Space is the biggest issue for me! Never have enough and feels like im always getting crowded.. Word of advise, build/buy your wife a house so you can have the basement😉
My recommendation is, make photos of what you build and collect those instead of the actual stuff. You can reused the parts as much as you want and is is much less expensive.
I blame my current Lego addiction on not being allowed to build Legos as a kid. My kids always had them, but I didn't build my first kit until I was 50. Now I have no space.
Thank You for these videos, can relate to wanting to buy every set. Had some SW as a kid, no Lego as kid-had to play with friends' sets. And, lastly, my wife got me back into SW in 2017, as she bought me some SW sets, and then found Lego had SW....so bought every set could find. Shelves full, and now into Minecraft/Vintage City...........time to start selling.
I think, as Lego increases their prices, they will push out the younger fans which will hurt them in the long run because when those younger kids grow older, they won’t know the joy of building Lego and it won’t be as nostalgic as it is for us adult fans.
Wrong! It will be the exact same thing that happened to us! "As a kid i could not afford to buy lego... now with my adult money i can finally buy whatever the f*** i want"
Bro couldn’t be more accurate: When I was 10-12 I loved lego star wars and then stopped collecting. Now I am almost 20, got my own money and decided to buy one and build it for the old sake, shit got me to buy 5 501st battlepacks, 212th AT TE, 6 of the new clones vs battle packs, custom minifigs. I am hooked again and it hurts my wallet
@@brickmasterharri i never really stopped, but when i was at university, at age 19 or so, i was getting a student loan, but as soon as rent was paid, i spent stupid loads on lego, christ, i bought 5 OG vulture droids for the sake of it, no, i love those droids, and postentially i couldve bought them later, but i agree, learning to control the spending is an uphill battle with a steep gradient, and it dosent get easier
I’m more of a MOC builder to be honest. I realized after buying a whole wave of sets a few years back that I needed to re-evaluate my habits. I’d spent probably $700 CAD and felt a lack of fulfilment from most of the sets. After that I realized that by zeroing in on a specific wave and theme, I’d missed almost every single other thing I’d wanted to collect that year and now regret my mistake. Don’t let FOMO and hype for a wave combine to make you waste a small fortune. If you want to really enjoy the hobby, build your own stuff. Thanks to Pick-a-brick and Bricklink; any pieces you could need are out there and if you need more, deconstruct some of your sets and just keep the instructions in case you want to rebuild it later.
Building my own mocs is what motives me, and it has turned my lego buying habit in a different light. For me lego sets (and non-lego as well) are a box of resource. For me there isn't a value of buying 20 star wars sets because after a couple sets you have all the light grey pieces you'll ever need. So I end up valuing the ninjago sets a lot more for example, since those come with a lot of differently shaped and colored pieces. With this in mind, knowing the instructions are all free in the app, I'm now able to build a lot of moderately sized sets 100% for free.
I was talking with a friend about this, but the dangerous thing about LEGO is that there is no such as a "bad purchase" beyond pricing. Every single set adds value to your piece collection regardless of whether you're interested in the actual set or not. And even if you have zero intention of ever opening the box it's still tempting to open up Brickeconomy and see how rare or valuable that set may become in the future, especially with licensed sets.
How many people actually had allowances as a kid? I don't think my family was really 'poor' per se, but I never got any money except birthdays, and the occasional coin found on the road. The only way I got a Lego set was if I hoped and prayed with every fiber of my being that I might get one for a birthday or Christmas. Now that I have a job though, I can buy all kinds of sets, like my fairly large purchase this January.
I had a buddy that had an allowance (and a debit card) as a kid. Was crazy. Only money I got was Christmas and Birthday. I only ever bought 1 large-ish Lego set and that was the Battle Droid Transport with 2 pilots and 10 droids against the Jar Jar guys lol Rest of my legos were Christmas gifts from parents & grandparents etc What did you buy this January? Ive bought 55 Battlepacks already after just getting back into Lego this new year. I want to get that Blue Mandalorian Girl and probably the Mandolorian. I also hope for a Droid Battlepack this year. In case its not obvious I also havent been caught up with Star Wars. Ive barely even watched the Original 6 Movies
@giygas9305 I got a whole bunch of Space sets, the spaces station and the Mars base, 4 of the interstellar space ships, and two of the small rovers. Along with the 4+ City Space set
@@lordofchaosd327 Ah yeah I was never into “The Yellow Legos” as a kid. I hated the guys with Yellow heads XD. My friend even pointed out recently he remembers me hating them and I refused to mix them with realistic looking Legos. Now that I’m older I actually see how iconic the yellow look is and I don’t mind it at all. I’d like to get some of the Castle stuff Lions vs Falcons
I really like to eat beans out of a can but I have a girlfriend so I always make sure to check with her first that she's ok with it. My girlfriend occasionally likes to eat beans out of a can too but not all the time, and it wouldn't be right for my girlfriend to have to smell my farts if she wasn't farting as well. It's also the reason that I don't fill my entire bedroom with cans of beans. Because I have a girlfriend who comes over very regularly I need to make sure that there's room for her to lie down and get boned without cans of beans being in the way. I will always be considerate of my girlfriend in the way I enjoy my bean eating hobby. Did I mention that I have a girlfriend?
8:04 That's so true for me. As a young adult in a third world country where prices are even worse, having the opportunity to occasionally purchase a set feels incredible and I try to capture that emotion when I make my videos; I think that all of us who collect something should transmit that to our audience. Great video!
I started going through a health thing in my mid 40s about 4 years ago. Randomly bought a set just thinking it might take my mind off things, I'm now the owner of about 100 sets and 300 figures. Space is definitely a problem lol.
I too have limited space and feel like that’s kind of a blessing. It’s also easier to be an adult fan when you’re a MOC builder first and foremost IMO. Taking the time to be creative, design things yourself, and try to use what you have first before buying parts to complete it - oftentimes you’ll find you had enough bricks and didn’t need to buy anything! It forces you to slow down and consider whether you actually need that new set, that new piece, or whether you can be perfectly fine without it. Even when I do buy official sets, I try to go for ones I can learn something from. Ones with clever building techniques and mechanisms especially. Or also just ones with a lot of interesting pieces that I think could inspire me - Creator sets especially are perfect parts packs for that. It kinda saddens me tbh that the 18+ sets combined with FOMO can easily become a crippling addiction. Sure, it’s bringing in new fans, but they’re not really getting the true LEGO experience of creative expression and developing your skills to create unique MOCs. And I often hear people say “oh I could never be that creative, I just like the build and seeing what makes it clever,” but they don’t realize the beauty of Lego is that it can teach you how to be creative. Too many people resign themselves to displaying something a designer in Denmark created and not believing they can work their way up to also being that creative and making their own things. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, NEVER FALL INTO THE TRAP OF COLLECTING MINIFIGS. I don’t care how much you love that character, they are not worth the ungodly sums minifig collectors pay for them. It’s just a little piece of plastic at the end of the day, if it’s value to you comes from “this is rare and not everyone has it,” you’re going down a dangerous path. Collecting in general is the fastest way to let LEGO ruin your life.
I try to balance sets with MOC and I do stuff like build a 2x size Blacksmith. I will double-size when there's a set I really love. You have the structure & style of the set, but you have to be creative, and make choices, like how to double, what to double, etc. Found a Black Falcon Knight castle on Rebrickable made from 3x Creator Castles. Used the leftover parts to MOC the Ideas Treehouse into a 4 baseplate Forestmen HQ on MILS with a market & fort at the bottom of the tree. So I go back and forth between buying sets, re-MOCing them, MILS plating them, finding cool builds on Rebrickable, and building stuff out of parts. When I displayed the castle at convention, I gave credit to the designer, but everyone was impressed all the same, because just sorting the parts took hours. Fortunately I saw a Bricksie video where he sorts the parts for that same build.
Honestly, the only reason I collect mini figs is because I really need them to decorate my own creations. I sorely need more mini figs to crew vehicles, live life, etc on my builds
I feel so called out!!! lol. This has happened to me twice now. In my early 30’s when the Star Wars legos came out, I had to have them all. At a certain point, kids became the priority and the buying stopped. I’m 54 now and it’s all began again because my kids are grown. Now it’s all Creator, Icons and Ideas sets. It never ends (no complaints). Great video man.
I think what really helped me a lot was REALLY honing in what I actually wanted when it came to sets. Sure, there are so many cool builds and themes but unless I felt that the build blew my mind I just can't justify picking SO much up. A lot of it came from learning more about all of Lego's catalogue and things they remake. If it doesn't hold up to something else, it wasn't worth it to me. Something to look into are anti-hauls. They put products in a frame of mind that not everything is worth your money (to you). Breaking the FOMO is super hard but waiting it out lets you see if you really wanted it that much. You have to learn what intrigues you the most. Think about all of the unforgettable sets you've built and learn what qualities made it unforgettable, and recognize that pattern for the future. I buy sets that correlate to moods, like sometimes I want to be an arctic explorer, why not? Really go for things that you love so much about it. Then you learn how to use ancient magic to make space.
