The older death star
Mine was the Pet Shop modular, but most of it is in pieces, unfortunately. Keep in mind, I got it for my 12th birthday, a long time ago.
Based on retail price, I have two at the $299.99 USD point:
70620 Ninjago City & 75059 UCS Sandcrawler.
Iâve definitely spent more than that on a single LEGO set before, about $400 for a nearly complete used 10030 UCS Star Destroyer (2002 version):
However, I bought that for a friend so I donât own it anymore.
The UCS Sandcrawler I didnât even buy. I won it at Philly BrickFest 2017 in the closing ceremony raffle.
It wasnât a set on my radar, and I was struggling to get money for the next college semester, so I decided to resell it no more than MSRP (actually docked it a bit since the box had damage and the side) and used the money towards my textbooks.
Shortly after that time, an AFOL I knew locally asked if I still had the Sandcrawler, because that was a set he was looking for a while. I felt bad selling it but it was for a good purpose and I promised him if I find it again at a good price, Iâll let him know.
In December 2017, I was at a LUG holiday party / meeting where we held a raffle at the end of the year. They had two copies of the Sandcrawler, one with sealed bags and without box (delivered in two large cardboard boxes), and one assembled used complete. I won the sealed bags version!
Needless to say, I contacted the AFOL and he worked out a trade with me. Everybody wins.
The following April 2018, at Philly BrickFest, he contacted me to report that the Sandcrawler I gave him had extra bags in it. Almost enough to build a SECOND Sandcrawler! He asked me if I wanted the second one back, since I had no idea there were that many pieces, and I decided to keep it this time for my personal collection. Since then Iâve nicknamed the UCS Sandcrawler the âboomerang setâ, because every time I let it go, it always returned to me. This time I thought it was worth keeping and I softened up to making space for it. Still need to inventory what it still needs but Iâd be happy placing that on my shelf because of this funny history.
As for Ninjago City, Iâve actually owned it twice now, but the AFOL I traded with doesnât have as happy a story. In 2017, I bought Ninjago City on VIP release day, shortly after I realized I had enough money saved up for it. For a while it was a set I dreamed of having but didnât consciously take the time to save for. Fifteen hours later over a weekend and it was built, the largest set in my collection. Finding shelf space was tricky but doable (not to mention fixing the top of it from nearly falling over, that darn sand green tower). Another local AFOL I was good friends with at the time wanted to trade me several older LEGO sets for Ninjago City (ones he knew I wanted for a while). This was among a series of trades we did over a year, and I figured I could always buy Ninjago City again if I wanted it for keepsake, so I accepted.
The problem was that the friendship got sour: he didnât always trade fairly, often claiming a set was complete when there were parts or figures missing, he wouldnât take no for an answer on anything we did together (even outside of LEGO), and he peer pressured me often to drink or smoke as he did. One of the worst cases of that happened at BFVA, where he asked me over and over to have a drink I wasnât interested in, until I said yes to shut him up. I sipped it a few times but every so often he mocked me for âbabysittingâ the drink, as if I took too long having it. When I eventually finished, he didnât even ask if I wanted another one - he slammed another bottle in my face. I did the most reasonable thing I could - stand up and walk away. One of the harsher examples of his behavior and persuasion around me. But when we parted ways as friends, he argued with me over text claiming I was the bad guy for being stubborn. He demanded that I return the sets he traded to me BACK to him, but never said heâd reciprocate what I traded him. With such a fallout, Ninjago City was tainted in my mind. I had no interest for a long time getting it again. Until a few months ago, one of my other AFOL friends (who WAS fair on his trades) found the set complete with box on Facebook Marketplace for half the retail price! He knew I wanted it again so he let me know about it. We worked it out where he got the experience of building the set first time, I got to keep the set, and I reimbursed him. Everybody wins.
Seems that the biggest of sets I own have the most turbulent of stories for me.
-Maniac4Bricks