DennisW

The original designer could get a taller ship in because he took advantage of the diagonal height of the bottle; making the bottle rest on its edge in the stand. Lego has chosen to rest the bottle flat on the stand, thereby cramping the available height for the ship - thus restricting what their designers can come up with in that space. That's just my take on it - don't really know or not if the original model was unstable enough to cause Lego to go with this revised take on the design

Here's a Chinese post comparing the 7939 with Ausini's clone. Run it through Chrome for a translated version http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2409334663 Here's a Chinese review of one of their steam loco's http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2834916871

I am new to this forum. I was looking for a toy train for my 2 yr old and got so hooked to his Duplo that I decided to get some trains for myself. Just got the Maersk and the Lone Ranger. I love the info I get from this forum so decided to join in. I stay in China but am not Chinese - just work here. I get my office staff to order from Chinese online sites and prices are very cheap for the knock off brands. I decided to order an Ausini just to see what the quality is like. The model I got is 25812 http://003.tsdn.net/...px?id=195&type= I checked up on most of the models they have on their website. Apparently not all are available - only surplus left over from their orders is let out in the local Chinese market. Apart of the one I bought the others available are the Maersk clone and the 7939 clone. I plan to get the 7939 for myself and already have the Maersk so didn't want to bother with the clones. Initial impressions - packaging is well done - nice box with parts sealed in individual (umarked) bags like Lego with a hefty instructions book (like Lego). Tracks are single stud and good quality though I haven't mated them with Lego yet. I actually haven't gotten around to building it cos I can't take it home (dont want the risk of my 2yr old accidentally choking on the parts) so will probably build it after hours at work. I don't mind doing a detailed review but I am new here and not sure if it's okay to post it here. I have ordered the log car of Enlighten too just to compare the quality. Their Frisco Fe and Union Pacific locos are no longer locally available but pretty much everything else is. Thank you everyone for this forum - I love the info, enthusiasm and ideas here. Now if I can only convince my wife that Lego is also for adults....