Some of my co-workers are aware of my Lego hobby, have seen pictures of my layout, and thus view me as some sort of godlike expert on the matter, coming to me with any number questions. Many of those questions could be easily answered with a quick Google search -- but I don't want to bully my co-workers too much.
Anyway, one of them has decided to dig out his childhood sets, which are all smashed up and mixed together in some sort of box or plastic tote. Part of me hoped I could convince him to sell them to me, but it seems he received a few newer sets as gifts over the past couple months and like many folks who are locked inside their houses during this pandemic, Lego has the potential of becoming a hobby for him.
He had previously asked me what I thought it was worth -- and my response was the same as it would be if I was considering purchasing something I saw on an internet marketplace. That is, "it depends". The value of a box's contents depend on a few things:
- Do the sets have their original boxes?
- Are there instructions?
- Do you have all the minifigures, including their accessories?
- Are all the pieces present?
- If they are present, are they in good condition? That is, not chewed on or colored with permanent markers.
- Are there other brands of blocks mixed in? Megabloks, Lepin, etc.
As such, it got me thinking. The value of a tub of Legos is significantly more than just the monetary value -- but also the time. Consider the following.
Let's assume that my co-worker has a typical 18 gallon Rubbermaid container full of pieces. In my experience, a tub of that size weights somewhere in the vicinity of 40 pounds. Assuming an average price of $5 per pound of loose parts, theoretically that tub has a value of no less than $200. This of course assumes that someone would be willing to pay that amount for the entire tub, or that he would be able to sell 1-pound bags of loose pieces to various people, but we'll skip that for now.
Next, let's make an assumption about what's really in that tub. That is, what sets actually exist. To do this, typically you'd have to be able to identify large pieces of partially assembled sets, have the directions or boxes for every set and assume that all the contents exist within, or have enough substantial knowledge to know about what combinations of pieces that are visible are contained within particular themes. (In the case of my co-worker, I can assure you that he has zero of these things -- which is part of the overall point I'm getting to.)
So let's continue to assume, somewhat generously, that there is $1,000 market value of actual sets in the box. He said he had some "knights stuff" -- Knights Kingdom maybe? Other older Castle-theme stuff? It is a mystery. In order to hit that threshold, he would have to have two or three very valuable sets, such as larger castle sets (worth $200-$300 each) and somewhere in the vicinity of a dozen smaller sets (perhaps averaging $25-$50 each).
Which leads me to the most "expensive" part of reassembling his childhood -- TIME.
It is easy to see the difference in monetary value of $200 vs $1,000 ... but when everything is smashed together in a box, it will all have to be assembled. If you don't know what's inside said tub, you'll have to do research to figure it out. Then you have to look up the directions, separate out all the pieces, order missing pieces, and build the stuff. All of this has to happen before you can attempt to sell whatever you may think you have for that higher price figure.
When I first got back into the hobby, I had some knowledge of pieces, but I was certainly no expert. The first "Huge-Ass Tub Of Legos" that I bought off Facebook Marketplace took me weeks to put back together, and there was only about ten complete-ish sets in the box. (I happened to be quite dedicated to the task, with no other substantial hobbies or responsibilities to fulfill.) I project then that it would take my co-worker many hours over many days (weeks?) to complete his project. Let's assume 100 hours. That would mean, for a month straight, that he would have to work on sorting this tub and building the contents somewhere between 3 and 3.5 hours every single day for a month straight in order to complete the task.
$800 extra divided by 100 hours is ... umm ... $8 per hour. Barely above minimum wage in my state. Even if the task was completed in 80 hours, that's still only $10 per hour.
And this continues to make several generous assumptions about that $1,000 value -- that he has all the minifigures and pieces, and that there is actually some valuable sets in there. If any of that doesn't hold true, then that $1,000 figure drops real quick, as does the rate you're paying yourself hourly to reassemble and sell off the sets as opposed to just dumping the whole tub online.
Now, this isn't supposed to be an exercise in discouraging people from putting their stuff back together, but I do think that it depends on what one wants to actually do with the contents. If you're trying to make a quick buck because you're aware Lego has value, this will likely work against you -- at least in the short run. In such a case, I would advise to just dump the bin on the internet for whatever price you feel like it's worth.
However, if you're like me, and you want to share your things with a future child or with your friends and family, then by all means, go to town. Put all the stuff back together. If you sell it off, changing you're mind in the future will only result in heartbreak. Ask me how I know.
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