u/Brief_Salamander_718

I used to enjoy casually collecting HotWheels… now it feels like a full-time hunt with a tax on top.

You either:

find nothing in stores

or find everything already marked up online

or end up in bidding wars in some Insta comment section

And somehow everyone “knows a guy” who gets stock before it even hits shelves.

I’m not even mad at collectors or resellers, it's just the whole system just feels messy and unstructured.

So I’m trying to understand how people are actually navigating this right now.

Put together a super short form to get real opinions from Indian collectors/resellers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScr40k7wkqvDZcHuqCx9F3ZrW8u4NcUZTuaxOf3dRkUFTjcIA/viewform?usp=header

Would love to gather genuine insights.

Also, what’s your current strategy?
Store hunting, online resellers, or just paying resale and moving on?

Hot take: being a LEGO collector in India just sucks.

• Want retired sets? Good luck.
• Want specific parts? Pay insane import + shipping from bricklink or ubuy
• Want fair prices? Everything’s scalped.
• Want to sell? You’re stuck dealing in DMs on Instagram or WhatsApp like it’s 2015

There’s no proper marketplace here. No trust system. No structure. Just chaos.

So instead of just complaining, I’m trying to figure out what exactly is broken from the community’s perspective.

I made a quick 2–3 min survey where I would love to get real inputs from you:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4ac4d2fQEXwub_BLGi9jOqZy1Wb7dSeWnDxiVbNBD2iQkxA/viewform?usp=dialog

Also curious:
What’s the most frustrating thing YOU’ve dealt with as a LEGO buyer/seller in India?

Edit - Extremely thankful for all the responses. Please also share the form link to everyone you know who is active in this scene. Accurate data wil help us greatly in achieving what everyone wants here. Please upvote this post and share the link as much as you can.