I love this info so much! As a collector with a really low monthly budget, I have had to pick and choose what sets I want. I have a much more sepratist focus when it comes to my collection, so the Clones vs. Droids battlepack was a perfect package. Cheap price with a good main build and good minifigures (besides the helmets being a little off, but it's not a big problem), and it fits well on my shelf. For my other collectors out there, find what you want, and do not stray or overspend. Hard limit your budget to only a few hundred a month at most. You don't need everything, only that which you want that also adds to your collection
Man I felt this. My buddy from work got me back into Legos over the summer, and I already bought the Lego deathstar for around $1600 usd, and about 12 other sets. Now I'm trying to find an appropriate shelving unit to store all the new sets and I have some just laying around in random places. My amazon list pretty much only consists of retired sets and it totals to something crazy like $7000 USD. Sheesh.... Me and my buddy have been talking about buying Lego pieces from brick link and using the official instructions to build them. But yeah, money and space definitely is a problem. Legos are very relaxing to build and it's really satisfying to own sets I always wanted as a kid but never had.
I had the same thing my buddy from work got me back into Lego Star Wars too and I just began adding loads of things to my wish list, and because of the influence of social media I was adding sets I didn’t really care about but just wanted for a mini figure or because I wanted them all. Now I’ve realised I don’t need loads of sets but I will just buy the ones that I really like and mean something to me instead of buying every set that I want for the sake of it. In my opinion I’d rather have a few good sets I truly like from the movies and shows I love instead of getting them all so I don’t feel like I’m missing out.
Tbh, when i got back into Lego last autumn after 12 years of not building i just decided to go for Gobricks and other alternative brands instead of Lego. Not sets, but individual bricks for MOCs that i buy of Brickvault or Rebrickable. And most importantly, minifigures. The quality and beauty of offbrand clone troopers is astonishing, and you can get most of them for 1$ each (or 4 droids for 1$). I still use plenty of Bricklink for more exotic parts, and some of my stuff is 100% Lego for convenience and faster shipping. My biggest joy recently has been to digitalize some of my old builds that i pulled out of storage and then upgrade them to today's standard with new parts and techniques. I adore the entire process from analyzing, to redesigning, to finally building the updated physical version. Also started designing some new original builds, mostly inspired by Star Wars concept art. I find this activity so much more fulfilling than just buying official sets.
Brickvault MOCs are probably the only thing I'd spend my money on when it comes to Lego nowadays. A lot of the stuff produced nowadays doesn't really catch my eye like it did when I was a kid. Something like the UCS AT-AT was actually quite good, but almost anything else I'd rather the Brickvault design.
4:25 The realization that I can (in theory) buy every set I wanted as a kid was both exciting and daunting at the same time. What I wanted most growing up were the modular building sets.
I have three rules. 1; no new sets, 2; I have to sort the random bricks I get from thrifting before getting more, and the most important 3; NO STARWARS. it's super expensive.
I completely agree with this video! I got Lego sets as a kid for about 10 years until 2017 when I fell out of the hobby. Then in April 2022 one of my coworkers showed me the Spider-Man Daily Bugle which I thought was pretty cool. So I got it for myself as a reward for finishing that semester of college because I was like, “I never spend my money on anything. I’m gonna treat myself to this set.” It took me 20 hours over the course of several days & I really enjoyed building it. Then I discovered I could buy old sets I always wanted as a kid but couldn’t afford. While it was nice in the beginning getting sets I couldn’t afford from elementary school, at some point that summer I stopped holding back & spent “a very adult amount of money” on sets. It took me until November that year to finish my backlog from that summer. So, as a result I had to get smarter with my purchases since I don’t have an infinite amount of space in my room. I watched multiple reviews of sets I wanted to purchase, I learned I didn’t have to buy entire sets if I just wanted a single minifigure, find 1 or a couple themes you like & try to only get sets from those themes (For me it’s Ninjago, Spider-Man, Space, Monkie Kid, & Jurassic Park/World & I try my best to avoid themes like Disney, Harry Potter, Mario, & Technic.) MOCs are more expensive than retail sets as they get bigger (a $100 set might cost you almost $200 to part out), opinions on sets change so don’t feel bad putting sets in storage, buying older sets are expensive, get smart about looking for deals on non immediate day 1 purchases. I’m definitely a lot smarter with my money now than I was when I 1st got back into the hobby as an adult that summer & I wish I knew some of that back then. I’ve had time to learn what I like & enjoy about the hobby & what I don’t (collecting just to have everything even if you don’t like some of it, Lego investing, army building) & don’t forget to make your own opinions instead of listening to reviewers all the time.
Fully agree on the collecting just to have all of it even if you don’t like all of it, “investing,” and army building. There’s a lot of pressure in the LEGO community to do those things, but it’s just not healthy. I’ve seen “investors” ruin so many hobbies for so many people, and ultimately it’s just greedy hoarding. There are better real ways to invest money which actually make a different in the world, hoarding unopened LEGO sets ain’t good for anyone. I’ve seen far too many posts from people who lost all the sets they hoarded in a flood or fire, and will never see the money they put into it again. LEGO is best as an occasional treat, and a creative medium. It should never take over your life.
Yeah the heavy consumer influencers and their $1k+, 100 set hauls along with Lego investors have only been a detriment to the Lego hobby as it’s expanded in recent years. It’s just makes an endless cycle of consuming for the sake of the “collecting”, you’ll never have all of the Lego.
I don’t usually comment in public unless I need more info for DIY but this is the best TH-cam video I have ever seen since my addiction to collection and building Lego has gotten outta control and running out of space is my problem also! WOW!
If you like to MOC, don't sleep on random local listings for bulk Bionicle parts. You can often find multiple sets within them, and you can use the spare pieces for MOCs; I find Bionicle the most fun theme to MOC with.
Most of this goes for all collectors. I'm not a big Lego collector (have some old school Xastle sets), but I collect a lot of stuff. Yes, the space is a problem. Yes, the money can be a problem.. But you know what? It makes me happy! So as long as I'm not hurting anyone (and I'm not) - I'm not ashemed of anything.
3:42 IMO, not a simp if you actually respect your significant other, and from the sounds of it, seems to be possibly upgrading the GF to the wife down the line. So having those thoughts are actually very adult and not simping.
21 y/o, been watching your vids the past couple weeks and yesterday finally snapped up my first set as an adult! I found an awesome sale on the Tie Bomber for $50 on Amazon and the build is AWESOME! Cant wait to add it to my childhood collection and get back into Lego again! :D
The solution I’ve come to is that I have a whole wall of shelves dedicated to displaying LEGO. And whatever I own has to be on those shelves. If I wanna buy something new, I gotta sell another set to make room for it.
Well said, Harri! Admittedly, I have a pretty hefty backlog, however they're sets I plan to build. The idea of LEGO is to be able to rebuilding using the same bricks, so you can have unlimited imagination with your collection, not always needing to go and buy the latest sets unless you genuinely want them. I love nostalgic sets and have a few, but majority are pretty new sets so I feel the draw to pick up the older sets.
In order to save a few bucks, I try to wait until sales or until sets are about to retire. For instance, I just picked up the 2022 AT-TE for $40. Sure it was tough waiting for Cody for a year but he wasn’t going anywhere. When I buy sets now, I buy 2, open one and store the other in a box to sell in 5-10 years. Definitely not a solution to a space problem, but I’m hoping it pays for this crippling addiction down the line
I agree with everything you said except the idea of selling Lego when your done with them. Because why would you buy it if weren't going to keep it for the long run (means you didn't really care about it that much in the first place)? Spare parts are spare parts. You might need those parts later on even if you are done with the set they originally came from. I still find myself recycling parts from my childhood sets to make new builds to this very day. I wouldn't be able to continuously build and practice if I kept selling my old stuff off.
“Dedicate one bookcase for my sets” yeahhhh I have that same bookcase….. times 5 🙃 I never go “oh I should deconstruct some of these to make room” it’s always “well time to get another bookcase” 😂2:56
It used to be the case for me too, but when we moved to a bigger place my wife was active in deciding that the office was the designated Lego room. I have since infiltrated other rooms by buying her some flower and Christmas sets.
It's very simple. Lego, or a girlfriend. If you can't afford Legos you're going to have to tell your girlfriend the bad news. You don't need to make excuses to do things you like. What's the point of living an unhappy life just for money? That's what money is for.
I NEVER thought I would be a fan with a backlog but when you’re collecting the entire Harry Potter theme and you’re main shelf is full it’s easier just to leave sets in the box lol
Best way I find is to just keep a wishlist. If I still want it 48hrs+ later then I'll grab it, if not it'll just sit there. Getting past ownership FOMO for sets is the best way, you don't need to own every set to appreciate it. Also, waiting until Lego do their offers is really good too. Double points or free sets.
Being an adult fan of Lego sucks these days because while the prices go up, the quality goes down. Colours not matching, way too many stickers and not enough prints make Lego look bad compared to competitors.
Honestly for collecting I recommend doing a revolving door approach of selling stuff that isnt interesting anymore or is languishing in storage. I did the same thing to my old transformers stuff while using the money to buy stuff i was interested in.
This is 💯 facts ! I have recently switched hobby’s. My daughters are old enough that Lego has become a thing that I do with my kids. My last hobby was very expensive and the people were a huge disappointment. The fact that I can be in the “upper tier” of hobby is amazing! I have a whole room for building and displaying. The fact that I CAN buy a set every paycheck is fantastic. Lego holds some value. I have something tangible to resell if I ever change hobby’s again! Learning about everything that happened when I was in my dark ages has been fun. best of all, everyone Iv interacted with has been cool and respectful. I don’t see nasty comments like everywhere else on the internet!
