Even when I have extra income, I just cannot bring myself to spend several hundred dollars on Lego. They had this Batman shadowbox set that was fucking DOPE and yeah, I could have saved up to buy it, but if I did I know it wouldn’t make me happy knowing how much I’d spent on it, I’d just always think omg, I dropped hundreds of dollars on this, am I an idiot?
Something that I came up with during the pandemic was to buy, build, and then resell full kits in basically new condition on a site called Bricklink. It’s like eBay for LEGO only, with an insane number of filtering options and seller base (FFS I found kits for sale I played with as a kid lol).
Doesn’t quite work out to “free” and it’s a bit of a hassle, but it solves that problem for me of wanting to enjoy a big involved build, but being a (boringly) sane adult who can’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on tiny plastic (magnificently designed, engineered, and mfg’ed) bricks.
There are also few sites that let you rent the different sets. My brother’s used NetBricks and it sounded like it could be another option if the buying/selling thing makes it too much.
From what he told me is you pick a set/s online, the kit comes in the mail, build and enjoy it for a bit, then you would tear it down completely when you are bored of it, stuff all of it in a special zip lock bag and send it back for your next set. He told me they go over all the returned pieces to look for damaged/missing parts, “sanitize” (probably just wash them) them, and repackage them for the next renter.
Well, no, there’s a ton of sellers. If you want it to actually sell, you take a bit of a loss. Think of it like an annoyingly involved rental program.
I think some kits can get more expensive than retail due to rarity or something, but I wasn’t looking at any of that, just wanted an affordable way to build some cool kits.
For some people I could see it as a fun thing/whatever. I always see the end result being: now where do I put this… These things are huge (comparatively) and I would have to empty out a whole shelf somewhere just to house it.
Even when I have extra income, I just cannot bring myself to spend several hundred dollars on Lego. They had this Batman shadowbox set that was fucking DOPE and yeah, I could have saved up to buy it, but if I did I know it wouldn’t make me happy knowing how much I’d spent on it, I’d just always think omg, I dropped hundreds of dollars on this, am I an idiot?
Something that I came up with during the pandemic was to buy, build, and then resell full kits in basically new condition on a site called Bricklink. It’s like eBay for LEGO only, with an insane number of filtering options and seller base (FFS I found kits for sale I played with as a kid lol).
Doesn’t quite work out to “free” and it’s a bit of a hassle, but it solves that problem for me of wanting to enjoy a big involved build, but being a (boringly) sane adult who can’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on tiny plastic (magnificently designed, engineered, and mfg’ed) bricks.
Edit: Check it out lol
That is pretty fucking sick
There are also few sites that let you rent the different sets. My brother’s used NetBricks and it sounded like it could be another option if the buying/selling thing makes it too much.
From what he told me is you pick a set/s online, the kit comes in the mail, build and enjoy it for a bit, then you would tear it down completely when you are bored of it, stuff all of it in a special zip lock bag and send it back for your next set. He told me they go over all the returned pieces to look for damaged/missing parts, “sanitize” (probably just wash them) them, and repackage them for the next renter.
Oh hell yeah! I had a feeling something like this might exist. I’ll have to give it a try, thanks!
This is awesome! Thanks for the link!
When you resell, do you generally do a profit on it ?
Well, no, there’s a ton of sellers. If you want it to actually sell, you take a bit of a loss. Think of it like an annoyingly involved rental program.
I think some kits can get more expensive than retail due to rarity or something, but I wasn’t looking at any of that, just wanted an affordable way to build some cool kits.
Understood. But it’s a cool idea, I’ve always preferred building the model than play with it 🙂
For some people I could see it as a fun thing/whatever. I always see the end result being: now where do I put this… These things are huge (comparatively) and I would have to empty out a whole shelf somewhere just to house it.
Lego products based on popular IPs are expensive from what I’ve noticed.