Research
Written from the data.
Everything here is measured across the sets we track, not from opinion. Where a number is uncertain, we say so.
Which LEGO themes actually hold their value
We measured every theme we track against its retail price. The theme most collectors treat as the safe bet came second — and the winner is one that barely existed five years ago.
Method02Asking price or sold price? Why LEGO values disagree
Two people can look up the same set on two sites and come away a hundred dollars apart. Neither is lying — they are answering different questions.
What retirement actually does to a set’s price
Retirement dates and price history in one place, for the first time. The question this hobby argues about most, answered with numbers.
Questions people ask
Where do your prices come from?
Two places. The market value is the median of live sealed listings on eBay, filtered hard to remove parts lots, minifigures sold alone and anything that isn’t the whole set. Where BrickLink has completed sales for a set, we show those too — real money that changed hands.
Why does your number differ from BrickEconomy or BrickLink?
Different sources answer different questions. An asking price is what sellers hope for; a sold price is what buyers paid. Most sites show one without saying which. We show both, with the sample size beside each, so you can see the gap.
What does "Pay no more than" mean?
The most you can spend and still make your target return reselling it — after eBay’s fees, payment processing and postage. You set the target and the fee rates in Settings; every figure on the site follows them.
What is a good sample size?
Under five listings we won’t give a verdict at all. Six to eleven is medium confidence. Twelve or more is where a median starts describing a market rather than a handful of sellers.
Are retired sets always worth more?
No. Retirement stops supply, but demand has to exist first. Plenty of sets retire and drift below retail for years. Our Retiring page ranks by how far above retail a set already trades, because that, not the date, is the signal.
How often is everything updated?
Set values eight times a day on a rotating batch, deals six times a day, BrickLink sold prices four times a day. Each page shows when its number was last checked.