Cheaper Version of LEGO?

saxlady on 01/11/2017 - 21:47
Last edited 01/11/2017 - 21:48

My kids have just started getting into lego and it is just so expensive! And you buy a kit - and that's it for the most part. They come with specialised pieces so you can't do much more than the kit, unless you buy more kits, put them together and so forth…

So - bearing in mind I have time to order from O/S before Christmas, what would people recommend? I'm looking for ages 6 through to early teen, so I gather most things would fit in that category.

Are there cheaper knock offs you can buy (like some chinese made kits?) Would you say they are acceptable, or are they often not compatible with genuine lego , or break or….?

I'm not opposed to getting second hand stuff, but they are sometimes close to as expensive as the stores on sale so might as well get new.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Toys & Kids

Comments

  • hm on 01/11/2017 - 21:53

    as above

  • 87percent on 01/11/2017 - 22:09
    +9

    I'm no Lego aficionado, but I find when I get a non genuine Lego piece, it doesn't hold together as well as the real ones.

    • Randxyz123 on 01/11/2017 - 22:28
      +6

      This.

      Keep an eye on the sales OP. It gets quite reasonably priced.

      Frankly the cheap stuff is utter shit. The real lego is good for a reason. Buying from Amazon or eBay when they have sales is how you'll save money.

      • PJC on 01/11/2017 - 23:42
        +2

        And garage sales for secondhand pieces which of course must be washed before use.

        • munecito on 02/11/2017 - 12:17
          +2

          Most definitely if you buy it from Neil from the inbetweeners

        • PJC on 02/11/2017 - 12:20
          +1

          @munecito: Amen to that to that.

  • wombat81 on 01/11/2017 - 22:29
    +10

    There is varying quality of non genuine Lego. Some of is complete rubbish and isn't good enough to even click together. Other stuff isn't too bad. It's really hard to tell the difference without actually looking at it in the flesh, though. So it's going to be a bit of a lottery buying online and you're likely to waste your money. But the quality of the cheap Chinese plastic just isn't in the same league as genuine Lego.

    You probably aren't going to like this, but my advice is to just bite the bullet and buy the genuine stuff. If it means you have to get a smaller kit, I reckon your kids will still appreciate it more. They can accumulate it over time, anyway. If you avoid the specialised and licenced series and just stick to City or Creator or Technic or the reasonably "plain" series' you'll find there aren't too many specialised pieces. The 3 in 1 Creator sets are nice since you can make at least 3 models with each kit. And you'll be surprised at how much stuff you can build even with only a small amount of pieces. There's a whole genre of Lego building that is "micro scale" and cool stuff can be made with only a few bits. Google it.

    Genuine Lego is one of the best quality and well made toys out there and will easily last a life time if it's looked after. The cheap Chinese stuff just isn't the same. Trust me, your kids will notice the difference if you don't buy genuine. Myer has 20% or 30% off Lego reasonably regularly, sometimes in store, sometimes online, if that helps.

    A smaller gift of genuine Lego is much better than a larger gift of rip off Lego, IMO, and I reckon the vast majority of kids will agree.

    As for buying 2nd hand Lego, you need to be really lucky. Any cheap 2nd hand Lego that appears on Ebay or Gumtree or Facebook will get snapped up by the Lego nerds at warp speed, so unless you stumble across some at a garage sale, I wouldn't bother pursuing that too heavily. I guess you could ask friends, family, colleagues etc if they have any they'd be prepared to sell?

    Good luck. Lego is great.

    • Tiller76 on 02/11/2017 - 10:05
      +3

      As wombat81 said, Lego will last. I still have 30 year old sets that work and fit perfectly well with sets bought this year.

  • Clear on 01/11/2017 - 22:33
    +9

    You found my secret hobby. Too bad about needing them before Christmas as getting many of these in time may be pushing it. AliExpress is full of them and there are some really good brands out there now.

    • Lepin is the best knock off brand as their quality is about 95ish % the same as Lego and they have identical sets and reruns of the old classics.

