What to Know
- A rare 14 Karat Lego brick was sold to an American collector at an online auction for nearly $20,000
- The golden bricks were given out to a select few Lego employees who clocked 25 years with the company between 1979 and 1981
- The most expensive Lego set is the Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon, which goes for about $4,800
There are certain toys some people never outgrow. For one American collector, it's Legos.
A 14-karat Lego brick was sold to an American collector for $19,793 by online auction house Catawiki Wednesday night. The brick weighs less than a tenth of a pound and is the same size and shape as the original version.
The big-ticket brick belonged to the uncle of an Italian business partner who helped the company establish a market in the country in 1980.
Between 1979 and 1981, Lego gave the golden bricks to a select few business partners and employees who clocked 25 years with the toy-maker. No more than 10 of these rare slabs exist worldwide, according to the international auction house.
It's been over five years since one of the highly-coveted bricks was on the market, when it was sold for $15,000 in 2012. Not even the most expensive lego set can compare: Lego's "Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon" is valued at only $4,729.
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The world's third-largest toy manufacturer was founded in 1932 in Denmark as a small carpenter's workshop.
Legos aren't the only highly coveted collectibles. A collection of rare Star Wars toys netted Tomoaki Nagao, the Japanese designer behind luxury street-wear brands Billionaire Boys and A Bathing Ape, a cool $505,202 at a 2015 auction held by Sotheby's New York.
