Answers.Body: <p>I feel I need to represent the <strong>Classic Town and Train</strong> fans with the following sets:</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/EL8Pz.jpg" alt="6399"></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6399-1" rel="noreferrer">6399 Airport Shuttle</a></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=5006" rel="noreferrer">Bricklink items for sale</a></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>The only town monorail released by Lego and one of only a hand full of monorail sets in total.</li>
  <li>As is the case with many classic sets that are hard to find 100% complete, it includes <a href="http://www.bricklink.com/PL/6399stk01.jpg?0" rel="noreferrer">many stickers</a> that easily become lost or worn over the years.</li>
  <li>Includes at least one element unique to this set - <a href="http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2619" rel="noreferrer">2619 Red Monorail Motor Cover</a></li>
  </ul>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tli9r.jpg" alt="1490"></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=1490-1" rel="noreferrer">1490 Lego Bank</a></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=3854" rel="noreferrer">Bricklink items for sale</a></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Rare limited release set</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/PL/1490stk01.jpg?0" rel="noreferrer">Many stickers</a> unique to this set and almost impossible to find</li>
  </ul>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/RBG25.jpg" alt="7750"></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7750-1" rel="noreferrer">7750 Steam Engine with Tender</a></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=5528" rel="noreferrer">Bricklink items for sale</a></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XdWtr.jpg" rel="noreferrer">Many stickers</a> unique to this set</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=bb12v" rel="noreferrer">Red 12v train motor</a> (not unique to this set but <a href="http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=2418&amp;colorID=5" rel="noreferrer">VERY expensive as an individual part</a>)</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=4180c05&amp;colorID=11&amp;in=A" rel="noreferrer">Large train wheels</a> unique to this set</li>
  </ul>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><strong>----UPDATE----</strong></p>
  
  <p>In terms of increase in value over original purchase price as a percentage, it may be hard to beat the <a href="http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=col10-17" rel="noreferrer">Collectible Minifigs Series 10 'Mr Gold'</a>.</p>
  
  <p>From the original price of $3 to prices of $500+++ that is a seriously valuable 'set'. 
  <img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QWMDg.jpg" alt="Mr Gold"></p>
  
  <p>Only 5000 were produced and so completing a series 10 collection is expensive if you were not lucky enough to find one.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-07-04T06:25:38.280Z
Answers.Text: 7750 was also one I could think of, and indeed the [4 new ones on sale now](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=7750-1) are priced quite high (which isn't a guarantee they'll sell). By the way, although it's the only set that contained the large train wheels, these were also available as spare parts.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-07-04T16:07:11.067Z
Answers.Text: @Joubarc - Thanks, I should have mentioned the spare parts. They are also very expensive considering they are just two sets of wheels per pack.
Answers.UserDisplayName: mcqwerty
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-10-01T14:10:20.070Z
Answers.Text: Upvote because monorail
Answers.UserDisplayName: Henrique de Sousa
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-07-03T13:23:52.710Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-06-10T03:04:24.847Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2013-06-10T03:04:24.847Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: mcqwerty
Answers.Body: <p>If you look at what a box is worth compared to the original price, I would say 3724 LEGO Dragon. It went for $99, And now you can not find it for less than $350, up to $800 for a mint in box version.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-01-09T05:10:26.250Z
Answers.Text: Hi Dirk, welcome to bricks.se, nice to see you and your expertise here!
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-01-08T22:17:22.377Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-01-08T22:17:22.377Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Dirk Plug
Answers.Body: <p>There is a <a href="http://brickpicker.com">website</a> that tracks price changes on Amazon, Bricklink and E-bay in order to try to compile an index. It has an interesting page called <a href="http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/top_performing_retired_sets.cfm">top retired sets</a>, ranking sets by gain compared to initial purchase price.</p>
  
