*This post was originally from an alternate website, DitoBlocks. The site's URL was recently blocked on Facebook as well so we'll partially shut it down and just make content solely on DownTheBlocks again. If you're wondering why there are links to DownTheBlocks and all that, it's because we're not changing anything from the original posting.*
Are you a collector or an investor? For numerous hobbies, people usually refer to their collectibles as investments. You'll see this from people who love paintings to people who love Lego. Your $100 painting now could become a $1000 painting the next few years; the same applies to your Lego sets and minifigures.
Unfortunately, while collector-investors love this idea, the average toy collector suffers.
Here's an example that numerous Lego Star Wars fans can probably relate to. When the Darth Revan minifigure came out in 2014, it was reportedly being sold for just around $5. Then in 2015, it became $35. In 2019, based on this article, it sold for around $35 to $40. Now, I checked eBay and found most listings to be $80 to $110.
From $5 to $80, that's a 1500% increase in value! Sounds great, right? Yeah, for investors. Unfortunately, if you're just a Lego Star Wars fan and you weren't able to buy one at the time it came out, you'll have to shell out that much. That's just how it works, supply and demand.
So why isn't this something to expect for Bootlego or other knockoff toys?
Well first of all, these products are knockoffs. You wouldn't expect your fake gold bar to increase in value as time passes like real gold bars, right? But despite that, there's still supply and demand. Even if it's a fake product, if there's high demand and low supply, prices will go up. I saw this with a minifigure back in the day, Sheng Yuan's Jean Grey.
One of those minifigures was starting to sell at around PHP300-PHP500 (around $6 to $10) in local Philippine brick groups even though they're just bootlego. At release, the set it came from was retailing in stores at around PHP100-PHP200 (around $2 to $4). It made sense, everyone wanted that Jean Grey minifigure especially back then, only the Phoenix look of Jean Grey was available. That, coupled with very low supply (even internationally), caused the price to increase. At the time, I'm sure other people were probably even willing to pay more too cause SY quality was great and this was such an iconic character.
Unfortunately, if you were someone who decided to buy lots of these to invest on, then you were fooled. Sure, PHP100 to PHP300 is still a 200% increase, but it's bootleg and in the long run, it really won't appreciate in value. More importantly, the inevitable will happen: a new version will release that will then lower the demand for her. Alternatively, a replica of it will be released, which is what Kopf did.
Kopf previewed her after some time and sold for the usual knockoff minifigure price. This new supply from Kopf resulted in lower prices and easier access for this previously-rare Jean Grey. At that point, X-Men fans were able to have a more complete X-Men collection without needing to shell out more money. Just like that, poof, your investment on Jean Grey is gone, and again we would argue that that's a good thing.
A lot of people are in the collectibles hobby not just because of their love for them, but for the financial investments. I can't blame them. There really is a lot of money in it. It's really no different from other collectibles-turned-investments (I have some experience with these since I'm an avid Magic the Gathering player and the cards are treated as investments as well.) It's also one of the reasons why AFOLs hate bootlego. Sure, there are other reasons to dislike knockoffs, but for a lot of investors, Lepin-like brands recreating their expensive set means one less potential buyer.
In the end though, high prices can ruin a hobby for someone who just wants to enjoy it. It's bad enough that Lego's SRPs are already high, but latecomers to the hobby struggle even more as they have to browse through secondary markets that often charge high. With knockoffs though, no such thing exists. If someone's a knockoff collector, you know that they're in this hobby not for the money but because they just enjoy these collectibles. (Disclaimer: we're not suggesting that if you're not a knockoff collector, then you're just in the hobby for money. Absolutely not the case for most people.)
Nonetheless if you're a Lego purist, that's fine too. Though I recommend getting your Lego sets at the peak of their supply and at the lowest point of demand to ensure the best prices. Better yet, be open to both Lego and Bootlego and enjoy what you can with the money that you have.
Do you agree? Are you also into buying Bootlego just because you love their collectability? Or are you risking some money by investing on even Bootlego sets?
If you have other opinions or facts about Lego and toy investments, feel free to share them below!
If you want to support the site while also buying your usual favorite sets and minifigures, feel free to use our affiliate links. Using these links will help support the page at no additional cost to you. (No pressure though, buy from where it's cheapest and most convenient for you! We understand the need to be thrifty especially for hobbies, which is why we got into this relatively cheap hobby in the first place hahaha)
Buy Lego from Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2XABwBp
Buy from AliExpress:
http://bit.ly/2TzFJmQ
Read more about Lego investments with these articles I found:
'Investing' in LEGO Sets Returns 11% Per Year, Outperforming the S&P500 (realclearscience)
Are collectibles for collecting or investing? Advisors weigh in (cnbc)
The value of collectable minifigs (brickset)
Image sources:
https://ro.pinterest.com/laurentiupisinaru/darth-revan-lego/
 |
| As LEGO investments increase, Bootlego [financial] value is non-existent. And that's a good thing? |
Are you a collector or an investor? For numerous hobbies, people usually refer to their collectibles as investments. You'll see this from people who love paintings to people who love Lego. Your $100 painting now could become a $1000 painting the next few years; the same applies to your Lego sets and minifigures.
Unfortunately, while collector-investors love this idea, the average toy collector suffers.
 |
| Lego Darth Revan |
Here's an example that numerous Lego Star Wars fans can probably relate to. When the Darth Revan minifigure came out in 2014, it was reportedly being sold for just around $5. Then in 2015, it became $35. In 2019, based on this article, it sold for around $35 to $40. Now, I checked eBay and found most listings to be $80 to $110.
