Spotlight on LEGO 10197: Fire Brigade

Back in 2007, LEGO released the first of the 'Town Modular Buildings,' set 10182, Cafe Corner.  Since that time, seven more modular buildings have been released, including the 10197 Fire Brigade in 2009.  Each set can stand alone or be used with the other modular buildings to form an entire block of LEGO buildings, with sidewalks, streetlamps and other structures found on your average city block.  Not only are these modular buildings attractive, creative and accurate in appearance, they have been highly profitable on the secondary LEGO market.  Let's take a closer look at the 10197 Fire Brigade and its 'investment' potential.

This is what LEGO writes about set 10197, Fire Brigade:

Build an authentic vintage fire station! Ding ding ding! There’s a fire in town! The fire brigade drives to the scene from this detailed and realistic 1930’s fire station. Designed to fit with other modular buildings like 10211 Grand Emporium and 10185 Green Grocer, the station features rare LEGO® pieces and innovative construction techniques. It includes a ‘30s-style fire truck, 4 minifigures, a fire-dog, an opening station garage door, and a removable building roof for interior access. It also includes 2 fully-furnished floors with fire-fighting tools, racks for the firemen's helmets, fire-pole, ping-pong table, kitchen with fully-stocked fridge, couch, bookshelf and a roof with a water tower and bell. Measures 14" (35cm) high and 10" (25cm) wide.

• Includes a 1930’s-style fire truck, 4 minifigures and a fire-dog!
• Features lots of realistic details including fire-fighting tools, racks for firemen’s helmets and even a fire-pole!
• The station house features an opening station garage door and 2 fully-furnished floors including a kitchen with fully-stocked fridge and a ping-pong table!
• Remove the roof for interior access!
• The roof is equipped with a water tower and bell!
• Fire Brigade features rare LEGO elements including bricks and plates in dark tan, 1x1 dark red tiles, a red hot dog and the 3x6x5 Belleville® arch. It also features gold fireman’s helmets, a tan hand bag and a red sliding garage door!
• Measures 14" (35 cm) high and 10" (25 cm) wide!
• Add Fire Brigade to your LEGO Town and combine it with other modular buildings like 10211 Grand Emporium and 10185 Green Grocer!

Looks like a well done and creative LEGO set, with lots of pieces and neat features.  But what about its potential as an 'investment'?  Number one, it's a 'Town Modular Building.'  That cannot be understated.  Past modulars, such as the 10182 Cafe Corner  and 10190 Market Street  have appreciated very well since the sets were discontinued.  Take a look a some values of earlier modular buildings...

SET	YEAR RELEASED	MSRP(US$)	CURRENT $(MISB)	%
10182 Cafe Corner	2007	$139.99	$874.00	524%
10190 Market Street	2007	$89.99	$844.00	832%
10185 Green Grocer	2008	$149.99	$485.00	223%

These are the three modulars that were released before 10197 Fire Brigade and look at how they have exploded in value.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this modular will also explode in value once LEGO discontinues the set.  LEGO fans love this theme and it translates into huge increases in the secondary LEGO market.

Besides the fact that the 10197 Fire Brigade is a modular building, the point that it is one of the larger LEGO sets(2231 pieces) is a huge plus.  Large LEGO sets seem to appeal to the LEGO collector/investor more than the smaller sets.  Maybe the high cost of listing fees on auction sites and the simplicity of selling one set to make 'X' amount of money instead of selling multiple smaller sets(to make similar money), makes a large set more appealing to the reseller.  The set also features rare LEGO elements, including bricks and plates in dark tan, 1x1 dark red tiles, a red hot dog and the 3x6x5 Belleville® arch, gold fireman’s helmets, a tan hand bag and a red sliding garage door, all which make it more valuable to some LEGO collectors.  This particular modular also has a vehicle in it(Fire Engine), which makes it different from the rest of the theme.

All in all, 10197 Fire Brigade is a winner in my book.  It is a well designed LEGO set that has tons of pieces(some unique to this set) and appeals to the LEGO collector/investor as well as casual LEGO fans.  The set works well with the other modular buildings and is similar enough in most respects to expect similar appreciation results.  Buy one now before they are discontinued and hit the stratosphere in the secondary LEGO market...