paanjang16
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Posts posted by paanjang16
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Recently there is this Hulk made by Sheng Yuan which seem to be more advanced than the Hulk made by Lego.
Imagine the big Hulk being sold in a standard CMF pack. That's how I found this Hulk at my local shopping mall. For RM 5.90 I can get this big Hulk figure.
The biggest surprised was that this particular Hulk has a removable head like a normal minifigure!
A close-up view of the head.
This new head assembly allows Hulk to turn his head to look to his side. I checked the original Hulk in the 76018 set, the original Hulk does not seem to be able to turn his head around.
If he is very very angry, Hulk can even throw his head at his enemies.
So once again TLG got beaten by this clone brick company. By right TLG should be the one who should be ahead in producing advanced minifigures!
Not only that, this clone companies are doing licenses we can only dream off. So far I already seen stuff like:-
1) World cup minifigure set; got Wayne Rooney and even Maradona minifigure with miniature football
2) World Wrestling Federation minifigures
3) Dragonball
4) Naruto
I can only imagine what is the next line of figures they will produced.
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Sad to say, Sheng Yuan already rip-off one of our forummer's Cuusoo idea. I was very surprised to see this being sold at my local mall.
The best part was, it comes with a well designed box art and instruction too. The idea must be so good even these KO companies think it is worth while to produced these sets (which unfortunately TLG, Marvel and DC were too slow to notice).
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In some of the shops selling Knock-off fake bricks such as Decool, Sheng Yuan, Lele etc the sales people all promote their products by calling them Lego. In fact in the receipt from the store selling this stuff, the KO minifigure pack is shown as 'Lego'.
Also from my observation of parents with kids visiting these shops, kids will immediately say those KOs as Lego since the minifigures are very very similar to the original minifigures produced by Lego. It has come to the point where anything brick and minifigure is Lego even though it clearly isn't. It does not help the original Lego is waaaayyyyyy more expensive compared to the KOs. A RM 5 minifigure pack containing Ironman versus a RM 150 set with Ironman, most parents will opt for the RM 5 one.
I don't think TLG can do much to counter the tide of KOs though. Even Hasbro got problems trying to stop the tide of fake TFs.
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These bootlegs are very popular here in Malaysia as the originals are waayyyy overpriced and hard to come by. I personally have bought a few just for curiosity and personally there are quite OK. My personal favourite is the 90s Cyclops minifigure and the large hulk. Reason I bought the 90s Cyclops is because the official Lego one has not been released yet and is not the Cyclops I remember from the cartoon in the 90s. For the big Hulk the reason being is because he is in this very overpriced and money grabbing set (Hulk Helicarrier) which no way I am buying.
Then of course there is Green Lantern. Not only did they produced Green Lantern, they also produced the blue version, red version, yellow, orange version etc. Will TLG ever produce these figures?
Also there was the case where the bootleg TMNT minifigs actually arrived before the official sets were released here. All four turtles with splinter and shredder in a pack that cost less than RM 50 versus the official one which was never distributed by TLG; the choice is pretty obvious. Of course now the official ones are already released here, but the fever for the TMNT is long gone.
Right now I can see these bootlegs like LELE, Sheng Yuan, Decool etc making figures TLG never made like:-
1) Fantastic Four
2) Winter soldier
3) Different variants of Iron Man armor not yet released by Lego. Hall of armors is actually possible with these minifigs. Gold ironman, black ironman, war machine, iron patriot etc.
4) Green Arrow
5) Thor's father
There are even Dragonball and Naruto minifigures out there, but not by the 3 I mentioned above.
My conclusion is, not restricted by copyright red-tape, these KO companies make figures that the fans really want. However, to TLG, Marvel and DC it is not financially viable or some weird reason not worth it to produce. Also these figures come in packaging with BOTH DC and Marvel characters, something TLG will never do.
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Someone put up a Groupon deal for these fake superhero minifigures. Apparently more than 100 people has already bought them already! I wonder how did Groupon approved this.
http://www.groupon.my/deals/national-deal/like-click-marketing/718067300
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I found large Hulk figure on sale. I cannot believe they managed to rip-off the large Hulk figure already!