Guns! Iv always loved history and mechanical objects. My father was a hunter. I did sport / competitive shooting. You think Lego resellers are bad, go to your local gun show/ shop! Ammo price and availability goes up and down with elections. Price per Brick is my new Price Per Round! But i can use a brick more times then I can a bullet, and still sell it when I’m done. The two hobbies are much more similar than I expected. The Gun community doesn’t use the terms like FOMO, but it’s seen as “the cheapest time to buy is when it’s first released/imported, it’s just going to get more expensive!”. The “investment” reasoning when making purchases. Having a backlog of sets is the same (almost flex) as having cases of ammunition in your “stockpile”. Young gun guys who are trying to afford life and can’t afford the new gucci Glock are the kids who buy Lego with allowance money. The boomer with a paid off house and a pile of guns he paid a nickel for in 1992 are the AFOL buying UCS sets. “OMG this helmet has a holes in it!!” Is the “OMG a this pistol has finger groves!!”.
I love buying bricks and mini-figures, then sorting them and looking at them, posing the figures, etc. I had to stop buying actual sets. Because as you mentioned, I had no room for more sets. If I ever buy my own home, half of it will be for Lego.
Great video. Applies to pretty much any collectible hobby. And asking your significant other if they are ok with spending so much money and space on your hobby is not strange at all, it's a matter of fundamental respect and understanding if you want to live with that person.
I'm so pinched for space I converted the kitchen bar into LEGO display space. I've got a little street set up made up of the last few years modular buildings. The Museum is going to fill up the last available space, so now I need to figure out the next solution. I'm running out of options.
The thing I’ve figured out is I just focus on one single theme of Lego, mine is Marvel, which yes means I have spend a lot on the Modular’s for them… which also leaks into the regular Modular’s too. So it’s not particularly a problem for me, as I have one table for my “city” and a bin to put any sets and pieces that are disposable, but I completely understand your struggle
The best haul I ever got was from a guy getting out of collecting, and he set the prices. He sold me everything by the piece count, and I got incredible deals. He wasn't in a hurry, so he'd hold sets for me, and I'd buy them as I could. On my 8th trip to his house, he said, "I don't mind selling you, Lego, but make sure you're being responsible. Otherwise, you'll be a weird old man with a trailer full of Lego sets." pointing to the trailer we were in.
I think there was one year in the mid 90s that I didn't get a single Lego Set, otherwise I've been getting Lego Sets since the mid-late 80s. I even started using PDFs to build with from the late 00s. I have boxes of instruction books in my closet, and keep trying to reorganize them every so often. I have boxes with Polybags, since I get multiples in case I need parts from them to build something.
Enjoy the journey! I have every Lego Star Wars set I want (500+) and while it's great to look at all of them together in their dedicated display room, the most cherished moments happened when I bought sets I've wanted since I was a kid. My biggest issue, if you will, is when to buy new sets. I'm always on the lookout for the best value for my money (hence why I don't understand your affiliation with bricks&minifigs apart from content) and I often struggle to decide whether a discount is good enough or if I should wait for better.
The price, whatever it is, is justifiable if you want it enough. Which is why while i am cautious with my money i don't hold off on something i want IF and ONLY IF i can afford it without needing to worry about it cutting into other expenses. This obsession with money and pricing is valid as we all want to save money and not overspend but really it's just money and unless that money brings you more happiness than whatever the purchase is then why not buy it? While i think it's worth $60 for a really cool minifigure others would say it's a waste of money. Yet they deem it worth purchasing workout equipment they'll never use and say that's worthwhile while I'd say they wasted their money. Basically value is relative. It's smart to keep an eye out for deals but if you really want it then it should be worth the price you have to pay to get it and if it's not then you clearly don't want it enough and you'd be fine not spending your money on it. Which is why theres a lot of sets that I'm okay not getting. If i only want it because it's on sale then clearly i don't want it enough to actually get it.
@@DoughnutDragon Your take works for people who occasionally get a set here or there, but on a larger scale it's nothing but irrational. In 2023 I've spent well over €10k on Lego (again), the discounts were equal to a nice holiday or an old car. The short-term benefit of getting a set a few months early at MSRP is nothing compared to the long-term savings, which then in turn can be used for even more Lego purchases.
I’ve collected MP Transformers for yrs and got a little bored with the line till my college student son asked for LEGO for Christmas to build and now I just finished to sets of my own and have a helmet to build to build.
1:58 for me usually a set would last up until the next one, so as a kid i would play and actually use my set till it was torn to bits, by then i would usually have a new set in another so months. As an adult you usually spend hours building something, then you look to the next to expand your collection, and it doesn’t help now that you have your own money to enjoy instead of begging parents for weeks on end
I hate seeing how good the At-Te looks in the background of your video. I’ve always wanted one, but never got one because they are so expensive. Anyway, my main excuse is that I will want this set someday when it is retired, and if I don’t get it now, I’ll hate myself later for not getting it. The more I see it, the more my mind tries to trick my into buying it!😫
This was me saying I'd only buy Star Wars sets I like from the movies but here's me ordering the mf piranha plant from mario and some Chinese dragon because it looks cool
I think it's better to just focus on sets you really really want. And making sure you will have space for them (and no, the bucket of doom doesn't count). On top of resisting the urge and not overspending. There are years when I don't get any set for myself and others where I get a couple I really really like (I mainly only focus on lego star wars). In 2022 I didn't get any new set because I wasn't very interested in new ones. Last year there were a couple star wars battlepacks that caught my eye on top of two big ships: the inquisitor's scythe (didn't get it in 2022 because I didn't knew it existed, and got one for a good deal) and the ghost and phantom II (this one I got it from the get-go when it released, I've always wanted a Lego Ghost and I couldn't get my hands on the 2014 one back then, it was worth it, I love the new Ghost and phantom II build, looks stunning and actually has a good interior). Now those I may end up getting this year are the upcoming tantive IV hall for the Fives minifig and stormtroopers and rebel troopers (not for Vader, I already have two of them) but I'm not sure since it will cost around 60 bucks. Those for sure I will get are the y wing microfighter cause of Rex (killer deal, finally Rex for cheap), and probably the upcoming mandalorian battle pack and that one depicting Moff Gideon in his armor vs Paz Vizsla. Damn... I have to control myself XD. But if I run out of space I won't get them. So far I've managed to make some space but if it reaches a critical point I will have to stop
The scammers that grab up all the Lego stock and resell it for double the price is what’s wrong with the hobby, they need to put purchase limits on them like the pokemon card scammers.
I just got into Legos yesterday after so long(since I was very very little) It started snowing like crazy here lately. Picked up the the Lego City Arctic Set Snowmobile. The box was a bit beat. Can’t find a new one anywhere
I agree with that last bit which I feel most of us who have are childhood collections on display are that way... which I personally battle FOMO by building MOCs at the old MSRPs and buy from bricklink/pick a brick online... Though I still get sets on launch but only if I really, really want them like the new clone vs droid pack and the new city in space sets.
AFOL's used to use lego's to build new exciting things, it was super cool seeing MOC's on brickshelf and Mocpages, now it seems its mostly homies with arrested development winging over sets that realistically shouldn't be kept on a display, the whole point of lego is to build with them
The only reason you have a space problem is because you live with your parents meaning you have everything in the room you sleep (so bed desk etc takes most of your space)😅i transformed the biggest room in my house to a lego room so space isn't a problem, but yes when you don't live alone, spacing is gonna be a huge problem 😬😂
Well an order just came in and i realised that boxes takes way way more space 😂if you keeping them you will have much more trouble to storage the boxes than the actual bricks
Described my journey exactly in the first 30 seconds lmao. I’m 28 and l rediscovered the hobby, I maxed out the credit card I said I would never get behind on and my bedroom became a cluttered disaster. I’m a better man now and we’re scaling back.
Well said man , I’m 23 just got back into it I got thousands of dollars in old Lego Star Wars from the early 2000s boxes and sets still complete and after going thru those I got hooked again and yup money goes quick collecting, I haven’t opened up any of the sets with over $800 spent on the new stuff so far
When I was a kid, my Mother refused to buy Lego sets as they were comparably very expensive to other Toys (sadly, that's still pretty much the case). I began collecting in the early 90's with newer models, and finding some great sets at Antique and comic book shops... when ebay first appeared, it was Lego collecting heaven! You could pretty much find everything, AND it was being sold as something used, and collectors weren't going bonkers with their bids, so you could load up on Lego models for still less than what they were being retailed at when in stores. Around 2010, that's when the resale, and comic/collectable shops began to bump up their minimum bids, and ebay established enough of a database where if you had something to sell, you could add it to the mix, and would see what the shops were listing them for, and began to see dollar signs... Now, we have the collectors market where people are actually investing in Lego, and prices for older models have gone through the roof. I must admit, I miss the old days when collecting Lego was fun, you could find what you wanted, and it didn't break the bank or create a negotiation inside your head.
I'm only 23, I feel this. What I normally do is change my mindset from a true collector to more of a Lego builder, take these sets, and see what I can change. Can I make it into a different version/variant of said design?
You have some great conviction 💪🏾😁😆😫😮💨. I couldn't hold out lol 😂🤣😂🤣😭😭there's always something that I want to buy that releases early in the year for example the City Prison Island stuff and their space sets. Haven't brought those yet as I'm working on the sets I didn't get last year lol. The Ford GT 2022 which I grabbed and the BMW I need to find.
