You can find way cheaper knockoffs on Aliexpress if you search for lego, I've always wanted to order one of the big Star Wars sets I'd always go over in the catalog as a kid, but since they use old molds discarded for not meeting conformity standards, or have different plastic mixtures and painting methods. I ordered a bunch of knock off minifigs, and some were actually pretty close on quality. Definitely better than any of the "legally distinct" variations you find in the US.
Definitely better than any of the “legally distinct” variations you find in the US.
Lol I remember trying to put together a Megablox model of a battleship as a kid, following the directions, and one of the final pieces was extremely tough to get in place. About two seconds later the whole ship literally tore itself apart and burst into like 10 pieces, I guess from the compounding tension due to their poor tolerances of the blocks (long 1/3 height ones especially)
That's true. There's one particular brand that Lego fans were obsessed with a few years ago, a Chinese knockoff called 'Lepin'. They re-produced many highly sought after Star Wars sets that fans had been begging to come back for years. Among them was the Jabba's Sail Barge set and the original Star Destroyer.
My issue with Lego is how they never lower their prices. In the past few years, they've upped the Disney tax for Star Wars sets. We used to pay $20 a set before 2018 and now they are up to $30 for the smaller sets and they definitely are not worth it. I have to hand it to them though, cause that recent Cantina set was beautifully made and if I were rich, I'd blow $350 on it and have a blast building that with all the alien mini figures. Lego does make great Star Wars sets from time to time, but they really bleed you dry of cash for them.
You can find way cheaper knockoffs on Aliexpress if you search for lego, I've always wanted to order one of the big Star Wars sets I'd always go over in the catalog as a kid, but since they use old molds discarded for not meeting conformity standards, or have different plastic mixtures and painting methods. I ordered a bunch of knock off minifigs, and some were actually pretty close on quality. Definitely better than any of the "legally distinct" variations you find in the US.
Lol I remember trying to put together a Megablox model of a battleship as a kid, following the directions, and one of the final pieces was extremely tough to get in place. About two seconds later the whole ship literally tore itself apart and burst into like 10 pieces, I guess from the compounding tension due to their poor tolerances of the blocks (long 1/3 height ones especially)
That's true. There's one particular brand that Lego fans were obsessed with a few years ago, a Chinese knockoff called 'Lepin'. They re-produced many highly sought after Star Wars sets that fans had been begging to come back for years. Among them was the Jabba's Sail Barge set and the original Star Destroyer.
My issue with Lego is how they never lower their prices. In the past few years, they've upped the Disney tax for Star Wars sets. We used to pay $20 a set before 2018 and now they are up to $30 for the smaller sets and they definitely are not worth it. I have to hand it to them though, cause that recent Cantina set was beautifully made and if I were rich, I'd blow $350 on it and have a blast building that with all the alien mini figures. Lego does make great Star Wars sets from time to time, but they really bleed you dry of cash for them.