paanjang16

Hey, atleast you have a PROPER Lego store owned by Lego themselves with VIP points, Store calenders and Free Polybags. Here in Malaysia we have a Lego store with no VIP, free Polybags nor store calendar events. Even our PAB is lackluster and at one time they don't allow to reuse the PAB cup (not sure about now, since I didn't went back after the price increased and the no reuse of PAB cups).

Recently there is this Hulk made by Sheng Yuan which seem to be more advanced than the Hulk made by Lego. Imagine the big Hulk being sold in a standard CMF pack. That's how I found this Hulk at my local shopping mall. For RM 5.90 I can get this big Hulk figure. The biggest surprised was that this particular Hulk has a removable head like a normal minifigure! A close-up view of the head. This new head assembly allows Hulk to turn his head to look to his side. I checked the original Hulk in the 76018 set, the original Hulk does not seem to be able to turn his head around. If he is very very angry, Hulk can even throw his head at his enemies. So once again TLG got beaten by this clone brick company. By right TLG should be the one who should be ahead in producing advanced minifigures! Not only that, this clone companies are doing licenses we can only dream off. So far I already seen stuff like:- 1) World cup minifigure set; got Wayne Rooney and even Maradona minifigure with miniature football 2) World Wrestling Federation minifigures 3) Dragonball 4) Naruto I can only imagine what is the next line of figures they will produced.

Sad to say, Sheng Yuan already rip-off one of our forummer's Cuusoo idea. I was very surprised to see this being sold at my local mall. The best part was, it comes with a well designed box art and instruction too. The idea must be so good even these KO companies think it is worth while to produced these sets (which unfortunately TLG, Marvel and DC were too slow to notice).

In some of the shops selling Knock-off fake bricks such as Decool, Sheng Yuan, Lele etc the sales people all promote their products by calling them Lego. In fact in the receipt from the store selling this stuff, the KO minifigure pack is shown as 'Lego'. Also from my observation of parents with kids visiting these shops, kids will immediately say those KOs as Lego since the minifigures are very very similar to the original minifigures produced by Lego. It has come to the point where anything brick and minifigure is Lego even though it clearly isn't. It does not help the original Lego is waaaayyyyyy more expensive compared to the KOs. A RM 5 minifigure pack containing Ironman versus a RM 150 set with Ironman, most parents will opt for the RM 5 one. I don't think TLG can do much to counter the tide of KOs though. Even Hasbro got problems trying to stop the tide of fake TFs.

These bootlegs are very popular here in Malaysia as the originals are waayyyy overpriced and hard to come by. I personally have bought a few just for curiosity and personally there are quite OK. My personal favourite is the 90s Cyclops minifigure and the large hulk. Reason I bought the 90s Cyclops is because the official Lego one has not been released yet and is not the Cyclops I remember from the cartoon in the 90s. For the big Hulk the reason being is because he is in this very overpriced and money grabbing set (Hulk Helicarrier) which no way I am buying. Then of course there is Green Lantern. Not only did they produced Green Lantern, they also produced the blue version, red version, yellow, orange version etc. Will TLG ever produce these figures? Also there was the case where the bootleg TMNT minifigs actually arrived before the official sets were released here. All four turtles with splinter and shredder in a pack that cost less than RM 50 versus the official one which was never distributed by TLG; the choice is pretty obvious. Of course now the official ones are already released here, but the fever for the TMNT is long gone. Right now I can see these bootlegs like LELE, Sheng Yuan, Decool etc making figures TLG never made like:- 1) Fantastic Four 2) Winter soldier 3) Different variants of Iron Man armor not yet released by Lego. Hall of armors is actually possible with these minifigs. Gold ironman, black ironman, war machine, iron patriot etc. 4) Green Arrow 5) Thor's father There are even Dragonball and Naruto minifigures out there, but not by the 3 I mentioned above. My conclusion is, not restricted by copyright red-tape, these KO companies make figures that the fans really want. However, to TLG, Marvel and DC it is not financially viable or some weird reason not worth it to produce. Also these figures come in packaging with BOTH DC and Marvel characters, something TLG will never do.