Got a few of the smaller sets from the original 1999 wave as a kid. My parents didn't have lots of money for the biggest sets, but it didn't matter to me, I loved my little Phantom Menace collection. As a teenager, I moved on pretty quickly after that. Got back into collecting randomly in 2021, when someone got me a small Lego set as a joke Christmas present. I then bought the microfighter Falcon for 'another laugh' while food shopping. You know the rest 😂😅 I now probably have around 50-100 sets which I'm dangerously running out of space for in my little flat. I also have an extensive collection of 500+ minifigs. This includes the OG Darth Vader I always wanted as a kid, and was finally able to pick up 25 years later. Bless this hobby 🙏
Holy *, listening to you I had a hit of reality just in my face... everything you say applies to me... in fact lately I started to realize I don't enjoy Lego the same because of all these issues you mention. I feel need to relax a bit and totally reconsider my position about how to collect Lego before is too late and totally hate it. Thanks!
For me and my fiancé collecting Lego means only buying sets that we can display around the house. Mostly ideas and botanical sets I still do get some Star Wars/ marvel sets and she gets some Harry Potter ones. But those sets are bought sparingly with an idea of where things will go
lol the first 17 seconds is exactly what im going through right now. i just picked up the botanical set in early december, since then ive bought the nes, starry night, some technic car (also my first technic set) and a few retired dimension sets. costed a bit of money but man its so worth it
Dude this video literally hits so close to home for me. Always trying to get more money, never have enough space for more Lego. Bills, GF always have to come first, and that is really important. I love Legos so much, and I grew up with Star Wars especially, and Ninjago. Its really unfortunate but I had to pick one over the other in terms of collecting, so I chose Ninjago. I dont regret it, really, but man all of the newer star wars sets are so freaking cool! I think I am gonna try to invest in a larger shelf, and maybe a tote for my older sets that I can either sell on eBay, or put into storage. I love legos as an adult but man life really gets to ya, great video dude.
this right here is a comment I relate with! I picked SW to invest in, but now Bionicle is really calling my name again so Im trying my hardest not to buy everything I want from it (especially because it's cheaper to buy than SW).. at this point I'm thinking about another shelf too😅 thanks for sharing!
I never really had a time where i wasnt into lego, growing up i just slowly transitioned from sets to moc's but i have never not been into lego. My current collection consists mostly of pieces from my childhood sets (mostly city and Minecraft themes, with a few others). Now i am a student who just doesnt have money to buy many new pieces, so i am just working with what i already have
my biggest excuse for buying lego that i probably don't need is "oh, i can use this for an animation" but the animation never really comes. i always have idea, but never act on them as for the CMF that you bought just cus you felt like missing out. at least you gave it to someone who would enjoy it more, most people are just disappointed with themselves enough to hide it, like an addiction almost. you don't seem that out of control which is good
I've spent almost a decade looking at really cool LEGO sets while browsing the store with my nephew and never caught the bug until a few weeks ago. I watched the SW movies during the holidays which got me excited about the universe again. I started looking for some models to display around my desk but all the sets I really liked were either too large or very expensive (there are Chinese 1:1 knockoffs on many sets for those on a tight budget). Eventually I came across the MOC (My own creation) side of LEGO which checked off all my requirements. I've found incredible designs of every vehicle I could think at different scales and beautiful dioramas. When I see what a single person can create and the costs to build it (at least at the scale I want) I can only say that LEGO is a very greedy company. The only inconvenience for MOC designs is getting the parts from different sellers for the best price and waiting for everything to arrive.
I stopped buying lego because I lost interest and I'm glad because its become a very expensive hobby to collect all these sets that come out every year.. especially for star wars
As a non-Lego purist, I can testify that your problems are magnified by 10 when you buy from Aliexpress/Temu etc. Sure, I may not spend the same per set as you do (I still pick up Lego sets sometimes) but Ive managed to get hooked on multiple massive builds and my collection number is quite absurd. My backlog probably doubles the average low end Lego collector.
Honestly with the fact that prices are going up and that I'm starting to run out of room I have slowed down on Lego significantly and Only getting one or two small set's and the minifigure series.....But even then I'm collecting less of those because thier in boxes now boxes!!!!!
I bought the Atreides ornithopter Set back in February. It’s July and I have yet to assemble it. I’ve promised myself to not buy either the Artemis I or the Lunar Rover until I finish the ‘thopter.
Well tbh, when I was a kid I didn't have a source of income whenever I had the chance to purchase a set such as the Millennium Falcon Man I finally got my hands on it, and it was worth it!
Dang brother, I feel all your pain, I went through all this in 2020, and it didn’t help that I was working at at bricks and minifigs at that time! While I was there I was able to really ramp up my SW collection and my Bionicle! Now most of the sw I’ve had to sell because of life and kiddos and what not, but I just opened up my Bionicles that I had picked up for Afew years and I’m starting to really feel the fomo again😂😂
I think it’s good to have clear goal of what you want to collect and narrow it down to the sets you *really* want long term and not just something you get on a whim that you're bored with soon after. And I think patience is key, especially for old sets you wanted years ago. I understand the temptation to splurge on an old theme you wanted as a kid and now with adult money you can finally do it, but that will wreck your savings so fast. You already waited this long, you can wait a little bit longer to space it all out. I want to collect the entire 1999-2007 Star Wars sets, so I break it all down to the individual movies first and then gradually get them at a reasonable pace. I also only care about the regular System sets so I'm ignoring the Technic stuff. Right now I'm focusing on the original Attack of the Clones wave of sets and over the past 12 years I've gotten Jango's Slave 1, Tusken Raider Encounter, Bounty Hunter Pursuit and just last week the original Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter. I still have like half of that wave left to get, but I'll get to it when I get to it. I'm also focusing on the original Lego Batman wave of sets from 2006-2008. Once again, I'll get those gradually and thankfully that theme is not as big as Star Wars so it's not quite as taxing (although the high prices are pretty comparable lol).
I started collecting Lego about 2 years ago when Speed Champions Bond's Aston Martin and Dom's Charger came out. I was 49. Loved it and started to purchase other SC sets available on shelves. Then I told myself let's go get the other 8-studs retired SC sets, too. When I got them all, I started fidgeting. Picked up Star Wars... I need to start a Lego Anonymous group....
My problem with collecting is that I’ve been saving up for the UCS Venator, my dream lego set, but I keep seeing cool sets and I keep using my saving money, so at this rate, I’ll never get the Venator.
Same thing with collecting action figures and Transformers. Only so much room to display everything. I haven’t been feeling Lego Star Wars for a while. But Lego Marvel has been putting out some heat.
I bought a house first and then set a room aside for Lego. Only at about 40% capacity. I’m not gonna lie my hobby was mostly self funding until very recently. I had several NISB sets I bought when I was 16-18 that I kept for over a decade. One of them was green grocer the first modular. I got so many Lego trains for that set.
The big problem for me is FOMO but not the way you described it. I've been burnt before with sets or lines like Pirates of the Caribbean or Toy Story or Indiana Jones that have gone away and I've missed them and they never came back or if they did, they weren't as good as they used to be. Sets like the Ghostbusters Firehouse, Simpsons House, Shield Helicarrier were ones I wanted but didn't have the space for at the time. I bought just because I didn't want to miss out and have to pay ridiculous prices later on
Space is the biggest issue for me!
Never have enough and feels like im always getting crowded..
Word of advise, build/buy your wife a house so you can have the basement😉
Danggg I'm going to build her a house built out of Lego first🤣
hahahahaha love it!@@brickmasterharri
I only have 5 shelves and there all full off lego now but I will not but sets in my build zone so I need like 1 bookshelve
My recommendation is, make photos of what you build and collect those instead of the actual stuff. You can reused the parts as much as you want and is is much less expensive.
I usually just take apart and store sets after a while.
I blame my current Lego addiction on not being allowed to build Legos as a kid. My kids always had them, but I didn't build my first kit until I was 50. Now I have no space.
Same boat, brother
I never had Lego as a kid either. My first set was in 2020 during the Covid outbreak. I think I just turned 48 at that time.
Same here. My mom bought me megablocks....
Now I need big awesome sets!
My Lego addiction began with my dormmates giving me some Star Wars micro fighters for my birthday.
Thank You for these videos, can relate to wanting to buy every set. Had some SW as a kid, no Lego as kid-had to play with friends' sets. And, lastly, my wife got me back into SW in 2017, as she bought me some SW sets, and then found Lego had SW....so bought every set could find. Shelves full, and now into Minecraft/Vintage City...........time to start selling.
A wise man once said: Nur gebrauchtes LEGO ist gutes LEGO.“ Which basically means that only used LEGO is good LEGO because of the pricing and so on.
Dang that is very wise
Der Held der Steine
A really wise man
Unfortunately that's not true either nowadays
@@kikolokopo_toys why?
I think, as Lego increases their prices, they will push out the younger fans which will hurt them in the long run because when those younger kids grow older, they won’t know the joy of building Lego and it won’t be as nostalgic as it is for us adult fans.
Wrong! It will be the exact same thing that happened to us! "As a kid i could not afford to buy lego... now with my adult money i can finally buy whatever the f*** i want"
It pushes people to buy knock off sets.
