Hard Goods: Lego Beats Gold

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By Jacob Maslow

Gold is a commodity that people have been trusting for thousands of years. This precious metal is known to hold its value even when currency tumbles. But a better investment than gold over the past 15 years is a company that you may have grown up with: Lego.

These hard blocks that kids seem to leave all over the floor has shown that they provided a better rate for your investment than gold. In fact, Lego is a better investment than the stock market and traditional bank accounts.

A look at the FTSE 100, according to analysts at Telegraph, shows that the index is not higher than it was in February 2000. The return over the past decade and a half has been just 4.1% after accounting for dividend payouts.

Lego sets that have been left in mint condition had seen a price increase of 12% annually since 2000. Even modern sets that were released just in 2014 but are no longer available are selling at a 36% percent markup. These products are quickly selling.

Prices for sets increased dramatically once they go out of production. Many sets, especially Star Wars sets, sold for less than $215 when they first were produced. The secondhand market is now buying many of these products for several thousands of dollars.

In comparison, gold investments have produced a 9.6% return annually over the past 15 years. This is still a substantial return for any investment, but it does not meet the 12% return that Lego products offer. Traditional savings accounts in the United Kingdom provide just a 2.8% return.

Analysts agree that the returns from Lego products are simply staggering, but they do warn that many of these products are fads. Investors state that while Lego has performed exceptionally, and their building blocks sets have been known to provide exceptional value, you do not want to base retirement on plastic building blocks.

Traditional investment products, such as stocks and bonds, are recommended by investors.

Top prices for any Lego set are fetched when the product has not been opened. If you keep these products in the original box and do not open them, this allows the product’s price to increase dramatically.

BrickPicker.com is an investing website owned by Ed Maciorowski. Ed states that the Café Corner is the one set that has the largest increase in price. Originally released in 2007, the set sold for £89.99 pounds, and the price today is £2,096. This is a return of 2,230%.

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