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My brother recently sold some of the lego he had as a child, and they went for a lot more than they cost originally, even taking inflation into account.

So, what types of sets have risen in value most over the years?

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    BTW: I'm of the opinion the real value in Lego comes from playing with it, not trading in it. But for the purposes of this question I'm just interested in the financial side of things.
    – Kramii
    Nov 2, 2011 at 6:48

1 Answer 1

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The less sets there are available, the better the chances of a rising price. This implies the sets that will get more expensive with time are:

  • Sets that are or very close to being out of production
  • Sets that are expensive when they come out (> less sales)
  • Very large sets (expensive > less sales)
  • Licensed sets like Harry Potter or Star Wars (short production-time > less sales / collector's value)
  • Sets with unique/limited parts or colors like the maersk-ships
  • Collector's editions

But note that it's never so easy - licensed but small sets for example won't become very expensive as they usually sell very well, so you should look for a set with a combination of this criteria. For example: a very big licensed set like the Millennium Falcon.

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    It's indeed never easy, but usually the set which proves to be the best value are these which you just missed.
    – Joubarc
    Nov 2, 2011 at 7:29
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    My research has been limited, but the resale price of the larger star wars or batman sets (original rrp over £75) is phenomenal. Nov 2, 2011 at 7:59
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    Which is why everyone is going to buy and not open the new large Star Wars sets, ensuring in 5-10 years they're worth... about the same as they are now.
    – user23
    Nov 2, 2011 at 10:19
  • Additionally are sets with production issues, such as the Ant-Man Final Battle set which was scooped up by resellers once rumors spread and thus disappeared from retailers shelves before holiday shopping time. It instantly went to double and then quickly triple retail value.
    – user3911
    Feb 20, 2017 at 18:46

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