Some LEGO Sets Are Worth More Than Gold?
Lego sets are so popular they just might be worth their weight in gold.
This article is more than 2 years old
Lego sets are infinitely popular among adults and children alike. The Danish business got its start in 1932 and has evolved to become one of the most successful toy companies in the world. The popularity of Lego has spawned countless video games, multiple theme parks, and even two well-loved movies. One would be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn’t like Lego, and according to NPR, the immense love the public has for Lego has now resulted in their products being worth more than gold.
That’s right the Lego set that you have sitting on your shelf could be worth big bucks, only if it’s a certain set, that is. Victoria Dobrynskaya who is a researcher that worked on a study done by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow found that some Lego sets being sold by third parties saw an annual return on investment (ROI) of about 11%. She detailed that that amount of revenue is more than what companies with shares in gold typically see in a year.
Dobrynskaya explained further that the 11% percent was only the average per year figure. “First of all, there is a volatility over time. So in some years, Legos delivered higher returns than in other years. So the 11% is the average over time,” said Dobrynskaya. What this means is that depending on the particular set some could see ROIs that are well above 11%. Dobrynskaya pointed to some sets seeing returns as high as 700% in a single year.
However, in other cases, some products didn’t see their worth increase at all over a year’s time, with their numbers instead depreciating in value. The Lego sets that do see the biggest growth in value are mostly those that are released in extremely limited quantities or for a very short window of time. For instance, before it was re-released, Lego’s Disney Castle which retails for roughly $350 could run someone well over $1000 on the secondary market. For out-of-production sets like the Millennium Falcon and Voltron, one can also expect to doll out a hefty chunk of the change. The latter is currently sitting at around $400 on Amazon and the former is listed at over $1200 on eBay.
Additionally, sets to come out of Lego ideas also tend to quickly go up in value. Lego Ideas is a site where the public can essentially pitch their ideas to Lego by posting their creations on the site. If enough interest is generated on a particular set then Lego could potentially choose to officially start producing that idea. For instance sets like Friends, Winnie the Pooh, and the Nintendo Entertainment System were all initially fan creations that were posted on Lego Ideas.
One of the newer ones to come out of the site is Seinfeld, and that too has been frequently sold out since it was first released. The enduring popularity of Lego and its products, combined with the fact that it is a company that actually listens to ideas that come from its purchasers and takes steps to make the most successful ideas a reality, it’s no wonder that that so many sets that the company makes or has made in the past are truly worth their weight in gold.