    • Enlighten have been around forever, but their quality can be a hit and miss. The original Enlighten group did clones of the classics like the Pirates and Police. The new Enlighten group have moved to more original designs.

    • KAZI are good for your traditional city sets like Fire and Police. GUDI are pretty much the same as KAZI.

    • Xingbao are more a high end brand and don't do many clones. Their sets like this and this are really nice.

    • wombat81 on 01/11/2017 - 22:37

      Can you give us an idea of how the prices of the various brands you mentioned compare with genuine Lego? I'll obviously look through your links, but I'm guessing you'll have a pretty good idea off the top of your head? Thanks

      • Clear on 01/11/2017 - 22:40
        +1

        Some of the bigger sets can be about a quarter of the price. You just have to consider the US to AU conversion. The downsides is that if you want the box to be included it'll cost extra, parts are sometimes missing and the instructions can be poor. If it's a clone set then the original LEGO instructions online often suffice.

    • scotty on 01/11/2017 - 23:30
      +1

      Xingbao are more a high end brand and don't do many clones

      These are actually some pretty unique sets that you won't get from LEGO. Nice.

      • Clear on 01/11/2017 - 23:37

        Yup I only discovered them very recently and haven't had a chance to pick up a set yet. This one even has USB Lights!

        Hopefully I can pick up a decent set in the price jacked 11.11 promotion.

    • saxlady on 01/11/2017 - 23:44

      These are compatible with the genuine stuff?

      • Clear on 01/11/2017 - 23:46

        Yes. Lepin is still your best bet for compatibility. I have a few Sluban/GUDI sets where the blocks just don't stick.

        • saxlady on 01/11/2017 - 23:47

          Thanks - you're a champion

  • Some Human on 01/11/2017 - 23:05
    +7

    Highly likely your kids will turn their nose up at non genuine Lego sets and you will have just wasted your money. Kids are very in the know about brand names.

  • saxlady on 01/11/2017 - 23:43

    Thanks so much for all the comments - really helpful. I'll check out some of the stuff Clear suggested. I can do without boxes and instructions, but missing parts could be a big issue.
    I'm thinking I'll try ordering a couple of sets from overseas and then hopefully catch a couple of sets on sale. Fingers crossed it will all work out.

  • PVA on 01/11/2017 - 23:49
    +1

    MegaBloks are good and you can get them at target and bigw mr toys etc

    Or counterfeit/ ripoff of lego go Lepin
    https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/

    https://www.aliexpress.com/store/all-wholesale-products/2819… this store has a good range and recommended by the reddit group

  • dcuksuop on 01/11/2017 - 23:59
    +1

    When I was a kid, I had bunch of legos, and some non-legos, hated the non-legos cause it didn't fit well. They either comes apart too easily, or really tight and can't pull apart. Also depends on your kids play style. I found sets boring, e.g. follow instruction, put them together then that's it. Box full of random pieces were lots more fun, can build whatever you can imagine.

  • gummibear on 02/11/2017 - 00:00

    Buy the non licensed lego classic range. They come in the yellow boxes.
    good value for money when bought on sale.

  • wombat81 on 02/11/2017 - 00:04
    +1

    Getting off topic a little, but the other thing that annoys me about the cheap Chinese lego is ethics issue. They are blatantly ripping off someone else's ideas and copyrights. It's only because of the s$%tty Chinese legal system that they can get away with it. It makes me a bit wild, to be honest.

    • Clear on 02/11/2017 - 00:11
      +1

      You're not wrong. LEGO were successful in taking out Enlighten years ago until they reformed. Now they're targeting Lepin who actually ask people on their forums what set they should clone next.

      • try2bhelpful on 02/11/2017 - 08:18

        When we were in Hong Kong the markets had fake model Star Wars sets with the name Star Wart, presumably to ensure people knew they were fake. we thought it was hilarious.

