Month: March 2014

I have to say, it is unbelievable how big the displays for LEGO have gotten at Toys R Us. That said, I’m not upset about it! When you first walk in to the store:

Looking down the first main aisle:

The double-wide LEGO section:

Looking at it from another angle:

The giant LEGO Movie display in the front of the store:

Tower of Orthanc, and some Chima on sale:

These rocking horses somehow seemed out of place, and out of season:

Super Heroes and Star Wars. Still plenty of Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escapes in stock:

Technic and Ninjago, with some Monster Fighters mixed in:

More Super Heroes:

Huge Star Wars LEGO display:

More Star Wars:

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and LOTS of Galaxy Squad still left:

Technic endcap:

Batman watches:

Friends:

Castle and Creator:

City:

More City:

LEGO Movie:

More Super Hero minifigs arrived in the mail today: Bane, Poison Ivy, Lex Luthor Battle Armor and Clark Kent. It’s fun collecting this, and especially the idea that I can collect without taking up as much space with entire sets. These will go right into my modular building display:

It sure took awhile, but 2014 sets have finally begun showing up at Target. Although, a lot of shelves were pretty empty:

Literally ZERO LEGO Movie sets on the shelves, all sold out:

Creator & Castle:

One TMNT set:

City:

And more City.

Evidently, Mixels must be popular:

Chima still has an enormous display:

A new “Gift Guide” catalog front and center:

Ninjago:

Some Super Heroes sets:

Lots of empty spaces in the Super Heroes section:

New Star Wars battle packs:

More new Star Wars sets, along with some older sets:

More Star Wars:

More Star Wars:

And finally, Friends and Disney Princess:

So I have been adding some LEGO Super Hero minifigs to my collection. Here are some of the new arrivals:

And yes, I am opening the polybags. Also, I’ll likely get rid of the bricks from the sets, and just keep the characters. More are on their way!

Now that I have clear parameters as to what LEGO I can collect – and DISPLAY – I have started buying LEGO again. For the most part, this now involves purchasing Super Heroes minifigures. I really like how well they fit with the modular buildings – a nice way to have a cool looking street with a bit of fun mixed in.

As I go back and re-collect some Super Heroes minifigures that I sold last year when I unloaded all of my sets, I am quickly realizing that a similar thing is happening with Super Heroes as happened to Star Wars: new versions of characters coming out again and again.

For instance, I went to buy Funhouse Escape so I could get Robin, Riddler, and Joker all in one purchase. But then I saw that all three have new versions out this year.

For me, this is a bonus – it means I can get the minifigs more easily, and for less money. But for the “collectors,” see this as something that tends to remove the long-term value or demand for older minifigures. I see this most in the Star Wars universe, where LEGO keeps releasing amazing updates to characters such as clones, with lots of printing and new designs. It doesn’t necessarily make older versions LESS valuable, but it certainly decreases demand. Also: I still have a bag of Stormtroopers somewhere, and now I see that the new versions all have leg printing.

Anyhow – happy to be actively collecting again. I picked up Iron Patriot and Catwoman today, and as you can see, I added Martian Manhunter to the collection.

In the past year, I’ve talked about how I have gotten rid of most of my LEGO. Today I want to discuss the distinction between collecting, and HOARDING, LEGO. I tend to follow a few online LEGO message boards, such as the good folks over at Brickset Forum. One of the nice benefits of being active here is that you are notified immediately of discounts and sales on LEGO. What can easily happen in this process is that you find deals too hard to pass up. For instance: a set that is about to retire for 50% off, or a favorite set at an incredible discount.

With LEGO producing hundreds of sets each year – many of them very impressive – it is hard to put limits on a collection. And that really is what I feel defines a “collection” from just “hoarding” – LIMITS.

As I bought more and more LEGO in the past few years, I found it stressful to figure out how to store it all, dust it, and often felt overwhelmed with decisions to either pass up amazing deals, or somehow try to justify buying FOUR LEGO Death Stars because I found such a great deal.

Now that the bulk of my LEGO is gone, I have begun collecting again. For now, this is the limits of my collection:

1. Modular buildings
2. Super Hero minifigs

These two categories should comprise 70-80% of the LEGO I own, if not more. Clearly, there will be some exceptions, but the goal is to keep them very small. Things such as:

• Small sets such as Back to the Future or Ghostbusters
• Minifigs I really like and just want to pick up for fun, such as Star Wars or Simpsons. Not huge collections, just select figures
• Classic sets I love, and already own. For instance, I have a built Emerald Night that I really like, plus a box of vintage castle sets with their boxes. Sure, I may get rid of them, but I may also try to find a way to display them.

Which brings me to the other thing that should define a COLLECTION from a HOARD: display. I want to be able to display all LEGO I own. If I have to shove it into the attic, then what good is owning that LEGO doing for me? For instance, I own all of the last series of Harry Potter sets still sealed in the boxes. I love that line, and really like owning them. But… they are in a storage box where I can’t see them. And I don’t have room to display them. So what good is owning them? So I’ll likely get rid of them.

Here is a video where one toy collector talks about the distinction of collecting vs hoarding:

Thanks.

This is my first trip to the LEGO Store in 2014, and certainly the first after the release of the LEGO Movie. As expected, the store was packed with customers, and tons of great new sets:

The Simpsons welcome me. Cute set:

The Ewok Village looks amazing. I love the colors and the level of detail. This will be a difficult set for me to pass up:

I was never a fan of this train, but now with so many other amazing sets next to it, it just seems out of place.

The Maersk Container Ship and the big LEGO Movie ship on the bottom. Oh yeah, and the Parisian Restaurant hidden in the middle!

Packed store:

Sale items! Not a huge discount, but these are some fun little sets:

I haven’t followed it closely, but I couldn’t remember if Architecture Studio was some sought after set or not:

Castle:

Huge Aquaman:

Lots of new Super Heroes sets:

The new Star Wars sets in stock. The battle packs are really nice:

Last year’s Star Wars:

More new Star Wars sets:

Two amazing sets. Still incredible to see the Death Star still hanging around!

More incredible sets:

And even more. Funny that Grand Emporium still occupies shelves too:

Plenty of Back to the Future sets in stock:

All three Minecraft sets:

The $200 Simpson’s set was a toddler height for some reason:

This Mountain Hut set is really nice:

Soooo glad to see that LEGO didn’t do an early retirement for the Haunted House. An incredible set:

Some nice stuff on the pick-a-brick wall. Purple tiles:

Dark green 1x1s:

Trans blue tiles:

These are fun little pieces:

Pink tiles:

LOTR and Hobbit:

Technic and Mindstorms:

The new Juniors line:

City:

Overall – a fun trip!