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Which Lego set is considered to be the most valuable set to own?

I'm not talking about the most expensive set, and clearly it has to be out of production already, but when trying to collect complete sets from LEGO history, there must be one or a group of sets that are prized possessions for collectors.

Which are they?

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    This question seems to be more likely to be specific to a particular collector then something that would have much of a consensus. For example, Castle fans would probably value the older Castle sets more then the Space sets and a Classic Space fan would probably value the opposite. Heck, I know someone who values the Samsonite sets more then others, but that's his thing and it's interesting to see his collection.
    – Nathan Stohlmann
    Jan 4, 2012 at 2:51
  • @NathanStohlmann Everyone has their favorite set, but that doesn't mean it's worth a lot in the collector's market. Some older sets are worth more than others simply because of high demand vs low supply — I'm simply interested in knowing what those sets are.
    – LarsTech
    Jan 4, 2012 at 3:32
  • As a rule of thumb and as can be seen in the various answers, unopened sets will usually fetch a higher price (which makes next to no sense to me, but I'm not much of a collector myself)
    – Joubarc
    Jul 4, 2012 at 6:27
  • On the basis that this question appears to be devolving into a list of people posting their one or two set suggestions, and user23 has sadly moved on, I'm going to turn this into a Community Wiki and merge some of these answers.
    – Zhaph - Ben Duguid ♦
    Nov 7, 2014 at 9:06

8 Answers 8

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I believe it's the Ultimate Collector's Edition Millennium Falcon (10179).

With a $500 MSRP, it was already one of the most expensive sets available when it launched in 2007. In 2012 it is rare to see it for less than $1500 used but intact, and closer to $2000 if you want it new. There may be some smaller sets that have a greater percentage gain (a set that was $2 going to $20, for example), but I suspect at $2000 and a $1000-1500 difference, this is the largest magnitude.

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    Expensive Star Wars sets in mint condition are generally a good investment. The only non-Star Wars set that comes close would probably be limited edition sets like the 10182 Cafe Corner, 10184 Town Plan and 10189 Taj Mahal.
    – Ambo100 ♦
    Jan 5, 2012 at 12:46
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    I thought about the Taj Mahal when writing my answer and looked it up - it's not even close. $300 MSRP and you can still find it for under $1000.
    – user23
    Jan 5, 2012 at 12:53
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    Why oh why did I not put that set on my Christmas list years ago.
    – LarsTech
    Jan 6, 2012 at 14:59
  • This is by far my favorite set that I've got on display. Also, I agree with the answer. It's got the highest markuped value.
    – Nathan
    Oct 23, 2014 at 21:56
  • Cloud city, in 2005 it cost $100. Now for a new set it costs at least $1000
    – user4141
    Nov 6, 2014 at 22:11
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I feel I need to represent the Classic Town and Train fans with the following sets:

6399

6399 Airport Shuttle

Bricklink items for sale

  • The only town monorail released by Lego and one of only a hand full of monorail sets in total.
  • As is the case with many classic sets that are hard to find 100% complete, it includes many stickers that easily become lost or worn over the years.
  • Includes at least one element unique to this set - 2619 Red Monorail Motor Cover

1490

1490 Lego Bank

Bricklink items for sale

  • Rare limited release set
  • Many stickers unique to this set and almost impossible to find

7750

7750 Steam Engine with Tender

Bricklink items for sale

----UPDATE----

In terms of increase in value over original purchase price as a percentage, it may be hard to beat the Collectible Minifigs Series 10 'Mr Gold'.

From the original price of $3 to prices of $500+++ that is a seriously valuable 'set'. Mr Gold

Only 5000 were produced and so completing a series 10 collection is expensive if you were not lucky enough to find one.

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    7750 was also one I could think of, and indeed the 4 new ones on sale now are priced quite high (which isn't a guarantee they'll sell). By the way, although it's the only set that contained the large train wheels, these were also available as spare parts.
    – Joubarc
    Jul 4, 2012 at 6:25
  • @Joubarc - Thanks, I should have mentioned the spare parts. They are also very expensive considering they are just two sets of wheels per pack.
    – mcqwerty
    Jul 4, 2012 at 16:07
  • Upvote because monorail
    – Henrique de Sousa
    Oct 1, 2019 at 14:10
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If you look at what a box is worth compared to the original price, I would say 3724 LEGO Dragon. It went for $99, And now you can not find it for less than $350, up to $800 for a mint in box version.

