Good Value Sets

Greetings. Before I get into the great value sets out there, please let me add a reminder. If you only read this blog you might be disappointed in my output. Please make sure to like and follow me on facebook, where I regularly post updates to amazing sales.  This post is a brief rundown of sets that might not be on sale, but provide you great value.

Starter Sets

These are little sets that introduce or "start" on a theme. They include 4 minifigures (sometimes three) a vehicle and another small build-able item. For example, the space starter set includes an astronaut, two technicians, and a female scientist.  The technician is driving a space vehicle, and the scientist is behind a console. You get all of these items for only ten dollars! Just for the minifigures that comes to 2.50 per figure, plus you get several vehicles or items to build. Many of them are on sale so they become an even better value! You can find swamp police, demolition, and under water starter sets that give you a good number of figures and things to build for a very small price. On top of that, many of your kids will lose pieces or get confused trying to build larger sets anyway. Save your pocket book the trouble and go with the starter set instead.

Army Builders

These are sets that are good for collectors that want to build an army. They include 4 minifigures, a catalpault, and some sort of flags or display. I bought the Legends of Chima items awhile ago. Of course, if you get several of these sets you would have an army ready to go. But even on their own, at between 6 and 12 dollars, you can get a nice little army. There are Star Wars Battle Packs that have the same items and become a very nice addition to your collection for very little cost. If you are a parent with multiple children these are a good chance to give each child their own figure.

Lego Creator

These are a line of Legos that let you build cute creatures, buildings, or machines.  They usually have a good price to piece ratio. Ten cents per piece is a pretty good standard and many of the licensed sets are way over this standard, while the creators are usually under it. On top of that, you can build three different items with same pieces, and get instructions for each.  My favorites are the very cute animal series.  I bought a dragon set that has 220 pieces. At the ten cent per price point we would expect it to be about 22 dollars. But I bought it for 15, and its on sale for 12!!! (Free shipping and a dollar credit if you choose the no rush option with prime.)  Thats almost an astounding 5 cents per piece, and you can also build a scorpion or snake. They have a cute dog and duck set, as well as bird and iguana set that are sets your kids will really like.

Time Your Purchase

The final item is to time your purchase.  If you want to spend money you should make it count. Use a credit card to get you points.  On Amazon use your prime shipping to give yourself a credit on other purchases. At Toys R Us, take advantage of their buy one get one sales. At the Lego Store make sure you are a VIP member. That lets you get a 5 dollar coupon for every 100 dollars you spend. On top of that, they have double points periods, which earns you 5 dollars for every 50 you spend, and they regularly have add on freebies. I spent 35 dollars last month, for example, and got a free Ninjago figure that I wouldn't have gotten if I bought it at another time.   And at Walmart you should be using your Savings Catcher to get and spend free money!

Part of being a ninja isn't simply the amount of money you spend or don't spend. But its also creating value with the money you do spend.  You can make wise purchases to get the most enjoyment with the money you do spend, and make that dollar stretch as far as you can take it. Good luck Ninjas!

32 Dollars of Legos for 10: Ninja Mission Accomplished!

Greetings ninjas! Earlier this month I managed to score quite a few Legos for only 10 dollars!! Here is what I got:

Here is how I did it and some ideas to consider as you shop. 

1. Free goodies:  

You'll see in the top left is a Storm Trooper Lego. This was a limited edition door gift on force Friday.  Toys R Us and many other places have these deals on a regular basis. Force Friday started Thursday night at midnight, but most of these are on Saturday mornings. They are small, and they might take some time, but they are a great way to spend time with your kids. After awhile the free stuff starts to add up. I've got a Lego door to Jurassic World, Sponge Bob in a top hat, a Frankenstein Halloween figure, and now an exclusive Star Wars piece for free!! 

2. Sales: 

The next item is a scene from the Lego movie.  It normally costs 13 dollars, but it was on sale for 6.45.  That is 50% off!! The drawback is that the movie was over 18 months ago. So if your child really really wanted a particular item from the movie this method wouldn't work. But if you can handle waiting, and don't mind getting whatever is unwanted and still in stock by then, it works out well. Me and my daughter loved the movie, but we didn't really need or want this set. So getting three mini figures (two of them main characters), and a nice little building was a good deal for us.  

3. Divide and Sell: 

We bought two very nice sets earlier in the year. The Double Decker Couch and the Angry Kitty set had all of the main characters and some nice small sets like Emmett's car for very good prices. As a result of this, we already had an Emmett and I decided to sell that figure on Ebay. With all of these good deals the market isn't too high for that figure, but I did sell him for 2.49.  If you subtract that from the original (sale) price, I only paid 4 dollars for this item!!! If you are buying for your kids this can be hard to do. I simply explain to my daughter that we probably don't need two of the same thing, and when we make money on ebay, that becomes even more money for buying Legos! You might also want to carefully consider the resell value of the product.  If you might want any set as an investment product, then its vital that you have the entire set. 

4. Reward Points: 

At the bottom you see 4 mystery bags. These are specialized minifigures that are released in groups of 16. They are fun little purchases, especially if you are good at feeling items within the bag to know what you are getting.  The current series is monster themed and we managed to find 4 that we liked. These are normally 3.99 each. But I decided to cash our my reward points at the Lego store and I payed only 6 dollars! 

You get one reward point for every purchase and after 100 dollars you get a 5 dollar coupon.  That sounds like many purchases to get there, but keep in mind that's essentially 5% off every purchase. Sometimes the Lego store has double point months, where it only takes 50 dollars to get there. (Those months usually have special exclusive products that are free when you get over 100 dollars. I'll talk about how to maximize those deals in a future Christmas strategy post.)  In double point periods it means every purchase is 10% off.  On top of that, the Lego club offers special coupons.  With any purchases in that month it automatically rewards you 100 points or 5 dollars of your next purchase.  That might sound like a gimmick to buy more products.  But when you are buying products that range from 1 dollar to 2.50, you can rack up those points rather quickly.

