The other day I was shopping in Target, and along comes a family looking for toys, probably for there family members. I couldn't really help it, but I listened to what they were saying and they were talking about how Megablocks were cheaper, so they would buy those. I almost wanted to scream at them.Why buymegablocks when there are pefectly great quality blocks literally on the other side of the aisle. So, what have you observed when it comes to a family's decision to get an inferior brand over Lego?

I don't want to sound... I don't know but, Most people buying Toys for relatives don't know beans about the difference.

Megabloks can cut up your hands pretty badly. I'm guessing those fine folks didn't know that.

Edited October 30, 201113 yr by fallenangel309

The same discussion could be had at the butcher for those who buy cheap cuts of meat over the Wagyu Dry-Aged Bone-In Strip Steak. Why buy the cheaper one, when the quality one is just there

For many families, budget is more important than quality (especially when they have never experienced one over the other).

Personally, I prefer they buy megabloks so there is more Lego for me...

Personally, I prefer they buy megabloks so there is more Lego for me...

Ha, it has happened to me. The other day I was "prowling" around the Mega Bloks forum, and I found so so many discussions about how much LEGO sucked (according to them) Obviously the immature me suddenly pops out telling me to troll everyone, but that's really immature so whatever If someone thinks Mega Bloks are better that's their choice & problem. I'm not going to argue about that :P

I had a recent observation: a boy was loitering in front of the Kre-o Transformers. He pointed one out (Optimus Prime I think) to his mother who said "isn't that stuff just like cheap Lego?"

+1 to Mum...

Personally, I prefer they buy megabloks so there is more Lego for me...

If they buy the LEGO, you can buy it at the yard sale cheap in a few years when they get bored of it.

My experience (target, walmart, toys r us) is that LOTS of people look at and buy lego, and the others just sit there. I honestly don't think I've seen a single person look at the megablocks displays.

I would say for each MB set sold, dozens of Lego ones are sold....perhaps that's why MB is so cheap...retailers are stuck with the product.

Actually I do my best to steer folks in the right direction in what Lego to buy, I've help retailers sell hundreds of dollars to Lego by this AFOL passing advice on, as a Lego collector and parent.

I would say for each MB set sold, dozens of Lego ones are sold....perhaps that's why MB is so cheap...retailers are stuck with the product.

Actually I do my best to steer folks in the right direction in what Lego to buy, I've help retailers sell hundreds of dollars to Lego by this AFOL passing advice on, as a Lego collector and parent.

I try to do this too, particularly when I notice a dispute between a kid and their parent regarding how expensive a set the kid is allowed to get. I'm very good at recommending small sets with quality builds.

Of course, in many cases these sort of situations can't be defused. For parents determined to take the bargain option, it's hard to convince them of the importance of quality.

I go to my local wal mart about twice a week for legos. I've overheard the adult/parent conversation about megablocks and legos. The dad, a friend of mine from high school, not really a friend but a dude I knew, was trying to convince his son that the mega blocks halo stuff was simply nonsense and he would help said son with modding some parts so he could make his own little halo thing. I looked over and nodded at said dad. He looked at me and said to his son "See, even Jeff knows the difference, if you dont want to take it from me, take it from him." I have a bit of a reputation around town as the guy that held build events in his garage and at the local comic shop, the kid knew me from pokemon saturdays and agreed. I've also helped out older folks, grandparents get something for their grand child. Ran into one of them at one point after they bought their kid the space police hq and galactic enforce..big megablocks space ship. ((Lucky little kid)) They thanked me for the advice and said that he enjoyed both sets.

Speak up, explain what quality over quantity means. Parents will see the bigger bang for the buck all the time, but when it comes to a toy that'll last, lego is hand's down the best.

Is it like Quality Vs Smaller Quanitity in price?

Who really cares, in the end? It's all a matter of what they(the kids) like. If the kid likes Halo, or Mario, clearly they're going to buy Megabloks/K'Nex.

I think the competition is good. Parents who are unable to afford expensive Lego sets will have an alternative to buy building blocks for their kids. The arrival of Megabloks and Nanoblock will also keep Lego in check.

I hate clone brands and I'm always afraid that our children's grandparents will buy some instead of real Lego (already happened once, but at least it was with a Duplo clone, I don't really care about that).

I actually rarely see MB sets on sale, but there's another clone brand with military and pirate sets on the shelves around here, tho I don't remember the name. I usually see it in consumer electronics shops rather than in toy shops, so I guess it's sold more as a "compulsion purchase" than a well-intended purchase, as in: dad takes the kids to the electronics shop to buy an expensive TV or mobile phone, kids see the clone brand set on the shelf and bother their dad about getting it, dad is guilty because he is spending lots of money for himself already and gives up buying the toy.

However, as much I hate the clones, I say to each their own... How many among us always buy cheap food, when there is premium, high-quality, more healthy food for a little higher price on the other shelf? Maybe the cheaper, artificially tastier stuff we buy is the Megablocks of foods, but we don't care or we even laugh at those who buy expensive food like they were foolish.

I usually tell the people the quality differences, and try to steer them in the right direction.

