New feature: the cost of your collection

 

  • New feature: the cost of your collection

    Posted by Huw, 08 Jun 2010 14:01. Filed under Brickset.

    Several people have requested this feature, most recently Luciano T: If you are in the US or the UK, the total cost of your collection is now shown on your My Sets page. However, there are few things to overcome before it becomes really useful:

    First, the database only contains retails prices for the US and UK. The US prices have come from the LEGOshop.com product feed and only go back to 2007. For the UK, they go back a little further to around 2001.

    Second, it's only good for two countries. I'd really like to display this information for others and go further back in time, and this may be where you can help. Do you have a list of retail prices in your country that you'd be willing to share here? Get in touch if so!

    Update: I've imported US$ MSRP information, for those sets which we didn't have a price for, from Lugnet, which has increased the coverage considerably. I'm not entirely sure whether that is within Lugnet's terms ot use so I am currently checking.


    69 comments, latest one posted 36 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by legocity1 in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 14:30

very helpful huw thanks :D this website just keeps getting better

Posted by doodlebird in United States, 08 Jun 2010 14:32

nooooo!!! now i have to admit how much i've spent on LEGO.
i'll have to keep reminding myself that i've bought most of them on sale.
:)
no rush on getting on the pre-2007 retail prices.
please!

seriously, this is a great feature.
i agree with legocity... this site just keeps getting better.

Posted by petro17sq in Colombia, 08 Jun 2010 14:36

What about a calulation using the current Bricklink average price?
I have an Excel list with this information and it is very nice to see how your collection price increase year by year

Posted by Xiaolong in Belgium, 08 Jun 2010 14:52

Hello, I have all the Belgian catalogues since 1968, the year I was born. Not all of them have prices but I could spend a weekend with typing. I think the easiest way is to use two columns in an Excell sheet and send this as an attachement. These prices will be more or less the same in The Netherlands and Germany. For those before 2000 I will recalculate to Euros. Would that be OK?

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:01

@Huw - On a completely unrelated tangent, is there any way we can block our wives from visiting Brickset? :o)

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:09

@Xiaolong, that sounds like hard work but if you're willing to do it that would be great, thanks!

A 2 column XL sheet would be good: if you can include the set suffix (-1, -2 etc.) as well I can import the data easily. Better still, I can provide you with a data dump of all sets here to make it even easier: get in touch.

@yellowcastle, perhaps I should provide a sanitised version of the site for when she's peering over your shoulder :-)

Posted by Jito in Belgium, 08 Jun 2010 15:09

I want to know mine too :o:o

Posted by vynsane in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:16

Very cool idea... BUT I try to buy as much as I can on sale, and some I've picked up on Ebay for which I didn't pay MSRP - so this number doesn't necessarily reflect what I've actually paid. Would there be a way to add a field to input what you paid for a set, and then calculate a total based on that? So far I've been keeping track of this in the 'notes' of each set. Perhaps it would automatically default to MSRP unless a different number is submitted to a 'What I Paid' field somewhere on the 'My Sets' listing?

Also, I presume this multiplies the MSRP by the quantity of each set you own, yes?

Posted by Legoluch in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:16

Awesome! Thank you Huw!!! Luciano T. Aka Legoluch.. ; )

Posted by dustinmroberts in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:20

I was going to suggest the same as @vynsane. A "what I paid" feature in conjunction with this new feature would be awesome!

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:28

WOW! This is a really good idea. I had no idea I've spent this much on LEGO!

Posted by natro220 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:30

Wow...my collection is worth more than my car...scary. Is there such thing as Lego Insurance? Excellent feature Huw!!!! And I second the "sanitized" page for our wives, mine would probably not be too happy with me if she saw that number. LOL

Posted by FizzleMeSexy in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:31

Although they gave them away with a happy meal, all McDonalds sets such as http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=1643-1 would be $1 each if purchased seperatly.

The Chrome Stormtrooper http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=2853590-1 was $3 @ TRU.

Posted by grelb32 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:32

I agree with vynsane. I got King's Castle Siege (MSRP $100) and Skeleton Ship Attack (MSRP $70) for $30 each at a little store up in IL. However, I paid $70 for Temple Escape (MSRP $60) and $60 for Luke's X-Wing (MSRP $50) at Toys R Us.