Bro couldn’t be more accurate:
When I was 10-12 I loved lego star wars and then stopped collecting. Now I am almost 20, got my own money and decided to buy one and build it for the old sake, shit got me to buy 5 501st battlepacks, 212th AT TE, 6 of the new clones vs battle packs, custom minifigs. I am hooked again and it hurts my wallet
Duddeee it happens to the best of us because same🤣 Thanks for the comment!
@@brickmasterharri i never really stopped, but when i was at university, at age 19 or so, i was getting a student loan, but as soon as rent was paid, i spent stupid loads on lego, christ, i bought 5 OG vulture droids for the sake of it, no, i love those droids, and postentially i couldve bought them later, but i agree, learning to control the spending is an uphill battle with a steep gradient, and it dosent get easier
I’m more of a MOC builder to be honest. I realized after buying a whole wave of sets a few years back that I needed to re-evaluate my habits. I’d spent probably $700 CAD and felt a lack of fulfilment from most of the sets. After that I realized that by zeroing in on a specific wave and theme, I’d missed almost every single other thing I’d wanted to collect that year and now regret my mistake. Don’t let FOMO and hype for a wave combine to make you waste a small fortune.
If you want to really enjoy the hobby, build your own stuff. Thanks to Pick-a-brick and Bricklink; any pieces you could need are out there and if you need more, deconstruct some of your sets and just keep the instructions in case you want to rebuild it later.
Building my own mocs is what motives me, and it has turned my lego buying habit in a different light. For me lego sets (and non-lego as well) are a box of resource. For me there isn't a value of buying 20 star wars sets because after a couple sets you have all the light grey pieces you'll ever need.
So I end up valuing the ninjago sets a lot more for example, since those come with a lot of differently shaped and colored pieces.
With this in mind, knowing the instructions are all free in the app, I'm now able to build a lot of moderately sized sets 100% for free.
@@Karl-e2w Building mocs is NOT liberal b.s. Most of them are better than any Lego sets.
@@pwcorgi2000 it was a joke
I was talking with a friend about this, but the dangerous thing about LEGO is that there is no such as a "bad purchase" beyond pricing. Every single set adds value to your piece collection regardless of whether you're interested in the actual set or not. And even if you have zero intention of ever opening the box it's still tempting to open up Brickeconomy and see how rare or valuable that set may become in the future, especially with licensed sets.
oooff this is a great take! it really is dangerous when you think of it like this🤣
Me - "eventually I'll give these to my little nephews"
YEAH RIGHT
How many people actually had allowances as a kid? I don't think my family was really 'poor' per se, but I never got any money except birthdays, and the occasional coin found on the road. The only way I got a Lego set was if I hoped and prayed with every fiber of my being that I might get one for a birthday or Christmas. Now that I have a job though, I can buy all kinds of sets, like my fairly large purchase this January.
same
I had a buddy that had an allowance (and a debit card) as a kid. Was crazy. Only money I got was Christmas and Birthday. I only ever bought 1 large-ish Lego set and that was the Battle Droid Transport with 2 pilots and 10 droids against the Jar Jar guys lol
Rest of my legos were Christmas gifts from parents & grandparents etc
What did you buy this January? Ive bought 55 Battlepacks already after just getting back into Lego this new year. I want to get that Blue Mandalorian Girl and probably the Mandolorian. I also hope for a Droid Battlepack this year.
In case its not obvious I also havent been caught up with Star Wars. Ive barely even watched the Original 6 Movies
@giygas9305 I got a whole bunch of Space sets, the spaces station and the Mars base, 4 of the interstellar space ships, and two of the small rovers. Along with the 4+ City Space set
@@lordofchaosd327 Ah yeah I was never into “The Yellow Legos” as a kid. I hated the guys with Yellow heads XD.
My friend even pointed out recently he remembers me hating them and I refused to mix them with realistic looking Legos.
Now that I’m older I actually see how iconic the yellow look is and I don’t mind it at all. I’d like to get some of the Castle stuff Lions vs Falcons
@@giygas9305 LOL, I didn't care for the yellow mini figs either when I was younger. I actually prefer yellow now.
Man probably said the term "girlfriend" 30 times in this video lol
I really like to eat beans out of a can but I have a girlfriend so I always make sure to check with her first that she's ok with it. My girlfriend occasionally likes to eat beans out of a can too but not all the time, and it wouldn't be right for my girlfriend to have to smell my farts if she wasn't farting as well. It's also the reason that I don't fill my entire bedroom with cans of beans. Because I have a girlfriend who comes over very regularly I need to make sure that there's room for her to lie down and get boned without cans of beans being in the way. I will always be considerate of my girlfriend in the way I enjoy my bean eating hobby. Did I mention that I have a girlfriend?
8:04 That's so true for me. As a young adult in a third world country where prices are even worse, having the opportunity to occasionally purchase a set feels incredible and I try to capture that emotion when I make my videos; I think that all of us who collect something should transmit that to our audience. Great video!
Lego Pricing is disgusting now. Especially for us not having sponsors or money. Lego also intentionally put out garbage sets.
I agree with the garbage sets part especially. I swear only one or two, rarely three sets actually appeal to me.
I started going through a health thing in my mid 40s about 4 years ago. Randomly bought a set just thinking it might take my mind off things, I'm now the owner of about 100 sets and 300 figures. Space is definitely a problem lol.
I too have limited space and feel like that’s kind of a blessing. It’s also easier to be an adult fan when you’re a MOC builder first and foremost IMO. Taking the time to be creative, design things yourself, and try to use what you have first before buying parts to complete it - oftentimes you’ll find you had enough bricks and didn’t need to buy anything! It forces you to slow down and consider whether you actually need that new set, that new piece, or whether you can be perfectly fine without it. Even when I do buy official sets, I try to go for ones I can learn something from. Ones with clever building techniques and mechanisms especially. Or also just ones with a lot of interesting pieces that I think could inspire me - Creator sets especially are perfect parts packs for that.
It kinda saddens me tbh that the 18+ sets combined with FOMO can easily become a crippling addiction. Sure, it’s bringing in new fans, but they’re not really getting the true LEGO experience of creative expression and developing your skills to create unique MOCs. And I often hear people say “oh I could never be that creative, I just like the build and seeing what makes it clever,” but they don’t realize the beauty of Lego is that it can teach you how to be creative. Too many people resign themselves to displaying something a designer in Denmark created and not believing they can work their way up to also being that creative and making their own things.
Also, and I can’t stress this enough, NEVER FALL INTO THE TRAP OF COLLECTING MINIFIGS. I don’t care how much you love that character, they are not worth the ungodly sums minifig collectors pay for them. It’s just a little piece of plastic at the end of the day, if it’s value to you comes from “this is rare and not everyone has it,” you’re going down a dangerous path. Collecting in general is the fastest way to let LEGO ruin your life.
I try to balance sets with MOC and I do stuff like build a 2x size Blacksmith. I will double-size when there's a set I really love. You have the structure & style of the set, but you have to be creative, and make choices, like how to double, what to double, etc. Found a Black Falcon Knight castle on Rebrickable made from 3x Creator Castles. Used the leftover parts to MOC the Ideas Treehouse into a 4 baseplate Forestmen HQ on MILS with a market & fort at the bottom of the tree. So I go back and forth between buying sets, re-MOCing them, MILS plating them, finding cool builds on Rebrickable, and building stuff out of parts. When I displayed the castle at convention, I gave credit to the designer, but everyone was impressed all the same, because just sorting the parts took hours. Fortunately I saw a Bricksie video where he sorts the parts for that same build.
Honestly, the only reason I collect mini figs is because I really need them to decorate my own creations. I sorely need more mini figs to crew vehicles, live life, etc on my builds
I feel so called out!!! lol. This has happened to me twice now. In my early 30’s when the Star Wars legos came out, I had to have them all. At a certain point, kids became the priority and the buying stopped. I’m 54 now and it’s all began again because my kids are grown. Now it’s all Creator, Icons and Ideas sets. It never ends (no complaints).
Great video man.
I think what really helped me a lot was REALLY honing in what I actually wanted when it came to sets. Sure, there are so many cool builds and themes but unless I felt that the build blew my mind I just can't justify picking SO much up. A lot of it came from learning more about all of Lego's catalogue and things they remake. If it doesn't hold up to something else, it wasn't worth it to me. Something to look into are anti-hauls. They put products in a frame of mind that not everything is worth your money (to you). Breaking the FOMO is super hard but waiting it out lets you see if you really wanted it that much. You have to learn what intrigues you the most. Think about all of the unforgettable sets you've built and learn what qualities made it unforgettable, and recognize that pattern for the future. I buy sets that correlate to moods, like sometimes I want to be an arctic explorer, why not? Really go for things that you love so much about it. Then you learn how to use ancient magic to make space.
I love this info so much! As a collector with a really low monthly budget, I have had to pick and choose what sets I want. I have a much more sepratist focus when it comes to my collection, so the Clones vs. Droids battlepack was a perfect package. Cheap price with a good main build and good minifigures (besides the helmets being a little off, but it's not a big problem), and it fits well on my shelf.
