Will ds regret getting rid of legos?

[Just Kate]

Ds is 15 years old and we are working on cleaning out his room. He still has LEGO sets (mainly Star Wars and a very cool Harry Potter set) that he wants to get rid of. He was never super into legos, he just built each set once and displayed them in his room, so they aren’t as meaningful to him. However, I am feeling nostalgic and not so ready for him to get rid of them. 

What says the Hive? Should I pack them up and keep them for a while or just let him get rid of them? The set that I’m most sad about is the big Harry Potter set that is no longer made. Ds bought it with all of his birthday money from eBay several years ago. He was so excited about that set. 

(On another note...letting my kids grow up is hard!)

[Guest]

We packed up a good part of DD's legos and put them in the closet-I still have one set of bins out because they're useful for tutoring and the younger kids in the STEM group do still build. I figure that if she ever really wants to put in the work, she has a lot of money in legos if she wanted to sell them.

 

[Okra]

I would try to find a younger person he knows that might find joy in these Legos.

Then, you could feel that it is going to someone who has joy with them instead of just boxing them up.

[Arcadia]

I’ll keep for him. My kids were ambivalent and I kept them. My brother’s 7 year old daughter is now interested in Lego and my brother asked me to loan and/or give some to his daughter 🙂

[Ausmumof3]

I’d hang on to them but my kids have played LEGO a lot so there’s that.  If you don’t want to get rid of them you can keep them but just accept that you’re keeping them for you not him at this point so you don’t get upset if he never decides he wants them.

[Loowit]

My brother regretted getting rid of his.  My DH regretted that his mom got rid of his.  We are  hanging on to ours.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm still sore that my father would only let me play with the Technic Lego a few times because he was saving it for the boy. The boy never really played with Lego, unlike the GIRL here. So I think I'd buy the Lego off him because I have Lego trauma. 🤣

[elegantlion]

My ds is almost 22. He kept his. Many of them were Star Wars sets that are in various stage of completeness now. He has displayed on his bookshelves. 

 

I held veto power of a few of his toys. Lego was one we agreed to keep, along with some mini diecast construction equipment and Thomas trains. The Hot Wheels he was ambivalent about, but I wanted to keep those. 

[mlktwins]

My boys are 13 and we are keeping theirs.  They don't want to keep much, but they are wanting these.  I'm working on making sure the sets are complete and boxed up.  They are continuing to display a few.  We have plenty of storage in our unfinished basement though so space isn't a factor.

[gstharr]

He needs to check value of any full sets before getting rid of them. Many of the larger set are quite valuable. On one of my thrift excursions, I picked up an Emerald Night Train (10194). Box was opened and only one of 7 or 8 packs of pieces had been opened.  All parts, especially figurines,  are there.  This seems to be a sought after kit. About $250-300 as is. 

[Calm37]

A little farther out than most of you. We kept every single last one of them in a huge cabinet in my laundry room. My kids are 21-31 now. It has easily been over 10 years since anyone has actually played with them. My first granchild is 1 month old. So . . . you may be storing them for a good long time!

[gardenmom5]

complete sets - I would sell, or hold onto them.  I wouldn't just give them away.

 

my kids have forbidden me from getting rid of lego.  other stuff, they don't care about.

[Arctic Bunny]

I would let him sell them and recoup the money...

[Sherry in OH]

If he wants to sell them, I'd let him.  If he just wants them out of his room, do you have ample storage space?  Yes - box them up and save them for future grandchildren (or until your nostalgia wanes).  No - keep the special Harry Potter set and find new homes for the remaining sets.  

[lavender's green]

MIL kept all of DH's legos, then gave them all to us, because they are preparing to move. We regret taking them in (along with everything else she saved). It was cute at first, to have Daddy's legos and old toys to play with. But DH is not particularly sentimental, and the kids prefer the modern sets, things they've read the books/seen the cartoons of, not what was around way back when. Now we just have too many legos, and most are in the attic.

But speaking as a Mommy, I'd probably hold onto them too, as long as I had the storage space. :)

[fairfarmhand]

MY brother is 39 and still regrets getting rid of his.

[KidsHappen]

I got rid of all of our Harry Potter sets and I deeply regret it. It would cost $1000 or more to replace all the ones we had and now I have grandchildren that would probably love them. 

[Garga]

Put the pieces in one big ziplock bag with the instruction book.  Toss in the attic.  Pull out if you ever get grandkids.  

Lego, Playmobil, and Thomas trains are the three things I keep for grandkids.  

[Ali in OR]

I'm glad that the gift tags from the Lego sets that Santa brought over the years always had my name on there in addition to the girls (Santa knows I love legos) so they don't get any ideas about legos being THEIR asset that they get to sell any time they want a little money! We are not selling any legos. I love all of the sets--many Harry Potter sets, the medieval village and castle, and now some winter ones that go out with the Christmas decorations. I will keep all legos unless and until I have grandkids that need them. I imagine Harry Potter legos will be popular forever as new generations fall in love with the books.

[happi duck]

I have kept some toys my kids don't care to keep because they are sentimental to me.

Dd(ya) regrets giving aways her Barbies *but* readily admits she would have gotten rid of them many times over if she had kept them initially.

I vote to hold on to them for yourself and perhaps your ds will be relieved later that you kept them.

[klmama]

1 hour ago, happi duck said:

I vote to hold on to them for yourself and perhaps your ds will be relieved later that you kept them.

This.  I've kept the toys I wanted to have here for the grandkids to play with.  If my dc want to take them to their own homes, that will be fine, too.  

