I don't get the hate for clone brands

[sologuy369]

My nephew got some Best Lock bricks. They are very cheap, the legs were coming off right away. I like their slogan "pay a little, build alot", but the builds are very weird. The models on the box look cool, but that's just about it...

[Jimbobulus]

I can't speak for Megablock as i have not had any recent contact with them, but your comment about Kre-o's quality is false and provably untrue. There quality is just as, if not better than LEGO. The bricks hold together strong, colors all match well, and they even have quite a few bricks that are unique to there brand. Now if you want to argue set design that's a completely different topic as i do believe they have some catching up to do. But as far as quality there right up there with TLC.

I agree, I have soem of the KRE-O transofrmer sets and MegaBlocks Halo sets, and both are undeniably good products. Lego may be a better product overall, but these alternatives are direct competitotrs and are worth it too.

My nephew got some Best Lock bricks. They are very cheap, the legs were coming off right away. I like their slogan "pay a little, build alot", but the builds are very weird. The models on the box look cool, but that's just about it...

However, brands such as Best Lock are rubbish, and a little scary. They belong in Toy Story in the horror house next door lol

[Lasse D]

If these other companies weren't around, there would be no competition. This would lead to a decline in quality. Do you want that?

I don't think competition means what you think it does.

Any toy brand is a competitor to LEGO (including video games before LEGO made video games). Any construction toy maker is a direct competitor.

The clone brands might as well to have lead to the poor quality since they flooded the market with cheap "legos" so LEGO had to lower prices and quality to compete since "they are all legos, so why not buy the cheap ones?".

Thanksfully LEGO seems to be back on track regarding quality and it is also far more price competitive than in the old days where LEGO was pretty much a luxury toy.

[Jimbobulus]

I don't think competition means what you think it does.

Any toy brand is a competitor to LEGO (including video games before LEGO made video games). Any construction toy maker is a direct competitor.

The clone brands might as well to have lead to the poor quality since they flooded the market with cheap "legos" so LEGO had to lower prices and quality to compete since "they are all legos, so why not buy the cheap ones?".

Thanksfully LEGO seems to be back on track regarding quality and it is also far more price competitive than in the old days where LEGO was pretty much a luxury toy.

I'm not quite sure what your trying to say, but if it is that Lego go have had to reduce their quality to compete with clone brands, then you are wrong in my opinion. If Lego was the only construction brand, there would be no competition within the construction genre. No competition leads to a decline in quality, no matter what product is being sold. If in the Olympics Usain Bolt didn't have anyone to race against, he wouldn't bother putting all the effort in and so would become slower...

Mega Blocks, Kre-o etc have forced Lego to diversify and improve. Lego's prices certainly have not come down as you suggested.

[Peppermint_M]

I might have to pull out the old marxist maxim

Competition is a complicated thing, on one hand if there was no one to challenge your market share then you can easily become complacent. After all, if you are the only construction toy brand anyone who wants a construction toy has to buy your product so you can do what you like with quality and cost as you have the monopoly. On the other hand that would eventually drive people away from construction toys altogether but as long asyou can dance the fine line then profit will be phenomenal.

Then we have the case of in the supermarket right now there are five brick based construction brands that a compatible with each other (UK example - Character, Kre-o, Mega Blocks, K,nex and LEGO) in my local toy shop there are 6 (generic brick brand at a knockdown price). In the case of the supermarket it is somethign of a moot point. LEGO has Star Wars and it's other lines, Kre-o is all Transformers. Character sell Doctor Who and D60, Mega Blocks sets are the Power Rangers and Halo lines. They are partitioned according to theme, with Doctor Who sets alongside action figures, Power Rangers sets with other Power Ranger products etc. The only real place I can say there is a true competition is between the Creator boxes and the Mage Blocks brick bucket.

However this means LEGO has to compete their themes against popular media property. As such it comes down to both cost of the set and popularity of the theme. They are forced to remain a quality product for the edge it gives in customer choice:

"Mum! Mum! Can I get the Transformer lego!"

