Knock off legos

[Dice144]

Have you used the other brands of LEGO type building sets? The inner kid in me (and my daughter) love LEGO. They are just ridiculous priced.

Found a few different brands on Amazon. Please recommend one.

 

[waggy]

Did you know lego's are the knockoff?

anyway megablocks are pretty close. you can still tell the difference. the quality just ain't as good as real lego's. but when you dump them in the mess it's hard to know

 

[quikah]

I have some off brand "Lego" in our stash. My son consistently will chuck them to the side when he encounters one. The tolerances of the off brand are much worse than Lego, the pieces don't stick together as well.



You can try knex, they are decent IME. Otherwise just keep an eye on slickdeals for Lego deals. also check Craigslist.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd look at yardsales/flea markets for real lego.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm surprised no one has started 3D printing them yet. Though I think the 3D printer plastics are softer, maybe they would not work as well.

Totally different style of building but maybe look at Knex, if they still make the big sets. I used to love those as a kid.

 

[KMFJD]

Did you know lego's are the knockoff?

anyway megablocks are pretty close. you can still tell the difference. the quality just ain't as good as real lego's. but when you dump them in the mess it's hard to know

the Apple of the toy business!

 

[Jaepheth]

I'm surprised no one has started 3D printing them yet. Though I think the 3D printer plastics are softer, maybe they would not work as well.

Totally different style of building but maybe look at Knex, if they still make the big sets. I used to love those as a kid.

Seconded. Get her a 3D printer and tell her to make her own legos.

She'll be having fun AND building possible career skills; making it less a toy and more an investment in your child's future.

 

[videogames101]

Seconded. Get her a 3D printer and tell her to make her own legos.

She'll be having fun AND building possible career skills; making it less a toy and more an investment in your child's future.

OP: LEGOs are expensive.

ATOT: Spend several thousand on a 3D printer instead!

 

[Imp]

From what I've found, Lego uses a specific type of plastic (ABS ???) while the off-brands use others (e.g. polyethylene???). The result may be that Lego can survive a lot more use, the off-brands loosen.

It may have something to do with the cost of the machines used to make the Lego plastic being more expensive. It's been a while since I read that stuff and never verified for source, so meh.

 

[NoTine42]

I'd look at yardsales/flea markets for real lego.

+1
You can get a ton of real Legos, real cheap if you don't mind large quantities of unsourced Legos.

 

[notposting]

Did you know lego's are the knockoff?

anyway megablocks are pretty close. you can still tell the difference. the quality just ain't as good as real lego's. but when you dump them in the mess it's hard to know

The Wikipedia article on Lego blocks traces it out a bit more clearly, but this link shows what the original inventor came up with: http://isodomos.com/technica/history/1940/1949.php

Lego ended up coming up with the tubes underneath, which gave the blocks additional strength but more importantly, they held together far better.

So I guess the Apple comparison could work - took something pre-existing and made it better, usable, and popular. Also, sold a ton of em.

+1
You can get a ton of real Legos, real cheap if you don't mind large quantities of unsourced Legos.

You can buy them by the pound on Amazon - look for them that way, then start looking for the better sellers.

Actually planning on doing this soon - our oldest is 5 now, going on 6, and the Lego's are right in his wheelhouse now.

 

[disappoint]

I want to see one of you geeks buy your fiancee a lego engagement ring.

A 1 carat lego > $ than 1 carat diamond.

 

[Fritzo]

Yeah, then engineering that goes into LEGOs is insane, which is part of the reason they cost so much. Each block as like a 1/64" tolerance. That's why every block fits tightly and consistently.

There are other blocks, but they don't fit nearly as well.

 

[freeskier93]

OP: LEGOs are expensive.

ATOT: Spend several thousand on a 3D printer instead!

Then watch as the kid quickly looses interest since it will take days to print out enough blocks just for something basic.

 

[Ken g6]

I had and used some "Tyco" blocks when I was a kid. That was decades ago.

 

[DrPizza]

OP: LEGOs are expensive.

ATOT: Spend several thousand on a 3D printer instead!

Even if the printer was free, the legos would still be more expensive to print.

 

[Rakehellion]

I'm surprised no one has started 3D printing them yet.

Because they would cost more and not be as good?

 

[SparkyJJO]

I had and used some "Tyco" blocks when I was a kid. That was decades ago.

This. Mostly just bulk basic bricks. They held up pretty good and never really got loose in my experience, but their dimensions were a tad bit off (smaller I think) as were the colors. Not a big deal though.

 

[Slew Foot]

the s world minifigures are decent. i got giant lots of star wars ones and they work well. i got a couple of small knock off sets and you can tell the quality is a step down

 

[John Connor]

Yeah, then engineering that goes into LEGOs is insane, which is part of the reason they cost so much. Each block as like a 1/64" tolerance. That's why every block fits tightly and consistently.

There are other blocks, but they don't fit nearly as well.

I don't think it would be so hard. I used to work at a plastic injection molding company and all the engineers do is design the mold, cut it out and you start pumping out shit tons of plastic pieces.

I for one find it hard to believe a plastic piece would cost so much.

 

[XavierMace]

I've bought a handful of the knockoffs from this seller on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/usr/maxem_2012?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

Not as good as the real thing but honestly, closer than Megablocks and the other clones IMO save for the minifigs. The minifigs could use some better QC, however they are clones of the Lego style unlike Megablock's so they at least match the real thing.

 

[XavierMace]

I don't think it would be so hard. I used to work at a plastic injection molding company and all the engineers do is design the mold, cut it out and you start pumping out shit tons of plastic pieces.

I for one find it hard to believe a plastic piece would cost so much.

There's good molds and bad molds. Lego uses the former. The tolerance on their molds are worlds better than any of their competition.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they aren't making tons of money. But don't underestimate how much good molds cost.

 

[John Connor]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they aren't making tons of money. But don't underestimate how much good molds cost.

So they're using tungsten molds?

 

[ViRGE]

Because they would cost more and not be as good?

The latter point is really the most important. 3D printers cannot hit the tight tolerances of injection molding.

So they're using tungsten molds?

Whatever it is, their competition sure can't seem to match it.

 

[XavierMace]

So they're using tungsten molds?

Talking quality of machining of the mold, not the materials of the mold. My dad's been in the business for 30 years now, works for Flextronics. I've seen lots of molds thrown out because they didn't meet tolerance requirements.