Someone put up a Groupon deal for these fake superhero minifigures. Apparently more than 100 people has already bought them already! I wonder how did Groupon approved this. http://www.groupon.my/deals/national-deal/like-click-marketing/718067300

I found large Hulk figure on sale. I cannot believe they managed to rip-off the large Hulk figure already! They even have a purple pants version. Artwork rip-off from the Lego Marvel game. The contents of the pack. Green Lantern comes not assembled. One thing I noticed is that both DC and Marvel characters are packaged together. This is something Lego will never do since Marvel and DC are separate entities although it will be cool if somehow DC and Marvel join forces together. Even the Shell Ferraris are not spared from being rip-off.

As much as I wanted this 21021, I got a feeling due to its limited availability I might never be able to get it. What a pity actually, since I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and would love to have an architecture set which is more closer to home. Legoland M'sia is too far and not worthwhile for me to head down to Johor to get 1 set. In fact give a thought for people like us in Malaysia where we never have any Shop at Home nor official Lego shops in our region, thus we missed out on sets like the Mearsk train, Opera House, Ewok Village and most depressing of them all the 41999 Technic special. Plus we have no VIP, get our sets late and pay a price higher than Europe. My point is that TLG should really stop or limit all these limited edition nonsense. It is getting too far with the SDCC limited edition figures, Lego marvel game pre-order bonus (again, not applicable for my region), Shop at home exclusives (Maersk Train, Opera House), 41999 Technic and now the Marina Bay Sands sets. I would be extremely pissed if TLG made the Petronas Twin Towers Architecture set a "limited edition" which even a fellow Malaysian like me would have trouble getting. If TLG want to create an artificial shortage of a product they should very well be aware that pirates and imitators will try to fill that gap in the market. Look in the "Fake CMF" thread and you see SDCC figures like Green Lantern, Bizarro etc being sold by imitators. As for the Petronas Twin Towers set there is already a set by a clone brick company to fill in the void by Wange. So time will tell if there is a Marina bay sands knock-off due to the high demand. I even see there are even Shell Ferrari knock offs!

There is even a bigger worry; these knock-offs are getting AHEAD of Lego when it comes to minifigure releases. An example would be the Green Lantern figures. As I know TLG only release the normal Green Lantern minifigure. Even then it was a SDCC exclusive. Now this "S" brand decided to make an 8 figure set featuring Green, Yellow, Red, Orange etc lantern. I do not know the Green lantern universe that much, so I do not know if there are other "Lanterns" in other colors. The picture below I took it from one of the sellers in the Facebook forum I go. Then there are these Superman 8 pack minifigure packs. I believe the Bizarro and some of them are SDCC exclusives. The Clark Kent one I think only from a pre-order exclusive I think. The picture below I took it from one of the sellers in the Facebook forum I go. There is another 8 pack set with Iron Man, War machine, Iron Patriot, White Ironman, Black Ironman, Gemini armor etc too. I can't seem to find the picture however. I saw the Superman 8 set in some of the toy shops in Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur. I think for a pack of 8 it is selling for RM 40, so RM 5 for each. For the Green Lantern ones I saw it was sold in Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya for RM 7.90 each. I got to wonder why TLG never put a Green Lantern minifigure inside a normal set and why they make it an SDCC exclusive. Same goes for the Superman minifigures. Maybe TLG have future plans for Green Lantern but unfortunately the knock-off has overtaken TLG in delivering the minifig to the market. Seriously TLG, first the KO TMNT figures from Decool entered the market before your official sets (the TMNT sets never entered the Malaysian market), now Green Lantern and some of the Superman figures have arrived before the official ones. I can only hope the Lego Movie and Simpsons figures arrived here before the KOs do.

The video shows the minifigures from Decool. From what I was told, the Decool versions are much more closer to the Lego ones than the ones I just compared. So if I come across a Decool minifigure which is similar to the original one which I own I will want to do a comparison. Looking at the video of the Decool minifigures, they have double printed heads and the printing on the Batman looks better. Plus it comes with a comic, trading cards and a even batarang! And it all come in 1 minifigure pack! Sometimes I wish Lego will do the same and not spread out all the figures in large sets. For example like in LOTR, TMNT and Superheroes you need to buy some of the large sets to get that 1 exclusive minifigure or to complete your Avengers Team. A few months back the Decool TMNT packs were very popular because it was very cheap and also TLG never officially brought in the TMNT sets. For approximately RM 50 you can get all 4 turtles plus Splinter and Shedder. All turtles come with skateboard, the signature weapons and a comic sheet. This was the first time a KO product has beaten the originals to the market.

