If the pandemic’s been good for anything, it’s Legos.
With people spending more time at home, the pandemic has led to a buying boom for the building bricks. David Hall, a Virginia-based collector, told The Post that, in May 2020, he sold a “Star Wars” Republic Dropship — which originally bought in 2010 for $250 — for $1,250.
“Hype and nostalgia play into how much you can get for reselling old sets,” Hall told The Post. “The biggest drive is when adult fans want to maybe get that expensive set they never got as a kid.”
In fact, discontinued Legos appreciate faster in value than gold, stocks or bonds, according to a recent study from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.
The researchers found that, between 1987 and 2015, the 2,322 Lego sets they tracked appreciated in value 11 percent annually — and proved resistant to drops in the stock market. They increased in value during the 2008 recession as well as the pandemic.
“We are used to thinking that people buy items such as jewelry, antiques or artworks as an investment,” Dr. Victoria Dobrynskaya, Associate Professor of economic sciences and one of the study’s authors, told The Post. “For the general public, I think, the findings are surprising because they think of Lego as a mere toy, and most people are not even aware of the existence of a huge secondary market.”
Among the most valuable are discontinued sets, or ones that were limited edition or regional. “You have to get the sets before they leave [store] shelves, or you’re going to end up paying double, if not triple, later on,” Hall said.
Here are some Lego collectors who have made smart investments.
The YouTube superstar
David Hall, 24, has made a career out of his Lego collection. The freelance videographer is also a full-time social media influencer and Lego ambassador through his YouTube channel, Solid Brix Studios.
“Just like any other kid, my parents bought me Lego sets, and I just kind of gravitated towards them,” Hall told The Post. At age 11, in 2008, he started reviewing his sets on YouTube and the channel took off, pulling in ad revenue from 433,000 subscribers and nearly 150,000,000 total views.
Hall stores his collection in the basement of the Richmond, Va., townhouse he shares with his fiancée. More than 1,000 sets, some in their original packaging and others assembled — from a “Lord of the Rings” The Battle of Helm’s Deep set (purchased for $130 and worth $410 today) to a “Star Wars” Republic Gunship (purchased for $120 and now worth $545) — fill the entire 600-square-foot space, and he’s expanded into a storage unit for sealed sets. Hall isn’t sure how much his entire collection is worth, but in the past year he’s invested $10,000 to $20,000 in the collection: “I do have stock investments, but I’d say I pour way more money into Lego sets.”
The Harry Potter ‘hoarder’
While Holly, a 22-year-old from Sydney, Australia, is finishing up her university degree in web design, she also runs a YouTube channel — and, with more than 36,000 subscribers, is considered one of the first female influencers in the Lego collecting community. (She asked to withhold her last name for reasons of privacy.)
It all began when her grandparents bought her a Harry Potter Lego castle for Christmas in 2007. “I just became addicted,” she told The Post. “I absolutely loved taking things apart and building them again.” Since then, her collection has grown to include nearly 500 sets, on which she’s spent more than $14,000 — and estimates is worth around $20,000. She said the castle from her grandparents would be valued at $700 today, and a Diagon Alley set from 2011 at nearly $1,000.
The Legos — both built and in boxes — are everywhere in the home where she lives with her parents and younger sister: in the attic, on bookshelves, under her bed, in her wardrobe. “I’m a bit of a hoarder,” Holly admitted with a laugh, “It’s a bit of an unorganized mess.”
She hopes to use her platform to inspire more girls to get into the hobby. “I remember I was embarrassed as a kid if I was caught carrying a Lego bag around,” she said. “I really hope I can inspire [other girls] to be comfortable with themselves and realize they should be proud of their passion.”
The seven-figure set-up
“I’ve been into Lego for the longest time now. It has always been a good stress reliever and creative outlet since my earliest years,” said Christopher Lee, a 21-year-old pursuing a dual degree in electrical engineering and entrepreneurial management at the University of Pennsylvania. “I’ve always loved to build stuff and create things, which extends to what I study now.”
Over the years, Lee has accumulated a staggering 6,514 sets, which are kept in the basement of his parents’ home in Seattle. In fact, Legos have become a family affair: “It’s a great bonding activity with my dad. We love to build the sets together.”
Because much of his collection are gifts spanning back to childhood, Lee isn’t sure how much he’s spent on it over the year but estimates the aggregate retail value of his collection is at least six or seven figures.
Among his most coveted are an original Lego Cloud City set from the 2003 “Star Wars” line valued at $2,000. He said prototypes, misprints and promotional items fetch higher prices, like his mis-molded Bionicle mask worth $900, and a rare, promo-only Mask of Water from Lego’s 2015 tour, which could fetch as much as $2,000.
Upon graduating this upcoming May, he plans to relocate his collection into his own home — and continue his YouTube channel, with more than 22,000 subscribers. “I’m not really collecting Lego for the purpose of investing,” Lee said. “One of my favorite things about Lego is being able to share it with other people.”
The got-into-it-late collector
When Emily, a Texan in her mid-20’s, graduated with a Master’s degree in data science in 2020, she faced a daunting job market. So she decided to take a leap of faith and devote herself, full-time, to a YouTube channel on which she shares her Lego collection and love of the bricks with her 25,000-plus subscribers.
“I never had Legos growing up, but my husband collected them and got me my first set,” Emily, who asked to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, told The Post. Inspired by her science background, her spouse bought her a Women of NASA set which sparked her passion for the blocks.
Now, Legos are a pastime they share as a couple. “It’s something that has helped us through the pandemic,” Emily said. “It’s a great hobby to enjoy inside together.”
The duo display their stash of well over a thousand sets in two rooms of their home, and it’s begun to take over a third as well. A “Star Wars” Ultimate Collector Millennium Falcon (worth $800 retail, but Emily expects it to appreciate in value once it’s discontinued) and modular sets — more-complicated builds, with over 2,000 bricks each, that make up the components of a town — are their most valuable. Emily’s modular Grand Emporium, a discontinued shopping center, is worth around $425.
“It shocks people to hear that what they consider to be toys are worth so much money,” she said, “But Legos are something that families can enjoy and women are getting more and more into.”