They even have a purple pants version. Artwork rip-off from the Lego Marvel game.
The contents of the pack. Green Lantern comes not assembled.
One thing I noticed is that both DC and Marvel characters are packaged together. This is something Lego will never do since Marvel and DC are separate entities although it will be cool if somehow DC and Marvel join forces together.
Even the Shell Ferraris are not spared from being rip-off.
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As much as I wanted this 21021, I got a feeling due to its limited availability I might never be able to get it. What a pity actually, since I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and would love to have an architecture set which is more closer to home. Legoland M'sia is too far and not worthwhile for me to head down to Johor to get 1 set.
In fact give a thought for people like us in Malaysia where we never have any Shop at Home nor official Lego shops in our region, thus we missed out on sets like the Mearsk train, Opera House, Ewok Village and most depressing of them all the 41999 Technic special. Plus we have no VIP, get our sets late and pay a price higher than Europe.
My point is that TLG should really stop or limit all these limited edition nonsense. It is getting too far with the SDCC limited edition figures, Lego marvel game pre-order bonus (again, not applicable for my region), Shop at home exclusives (Maersk Train, Opera House), 41999 Technic and now the Marina Bay Sands sets. I would be extremely pissed if TLG made the Petronas Twin Towers Architecture set a "limited edition" which even a fellow Malaysian like me would have trouble getting.
If TLG want to create an artificial shortage of a product they should very well be aware that pirates and imitators will try to fill that gap in the market. Look in the "Fake CMF" thread and you see SDCC figures like Green Lantern, Bizarro etc being sold by imitators. As for the Petronas Twin Towers set there is already a set by a clone brick company to fill in the void by Wange. So time will tell if there is a Marina bay sands knock-off due to the high demand. I even see there are even Shell Ferrari knock offs!
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There is even a bigger worry; these knock-offs are getting AHEAD of Lego when it comes to minifigure releases. An example would be the Green Lantern figures. As I know TLG only release the normal Green Lantern minifigure. Even then it was a SDCC exclusive. Now this "S" brand decided to make an 8 figure set featuring Green, Yellow, Red, Orange etc lantern. I do not know the Green lantern universe that much, so I do not know if there are other "Lanterns" in other colors. The picture below I took it from one of the sellers in the Facebook forum I go.
Then there are these Superman 8 pack minifigure packs. I believe the Bizarro and some of them are SDCC exclusives. The Clark Kent one I think only from a pre-order exclusive I think. The picture below I took it from one of the sellers in the Facebook forum I go.
There is another 8 pack set with Iron Man, War machine, Iron Patriot, White Ironman, Black Ironman, Gemini armor etc too. I can't seem to find the picture however.
I saw the Superman 8 set in some of the toy shops in Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur. I think for a pack of 8 it is selling for RM 40, so RM 5 for each. For the Green Lantern ones I saw it was sold in Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya for RM 7.90 each.
I got to wonder why TLG never put a Green Lantern minifigure inside a normal set and why they make it an SDCC exclusive. Same goes for the Superman minifigures. Maybe TLG have future plans for Green Lantern but unfortunately the knock-off has overtaken TLG in delivering the minifig to the market. Seriously TLG, first the KO TMNT figures from Decool entered the market before your official sets (the TMNT sets never entered the Malaysian market), now Green Lantern and some of the Superman figures have arrived before the official ones.
I can only hope the Lego Movie and Simpsons figures arrived here before the KOs do.
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The video shows the minifigures from Decool. From what I was told, the Decool versions are much more closer to the Lego ones than the ones I just compared. So if I come across a Decool minifigure which is similar to the original one which I own I will want to do a comparison.
Looking at the video of the Decool minifigures, they have double printed heads and the printing on the Batman looks better. Plus it comes with a comic, trading cards and a even batarang! And it all come in 1 minifigure pack! Sometimes I wish Lego will do the same and not spread out all the figures in large sets. For example like in LOTR, TMNT and Superheroes you need to buy some of the large sets to get that 1 exclusive minifigure or to complete your Avengers Team.
