There are LEGO hauls… and then there are LEGO avalanches. Tonight’s haul in Ashbourne was firmly in the latter category.
At exactly 6:30pm, we arrived to collect what was billed as “a few Technic sets and some LEGO plastic storage boxes.” What awaited us was a three-box mega-load of bricks spanning over 70 identifiable LEGO sets, not to mention four serious Technic machines and a generous helping of collectible mini-figs. All this, for €450.
But was it worth it?
Let’s break it down, set by set, theme by theme, and see whether tonight’s haul deserves a coveted place in the pantheon of Redmond’s Forge pickups.
📍 The Journey to Ashbourne
The evening air was warm, and the sky over the M2 held that golden blue hue of a perfect LEGO hunting evening. Darren in the front, Luke (7) and Rose (4) in the back, each theorising what the mystery boxes might contain.
Would there be instructions? Would the sets be complete? Would there be any pirates? Or dragons?
What we found was beyond our expectations.
🔧 The Technic Titans
The first thing to catch our eye? Four fully assembled LEGO Technic builds:
- 42123 LEGO Technic – McLaren Senna GTR
- 42137 LEGO Technic – Formula E Porsche 99X Electric
- 42138 LEGO Technic – Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
- 42120 Rescue Hovercraft
- Plus some smaller, more recent Technic favourites, all with instructions!
- 42010 Off-Road Racer
- 42090 Getaway Truck
- 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R
These seven alone would be valued at over €200 second-hand if complete. The Ducati alone commands €60–80 in very good condition. For Technic fans, this is serious value and a promising start.
🏙️ LEGO City: A Department-Worthy Collection
What followed was a cascade of LEGO City sets. And not just recent ones, this was a chronological journey from early 2000s gems like:
- 7248 Digger
- 7631 Dump Truck
- 3179 Repair Truck
- 4201 Loader and Tipper
…all the way up to modern LEGO City icons like:
- 60097 City Square (with its 10 instruction booklets!)
- 60204 Hospital
- 60130 Prison Island
- 60161 Jungle Exploration Site
- 60092 Deep Sea Submarine
Across the boxes, we found over 50 different LEGO City sets, almost all with their instruction manuals in good to very good condition, many of them multi-book builds. The quality of this portion alone is enough to begin mapping an entire City district in our LEGO Museum, and I am thinking that we can even build the districts based on the hauls and have them laid out on a map of Ireland – with them placed where we collected them from.
💣 The Licensed Polybag Gold
Tucked among the rubble was a surprisingly complete collection of licensed poly-bags, such as:
- 30162 Marvel Super Heroes – Quinjet
- 30165 Hawkeye’s Avenging Cycle
- 30210 Frodo with Cooking Corner
- 30211 Uruk-Hai with Ballista
- 30130 Pirates of the Caribbean – Mini Jack Sparrow Boat
These tiny sets, often forgotten or undervalued, have become increasingly collectible. They’re hard to come by in good condition with instructions, and the fact they were included here is a lovely bonus.
⛏️ Minecraft, Creator, and Hidden Gems
A full Minecraft mini wave was in the lot too, including:
- 21113 The Cave
- 21126 The Wither
- 21129 The Mushroom Island
- 21130 The Nether Railway
These Minecraft sets (all with instructions) have grown in value steadily and add a welcome blocky aesthetic to our shelf displays.
We also found:
- 31076 Creator Daredevil Stunt Plane (with alternate builds)
- 70113 LEGO Legends of Chima CHI Battles
- 76900 Speed Champions Toyota GR Supra
And, charmingly:
- 5489 LEGO Large Brick Box — a classic red tub we didn’t expect to see again!
🎭 Minifigures & Mystery Bricks
And then came the mini-figures. Confirmed finds include:
- LEGO Minifigures Series 11
- LEGO Minifigures Series 15 x2
- The Simpsons Series
These collectible figs always find a place in our Redmond’s Forge display units, and may well turn up in future Saturday Sorting adventures.
Among the final finds? A hodgepodge of bricks from Mega Blocks, Oxford, and other clone brands, character building, mixed in with LEGO parts. These will be filtered out and placed in a different section, but they do reinforce the sheer weight of the haul, literally and figuratively.
📦 Condition Report & Presentation
Each set will need to be bagged, grouped, and layered with its instruction booklet in relatively neat piles. A few loose tiles and missing mini-figures will require some backfilling, but overall, we’re estimating 99% completeness across the board.
That’s an incredible score for a mixed private sale.
💰 The Verdict: Was This Haul Worth €450?
Let’s conservatively value it:
- Technic Sets (7) – €200
- LEGO City Sets (50+) – €900
- Minecraft/Creator/Speed Champions – €150
- Polybags & Minifigs – €80
- Misc. Bricks & Bonus Items – €30
Estimated Total Second-Hand Value: €1,350+
Purchase Price: €450
Percentage Return: Over 3x value
That’s not just worth it. That’s a score.
This is a haul that will power future displays, dioramas, trades, and builds for months to come. And the value of having instructions for almost every set is immeasurable when cataloguing, restoring, re-boxing, and reselling.
📷 Coming Soon
We’ll be doing individual breakdowns of some of the key LEGO City builds from this haul in future posts, including time-lapse rebuilds and placement within our LEGO City layout at Redmond’s Forge.
Stay tuned also for a LEGO Technic Showcase, where Darren, Luke, and Rose test out the mechanics of the Ducati, the Hovercraft, and the Off-Roader.
👨👧👦 Final Thoughts from the Car
As we loaded the boxes into the car, Rose whispered:
“Is this our biggest haul ever?”
It might be. It’s certainly among the most complete.
And for €450, it just might be the best value.