For my other collectors out there, find what you want, and do not stray or overspend. Hard limit your budget to only a few hundred a month at most. You don't need everything, only that which you want that also adds to your collection
Man I felt this. My buddy from work got me back into Legos over the summer, and I already bought the Lego deathstar for around $1600 usd, and about 12 other sets. Now I'm trying to find an appropriate shelving unit to store all the new sets and I have some just laying around in random places. My amazon list pretty much only consists of retired sets and it totals to something crazy like $7000 USD. Sheesh.... Me and my buddy have been talking about buying Lego pieces from brick link and using the official instructions to build them. But yeah, money and space definitely is a problem. Legos are very relaxing to build and it's really satisfying to own sets I always wanted as a kid but never had.
I had the same thing my buddy from work got me back into Lego Star Wars too and I just began adding loads of things to my wish list, and because of the influence of social media I was adding sets I didn’t really care about but just wanted for a mini figure or because I wanted them all. Now I’ve realised I don’t need loads of sets but I will just buy the ones that I really like and mean something to me instead of buying every set that I want for the sake of it. In my opinion I’d rather have a few good sets I truly like from the movies and shows I love instead of getting them all so I don’t feel like I’m missing out.
Tbh, when i got back into Lego last autumn after 12 years of not building i just decided to go for Gobricks and other alternative brands instead of Lego.
Not sets, but individual bricks for MOCs that i buy of Brickvault or Rebrickable.
And most importantly, minifigures. The quality and beauty of offbrand clone troopers is astonishing, and you can get most of them for 1$ each (or 4 droids for 1$).
I still use plenty of Bricklink for more exotic parts, and some of my stuff is 100% Lego for convenience and faster shipping.
My biggest joy recently has been to digitalize some of my old builds that i pulled out of storage and then upgrade them to today's standard with new parts and techniques.
I adore the entire process from analyzing, to redesigning, to finally building the updated physical version.
Also started designing some new original builds, mostly inspired by Star Wars concept art.
I find this activity so much more fulfilling than just buying official sets.
Brickvault MOCs are probably the only thing I'd spend my money on when it comes to Lego nowadays. A lot of the stuff produced nowadays doesn't really catch my eye like it did when I was a kid. Something like the UCS AT-AT was actually quite good, but almost anything else I'd rather the Brickvault design.
4:25 The realization that I can (in theory) buy every set I wanted as a kid was both exciting and daunting at the same time.
What I wanted most growing up were the modular building sets.
I have three rules. 1; no new sets, 2; I have to sort the random bricks I get from thrifting before getting more, and the most important 3; NO STARWARS. it's super expensive.
I completely agree with this video! I got Lego sets as a kid for about 10 years until 2017 when I fell out of the hobby. Then in April 2022 one of my coworkers showed me the Spider-Man Daily Bugle which I thought was pretty cool. So I got it for myself as a reward for finishing that semester of college because I was like, “I never spend my money on anything. I’m gonna treat myself to this set.” It took me 20 hours over the course of several days & I really enjoyed building it. Then I discovered I could buy old sets I always wanted as a kid but couldn’t afford. While it was nice in the beginning getting sets I couldn’t afford from elementary school, at some point that summer I stopped holding back & spent “a very adult amount of money” on sets. It took me until November that year to finish my backlog from that summer. So, as a result I had to get smarter with my purchases since I don’t have an infinite amount of space in my room. I watched multiple reviews of sets I wanted to purchase, I learned I didn’t have to buy entire sets if I just wanted a single minifigure, find 1 or a couple themes you like & try to only get sets from those themes (For me it’s Ninjago, Spider-Man, Space, Monkie Kid, & Jurassic Park/World & I try my best to avoid themes like Disney, Harry Potter, Mario, & Technic.) MOCs are more expensive than retail sets as they get bigger (a $100 set might cost you almost $200 to part out), opinions on sets change so don’t feel bad putting sets in storage, buying older sets are expensive, get smart about looking for deals on non immediate day 1 purchases. I’m definitely a lot smarter with my money now than I was when I 1st got back into the hobby as an adult that summer & I wish I knew some of that back then. I’ve had time to learn what I like & enjoy about the hobby & what I don’t (collecting just to have everything even if you don’t like some of it, Lego investing, army building) & don’t forget to make your own opinions instead of listening to reviewers all the time.
Fully agree on the collecting just to have all of it even if you don’t like all of it, “investing,” and army building. There’s a lot of pressure in the LEGO community to do those things, but it’s just not healthy. I’ve seen “investors” ruin so many hobbies for so many people, and ultimately it’s just greedy hoarding. There are better real ways to invest money which actually make a different in the world, hoarding unopened LEGO sets ain’t good for anyone. I’ve seen far too many posts from people who lost all the sets they hoarded in a flood or fire, and will never see the money they put into it again.
LEGO is best as an occasional treat, and a creative medium. It should never take over your life.
Yeah the heavy consumer influencers and their $1k+, 100 set hauls along with Lego investors have only been a detriment to the Lego hobby as it’s expanded in recent years. It’s just makes an endless cycle of consuming for the sake of the “collecting”, you’ll never have all of the Lego.
I don’t usually comment in public unless I need more info for DIY but this is the best TH-cam video I have ever seen since my addiction to collection and building Lego has gotten outta control and running out of space is my problem also! WOW!
If you like to MOC, don't sleep on random local listings for bulk Bionicle parts. You can often find multiple sets within them, and you can use the spare pieces for MOCs; I find Bionicle the most fun theme to MOC with.
I’m hooked on getting 10lb+ BIONICLE lots. I feel so blessed to have way too many BIONICLE, my favorite collectible toy with infinite replay value.
i love bionicle
Most of this goes for all collectors. I'm not a big Lego collector (have some old school Xastle sets), but I collect a lot of stuff. Yes, the space is a problem. Yes, the money can be a problem.. But you know what? It makes me happy! So as long as I'm not hurting anyone (and I'm not) - I'm not ashemed of anything.
Increased number of lego investors are driving initial prices up
3:42 IMO, not a simp if you actually respect your significant other, and from the sounds of it, seems to be possibly upgrading the GF to the wife down the line. So having those thoughts are actually very adult and not simping.
21 y/o, been watching your vids the past couple weeks and yesterday finally snapped up my first set as an adult! I found an awesome sale on the Tie Bomber for $50 on Amazon and the build is AWESOME! Cant wait to add it to my childhood collection and get back into Lego again! :D
The solution I’ve come to is that I have a whole wall of shelves dedicated to displaying LEGO. And whatever I own has to be on those shelves. If I wanna buy something new, I gotta sell another set to make room for it.
Price increases means wages need to increase equally.
Well said, Harri! Admittedly, I have a pretty hefty backlog, however they're sets I plan to build. The idea of LEGO is to be able to rebuilding using the same bricks, so you can have unlimited imagination with your collection, not always needing to go and buy the latest sets unless you genuinely want them. I love nostalgic sets and have a few, but majority are pretty new sets so I feel the draw to pick up the older sets.
In order to save a few bucks, I try to wait until sales or until sets are about to retire. For instance, I just picked up the 2022 AT-TE for $40. Sure it was tough waiting for Cody for a year but he wasn’t going anywhere. When I buy sets now, I buy 2, open one and store the other in a box to sell in 5-10 years. Definitely not a solution to a space problem, but I’m hoping it pays for this crippling addiction down the line
"He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."
- Lao-Tze
I agree with everything you said except the idea of selling Lego when your done with them. Because why would you buy it if weren't going to keep it for the long run (means you didn't really care about it that much in the first place)?
Spare parts are spare parts. You might need those parts later on even if you are done with the set they originally came from. I still find myself recycling parts from my childhood sets to make new builds to this very day. I wouldn't be able to continuously build and practice if I kept selling my old stuff off.
“Dedicate one bookcase for my sets” yeahhhh I have that same bookcase….. times 5 🙃 I never go “oh I should deconstruct some of these to make room” it’s always “well time to get another bookcase” 😂2:56
My biggest excuse is "its might retire soon or its retiring this year" did that with daily bugle and blacksmith
My wife absolutely LOVES that I had all of my LEGO sets in the living room for all to see 😎
It used to be the case for me too, but when we moved to a bigger place my wife was active in deciding that the office was the designated Lego room. I have since infiltrated other rooms by buying her some flower and Christmas sets.
It's very simple. Lego, or a girlfriend. If you can't afford Legos you're going to have to tell your girlfriend the bad news. You don't need to make excuses to do things you like. What's the point of living an unhappy life just for money? That's what money is for.
I NEVER thought I would be a fan with a backlog but when you’re collecting the entire Harry Potter theme and you’re main shelf is full it’s easier just to leave sets in the box lol
Best way I find is to just keep a wishlist. If I still want it 48hrs+ later then I'll grab it, if not it'll just sit there. Getting past ownership FOMO for sets is the best way, you don't need to own every set to appreciate it. Also, waiting until Lego do their offers is really good too. Double points or free sets.
Being an adult fan of Lego sucks these days because while the prices go up, the quality goes down. Colours not matching, way too many stickers and not enough prints make Lego look bad compared to competitors.
Honestly for collecting I recommend doing a revolving door approach of selling stuff that isnt interesting anymore or is languishing in storage. I did the same thing to my old transformers stuff while using the money to buy stuff i was interested in.
This is 💯 facts ! I have recently switched hobby’s. My daughters are old enough that Lego has become a thing that I do with my kids. My last hobby was very expensive and the people were a huge disappointment. The fact that I can be in the “upper tier” of hobby is amazing! I have a whole room for building and displaying. The fact that I CAN buy a set every paycheck is fantastic. Lego holds some value. I have something tangible to resell if I ever change hobby’s again! Learning about everything that happened when I was in my dark ages has been fun. best of all, everyone Iv interacted with has been cool and respectful. I don’t see nasty comments like everywhere else on the internet!