A few months back the Decool TMNT packs were very popular because it was very cheap and also TLG never officially brought in the TMNT sets. For approximately RM 50 you can get all 4 turtles plus Splinter and Shedder. All turtles come with skateboard, the signature weapons and a comic sheet. This was the first time a KO product has beaten the originals to the market.
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Over here in Malaysia we have fakes flooding the market that are getting really close to copying the exact minifigure. I bought these 2 minifigure packs out of curiosity and to compare with my actual Lego minifigures. Can you imagine Lego doing this? Batman and Iron Man minifigure pack instead of a large set which cost alot.
The packs is part of a series of 8 packs. The Iron Man ones comes with 7 other figures like Thor, mini Hulk etc. The Batman ones is part of a series for Batman, Robin and Joker.
Each pack contents is 1 bag of the figure unassembled and 1 card pack. Interestingly the Batman pack comes with 2 guns that are very similar to the guns in Star Wars sets.
The comparison of the Batman figure with the fake. It pains me to see that it is near impossible to distinguish between the 2 unless they are placed side by side. Can you spot the fake?
Iron Man is no different. Unless you know what the actual Iron Man looks like you cannot tell the fake apart.
The funny thing is, at the place where I bought it on the receipt the product description was "Lego". Not surprising since I have seen parents and children seeing fakes like Enlighten and calling them Lego in stores before. Add to the fact Lego is extremely expensive and hard to get here and you allow these fakes to thrive. Even funnier is that these stuff is sold in most large establish shopping malls where there are TRUs too.
Do note I bought them to do a comparison and to educate some of the Lego fans on the Lego Facebook group I go to.
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I too have this set. Bought it last year when I was in Legoland Malaysia. The idea is good, but the lack of letters is of a big disadvantage. I can spell my full name with the letters available since my name only has 10 alphabets but I doubt there is enough letters for typical Malay and Indian names which is very long and includes their father's name as well.
So we have a European product which is suited for the Continental market but not suitable for the Asian market.
Furthermore it is NOT cheap!
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I used to have a Meccano set during the mid 90s. I cannot recall which set it was but it was a huge set that can build a race car with motor and gears. Then bought a upgrade set to move up the next level. Somehow I stopped after that.
After Googling turns out I bought Erector set number 3. Then bought the upgade set to No. 4.
There was lot of problems with Meccano; mainly due to the fact it is made out of metal and needs an allen key to put it together. The stainless steel parts were ok except for some of the parts where it is stained and lost its shine. For the painted metal parts if the paint goes off that part will rust. Yes, it can RUST. Same for the bolts, nuts and washers, once the protective layer is off it will rust. Also it has that metal smell which you will have on your hands after you play.
So compared to Lego Technic, Meccano isn't really that child friendly due to the nature of the parts and assembly method. But unlike Lego the gears are solid metal so there is no chance for it to bend or buckle.
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Here's my entry; the M-tron camper! Comes with magnet at the rear to carry around the cargo container!
Here is the cargo box being carried.
Here is the cargo box dropped off. Also the sides can open to allow the crane to be operated and so that the cargo box does not hit the sides of the camper.
Another overall view of the camper.
To my amazement parts which are 20 years old are fully compatible with parts which came out only recently with little to no loss of clutch power!
More photos here: http://s3.photobucke...r?sort=3&page=1
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I am from one of those regions where TLG experience a huge increase in sales. I live in Malaysia and noticed that the stocks on our local shelves at one time were depleted so much so that some toy shops have to fill them up with Mega-you know whats and Kreos so that the Lego shelf do not look empty. Must be due to the fact we had a Legoland and the Shell Ferrari promotion. Lego still move although the price is more expensive than Hong Kong and South Korea.
Lego will see an even higher growth in the region if they consider sets brought in by resellers. Recently one reseller was able to bring in a small batch of Ewok village, BTTF and even the Sydney Opera House, making those who purchase these sets among the very first in Malaysia to build them. I managed to get my Mobile Crane MK2 at the end of July, before the official release and cheaper from a reseller. Then early this year I managed to get my Palace Cinema in less than 1 month after it was released for VIP overseas. The official Palace Cinema only arrive in July I think. If there is a VIP program here I would be among those VVIPS to TLG. I NEVER buy any of the large sets at retail since it is so expensive at retail price.
