Legoliner Pilot

Lego Rip-off Brands

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Okay, so I was in my local TRU getting my Bricktober brick, for week three. I was picking up my Combine Harvester when... Out of the corner of my eye I see not MEGA-BLOKS, but another brand called something along the lines of "Inter-lock Bricks". They even had minifigure clones with real skin and the legs were enlarged! It was a direct copy of LEGO! Then I saw it. Oh, it was UGLY. IT WAS...

K'NEX BRICKS!

:sick::sick: :sick:

Okay, we aren't copying anyone....

DN011.jpg

pTRU1-6074238reg.jpg

ACK! It's hideous! How can they blatantly copy LEGO like that? I mean look at those horrid figures! Direct copy! This is just bad.

And to top it off, they even hint at the possibility that they are "compatible" with LEGO! :vader:

Okay, now that my rant is over, feel free to present your honest opinions. :classic:

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LEGO General Discussion and News is only for official Lego discussion.

Continue your rants here. Thanks!

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I really don't care about the Lego clone brands. Mostly everyone knows, inclueding the little kids, that Lego is the best. If MEGA-BLOKS starts getting more buisness than Lego maybe I'll start caring but until then they can continue making inferior bricks.

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:sick:

I saw some of those at Target a couple weeks ago right next to the (If I dare say it) HALO Megabloks.

K'NEX must be doing really bad as far as sales go if they have to give up on their original product and outright copy LEGO...

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That White House is interesting. Who's the pesident? :tongue: As previously said even the kids know what is good. The parents are also very alert. TLG doesn't have much to worry about. I am surprized TLG hasn't done anything about these clone brands. They have to money to get em'. All clone brands deserve this: :sick:

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I thought they only stuck to those axle pipe creations. I guess that market isn't as large as brick based construction toys.

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I was given a Best-Lock set.. I have absolutely no Idea where it is, or I would show you all just how much it sucks.. But then again, You wouldn't really care. :laugh:

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Oh no, not again.

Other brands have created brick based construction sets.

OH NOES TEH WORLDS WILL ENDZ

You know, some of these brands make themes Lego doesn't dare touch. They create elements that Lego hasn't and to be blunt, most megablock accessories for fantasy castle are about 1000 times better than any of the Lego ones currently in production (nicer moulds and paint application, thank you very much).

Competition is the basis of capatalism, as long as we live in a capatalist epoch then competitors will appear and create toys like Lego to compete with them. Lego need the competition or else they won't try to make good quality things.

This christmas I will be continuing my ongoing clone brand reviews. Take a look and see what you summarily dismiss.

(Now, bootlegs are another thing entirely.)

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Did you guys know that the LEGO brick was inspired by another brick system?

Get off your high horses :hmpf:

Of course more than one company produces building bricks, much like there's a lot of companies making cars.

- well not as many as used to be :laugh:

OH NOES TEH WORLDS WILL ENDZ

:laugh:

Competition is the basis of capatalism, as long as we live in a capatalist epoch then competitors will appear and create toys like Lego to compete with them. Lego need the competition or else they won't try to make good quality things.

Amen sister :classic:

This christmas I will be continuing my ongoing clone brand reviews. Take a look and see what you summarily dismiss.

(Now, bootlegs are another thing entirely.)

Thanks.

(Hate bootlegs :grin:)

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Did you guys know that the LEGO brick was inspired by another brick system?

Wasn't that Shifty Bricks? Or was Shifty Bricks a bootleg of LEGO?

517994141_782da77ff1.jpg

I'd like to pick one of these up and see whats different, other than whats on the studs..

Edited by Ryan_T

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Lego is still on the top. Clone brands for sure take away some profit from Lego, mainly with lower price.When I was a kid, I had Clone Lego so good, that back then I did not see the difference. Now only Lego!

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I'd like to pick one of these up and see whats different, other than whats on the studs..

I think you'll find that the quality will be lacking and that the pieces won't fit together quite so crisply. I have no hangups with clones and have received some as presents in the past - Although they have all either been sold or re-gifted since apart from a rather nifty brick separator that came with one of the bigger Megabloks sets.... What I do find is that the pieces never quite go together as well as Lego pieces. The cheaper the brand the worse this seems to be. I guess it's down to the quality of the moulds and the hardness of the plastic. Megabloks don't seem as bad as some others but still not as good as Lego.

At the end of the day, a little competition and variety is a good thing and I think that Lego is big enough and strng enough a brand to cope with all comers. Even taking into account the little omissions in quality in recent times (which are well documented in these forums) Lego is still the superior product in my opinion and will continue to be where my hard earned cash goes!

As for that White House design, it is pretty poor! Apart from the pillars and the roof it lacks any of the White House's features. It is too square and too bland! Not a great effort.