  <p>At the time of this writing it lists <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/6166-1/LEGO-Large-Brick-Box">6166-1</a> (a big tub of LEGO) as number one with 65% gain, and <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/7200-1">7200-1</a> (final duel) as number two with 31% gain. The previously mentioned <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10179-1">Millenium Falcon</a> is also on the list, with 21% gain. Seems like a good indicator.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-10-28T14:18:29.290Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-10-28T14:18:29.290Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Linus Bohman
Answers.Body: <p>I think by actual worth sometime down the road, the most valuable set will be Lego Castle 6075, known to fans as "Yellow Castle".</p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/0375.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/0375.html</a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-01-07T08:42:06.750Z
Answers.Text: Certainly sentimental value, at the moment they are going for around £150-£200, which is probably an order of magnitude more.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-01-07T08:50:06.143Z
Answers.Text: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=375-2 has some for sale
Answers.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-01-08T03:21:56.013Z
Answers.Text: Just out of curiosity: is there anything unique about this set on a piece basis?  I never followed the castle series, but it looks like I can duplicate it (mostly) with just the bricks from my collection.  Minus the stickers, of course.
Answers.UserDisplayName: LarsTech
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-01-07T01:24:30.317Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2012-01-07T01:24:30.317Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Keshav Saharia
Answers.Body: <p>There are now loads of sets which could be considered to be the most valuable. Here is a list of my choices</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>10179 UCS Millenium Falcon</li>
  <li>10182 Cafe Corner</li>
  <li>Mr Gold</li>
  <li>10196 Grand Carousel</li>
  <li>10184 Town Plan</li>
  <li>Chrome Gold C3PO (only 100 made)</li>
  <li>10189 Taj Mahal</li>
  <li>5004590 Bat-Pod (only 1000 worldwide and will surely increase in value tremendously)</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>This list is only my opinion. Value is very dependent on condition and personal preference. The best way to fully know a products value is to check completed item prices on eBay and current listings on Amazon (not as accurate). Sites like Brickpicker will give you rough prices. </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-09-30T09:21:22.787Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-02-08T02:12:25.143Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2019-02-08T02:12:25.143Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: jo69a
Answers.Body: <p>I must say, a very valuable one would be the exclusive Maersk container ship. the original 2004 set (not the 2011 reissue!) is worth a lot of money, considering they only made a handful. other than that, the Unitron Monorail can go for quite a bit MISB (Mint In Sealed Box) nowadays.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-07-03T02:08:28.150Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-09-29T23:15:37.960Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2015-09-29T23:15:37.960Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Finn Crawford
Body: <p>Which Lego set is considered to be the most valuable set to own?</p>
  
  <p>I'm not talking about the most expensive set, and clearly it has to be out of production already, but when trying to collect complete sets from LEGO history, there must be one or a group of sets that are prized possessions for collectors.</p>
  
  <p>Which are they?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-01-04T02:51:41.390Z
Comments.Text: This question seems to be more likely to be specific to a particular collector then something that would have much of a consensus. For example, Castle fans would probably value the older Castle sets more then the Space sets and a Classic Space fan would probably value the opposite. Heck, I know someone who values the Samsonite sets more then others, but that's his thing and it's interesting to see his collection.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Nathan Stohlmann
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-01-04T03:32:05.423Z
Comments.Text: @NathanStohlmann Everyone has their favorite set, but that doesn't mean it's worth a lot in the collector's market.  Some older sets are worth more than others simply because of high demand vs low supply — I'm simply interested in knowing what those sets are.
Comments.UserDisplayName: LarsTech
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-07-04T06:27:53.940Z
Comments.Text: As a rule of thumb and as can be seen in the various answers, unopened sets will usually fetch a higher price (which makes next to no sense to me, but I'm not much of a collector myself)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-11-07T09:06:23.470Z
Comments.Text: On the basis that this question appears to be devolving into a list of people posting their one or two set suggestions, and user23 has sadly moved on, I'm going to turn this into a Community Wiki and merge some of these answers.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Tags: <sets><history><investment>
Title: What is considered the most valuable LEGO set?
UserDisplayName: LarsTech
ThreadText: # What is considered the most valuable LEGO set?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-04)
  
  Which Lego set is considered to be the most valuable set to own?
  
  I'm not talking about the most expensive set, and clearly it has to be out of production already, but when trying to collect complete sets from LEGO history, there must be one or a group of sets that are prized possessions for collectors.
  
  Which are they?
  
  **Tags:** sets, history, investment
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: This question seems to be more likely to be specific to a particular collector then something that would have much of a consensus. For example, Castle fans would probably value the older Castle sets more then the Space sets and a Classic Space fan would probably value the opposite. Heck, I know someone who values the Samsonite sets more then others, but that's his thing and it's interesting to see his collection.  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 Everyone has their favorite set, but that doesn't mean it's worth a lot in the collector's market.  Some older sets are worth more than others simply because of high demand vs low supply — I'm simply interested in knowing what those sets are.  
  > **username_2**: As a rule of thumb and as can be seen in the various answers, unopened sets will usually fetch a higher price (which makes next to no sense to me, but I'm not much of a collector myself)  
  > **username_3**: On the basis that this question appears to be devolving into a list of people posting their one or two set suggestions, and user23 has sadly moved on, I'm going to turn this into a Community Wiki and merge some of these answers.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 6 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2012-07-03. Score: 9
  
  I feel I need to represent the **Classic Town and Train** fans with the following sets:
  
  ![6399](https://i.sstatic.net/EL8Pz.jpg)
  
  [6399 Airport Shuttle](http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6399-1)
  
  [Bricklink items for sale](http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=5006)
  