That's awesome! Yes the LEGO community is one of the best out there. Very friendly and inviting. What was your hobby before?
Guns! Iv always loved history and mechanical objects. My father was a hunter. I did sport / competitive shooting. You think Lego resellers are bad, go to your local gun show/ shop! Ammo price and availability goes up and down with elections. Price per Brick is my new Price Per Round! But i can use a brick more times then I can a bullet, and still sell it when I’m done. The two hobbies are much more similar than I expected. The Gun community doesn’t use the terms like FOMO, but it’s seen as “the cheapest time to buy is when it’s first released/imported, it’s just going to get more expensive!”. The “investment” reasoning when making purchases. Having a backlog of sets is the same (almost flex) as having cases of ammunition in your “stockpile”. Young gun guys who are trying to afford life and can’t afford the new gucci Glock are the kids who buy Lego with allowance money. The boomer with a paid off house and a pile of guns he paid a nickel for in 1992 are the AFOL buying UCS sets. “OMG this helmet has a holes in it!!” Is the “OMG a this pistol has finger groves!!”.
I love buying bricks and mini-figures, then sorting them and looking at them, posing the figures, etc. I had to stop buying actual sets. Because as you mentioned, I had no room for more sets. If I ever buy my own home, half of it will be for Lego.
Great video. Applies to pretty much any collectible hobby. And asking your significant other if they are ok with spending so much money and space on your hobby is not strange at all, it's a matter of fundamental respect and understanding if you want to live with that person.
“The price per piece is perfect. I’ll never get it at this price point again,”
I will stick to my Bionicles... Oh wait. How much? For that little guy? Damn.
I'm so pinched for space I converted the kitchen bar into LEGO display space. I've got a little street set up made up of the last few years modular buildings. The Museum is going to fill up the last available space, so now I need to figure out the next solution. I'm running out of options.
The thing I’ve figured out is I just focus on one single theme of Lego, mine is Marvel, which yes means I have spend a lot on the Modular’s for them… which also leaks into the regular Modular’s too. So it’s not particularly a problem for me, as I have one table for my “city” and a bin to put any sets and pieces that are disposable, but I completely understand your struggle
Options
A) Be a multi-millionaire
B) learn to accept that you can't collect them all
Definitely lacking space to display every set I have, let alone any new sets. I like the idea of rotating some in and out, to change up the display.
This was so relatable lmao great video! I try to pick one theme to avoid getting overwhelmed, and even then the space quickly becomes an issue
The best haul I ever got was from a guy getting out of collecting, and he set the prices. He sold me everything by the piece count, and I got incredible deals. He wasn't in a hurry, so he'd hold sets for me, and I'd buy them as I could. On my 8th trip to his house, he said, "I don't mind selling you, Lego, but make sure you're being responsible. Otherwise, you'll be a weird old man with a trailer full of Lego sets." pointing to the trailer we were in.
I think there was one year in the mid 90s that I didn't get a single Lego Set, otherwise I've been getting Lego Sets since the mid-late 80s. I even started using PDFs to build with from the late 00s. I have boxes of instruction books in my closet, and keep trying to reorganize them every so often. I have boxes with Polybags, since I get multiples in case I need parts from them to build something.
Enjoy the journey! I have every Lego Star Wars set I want (500+) and while it's great to look at all of them together in their dedicated display room, the most cherished moments happened when I bought sets I've wanted since I was a kid. My biggest issue, if you will, is when to buy new sets. I'm always on the lookout for the best value for my money (hence why I don't understand your affiliation with bricks&minifigs apart from content) and I often struggle to decide whether a discount is good enough or if I should wait for better.
The price, whatever it is, is justifiable if you want it enough.
Which is why while i am cautious with my money i don't hold off on something i want IF and ONLY IF i can afford it without needing to worry about it cutting into other expenses.
This obsession with money and pricing is valid as we all want to save money and not overspend but really it's just money and unless that money brings you more happiness than whatever the purchase is then why not buy it?
While i think it's worth $60 for a really cool minifigure others would say it's a waste of money.
Yet they deem it worth purchasing workout equipment they'll never use and say that's worthwhile while I'd say they wasted their money.
Basically value is relative.
It's smart to keep an eye out for deals but if you really want it then it should be worth the price you have to pay to get it and if it's not then you clearly don't want it enough and you'd be fine not spending your money on it.
Which is why theres a lot of sets that I'm okay not getting.
If i only want it because it's on sale then clearly i don't want it enough to actually get it.
@@DoughnutDragon Your take works for people who occasionally get a set here or there, but on a larger scale it's nothing but irrational. In 2023 I've spent well over €10k on Lego (again), the discounts were equal to a nice holiday or an old car. The short-term benefit of getting a set a few months early at MSRP is nothing compared to the long-term savings, which then in turn can be used for even more Lego purchases.
I’ve collected MP Transformers for yrs and got a little bored with the line till my college student son asked for LEGO for Christmas to build and now I just finished to sets of my own and have a helmet to build to build.
1:58 for me usually a set would last up until the next one, so as a kid i would play and actually use my set till it was torn to bits, by then i would usually have a new set in another so months. As an adult you usually spend hours building something, then you look to the next to expand your collection, and it doesn’t help now that you have your own money to enjoy instead of begging parents for weeks on end
I hate seeing how good the At-Te looks in the background of your video. I’ve always wanted one, but never got one because they are so expensive. Anyway, my main excuse is that I will want this set someday when it is retired, and if I don’t get it now, I’ll hate myself later for not getting it. The more I see it, the more my mind tries to trick my into buying it!😫
This was me saying I'd only buy Star Wars sets I like from the movies but here's me ordering the mf piranha plant from mario and some Chinese dragon because it looks cool
I think it's better to just focus on sets you really really want. And making sure you will have space for them (and no, the bucket of doom doesn't count). On top of resisting the urge and not overspending. There are years when I don't get any set for myself and others where I get a couple I really really like (I mainly only focus on lego star wars). In 2022 I didn't get any new set because I wasn't very interested in new ones. Last year there were a couple star wars battlepacks that caught my eye on top of two big ships: the inquisitor's scythe (didn't get it in 2022 because I didn't knew it existed, and got one for a good deal) and the ghost and phantom II (this one I got it from the get-go when it released, I've always wanted a Lego Ghost and I couldn't get my hands on the 2014 one back then, it was worth it, I love the new Ghost and phantom II build, looks stunning and actually has a good interior). Now those I may end up getting this year are the upcoming tantive IV hall for the Fives minifig and stormtroopers and rebel troopers (not for Vader, I already have two of them) but I'm not sure since it will cost around 60 bucks. Those for sure I will get are the y wing microfighter cause of Rex (killer deal, finally Rex for cheap), and probably the upcoming mandalorian battle pack and that one depicting Moff Gideon in his armor vs Paz Vizsla. Damn... I have to control myself XD. But if I run out of space I won't get them. So far I've managed to make some space but if it reaches a critical point I will have to stop
My solution is to only buy a few fun random sets, but I choose one them to hard-core collect. I collect classic space, and those are finite in number.
The scammers that grab up all the Lego stock and resell it for double the price is what’s wrong with the hobby, they need to put purchase limits on them like the pokemon card scammers.
I just got into Legos yesterday after so long(since I was very very little) It started snowing like crazy here lately. Picked up the the Lego City Arctic Set Snowmobile. The box was a bit beat. Can’t find a new one anywhere
I agree with that last bit which I feel most of us who have are childhood collections on display are that way... which I personally battle FOMO by building MOCs at the old MSRPs and buy from bricklink/pick a brick online... Though I still get sets on launch but only if I really, really want them like the new clone vs droid pack and the new city in space sets.
AFOL's used to use lego's to build new exciting things, it was super cool seeing MOC's on brickshelf and Mocpages, now it seems its mostly homies with arrested development winging over sets that realistically shouldn't be kept on a display, the whole point of lego is to build with them
The only reason you have a space problem is because you live with your parents meaning you have everything in the room you sleep (so bed desk etc takes most of your space)😅i transformed the biggest room in my house to a lego room so space isn't a problem, but yes when you don't live alone, spacing is gonna be a huge problem 😬😂
Well an order just came in and i realised that boxes takes way way more space 😂if you keeping them you will have much more trouble to storage the boxes than the actual bricks
Described my journey exactly in the first 30 seconds lmao. I’m 28 and l rediscovered the hobby, I maxed out the credit card I said I would never get behind on and my bedroom became a cluttered disaster. I’m a better man now and we’re scaling back.
Well said man , I’m 23 just got back into it I got thousands of dollars in old Lego Star Wars from the early 2000s boxes and sets still complete and after going thru those I got hooked again and yup money goes quick collecting, I haven’t opened up any of the sets with over $800 spent on the new stuff so far
This hits me really really hard with the lack of space and FOMO. It sucks so bad with FOMO when you need money for stuff that actually needed
Very refreshing to come across a Lego youtuber in 2024 that isn't a soyboy.
I loved lego as kid, got back into it like you during COVID. Because I am limited in my space, I usually build, display, then sell it to buy new sets!