Cheers

Rog

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Wasn't that Shifty Bricks? Or was Shifty Bricks a bootleg of LEGO?

517994141_782da77ff1.jpg

I'd like to pick one of these up and see whats different, other than whats on the studs..

No, Shifty is a Clone of LEGO. It's also one of the few actually illegal clones in that it copies LEGO set designs and some of LEGO's more recently trademarked pieces. It is however a neat way to get cutlasses and pistols in chrome and brown bandanas....

ACK! It's hideous! How can they blatantly copy LEGO like that? I mean look at those horrid figures! Direct copy! This is just bad.

And to top it off, they even hint at the possibility that they are "compatible" with LEGO! :vader:

Okay, now that my rant is over, feel free to present your honest opinions. :classic:

I've made my feelings about this clear before, so I won't rehash my opinions about these sets here, but I'd be happy to give you some facts. They aren't illegal (that's been decided in court), they are compatible, and they aren't direct copies of LEGO. You're best bet would be to do a search on EB for "Clones" and see what pops up.

In the mean time here's what I told the last person to raise this issue....

Clone brands make either subtle or blatant copies of Lego products, so why is it that they are still produced?!

It eludes me.

Ah, young padawan, it's time you were introduced to the ugly truth about LEGO. It's a clone brand of Kiddiecraft bricks!

Here's a page that will be of some interest to you. http://www.hilarypagetoys.com/ Read deep, there's some interesting info in there.

Kiddiecraft came first, and LEGO made nearly identical bricks (with no compensation to kiddiecraft) until they finally bought the rights to the Kiddiecraft patents a few decades later for a pittance. Also, several subsequent lawsuits have resulted in the courts deciding that LEGO does not have exlusive rights to LEGO compatible brick based construction sets .

That's why on the legitimate market you see tons of brick based sets, but no identical set copies.

On the pirated market, however, you will see alot of sets that are direct clones of LEGO sets, right down to the instructions and box art. These are usually produced by the Brick/Enlighten/Shifty group, built in countries with no effective trademark or intellectual property laws, and are sold in private and second line retailers who aren't under the same scrutiny as the big names. Governments just doesn't have the resources to regulate all the toys that come into the country. However, when shipments are discovered, they are destroyed, as happened to a shipment intercepted some years back in finland

http://www.lego.com/eng/info/default.asp?p...ountrycode=2057.

Most of us who know the history still prefer LEGO because of the better quality sets, bricks, and service. However, there are alot of us who dabble in the dark side...

Hope this clears it up for you.

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That White House is interesting. Who's the pesident? :tongue: As previously said even the kids know what is good. The parents are also very alert. TLG doesn't have much to worry about. I am surprized TLG hasn't done anything about these clone brands. They have to money to get em'. All clone brands deserve this: :sick:

Get who? You honestly think that TLC has exclusive rights and there the only ones that are able to make interlocking plastic bricks? It truly amazes me that so many are so blind with there love for Lego to the point that there naive. This isn't pointed at anyone in particular, but it seems every time we get these "clone brand hatter theads" the comments are always the same. especially when most are just judging "book by its cover" and have no first hand experience.

While most of these sets may not be up to par with Lego,as Peppermint M said, they still have many advantages over Lego.

As for kids and parent knowing the difference, that might be true, but for many price will always be a deciding point. especially in this economy. Also, as mentioned before, clone brands have theme's that TLC won't do. Whether or not there quality is on par with Lego or not, its a theme/ licence that TLC doesn't have that has high interest.

One more thing....

Many can hate on clone brands all they want, but they've been in business for yrs. and won't be going away anytime soon.

So they must be doing something right.

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Some clone brands appearing here in Ireland - Easons bookshop started a toy section and Bestlock are there, and Smyths Toys despite the vast Lego range have always had a few non-Lego stragglers (Megabloks, Bestlock). World of Wonder toy chain seems to mostly be clone brands. Heatons also have some.

What I find a bit crazy is that the sets are not particularly cheap - you save maybe a couple of euro compared to Lego. Maybe this is just high Irish pricing (and Lego by contrast being mostly at standard Euro prices) - I don't know. There was a megablocks mixed brick box for something like €12 in Heatons, and you can get a Lego Basic box in Tesco for €13. Similar number of bricks (Lego 6161 vs 250 megablocks bricks). Why would anyone buy the clone stuff?

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That White House looks interesting, but no way I am agoing to get it. I'll just make it on LDD :tongue:

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Oh no, not again.

Other brands have created brick based construction sets.

OH NOES TEH WORLDS WILL ENDZ

You know, some of these brands make themes Lego doesn't dare touch. They create elements that Lego hasn't and to be blunt, most megablock accessories for fantasy castle are about 1000 times better than any of the Lego ones currently in production (nicer moulds and paint application, thank you very much).