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  • Hi Dirk, welcome to bricks.se, nice to see you and your expertise here!
    – Joubarc
    Jan 9, 2013 at 5:10
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There is a website that tracks price changes on Amazon, Bricklink and E-bay in order to try to compile an index. It has an interesting page called top retired sets, ranking sets by gain compared to initial purchase price.

At the time of this writing it lists 6166-1 (a big tub of LEGO) as number one with 65% gain, and 7200-1 (final duel) as number two with 31% gain. The previously mentioned Millenium Falcon is also on the list, with 21% gain. Seems like a good indicator.

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I think by actual worth sometime down the road, the most valuable set will be Lego Castle 6075, known to fans as "Yellow Castle".

http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/0375.html

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    My sister and I saved our pocket money for Yellow Castle. How cool if that prediction comes true. Still have most of the pieces amongst the kilos of lego I hope :-)
    – user568
    Jan 7, 2012 at 3:20
  • Certainly sentimental value, at the moment they are going for around £150-£200, which is probably an order of magnitude more.
    – Zhaph - Ben Duguid ♦
    Jan 7, 2012 at 8:42
  • brickset.com/detail/?Set=375-2 has some for sale
    – Zhaph - Ben Duguid ♦
    Jan 7, 2012 at 8:50
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    Just out of curiosity: is there anything unique about this set on a piece basis? I never followed the castle series, but it looks like I can duplicate it (mostly) with just the bricks from my collection. Minus the stickers, of course.
    – LarsTech
    Jan 8, 2012 at 3:21
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    @LarsTech: The biggest issue would be finding pieces in the right color - e.g. yellow Slope Brick 75 2 x 2 x 3 Double Convex was only used in one other set even though the piece is common. On the other hand, nostalgia aside, it would probably look nicer in the modern mixture of grays and red highlights used for Castle sets.
    – user23
    Jan 8, 2012 at 16:02
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The most valued sets, when not using price as a criterion, will vary from collector to collector, based on their interests.

In my experience doing LEGO Customer Service, collectors of all ages tended to focus on particular themes. While the Ultimate Collector's Edition Millennium Falcon may be the most prized jewel to a Star Wars collector, it may have little to no appeal to an avid Train collector. It was very hard to talk about any themes outside the fan's specific interest. Even then, a Trains person may have interest in the MAERSK ship(not a train, but related), but none in the Hogwart's Express. Another sought-after set is the Grand Carousel, which isn't likely of interest to someone that only collects licensed sets.

For myself, the most prized LEGO toy I could attain is an authentic wooden set from the pre-ABS era. The closest thing I have to it is the 2011 employee-only duck that resembles the pre-building system era wooden duck draw toy the company made (post-yo-yo fad, using the leftover yo-yo halves as wheels).

Other categories of collectors are completionists who may value SDCC Bizarro minifig or a limited UK Sun bag as their most prized possession (similar to the Mr. Gold mentioned before.)

The currently-selected answer is worded to be exclusively about how expensive the item is, which the question specifically requested not be used for this judgment. However, lacking any other criteria, it's not feasible to give a specific answer.

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There are now loads of sets which could be considered to be the most valuable. Here is a list of my choices

  1. 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon
  2. 10182 Cafe Corner
  3. Mr Gold
  4. 10196 Grand Carousel
  5. 10184 Town Plan
  6. Chrome Gold C3PO (only 100 made)
  7. 10189 Taj Mahal
  8. 5004590 Bat-Pod (only 1000 worldwide and will surely increase in value tremendously)

This list is only my opinion. Value is very dependent on condition and personal preference. The best way to fully know a products value is to check completed item prices on eBay and current listings on Amazon (not as accurate). Sites like Brickpicker will give you rough prices.

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I must say, a very valuable one would be the exclusive Maersk container ship. the original 2004 set (not the 2011 reissue!) is worth a lot of money, considering they only made a handful. other than that, the Unitron Monorail can go for quite a bit MISB (Mint In Sealed Box) nowadays.

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