15 replies to this topic

[Omega]

I cant help noticing the amount of rip off lego sets.
Bionicle and city are the main targets.


WHY AREN'T LEGO DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.?!?

[steelharbingerofdeath]

they did, a while back and it cost a lot and did nothing other than create problems for Lego.

steel...

[tin7_creations]

steelharbingerofdeath, on Aug 21 2008, 02:47 PM, said:

they did, a while back and it cost a lot and did nothing other than create problems for Lego.

steel...

really? what methods did they use? cause I never noticed anything...

[Corvus]

Omega, on Aug 21 2008, 02:45 PM, said:

I cant help noticing the amount of rip off lego sets.
Bionicle and city are the main targets.


WHY AREN'T LEGO DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.?!?

Lego can't really do anything about it. Most of these rip-offs (I think) are in countries that don't have many laws to stop it.

[JINZONINGEN73]

Yeah, here in the US they do a fairly decent job of eliminating bootlegs.

But elsewhere (China!) they just don't give a damn, the lawmakers I mean.

It's like this for ALL products though, not just Lego.
You could go into many a toy or video store in Hong Kong and nearly be GUARANTEED that the majority of the stock is pure bootleg.

Just for kicks, what sets are you seeing knocked-off, and what store(s) are you seeing them in?
(And what country?)
Sometimes bootlegs are so wretched or weird that they warrant purchase, I must admit....
: p

[the enigma that is badger]

JINZONINGEN 73, on Aug 21 2008, 07:17 PM, said:

Yeah, here in the US they do a fairly decent job of eliminating bootlegs.

But elsewhere (China!) they just don't give a damn, the lawmakers I mean.

To be fair, the intellectual copyright laws in China are similar to those in the United States.  What differs is the enforcement of those statues.  However, in recent years China has faced significant pressure from both the US government and private businesses to take a stricter stance of copyright violations and there have been a few key instances of Chinese agencies cracking down on bootlegging.  Given the size and scope of the problem, though, major change on the issue is likely to take both time and considerable amount of effort.  

Keep in mind to that depending on the area of China, government infrastructure and resources can be extremely thin, and enforcing international copyright law ends up fairly low on the list of priorities compared to providing basic services.   While China certainly has a large, seemingly ever-expanding role in international affairs, it's still very much a developing country with most of its population still rural and living in extreme poverty.  With spotty government oversight, a deep pool of cheap labor, and established trade relations with major markets, it's little wonder many bootleg operations originate or choose to locate there.

badger

[JINZONINGEN73]

A good point AND you have David Lynch as an avatar.
Wowie!

Really though, China and a good few neighboring countries are goldmines for the bootleg fun.

Errrrrr, scourge.

;)

[the enigma that is badger]

JINZONINGEN 73, on Aug 21 2008, 08:52 PM, said:

A good point AND you have David Lynch as an avatar.
Wowie!

Thanks!  The PRC might have problems, but at least everything in heaven is fine.  Still, should anything go wrong, at least good people are on the case.

Let's say I, too, have been enlightened on occasion, and while you get what you pay for, some of what's to be had are interesting variations on familiar themes.

badger . . . . who to this day remains trapped in Black Lodge

[Justin]

I have found various sources of info on the rip-off Lego sets on the Internet.

Lego vs. Enlighten on Brickshelf.com
L.I.F.E.: Enlighten, Lego?
LEGO Company wins Norwegian lawsuit
INTERLEGO AG v. Tianjin COKO Toy Co., Ltd.
More than 54,000 copies of LEGO products were destroyed

[JINZONINGEN73]

the enigma that is badger, on Aug 21 2008, 09:19 PM, said:

badger . . . . who to this day remains trapped in Black Lodge

How's Annie?

Still my favorite design, and way better than the Toa females so far:
http://www.brickshel...y.cgi?i=1493656

How's Annie?

How's Annie?

[Pencoin]

Oh I've seen that one before i must admit, its one of the better boot-legs ive seen.

[JINZONINGEN73]

There's a few of them: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=154688

They're not really bootlegs though... I mean they ARE... ugh.

Lol, they've messed with the original molds just enough to not be called "bootleg", but they're DEFINITELY "knock-offs".

[Zarkan]

What's even scarrier is that the grey and black Rahkshi rip-off reminds me a lot of Skrall from the 2009 pics. They both have long serpent-like heads, a hunchback, and spinning buzz-saw weapons:

Attached Files

•  skrall.png   84.82K   1 downloads

Edited by Grevious, 23 August 2008 - 04:40 PM.

[Bfahome]

Quote

lego byers being conned into fake sets.

I have no sympathy for a fan of LEGO that doesn't bother to notice there isn't a big red box with the word "LEGO" in the corner.

But I WANT THOSE BUZZSAW THINGS. D:

Edited by Bfahome, 23 August 2008 - 08:56 PM.

[Omega]

Also ,South Africa is full of them
there are more fakes then there are real there

[The Crazy One]

The fact is, it is obvious which are real and which are cons but what you buy is what you buy.