"That's not LEGO Joe, why don't you get this Ninja one instead?"

While price factors can mean some customers are put off and go for the cheaper option, more often than not parents/grandparents recall with nostalgia their own LEGO and buy the actual brand safe in the knowledge that they still have their old bricks to add to the collection.

The argument falls down if you want Halo or Doctor Who or whatever and of course the cost problem is why I first got and then became a defender of Clone Brands. As there are now a multitude of Bargain/Discount shops due to the extreme lack of extra money or money at all for many people these days. Only one of them has actual LEGO and they are selling it for £50 and none of it has shifted nor will it probably until Christmas (The Farm sets pack, expensive as a Saturday/school holiday treat. Great bargain gift for Christmas. It torments me, with its older discontinued sets and the pigs...) while the others have generic brands from China that sell pretty swiftly due to the reasonable price/brick ratio.

Anyway, clone brands are here to stay. Some might fall and fail while others will find their niche but we will always find them.

(eep, ranty. Sorry...)

[Duce]

Ater mostly building one of the cone lego's I can say my part of dislike (Hate's a bit strong) is how poorly they fit together and how 'cheap' some fo the bits feel, I do understand their not the same quality as lego, but it is very noticeable and does ruin the building experience i've had compared to when building my lego kingdom sets.

[Phoxtane]

Ashens reviewed some Click-Brick polybags - evidently, they were designed in the UK!

I was surprised by how well they fit together, but the engine block on that dragster looks exactly like the one Lego makes

[Robominer]

LEGO is better because the quality is better, the parts are more customizable, and they came up with the idea of building bricks before everyone else.

EDIT: Clone brands also tend to copy all of LEGO's great ideas (ex. minifigures and collectible minifigs).

Edited August 10, 2012 by Robominer

[SheepEater]

For some reason, only Walmart and Toys R Us are even allowed to carry Lego Friends on their shelves where I live. So, in response many small shops carry a huge selection of clone brand construction toys for girls. They're ugly (the minifigs look like zombies ) and they reek of pink, but cheap. LEGO is shooting itself in the foot is it's true that the smaller shops aren't even allowed to have Friends on retail.

[Vindicare]

LEGO is better because the quality is better, the parts are more customizable, and they came up with the idea of building bricks before everyone else.

EDIT: Clone brands also tend to copy all of LEGO's great ideas (ex. minifigures and collectible minifigs).

Actually, they didn't. Kiddiecraft did.

[Emrakul]

As someone who equallly enjoys Lego, Megabloks and Kreo, I've always found it rather odd at how fervently people here hate the alternative brands.(...)

Frankly, I find the behaviors rather offputting and alienating

Couldn't agree more, this is sole reason why I'm not going to frequent this site despite my freshly renewed love for Lego. "we're euroBRICKS but we only allow subforums about LEGO!" How about changing adress to LegoFanatics or something?

So many stupid statements, I don't even know where to begin.

I think it's to be expected. This is a LEGO fansite

Childish, preposterous hate is to be expected on fansite? I thought it's called FANsite and not HATEsite because main theme was supposed to be sharing your love of something that brought you here, not hate on everything else. Those are two very different things and they're certainly not inseparable.

as far as my knowledge goes, TLG was the first company to come up with the idea of interlocking brick sets (or if they weren't, they're certainly the longest lasting).

Quick Wikipedia search shows they weren't. Internet Explorer is oldest currently maintained browser. Your point?

I would expect a degree of hostility from loyal LEGO fans towards Megabloks and blatant rip-offs, because no one likes when an idea is stolen for profit (although it's pretty common these days).

Let's get few facts straight. Patent expired, so it's fair game for everyone and there is no stealing whatsoever. There is a reason why patents expire and not last forever, unfortunately fanatical Lego fanboys are too blinded by their rage to understand that.

Pepsi is rip-off of Coca-Cola. Every TCG in existence is rip-off of Magic: the Gathering. And unless you're few hundred years old, none of those happened "these days". Go to any MtG forum and count those who show their hate against Yu-Gi-Oh on every possible occasion, then come back here and look at amount of hate directed toward Mega Bricks and Kre-O. I'm pretty sure there will be an order of magnitude difference (for clarification: haters prevail here).