So yes, it would be nice if there was a little field to write out how much we paid for each of our sets.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:39

@vynsane, I do plan to add an 'enhanced collection manager' feature to the site at some point which will include the ability to add price paid.

@FizzleMeSexy, I'm not yet in a position to request or enter individual user provided prices but ultimately I would like to make it possible for people to submit that sort of data directly into the database. The main problem is one of trust: Everyone reading this is entirely trustworthy I am sure, but it only takes one person to enter rubbish data for the integrity of the database to be compromised.

Posted by atkinsar in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:42

Great work Huw.

Now all we need to know is how much is our collection worth vs. how much did we paid. To do that properly you would need to be able to record here how much you paid and whether it is 'sealed' or 'used', then cross reference with the average price on Bricklink for the set for new and used. Sounds complicated!!

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 15:44

Excellent - thanks, Huw ! Peeron also has this feature, but it's exclusively in $US, so nice to have a figure based on UK RRPs (which don't have a predictable relationship with US RRPs). Also, the Peeron database of new sets is starting to fall behind somewhat.

It'd be superb if we could get hold of UK RRP info from pre-2001; presumably LEGO themselves might have this data, so maybe they'd be willing to share it....?

I do like the idea of being able to input what we paid for sets ourselves rather than rely on RRP; sadly I seem to have paid over the odds for retired sets a lot more often than I've paid the RRP for current ones.....

I really don't know how you find the time to continuously improve the site, Huw, but I'm very glad you do - serious respect !

Posted by vynsane in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:48

@Huw - kewl, man. All in due time, right?

Posted by MisterFubar in United States, 08 Jun 2010 15:59

I'm glad I was sitting down for this...

Posted by Murdoch17 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 16:05

Good idea Huw!

Posted by roar15 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 16:08

Oh God that's scary. This is cool. I was just thinking a couple of weeks ago that this would be a great feature..... and then immediately wondered if I really wanted to know what me and my son have spent on Lego's.....
And I too will have to keep the wife away from our page.... I don't know if I could live hearing the same gasp of horror I heard when she looked in the closet years ago and saw all the Star Wars (not lego) stuff in one place at the same time (BIG closet stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of star wars toys). :) My son has them all now, opened and played with like they should be.

Could there also be a filter to see just the sets that there is no pricing info for?

Thanks guys, this site is a daily visit (ok, several visits) for me.

Posted by Don in Canada, 08 Jun 2010 16:09

Would it be possible to add the ability to look up collection prices in other countries? I live in Canada, and I wouldn't mind just seeing the cost of my collection (since 2007) in US dollars.

Posted by rcaddy in Canada, 08 Jun 2010 16:12

Anyway for someone in Canada to find out their collection cost in USD?

Posted by Firox 5000 in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 16:26

Cant beliece Ive spent £2460 on lego ,quite a lot

Posted by mrloony in United States, 08 Jun 2010 16:33

I've evidently spent 9,685$ O_O I didn't buy all of my collection new, however. Thank God for garage sales and thrift stores.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 16:51

How many people have passed out yet? :-)

I got £1632 (only!!!) but not all my LEGO is on Brickset.

Really good Huw but I bought some of my discontinued sets for an inflated eBAY price and some of them I got in sales. Also can we see how much other people's are worth?

Off topic but www.mailorderexpress.com have a 10% discount on ALL LEGO. Big banner on their home page.

Posted by legobob in United States, 08 Jun 2010 16:57

sweet

Posted by Murdoch17 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:02

Hey, Huw? How much did YOU spend on your Lego according to the computer? Mine was USD $3,254. That's a lot! (for me!) But, most of my Lego is in bins, (in pieces) so I really don't have a very big layout. Thanks for the new feature, Huw!

Posted by Shamu1Believe in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:11

I'm too afraid to look...

Posted by lego star wars dude in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:18

oh men I got $997 cant believe that came out of my wallet

Posted by Sky-guardian in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:25

$1668 wow! How did that happen??

Huw just a suggestion but it would be kind of cool(or shocking) to see how much our "wanted sets" would cost... is there any way you could do that???

