LOL Bootlegs

[Eilif]

Wow, those are really good quality. I wonder if I can get hold of a set (*to ebay!*).

I'm impressed, seems to be more of a competitor brand than a bootleg.

Yeah, I agree. Oxford is definitely not a "bootleg". Bootleg implies a sub-par, illegal copy, so I reserve that title for brands like Shifty/Enlighten/Brick, and some of the "daily fail" sets reviewed at Reasonably clever.

All reports I've heard have been that Oxford is on par with LEGO for quality, and they definitely have their own set designs. It's usually possible to find a few on Ebay, but the shipping makes them more expensive than LEGO in most cases, so I haven't bought any yet. If you find any good deals that you don't take, let me know.

[Joey Lock]

I brought this set yesterday when I found it for £20 in TK Max, They always have old Lego Sets and Best-Lock on sale. Everytime I go.

Its a intresting set, I couldnt be bothered to finish the big ship because the bricks are so crappy quality that they break apart easily.

[Peppermint_M]

Yuch

I really don't like Best Lock, My brother bought a giant spaceship at one point because it was big and cheap. Worst toy ever. I saw some pirates in my local TKMaxx, never cheap enough for me . I get non-lego from Wikinsons and In Store... as they are much cheaper.

[Natman8000]

Yuch

I really don't like Best Lock, My brother bought a giant spaceship at one point because it was big and cheap. Worst toy ever. I saw some pirates in my local TKMaxx, never cheap enough for me . I get non-lego from Wikinsons and In Store... as they are much cheaper.

Lol, my TK maxx (in the states it TJ maxx) only has rare batman and exo force sets for really cheap. Like 75 percent less of the orginal price. Oh, and anybody who goes on those Mega-blok boards must be a real winner at parties

[Eilif]

Its a intresting set, I couldnt be bothered to finish the big ship because the bricks are so crappy quality that they break apart easily.

There was a review of that set over at the Bloks forum and they pretty much agreed with you. They liked the small ships, but the big ship was somewhat less than sturdy. How did you find the smaller ships to be?

Oh, and anybody who goes on those Mega-blok boards must be a real winner at parties

Not cool my friend. I'm pretty active over there, and much like Eurobricks, there's some great folks on the "Bloks" forum, many of whom have been collecting LEGO (and clone brands) since before you were born. Dissing other forums is in really poor taste and no one over there is insulting you, so please show a little respect.

Edited May 10, 2009 by Eilif

[Natman8000]

Not cool my friend. I'm pretty active over there, and much like Eurobricks, there's some great folks on the "Bloks" forum, many of whom have been collecting LEGO (and clone brands) since before you were born. Dissing other forums is in really poor taste and no one over there is insulting you, so please show a little respect.

I didnt mean that in the fullest, just that I find it odd that people go and chat about the ultimate yuck, Megobloks and clone brands.

[Toa of Whimsy]

I didnt mean that in the fullest, just that I find it odd that people go and chat about the ultimate yuck, Megobloks and clone brands.

Well then you shouldn't be here, because we happen to be discussing sets made by people who WOULD be clone brands if they had more quality and enough money to finally move out of the dumpster and build a real factory. Which happens to be odder because clone bands are at least legit.

And one thing I really dig about these bootlegs is all the dericious engrish they slap on the boxes.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Toa of Whimsy

[Peppermint_M]

Best-Lock is ok as a standalone building toy. The problem is the scale it's on, just off from Lego/Megabloks/Oxford bricks so they don't combine well at all. If it didn't claim to combine with all major brands it would be ok.

BTW, I did look for Oxford on ebay, however they cost rather a lot on shipping, effectively doubling the price. Therefore I won't be buying it at the moment.

There is a Bloks forum?

All I ever found was a rather puny one on a forum host of the sort me and a few friends of mine use to have long standing debates and "blog" with each other.

I was looking for somewhere to get some megabloks and non-lego mf accessories.

[Toa of Whimsy]

WHAT HO: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=204001

I found this while searching for moar bootlegs, they're the same as the ones LoD posted.

Look at this one: PRIMARY COLOR MADNESS

LEGO should find these guys and fast, because unlike them these bootleggers actually know how to make girl characters:

[Eilif]

I didnt mean that in the fullest, just that I find it odd that people go and chat about the ultimate yuck, Megobloks and clone brands.

Thanks for clarifying, but remember that people talk about many things that you might not agree with, and if you wouldn't insult someone in public, it's not good form to do so on the internet.

Best-Lock is ok as a standalone building toy. The problem is the scale it's on, just off from Lego/Megabloks/Oxford bricks so they don't combine well at all. If it didn't claim to combine with all major brands it would be ok.

There is a Bloks forum?

All I ever found was a rather puny one on a forum host of the sort me and a few friends of mine use to have long standing debates and "blog" with each other.

I was looking for somewhere to get some megabloks and non-lego mf accessories.

Old best-lock had the same width and depth as LEGO, but not the same height, so the "works with" label was pretty much untrue. The Best-lock of the last 2 years now has the same dimensions as LEGO, but the quality is not as good as LEGO.

The "Bloks" form is at http://bloks.hyperboards.com/index.php . It's not super busy, and there's not much for LEGO fans, but it's a goldmine of info for alternative brick brands. I've done a number of trades with folks there for the kind of stuff you mention.

I found this while searching for moar bootlegs, they're the same as the ones LoD posted.