Plus, TLG offers one of the best customer services I've experienced, and they generally deliver what the fans want.

As shown by current Cuusoo fiasco with lame corporate double standard BS excuse for not making Serenity. </sarcasm> Hasbro not only acknowledging, but embracing Brony community is much, much, much better customer service than Lego group ever did.

We're pretty loyal.

I think you're confusing loyalty with fanaticism and fanboyism. Loyalty is NOT making baseless accusations toward competition.

What it really comes down to, though, is simply ignoring any negative statements towards Megabloks, Kreo, etc. if it bothers you.

I've got better idea: fanboys should grow up and stop invading any thread with MB/K-O in title just to say how they hate them. Same goes for creating such topics. There is old saying "if you have nothing to say, say nothing". Mindless fanatical hate leads nowhere, Lego fansite or not it should be punished.

As for fan hate, it happens. Ship to ship, show to show, movie fans and music fans... Every rabid fandom has what it hates for whatever reason. That's what people are like.

Except there is difference between stating "I don't like MegaBloks so I don't buy them" in relevant topic and creating another "I want to destroy every single Kre-O brick in existence" one. I don't see MtG forums moderators allow pointless attacks toward other TCGs.

If you don't get why people hate clone brands, just take a gander over this way...

That's not "clone brand" (term almost unheard of outside of Lego fans community BTW), that's clearly fake created to mislead customers, not to mention it also breaks copyrights. Way to go comparing that to Mega Briks, if you wanted to show how mindless fanboys can be you couldn't do better job. It's like saying Pepsi is bad because someone created fake Coca-Cola with similar font.

I do think the clone brands are inferior quality

But do you have proof? And by proof, I mean article in peer-reviewed journal where they actually compare quality/strenght/resistance to bending/etc., not "just a feeling". Because that's the problem with haters, they claim Mega Blocks/Kre-O are made from inferior plastic, don't join as good, etc. despite never using them. There are however videos on youtube that show, among other things, "crash test" of models made from bricks from different companies, and LEGO isn't as good and (main) competitors aren't as bad as people claim. Or, as someone in comparison video stated: 'Mega Blocks are 90% as good as LEGO ...for about 60% of price'. I can live with that, especially given recent complains how new LEGO minifigures crack and bricks are more transparent compared to old ones.

I have some early 90s Tyco blocks and Megablocks that have awesome clutching power and no problems with color variation or yellowing effect over the years

According to haters you're obviously wrong, since nothing comes even remotely close to The One Ring LEGO, all fakes suxx0rz and you should burn them and destroy and then burn again just to be sure because they're terribly inferior in any way imaginable and in few ways unimaginable. ;)

I hate that many non-Lego or non-brand specific buyers/sells refer to all brick toys as “Lego”, when there is a clear difference.

Oh my, that's really awful. Please, tell me more about it.

wikipedia -> List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks (because apparently I need 5 posts before I can post links)

LEGO is better because the quality is better, the parts are more customizable, and they came up with the idea of building bricks before everyone else.

EDIT: Clone brands also tend to copy all of LEGO's great ideas (ex. minifigures and collectible minifigs).

Wow.

Just wow.

I'm speechless. You managed to make post with not a single true sentence. As few stated before, quality is actually at least as good. Parts are comaptible and in many cases identical, not to mention that I don't know how you want to customise for example traditional 2x4 brick. No, they bought that patent from someone else. Collectible minifigs are themselves copy of collectible action figure idea. And it's matter of opinion, but I for once dislike it and don't think it's anywhere near "great idea".

LEGO fanboys should come to terms with reality and stop denying facts. Mega Blocks and Kre-O aren't going anywhere. And not only they are as good as Lego, but also have quite a lot unique parts/colours/themes. Rejecting them just because they're not LEGO means you're denying yourself a lot of options for no good reason. If you decide to stay in same place while world around you is evolving that's your choice, but don't claim it's a good one.

