Why do people buy new sets and never open them?

[legotrainfan]

Lack of space is the main problem I'm confronted with, and that's also the main reason why I've got some sets in MISB condition. I'd love to open them, but I can put them nowhere. Right at the moment I've still a bit of room left for my MISB sets. I stack them one above the other. And there's also a lot of other stuff in the basement that takes away space. So it's quite complicated to find a place where to put stuff.

[Dunjohn]

I'm so broke that unopened sets don't have time to accumulate.

I have a box full of unopened Daily Mirror promos. I got multiples, and when you've built one, what's the point in building the rest? I'll open them if I need the bricks. Otherwise, give them away to kids or something.

If I'm really bored, I'll open one or two and see how many robots I can build with just those parts.

[no_skill]

I bought them on clearance for MOC parts but I haven't had the need to use the pieces yet.

Me too. I've got a few like that in my closet. I'll also pick up a few clearance sets to have on hand in case one of my kids needs a last minute gift to take to a birthday party. Occasionally they will get overlooked or forgotten...right now I have a Batman set bought for that purpose that is selling on e-bay and Bricklink for 10x what I paid for it. It really amazed me to see that! If I build up enough unused inventory, I plan on opening a Bricklink store of my own, hopefully to help fund my LEGO hobby.

Sets the kids and I enjoy, I want to have a spare. I usually buy an extra and throw it in the attic. When the kids get older I plan on bring them out and reliving some memories.

Me too; or possibly even my grand kids. I have an X-Wing and Tie just sitting on the shelf, patiently waiting. I figure the sets are so iconic that they would make a cool (and possibly even expensive) gift to pass along in 20 years

- No time at the moment and I keep getting sets before they get "discontinued" because I don't want to pay massive prices for them later -

Me too. I have a MMV and a GE purchased at retail price, just waiting for the day I have time and space. I kick myself for not doing that with Winter Toy Shop.

[fred67]

Yeah... like a lot of people, for me there are several reasons...

I didn't really have what you guys call a "dark ages," but for quite some time I was only interested in trains. To make a long story short, by the time I decided I wanted to collect other sets, I'd missed a lot of good ones and the aftermarket prices were ridiculous.

So:

1. I may not have time or space to build them, but I don't want to miss out, so I buy them when I can instead of waiting. Among other things, sitting in my closet right now are cafe corner and green grocer, a 4504 Millenium Falcon, a Home One (bought two, built one), a few castle sets, including two troll warships (in addition to one I built). I'm absolutely out of shelf space... I will keep buying sets, but I need new shelves before I can build anything else.

2. I do think of it as an investment, and have so many pieces and sets that I will likely open a bricklink store eventually; so now I sometimes buy two or more of sets I like, especially if they are on sale... but the key is that I only buy multiples of sets that I really like, not just any old sets. If I never sell them, and end up opening them for myself, I'm still ahead of the game. The only one I'm not sure about is the UCS Naboo Fighter... the one with chrome pieces. I paid extra for that one... and never opened it. Not sure what I will do with it. Probably after I move and have new space for myself, I'll build it and put it on display, but I'm not positive.

3. Sometimes I buy a LOT of smaller sets, especially on clearance, and I may give one here and there to my son when he is bored, or sometimes a birthday for a friend pops up and it turns out the friend is a SW or LEGO fan, so we don't even have to go to the store. I also coach sometimes, and give away smaller sets at the end of the season. I love sharing LEGO.

But... I want to mention there is a crossover between 1 and 2. I bought the 4504 Millenium Falcon at a Black Friday sale for like $75. I had (and have) every intention of building it... but now it sells, new in box, on bricklink for $380 (North America, at least) for the cheapest one. It was easily worth $75 for me to have and build... I don't know if it's worth almost $400. Cafe Corner, too, already doubled in price. That will still be a lot easier for me to build as part of my collection... if I were to build it now. What if I don't get the chance for another year and it's $500? I ended up with a number of sets like that... I didn't mean to buy them as investments... it just worked out that way.

[dieselboy m]

I'm 27 with a full time job and a wife, kid!

I'm 32, with just a part time job, a long distance girlfriend and no kids. You'd think I'd have all the time in the world to build my sets, but they still somehow pile up. Probably partly 'cause I've got about a billion hobbies and special interests, and I usually aim to make reviews of the toys I buy. But, I procrastinate on those a lot 'cause making reviews takes quite a bit of time and effort.

[Mr McGow]

I can safely say that I've never bought a lego set and not got to bedtime, without at least opening the box and looking through the instructions. Even when I buy Lego for other people, I have to fight the temptation not to open them up

Putting them together is another matter though. That's usually determined by work/home life demands. I like to construct the set's when nothing else is going on. It's part of my 'chill' time. Actually I wonder if I can use that as a tax deduction. As a form of stress management Lego sets do help me preform my job better

I've never purchased any sets for investment value. This is mainly because I can only afford the sets that I want for myself. Looking at the prices on e-bay and bricklink though, I wish I had at least purchased some of the smaller sets (e.g #4475 - Jabba's message or #7104 - Desert Skiff) and squirreled them away. Although these are both OT star wars set's, small sets from other themes (e.g Batman, Harry Potter) seems to be worth 10x (plus) there original RRP as well. BTW dave123 your thoughts on the bigger sets and rare parts was well presented and very logical. At any rate a big to bricklink for sorting out all the prices for me. Leaves me free to consume and construct!

[drdavewatford]

I have a MMV and a GE purchased at retail price, just waiting for the day I have time and space. I kick myself for not doing that with Winter Toy Shop.

