Haven't tried those specific brands (and they tend to change brand every time they get sued), but I had a bunch of Lepin and whatever else.
You can tell the difference if you start mixing pieces. The official ones SNAP together, the cheapo copies just smush and don't really stick. They tend to get loose way faster too.
They're good if you want to get that 5000 piece car, build it and put it on a shelf. But if you're looking for something you can give to your kids and grandkids, get the real deal. I still have the same lego sets I got when I was a kid and now they're with my kids.
Competition has made huge quality leaps in recent years. They can not be compared to Lepin anymore.
Cobi, a Polish Company, has actually better quality than Lego and is the only one producing in the European Union.
The Chinese brands are already at 95% percent there, especially as modern Lego is actually getting worse (and probably producing in the same factories anyway). Sadly the remaining 5% can make all the difference and can be a bit frustrating at times but we should hopefully see parity soon especially a those brands try to go into the quality segment more and more.
As an adult, I don't see a reason to pay Lego prices when I can have nicer and bigger sets for much cheaper. I can cope with a little bit of frustration and some pieces not being perfect.
quality of alternative bricks has improved remarkably over the last few years.
and the reputable importers of chinese brands pay attention to not import cloned sets and make sure that the MOC sets they get are properly licensed from the MOC designers. so what you get is much better than what it used to be.
bluebrixx is a german brand btw. they import many chinese brands but also design and produce their own sets. they recently started producing officially licensed star trek sets.
Doesn't the actual injection molding happen in China anyway? Wouldn't it be more surprising if the Chinese didn't learn the tricks of the trade by now?
No, for Lego the injection molding is strictly headquarter business. To the extend that the old molds/tools are literally encased in concrete beneath the buildings (you can see examples if you go to "Lego House" museum at the headquarters in Billund, Denmark).
I am a big Bluebrixx fan but the quality is a bit shite at the moment.
Their medieval sets are stunningly beautiful. Probably the best looking set on the market.
They are great for experts but definitely not great as a casual first buy for people that try Lego alternatives. They love to use insane build techniques that are fun for experts but not really suited for beginners.
The Star Trek series has been a huge disaster for both design issues but also quality of pieces. They have serious stability issues and barely hold together. I am unironically considering plastic glue for my models.
They are constantly improving and I am sure the kinks will get worked out but currently I can only recommend them for people that like a challenge. Again, they have some stunningly beautiful sets and are worth keeping an eye on but do not buy them for children or inexperienced people.
interesting, the reviews that i saw about the star trek models pointed out some issues but were not as bad. and besides that i have not seen any other star trek set that was better, with the exception of the mega bloks one, but their way to connect the warp nacelles i would consider cheating.
Yeah, some things are really difficult to do any better with standard pieces but honestly that can't be excuse. The quality of pieces that xingbao can deliver is simply not up to the task and they should have expected that.
Plus the pressure that is put in the pieces by the weight of the models might cause them not age well. So the benefit of using standard pieces might not be that great in this case.
As for the reviews, Held der Steine is sadly very biased towards towards Bluebrixx. Look at the comments under the last video where he shows the big Enterprise. They are extremely negative.
Also quality is very inconsistent. Some people are very lucky and get good pieces while some others have less luck. So you can't really know if you get a good batch.
Honestly they are still OK display pieces but the price is not really justified by the quality.
i have read through the comments. most complain about the price and the hanging nacells. none of the commenters have built this model yet. most sound self righteous and they were never going to get this thing anyways. i'll wait until i see more reviews from people who actually built the thing.
maybe i am biased towards lego alternatives, but i don't think that the same model with original lego bricks is going to be any better. i highly doubt that the quality of xingbao bricks is the problem here.
rather this model is at the limit of what plastic can hold, and unless you cheat, like mega bloks, i don't think it is possible to do better.
in my personal opinion, if the model doesn't fall apart, then the quality of the bricks is good enough. yes, there are issues with inconsistent quality, and i have seen models that actually do fall apart. if that happens, then criticism is justified. but for the model as presented in the video, i didn't see such quality issues, and hence i don't agree that the review was biased.
You can tell the difference if you start mixing pieces. The official ones SNAP together, the cheapo copies just smush and don't really stick. They tend to get loose way faster too.
They're good if you want to get that 5000 piece car, build it and put it on a shelf. But if you're looking for something you can give to your kids and grandkids, get the real deal. I still have the same lego sets I got when I was a kid and now they're with my kids.