Over here in Malaysia we have fakes flooding the market that are getting really close to copying the exact minifigure. I bought these 2 minifigure packs out of curiosity and to compare with my actual Lego minifigures. Can you imagine Lego doing this? Batman and Iron Man minifigure pack instead of a large set which cost alot. The packs is part of a series of 8 packs. The Iron Man ones comes with 7 other figures like Thor, mini Hulk etc. The Batman ones is part of a series for Batman, Robin and Joker. Each pack contents is 1 bag of the figure unassembled and 1 card pack. Interestingly the Batman pack comes with 2 guns that are very similar to the guns in Star Wars sets. The comparison of the Batman figure with the fake. It pains me to see that it is near impossible to distinguish between the 2 unless they are placed side by side. Can you spot the fake? Iron Man is no different. Unless you know what the actual Iron Man looks like you cannot tell the fake apart. The funny thing is, at the place where I bought it on the receipt the product description was "Lego". Not surprising since I have seen parents and children seeing fakes like Enlighten and calling them Lego in stores before. Add to the fact Lego is extremely expensive and hard to get here and you allow these fakes to thrive. Even funnier is that these stuff is sold in most large establish shopping malls where there are TRUs too. Do note I bought them to do a comparison and to educate some of the Lego fans on the Lego Facebook group I go to.

I too have this set. Bought it last year when I was in Legoland Malaysia. The idea is good, but the lack of letters is of a big disadvantage. I can spell my full name with the letters available since my name only has 10 alphabets but I doubt there is enough letters for typical Malay and Indian names which is very long and includes their father's name as well. So we have a European product which is suited for the Continental market but not suitable for the Asian market. Furthermore it is NOT cheap!

I used to have a Meccano set during the mid 90s. I cannot recall which set it was but it was a huge set that can build a race car with motor and gears. Then bought a upgrade set to move up the next level. Somehow I stopped after that. After Googling turns out I bought Erector set number 3. Then bought the upgade set to No. 4. There was lot of problems with Meccano; mainly due to the fact it is made out of metal and needs an allen key to put it together. The stainless steel parts were ok except for some of the parts where it is stained and lost its shine. For the painted metal parts if the paint goes off that part will rust. Yes, it can RUST. Same for the bolts, nuts and washers, once the protective layer is off it will rust. Also it has that metal smell which you will have on your hands after you play. So compared to Lego Technic, Meccano isn't really that child friendly due to the nature of the parts and assembly method. But unlike Lego the gears are solid metal so there is no chance for it to bend or buckle.

Here's my entry; the M-tron camper! Comes with magnet at the rear to carry around the cargo container! Here is the cargo box being carried. Here is the cargo box dropped off. Also the sides can open to allow the crane to be operated and so that the cargo box does not hit the sides of the camper. Another overall view of the camper. To my amazement parts which are 20 years old are fully compatible with parts which came out only recently with little to no loss of clutch power! More photos here: http://s3.photobucke...r?sort=3&page=1

I am from one of those regions where TLG experience a huge increase in sales. I live in Malaysia and noticed that the stocks on our local shelves at one time were depleted so much so that some toy shops have to fill them up with Mega-you know whats and Kreos so that the Lego shelf do not look empty. Must be due to the fact we had a Legoland and the Shell Ferrari promotion. Lego still move although the price is more expensive than Hong Kong and South Korea. Lego will see an even higher growth in the region if they consider sets brought in by resellers. Recently one reseller was able to bring in a small batch of Ewok village, BTTF and even the Sydney Opera House, making those who purchase these sets among the very first in Malaysia to build them. I managed to get my Mobile Crane MK2 at the end of July, before the official release and cheaper from a reseller. Then early this year I managed to get my Palace Cinema in less than 1 month after it was released for VIP overseas. The official Palace Cinema only arrive in July I think. If there is a VIP program here I would be among those VVIPS to TLG. I NEVER buy any of the large sets at retail since it is so expensive at retail price. So there is a HUGE untapped AFOL market that rely upon the resellers that can bring in sets cheaper and faster than the official release. Hope that TLG can distribute Lego themselves and open a proper Lego shop here.