The Winter Toy Shop sets are still on sale, at least at the LEGO store in Milton Keynes UK - I saw them there less than a week ago. Not sure if you have a LEGO store in Okinawa, however !

One of the best things about Eurobricks is that it reminds me that I'm not alone !! I used to know of no other adults with even the slightest interest in LEGO, and never imagined that there might be others like me with hundreds of sets of which probably half are still MISB (mainly due to lack of time to build and display space), but reading the replies here it seems that there are many of us with the same issues and the same unopened collections !

Even though I'm predominantly a Star Wars collector, the only sets which I HAVE to build and can't leave sealed for more than 5 minutes are the modular buildings. It's a combination of the sets being absolutely superb, plus I think they're easier to display - I can line them up along the back of my desk in a logical and tidy fashion. I have various sets which are up to 40 years old and still sealed, and yet Grand Emporium was bought less than a week ago and is already open and under construction. Man, the modulars are great !

Dr. D.

[Tom Bricks]

I can never leave a set closed, even when I buy them as gifts for others I get that itching to open them up and build.

[Brickaroo]

Pretty much what BearHeart said. But if you're only in it for the money, I think there are better investments out there than Lego sets.

I agree with this, if you're looking to make some money there are better ways of doing it than Lego.

Personally, I'm one of those guys that will pay for a MISB set just to have the pleasure of opening it. I have paid through the nose on more than one occasion for this honour, my most recent being the 4537 Octan Tanker from 1994 and the 4551 Crocodile Loco from 1991.

Nothing brings me more joy than opening a brand new box of a set that I would have died for as a kid but could never have.

Investors in Lego might think I'm crazy, but I'm in it for the happiness it brings.

[Brick & Mortimer]

Lack of space rather than lack of time. My entire pre-dark age Lego collection is in my parents attic. The town I used to have on display as a kid now only exists in my head, but I buy new sets with that city in mind.

I decided to collect the Farm subtheme, because I know (think) these sets will look great combined with my 6379 Riding Stable and 6355 Derby Trotter.

As a consequence, the Farm sets I buy now, will move to my parents attic MISB and stay there together with my "old" collection untill I find the space to rebuild everything in one large display

I can safely say that I've never bought a lego set and not got to bedtime, without at least opening the box and looking through the instructions...

Same here. Last friday (April 2) I bought 10197 Fire Brigade, but I had to wait untill Easter monday before me and my girlfriend found the time to take on this beauty. I couldn't resist opening the set on Friday, just to peek at the instructions .

Man, my girlfriend was not entirely pleased when she found out on monday that the box had already been opened

Edited April 10, 2010 by Brick & Mortimer

[ziljin]

Mostly to sell for profit. Lego isn't as bad as other hobbies. Like the ones where you have to put everything together. Like miniatures, ww2 model kits, gundam model kits, etc. Those require a lot more work Since you have to remove all the pieces from the sprues, clean up any excess plastic sticking out, assemble them and then paint them. So for those hobbies, having stacks of unopened boxes is expected.

[Ralph_S]

I've read a lot of reasons in this thread so far, but I think I am missing one.

I do know a few people who have large collections of MISB sets, not because they never got around to opening them, don't have space to build the models or because they hope to one day sell them at a massive profit, but quite simply because they enjoy going to their attics (or wherever they store them) and look at them all resplendent in their rareness and shininess

It's not my way of enjoying this hobby. It's a construction material and I buy sets to use the bits in my MOCs. I do have a few unopened boxes at the moment, but only because I haven't gotten around so parting them out yet.

Cheers,

Ralph

[ziljin]

I've read a lot of reasons in this thread so far, but I think I am missing one.

I do know a few people who have large collections of MISB sets, not because they never got around to opening them, don't have space to build the models or because they hope to one day sell them at a massive profit, but quite simply because they enjoy going to their attics (or wherever they store them) and look at them all resplendent in their rareness and shininess

It's not my way of enjoying this hobby. It's a construction material and I buy sets to use the bits in my MOCs. I do have a few unopened boxes at the moment, but only because I haven't gotten around so parting them out yet.

Cheers,

Ralph

You mean like mint collection action figures, comic books, etc?

[Ralph_S]

You mean like mint collection action figures, comic books, etc?

I'm not much of a collector (I collect MOCs, I suppose), so I'm not really talking from personal experience here, but I think so.

Cheers,

Ralph

[CP5670]

I do know a few people who have large collections of MISB sets, not because they never got around to opening them, don't have space to build the models or because they hope to one day sell them at a massive profit, but quite simply because they enjoy going to their attics (or wherever they store them) and look at them all resplendent in their rareness and shininess

I have plenty of unopened sets, but I always open the seals on them and inspect the contents even if I don't plan on building them for a while. The manual and catalogs are sometimes bent or crumpled, especially with post-2000 sets, so I can straighten them out. I do a rough visual check on the bags and make sure everything is present, after once getting a set with missing bags but not noticing it until a year later. If a set contains any electric parts, I also test them and make sure that they are still working. If I need to buy a replacement for an old motor or light, it will be cheaper now than after 3 years.

As I said in the other thread, MISB is all about the guaranteed brick quality to me. Opening an MISB set doesn't really reduce its worth to me since I make sure to maintain the parts in that condition, even when using them in MOCs. I can easily notice flaws in most used, "excellent condition" sets, and usually avoid them unless I can inspect them in person before buying.

Edited April 10, 2010 by CP5670