When he was young, Matthew Fox of Black Creek imagined he鈥檇 become an engineer, which may be behind his love for working with Lego.

The 49-year-old Baptist pastor can remember the first time he opened a box containing those multi-colored piece of plastic brick.

鈥淚 saw a Space Lego kit,鈥� Fox recalls. 鈥淭hat just caught my eye. I begged and begged my parents to buy it but they just couldn鈥檛 afford it. So my grandparents bought it for me. I haven鈥檛 looked back.鈥�

READ MORE:

Giving up the hobby in his teens, he picked up the idea of investing in Lego in his 20s. He estimates he鈥檚 been wheeling and dealing Lego kits on a regular basis for about 15 years. He shows his prized piece: A gold plated 鈥淢r. Gold鈥� Lego figure, which Fox is selling for $7,000 in order to help pay for a new home for his family of nine. Lego only produced 5,000 Mr. Gold, of which Fox got his hands on a few.

鈥淚 had a hunch that these were going to be worth something,鈥� said Fox. 鈥淚 bought two from Toronto, two off of eBay and just held onto them. I鈥檝e needed money over the years, as my hobby has cost a lot. So I鈥檝e sold them off. This is my last one. Building a new house, I don鈥檛 want to get rid of him but need some insulation.鈥�

The building block toy was created in 1932 by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christensen, and has seen significant exposure as an investment over the past decade. Anchored by secondary market from auction sites like eBay and the ongoing discontinuity of sets, some have skyrocketed in price.

For example, a kit featuring the inside of the palace of Jabba the Hutt, from the Star Wars films, sold at retail for $10 when it was released in 2003; 20 years later, it鈥檚 worth over $200, an annual value growth of nearly 13 per cent, according to website BrickEconomy.

鈥淭he biggest thing about Lego investment is the scarcity. It does not flood the market,鈥� said Luke Strauer, co-founder of Brickfact, a Lego enthusiast website. 鈥淢illennials are able and willing to spend money on these nostalgic things. They get reminded of its value by having children. Unlike commodities such as gold, Lego still has a real value if you play with it or display it.鈥�

But before you go digging into your toy box to find your old Lego pieces, some business-minded individuals state that just like commodities, collectables can be a risk, albeit with a little less volatility.

鈥淭he money supply within the world has gotten larger,鈥� says Mia Maki, Associate Dean of the Peter G. Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. 鈥淟ego is a collectable, and if you are passionate about Lego you may or may not invest in it. But it may or may not appreciate in value, based on a multitude of factors such as whether or not investors may continue to be interested or engaged within the market.鈥�

鈥淭here are different asset classes. If you invest in stocks, then that鈥檚 what you invest in; if you invest in bonds, you invest in bonds. If you鈥檙e investing in Lego, you鈥檙e investing in a children鈥檚 toy,鈥� said Maki.

That doesn鈥檛 seem to bother Fox, a father of seven, who has held onto that passion from childhood, and instilled it into his children as well.

鈥淥ne of the geniuses of Lego is that Lego IS cool,鈥� said Fox. 鈥淓ach of my kids have kind of found their niche and what they like. It鈥檚 fun and encouraging and you can get your kids off a screen and build some lego. And you can be a part of that too.鈥�

Edward Hitchins
edward.hitchins@campbellrivermirror.com
Like us on and follow us on