A new report on the Guardian reveals that LEGO - the ever-popular plastic brick system that is just about as endless as your imagination - is a better investment right now than gold. Y’know, gold, the incredibly precious metal which has been, forever, a recommended thing to stick your money into.
Researchers at the Russian Higher School of Economics have published a study (which you can read here) that shows that all of those itty bitty pieces that get lost beneath the washing machine, sucked up into vacuum cleaners and impaled into your bare soles, Jesus wept, why LEGO, why, represent a more valuable investment at the moment than gold, expensive wines, and fine art.
Related: one of the biggest Christmas WANTS in LEGO in 2021 is the Super Mario N64 Question Block…
The study states that the brick system, as well as superhero action figures (do Transformers count? Asking for a friend, who is actually me, who might finally have an angle here to placate the wife’s frustrations with these playthings slowly taking over our house), model cars and trains, and Barbie-brand fashion dolls, are likely to deliver more lucrative gains than traditional items.
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Says the Higher School of Economics’ Victoria Dobrynskaya, an associate professor: “We’re used to thinking that people buy items like jewellery, antiques or artworks as an investment. However, there are other options, such as collectible toys. Tens of thousands of deals are made on the secondary LEGO market. This is a huge market that is not well known by traditional investors.”
The study looked at over 2,000 LEGO sets from 1987 to 2015, and assessed how their value had gone up (or down). Only unopened sets were measured - so if you, like me, like to actually open your toys, bad luck. “Sets produced 20-30 years ago make LEGO fans nostalgic, and prices for them go through the roof,” says Dobrynskaya. I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, says me, as I browse eBay for LEGO Space sets from the early ‘80s.
The average value growth on an unopened LEGO set of collector interest is about 10-11% per year, the study says, “which is more than stocks, bonds, gold, and many collectible items, such as stamps or wines, yield”. So there you have it - this Christmas, keep that Star Wars LEGO set wrapped up and unbuilt, as in 30 years you can probably trade it for the otherwise unobtainable food and clean water you need to survive. Or, IDK, some other toy or something. The future! Here’s to it hopefully not sucking.
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Topics: Lego