are present. The sets themselves were made once (gotta make em!) and returned to their boxes partially disasembled to fit snuggly into the box without damaging or mis-shaping it. The box's too are in mint condition.

The lego price guide can value most of the collection (minus six sets) at approx $5938.69 however this is one opinion and strikes me as a bit optimistic, considering prices being asked for on various online auctions.

Is it a signficant collection worth hanging onto? does anyone else have a similar sized collection or even bigger? Has this age of lego reached a peak in it's value? As lego enthusiasts and collectors like myself what do you all think?

Looking forward to any comments - Pete Milligan, United Kingdom

[Skipper 24]

Wow an impressive collection . I expect if you held on to these sets they will probably increase in value all though I can't be to sure..

[Bobskink]

Is it a signficant collection worth hanging onto? does anyone else have a similar sized collection or even bigger? Has this age of lego reached a peak in it's value? As lego enthusiasts and collectors like myself what do you all think?

Just my opinion: You've probably heard this before, but a collection is worth as mush as you want to give for it. I would recommend to keep the sets you only have once and try to trade or sell the doubles for the ones you still want. I doubt you will be able to sell them al for what they are worth according to collectors. It's crisis now and there are more collectors stopping than that there are bgining. In extense of this, I don't think the prices will go up, I presume that they will only be getting down, maybe within 10 years they will go up again, but then it could be to late...

Aniway, it's a nice collection, but I'm not a fan of MIB, so I would sell it al to buy boxes which you aren't affraid to open.

[SWMAN]

For the time, the sets were great. But, 10 years later, they pretty much suck. Low detail, very rough edges small in size, and poor minifigure variety.

I think you should go ahead and keep the sets. They will be worth ten-fold when the theme ends.

[Bobskink]

I think you should go ahead and keep the sets. They will be worth ten-fold when the theme ends.

But eventually you have to sell them to make profit. How long must you hold on them? Pete Milligan probably has them for 10 years now, you can't keep them for another 10 years I think, what's the profit if you can sell them for a lot of money but aren't young enough anymore to scander the money in a descent way.

BTW, I think that when the theme ends after a few years the prices will drop, if the theme ever ends.

[brickbitz]

It's a nice collection.

I hope you have it insured for a reasonable value.

At the end of the day though it will only be worth what someone pays you on the day. With the right buyer it could be double what you expect, with the wrong buyer it could be half. There's still a lot of this stuff fairly readily available to those willing to look around for it.

Star Wars is hugely popular but there's a lot of mechandise, LEGO themselves have reissued and updated quite a few of these sets and the older ones are not always as appealing as the newer ones. The sets with unique minifigures and no reissues are going to be the most valuable.

Maybe this auction will help you, it is a similar type collection going in the UK currently.

EBay UK LEGO Star Wars Collection

Personally I think you are always better off selling the sets individually if you have the time and resources, this way you may have a better chance of each of them reaching their estimated value.

Something to bear in mind is that it's the future collectors you are likely to target. Those over the next few years coming back to LEGO with hopefully a disposable income and the desire to pickup sets they missed out on. I think that trend is likely to continue. We are still really in the early years of the worldwide awakening to this hobby with the increase in adult LEGO fan clubs, websites and forums such as this one, public shows etc etc.

[Legoman]

Hi

I'm trying to get opinions and thoughts on my Star Wars Lego collection.

Back in 1999 I made the wise descion of hunting down as many of the original sets as I could when high street stores started getting rid of excess stock in sales. I only wish I'd continued this over the years but hey ho.

As you can see by the photos the collection encompasses all the first and most of the second releases in the

Star Wars lego lines.

As the photos show the MIB (Mint in Box) sets are in excellent condition having being stored in plastic storage containers for almost ten years. I'd give most of them a 10/10 rating with the X-wing sets ranging from 8-9/10 as they have a few slight bumps and creases.

The MOB's (Mint out of Box) are utterly complete. Every piece and all printed literature are present. The sets themselves were made once (gotta make em!) and returned to their boxes partially disasembled to fit snuggly into the box without damaging or mis-shaping it. The box's too are in mint condition.

The lego price guide can value most of the collection (minus six sets) at approx $5938.69 however this is one opinion and strikes me as a bit optimistic, considering prices being asked for on various online auctions.

Is it a signficant collection worth hanging onto? does anyone else have a similar sized collection or even bigger? Has this age of lego reached a peak in it's value? As lego enthusiasts and collectors like myself what do you all think?

