Back in April 2013, when the very first LEGO Minifigures Series 10 LEGO Mr. Gold minifigure hit the aftermarket and immediately sold for over a thousand dollars, I was astonished. I was absolutely certain that the early super high prices of the LEGO Mister Gold minifigure were just an aberration and prices would quickly crash back down to $100 or so. That really does not seem to be happening. So I guess this begs the question of: Why isn’t the price of the LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigure Coming Down?
LEGO Mr. Gold is by far the most limited figure produced thus far for the LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series, but even so, LEGO produced a healthy 5,000 Mr. Golds. A limited edition of 5000 is a huge number, well beyond the edition size that most toy companies produce for convention and store exclusives, limited products, and high-end items.So you would think–you would just think–that after being out in the wild for over a month, the price of Mr. Gold minifigures would be way, way down. But unless you consider selling regularly for $500-$700 on ebay to be “way down”, that has not occurred.
After a lot of careful thought and analysis, I’ve come up with a short list of reasons that I believe the LEGO Mr. Gold minifigure is still selling for ridiculous amounts of money on the aftermarket…
1) Not Every LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigure is Being Found By Collectors
This is a very important reason that I think a lot of LEGO collectors are forgetting: while there are 5000 Mr. Gold minifigures out there, not everyone who finds a Mr. Gold minifigure is going to be a collector. The scary fact is that tons of parents and grandparents who don’t know the first thing about a “super-rare limited edition figure” are buying their kids and grandchildren LEGO Minifigures Series 10 blind bags that just may end up containing Mr. Gold minifigures. Unless you’re in tune with the “collecting world”, it would be very easy to have that LEGO Mr. Gold minifigure end up drowned in a sandbox or at the bottom of a toddler’s toy chest. As tragic as it is, a pretty substantial number of Mr. Gold LEGO minifigures are going to end up being lost or forgotten about by children who have no idea what they have.
2) There Are Way More Than 5000 LEGO Minifigures Series Collectors
LEGO is not a niche collectible. It’s not hyperbole at all to say that there are millions of LEGO collectors in the world. LEGO isn’t something that wanes in popularity like certain action figure lines, dolls, and plush toys–LEGO has been popular for decades and will remain so for many decades to come. In short, that means that there’s a lot of competition out there for finding the LEGO Mr. Gold minifigure. It’s not impossible–I know Moms and teens and fellow collectors that have located Mr. Golds already–it’s just very, very difficult. Considering the sheer amount of time, energy, and gasoline that can be spent searching for a Mr. Gold LEGO Minifigures Series 10 figure, for some people, paying $500+ online really is a better deal.
3) The Majority of the LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigures Have Not Been Found Yet
This is probably the most encouraging fact for LEGO Minifigures Collectors–that there’s still time and still hope if you’re searching for Mr. Gold! As of writing, only 673 of the 5000 LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigures have been reported to LEGO as found and placed on the official “Where Is Mr. Gold Found?” map. Even if only 1 out of 3 people who find Mr. Gold register theirs as found, that still leaves close to 3,000 Mr. Gold figures unaccounted for. So where are all these missing Mr. Gold figure sightings?
LEGO Minifigures Series 10 is meant to have a four month shelf life, as LEGO only released three LEGO Minifigures Series sets per year. With LEGO Minifigures Series 11 released in September 2013, that means we still have nearly three months with the LEGO Series 10 Minifigures on the shelves. That means that that there are still thousands of unopened boxes and cases of LEGO Minifigures Series 10 sitting in warehouses, storerooms, distribution centers, and so forth. Hopefully, someday those Mr. Gold figures will be found and hit the market, causing the crazy secondary market prices for Mr. Gold to plummet.
What do you think, LEGO Collectors? Do you expect the price of the LEGO Minifigures Series 10 Mr. Gold to come down, or do you think it will sell for hundreds of dollars forever?
Related Posts:
LEGO Minifigures Series 11 Released in United States Stores!
LEGO Minifigures Series 11 Figures Fully Revealed & Photos! 71002
LEGO Minifigures Series 11 Photos: Yeti Welder Lady Robot & More!
LEGO Minifigures Series 10 Mr. Gold Found!
LEGO Simpsons Minifigures Series 71005 Released Early!
2013 LEGO Minifigures Series 10 & Mr. Gold Official Release Date
I hate to admit it, but I almost kinda want one after discovering how rare they truly are…
You forgot the number 1 reason….There are a whole bunch of SPECULATORS out there who wants to flip it for big bucks. Whenever the “limited” description comes up in promoting a product, those who want to get rich quick will search for it, which drives up the price even more….when they realize that they cannot unload these “limited” (how can 5000 actually be limited?) items for huge bucks, those who are holding on to their items will quickly sell them at discounted prices, which will drive the price down to regular levels. In ancient times, tulips (yeah, the flower) were selling for as much as a small sized lot because of speculators…Those who wanted to make a ton of money snatched tulips by the truck load hoping to sell them later on, which drove prices to unrealistic levels. Some of those who invested, hoping to flip their tulips for huge profits had a healthy return…but those who held on to them longer before the product’s price crashed got burned and some even lost their entire savings. And here is the reality of this…a minifigure, much like the tulip, is just a collectible. It’s not actual gold with intrinsic value. It’s not useful like say a medicine for cancer. It does nothing. It’s just a thing one collects, nothing more, nothing less. It’s worth whatever a person is willing to pay for it. So now, yeah, it’s worth over $1000, because the craze hasn’t died down…yet. But here is another truism about collectors…they are a fickle bunch. In 5 years time, no one will care about Mr. Gold if Lego all of a sudden decide to release Mr. Platinum limited to 2000pcs. Even if Lego doesn’t release a hypothetical Mr. Platinum, those searching for Mr. Gold now will no doubt search for something else in a few years, and all of a sudden, people will be less willing to pay $500, let alone $1000 for it. i’m not saying it’s actually worthless…but sooner or later, prices will taper off, because it’s really just an obscure figure. It’s not like it’s an established character with an existing fan-base because of tv shows, comics, or even a novel. Mr. Gold is just a character (without a backstory whatsoever) designed to be a premium figure in Lego Series 10, that’s it. Is it like a Mego Action figure? No. Those Mego action figures feature characters from comics, movies, and tv shows which have fans before the action figures. Mr. Gold’s “collectors” do not extend beyond the Lego collectors, which, as many of there are, they always want the next best thing.
Another reason…it’s a status symbol. It’s a stroke of genius that Lego would have people who found Mr Gold to register in their website with a VIP Code…people want to belong in an elite group. It’s the same reason why a bunch of clueless rich chicks pay $10,000-$50,000 for an Hermes bag. If you look at the bag, it’s nothing special. It’s not more sturdy, nor does it have more feature than a regular well-built bag. It doesn’t stand out in any way, except maybe that it has a lock and key dangling with it. But people pay those unrealistic prices because A) it’s a limited item, B) there is a waiting period, and not everyone is “awarded” a bag, so if you get one, you’re part of the elite…supposedly…and C) the famous actresses and celebrities have them, so owning one will make you feel like a celebrity. It’s all marketing, and people confusing want from need.
who says the majority of the 5000 haven’t been found yet ? don’t forget not everyone may care for the lego website or for entering that they’ve found one….
5000 mr. gold produced but shipped all over the countries that sells lego’s think about it,how many people are in to lego’s all around the world and compare it to the number of mr. gold produced?if the answer is less than 1% then it’s really rare..it’s not a common figure you’ll find on a regular basis THOR_THE_MIGHTY_GUY,and besides it’s your money they’re spending.