While I wouldn’t recommend buying counterfeit Lego at any price, Anthony Tomkins has released the latest version of his somewhat satirical Communist Lego, a lengthy writeup on the best and worst of Lego clones. If you want to try something out, I'd consult this PDF first.LEGO prides itself on having a very high quality, and interconnections. You could pick a modern day piece and attach it to one from decades ago. Because LEGO has such a long history and a lot of money, they can get different IP's (Intellectual Properties, brands) that other block making companies can't pay for. LEGO has grown apart from the open ended imagination angle, but bringing all these different brands like DC and Marvel and Lord of the Rings is something only they can do, because that costs a lot of money. Yeah, this will cost a lot of money too. But only LEGO can do it.I have a unhealthy fascination with Chinese LEGO knock-offs, and we've published several articles, like this one, about the rubbish that's available in markets across the far east in the past.
I think it's because I find it incredible that the stuff, which violates so many intellectual properties, is being made at all. Brickset member woodywood currently resides in Shanghai so sees a lot of the junk first-hand. He's kindly sent me some minifig packs so I can see how bad they are for myself. Warning: this article contains disturbing images and strong language. First under inspection is JLB's (Jai Li Bo toys) Anna from Frozen. The box certainly looks attractive, and very LEGO-like. The contents, the figure and cards, are well packaged in heat-sealed bags. Unfortunately, that's all I have good to say about it. Once you open the packet it's immediately apparent what rubbish this is. Now, when I watched Frozen I'm sure Anna was a fair-skinned girl with what the Disney wiki calls 'long strawberry-blonde hair' in ponytails and a long-flowing blue dress and red cape. I must assume that a different version was shown in China because this figure has a blue crop-top and an impressive tan... :-)
As you can see the figure needs to be assembled from the cheap plastic parts, some of which are still on their sprue. The joints are loose and it's difficult to get the hair to stay on. A flower is thrown in for good measure. The best part of it is the trading cards... Next under the microscope is Star Wars Han Solo by Bom Bom. Again, the box, a good rip-off of a real LEGO one, and the packaging is not bad, but it soon becomes apparent that the photo on the front is that of the LEGO version of the figure, not the one in the box. The arms and hands are not pre-assembled and if I had to guess I'd say the plastic used is polystyrene rather than ABS. The parts are very badly moulded and have sprue marks in prominent places. The hair fits better than on Anna, but once on it's impossible to get it off!. It bears a passing resemblance to the image on the box, but the printing is absolutely shockingly bad. Once again, the best part of the set are the cards, which have the appearance that they are part of some sort of game but the numbers and information is all rubbish.
Collectors will want the whole set of them, I'm sure... Frankly they are complete and utter rubbish and I would not wish them on any child. Not only are they terrible quality and possibly made from unsafe materials, but in the case of Anna, in particular, the contents of the box bears no resemblance to what you think you're buying which can only result in disappointment. I know you won't need me to tell you this, but steer well clear! I really don't know why LEGO and Disney tolerates this stuff being made and sold, but as we have discussed before, I guess the legal framework to prevent it is not in place in China. Now, excuse me while I go and disinfect my LEGO room and banish this junk to the bin. Thanks to woodywood for sending them, I think... :) I went to Toys R Us recently to buy my son a Lego set for Hanukkah. Did you know a small box of Legos costs $60? Sixty bucks for 102 plastic blocks! In fact, I learned, Lego sets can sell for thousands of dollars.
And despite these prices, Lego has about 70 percent of the construction-toy market. Why doesn't some competitor sell plastic blocks for less? Lego's patents expired a while ago. How hard could it be to make a cheap knockoff? Luke, a 9-year-old Lego expert, set me straight. "They pay attention to so much detail," he said. "I never saw a Lego piece ... that couldn't go together with another one." Lego goes to great lengths to make its pieces really, really well, says David Robertson, who is working on a book about Lego. Inside every Lego brick, there are three numbers, which identify exactly which mold the brick came from and what position it was in in that mold. That way, if there's a bad brick somewhere, the company can go back and fix the mold. For decades this is what kept Lego ahead. It's actually pretty hard to make millions of plastic blocks that all fit together. But over the past several years, a competitor has emerged: Mega Bloks. Plastic blocks that look just like Legos, snap onto Legos and are often half the price.
So Lego has tried other ways to stay ahead. The company tried to argue in court that no other company had the legal right to make stacking blocks that look like Legos. "That didn't fly," Robertson says. "Every single country that Lego tried to make that argument in decided against Lego." But Lego did find a successful way to do something Mega Bloks could not copy: It bought the exclusive rights to Star Wars. If you want to build a Death Star out of plastic blocks, Lego is now your only option. The Star Wars blocks were wildly successful. So Lego kept going — it licensed Indiana Jones, Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story and Harry Potter. Sales of these products have been huge for Lego. More important, the experience has taught the company that what kids wanted to do with the blocks was tell stories. Lego makes or licenses the stories they want to tell. And kids know the difference. "If you were talking to a friend you wouldn't say, 'Oh my God, I just got a big set of Mega Bloks,' " Luke says. "