From $5 to $80, that's a 1500% increase in value! Sounds great, right? Yeah, for investors. Unfortunately, if you're just a Lego Star Wars fan and you weren't able to buy one at the time it came out, you'll have to shell out that much. That's just how it works, supply and demand.
So why isn't this something to expect for Bootlego or other knockoff toys?
Well first of all, these products are knockoffs. You wouldn't expect your fake gold bar to increase in value as time passes like real gold bars, right? But despite that, there's still supply and demand. Even if it's a fake product, if there's high demand and low supply, prices will go up. I saw this with a minifigure back in the day, Sheng Yuan's Jean Grey.
 |
| Sheng Yuan Jean Grey and Kopf Jean Grey |
One of those minifigures was starting to sell at around PHP300-PHP500 (around $6 to $10) in local Philippine brick groups even though they're just bootlego. At release, the set it came from was retailing in stores at around PHP100-PHP200 (around $2 to $4). It made sense, everyone wanted that Jean Grey minifigure especially back then, only the Phoenix look of Jean Grey was available. That, coupled with very low supply (even internationally), caused the price to increase. At the time, I'm sure other people were probably even willing to pay more too cause SY quality was great and this was such an iconic character.
Unfortunately, if you were someone who decided to buy lots of these to invest on, then you were fooled. Sure, PHP100 to PHP300 is still a 200% increase, but it's bootleg and in the long run, it really won't appreciate in value. More importantly, the inevitable will happen: a new version will release that will then lower the demand for her. Alternatively, a replica of it will be released, which is what Kopf did.
Kopf previewed her after some time and sold for the usual knockoff minifigure price. This new supply from Kopf resulted in lower prices and easier access for this previously-rare Jean Grey. At that point, X-Men fans were able to have a more complete X-Men collection without needing to shell out more money. Just like that, poof, your investment on Jean Grey is gone, and again we would argue that that's a good thing.
A lot of people are in the collectibles hobby not just because of their love for them, but for the financial investments. I can't blame them. There really is a lot of money in it. It's really no different from other collectibles-turned-investments (I have some experience with these since I'm an avid Magic the Gathering player and the cards are treated as investments as well.) It's also one of the reasons why AFOLs hate bootlego. Sure, there are other reasons to dislike knockoffs, but for a lot of investors, Lepin-like brands recreating their expensive set means one less potential buyer.
In the end though, high prices can ruin a hobby for someone who just wants to enjoy it. It's bad enough that Lego's SRPs are already high, but latecomers to the hobby struggle even more as they have to browse through secondary markets that often charge high. With knockoffs though, no such thing exists. If someone's a knockoff collector, you know that they're in this hobby not for the money but because they just enjoy these collectibles. (Disclaimer: we're not suggesting that if you're not a knockoff collector, then you're just in the hobby for money. Absolutely not the case for most people.)
Nonetheless if you're a Lego purist, that's fine too. Though I recommend getting your Lego sets at the peak of their supply and at the lowest point of demand to ensure the best prices. Better yet, be open to both Lego and Bootlego and enjoy what you can with the money that you have.
Do you agree? Are you also into buying Bootlego just because you love their collectability? Or are you risking some money by investing on even Bootlego sets?
If you have other opinions or facts about Lego and toy investments, feel free to share them below!
You can also communicate with us through our other media channels:
If you want to support the site while also buying your usual favorite sets and minifigures, feel free to use our affiliate links. Using these links will help support the page at no additional cost to you. (No pressure though, buy from where it's cheapest and most convenient for you! We understand the need to be thrifty especially for hobbies, which is why we got into this relatively cheap hobby in the first place hahaha)
Buy Lego from Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2XABwBp
Buy from AliExpress:
http://bit.ly/2TzFJmQ
As a side note, some people over at Facebook think that we have turned against knockoff brands. That's our fault for having a poorly-phrased title (the previous one about Monkie Kid). Rest assured, we still and will always love bootlego as long as we're getting great price-quality ratio. We also have never stopped supporting Lego, but we're aware of their shortcomings like high prices, a few toxic fans, and repeated designs.
'Investing' in LEGO Sets Returns 11% Per Year, Outperforming the S&P500 (realclearscience)
Are collectibles for collecting or investing? Advisors weigh in (cnbc)
The value of collectable minifigs (brickset)
Image sources:
https://ro.pinterest.com/laurentiupisinaru/darth-revan-lego/
I'm ok with bootlegs, I think any child in the world has the right to play with brick. The lego brand is too expensive for some families, the middle class of western countries are getting poorer. when I see the pirate island at 199 euros and at -50% in bootleg the choice is not complicated! Lego is stuffed with money while plastic is not as expensive, like metal molds for making bricks. the secondary market is only speculation, a shame !
ReplyDeleteYeah! Before bootlego, families over here in the PH saw brick toys as a luxury toy cause Lego is hella expensive compared to other toys. Then bootlego came and lots more people got access to these toys that are also educational hehe. The plus side too is I know lots of people who started with bootlego then quit to collect real Lego :D
DeleteI believe that in deciding in favor of Lego, the European Law Court may have started the path towards the overthrow of intellectual property. The thesis that says that the minifigures were "designed" mainly to confer human traits leads us to a philosophical discussion: Who has the right over the Human Figure? Who created human traits? Contour of the arms, feet etc? Does being the first to create toys that copy human traits and fit into blocks give you the right to be the only company to explore this forever? I think that no one should have the power to exploit the human figure and patent this! When will the doctors of the law come to their senses?
ReplyDelete