Return of the Legos

Last Saturday morning, my husband and kids joined me on my yard-saling trip. Usually, I only bring Maeve with me, or I sneak out by myself before anyone wakes up. Before we left, I gave each of the kids a buck. We hit a few yard sales before they were both able to find something that they really liked.  And what does Finn find?  An unopened box of Harry Potter legos. I immediately had dollar signs in my eyes. Dammit. This is exactly why I don't like to bring the kids. I know...I sound like a mean, horrible mommy. But, believe me, my house is already FILLED with lego pieces. We have enough friggin' Spongebob legos to build a life-sized Krusty Krab.

I knew that this box was worth some dough from my previous Lego experience. And it was only two dollars! Finn wanted to buy it, but the evil side of me reminded him that he only had one dollar. I told him that he could buy it if he could successfully convince Maeve to give up her dollar. Oh - too late. She had already found something girly that she wanted to buy. And so the good side of me gave him another dollar and let him buy the Legos.

As soon as we got home, I looked it up on eBay. The same unopened Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Lego set recently sold for $105. By the time I looked up the price, Finn already had the box open and started to build. By the end of the day, he finished putting together the entire set. That's okay, though. The opened box sells for $50-$60 on eBay. (I'm not selling it anytime soon. I'm not that evil.) 

Luckily, I found some things for me, although they probably aren't worth half as much as the damn Legos.  Here are my fifteen dollars worth of finds...

I love this whitewashed bushel basket with the floral lining. The homeowner said it was from the 1950's. I also found a box of old sheet music for two bucks.

Read it and weep...FREE! The homeowner told me that I could have this box of old sewing notions.

With one stipulation...

Her grandmother had lost a sentimental treasure in her sewing stuff.

If I happened to find a tooth, could I please return it to the house?

Um, yeah sure.

Thankfully, I never did find one.

UPDATED TO ADD: About the Legos...I'd love to hear what you would have done. Let him keep the Legos? Or trade it for something else?  Let me know in the comments. 

Comments

[The Queen of Fifty Cents]

Lord have mercy, I had no idea that Legos were so hot! Sheesh! Weird, isn't it, when those vintage notions are SO much cooler!

[julie]

I always love the "free" box...always the best stuff. Love your AllTop button by the way ;-)

[Colleen]

Heh. I hear you on the legos! My son is addicted. If I were to find such a set to resell I'd have to sneak it in and out of the house ;)

[Bean]

Nice finds!! I love all the old pincushions, is one of them orange velvet?! *swoon* A church is our neighborhood is having their annual "fill a plastic grocery bag" sale tomorrow, I can't wait!! I found the BEST vintage embroidery patterns there last year ;)

[sharie]

Wish I could find a box of free stuff!

[Marla]

Hi - okay, so well, I've been lurking for a bit and I really enjoy your finds. I also enjoy your "catch and release" program - I've operated for years that system too, and that's even the term I've used! (Trying not to say "kindred spirits" because that makes me sound like a creepy stalker, and I'm not. Unless you're a vintage greeting card. Then I am.)

I laughed out loud at your good side and your evil side - because I need to take my Josephine around to some sales tomorrow, and she and I often have to battle it out over vintage kewpie dolls when we find them. I have a plan though - I have a "grow-a-unicorn" foam pellet thing from the dollar store, and a pocket full of magic (jelly) beans for trades.

But I felt a pang when I read about the tooth - because I used to run the jewellery/couture department of an auction house, and while gold fillings were commonplace and I became callous to them; fillings still in teeth were often cause for shudders...but when I got the gold bridges, often with MANY teeth attached, my co-workers would hear the shriek and see the birds flying and the tumbleweeds rolling and say "Marla found a teeth again." Then I'd hide them in the fridge, biting into their sandwiches and apples.

So what a way to break the comment ice.

[Jessica K.]

You are a better person (mother) than I would have been. Seriously? SERIOUSLY...$105? If it were my son I would have given him a nice crisp $5 spot and told him to buck up.
Nice loot, too!

[Kim]

Confession time. Last year I pulled out of the barn the 100 year old snare drum I had bought for my son (age 6 at the time) at auction for $10 and put it on Ebay ($60). He's six, now seven. I thought he would never miss it and it was in the _barn_, for cripes sake. I guess you can see where this is going. I blame the disorganizd nature of the barn whenever the topic comes up...

