aidank

Perhaps it wouldn't be as easy to mass produce given their unique shapes and the fact that it uses fabric. In other words, it's not like minifig heads where you manufacture millions of minifig heads then just print different faces on each of them. Just my thoughts.

Hi tkatt! I really love and appreciate your reply. Anyway to address your points: I do see your point. It also makes finally having the bricks that you've been eyeing and waiting for for a long time worthwhile. Yes, I see all these marketplaces and services online now, but I can only imagine how much harder it must have been as a collector without the internet. That being said though, like you mentioned about songs and TV shows - people wanted more (instant streaming, Netflix) than what was already made comparatively more available (DVD vs having to wait for it to air on TV etc). And services stepped in to provide that to people. While great strides have been made, why not make improvements where they could be helpful? Yes, I guess having bricks so readily available would kill this aspect of collecting bricks, and I can't argue against it. However, I also see MOCs as pieces of art, and bricks as a medium to create those works. Just as an artist working with paints should not have to restrict themselves to the availability and affordability of certain colours of paint, I feel that MOCers should not be hampered by the availability of certain colours of bricks etc. Though I guess you could argue that scarcity breeds creativity! I agree that clone brands won't be able to have such low prices as they begin to produce their own designs, conduct R&D and license IP. However, I don't believe that TLG runs a charity too. I think they make about 30% margin, which more than covers their overhead. So while clone brands may increase the price of their sets to cover some additional overhead, competition could put resistance on rising set costs across the board. However, you could argue that there may not be competition if a clone brand targets a diff customer segment altogether (e.g. AFOLs).

Hi agrof, great to meet you! Apologies, I should have been more clear. I'm thinking more along the lines of a clone brick manufacturer that could help MOCers produce their popular MOCs, and provide the community with an affordable source of Lego-compatible bricks. I was trying to follow the guidelines under this paragraph regarding clone/competitor brands: Yes, I totally agree with you that a lot of discussions around bootlegs are nipped in the bud early - it prevents the creation of real solutions by the community. People are really caught between a rock and a hard place, because on one hand great MOCs get rejected by LEGO Ideas, yet on the other hand a bootleg manufacturer sees how popular the design is and just steals it. It's another reason why I think there may be a possibility of a competitor brand helping MOCers to produce their designs (not stealing, but picking up the baton where Lego has put it down.) An organisation would be great, and I feel that instead of just stamping down on all clone brands across the spectrum, it should: 1) Condemn bootlegging and stealing; 2) Promote MOCers' work by finding some other avenue for MOCs to be produced for the masses; 3) Encourage clone brick manufacturers (some of whom have bricks of comparable quality to LEGO) to collaborate with MOCers. This will provide that avenue in point 2. I truly see that as a win-win-win situation for everyone.

Hi all! I'm new here and I just wanted to know what your opinions are on selling MOCs using clone bricks (not bootlegs). Currently, many MOCers are able to provide instructions, but people wanting to build those MOCs either have to: 1) spend a lot of time and money acquiring the necessary pieces over marketplaces like BrickLink, or 2) acquire the pieces from various LEGO sets. It seems as though people could benefit from having clone bricks fill this void, and 3) even if the entire set is available on BL, it's often limited by the bricks that are available on the market. Also, I know how horrible it is that LEPIN would steal designs from MOCers on LEGO Ideas. And I feel terrible that such companies would hurt the community that way and give competitor brands a bad rep. But stealing aside, given how LEGO constantly rejects great LEGO Ideas submissions (with 10k supporters), wouldn't it be great if there was a competitor brand who would take up those designs and turn it into actual sets? I've also been told that clone brands might be helpful in providing MOCers with bricks in certain colours, or out-of-production bricks. The reason I ask all this is because I perceived this need in the community and I was wondering if someone ever tried working with a clone brand manufacturer. I've spoken to a few MOCers to ask if they would like to monetise their designs using clone brands. They do appear interested in monetising, but their opinions differ over the use of clone brands (some were for it, but others couldn't because they felt it would affect their reputation). However, those were just a couple of views. I wanted to know what the wider community thought. Forgive me, I'm quite new to the LEGO community and maybe I don't understand all the issues fully. However, I would really appreciate knowing your thoughts.