Is there counterfeit sets going around?

[Aussie BJ]

Hi all,

I raise this question after my latest purchase of a excavator 8043. I purchased this through Ebay and I thought it was coming from my local state (New South Wales, Australia) but when it arrived it was came from Europe. This didn't worry me as it arrived quite quickly and undamaged.

But during the build I noticed the connectors just didn't seem to pop in as usual. Then when I got to the remote receivers I noticed they don't pop onto the battery pack at all. They pop onto each other fine but not a battery pack (I've tried a few different ones and same problem) Also the back cover plate continually pops off too. Which is why I have my suspicions that this might be counterfeit as every other technic set I own (which have came from department stores) all work perfectly.

It looks like it's official Lego product but I just cant help but wonder. Is there any way of telling?

Brendan

[S.I]

I know amazon.it had the set on sale for 120 euros (w. tax), I would guess your order was just forwarded to them.

My last set from there had fairly awful QC though, maybe they are getting the "bad" sets and that is why they can sell them so cheaply.

Edited July 17, 2012 by S.I

[JunkstyleGio]

@ Aussie BJ:

A few photo's might help us to determine if anything is wrong with your set.

As far as I know we haven't had faulty sets like you mentioned.

[Aussie BJ]

I know amazon.it had the set on sale for 120 euros (w. tax), I would guess your order was just forwarded to them.

My last set from there had fairly awful QC though, maybe they are getting the "bad" sets and that is why they can sell them so cheaply.

Interesting you mention that website G.I because I had originally put that website in my post but thought It would be better not to mention it. The box the 8043 came in had that website all over the box. Maybe it is just a 'bad' set or rather just a few 'bad pieces' because everything else works the way it should.

@ Aussie BJ:

A few photo's might help us to determine if anything is wrong with your set.

As far as I know we haven't had faulty sets like you mentioned.

Which is why I asked if there is any counterfeit sets going around. I've always found Lego to be 100% perfect, never had a missing piece, and parts always work the first time. My 8043 set however has a few little issues which is why I raised the question. I certainly hope this isn't the case.

Sorry, as you can see below there is a bit of maintenance going on at the moment with the 8043. Will put it back together once I've finished using the parts for my latest project.

[Phoxtane]

I'm rather certain you didn't get a counterfeit Lego set. Most of the Lego imitations I've heard of aren't direct copies of certain sets. Even if they are, they're of the small polybag or very small box variety, presumably because they're easy to copy. The 8043 is not a simple set by any means!

At 6:10 in this video, Ashens produces a Best-Lock 'Kimmy' set, which appears to be some sort of Friends clone. He's shown a Best-Lock army playset that had a army man and some sort of rocket. As with the 'Kimmy' set, it was rather small and poorly made. TLG shouldn't be worried about this company for quite a while, I think

[CopMike]

It looks like it's official Lego product but I just cant help but wonder. Is there any way of telling?

Brendan

Hi! Could you check was the batch number is? You can see that on the small clear plastic tape things that seals the box in the ends. Or/and could you look at the "bad" parts and see what mold number and position the part was made in?

[Aussie BJ]

Hi! Could you check was the batch number is? You can see that on the small clear plastic tape things that seals the box in the ends. Or/and could you look at the "bad" parts and see what mold number and position the part was made in?

Hi the receiver has a number underneath it '41K1' but as for a batch number No there is only a small barcode on the plastic seals. I double checked tonight and both receivers have the same numbers and both don't click and hold tightly to any battery packs.

Brendan

I'm rather certain you didn't get a counterfeit Lego set. Most of the Lego imitations I've heard of aren't direct copies of certain sets. Even if they are, they're of the small polybag or very small box variety, presumably because they're easy to copy. The 8043 is not a simple set by any means!

Thanks, I'm tending to agree with you especially after looking at the parts in more detail and noticing the fine writing under most of the parts.

[Zerobricks]

I doubt someone would counterfit one of the more complex technic sets, its just too complex Photograph the bad pieces, or ask Lego for replacement.