While Global Markets Crash You May Be Surprised To Learn This This Famous Kid’s Toy Holds Value Better Than Gold

Unless you’ve been living in a cave you’ve heard by now that the global markets have been plummeting over the past two days, with yesterday’s opening crash in China was the biggest plunge in the Chinese market since 2007, and hundreds of billions disappeared from the global markets yesterday as fear of China’s economy mounts. In addition to the global markets crashing the fervor over gold’s continuing plunge in value has been mounting (gold’s value is at a 5-year-low). Amidst all this plummeting value though is one diamond in the rough, one potential investment item that has yielded a higher return on investment over the past 15 years than either gold or the FTSE 100, and I’m talking of course about LEGO.

Yes, LEGO, the children’s toy made up of building blocks that’s seen a massive resurgence in popularity over the past few decades and which is now a better investment (2,230%) than both gold (9.6% annual gain over the the past decade and a half, a savings account (2.8%), OR the FTSE 100 which has yielded “average annual return to savers over the past decade and half is just 4.1 per cent once dividend payouts are included”) according to the UK’s Telegraph).

LEGO > Gold > Stocks. That’s the order of investment these days.

The UK’s Telegraph reports:

Share prices tumbled on Friday, canceling out all the gains made this year. The value of the FTSE 100 is no higher than it was in February 2000, meaning the average annual return to savers over the past decade and half is just 4.1 per cent once dividend payouts are included.
By contrast, Lego sets kept in pristine condition have increased in value 12 per cent each year since the turn of the Millennium, with second-hand prices rising for specific sets as soon as they go out of production. Modern sets are performing even more strongly, with those released last year already selling on eBay for 36 per cent more than their original price.
The analysis found none of the main investments favoured by savers matched returns on the plastic building bricks.

The largest percentage rise in price for any Lego set has been on “Cafe Corner”, a model of a hotel which went on sale in 2007. The set, which has 2,056 pieces, originally sold for £89.99 but the price has risen to £2,096 since it went out of production – a return for investors of 2,230 per cent.
Ed Maciorowski, founder of BrickPicker.com, said the top price would be fetched only if the Lego had been kept in its box, in perfect condition. Used Lego is less valuable, but can still be worth hundreds of pounds more than its original price.
Mr Maciorowski said tens of thousands of investors across the world were pushing up prices of rarer sets.
He said the growth rates would continue. “Lego investing is not hitting bubble-like status,” he said. “That is partly because the Lego company doesn’t promote the secondary market, it wants to sell direct to customers.”

Most of this information is being gathered from the website BrickPicker.com, a website devoted to the buying, selling, and investing in LEGO. So if you’re interested in ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY ON YOUR INVESTMENTS instead of just pissing it away in gold (read here to see why gold is a horrendous investment) OR just pissing it away on the crashing global stock markets, then I suggest you check out the Brick Picker forums for LEGO investing advice.

[Telegraph UK]