Are Lego Licensed sets worth it for me?

The opinion piece I will be putting down here on this sheet of virtual paper came about when I was building my Star Wars Cryo Chamber set last week, one of the new releases for 2016.

As I placed the build on my desk for a few weeks of disply before it`ll end in the `to break apart` box... I thought `why did I get this?`.

Now, I am not saying that because I think it is ugly or such, but just from the viewpoint of building with it, or it`s parts, somewhere down the line, in a future far far away.

You see, as you`ll all know, I`m a historical man.  My wargaming centred mostly around fantasy and the old times (up to and including the ACW), and I find for myself that moc`cing in these settings makes it feel more `natural` for myself.  But somehow, when wanting to build in more modern times for a MOC, like current day for Superheroes, or more futuristic for Star Wars, I tend to `lock up`.  I can`t manage to have sleek lines and aerodynamics on a spaceship, it is just not in me.

So what does all that has to do with the licenses then?  Well, they are sets that contain parts for, and invite to build for, those era`s after all.  Their unique pieces are as a general rule of thumb made for those settings.  The minifigures are unsuited for the older ages.

Which makes it not at all intresting to me... and if I went for fun to calculate the actual price of the elements and figures ratio, they are perhaps waaaaay to expensive for the useful parts I can recuperate out of them.  The figures tend to end up in my `for trade for` box anyways.

Now mind you, I don`t mean that I hate licenses at all, both the Tolkien series remain my favorite license, the Ideas Doctor Who set will be on display for a looooong time, as will the construction figure Vader or UCS R2-D2.  I mean those small, regular sets like for example the Carnage SHIELD attack I buildreported last week on.  This small set costs about a third more then a Creator set of the same size, has fewer elements and even less `usefull` ones for me personally.
Agreed, we all know the figures in those licenses are the true stars (okay, perhaps except Jurassic World, there it are the dinosaurs) and they tend to become quite valuable.

But this is getting me to the realisation I meant.  Why the heck am I buying them?  Yes, I was grown up on comics, and yes I am attracted to them due to the figures themselves, like so many, but after a short while, those figures just stand on a plate to await a moc around them... that never comes to happen anyways.

If I can steer away from Technic because I really don`t have the use for all those parts, why can`t I keep doing it for Star Wars or the likes?  Why don`t I pass the sets up when I get a gift voucher or need to fill a `minimum order value` in favour of the more generic and non-Licensed sets that contain more elements?  I guess the commercial cell of Lego did a great job...

But for 2016 I`m going to be trying my hardest to change this.  I`m going to focus on the non-licensed sets, that are not near my area of intrest, while trying to avoid the pittraps of License costs.  Sure, those licensed sets are more recognisable for the outsider, as it popped up in a movie, game or whotnot, while they don`t know what Ninjago is most of the time.  But this is my collection of parts after all, and I should be focussing around what I build myself.

Does that mean all franchise is belugh for me now?  Heck NO!  Some licenses are flops and great value to be found still in discount corners of toystores, like The Lone Ranger or Prince of Persia in my case.  Some licenses are just suited for the things I like building myself, like Harry Potter or Pirates of the Carribean.  Some sets I will just be buying for a figure and part out the rest still, the new Harley Quinn set coming to mind here mostly...

But the general `plan` I have drafted for myself in 2016 will be more to trade away limited edition and franchise figures for figures I actually `want` myself, and with want I should say `will be using in the future` in builds.  Maybe I shouldn`t break the seales just yet on those I still have to build (YEAH RIGHT, laughing out loud is allowed now) and keep them aside for future exchanging.

Well, just my 2 cents on an idea I went to bed with and couldn`t sleep because the mayonaisse kept churning this night ;-)

And it`ll help in funding this guy if I can get those impulse buys under control hehehee