When all is said and done I bought 25 dollars worth of Lego products, and got an exclusive brick currently selling for 7 dollars on Ebay for 10 dollars!!! So don't blow all your money on full price Legos and end up like Chewie here.  Good luck ninjas!  I don't always create a post on this blog for every deal. So as always, please follow me on facebook to stay update on the most current deals!

Free stuff on Force Friday

This week is "Force Friday." This is a big unveiling of lots of new Star Wars toys products.  Over at Bricks and Bloks, Kurt has the run down of the lego sets you'll see.  Toys R Us has an unidentified Star Wars Poster starting at midnight. (This is a good sign that it has something to do with the new movie.) There is no word on any qualifying purchases that you make, but it seems like a door prize if you care to shop at Midnight on Friday.  

The Lego Store is having their own deal. They are offering a free C 3PO polybag. This is a special Episode VII version where he has a red arm. (I'll assume the movie will explain that.)  There is no word on the qualifying purchase, but I imagine it will be for spending 50 or 75 dollars. That sounds like a big amount, but there are lots good sets coming out, and the cheapest so far is 30 dollars.  So if you were planning on getting some new Star Wars Legos, you will likely hit that number pretty quickly, and this is a good chance to get an extra Lego or poster as well!!  Good luck ninjas, and as always, like me on facebook for more updates!

Free Lego Poster and 33% off Romans!

Greetings ninjas! I have two quick deals to tell you about. The first is a free Lego Stars Poster with any purchase from the Lego store. This includes things like the 4.99 key chains! This is a great deal if you can walk into a Lego store, find a key chain or other item sale, and avoid paying shipping. If you have to buy it online its not as great of a deal, but its a good chance to finally pull the trigger and get a Stars Wars Lego and a poster!

The other deal is from a great site called Brick Warriors. I love this site and order from here fairly often.  They are having 33% off their Roman items with the code: ROMAN33.  As I said before, the Roman Legion now costs 24.55 on Amazon. While on Brick Warriors you can buy a Roman helmet, armor, shield, and sword, for about 4 dollars without the discount.  When you lower that by 33% you can buy the extras like the plume or a spike for the shield and still pay about 3 dollars for all the items.  There are also a great number of Gladiator themed items as well. I have a pauldron (a piece of shoulder armor and a diagonal strap across the chest) and a cestus, (a spiked boxing glove) that look amazing! There is a 10 dollar minimum and some shipping, so I usually order about 10 dollars to get money's worth. This is especially good for parents with multiple children, so they can each have their really cool Roman guy or gladiator. For less than the cost of one adult movie ticket you can turn three of these guys:

Into these guys:  

Good luck ninjas! As usual, please like me on facebook for more updates!! 

50%Off Lego Mixel

Greetings ninjas. I was in the store today and found series 3 Mixels 50% off!! They are normally 4.99 which is too much for me. But I found them for 2.50 at the local Lego Store. I'm not the biggest fan of these for 4.99, but I warmed up to them paying 2.50 lol!

You can see here the great variety they have. I enjoy the blue versions a great deal. The wizard is a goofy version of some other wizards I have, and this little guy is a strangely cute addition to the Elsa advent calendar I'm making. (You know, instead of having flying monkeys Elsa can have a flying...whatever that is.)  I couldn't find any of these available online for this price, so you should check your local Lego or toy store.  Good luck ninjas! If you enjoy my updates, make sure to like me on facebook to get more notifications. 

Free Lego Star Wars Poster!

Greetings ninjas! Since May the 4th sounds a great deal like "May the force (be with you)" there are always some great Star Wars celebrations.  The Lego Store is offering a free Star Wars poster with any Star Wars purchase!! This means that you can get the free poster with something as small as a Yoda Key Chain for 3.99.  (Though if you aren't near a Lego store the shipping will add about 4 dollars.) I'm a big fan of the Micro fighters, these are mini versions of ships that normally cost a hundred dollars, but the micro version is about ten.  I'm thinking about getting the ARC fighter  but most of you will like the mini AT-AT . That little guy is so cute its tough to believe you are being invaded by the Empire!!

My daughter has attended at least two star so I'm probably buying a little key chain that I can use as a birthday present.  The poster will make a good addition to my Christmas stash. As you can see, this is a good chance for you to do some advanced shopping. These supplies often sell out quickly, so if you're interested I would hurry. Good luck ninjas!! Make sure to like my facebook page for further updates.

Lego Store Bionicle Giveaway

Greetings! The Lego Store is offering a free Bionicle product with the purchase of any item in the store. That includes this Obi Wan Kenobi magnet selling for 1.50!!!!  You simply place the product in your cart, and then the free Bionicle Hero pack is also placed there.  This means you can get two Lego products for two dollars! That kind of deal does not happen very often.  (Though if you can't make it to a Lego store the shipping will add about 5 dollars which makes this much less of a good deal.)  As you can tell from the picture, this is more of a boy toy. Though you can use this map for a variety of things such as pretending the princess castles are located there, and even come up with your own style of Lego Risk if you want! If you can make it into a Lego store this is a great chance for you to pick up some nice goodies for about the cost of a large drink at MacDonalds!

Last time Lego had an offer like this for a Star Wars AT-DP, and it sold out in less than seven days. So if you want this deal you'll have to jump on it! Good luck ninjas!