  * The only town monorail released by Lego and one of only a hand full of monorail sets in total.
  * As is the case with many classic sets that are hard to find 100% complete, it includes [many stickers](http://www.bricklink.com/PL/6399stk01.jpg?0) that easily become lost or worn over the years.
  * Includes at least one element unique to this set - [2619 Red Monorail Motor Cover](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2619)
  
  ---
  
  ![1490](https://i.sstatic.net/tli9r.jpg)
  
  [1490 Lego Bank](http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=1490-1)
  
  [Bricklink items for sale](http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=3854)
  
  * Rare limited release set
  * [Many stickers](http://www.bricklink.com/PL/1490stk01.jpg?0) unique to this set and almost impossible to find
  
  ---
  
  ![7750](https://i.sstatic.net/RBG25.jpg)
  
  [7750 Steam Engine with Tender](http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7750-1)
  
  [Bricklink items for sale](http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=5528)
  
  * [Many stickers](https://i.sstatic.net/XdWtr.jpg) unique to this set
  * [Red 12v train motor](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=bb12v) (not unique to this set but [VERY expensive as an individual part](http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=2418&colorID=5))
  * [Large train wheels](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=4180c05&colorID=11&in=A) unique to this set
  
  ---
  
  **----UPDATE----**
  
  In terms of increase in value over original purchase price as a percentage, it may be hard to beat the [Collectible Minifigs Series 10 'Mr Gold'](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=col10-17).
  
  From the original price of $3 to prices of $500+++ that is a seriously valuable 'set'.
  ![Mr Gold](https://i.sstatic.net/QWMDg.jpg)
  
  Only 5000 were produced and so completing a series 10 collection is expensive if you were not lucky enough to find one.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: 7750 was also one I could think of, and indeed the [4 new ones on sale now](http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=7750-1) are priced quite high (which isn't a guarantee they'll sell). By the way, although it's the only set that contained the large train wheels, these were also available as spare parts.  
  > **username_4**: @username_2 - Thanks, I should have mentioned the spare parts. They are also very expensive considering they are just two sets of wheels per pack.  
  > **username_5**: Upvote because monorail  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2013-01-08. Score: 8
  
  If you look at what a box is worth compared to the original price, I would say 3724 LEGO Dragon. It went for $99, And now you can not find it for less than $350, up to $800 for a mint in box version.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Hi username_6, welcome to bricks.se, nice to see you and your expertise here!  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2014-10-28. Score: 5
  
  There is a [website](http://brickpicker.com) that tracks price changes on Amazon, Bricklink and E-bay in order to try to compile an index. It has an interesting page called [top retired sets](http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/top_performing_retired_sets.cfm), ranking sets by gain compared to initial purchase price.
  
  At the time of this writing it lists [6166-1](http://brickset.com/sets/6166-1/LEGO-Large-Brick-Box) (a big tub of LEGO) as number one with 65% gain, and [7200-1](http://brickset.com/sets/7200-1) (final duel) as number two with 31% gain. The previously mentioned [Millenium Falcon](http://brickset.com/sets/10179-1) is also on the list, with 21% gain. Seems like a good indicator.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2012-01-07. Score: 4
  
  I think by actual worth sometime down the road, the most valuable set will be Lego Castle 6075, known to fans as "Yellow Castle".
  
  <http://www.classic-castle.com/sets/archives/0375.html>
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: Certainly sentimental value, at the moment they are going for around £150-£200, which is probably an order of magnitude more.  
  > **username_3**: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=375-2 has some for sale  
  > **username_0**: Just out of curiosity: is there anything unique about this set on a piece basis?  I never followed the castle series, but it looks like I can duplicate it (mostly) with just the bricks from my collection.  Minus the stickers, of course.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_9 on 2015-09-30. Score: 3
  
  There are now loads of sets which could be considered to be the most valuable. Here is a list of my choices
  
  1. 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon
  2. 10182 Cafe Corner
  3. Mr Gold
  4. 10196 Grand Carousel
  5. 10184 Town Plan
  6. Chrome Gold C3PO (only 100 made)
  7. 10189 Taj Mahal
  8. 5004590 Bat-Pod (only 1000 worldwide and will surely increase in value tremendously)
  
  This list is only my opinion. Value is very dependent on condition and personal preference. The best way to fully know a products value is to check completed item prices on eBay and current listings on Amazon (not as accurate). Sites like Brickpicker will give you rough prices.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_10 on 2012-07-03. Score: 1
  
  I must say, a very valuable one would be the exclusive Maersk container ship. the original 2004 set (not the 2011 reissue!) is worth a lot of money, considering they only made a handful. other than that, the Unitron Monorail can go for quite a bit MISB (Mint In Sealed Box) nowadays.
  
  
  ---
  
  