  • Squiglymo on 02/11/2017 - 00:19

    I wouldn't bother with the fake stuff. Genuine lego is will work as it should. China Brand is just a waste of money and will have compatibility issues.

    Look after lego (instructions aswell) and you will be able to sell it later on in life.

    Id keep an eye out for second hand sets online, gumtree aswell.

  • try2bhelpful on 02/11/2017 - 08:19
    +2

    Do you need the kits or could you just buy a big box of the blocks and let the kids use their imagination.

  • Aussie Smurfette on 02/11/2017 - 08:33

    Kids aren’t going to play with the knock offs, we have all been there done that. LEGO is expensive for a reason, you get what you pay for.

  • JimmyF on 02/11/2017 - 08:42

    My kids have just started getting into lego and it is just so expensive!

    Its always been expensive! Even when you had been a kit, it was costly as!

    • wombat81 on 02/11/2017 - 12:28

      Sometimes I wish I could come back as a Lego kit after I die….

  • ranma on 02/11/2017 - 09:47

    I don't have much experience with the cheap clones, although I did fiddle with a built one once - I think you could tell that it wasn't the same. I agree with it being pretty expensive - I've been buying sets off OzB for a long time now that are minimum 40% off - best I think I've done was like 60%. Just keep an eye out for the clearance sales on here, I think that real Lego will be a better investment in the long term.

  • thord on 02/11/2017 - 12:59
    +2

    Buy lego, seriously. It has it's reputation for a reason. It is expensive, yes, but it last for 50 years and actually holds it's value if you keep the sets in relatively good order (i.e. don't let the dog chew them up - unlikely kids would be able to damage it).

    Cheap knock offs are throwaway junk. Genuine lego is a lifetime investment.

  • Speckled Jim on 02/11/2017 - 14:37
    +2

    And you buy a kit - and that's it for the most part. They come with specialised pieces so you can't do much more than the kit, unless you buy more kits, put them together and so forth…

    Not true.
    Take any genuine kit number, add "alternate" and search. Others have done the brain work and sometimes they'll upload PDF or LDD instructions.

    I bought my last kit (31070) based on two alternate builds that look better than the official builds.

  • HighAndDry on 02/11/2017 - 19:31

    Played with Legos all my live. Tried knock-offs - the difference is night and day, totally unuseable some of the cheaper stuff. Wouldn't touch it, much less shaft my own kids with them or (god forbid) use them as gifts.

  • tank17 on 06/11/2017 - 05:53

    I know LEGO is expensivem and it seems like is getting more and more by the week. But I doubt you can find something even close to half of LEgo quality and durability. I still have the Lego sets I inherited from my cousin…ad he is 45 now…

    • Clear on 06/11/2017 - 16:48

      You should watch the comparison videos. Lepin are more than half the quality and durability of LEGO.

      • Lord Fart Bucket on 14/11/2017 - 20:13

        Yep. Got several lepin sets… they're terrific.

        • Speckled Jim on 18/11/2017 - 19:30

          Their UCS Falcon is cheap as chips compared to genuine.
          Most people couldn't tell the difference from a metre away.
          So tempting…

        • Lord Fart Bucket on 18/11/2017 - 19:59

          @Speckled Jim:
          Got the brick bank and assembly square… both probably at less than half of the LEGO price. The only thing is that there’s no LEGO printed on the stud. Other than that, can’t tell them apart.
          Most are shipped without a box though

  • tank17 on 13/11/2017 - 01:48

    Really? Never used them before but I am sure you might be right. I think Lego is such an iconic part of our culture that anything else gets ignored.

  • jxlol on 12/12/2017 - 10:42

    Ive just bought a few Chinese company’s Lego like breaks, they’re really quilified but not like Lego, consider the price and the actual sets, it’s pretty worth of buying. Spend $230 for 4 large sets, and most of the review are happy with the quality of that brand. I mean for a large Lego sets spend 3,4,5 hundreds is too much for most of families, it’s like 2 of sets can buying a new TV + Audio Sets + PS4.

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