Posted August 6, 201410 yr Hello you all :) I want to tell you about a story that happened to me so all of you will know to look out from those Chinese lego fakes. My son loves all lego (like his dad) and i let him buy once in a while his favorite figs on ebay.. Recently he ordered a set of lego star wars figs that he found at a really cheap price and he was so excited !! But after the parcel arrived to our home he was shocked to find out that those figs are so poor quality and in fact they are a fake LEGO star wars from China!! He was so disappointed and sad because he waited so much for his package ... Because i was angry i made a check and i found that those Chinese LEGO fake are now a huge hit in China, and recantly have become very common on ebay. The problem is that those sellers don't state at the title that it's "LEGO" but they list it under lego category so every time you will look for lego products, those fakes will come up in the search result . in that way customers don't notice this is not a real lego and accidentally buy it. This is destroying the experiences of searching & buying lego on ebay.... It was looked very odd to me that ebay allows to sell such kind of replicas so i called ebay and told them the story and asked how come that they don't do anything about it and removes those lists, so they told me that its not allowed to sell those items because it's not only a trademark violation of lego products but its also a trademark violation of Marvel & Disny, and that they only recently become aware to this matter and thanks to customer complaints , and that they are acting to remove each list that offer those fakes, but because they only recently become aware that lots of those products are been sold on ebay, its hard for them to keep up and find them all. So what ebay customer support asked from me to do is that every time i will run into a list that offer to sell those fakes i will press the "report item" button that shows at each list page and report it as fake, and in that way it will help them to keep up in the war against those fake legos. So i'm posting it here beacuse i think its important that all of you will be aware to this phenomenon..! And here is some examples of those fake lego looks like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Sets-MiniFigures-Star-Wars-Building-Toys-Yoda-Commander-Clone-Blocks-Toy-/351081603783?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item51be1822c7 http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Sets-Star-Wars-Building-Toys-MiniFigures-Commander-Clone-Yoda-Blocks-Toy-/131252372247?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1e8f404317 http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Sets-Minifigures-Super-Heroes-Series-Building-Toys-Batman-Iron-Man-Blocks-/121396284719?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1c43c84d2f http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-9-Sets-Minifigures-Super-Heroes-Series-Mini-Figures-Blocks-Building-Toy-/261432626373?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item3cde994cc5 http://www.ebay.com/itm/321444399539?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.com/itm/291175849961?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Best regards!
August 6, 201410 yr Some users of EB actually like the fake figures as they fill a market gap but with minifigures, its official or bust for me! Its good of you to make the effort of posting them here, people who are unaware on here will know the listings so +1 to you.
August 6, 201410 yr I will always buy authentic LEGO, probably only from them or someone I trust. I avoid MIC whenever possible for many reasons. But I don't know what to think after I heard the LEGO CEO say they are going to begin manufacturing bricks in China. Edited August 6, 201410 yr by m0dulo
August 6, 201410 yr I will always buy authentic LEGO, probably only from them or someone I trust. I avoid MIC whenever possible for many reasons. But I don't know what to think after I heard the LEGO CEO say they are going to begin manufacturing bricks in China. My purchasing patterns will radically shift if I start seeing "Made In China" on boxes. Sorry to disappoint you, but TLG's been making parts in China for several years now*. A lot of the specialized parts that come in the thicker, more opaque plastic bags are made in China, and, notably, the CMF line is made in China.*The oldest set I have with at least one Chinese part is 7749 Echo Base, from 2009. It says "Components made in...CHINA" on the side, and it's most like the Tauntaun that was manufactured in China, in that set.
August 6, 201410 yr Sorry to disappoint you, but TLG's been making parts in China for several years now*. A lot of the specialized parts that come in the thicker, more opaque plastic bags are made in China, and, notably, the CMF line is made in China. *The oldest set I have with at least one Chinese part is 7749 Echo Base, from 2009. It says "Components made in...CHINA" on the side, and it's most like the Tauntaun that was manufactured in China, in that set. I edited that post just before you replied because I wasn't clear. :) I know about some parts. I meant the entire sets. I just think it will be sad if all manufacturing moves to China. I see that all the time with other companies and their products. Edited August 6, 201410 yr by m0dulo
August 6, 201410 yr I edited that post just before you replied because I wasn't clear. :) I know about some parts. I meant the entire sets. Ah, I didn't see that. My bad.
August 6, 201410 yr We see a lot of those fakes around here for sale second hand. Luckily we dont collect figures with the intent of their value. I dont think I will ever buy from random sources these days.
