A new asset class: Legos!

[samclem]

Researchers looking at the appreciation of unopened Lego sets on the secondary market have found that they have done pretty well.

An analysis by two Russian economists has found that "investing" in new, unopened LEGO sets yielded an average annual return of 11% between 1987 and 2015, outperforming the Standard and Poor's 500 Stock Market Index over that time. Moreover, prices of old LEGO sets tended to increase steadily year over year, experiencing less volatility than the stock market.

So, good returns and apparently not well correlated with the S&P 500, so a good diversifier.

I was surprised to read that only about 10% of the sets lost value over time. And, unlike stocks, if a particular choice does poorly, you've got the option to "liquidate it" by tearing off the plastic wrap and making a spaceship or Tyrannosaurus with your grand kids.

 

[ziggy29]

I think a lot of these old toys, in retrospect, depreciated faster on their first usage than cars do. They lose half their value the moment you remove the shrink wrap!

 

[ocean view]

When I first saw this article I was very excited as DH is an AFOL (adult fan of Lego) and we have a roomful of bricks, but then realized that it was only the new, unopened sets that were worth anything (rats!). But about 16 years ago DH bought a Technic set for around $150. I was mad. We were expecting a baby, needed to watch our budget and he didn’t even like the Technic sets. He explained that it was a set originally sold in 1994, since discontinued but someone discovered a small inventory of these sets. He told me it would increase in value. I had my doubts, but the deed was done. We still have that set, tucked away in a closet, unopened. I checked the price online and it looks like they are presently worth ~$600. Okay, I guess I won’t be mad anymore.

 

[orangehairfella]

But then you have to store them. Plus you’d want a bit of diversificationin your collectibles. To this end I’ve launched a new fund that also includes baseball cards, beanie babies and classic American muscle cars. Buy now.