[kim]

Oops. Please excuse that little illiteracy in my comment above. The kid whose drum I stole and sold was six when I bought the drum "for him" and is now seven. He was asking me to count change with him while I was trying to comment. I was also making polite listening noises for my 10-year-old who was reading aloud from a copy of _Chicken Soup for the Soul_ (auction box lot item). Mistakes creep in

[suzy]

That was a good yard sale day. I would have bribed the kid out of the legos, I'm such a mean mommie! xo, suzy

[tara]

oh wow... i *adore* that round mirror! and a box of free vintage sewing goodies... can it get any better than that?!?

and about the lego... i've probably have sold the unopened box... and if he still wanted a set like that, bought an opened set back from eBay... quick way to make some $$$.

[Paula Arnold]

Absolutely, I would have done the same...your child's happiness is worth much more than the money. It was the right, however painful, thing to do.

[Teena]

HA! Of course you let him buy the lego. The only thing to do is to ensure that he knows how much food, fuel other essentials etc. you could buy with over £100 dollars so that he fully understands the value of it! And who knows, one day he might decide to sell it on to trade for something else and he'll be much more sassy than the daft child who sold it to him for only £2!! (sorry I know that should be dollars but I can't find the thing on my keyboard!). Off course the next question is whether you then gave your daughter an extra dollar to make it fair - having only one child I don't have those complex situations arising - I just totally spoil one child! So I"m the worst person to offer any advice anyway!!! x

[Mary@Turkeyfarmtreasures]

Recently our family had a similar experience. It was a sealed model of the Space Shuttle Enterprise for all of fifty cents.
I told those boys they could open it if they promised to put the model together or we could sell it and potentially make around forty bucks.
There the opened box sits on their closet floor.
Next time I’ll let my business side rule.

[Ginny]

Being an ebay seller that is a tough one. I would have felt the same way you do. I'm not sure what I would have done to be honest. My kids cost me a lot of money with dance. I can usually reason with my oldest daughter & would have been able to sell it. My youngest though, most likely would have gotten the legos.

[Cheryl in California]

My eight year-old son is a Lego freak as well. However, he understands money! I would have explained to him how much WE could make if we sold it on Ebay, then split the money with him. He would have agreed in a heart beat...little capitalist!

[Grumpy]

Hey! Finn's Mommy should have sold them on E-bay for Finn. The money would make a good start on a airline ticket for Finn to come see his Grandma, and Pop pop!!! Also his Uncles & Aunts, cousins, and Ernie the dog!! I like the mirror.

[Lulu & Tutz]

Judging from the fact your son had a fabulous day w/his legos...you made the right decision! You might offer him $5 to keep track of all the pieces for the next few years so you can STILL sell it on ebay w/all the pieces intact! I guess it'll do no good at this point to think of what could have been!!! Just enjoy watching him build and play...before you know it he'll be asking for the car keys!

[nikki]

Great stuff! My 10 year old is a Lego nut too. He bought a bunch last Friday at garage sales but no boxed sets. If we had found a valuable set I would have let him buy them but offered to sell them for him on ebay and split the profits. A win-win situation!

[vintagesue of VRS]

1. Find the tooth
2. See what you can get for that on ebay
3. Give Finn that money

JK, great finds. P.S. You did the right thing

[Alicia ~ time worn style]

well I think I would have let him keep the legos, there is always another bargain on the horizon isnt there? Tough call though, and with three kids of my own, I hear you lol!!
alicia ~ time worn style

[Chantal]

Um, yep, would have tried to sell the Legos....maybe I would have told Finn that I could make good money from this set and when I did I could bring him to some cool amusement park? ( Which I would actually do...)... but then again, if I had a little Finn in my life I might not be able to resist him... he sounds like a neat kid:)

[LizG]

I'm an evil Mummy :) I would have bribed him with a £10 toy, whilst hiding the Lego for selling it on ebay. But I had no idea they went for that much?!?! I knew that the Star Wars Lego went well, but not the Harry Potter stuff - I'll be looking out for it now!

[Monica]

Awesome finds, cool blog!
~Monica

[Jill]

I must admit, I would have somehow convinced my son that he could make more money by selling the legos. 'Let mommy spend her two dollars on these and wait to see if there is something else you'd like. Then when mommy sells it for even more money - I'll give you $10.00 ! You have to make it sound exciting and even better than it really is. I've found it's all in the delivery of the message. Or - find something wrong with it, and try and convince him that it isn't that great of a deal. I know, bad mommy, but hey - someone has to pay for the braces ! My son is 18 now, and he turned out just fine :)

And I think I need to go check the attic. I think I have that set up there, along with about 5 more unopened HP lego sets. . . .see ya later !