Personally, I prefer they buy megabloks so there is more Lego for me...

If they buy more of a set, it means LEGO will produce more copies of it, and more will be sold. These sets will then be sold on eBay and Bricklink in a few months/years, as will any useful parts. So even if the store runs out of it because they buy the last one, LEGO will probably send more, which ends up being better for everyone.

I honestly couldn't care less what brand other people buy. Makes zero difference to me.

In all honesty, Mega Bloks isn't that bad. The quality's not as good as LEGO by any means, but I'd rather see people buying a respectable clone brand like Mega Bloks than a less-reputable "bootleg brand" that outright duplicates LEGO molds. There's this one called Super Blox that's somewhat horrendous, copying even specialized LEGO parts like curved slopes and wedge slopes (although occasionally with minor changes, presumably to avoid accusations of plagiarism).

Most of the time when I see people looking at Mega Bloks in stores, of course, they're looking at the Halo stuff or other licenses. If that's what they're after there's no way I can persuade them that LEGO will satisfy them more than the licensed product they desire.

I have talked to a few folks while shopping, even passed along a few tips on places to find stuff. I'd prefer that folks know what they are getting into really with the clones but I'm not going to bug folks too much about it.

I don't really care what people buy, ultimately, but I'd like to mention a few points.

First of all, we're living in a world where the majority simply want cheap. Flying sucks because people demanded cheap over quality; quality stores close for places like WalMart to pop up... people want cheap, and especially when they don't know any better, will almost always defer to cheap.

However, a lot of you pointed out the interesting fact that, not only do many (most, I would say) choose LEGO over clone brands (ostensibly because there's more choice, not necessarily because they know it's better), the LEGO Group has accepted the position that it's a "premium" brand and charges premium prices... you think all the price increases since the near-crash of LEGO is coincidence? They've added 50% to the price of some items practically overnight; others have simply steadily been increasing... last year they took the unprecedented step of raising prices on existing sets (SW Battle Packs).

The point is not that we're getting ripped off because LEGO is increasing it's profit margins (they are and we're not getting "ripped off"), it's that competition from clone brands no longer bothers them, and won't until the quality of those bricks increases substantially. On top of that, even if a new, very high quality product were released, LEGO will always have name brand recognition. Think "Coke," despite being beat by Pepsi in taste tests. It's worked wonders for them, their profits have skyrocketed.

The point is not that we're getting ripped off because LEGO is increasing it's profit margins (they are and we're not getting "ripped off"), it's that competition from clone brands no longer bothers them, and won't until the quality of those bricks increases substantially. On top of that, even if a new, very high quality product were released, LEGO will always have name brand recognition. Think "Coke," despite being beat by Pepsi in taste tests. It's worked wonders for them, their profits have skyrocketed.

I agree with this. I don't want to pretend I'm immune to brand charme, but I believe that if a clone brand was capable of producing bricks completely identical (save for the printed brand) to TLG bricks but at a lower price, I'll buy the clone brand with no problem. I like thinking that to me "premium" means actually "better", by substance and not by name.

Incidentally, I haven't bought a Coke or a Pepsi in almost 20 years exactly since I realized that their "higher quality" is non-existant. I've become a huge fan of Finland's Pirkka Cola and Rainbow Cola

I just bought my nephew the Mario Kart K'nex set.

So try and figure that one out.

I agree with this. I don't want to pretend I'm immune to brand charme, but I believe that if a clone brand was capable of producing bricks completely identical (save for the printed brand) to TLG bricks but at a lower price, I'll buy the clone brand with no problem. I like thinking that to me "premium" means actually "better", by substance and not by name.

Me neither... but I have a mental problem that wouldn't allow me to mix LEGO and another brand, it'd be like starting over.

Incidentally, I haven't bought a Coke or a Pepsi in almost 20 years exactly since I realized that their "higher quality" is non-existant. I've become a huge fan of Finland's Pirkka Cola and Rainbow Cola

I don't buy soda at all. When I got married (13 years) my wife was a diet coke head, I weened her off that, too.

I just bought my nephew the Mario Kart K'nex set.

Cool... no need to figure it out, I spend a lot of time looking at those when I'm wandering the aisles at the store, and there are things that catch my eye like these Mario Kart sets (my kids are still into that - my daughter especially), the Transformers Kre-O, and while I don't think I'll ever "bite," there was a Best Lock set at Target that had a bunch of military vehicles in it... it was like 1500 pieces for $30. I bought a Mega Blocks set once. Once. Actually, it's a pretty decent "mech," but my mental problem won't let me mix brands, so buying other brands makes things complicated.

EDIT: want to add, there are generic Mega Block bricks that are like "stone" on surface... I thought these were an EXCELLENT idea. I do wish TLG would rip off Mega, in this case.

Edited November 11, 201113 yr by fred67

Well, I didn't expect you to come in here and understand my post so well.

You are right, my nephew is 6 and lives Mario Kart, he doesn't know a LEGO brick from real one, and at this point I'm going for favorite uncle over future AFOL, there is plenty of time for that once he is older and appreciates his toys more.