Decool

[Saberwing40k]

100% correct. I hate how some people think it is their right to do whatever they want without reprucussions, beacause "free country." Freedom of speech does not mean that you can spout racial slurs or asinine, unfounded opinions without criticism. Free Market does not make it right for you to support flouters of copyright law who make illegal knockoffs. Also, we're not White Knights for suggesting that we should not support companies that rip off Lego products. Is Lego perfect? Absolutely not, but there would be nothing but problems if enough people bought bootlegs. I feel that this is an area where we, as a fandom, should support Lego by only buying Lego products, and warning fellow fans about bootlegs. So yes, we can't tell you what to do, but you can't complain if you do a bad thing, and people call you on it.

Also, if you want the figures so bad, have you considered buying them from Bricklink or Ebay? If you don't want to buy an expensive set, you have options to get what you want without having to resort to bootleg figures. Don't whine about how Lego spread figures throughout sets, you have options.

[xboxtravis7992]

I don't know, I saw some Banboa in a local Wal-Mart here in the U.S. The sets where race car sets, and the designs were original so it wasn't a completely cloned set in that sense. But I was kinda surprised to see Banboa make its way all the way to a small town America Wal-Mart store.

The only clone bland I tolerate is Mega-Blocks since to be honest, at least their designs are original and their quality is half-decent; but I have never bought myself Mega-Blocks, and I only have a few samples from gifts. Judging by the few Mega-Blocks gifts I own or have seen at friends houses, the quality is blech. Speaking of Mega, here is hoping that now that Halo is T rated (same rating as Star Wars Battlefront) that if their license ever expires with Mega that Lego might pick it up .

Here is a Brickset article from 2013 which covers all the clone brands: http://brickset.com/article/7722/reviews-of-chinese-clone-brands

Edited December 3, 2015 by xboxtravis7992

[BigPoppaBrick]

Trying to link buying bootleg Lego to taking drugs or racism!!!!

Unbelievable!!!

Edited December 3, 2015 by BigPoppaBrick

[Jim]

Unless these posts are followed by a normal discussion, I will lock this topic.

[Robianco]

I personally don't think normal discussion is possible.

[Jim]

I personally don't think normal discussion is possible.

A normal discussion is always possible.

[Robianco]

A normal discussion is always possible.

I hope so.

I know it can be a sensitive subject... especially on a Lego forum.

I think it's incorrect to refer to all other brands other than Lego as clone brands. Companies such as Mega-bloks and Kreo aren't clone brands... they're competitors. There are also many other brands who produce brick built kits that may have some similarity to Lego but don't copy their products, they're not clone brands either.

There are many people on this forum who have an interest in brands other than Lego... and as has been reported on here and other sites there are companies that have produced sets that are comparable to Lego in quality of both design and build.

The mention of a smaller company in a previous post being sold in a US retailer isn't that difficult to imagine as they've simply been added to a distribution list and has been shipped out... probably as a small, budget product.

The Decool, SY etc of this world aren't being circulated to high street stores in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australasia etc so that's not their primary audience. Yes, they exist and yes there are complete copies of Lego product. It's a slightly different situation to the counterfeiting of products such as Apple, Rolex and other exclusive brands in the east as nothing is ever sold branded as Lego. It's worth noting though that Asia is Lego's largest growing market and yet is the area that these clone brand products may also occupy some shelf space with actual Lego product. It's not too hard to imagine that there are people at Lego who have monitored the existence of these clone brand products in these markets and might be making the decision that they actually offer an opportunity for some people to purchase larger sets that would normally be out of their budget with a view to them moving over to the aspirational brand that is Lego. Lego has a much better product with a higher quality finish, design and plastic.

EB keeps all discussion of non-Lego brands in Community and also limits certain threads to not being included in overall post count. Hopefully discussion of such things acts as a way to educate people on the existence of these brands over any need to be vitriolic on either side.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Robianco

[Sven F]

Trying to link buying bootleg Lego to taking drugs or racism!!!!

Unbelievable!!!

You are taking things out of context, do you by any chance work for daily mail?

I would link to a documentary that deals with merchandise forgery which mostly involves clothes but also expands way up to fake medicine, it may open your eyes to the scale of damage this causes. Bootleg lego might not use chained slaves to assemble your flash figure, but the general idea of that world leads to far greater damage than financial losses. What fuels this world could be debated, but in part it is undoubtedly the ignorance of consumers obsessed with obtaining things beyond their budget.

I can't really blame you for being manipulated into wanting things, but it's the arrogance you show by shouting how it's your right to do whatever you like that calls for education on the matter.

[BigPoppaBrick]

@Sven F

We're not talking about medicines or clothes. We're talking about clones of Lego (which is a clone itself, but that's a story for another time).

You show your ignorance by making an assumption that this is about the cost of Lego for me.... It's not.

I have the budget and access to buy Lego, Decool, Megabloks etc as I choose. If I want a Gambit or Beast minifigure am I supposed to wait for Lego to produce? The point you miss is Its my choice what I buy and If I want an ethics education, I'm a big boy and can seek it myself.

To keep on topic.....

What are people's views when the EBB Homepage advertises certain third parties that produce accessories (normally weapons) that Lego themselves don't to augment people's MOCs etc?

Edited December 3, 2015 by BigPoppaBrick

[Jim]

I personally don't think normal discussion is possible.

Maybe you're right

Topic locked!