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:29

AHHH!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! i spent 2000$!!!!!! well some of them are my brothers that he gave me, ughh but i didn't get many at discount. any how this new feature is AWESOME Huw, yes it is a bit frightining that i could have bought a CAR (well i cant drive but) from all my legos. but hey legos dont break down or crash (they can be sucked up by the vacuum and be shattered by your feet (which KILLS your feet in the procces) but yeah its a cool feature (wonder whats its gonna be when i'm 80 :[ 100,000$?
LegoCoastGaurd-well i have, so thats 1 fainting. (Huw your killing people with the features you put on this site :P)
Shamu1Bleieve-Dont look, it'll give you nightmares for YEARS!!!
MrLooney- it's not that bad, just try not to think of all the things you could've gotten with 9000 :P (car,Tv, Computer, ro legos :D)

Posted by lego star wars dude in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:29

yeah good idea that would be great

Posted by mars4life in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:32

@sky-guardian, I agree, I would love to see how much my wanted sets would cost. It would be crazy...

Posted by Brickbuilder0937 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 17:47

Is there a way to import a set list from peeron? I know I could do this manually, but that would take many hours.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 08 Jun 2010 18:05

@Brickbuilder0937, from Lugnet, yes.

Posted by legofanatic2414 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 18:15

Wait, wait, I spent HOW much money?!!! Man, I agree with Yellowcastle can we have a sanitised version? ;) But wow, nice addition Huw.

Posted by FizzleMeSexy in United States, 08 Jun 2010 18:25

@Huw , I figured as much. McDonald and other promos seem like the type of sets to get overlooked if you do ever put things in by hand.

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 08 Jun 2010 18:58

Well I figure any pricing in US dollars is okay for Canadian members. With the dollar moving around most of Canada's Lego shoppers are ordering through America (if possible). Being in North America one can get use to always looking at American currency.

Although the price idea is a little sad for those of us looking at 'wanted' sets they can't afford yet! LOL!

I don't really see the point of keeping track of the older sets... once they leave Lego they're in Ebay's hands. I figure it's too hard to keep track of that.

Posted by Jayko543 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 19:18

Now this is scary! Just between our family (okay, okay, me and my bro) we have $4,444 worth of LEGO! Seriously!!! (Just keep in mind we normaly get a few sets every Christmas and birthday, so don't think we just blow every dollar that comes to us ;) )

Posted by ern120 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 19:40

I am SO glad this was added so that you don't have to total up your sets with a calculator!

Posted by JamesBenjamin in United States, 08 Jun 2010 19:51

I updated my sets to see what my dollar amount is and it seems some of the more obvious sets don't have price values. One easy fix example is this years target bagged star wars sets that were $3.49. If you decide to allow people to scrub the database though, those sorts of things will be an easy fix. =)

Posted by alpha 40 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 20:10

wow, I spent $14,052, that is way more than I expected. It didn't count sales or gifts though. Well, I have been doing this for 11 years too.

Posted by Duraz in United States, 08 Jun 2010 22:30

This is cool! I have about $2000 in legos.

Posted by Crt2 in United States, 08 Jun 2010 22:33

Awesome! Though Not For Me. I Get Most of My Sets from Borders for 33%-40%. If I Didn't Do That, I Would Have Spent, $1777. :)

Posted by ZEO in United States, 08 Jun 2010 23:15

only $3081

Posted by legowomen1980p in United States, 08 Jun 2010 23:26

it's great, but what about the sets that you have MISB (MINT IN SEALED BOX) which are worth 10 times there value..

I have a couple The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit which MSRP is only $9.99 but they are selling for $120.00 plus on amazon..

Posted by ndb in United States, 08 Jun 2010 23:26

I have catalogs for 2002-now. If you need anything from that era, let me know. My Dad's in the hospital, so it could be a while for I got back to you, but I have them, none the less.

Posted by brickmatt in United States, 08 Jun 2010 23:30

$14,209 - quite a bit! I've saved a lot of catalogs over the years - I'll look through them tomorrow and see what I have.

Posted by Okay in United States, 08 Jun 2010 23:56

Woohoo! I've been wanting this feature for quite some time now, so thanks a lot for adding it! But yes, an 'enhanced collection manager' would be even better! It would also be great if there was the option to see what the collection is worth today, meaning what each set (and minifig) goes for on Bricklink. Kinda what legowomen1980p was saying.

Posted by jeffreyjrose in United States, 09 Jun 2010 00:18

$1,743... this will easily surpass $2,500 this fall with all of the great City sets and modular buildings I need to pick up...

Huw - stellar addition to the site! Keep it up with the great new features!!!

