Character Building and Lego

[Tariq j]

Hi all, I went to my local toy store today and, to my shock, found that about half the lego aile had been taken up by character building sets. And worse, when I went to the till lots.

of kids were purchasing CB sets rather than lego.

So my question here is, Is character building getting more popular than lego?

What are your thoughts/comments and opinions about this?

Thanks

Tariq j

[Jargo]

Is it cheaper? It's certainly lower quality and more akin to megabloks than Lego. If they were buying Doctor Who sets I could understand an upsurge in CB popularity as this is the big anniversary year for the show with massive media saturation. I would imagine that the growing price of Lego puts parents off if they're budgeting.

[Tariq j]

Is it cheaper? It's certainly lower quality and more akin to megabloks than Lego. If they were buying Doctor Who sets I could understand an upsurge in CB popularity as this is the big anniversary year for the show with massive media saturation. I would imagine that the growing price of Lego puts parents off if they're budgeting.

Hi Jargo, thanks for the reply. I think your definately right about the doctor who 50th anniversary, which is probably why the sets are getting bought more often.

As for the prices IMO I think the prices are much cheaper than TLG for example the tardis mega set is £29.99 on http://www.character-online.com/products/Character-Building/Doctor-Who/TARDIS-Console-Room-Mega-Set/ which is worth about three planet sets in the star wars range. Its also worth a 3 -pack magnet set in lego. I find this amazing as that set is the biggest set.

thanks

Tariq j

Edited June 16, 2013 by Tariq j

[tomdobs55]

How is the quality of the Character Building sets? I know some clone brands are better than others. I looked at the instructions for the set you mentioned and while ugly, they seem pretty straight forward and has a decent design.

[Tariq j]

How is the quality of the Character Building sets? I know some clone brands are better than others. I looked at the instructions for the set you mentioned and while ugly, they seem pretty straight forward and has a decent design.

I'm not sure whether CB uses ABS plastic like lego but the quality of the plastic is good. As for the sets themselves the quality,as far as I know, isn't that good. The tardis playset that I mentioned above isn't very good in most areas. The stairs and the console area can tilt or collapse when you put a figure on it due to the lack of support, the walls on the sides arn't very stable and can break if mis-treated.

The instructions on the other hand are very good as they highlight the pieces that need to be used.

The stickers are also good because they include doubles so if you were to make a mistake then you had an extra sticker.

thanks

Tariq j

[N-4K0]

I've never heard of this Character Building thing, so I searched it up. IMO it looks dull compared to Lego. Or should I say, compared to Lego Technic, which is my passion out of the different Lego products.

[cimddwc]

Well, I'd say the quality is mostly okay. The bricks' clutch power is usually good from my experience, though maybe a little inconsistent - and as Tariq mentioned, the fragility of the Tardis interior is due to its design; the Dalek factory and other smaller sets I have aren't that bad in this regard. The yellow parts, however, have noticeable variations in translucency and color, at least in my Tardis. (Then again, this happens with original Lego from time to time, too, though maybe a little less strong...)

And, well, you can see yourself what the minifigures look like...

[Peppermint_M]

My mini TARDIS is excellent. The accesories are well tooled and very nice, the plastic is good quality. It's popular because it is what kids want, it's no real big deal in all honesty.

[Tariq j]

And, well, you can see yourself what the minifigures look like...

Suprisingly the minifigures are okay and better than I expected, they were molded more had molded clothes but lego figs have double sided heads so its hard to dertermine which ones are better.

[Aanchir]

Character Building is nowhere near becoming more popular than LEGO. Before the Doctor Who sets came out I never saw them nor heard of them in the United States, where Mega Bloks is the most successful clone brand.

Keep in mind that the main reason that stores stock clone brands instead of LEGO, and why kids buy clone brands instead of LEGO, is that LEGO is more expensive. And LEGO could not afford to charge the prices they do unless they could remain successful while charging those prices.

[Peppermint_M]

Yes, that is because Character only launched their bricks with Doctor Who sets. The company produce action figures from a large number of UK media properties and HM Armed Forces. The Doctor Who building sets were their first foray into building bricks and figures. Now many of their other properties are appearing in building sets.

[Tariq j]

Character Building is nowhere near becoming more popular than LEGO. Before the Doctor Who sets came out I never saw them nor heard of them in the United States, where Mega Bloks is the most successful clone brand.

Same here, since they released doctor who CB sets have been in almost every toy catalogue.

In my opinion I think a very interesting point and question is raised here, which is, do you buy a set based on quality or price? Basically if you had the choice between purchasing Lego or a clone brand would you look at the quality or the price?

Personally I would look at the quality and choose lego because I am paying a expensive price but for good quality.

Thanks

Tariq j

[Aanchir]

Same here, since they released doctor who CB sets have been in almost every toy catalogue.

In my opinion I think a very interesting point and question is raised here, which is, do you buy a set based on quality or price? Basically if you had the choice between purchasing Lego or a clone brand would you look at the quality or the price?

Personally I would look at the quality and choose lego because I am paying a expensive price but for good quality.

Thanks

Tariq j

I'd invariably put quality first. I might buy a clone brand set for the novelty, but frankly I have a substantial enough LEGO collection and I do enough building with it that I'd never want to mix my LEGO stuff with inferior clone bricks, which would nerf the value of any LEGO-compatible building toy.

[N-4K0]

I'd invariably put quality first.

So agreed.

[Gavinfuzzy]

The decisions that go behind the making of a CB set is ridiculous.

It's honestly just a COBI rebrand. The amount of mold flash on the bricks are really bad.

Is that brand even available out of the UK? I know its not seen here. Got the Mini TARDIS set, and the bricks feel sturdy, but just the way it's put together, its not the most secure of things.

Stickers that are too small, and stuck across 2-3 parts?

From what I heard, the figures can't even climb the stairs on the TARDIS Play set, due to poorly designed feet/ lack of clearance. The Dalek spaceship also seems to fall apart.

Got them mainly for the Doctor Who figures. Sets are pretty much rubbish.

[Tariq j]

The decisions that go behind the making of a CB set is ridiculous.

It's honestly just a COBI rebrand. The amount of mold flash on the bricks are really bad.

Is that brand even available out of the UK? I know its not seen here. Got the Mini TARDIS set, and the bricks feel sturdy, but just the way it's put together, its not the most secure of things.

Stickers that are too small, and stuck across 2-3 parts?

From what I heard, the figures can't even climb the stairs on the TARDIS Play set, due to poorly designed feet/ lack of clearance. The Dalek spaceship also seems to fall apart.

Got them mainly for the Doctor Who figures. Sets are pretty much rubbish.

Exactly what I said, CB unlike Lego is just aimed for kids and so the poor structure and sticker issues, though I completly agree with you, happen because kids are not going to make a huge fuss over it.

[Aanchir]

Exactly what I said, CB unlike Lego is just aimed for kids and so the poor structure and sticker issues, though I completly agree with you, happen because kids are not going to make a huge fuss over it.

Kids won't make a huge fuss over it, but they also might be less likely to become repeat customers. LEGO doesn't just make their sets structurally sound and playable for AFOLs' sake. Kids care, even if they're not always as vocal and articulate about their expectations as AFOLs are.