Look at this one: PRIMARY COLOR MADNESS

Wow, that's a bright color scheme. Buyer beware, if you buy a less-reputable clone brand, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will get the colors or pictures pictured on the box.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Eilif

[Peppermint_M]

Oh, Best-Lock improved? Hmm, we avoided it after the spaceship.

I'll take a look at the forum, thanks for the link.

[Joey Lock]

There was a review of that set over at the Bloks forum and they pretty much agreed with you. They liked the small ships, but the big ship was somewhat less than sturdy. How did you find the smaller ships to be?

Not cool my friend. I'm pretty active over there, and much like Eurobricks, there's some great folks on the "Bloks" forum, many of whom have been collecting LEGO (and clone brands) since before you were born. Dissing other forums is in really poor taste and no one over there is insulting you, so please show a little respect.

The smaller ships are quite good, Ill take a picture of my transformations. I took the "Starfox" looking good guy ship, And transformed to into a sort of Racer/Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike.

You do get some pretty well made guns and Bombs/Rockets/Missiles. And I like it that you get a matching pair of ships.

[Eilif]

The smaller ships are quite good, Ill take a picture of my transformations. I took the "Starfox" looking good guy ship, And transformed to into a sort of Racer/Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike.

You do get some pretty well made guns and Bombs/Rockets/Missiles. And I like it that you get a matching pair of ships.

Cool. I'd love to see any pictures you have of your transformations. It'd also be neat to see the minifigs, accessories and rockets.

[Toa of Whimsy]

Wow, that's a bright color scheme. Buyer beware, if you buy a less-reputable clone brand, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will get the colors or pictures pictured on the box.

Here be boxart of yon colorful bootleg, he doth be named "Super Wind Wheel":

Seems consistent to me.

[Eilif]

Wow, that is pretty consistent! Still ugly though...

Often times they are close, but I've almost never had a Brick/enlighten/shifty brand clone set that had all the pieces exactly as shown on the box. Sometimes it works in your favor, and you end up with things like chrome pirate pistols and sabers and brown bandannas. Other times it's not so nice, like getting a crappy, one-color aquasharks torso instead of a multicolor Western torso!

[Lordofdragonss]

Nice Castle, with lot of swet accesories(notice the flame and triangle shield)

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=246976

But minifigs and horses are ugly...

[Peppermint_M]

Bah, All I can ever find is some dreadful Lego/Oxford ripoffs in a £ shop. Overpriced non-Lego in TKMaxx and Megabloks. So no luck for me. Unless it's Christmas, then Wilkinsons has sets with decent enough accessories and quite high quality bricks (nicer than Megabloks TBH)

[Joey Lock]

Here be boxart of yon colorful bootleg, he doth be named "Super Wind Wheel":

Seems consistent to me.

Are you just posting pictures from JINZONINGEN73's brickshelf?

[Toa of Whimsy]

Are you just posting pictures from JINZONINGEN73's brickshelf?

I am, for they are relevant to the discussion.

It's not like a funny picture is less/more funny depending on if it's URL leads to Encyclopedia Dramatica or MySpace.

[gogglev]

Hey everyone,

Just like to add my own 2 cents regarding this topic. It seems my very own experience with best-lock building sets seems to differ from many other members. I haven't owned any best-lock sets in probably 7-8 years but I really enjoy the sets that I own. My first experience with them was probably sometime in middle school, when my father bought some for me in China. The main appeal to me for Best-Lock was that they had modern military sets. You could buy tanks, apcs, battleships, cruisers, even a aircraft carrier! I've never seen any of these sets I saw in china available in America however, and the last time I went to TRU, the modern military kits were much more different and not as appealing as they used to be.

I loved that the old best lock sets I had were how you could build military vehicles using simple geometric shaped blocks. It was simple, but still really fun to put together. Sure, they had a lot of issues, but they were really fun to just play with. I never considered them a Lego bootleg, I just thought of them as toy tanks I got to build myself. I'm pretty out of the loop on best-lock now, but are the figure still total trash? I have a huge ziplock bag stuffed with them, they were so annoying to use for anything. The legs didn't have holes in them so if you wanted them to sit anywhere, you had to use the best-lock chairs which had a rim in the middle that wedged itself between the figures legs.

Here are a few pictures of my small dinky modified best-lock collection.

Sorry for the rant. I know Best-lock aren't the greatest toys, but they have a special place in my heart (and my shelf).

[AwesomeStar]

Have a look on Chris Doyle's ReasonablyClever site. He has a whole blog devoted to reviewing the trashy Bootlegs he gets sent to him via a friend.

Check it out here!

~A.S.

[Peppermint_M]

Yeah, I read those. The tone seems to have gone to really mean and nasty over recent days/weeks however. I think the white-tron torsos are funny and the skateboards looked fine, nut what-the-hey.

I want the red horse...

As for Best-Lock, well... I suppose if you want army sets it's great, but I have never been too interested in tanks so the set we got was a bit FAIL. There are some sets in TKMaxx that are cheap enough to be tempting. I'll pick some WAR of the Planets sets up maybe.

[Peppermint_M]

ok, so I was on ebay and saw the most fantastic Speed Racer Lego Bootleg you ever laid eyes on. one of those cars for £6.50, so I just had to buy it. It has the Grey Ghost's car is the one I decided to get. I will build and review, with full comparison to official LEGO as soon as I recieve it.

And befoe anyone goes into lectures mode: I really love speed racer so I could not resist it at that price. If it looks that dreadful, it should be a lol-a-minute.

I hope that they at least stick together...

here it is

If its too dreadful I can bag it up and pass it on.

Edited May 18, 2009 by Peppermint_M