Collection Inspection: 4 Reasons to Love LEGO 75254 AT-ST Raider

As a seasoned Amazon seller, Greg Webb has sold over $1.5M in the Toys & Games category on Amazon. Greg is also the author of Toyfolio: How to Invest in and Sell Toys Like Stocks. Toyfolio is a deep dive into Greg’s approach to selling toys, including where to buy, how to know what to buy, and when to sell.

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I have been investing in Legos since 2015.  In many cases, Legos offer better returns than just about anything else. In the asset class of toys, LEGO is King.

Among LEGO, one series often stands head and shoulders above the rest…Star Wars.

With each passing year, retired Star Wars LEGO sets reach new heights. Look at any Keepa chart and the increase in price is almost always exponential.

Wouldn’t it be nice to buy undervalued sets BEFORE they retire and exponentially increase in price?

Of course! Which is why I will make a case for one I believe you should be paying attention to.

**Drumroll**

LEGO 75254 the Mandalorian AT-ST Raider. 

Here are four reasons to love this set.

#1: The Price per Piece is Very Low

LEGO sets have varied numbers of pieces. Smaller sets typically have just over 100 pieces, while larger retail sets can have close to 1,000+ pieces. LEGO 75254 has 540 pieces and costs on average at retail, $40. If we simply divide $40 by 540 pieces, we get $0.07 per piece.

I won’t bore you and break down the price per piece of the other Star Wars sets in that series, but on average, you see sets fall in the $0.10-$0.13 per piece range. Some smaller sets can be closer to $0.18 per piece. It may not sound like a lot, but a nickel difference per piece really adds up when you spread it out over 540 pieces.

If we price it at the average retail norm for other Star Wars sets, LEGO 75254 should be $54-70. In fact, upon a quick search, the only set in that Star Wars series that really beats LEGO 75254 in price per piece is LEGO 75255 (another you should be stacking) at $0.06 per piece.

#2: Speaking of Pieces, It Has Valuable Minifigs 

Minifigs are the “characters,” that come with the set. With this set you get 4: The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, two Klatooinian Raiders. You also receive three rifles and a blaster.

At the time of this post, the Mandalorian minifig itself sells for $15-25, and the Cara Dune Minifig goes for $11-17 on third party sites such as eBay. 

Note: Cara Dune and Klatooinian Raiders are all exclusive to this set. The Mandalorian comes in this set and LEGO 75292 The Razor Crest.

#3: Other AT-ST/Walker Sets Have Done Well

Star Wars LEGO is especially notorious for making similar sets to ones previously on the market. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the AT-ST/Walker in a LEGO box. Let’s look at what previous and similar versions are doing.

LEGO 75153 AT-ST Walker

MSRP of $40, retailed at $32; 449 pieces; released in 2016, retired in 2018; currently goes for $189, an all-time high.

LEGO 75201 The Last Jedi First Order AT-ST

MSRP of $32; 370 pieces; released in January of 2018, retired December 2018; currently goes for $109, an all-time high.

LEGO 75083 Rebels AT-DP

MSRP of $50, retailed for $40; 500 pieces; released January 2015, retired December 2015; currently goes for $170, with an all-time high of $200.

#4: It’s Already Shown Its Potential and Amazon Sales Rank is FIRE

Since its release, it has gone out of stock on Amazon for more than a few days six different times. Third party prices almost always double the standard $40 retail price when this happens.

Here are (the prices at) those 6 times:

1. December 2019 – It goes to $80.
2. January 2020 – It goes to $80.
3. February 2020 – It goes to $75
4. April 2020 – It goes to $80
5. May-July 2020. This was during The Great COVID-19 LEGO Shortage. It goes to $100.
6. December 2020 – It goes to $75.

During its lifetime, it has maintained a solid sales rank on Amazon. Its all-time high rank is under 18,000 in toys (that’s good).

When Amazon is in stock at $40, the sales rank is consistently in the top 1,000 (that’s very good). At the time of the writing (January 2, 2021), its rank is 99 overall in toys (insert big eyed emoji here).

That means it is selling at a serious volume. Jungle Scout estimated it sells over 14,000 units a month, just on Amazon. That does not include all other selling platforms.

Once this set retires, it has all the makings of a set that can exponentially increase in value.

Conclusion

Long story short, I’m buying it. Feel free to do what works best for you. If you enjoyed this article and found value in it, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @toyfolio.