Lego, study reveals: better to invest in bricks than in gold or stocks

Lego, as an investment, yields more than gold or shares: this is stated by a study by the Moscow Higher School of Economics based on the analysis of the prices of 2322 sets of the famous plastic bricks between 1987 and 2015, researchers are came to the conclusion that the annual increase in value is 11%: a return higher than that of precious metals, stocks, stamps or wines. The research of the Moscow institute studied the trend of the products most sought after by collectors and highlighted the strong gains that could be obtained by investing in ‘unusual goods’ – such as Lego sets, but also Barbie dolls out of the market, figurines or model cars and trains – ‘purchases that may seem less serious’ than classic safe-haven goods. On eBay, the research reports, thousands of sets are put on the market every day at prices that can guarantee earnings up to 600% per year, while from 2000 to 2015 the average return of a collectible Lego set was 12% per year, against 4.1% earned by those who invested on the London Stock Exchange and 9.6% return on an investment in gold. “We are used to thinking that people buy goods such as jewelry, antiques or works of art as forms of investment,” says Victoria Dobrynskaya, associate professor at the HSE Faculty of Economics. “Instead there are many other options, such as collectible toys. Tens of thousands of deals are made on the secondary Lego market, a huge market that is not well known by traditional investors.” Among the most sought after (and expensive) sets are the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star II and the Imperial Star Destroyer from Star Wars, but also reproductions of buildings such as the Taj Mahal. But – the study reads – even a simple character like Mr. Gold, sold in 2013 for about $ 3, can become an object of desire and be traded today for up to $ 2,000.