Looking forward to any comments - Pete Milligan, United Kingdom

Well first - Nice collection! - Very nice!

I know that quite a few people could only dream to have a collection that size.

Is it a signficant collection worth hanging onto?

Thats entirely up to you. Yes - it's a decent collection. But wether you keep it is fully your call. However, when you say 'Is it worth hanging onto?', are you thinking, 'Should I sell it now or in 10 years' or are you thinking 'should i keep it' as in, as a fun personal collection?

If you're definately going to sell it -just not sure when- i would say now's good. These sets (in the most), to be honest, had their peak already, and have kinda past it, but are still going for more than reasonable prices. And i doubt they will go higher.

As for wether you should sell them at all, i would say just sell some. After-all, you're never too old for lego

does anyone else have a similar sized collection or even bigger?

Um, yeah, a few do. See this topic: Show Your Army & Home Display

Has this age of lego reached a peak in it's value?

As i just said, In my opinion, Yes.

Hope this helps, Legoman

[CommanderFox]

WOW

AMAZING Collection

I think if your in need of money, you should sell it all or keep the ones you have always liked the most

I can always take one of those 7128s off your hands i dont mind if its the opened one

CommanderFox

Edited May 4, 2009 by CommanderFox

[Pete Milligan]

Hi all.

Many thanks for the responses so far, I feel as if I've posted on the right forum and all that photography paid off.

After reading the responses I'm giving serious thought to selling any duplicates as it does seem their value has peaked. It

would be great to think that the first line of any collectable just keeps on rising but it seems to be more of a case of it's value peaking

then dipping slightly. Plus the sentamentalist in me struggles to part with any of them however I'm begining to feel that sentamentality

may be shooting me in the foot especially when I can still hang on to all my MOB's and one lot of MIB's.

So ideally the more serious collectors I can show my collection to the better any chance/price I can get for my duplicates, so pass the word

around show the JPEG's and If interest is high enough I'll part with the duplicates over the next month or so.

Thanks again for the replies, now for my G1 Transformer collection.....

Pete

[KimT]

Let me know when you're ready to let some of them go.

I'd kill for a snowspeeder and an x-wing MISB

[CommanderFox]

Im also interisted in the 3342 star wars minifigure pack and like I said before one of the 7128s

PM me when your selling them and ill make you an offer

CommanderFox

[Hewman]

You've done a great job of looking after your collection. As for value, the A-wings would actually have fallen significantly in value since the release of the new much more sleaker A-wing. However, I think you'd be able to get a top end price for them given condition. Check out bricklink to see what they go for. Many older sets were available really cheaply a year or two after release and then rose rapidly in value a few years later, take the original 7190 falcon as an example which was fetching up to $1000 MISB, but now is pretty easily available for about $300 MISB. The key is to getting your timing right and a great deal of this depends on the re-release of sets. It's too late for the tie advance/y-wing pack as far superior versions of both have already been released. However, if it's purely profit that you are after the next month or so might be a good time to sell your ewok and speeder bike sets before the new endor set is released. The 7139 in my opinion is one set that has maintained a look that hasn't dated as it isn't al lblocky like some of those other sets.

Edited May 5, 2009 by hewman

[JimBee]

Haw! Nice collection you've got there. I suggest that if you're going to sell them, do it now before the SW license supposedly ends (2011), and while Lego SW is still popular. Then again, you could save them for the years to come. I know a few people here who have spent small fortunes on old themes. If you like the sets, keep one of each and sell the rest. If not, sell them all and get yourself a Ferrari (or maybe just the door of one).

Or, you could just forget all of your troubles and give all the sets to me.

[Pete Milligan]

Thanks again everyone. I should be ready to sell in a fortnight or so. I will contact all of you interested when I have a benchmark price for my

duplicates.

I'm even considering snapping up any remaining sets in the continuing license should it end in 2011 (could they release 10 years more of sets?)

All good stuff. Cheers.

Pete

If you feel the need you can email me at vf51@hotmail.com

[prateek]

I'd keep it for 2-5 more years and then sell it, and boom, you have yourself a new Kia Rio

[Eilif]

Hey Pete,

Welcome to Eurobricks! This is definitely a good place to come for info on star wars LEGO, new and old. That's a very nice collection you have there, definitely one to be proud of. I see this is your first post. You might want to slide over to the "Hello my name is" forum and introduce yourself. Wouldn't want anyone to think you just came by to sell...

