[cardanome]

Only the lego figurines are protected.

You can legally produce lego compatible bricks and many reputable companies like Cobi do so. There is nothing grey about it. Some of these companies offer better quality than Lego these days. Lego isn't the only game in town anymore.

[lvl155]

It’s incredibly expensive to produce at LEGO’s tolerance levels. No manufacturer would do it unless you can sell it at such a high margin which, to my knowledge, is basically LEGO and certain high precision aeronautic parts makers.

[cardanome]

Where did you hear that? This is completely false.

First of all, when buying a set from Lego you are mostly paying for the actual design of the set and the license for the franchise if it is based on a certain movie or video game. The actual cost of producing the plastic is negligible.

Secondly, those alternative manufacturers do exists and they offer vastly lower prices for the same or better quality. They evidently make money with it.

For example the German company Bluebrixx designs sets and then buys the bricks from Chinese producers like xingbao as a white label solution. Cobi, a polish company, on the other hand even manages to produce in the EU while Lego produces in China and Vietnam and they are still making a profit and have vastly superior quality compared to Lego.

[spott]

Who offers better quality than Lego?

[skeeter2020]

I think this has been a big part of keeping Lego quality, specifically in the plastic. Unfortunately it's also been a huge pillar in their cross-promotional strategy which has meant a focus on IP tie-ins and dumbed-down sets. It's hugely profitable and also allows you to make a lot more protected pieces.

[cardanome]

Cobi (producing in the EU), Cada, Mould King, Bluebrixx (Germany based, not producing the bricks themselves so quality can vary but sets are pretty good.) I could go on.

Lego has really bad quality these days. They used to have a good reputation but it has been a sharp downturn these days. Just look at the new $1000 Death Star set they recently release. The most expensive set ever and shit tier quality.

[spott]

Are we talking about different things? Are you referring to set quality, or brick quality?

Mould King and Cada do not have the same consistency of fit that LEGO does… so I think we are talking about different things.

[em-bee]

Mould King and Cada do not have the same consistency of fit that LEGO does

that's simply not true. i have mould king bricks that are indistinguishable in quality from lego. and many other brands as well. i have been buying other brands in china and i haven't seen a difference in quality for about a decade or so. the last issue i remember reading about was that some factory produced bricks with varying tolerances depending on the season, because the factories were not climate controlled. and that story is already several years old.

so yes, you could have an old set from a bad charge. but the times where lego was guaranteed to be better are gone.

[thebruce87m]

> The most expensive set ever and shit tier quality.

What is the measure of quality? I buy my son sets and help him build them and they seem fine to me.

[cardanome]

Mostly prints vs sticker, color consistency, building techniques, visible sprue points, whether figurines has special prints on arms and stuff like that.

For a child most sets will be fine if you don't need to care about the price. Though some sets want to install an Smartphone app for full functionality which I think is a pretty shite idea as most good parents want to get their children away from the screens.

However a lot of adults are also collecting Lego. And the 1000 Dollar Death Start is aimed at them, not children. It is an UCS set, which normally means higher quality.

The problem is that a lot of cost cutting measures have been used to save up a few cents here and there for the most expensive set ever. The figurines are trash. The sets includes stickers. The problem with stickers is that they look like ass over time so not really suited for serious collecting.

The backside of the set looks absolutely disgusting. Which would be fine as you could put it in front of a wall but alas you can only access certain features by the backside. The elevator mechanic is trash. Honestly just watch a video of the thing.

And worst of all, the Tie Fighter needed for the set to be complete was only available as an extra goodie for early buyers to spread FOMO. One thousand dollars and you don't even get the whole thing. Scalpers sell that Tie Fighter for like two hundred.

[greenavocado]

How did LEGO embed things into the figurines before using stickers?

[y0eswddl]

the same way they add facial features and clothing detail to minfigs

[thebruce87m]

Interesting, thanks for the insight.