Thrund

I'm fairly sure it was established that that particular one was nothing to do with the plastic or moulding, just the stress put on the hands by having them packed holding the weapons. Remove the weapons and let them sit for a while and the hand returns to its proper shape.

Actually, the latest Enlighten pirate sets do seem to be original designs. They have also recently released a couple of high-detail collector's models (grand piano and handgun) which are not only original, but seem to be really nice designs. So it looks as though they have employed an actual set designer and are starting to move from bootleg to clone.

Most of the clone/bootleg brands, even the ones who copy LEGO set designs, have different minifigures. The only one I can think of that directly copied any of the LEGO figures is Enlighten, and their bootlegs tend to be of older set designs. As far as I know, though, none of them do minifigure packs, and by the time you've paid shipping charges the Chinese sets don't work out that much cheaper than LEGO, so I can't see anyone stockpiling fake minifigs that way. I have seen sellers with lots such as '9 of the same minifig hair', or several copies of a custom figure using standard parts, and in those cases I can only assume they buy the parts directly from LEGO and mark them up enough to make a small profit on each one.

This is entirely possible; when Games Workshop discontinued Epic 40K, a seller popped up selling the troop sprues in brand new condition, and the quantities he had made it obvious that these were the leftover stock (also he was based in Nottingham near the GW factory). I never knew whether he had permission to resell them, but since GW are as well-known for legal action as TLG, he was either doing so with their blessing, or had bought the stock legitimately and was therefore within his rights to resell them regardless of GW's opinion.

That set looks a lot like the old-style Construblock sets, which in turn may have been based on old Oxford sets. The yellow faces and hands with curve-over hips and shaped legs are the Oxford minifig design, and the colour choices and vehicle designs resemble the ones in the Construblock sets. Examples If it's the same factory that is now doing the current Construblock sets, then the plastic quality is quite good but I had some issues with the clutch/tolerance on the larger pieces. Edit: I think WOMA are a distributor rather than a manufacturer, because their ranges don't all have the same kind of minifigs. Their military sets (and the minifigs marching across the top of the webpage) are the straight-armed ones that Coko Bloko used to do. So the actual sets are probably all bootlegs from anonymous manufacturers in China and the quality may vary a lot between ranges.

The recent Mega Bloks figures are incredibly detailed and well-proportioned for their size, but somehow they seem too realistic and don't have the charm of Lego minifigs. Although the parts are technically interchangeable, the ranges are so individual that it would look weird if you actually did so. Having said that, it's an example of one thing I've always respected MB for, they may be based on Lego-compatible blocks but they've always gone out of their way to develop their lines in different ways to Lego.

I think it is better - or at least, I think the clutch is at '90s Lego levels. I've had two Next Generation sets sitting around for a couple of weeks and decided it was time to disassemble them, and found it much harder work than with any recent Lego set.

I too would like to see something like this, especially as I'm sure I could contribute; I recently posted something similar in the Lego thread on SomethingAwful. I have picked up several odd brands but I don't have a camera so I haven't really felt qualified to post any full reviews.

I'm keen on the action themes because they fit what I'm using Lego for - character models and settings for tabletop roleplaying games. My next campaign is set in 1928 so I've been grabbing everything I can find from the Adventurers line. I now have enough options to let my players build custom minifigs for their character models, but I'm still short of enough tan bricks to complete the Egyptian tomb they'll be exploring. The campaign after that will be classic Fantasy so I'm also getting a lot of Castle/Viking stuff - but I've tracked down all the hairpieces from the Exo-Force line because all my players are Anime fans and one of them is bound to want to give his character green or purple hair

My best bargains so far have been the original 7140 X-Wing for £1 in a charity shop (it wasn't complete, was missing most of the utility cart and the Biggs minifig, but the ship, Luke and R2 were all there. My guess is it was left made up and the bits that weren't attached got lost) and the Titan XP creator set for 99p on Ebay (although the £9 shipping charge turned that from a stupid bargain into merely a good deal).

The only pieces which might not be direct clones are the main body and pincers, I'm pretty sure I recognise all the other parts. I only ever bought a couple of second-hand Bionicle sets to steal the ball-joints for a wargame modelling project, long before I really got back into Lego, so I'm not that familiar with the range but I've seen a lot of the smaller parts in bulk lots. The €2 price is pretty silly, I've paid more than that for real Bionicle in charity shops, but it does look really rough.

Nice job, given you were missing a couple of the exact parts. I believe you need to add a 2x2 round plate on top of that turntable to make it compatible with the accessories (that turntable was exactly what I would have used to reproduce it in Lego, so I gave this some thought).

Construblock. They're Spanish, and although I recognise some of the elements (the motorbikes are the same design as Best-Lock, and obviously most of the basic bricks and plates are similar to Lego) a lot seem to be original. The figures are weird, about the size of Jack Stone and look more like Playmobil figures than anything. Edit: Ended up winning the Police Station, £4.99 plus £2.95 shipping for 334 parts. A bit big for a sample set, but I will try to post a review (though I still don't have a camera).

So, since the Space sets are the new ones, and appear to be original (if not necessarily better quality), it looks like Toyrific are another brand that started off importing bootlegs and then switched to their own designs. Incidentally, I've just found yet another compatible brand on eBay (and this time they appear to be mostly original elements, so I hesitate to even call them a clone) and am debating whether to order a set - the auction ends in an hour or so. This clone hunting business gets addictive!

Okay, while I'm still sure that the Space range uses Best-Lock components, the Castle, Pirates and possibly the Construction range are Cogo. I couldn't find an exact match for this set, but some of the other castles and most of the pirate sets are identical to Cogo sets as seen on A2Z Toys