As to your question, I think that if you are a collector, your best bet is definitley to keep the best example of each set and sell the rest. If you sell them individually and hold out for the price you want, you'll get the best price possible. Opening a Bricklink store might be a good thing to try if you're not needing a quick sale.

Edited May 5, 2009 by Eilif

[yellost]

BTW, I think that when the theme ends after a few years the prices will drop, if the theme ever ends.

That might be true if it were any other LEGO theme, but it's SW we're talking about, here... And from what I've seen so far, anything SW only goes up, whatever they may be... (just look at those PEZ dispencers )

Still, a nice collection indeed. But as most have said, I'd get rid of the multiples to get more sets

[SWMAN]

But eventually you have to sell them to make profit. How long must you hold on them? Pete Milligan probably has them for 10 years now, you can't keep them for another 10 years I think, what's the profit if you can sell them for a lot of money but aren't young enough anymore to scander the money in a descent way.

BTW, I think that when the theme ends after a few years the prices will drop, if the theme ever ends.

I am not saying he should hold onto them forever, but when the theme ends, he should look around and figure out how much he can make. There is a point, as with anything you have to sell because the price will drop. But, he should at least wait a little while.

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

I think that the old sets are overpriced, or is that what they sell them on eBay for; were they much cheaper in the stores when they were still available?

[The Darxide]

CloneCommanderDelta7 said:

I think that the old sets are overpriced, or is that what they sell them on eBay for; were they much cheaper in the stores when they were still available?

.

Edited June 27, 2024 by The Darxide
.

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

Soon, if Lego Star Wars is discontinued, then Lego Star Wars itself will be very rare and the price online will be go through the roof.

[Pete Milligan]

Hi,

To all who expressed an interest in several of my Star Wars lego sets on this thread.

check out my new store on Brinklink!

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Pete_...itemID=13534179

Cheers

[drdavewatford]

Interesting thread, Pete.

As of October last year, I had perhaps 5 SW Lego sets which I'd bought new years ago, built, displayed and forgotten about (apart from a UCS X-Wing which never even got built).

For reasons I won't bore you with, I 'rediscovered' Lego, and particularly SW Lego, last December. Since then I've been on a crusade to get hold of as many of the SW sets as possible. I've picked up the current sets almost exclusively at lego stores or Lego S@H as these are usually cheaper than any regular store. The older sets I've bought via eBay. I'm now up to 96 Lego SW sets, with no end seemingly in sight !

The reason I tell you this is that I've picked up many of the old sets like those in your collection over the past 6 months on eBay, sometimes MISB, and the prices have been very reasonable. I got the Snowspeeder 7130 MISB for 18 pounds sterling, and Snowspeeder 4500 MISB for 26 pounds sterling. Other bargains include the 2 UCS Naboo fighters with all the lovely chrome on MISB (I found and bought this one twice as it's so beautiful - 1 is built, the other is still sealed). One I bought for only 32 pounds. I got a MISB 7111 Droid fighter BNIB for less than 5 pounds, and I bet it's possible to buy another 7111 MISB this week for less than 10 pounds on eBay.

The point is that with a few big exceptions (e.g. Cloud City, Jabba's Palace, Cantina, UCS Blockade Runner & X-Wing, Hoth Rebel Base and a few others), retired SW Lego can currently be bought pretty cheaply, even in new condition. I can therefore only see these sets going up in value over time, although the condition of the boxes, instructions etc. is important. I totally disagree that the value will drop when the licence runs out - when Lego stops churning out new SW sets, there will be no supply of new SW sets for old and newer enthusiasts to buy, and they'll be forced to buy retired sets to feed their habit. Prices will rocket. I personally would therefore suggest that you hang on to your sets, including the duplicates, and take good care of the boxes. I think they will become true collectors items in the future. It's great you have duplicates because you can build one and keep all the copies in mint condition. Right now, however, I took a look at your Bricklink page, and I would be amazed if anyone is willing to pay those prices - if I can get these sets much cheaper, I'm sure others can.

Dr. D.

[Rook]

Makes me wish I had bought a lot back then. I was just coming out of the dark ages. I'd do 1 of 3 things: Keep it and crack them puppies open, sell them because they aren't doing anything for you except collecting dust, or finally host a couple contests or raffles in the next 12 months and give 1 or 2 away and make someone really happy.

Edited May 21, 2009 by Rook