Posted by Schar in New Zealand, 09 Jun 2010 00:35

Hi, is it possible to show the US or UK (or both) prices for people that are not in a region that you have pricing for?

I shudder to think what I have spent on my collection, but some indication would be very interesting (damn those UCS sets).

Posted by RohanBeckett in Australia, 09 Jun 2010 01:51

Can you at least turn it on, in US Dollars, for the rest of the world?

I'm in Australia.. and I know it won't be accurate, but it'd be fun to see!

RB

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 09 Jun 2010 02:14

@Rohan, OK, will do.

Posted by mo123567 in United States, 09 Jun 2010 02:41

Nice feature but I swear to never look. Some things are better left as mysteries.

Posted by Superkalle in Sweden, 09 Jun 2010 03:17

Firstly, it could be a good idea to use NPV (net present value, aka inflation compensation), so that the cost of older sets reflect todays value. Otherwise sets you bought a long time ago will appear cheaper than the ones you got today.

Secondly, why are not prices shown if you're not in the US or UK? My country is determined by IP adress. I think it would be nice if I myself could decide wether I want to see this information, and if I do I could simply use a currency converter to get a rough figure of the value in my currency. And don't forget there are also cases when US or UK citizens live abroad ;-)
So I guess my proposal is: Show both the US and UK value and people can themselves use the information as they see fit.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 09 Jun 2010 03:46

@everyone, OK, I will tweak it later to show both figures to everyone regrdlesss of your location.

Posted by thomsedavi in New Zealand, 09 Jun 2010 06:29

To be honest, I don't think I'd WANT to know how much money I've spent on Lego over the years... but it's a good feature just the same.

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 09 Jun 2010 09:46

Schar-dude you cant just swear like that. i know several little children who go on this site daily. this is a kid-friendly site which means there shouldn't be any swearing, and it wouldn't hurt to say,''darn'' instead of what you said.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 09 Jun 2010 10:14

@itsaturkey, we've been through the 'D' word arument many times here before. Unfortunately in every other English speaking country it bears no special significance or weight and is in everyday usage. It is therefore acceptable to use it here: I appreciate a large percentage of the audience is from NA and may be offended, but I can't really prevent those in other countries using it. 'Darn' is not a word we use.

Posted by grelb32 in United States, 09 Jun 2010 10:36

$1,035, but I calculated what I actually paid, and the total came to $815, as I've gotten a bunch of sets discounted via Walmart or Toys R Us sales...

Posted by DrathMaul1997 in United Kingdom, 09 Jun 2010 11:00

well, i like it, but it's scary :)

i Buy a lot of stuff off ebay tho so it's not that bad...

Posted by FizzleMeSexy in United States, 09 Jun 2010 13:33

Could you turn on a price check for the 'sets you want' section? Who cares if it's not accurate for the discontinued items, aren't you currious to see how much you need to save up?

Posted by iabstract in United States, 09 Jun 2010 13:41

lol @ yellowcastle. I was going to ask the same thing. Last thing I need is for my wife to see how much my collection costs.

Posted by Xiaolong in Belgium, 09 Jun 2010 14:21

Hello Huw, Please no DataDump or my system will get overloaded. What do you mean with the suffix? I would just use the same number as they use in the catalogue. Where to would I've to send it.

@ allmost everyone: why are you all so surprised? I've an Excell sheet with all my sets, paid price, shop and city where I bought it and two years ago I added year of release and number of bricks when I discovered Bricklink.
My wife knows everything. Every hobby costs money. Other people go to a sports game, eat hamburgers and drink beer. Their money is gone but my very first train, 721, is still running.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 09 Jun 2010 15:16

Huw PLEASE provide the option not to display this info when people are looking over your shoulder! :-)

Posted by aaronptrck in United States, 10 Jun 2010 11:35

45295 pieces totalling $3,888.... My parents say it should all have gone towards my college education....right :p

Posted by madaboutlego in Ireland, 10 Jun 2010 15:09

It's not working in Ireland, or is it me doing something wrong?
It's a great idea and really would like it in Sterling as most of our buying is in Northern Ireland or from LEGO UK and of course Ebay.

Posted by madaboutlego in Ireland, 12 Jun 2010 16:41

Working now, In dollars but thats ok.
Think better go and have a chat with the insurance company!!!
Many thanks, a great new item to an already great site.

Commenting has ended on this article.