[Carrie12345]

I’m about to turn 42 and am in a serious decluttering phase, and yet MY Legos stay. (The kids’ too, but my point is that I still adore them, lol.). Because of my decluttering, I’m preparing to pack them up but I’m still keeping them.  Eventually, I’ll either have a house with a fun room to put them in, grandkids to hand them down to, or a respectable ROI.

[LisaKinVA]

You'll have to pry LEGOManiac's out of his cold, dead hands.  He still plays with his... My husband was upset his mom got rid of his.  I'm not sure how PokeMan will feel. My girls would also be horrified if I got rid of theirs.  So -- I will be keeping all of our LEGOs, at every age (Mega Blocks -- the big ones for the Toddler crowd; Duplos; and the small, foot-killing things that have littered my house for nearly 15 years.

[Chris in VA]

We never had legos. Sacrilege on this board, I know. We do have books, though, and I kept quite a few that the kids were ready to part with. They basically gave them back to me. I think it's the same with many things, and yeah, it's connected to not wanting to let go of what reminds us of the childhood years, for many people. Nothing wrong with keeping or with letting go. But--are they truly his? Because if they are, you have to let him decide. And I think, you don't get to continually express disapproval for his decision, because that's not being supportive and kind. Once, of course. But not over and over. So, figure out if they are his, let him make the decision, express your feelings once, move on. 

[DawnM]

I don't allow my kids to get rid of legos.  I know we will regret it if we do.   What we DO need to do is put back together some lego sets that got broken apart and put in the huge bin of legos.  Sigh.

[El...]

No way! My kids love"Grandpa's Legos!"

[Hilltopmom]

My oldest sold a few of his big “stayed on the shelf getting dusty” kits to another homeschooling family to raise some cash a few years ago. (The big pirate ship)

But we still kept bins full of smaller kits/ vehicles and a big tub of mixed pieces. Those are fun now for the younger kids and anyone passing through. (We has also inherited dh’s Tub of mixed pieces from his mom’s house)

If he’s not attached, I’d sell those display only sets- but do your homework and sell for a good price so it’s worth your while. Harry Potter legos are a big deal again & he could probably get some $.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Hilltopmom

[mumto2]

My best friend never had children but her LEGO collection has been popular with many children......including mine.  She has shared them freely with so many kids.  She has/had a huge number of figures and mine occasionally were allowed to pick of favorite for their collection. ❤️

Honestly I would find a storage place if he just wants them gone because someday he may want to share them with another child.  Or just someone.........my elderly neighbor loved putting LEGO kits together after his vision problems meant jigsaws were difficult.  Fortunately he had grandkids that loaned him their sets.

[Night Elf]

My ds is 22 and has lots of sets and loose bricks and minifigs. We were just asking ourselves the same question. I found a guy who buys Legos in bulk so he'd take them off our hands but he couldn't quote a price until he saw what we had. It could be several hundred dollars though. So we talked about the money. Is that money worth getting rid of something that gave him pleasure for 20 years? We couldn't answer it so we decided to keep them for now. Perhaps if I have grandchildren they might like them. Or maybe another opportunity will present itself to get rid of them. But for now they're well packed in ziploc bags with the instructions and we've stored them in our attic. I told DH I just hope nothing happens to them being up there. He seemed to think it would be okay since they're well sealed. We'll see.

[vonfirmath]

My parents held onto my childhood Lego. For the most part... I'm ambivalent. It doesn't mean to me now what it did then and my kids, while liking Lego, are not that interested in my childhood Lego

[mom2scouts]

We have so many Legos. My 16 year old sometimes still pulls them out and builds with them, so they're definitely staying. I plan to keep all the Legos and have the Grandma Motherlode of Legos at my house someday.😂

[Arcadia]

8 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

Nothing wrong with keeping or with letting go. But--are they truly his? Because if they are, you have to let him decide. And I think, you don't get to continually express disapproval for his decision, because that's not being supportive and kind. 

 

There were things I like that are my cousins. I just let my cousins know so that I get first dibs if they want to sell or gift them away. 

If my kids wanted to sell their stuff which I want to keep, I could offer to buy the stuff off my kids. None of their stuff are collectors items so the likelihood of someone offering a high price is low.

[LisaKinVA]

27 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

It's up to you if you want to keep them for nostalgia.  I have a young friend who sold his Star Wars and Spiderman sets to fund his first camera.  He's 22 now and is well on his way to making it as a professional photographer.  He changed one passion into another.  

Me, I have 4 13-gallon totes of Legos and Bionicles in the garage.  In doing research, I found a guy who offered me around $5,000 sight-unseen.  But they are not mine to sell.  DS says he wants the Bionicles but not the Legos.  He was pretty active with them when he was a kid.  If we ever sort through them all, I will probably keep the train sets.  We used to set up a train every Christmas and that was a lot of fun.

 

Bionicles.. oh the Bionicles... we have the movies on our media server...the song is on my spotify account... my DOG is named after a Bionicle.  

[historically accurate]

It's really up to you if you want to give up space in your home for LEGOs. Is it worth it to you? Only you can decide that. 

Personally, I am hoping to downsize greatly once the kids are off to college, so I'm not willing to keep old toys. I will want to buy new if I ever have grandkids. So far, the only toy my kids have saved they don't currently play with (they're 17, 13, and 12) is American Girl. In fact, I have a box of LEGOs to send to Goodwill in the pile - my 13 and 12 year olds purged some just this morning. I do, however, have to pry picture books out of their hands sometimes, even if it wasn't a beloved one.