An unopened LEGO collector set, the #10179 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, achieved $1,100 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2020. Image courtesy of Dana J. Tharp Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK — LEGOs are one of a handful of toys still being made today that are lovingly passed from generation to generation. Although we have fully arrived in the digital age, where children are forever hunched over screens and mobile devices, it’s refreshing to see that a simple building toy based on plastic, snap-together bricks can still engage hands and imaginations.
LEGO evolved from basic sets of mixed bricks to highly realistic and complex offerings that resemble specific landmark buildings, coveted vehicles and more. The now-legendary LEGO brand started in Denmark as the brainchild of carpenter-turned-toymaker Ole Kirk Christiansen. In 1932, during the height of the Great Depression, he refocused his small woodworking enterprise, which primarily made household items, on wooden toys. He named this business Lego, a contraction of the Danish words “leg” and “godt,” which means to “play well.” With an eye toward enhancing early childhood development, he focused himself on producing yo-yos, pulleys and trucks. It was a hard slog, and the company teetered on the brink of financial ruin several times, but Christiansen persevered. After World War II, however, with supplies of natural wood and other traditional materials depleted, Christiansen sought cheaper, more readily available alternatives, such as plastic. Using an innovative plastic injection molding machine, he began manufacturing LEGO bricks that became the foundation of a globe-spanning toy brand with a vast array of accessories and minifigures, or tiny LEGO versions of human beings.
LEGO building sets have been delighting children throughout Europe since the 1950s. The toys were first sold in Norway in 1953 under the title Norske Legio (meaning Legion of Toys). But Christiansen is said to have preferred the Lego name, and it is his choice that has endured. Lego was introduced to the United States in 1962, and the LEGO Group is reportedly now the world’s fourth-largest toy maker.
Loose LEGO bricks invite imaginative play, allowing children to build their own creations, but the company’s building sets have a committed fan base. Retired sets, particularly unopened ones with the box in pristine condition, can sell for many multiples above their original retail price.
When it comes to LEGO, tie-ins with other popular franchises are marriages made in heaven. LEGO Star Wars products are a universe unto themselves, and Lego’s #10179 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon was made with collectors in mind. The complex set was marketed to ages 16 and up, proving that Lego is for kids of all ages, and especially for those with jumbo-size allowances. An unopened example of the set, which was first released in 2007, achieved $1,100 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2020 at Dana J. Tharp Auctions.
The variety of LEGO sets is seemingly endless, but there are plenty of classic play-inspired sets that show no influence from Harry Potter, Batman, Disney or other wildly dominant media empires. LEGO’s Castle series debuted in 1978, inspired by the castle in Legoland theme park in Denmark, which opened a decade earlier. The Castle sets originally featured a bright yellow castle, but later sets feature gray and white building bricks, as does the one that appears in a LEGO System #6090 Royal Knights set that went for $750 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022 at Fine Estate, Inc. This particular set was first released in 1995 and is celebrated for its playability and diverse features among its minifigures. Though there were castle sets released before and a few years after, this set is considered by some as LEGO’s best castle set.
Another successful and long-running category of LEGO sets is its Pirates ships, which first appeared in 1989 with Black Seas ships carrying the Jolly Roger flag in a classic good vs. evil theme. A desirable yet modestly priced example is a LEGO #6289 Red Beard Runner Pirate Ship that brought $369 in September 2021 at Canuck Auctions. The highly detailed Red Beard Runner set debuted in 1996 and comes with many minifigures and toy animals.
This LEGO Architecture series #21021 Marina Bay Sands set sold for $868 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2020. Image courtesy of M&M Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
Debuting in 2008, LEGO’s Architecture series has proven extremely popular. To date, there are about 40 sets in all, highlighting iconic and renowned buildings such as the Sears Tower in Chicago (later reissued as the Willis Tower when the building name changed), the Empire State Building in New York City, Seattle’s Space Needle and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. These sets typically range from a few hundred pieces to more than one thousand. A #21021 Marina Bay Sands set, unopened and still in its original film wrapping, sold for $868 in December 2020 at M&M Auctions.
While contemporary complex collector sets are in demand, some collectors gravitate towards early LEGO sets that feature trains and vehicles. Two post-war boxed sets from the 1940s-50s sold together for $1,200 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2020 at The RSL Auction Company. The lot comprised a train set made in the US Zone of Germany, and a Volkswagen set made in Holland.
LEGO is timeless and definitely not just for children. Many adults who buy and love LEGOs will rebuild sets they had as children or build sets that they wish existed back then. With prices ranging from well under a hundred dollars to about a thousand dollars, collectors can begin to build their collection at several different price points.