The right Lego set could provide a bigger boost to your retirement nest egg than investments such as gold or stocks.
A recent analysis by the British newspaper The Telegraph found that the plastic building blocks offer better returns than some common investments.
Specifically, Legos kept in mint condition have increased in value by 12 percent every year since 2000.
By contrast, gold increased by 9.6 percent annually over the same period, the newspaper reports, citing figures from British investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown.
The United Kingdom’s Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, or FTSE 100, returned 4.1 percent annually over the past 15 years with dividend payments included.
According to The Telegraph’s analysis, the Lego sets that have increased in value the most are:
- Cafe Corner (released in 2007): 2,230 percent
- Market Street (2007): 1,064 percent
- Holiday Train (2006): 1,048 percent
- Rescue from the Merpeople (2005): 1,018 percent
- The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc (2006): 1,011 percent
Ed Maciorowski of BrickPicker, a website devoted to Lego investing, tells The Telegraph that Lego sets from 2000 or later are better investments than older sets, which were more basic.
Other types of sets that sell well in secondary markets like eBay include:
- Sets based on films such as “Star Wars”
- Sets based on landmarks, such as India’s Taj Mahal
- Sets based on brands, such as Volkswagen’s Beetle
- Limited-edition sets
- Seasonal sets
- Sets with short production runs
Maciorowski explains:
“The neat thing is that all sets are retired at some point, and several hundred are retired each year a movie run ends, a license expires or the Lego company wants to refresh its range.
That means anyone with a set at home — large or small, it doesn’t matter — could have quite an investment on their hands if it’s in good condition.”
Have you ever purchased a Lego set as an investment or tried to resell one? Share your experiences by commenting below or on our Facebook page.
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