So there is a HUGE untapped AFOL market that rely upon the resellers that can bring in sets cheaper and faster than the official release. Hope that TLG can distribute Lego themselves and open a proper Lego shop here.
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Build mine over the weekend. Pretty long build but slightly easier than the 8258 since it has numbered bags. All components works as intended although it is slow, especially the outriggers. Nonetheless will try it out again with fully charged batteries to see if there is any improvement.
It is not easy to distinguish the grey and the black. At first I thought I had a shortage of 15 length grey beams but it turned out I had installed a grey one in the place of a black one.
Also, anyone noticed the different shades of yellow on the parts? An example would be the gear selector part at the superstructure, there is a slight difference in yellow between the 5 length, 4 "L" and 11 length yellow technic beams.
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. And eight minifigs! Has any other CITY set had that many?
This Town set has 13 minifigs. http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=6395-1 and no stickers. Yes, every single decal is a printed piece.
The town square is so-so for me. The bike shop looks ok but looks quite bare-bone. Maybe it due to the usage of the window pieces for its walls and its small size. Great idea for a revolving door in the bike shop though! Then the cafe looks ok as well. As for the square itself, I think TLG could have just omitted the crane for a bigger better square with a bench, flower bed and fountain. The lone statue looks like it pop out of no where. I may buy it, but solely for the window pieces and potential to mod the cafe and bike corner into a modular building.
The Octan racer looks ok too. Unfortunately since I have sets like 6395 where all the Shell logos are printed pieces, to see stickers is a step down for me.
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I think TLG is doing something wrong here. I mean, few days ago we had the news TLG boast about record profits and even beating Mattel. Now TLG announced they want to have a factory in China to cater for the Asian market. As an AFOL which has quite a substantial amount of Lego collected in the past few years I am quite upset with the news. The point that hit me is the fact that factory is to cater for the Asian Market.
I live in Malaysia which is located in Southeast Asia, so I guess we are the target customers for this factory. Our friends in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are also in the same camp. The thing that I like about Lego is that it is one of the very very few products on the shelf that DOES NOT COME from China. Seriously. look in the toy store, see how many products that does not come from China? Hasbro's TFs come from China. Hasbro's My Little Pony.. same thing. Mattel? While some of the hot wheels come from Malaysia I see most come from China. Tomica? It used to come from China but now Vietnam; during the transition period the quality was horrible. To see Lego, yes, THE Lego joining this "China" club makes Lego no different than Megablocks and all the knock-offs Lego out there. I wonder if Kre-O comes from China too? Or from South Korea? To me it does not add value to the Lego brand at all.
If Lego is made in China it is no different that the KOs I show below. For the dragon the KO is on the right.
Maybe it is due to the pricing? I think it is untrue. We are closer to Denmark than Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, yet our Lego is more expensive than in those countries. Not only that, they get stuff FASTER than us. I remember last year I was in Korea in January and they already had the first wave of Friends set and the Destiny's Bounty on sale. In Malaysia? We had to wait a few months later and it was more expensive! We are closer to Denmark than South Korea, then why did South Korea get it faster and cheaper than us?!?!? If I sail from Denmark to South Korea I will pass by Singapore and Malaysia first.
So now not only do we have to pay a premium for Lego, at prices higher than the US and the EU, but now we do not get any bricks from Denmark? It is like paying premium to buy a Volkswagen or Mercedes only to find it is made in India or China. It's like buying LV only to find it is not made in Italy. I really do hope it does not reach the stage where the Lego that is sold in Legoland Billund is made in China.
I think Lego is doing something very very wrong. It is frustrating enough to source the sets through official means, have to pay a huge premium to buy Lego and with this news of Lego saying since I am in Asia I am only entitle to China Lego I think maybe I should move to another hobby. FYI I have already bought the Palace Cinema and Maersk Train through some online sellers because god knows when those 2 sets will come and at what price. Both sets came from the States. Do I need to buy from online get Denmark's bricks?
