Yesterday marked one of the most dramatic and exhilarating online LEGO auctions I’ve ever participated in, and one that may go down in AFOL history. With BrickLive entering administration, over 200 lots from their warehouse and touring exhibition stock were put up for sale. Everything from massive loose brick pallets to towering brick-built landmarks was on offer… and the auctioneer’s gavel echoed through the internet all Tuesday long.
200 Lots. 100 Targets. 60 Bids. 4 Wins.
I entered the auction with fire in the belly and 100 lots bookmarked. Yes, 100. That’s how wild the selection was. From artistic sculptures and intricate MOCs, to trays of loose elements, lighting rigs, crates of Duplo, and entire buildings assembled from LEGO, this wasn’t your usual BrickLink browse.
When the dust settled, I had placed bids on 60 lots and come away with 4 wins that I’m genuinely thrilled about:
- A LEGO Death Star (you can never have too many Death Stars, right?)
- 6 Life Size Heraldic Banners (perfect for Redmond’s Forge’s Medieval section)
- A striking Part Tree sculpture
- A curious mixed lot of leftover LEGO builds, an Aladdin’s cave of creative reuse potential
The catch? All four are sitting across the Irish Sea in the UK. So now begins the next part of the adventure, retrieval, restoration, and integration into Redmond’s Forge.
20 Giants That Got Away
Among the most awe-inspiring items in the catalogue were 20 iconic buildings of the world, each a brick-built colossus ranging from 2 metres to 4.5 metres tall. These weren’t your average display pieces. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of bricks per build, likely weighing more than a couple of crates of Guinness.
I’d mentally set aside £1,000 per model as my ceiling price. It felt like a fair gamble. But clearly, others came ready to spend more, and they did. Some of the bids soared past the £2,000–£4,000 range, and while my heart said “go for it,” my wallet and shipping calculator screamed “stop.”
Do I regret not bidding higher? Not really.
I bid what I was comfortable with. I didn’t get carried away. And most importantly, I didn’t end up with a 4.5m brick Eiffel Tower and no way to get it through customs.
Pallets of Potential… and Pounds
Let’s talk bulk. The auction featured multi-pallet lots of 9, 10, even 12 pallet stacks of unsorted and sorted LEGO. And the kicker? Some went for as little as £10,000, a bargain on a per-brick basis if you ask me.
But here’s the thing. What would it cost to bring them back home? Ferry transport, customs declarations, VAT, storage, lifting gear? And that one corner of the warehouse where your partner draws the line! It adds up fast.
Even if I had them stacked in the Forge by next Tuesday, how long would it take to process, sort, clean, and catalogue 12 pallets of bricks?
Weeks? Months? Years?
Possibly a lifetime.
Final Thoughts – No Regrets, Just Bricks
As LEGO auctions go, this one was monumental. There were moments of adrenaline, moments of despair, and moments where I hovered over the “confirm bid” button with trembling fingers. But when it ended, I walked away with 4 lots I wanted, at prices I was happy to pay, and a whole new chapter of possibilities for Redmond’s Forge.
Was it thrilling? Yes.
Was it overwhelming? Completely.
Would I do it again? Absolutely.
The only question now is… how am I getting that Death Star, the banners, and the Tree sculpture back from the UK?
Stay tuned.