August 6, 201410 yr Ah, I didn't see that. My bad. No, thanks for posting that. I thought about it after I posted and was too slow to get back and edit it. :) I'm glad I had a chance to clarify it.
August 6, 201410 yr I will always buy authentic LEGO, probably only from them or someone I trust. I avoid MIC whenever possible for many reasons. But I don't know what to think after I heard the LEGO CEO say they are going to begin manufacturing bricks in China. It will in theory give them a little better protection and it will at the least damage the clone makers. Lego is building a factory in China expressly for the purpose of selling their legit product into the Growing Chinese market. Right now the cheap bootleggers thrive in markets that Lego does not well reach. The bootleggers do surprisingly little business in the US and Canada (robust IP protections there also help but at heart there is little market for the cheap crp. Heck there is minimal market for even the decent clone brands.) The factory in China also gives Lego a ton more leverage in enforcing their IP rights in China. Currently China will not recognize any IP claims on imported products. They will however act in domestic disputes to some degree.
August 7, 201410 yr Wow that is disappointing. Lego should sue for this. Just today I was looking at those exact same Lego sets and was surprised by the cheapness, now I know why.
August 7, 201410 yr When I was searching for a Lego Wolverine figure, at least 80% of the results were fakes. I'm OK with clobe brands at times since then people can obtain SDCC exclusives and even unmade characters as reproductions. But by the amount of clone brands you can find, it does make you wonder...
August 7, 201410 yr Hello you all :) I want to tell you about a story that happened to me so all of you will know to look out from those Chinese lego fakes. My son loves all lego (like his dad) and i let him buy once in a while his favorite figs on ebay.. Recently he ordered a set of lego star wars figs that he found at a really cheap price and he was so excited !! But after the parcel arrived to our home he was shocked to find out that those figs are so poor quality and in fact they are a fake LEGO star wars from China!! He was so disappointed and sad because he waited so much for his package ... Because i was angry i made a check and i found that those Chinese LEGO fake are now a huge hit in China, and recantly have become very common on ebay. The problem is that those sellers don't state at the title that it's "LEGO" but they list it under lego category so every time you will look for lego products, those fakes will come up in the search result . in that way customers don't notice this is not a real lego and accidentally buy it. This is destroying the experiences of searching & buying lego on ebay.... It was looked very odd to me that ebay allows to sell such kind of replicas so i called ebay and told them the story and asked how come that they don't do anything about it and removes those lists, so they told me that its not allowed to sell those items because it's not only a trademark violation of lego products but its also a trademark violation of Marvel & Disny, and that they only recently become aware to this matter and thanks to customer complaints , and that they are acting to remove each list that offer those fakes, but because they only recently become aware that lots of those products are been sold on ebay, its hard for them to keep up and find them all. So what ebay customer support asked from me to do is that every time i will run into a list that offer to sell those fakes i will press the "report item" button that shows at each list page and report it as fake, and in that way it will help them to keep up in the war against those fake legos. So i'm posting it here beacuse i think its important that all of you will be aware to this phenomenon..! And here is some examples of those fake lego looks like: http://www.ebay.com/...=item51be1822c7 http://www.ebay.com/...=item1e8f404317 http://www.ebay.com/...=item1c43c84d2f http://www.ebay.com/...=item3cde994cc5 http://www.ebay.com/...=STRK:MEBIDX:IT http://www.ebay.com/...=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Best regards! I'm so sorry this happened to you and your son, that really sucks. Thanks for the warning though!
August 7, 201410 yr It's an excellent point and why I avoid eBay for Legos virtually all the time. Especially for what would appear to be "deals" on popular figures that seem too good to be true. I'm fine with holes in my collection if it means I never have to wonder about it's authenticity.
August 7, 201410 yr It will in theory give them a little better protection and it will at the least damage the clone makers. Lego is building a factory in China expressly for the purpose of selling their legit product into the Growing Chinese market. Right now the cheap bootleggers thrive in markets that Lego does not well reach. I see. That is very interesting. I wish them luck, though. A lot of consumers just don't know or care if their products are counterfeit.
August 8, 201410 yr If it doesn't specifically say LEGO in the title and in the auction, then you can safely assume it is fake.
August 8, 201410 yr <pedant> Title should be "Chinese Clones are taking over?" - they are not LEGO brand products. LEGO not "LEGO'S". Even if it was, the correct word would be "LEGOs" as the apostrophe usageis incorrect. </pedant>
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