When I was a kid, my Mother refused to buy Lego sets as they were comparably very expensive to other Toys (sadly, that's still pretty much the case). I began collecting in the early 90's with newer models, and finding some great sets at Antique and comic book shops... when ebay first appeared, it was Lego collecting heaven! You could pretty much find everything, AND it was being sold as something used, and collectors weren't going bonkers with their bids, so you could load up on Lego models for still less than what they were being retailed at when in stores. Around 2010, that's when the resale, and comic/collectable shops began to bump up their minimum bids, and ebay established enough of a database where if you had something to sell, you could add it to the mix, and would see what the shops were listing them for, and began to see dollar signs... Now, we have the collectors market where people are actually investing in Lego, and prices for older models have gone through the roof. I must admit, I miss the old days when collecting Lego was fun, you could find what you wanted, and it didn't break the bank or create a negotiation inside your head.
I'm only 23, I feel this. What I normally do is change my mindset from a true collector to more of a Lego builder, take these sets, and see what I can change. Can I make it into a different version/variant of said design?
I ONLY buy 2 sets a year. And only buy towards the end of the year so I can see all the sets and that way I can make a well rounded decision.
You have some great conviction 💪🏾😁😆😫😮💨.
I couldn't hold out lol 😂🤣😂🤣😭😭there's always something that I want to buy that releases early in the year for example the City Prison Island stuff and their space sets. Haven't brought those yet as I'm working on the sets I didn't get last year lol.
The Ford GT 2022 which I grabbed and the BMW I need to find.
Got a few of the smaller sets from the original 1999 wave as a kid. My parents didn't have lots of money for the biggest sets, but it didn't matter to me, I loved my little Phantom Menace collection. As a teenager, I moved on pretty quickly after that.
Got back into collecting randomly in 2021, when someone got me a small Lego set as a joke Christmas present. I then bought the microfighter Falcon for 'another laugh' while food shopping. You know the rest 😂😅
I now probably have around 50-100 sets which I'm dangerously running out of space for in my little flat. I also have an extensive collection of 500+ minifigs. This includes the OG Darth Vader I always wanted as a kid, and was finally able to pick up 25 years later. Bless this hobby 🙏
Holy *, listening to you I had a hit of reality just in my face... everything you say applies to me... in fact lately I started to realize I don't enjoy Lego the same because of all these issues you mention. I feel need to relax a bit and totally reconsider my position about how to collect Lego before is too late and totally hate it. Thanks!
For me and my fiancé collecting Lego means only buying sets that we can display around the house. Mostly ideas and botanical sets
I still do get some Star Wars/ marvel sets and she gets some Harry Potter ones. But those sets are bought sparingly with an idea of where things will go
lol the first 17 seconds is exactly what im going through right now. i just picked up the botanical set in early december, since then ive bought the nes, starry night, some technic car (also my first technic set) and a few retired dimension sets. costed a bit of money but man its so worth it
Dude this video literally hits so close to home for me. Always trying to get more money, never have enough space for more Lego. Bills, GF always have to come first, and that is really important. I love Legos so much, and I grew up with Star Wars especially, and Ninjago. Its really unfortunate but I had to pick one over the other in terms of collecting, so I chose Ninjago. I dont regret it, really, but man all of the newer star wars sets are so freaking cool! I think I am gonna try to invest in a larger shelf, and maybe a tote for my older sets that I can either sell on eBay, or put into storage. I love legos as an adult but man life really gets to ya, great video dude.
this right here is a comment I relate with! I picked SW to invest in, but now Bionicle is really calling my name again so Im trying my hardest not to buy everything I want from it (especially because it's cheaper to buy than SW).. at this point I'm thinking about another shelf too😅 thanks for sharing!
I never really had a time where i wasnt into lego, growing up i just slowly transitioned from sets to moc's but i have never not been into lego. My current collection consists mostly of pieces from my childhood sets (mostly city and Minecraft themes, with a few others). Now i am a student who just doesnt have money to buy many new pieces, so i am just working with what i already have
my biggest excuse for buying lego that i probably don't need is "oh, i can use this for an animation"
but the animation never really comes. i always have idea, but never act on them
as for the CMF that you bought just cus you felt like missing out. at least you gave it to someone who would enjoy it more, most people are just disappointed with themselves enough to hide it, like an addiction almost. you don't seem that out of control which is good
I've spent almost a decade looking at really cool LEGO sets while browsing the store with my nephew and never caught the bug until a few weeks ago. I watched the SW movies during the holidays which got me excited about the universe again. I started looking for some models to display around my desk but all the sets I really liked were either too large or very expensive (there are Chinese 1:1 knockoffs on many sets for those on a tight budget). Eventually I came across the MOC (My own creation) side of LEGO which checked off all my requirements. I've found incredible designs of every vehicle I could think at different scales and beautiful dioramas. When I see what a single person can create and the costs to build it (at least at the scale I want) I can only say that LEGO is a very greedy company. The only inconvenience for MOC designs is getting the parts from different sellers for the best price and waiting for everything to arrive.
"I have a girlfriend and want my bedroom to be available" 😂😂😂 Something tells me this is why we all got out of Lego the first time 😂😂😂
I stopped buying lego because I lost interest and I'm glad because its become a very expensive hobby to collect all these sets that come out every year.. especially for star wars
As a non-Lego purist, I can testify that your problems are magnified by 10 when you buy from Aliexpress/Temu etc. Sure, I may not spend the same per set as you do (I still pick up Lego sets sometimes) but Ive managed to get hooked on multiple massive builds and my collection number is quite absurd. My backlog probably doubles the average low end Lego collector.
Honestly with the fact that prices are going up and that I'm starting to run out of room I have slowed down on Lego significantly and Only getting one or two small set's and the minifigure series.....But even then I'm collecting less of those because thier in boxes now boxes!!!!!
The excuse for me, which my gf is starting to do too, is "it's on sale"
My biggest excuse is usually "I'm probably gonna buy sooner or later, so why not sooner?" It doesn't help that I work at a Legoland.
I bought the Atreides ornithopter Set back in February. It’s July and I have yet to assemble it. I’ve promised myself to not buy either the Artemis I or the Lunar Rover until I finish the ‘thopter.
Well tbh, when I was a kid I didn't have a source of income whenever I had the chance to purchase a set such as the Millennium Falcon Man I finally got my hands on it, and it was worth it!
Dang brother, I feel all your pain, I went through all this in 2020, and it didn’t help that I was working at at bricks and minifigs at that time! While I was there I was able to really ramp up my SW collection and my Bionicle! Now most of the sw I’ve had to sell because of life and kiddos and what not, but I just opened up my Bionicles that I had picked up for Afew years and I’m starting to really feel the fomo again😂😂
I think it’s good to have clear goal of what you want to collect and narrow it down to the sets you *really* want long term and not just something you get on a whim that you're bored with soon after.
And I think patience is key, especially for old sets you wanted years ago. I understand the temptation to splurge on an old theme you wanted as a kid and now with adult money you can finally do it, but that will wreck your savings so fast. You already waited this long, you can wait a little bit longer to space it all out. I want to collect the entire 1999-2007 Star Wars sets, so I break it all down to the individual movies first and then gradually get them at a reasonable pace. I also only care about the regular System sets so I'm ignoring the Technic stuff. Right now I'm focusing on the original Attack of the Clones wave of sets and over the past 12 years I've gotten Jango's Slave 1, Tusken Raider Encounter, Bounty Hunter Pursuit and just last week the original Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter. I still have like half of that wave left to get, but I'll get to it when I get to it.
I'm also focusing on the original Lego Batman wave of sets from 2006-2008. Once again, I'll get those gradually and thankfully that theme is not as big as Star Wars so it's not quite as taxing (although the high prices are pretty comparable lol).
My excuse is always "who's gonna stop me? I can do what I want"" 😂😂
I've kept a few sets, but I mostly build, take down, and pass along to another family. Feels good to me!
I started collecting Lego about 2 years ago when Speed Champions Bond's Aston Martin and Dom's Charger came out. I was 49. Loved it and started to purchase other SC sets available on shelves.
Then I told myself let's go get the other 8-studs retired SC sets, too.
When I got them all, I started fidgeting. Picked up Star Wars...
I need to start a Lego Anonymous group....
My problem with collecting is that I’ve been saving up for the UCS Venator, my dream lego set, but I keep seeing cool sets and I keep using my saving money, so at this rate, I’ll never get the Venator.
Fear of missing out is so real, resellers jack up the price so much TwT
I know Man. As soon as a set isn’t being produced anymore it instantly increases by at least 15% and then rapidly after that
Same thing with collecting action figures and Transformers. Only so much room to display everything.
I haven’t been feeling Lego Star Wars for a while. But Lego Marvel has been putting out some heat.
I bought a house first and then set a room aside for Lego. Only at about 40% capacity. I’m not gonna lie my hobby was mostly self funding until very recently. I had several NISB sets I bought when I was 16-18 that I kept for over a decade. One of them was green grocer the first modular. I got so many Lego trains for that set.
The big problem for me is FOMO but not the way you described it.
I've been burnt before with sets or lines like Pirates of the Caribbean or Toy Story or Indiana Jones that have gone away and I've missed them and they never came back or if they did, they weren't as good as they used to be. Sets like the Ghostbusters Firehouse, Simpsons House, Shield Helicarrier were ones I wanted but didn't have the space for at the time. I bought just because I didn't want to miss out and have to pay ridiculous prices later on