A Goodwill store in Pennsylvania recently sold a rare LEGO piece made from gold for US$18,101 (approximately $24,400 CAD).
The one-inch (2.54 cm) tall LEGO mask could be the most expensive piece of LEGO ever sold, several American media reported.
Received mixed in a jewelry bag, the piece was first listed on Goodwill’s online auction site for just US$14.95. The excitement generated by this sale, however, quickly made Goodwill managers realize that they had a coveted item on hand.
The piece in question is a mask from the Bionicle franchise, now discontinued by LEGO. It is made of 14-karat gold and comes from a limited series of 30 copies which was distributed during a drawing in 2001. Only 25 copies were offered to the public at the time and 5 others were reserved for employees .
Its appearance on the market 23 years later created a lot of excitement among LEGO collectors, who started a bidding war.
Some reportedly offered as much as $30,000 for the part but failed to come up with the funds, said Chad Smith, vice president of e-commerce and technology for Goodwill in north central Pennsylvania. .