What I find most ironic and amusing is fact that haters defend long-time monopolist and claim that competition is bad, while at the same time they're probably bashing Microsoft and use pirated version of MS Office or pride themselves as linux users.

Don't like Mega Briks or Kre-O? Don't read topics devoted to them, simple as that. Now if only we could get subforum devoted to MOCs containing MB/K-O, that would be awesome. But obviously site named euroBRICKS is purely LEGO-related and no other construction bricks brands ever existed, so that would be pointless </sarcasm>

If LEGO is as awesome as you claim, then it will survive and thrive without your vile hate. If their share of the market will drop significantly, that would mean they weren't as good as you claimed and no amount of vitriol you throw at people enjoying competitors' products will change that.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Emrakul

[The Joker1]

Woah Emrakul calm down . Their is really no need to have a go at almost every member who has posted in this thread. I understand some comments are slightly harsh but some of your replies are quite offensive. . I would suggest it is a wise idea to calm down or the staff will come and get you.

In other news 500 POSTS I can finally be knighted

-Staff noted .

Edited August 11, 2012 by The Joker1

[Phoxtane]

Quick Wikipedia search shows they weren't. Internet Explorer is oldest currently maintained browser. Your point?

He was wrong? That's fine in my book, as long as they don't keep pushing that argument once they know it's wrong. He did put in a disclaimer in the form of "as far as my knowledge goes".

Let's get few facts straight. Patent expired, so it's fair game for everyone and there is no stealing whatsoever. There is a reason why patents expire and not last forever, unfortunately fanatical Lego fanboys are too blinded by their rage to understand that.

It's not "stealing", but it's also not what many consider to be "good form". AFAIK, MegaBlocks and Kre-O are well within their rights to produce interlocking brick-based construction toys... however, with my very limited experiences with MB, their bricks are inferior and have this 'feel' to them where you can tell they're definitely not as good as Lego. The lesson: If you're going to follow another company's footsteps and try to gain success that way, you need to actually do it better!

I think you're confusing loyalty with fanaticism and fanboyism. Loyalty is NOT making baseless accusations toward competition.

Correct; loyalty implies that you back a person/company/idea and you do it well - without baseless accusations and whatnot. Since this is the World Wide Web however, you're not going to get a perfect response every time [EB is better than other forums I've visited anyway!]. This applies to real life as well with other topics - the first that springs to mind is politics.

I've got better idea: fanboys should grow up and stop invading any thread with MB/K-O in title just to say how they hate them. Same goes for creating such topics. There is old saying "if you have nothing to say, say nothing". Mindless fanatical hate leads nowhere, Lego fansite or not it should be punished.

Unless said "hate" contributes to the discussion over the original thread topic. "lol friggin megablocks amirite" doesn't help whereas "I haven't used Megablocks ever since [X, Y, Z], because [explanation]" actually contributes to the conversation.

But do you have proof? And by proof, I mean article in peer-reviewed journal where they actually compare quality/strenght/resistance to bending/etc., not "just a feeling". Because that's the problem with haters, they claim Mega Blocks/Kre-O are made from inferior plastic, don't join as good, etc. despite never using them. There are however videos on youtube that show, among other things, "crash test" of models made from bricks from different companies, and LEGO isn't as good and (main) competitors aren't as bad as people claim. Or, as someone in comparison video stated: 'Mega Blocks are 90% as good as LEGO ...for about 60% of price'. I can live with that, especially given recent complains how new LEGO minifigures crack and bricks are more transparent compared to old ones.

Nope, I can't think of one off the top of my head. Why not go ahead and write an article yourself? Be warned that EB will find it and nitpick it to pieces whenever someone comes across it and posts it here!

Wow.

Just wow.

I'm speechless. You managed to make post with not a single true sentence. As few stated before, quality is actually at least as good. Parts are comaptible and in many cases identical, not to mention that I don't know how you want to customise for example traditional 2x4 brick. No, they bought that patent from someone else. Collectible minifigs are themselves copy of collectible action figure idea. And it's matter of opinion, but I for once dislike it and don't think it's anywhere near "great idea".

