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... :)Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 30 new photos from 23 February to the album Lepin 16011 Medieval Market Village Bootleg of Lego 10193.A clone of retired Lego 10193 Medieval Market Village from the Lego Castle series.
The set was released back in 2009 and retired in 2011. Those Lepin sets with a red logo on the bottom right hand corner of the box supposed to have numbered bags with sorted parts based on the building steps. The building process is a breeze now instead of busy sorting and looking for parts. A minor complaint here, the slope parts had both matte and smooth finish. It would be great if Lepin could be consistent in that regards. Reckon this would go well with Diagon Alley. /e/NbEaI23Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 65 photos and a video to the album Lepin 20020 Tow Truck Fake of Lego 8285.See allCustomize Minifigures Intelligence added 30 new photos to the album Lepin 20019 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400 Fake of Lego 8110.Lepin is focusing on cloning retired Lego Technic set. Their factories must be busy churning out fake Technic sets after Chinese New Year. Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400 had retired since 2014. There are noted improvement in the technic parts quality. The pneumatic pistons are actually working, with minimal leakage of gas.
Still, there are case where you need to scrap off a bit of plastic from the axle to smooth the turning of the gears. Highly recommended for those who want to collect retired Lego Technic set and yet don't want to pay high price. /e/q3RNJYV #Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 51 photos and 2 videos to the album Lepin 20013 Crane Truck Fake of Lego Technic 8258.Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 31 photos and a video to the album Lepin 20010 Crawler Crane Clone of Lego 42042.Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 39 new photos to the album Lepin 05053 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker (Lego 10195).Many thanks to Lepin to re-create retired Lego 10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT. Kinda disappointed with the set due to loose parts that affected the build. The sticker is printed poorly. If you want to replace it with Lego one, you have to pay over USD 100. The minifigures of Clone Troopers are a keeper, instead of heading straight to the bin. The laser canon needs "viagra", pointing down instead of standing firm.
The quality of the technic parts seem to have deteriorated especially the pins and axle. Unsure whether this is due to excessive production that wore out the molds. One word of advice, please adjust your expectation accordingly when buying bootlegs. Good for display on shelf. /e/iYvJqbq # #Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 6 new photos.After 6 months waiting Pogo finally had Smaug in stock. Pogo would start shipping in three days time. Photos from the factory. Let's hope the real thing looks good. /e/u3FqbmA #Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 3 new photos.For Star Wars fans, may the "Lepin" force be with you. More Lepin sets shipped before Chinese New Year. ///e/iYvJqbq # # Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 47 new photos to the album Lepin 16012 Diagon Alley Clone of Lego 10217.Finally Lepin eyed the little wizard boy and brought us the clone of Diagon Alley. This set had 11 minifigures and 2075 parts. The parts are located in Box A (20 bags) and Box B (26 bags). Printing for the minifigures were surprisingly well done.
Lepin had created new mold for Hagrid. Unfortunately Lepin gave Hagrid a normal arm instead of a long arm. As for the buildings themselves, they are realistically detailed, a great thanks to Lego for the design. For Harry Potter's fan, Lepin 16012 Diagon Alley (Lego 10217). /e/qFEMvrb #Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 6 new photos.It's hard to keep up with Lepin as they are going nuts on shipping new clone sets. It's coming at a rate of more than a set per day! /e/ZJauf6u First two are based on retired Lego sets, while Air Race Jet is still available from TLG.Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 31 new photos to the album Sembo Block SD6901 McDonald's Restaurant.Sembo or Sheng Yuan seem to have give up bootlegging full Lego sets. Majority of their sets released from 2H 2016 onward are all MOC sets. The McDonald's Restaurant shall be the second MOC sets that didn't based on existing Lego theme. The first one was SD6900 Apple Flagship store. This set came with 1729 pieces and LED lights are included.
There are four alternate builds beside the restaurant mode. One can't help to notice similarity between Sembo McDonald's and Lego Grand E...mporium beside the colour differences. There are eight minifigures: Ronald, three crews and four customers. Though Ronald's printing is excellent, if you could change the hair piece to the afro hairstyle the minifig would be perfect. The inner layout of the restaurant is not minifig scale which reduced its play-ability. Overall it's a good set for display and the minifigures of McDonald's clown and crews are the biggest appealing factor. /e/nYzZR3b # Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 3 new photos.New year resolution for Lepin to give builder numbered bags for ease of brick building. Their upcoming Assembly Square set promised building steps based on numbered bags, no swap parts and no missing parts. No missing parts is the number one wish list from Lepin fans. Let's see how they deliver. /e/6miYFmeCustomize Minifigures IntelligencePerhaps Lego shall just get Alibaba to sue Lepin and call the cops to raid the production line.
This beats going through legal process in Beijing court. Something for TLG to learn from this article. Alibaba Sues Two Sellers of Fake Watches in CrackdownCustomize Minifigures Intelligence added 6 new photos.Some of you have seen these photos at another site. Ken Wong would like me to share them. Kakay Low from Malaysia is at Lele HQ to have his MF hangar moc turn into production. Lepin snub him but Lele welcome him with open arms. The life lesson here is if your moc get rejected by Lego or Lepin, don't give up, there are other clone bricks makers that would be interested. Kudos to Lele for giving Kakay a chance.Customize Minifigures Intelligence added 11 new photos to the album Lele 35009 UCS R2-D2 Clone of Lego 10225.Everyone loves R2-D2 the droid. Lele managed to clone Lego 10225 ahead of Lepin. Well, competition is healthy for bootlegging business. How's the Lele "Space Battle" R2-D2 set do? In terms of parts quality, Lepin is better. Your fingers were dirty after handling Lele bricks.