Competition is the basis of capatalism, as long as we live in a capatalist epoch then competitors will appear and create toys like Lego to compete with them. Lego need the competition or else they won't try to make good quality things.

This christmas I will be continuing my ongoing clone brand reviews. Take a look and see what you summarily dismiss.

(Now, bootlegs are another thing entirely.)

Well, maybe they do have more interesting bricks, or other themes, but they are made out of inferior-quality plastic that is nothing close to the quality of Lego's ABS.

No offense, but you are going to do a review of a clone brand set on a LEGO fansite? Seems kind of contradicting.

And no one seems to be angry that Best-lock almost directly copied LEGO minifgures? :sceptic:

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And no one seems to be angry that Best-lock almost directly copied LEGO minifgures? :sceptic:

...perhaps "copied" is too strong a word. Maybe...attempted?Besides, Lego has taken many of these fellows to court previously.... and lost.

Anyways, in the instance of the Megabloks Halo Wars and their recently deceased Pyrates lines, they took clone branding above and beyond cloning - they produced something that was fantastic! JOINTED LIMBS! That means bending arms and legs, not just at the shoulder and waist, but also at the elbow and knee! What's more, they have waists that can rotate 360 Degrees! But, wait, there's more! Their Pyrates theme actually COEXISTED with their Pirates of the Carribean sets - they were combinable for added play! That is pure business genius! Unfortunately, as usual, the quality stinks (think a genius whose fingers get run over by the neighbor's Hummer every day) and often the set ideas are semi-mediocre. Yet, just think what Lego could do if they followed the Megabloks Pyrates example! The money they could make......its depressing.

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I saw an Airplane set from the same brand that made that White House set in a museum gift shop... :sick: The set designs are so simplistic that I wouldn't doubt that a four-year-old came up with them, and the minifigs are horrendous! It beats me why anyone would buy those over Lego.

However, I have to admit that the Halo sets from Megabloks caught my eye a couple of times while visiting the building toys aisle. I never really liked the Halo games all that much, but I know enough to recognize vehicles and characters. The set designs for these are pretty sweet, I especially like the small alien ship. The use of <insert that tiresome argument> parts is questionable, and the minifigures and monotone, single-part weapons are cheap, I actually might buy one of these.

Lego is still better in all aspects though, IMHO. Nothing has, or most likely never will, come close to Lego in terms of quality.

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Get who? You honestly think that TLC has exclusive rights and there the only ones that are able to make interlocking plastic bricks? It truly amazes me that so many are so blind with there love for Lego to the point that there naive. This isn't pointed at anyone in particular, but it seems every time we get these "clone brand hatter theads" the comments are always the same. especially when most are just judging "book by its cover" and have no first hand experience.

While most of these sets may not be up to par with Lego,as Peppermint M said, they still have many advantages over Lego.

As for kids and parent knowing the difference, that might be true, but for many price will always be a deciding point. especially in this economy. Also, as mentioned before, clone brands have theme's that TLC won't do. Whether or not there quality is on par with Lego or not, its a theme/ licence that TLC doesn't have that has high interest.

One more thing....

Many can hate on clone brands all they want, but they've been in business for yrs. and won't be going away anytime soon.

So they must be doing something right.

They need to get whoever is in charge of making these cheapo brands. They don't have rights to be he only one to make interlocking bricks but some of these rip off lego designs, parts, and ideas. I'm not making these hatter threads, I do disapprove of certain ones. Megabloks doesn't copy Leog as much as they used to. I've purchased nermous bottlegs and the overall quality. TLG has higher standards then clone brands. Megabloks does have success. They've branched off of TLG's meathods. The others are still very similar to TLG. They have to be getting success from other countries other than US and Europe.

I went to a gas station in u.s.a and found a fake lego raceway and police station! I shouldve bought them and set them on fire!

Seriously? What kind of adult are you? :hmpf: That pollutes the air. Some really poor kid would really loved to have something like that.

Edited by JCC1004

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Well, maybe they do have more interesting bricks, or other themes, but they are made out of inferior-quality plastic that is nothing close to the quality of Lego's ABS.

So what? If you don't like them, then don't buy them. There are alot more things to worry about than an inferior clone brand. Anyhow, competition is good for TLC. As others have already stated TLC needs decent competition to ensure that we get quality sets.

No offense, but you are going to do a review of a clone brand set on a LEGO fansite? Seems kind of contradicting.

Actually, it isn't. It just shows that someone is actually basing there opinions on the subject matter on first hand experience rather than assumptions like many here seem to be.

And no one seems to be angry that Best-lock almost directly copied LEGO minifgures? :sceptic:

No. As stated, life goes on and there is no reason to get so worked up about this.

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