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Large retailers like Amazon can have a low price on sets because their income and profit does not only come from Lego alone. They are able to keep a very low even no profit margin on Lego sets just to attract customers to their site which might buy other products which will result in a better profit than the profit generated from the Lego set. Also due to the large volume of sets that is purchased they can get a competitive pricing from Lego.
Lego sells its products at RRP so that it does not compete directly with its retail customers such as TRU, Walmart etc which buys in very large quantities. If you want to have maximum exposure for your product and want it to be sold in major retailers you need to ensure your retailers are able to move your goods in the first place. Unless of course Lego wants to invest lots of money to open a Lego Shop in every town and city in every country to sell its products which I doubt they are able to.
Imagine if Lego set up a roadshow inside a shopping mall with its products at 30% to 50% from the normal retail price. While it may be good for customers it will undercut any TRU or major retailer/toyshop in the same mall which bought the sets from Lego in the first place. In the future all these retailers would refuse to buy from Lego anymore since Lego will forever undercut them and leave them with stock they cannot move.
Lego is doing what Samsung, Apple, HTC, Sony etc al do; While these companies have their own store, the pricing inside the brand store does not undercut major electronic retailers like K-mart, Walmart, Carrefour etc.
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I posted a little review and comparison on Youtube on the Ice Dragon set made by this BELA bootleg company. The bootleg is near identical to the original except for a few pieces which they have replaced.
The review is here:
It does not help that it is sold within sight of a TRU in the place where I bought it. Take note the main reason I bought it is to review and hopefully let you guys know what this KO is about.
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Wonder how it would be if Gandalf just got the eagle to send Frodo to Mount Doom instead?
To me the Creator eagle is just the right side for the LOTR minifigures. Someone in TLG must had an idea for a giant eagle to complement LOTR.
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The hillside house looks better than I had expected! Lots of windows and door pieces for use in MOCs!
My only complain is the garage door however. I was expecting it to be those sliding type which is found in the police and fire stations.
I am curious to see how the light brick works in this set.
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I'm a senior mechanical engineer in charge of mechanical services in buildings. As a consultant, I design, call tender, oversee the installation, testing and commissioning of mechanical services like air-con, ventilation, plumbing, fire-fighting, gas, lifts, escalators etc in new buildings.
Quite a challenging profession but the rewards are great when the building is complete and all the systems inside are in order
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While I would like the idea of a new female mould, I feel it will limit the use of some of the armor accessories which is placed onto the torso. Eris' torso from the Chima line comes to mind. Another would be the female charactor from Agents in the Aerial Defence unit set; she wears an armor to help her rappel down from the helicopter.
Friends is different since it is a brand new minifigure and there has not been an armor accessory yet. Even if there is it would be a new one and would consider space for the boobs.
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Here is my opinion on the Palace Cinema:-
1) It has a fantastic exterior, but I am concern if the movie posters and signboards are stickers or printed window pieces? As far as I know all the modular buildings have not used stickers. I hope those poster and sign boards are the printed window panes similar to those used in the Fire Temple set
2) Regarding the interior, I do agree I am somewhat disappointed with it since it is no where near what I had imagine it would be. Maybe because we are spoiled by awesome MOCs such as this one , but I think TLG had to work within some budget constraints and modular building rules when designing the set. I wonder if TLG pushed the piece count a little more to 2600 pieces like the Town Hall will the result be better? I was certainly expecting stadium seating with a projector room like all cinemas out there.
3) One of the posters showed "Mysterious Monorail". Is TLG hinting it will bring back a monorail set? I sure hope they would!
Dissapointed in Lego Germany
in General LEGO Discussion
Posted
Hey, atleast you have a PROPER Lego store owned by Lego themselves with VIP points, Store calenders and Free Polybags. Here in Malaysia we have a Lego store with no VIP, free Polybags nor store calendar events. Even our PAB is lackluster and at one time they don't allow to reuse the PAB cup (not sure about now, since I didn't went back after the price increased and the no reuse of PAB cups).