Snark

Yeah, I guess Hasbro decided Transformers was its only sufficiently viable property for Kre-O for the time being. Probably not a surprise given that at present, Transformers is the only Hasbro owned boys franchise which is really popular. I'm sure they would have loved to include G.I Joe if it wasn't for the fact that the only people who still care about Joe are all above 30. And in regard to a girls' line such as perhaps My Little Pony, for reasons well beyond me, companies (Lego included) seem very hesitant to really focusing on a girls' line of construction toys. And thanks for the Who offer! I think I'll be fine for now, but if I'm ever itching for a little plastic Dalek on my desk or something, I'll be sure to shoot you a PM :)

From what I undersand, Hasbro made the decision not to have transforming Kre-O so as to prevent competition with their own Transformers line. Furthermore, I imagine Hasbro has long term plans to bring other Hasbro properties into Kre-O, and are worried about the line acquiring an overly strong Transformers identity. Ultimately, time will tell whether they made a good decision or not, but as said, for now, they seem to be selling well enough. As an aside, I really wish the Doctor Who stuff from Character Building was cheaper here in Aus. I nearly wept when I saw the TARDIS mini set sold at a whopping $30 :(

Here in Sydney, they seem to be doing ok. Personally, I've bought a bunch of sets, have gotten a few friends to pick up one or two and I've seen quite a few parents buying them for their kids. Outside of personal observations, it's difficult to conclusively say exactly how well they are doing. That said, Hasbro recently posted a solid Q3 growth of 15%, and stated "some" of that growth can be attributed to Kre-O, which would suggest that they are at least selling decently. Given how new entrants to a mature market generally enter with the assumption that they will be operating at a loss for the first few years, the fact that Kre-O contributed to growth at all in its first year probably means it's doing pretty well for Hasbro.

For better or for worse, Hasbro has stated they only have plans to expend the Transformers Kre-O line for 2012. Given that I'm a big TF fan, that's quite fine by me, but it's still a bit of a bummer that it'll be at least another year before we even have a chance of seeing any Pony Kre-Os.

Interlego A.G v Tyco Industries [1988]. That said, it is worth nothing that patent law seems to have been rather different back in the 40s and 50s as opposed to now. Patent law requires that the proposed patent be sufficiently different from the prior art base. To put it in laymans' terms, the prior art base is pretty much all the stuff that has been patented or published in the past. However, modern patent law involves a global prior art base, meaning anything patented or published anywhere in the world forms part of the prior art base. Based on the words of Lord Oliver in the above mentioned case, it would seem that the prior art base was relative to the jurisdiction, as opposed to a universal one. I can't be bothered to check patent law in the various countries Kiddicraft and Lego marketed to in the 50s, and who had patents in what jurisdictions, but will grant that there is a possibility that Lego may have acted in its legal right, should it be proven that Kiddicraft held no patents in the jurisdictions that Lego dealt in. And in regard to your second statement, patent law should be a given in any discussion about Lego and alternative brands, as the acts so many AFOLs are decrying are in fact, not only allowed under law, but are encouraged as a means to foster competition and prevent monopoly. Sure they can. But why should they? Research and development in creating a new class of toy and the marketing required to create a consumer need for this toy would be an incredibly costly venture, both monetarily and in time investment. Furthermore, there is the clear risk of failure even after all the resources invested in such a project. If you would like to fund such a venture, be my guest. But until toy companies find a way to have unlimited funds, you can hardly blame companies for wanting to enter the market that has allowed Lego to post double digit growth for six consecutive years. Ultimately, I don't really care about the morality of the matter, which seems to be an issue regularly brought up in discussions regarding alternative brands. Personally, applying concepts such as morality and loyalty to companies that don't actually care about you beyond how much money you can throw at it, seems rather illogical. What does matter to me is that alternative brands provide many advantages to construction toy fans. They provide cheaper alternatives, some of which, such as Oxford and Kre-O, being pretty much the same quality as Lego. Furthermore, they provide new themes, new licenses and new ideas. That alone should justify their existence.

I'm not sure what I love more; the cobblestones or the Japanese TARDIS. Either way, this is 'sugoi', as I'm sure the Ninth Sensei would say.

The difference really lies in the fact that unlike Lego itself, companies such as Knex, Hasbro and Mega are acting in their legal right. The entire concept of patent law lies in the fact that protection is time limited, and once it expires, it is legal for others to copy it. This isn't a loophole in legislation, it is the central reason for having a time limit in patents. In regard to the accusation that there is deliberate obfuscation on part of these companies, consumer protection laws (or whatever the equivalent is called in your jurisdiction) are in place that require companies to take reasonable steps from preventing a reasonable consumer from mistaking their products with those of another company. Are they riding on the coattails of Lego? Most definitely. But it's not like we condemn low cost alternatives of other products for doing the same thing, now do we?

There was actually some chatter down at Ponychan about the possibility of MLP Kre-O. I for one, would snap them up in an instant.

Well, in a way, they have with Kre-O, which is made with Oxford bricks. That said, I'd love it if Oxford stuff was more readily available in the West, I really want their Three Kingdoms stuff.

Oxford makes them as well? That's awesome! Would you happen to have any pictures? I'm curious to see what they look like.

Just to be clear, when you say "good company", do you mean a company that practices corporate social responsibility, or a company with good sales and growth? Basically, is this "good" in the perspective of the shareholder or the wider community?

So I bought a bunch of series 5 blind bags today, and got myself a gangster minifig. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this guy is amazing. I love his hat, his pinstripe suit and his violin case. Seriously, everything about him screams kid friendly noir, and its amazing. So I was wondering, have Lego ever released similar themed sets? Sorry if the answer should be obvious, I've only recently gotten back into construction set toys after many, many years.

I can't possibly be the only one who thinks that looks amazing. I mean, seriously! Who wouldn't want to bring Hello Kitty along with Jack Sparrow or Luke Skywalker on their adventures!?

Hi everyone, I'm Snark, a 23 year old lawyer who plays with childrens' toys. After a considerable time lurking around here, I decided I might as well register and become an active participant as opposed to a silent observer. Lego was probably the most influential toy during my childhood, and it was with great pleasure that I've recently rediscovered the joys of construction toys. That said, I feel the need to point out the following, given that I've noticed it seems to be a point of controversy for some; it wasn't Lego, but Mega Bloks that reignited my interest in construction toys. Furthermore, I'm a big fan of a few of the alternative brands. In fact, my Mega Bloks and Kre-O sets collectively outnumber the amount of Lego stuff I own. This is not to say I'm not a big Lego fan, in fact, the Alien Conquest line is one of the most charmingly cheesy toylines I've ever seen. Whatever the case, I hope we all get along. My bricks get along fine (in fact, I currently have a Mega Bloks Mongoose on my desk, being ridden on by a Megatron Kreon and an alien Lego minifig), and I hope we can too :)