He did make some pretty good arguments if it made you stop and write about them!

As for quality, I think that can be much more variable with clone brands. IMHO, you're more likely to get a crap set with broken parts in it from MB then you are from Lego - I think just about any Lego fan/loyalist will agree that they buy Lego for its long-unparalleled quality.

LEGO fanboys should come to terms with reality and stop denying facts. Mega Blocks and Kre-O aren't going anywhere. And not only they are as good as Lego, but also have quite a lot unique parts/colours/themes. Rejecting them just because they're not LEGO means you're denying yourself a lot of options for no good reason. If you decide to stay in same place while world around you is evolving that's your choice, but don't claim it's a good one.

I find that a often-used argument against clone brands is that many pieces they use are over-specialized - that is, an engine cowling can't be used for anything other than an engine cowling because it is so obviously an engine cowling. In the Lego set design process, they try to avoid making new parts UNLESS they know that the new part can and will be used in diverse ways! A good example is the crowbar; not only is it a minifigure accessory, but it can also be used to pop tiles off a plate.

What I find most ironic and amusing is fact that haters defend long-time monopolist and claim that competition is bad, while at the same time they're probably bashing Microsoft and use pirated version of MS Office or pride themselves as linux users.

That's making some large assumptions, and let's not even get started on the Great OS Debate

Don't like Mega Briks or Kre-O? Don't read topics devoted to them, simple as that. Now if only we could get subforum devoted to MOCs containing MB/K-O, that would be awesome. But obviously site named euroBRICKS is purely LEGO-related and no other construction bricks brands ever existed, so that would be pointless </sarcasm>

Well... EB is a Lego fan/loyalist site. I'd be enormously surprised if they created a clone brand MOC sub-forum. We're here to primarily discuss Lego, Lego MOCs, and Lego-related events and/or news. The Community sub-forum is already the "Put stuff here if there isn't an other place to put it" sub-forum.

That being said, with a community as large as Eurobricks and as diverse, there's always someone with an opinion different from yours. That's what makes our debates so lively!

[Off-Topic: EB seems to have a filter for the word j u n i o r i z e d. It replaces that word with "<insert that tiresome argument>"...]

[Robominer]

Wow.

Just wow.

I'm speechless. You managed to make post with not a single true sentence. As few stated before, quality is actually at least as good. Parts are comaptible and in many cases identical, not to mention that I don't know how you want to customise for example traditional 2x4 brick. No, they bought that patent from someone else. Collectible minifigs are themselves copy of collectible action figure idea. And it's matter of opinion, but I for once dislike it and don't think it's anywhere near "great idea".

Really, calm down. None of us ever made as hateful comments as you just did. Also, why do you have to bitch and rant here on a LEGO forum website? If you like Megablocks and Kreo better, fine, that's your preference, but you don't have to go into the very rage you accused us AFOL's of having.

Anyway, in my experience with Megablocks and Kreo, the plastic is less tough than that of LEGO bricks. Bricks from both brands, Kreo especially, tend to break more than LEGO's parts.

What I meant by more customizable is that it is easier to interchange parts between minifigures. I mean, you can't take off those Halo soldiers' helmets, can you? With LEGO system, the helmets and heads are separate pieces.

Plus, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "collectible action figure idea". I can't recall ever seeing random action figure packs like CMF's. Whatever you are referring to, what I like about the theme(and probably most others who buy CMF's) is not the idea, but the minifigures inside those packets.

Lastly, you criticizing my grammar is just you deviating from your supposed point. It seems you really hate what we AFOL's(especially me) are saying if you're going to point out supposed "grammar mistakes" just to make a point against me.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but if you don't like this site and what people say on it, maybe you shouldn't visit EB.

EDIT: Phoxtane, I couldn't have said it better myself(even though I just did ).

Edited August 13, 2012 by Robominer

[Peppermint_M]

Yah know what. This seems to have become a bit of a pit. So Imma locking it for the good of all of us.

Peace!