Mega Bloks - general discussion

[thehornedrat]

I just noticed today, that MBs plastic are actually softer than your fingernail! You can slice and scratch pieces of plastic off! Can't do that with LEGO bricks. Now imagine your kid eating bits of plastic!

[JRandall]

The only Megabloks sets I see holding and gaining value are the Larger Halo Sets and some of the Warcraft Sets.  Most of the bigger Halo vehicles have increased in price 50-100% above original MSRP especially the largest sets.  I'm sure a few years from now the Warcraft Megablok Sets will double in value simply because WoW fans will want great display pieces and one of the few reasonable options to give them that will be the Warcraft Megabloks sets.

[KShine]

The older baseplates (Dragons era) are great for staging large scale battles. I purchased a huge lot of them years ago. The center of our LEGO play room has a 10 x 10 foot layout (mountains, streams, caves, bridges, etc) using them. 

[Guest TabbyBoy]

I'd not touch Mega Bloks with anyone's barge pole.  Some of their themes look good but, the quality is shocking.  I'd rather buy knock offs from China.

[ChristopherJB]

The only Megabloks sets I see holding and gaining value are the Larger Halo Sets and some of the Warcraft Sets. Most of the bigger Halo vehicles have increased in price 50-100% above original MSRP especially the largest sets. I'm sure a few years from now the Warcraft Megablok Sets will double in value simply because WoW fans will want great display pieces and one of the few reasonable options to give them that will be the Warcraft Megabloks sets.

The Halo sets have gone up nicely.

One set I would keep an eye on is the TRU exclusive Spartan battle pack. That one will easily quadruple.

Those saying mega bloks are poor man's version of lego better open up their eyes and pull their heads out of their behinds

[biniou]

Those saying mega bloks are poor man's version of lego better open up their eyes and pull their heads out of their behinds

 

You'll change your mind if you can get your hands on some Smurfs minifigs. Complete junk. I'm still shocked.

[segreto]

I purchased a Halo Mantis for my son.  He is 4, and he loves Lego and Halo 4.  I like the idea of building Halo sets form Lego bricks.  I will definitely be doing this.  I watch the Jangbricks YouTube channel pretty regularly, and he seems to like the Megablocks set, but they are an inferior product to Lego in many ways.   They just are not as precise as Lego, and my fear is that I will get some block mixed in with my Lego bricks...but if I just keep it to this one set, I should be ok.

[scuttfarkas]

Mega Bloks fill a couple of niches that LEGO doesn't really want to get into (realistic war and adult centric video games).  To that, there's always room for both. Really, the only time Mega suffers is when you compare side by side the themes that both companies have owned.  To that, LEGO has dominated them (except for maybe the POTC theme) with better designed sets. In addition, Mega has nothing to compete with the TLC's movie and game juggernaut (something that's just as important as the quality of their bricks). 

 

I don't think Mega is ready or neccessarily interested at this point in trying to go to war over the top spot (Not only would it be foolish to attempt it for as long as TLC owns Star Wars and DC/Marvel rights) as they aren't trying to compete with TLC is "un licensed themes". If Mega wanted to, they could start scooping up landmarks/historic buildings etc. etc. and hitting us with 2,000 piece sets.  It wouldn't be that difficult to emulate the Modular theme. For whatever reason, they aren't interested in doing so.

 

To those that scoff at the Mega line.....let's be honest.....it's not like TLC has been knocking non-licensed themes out of the park.  Chima, Galaxy Squad, Atlantis, Pharoahs Quest.....they aren't setting anyone pants on fire.  A shifting of a cash cow license or an introduction of a new one to the Mega lineup could even the scales out more.

[Cross]

All opinion here, but garbage as investment. Fun for the kids, but ultimately end up in the garage sale box wedged between a George Foreman grill and glazed plate set.

 

As an investor I like low-risk.

 

Mega, Kreol, etc.- and a TON of bargain-priced Lego sets can look very enticing when the discount train rolls to town. But it's a much bigger gamble than people expect. There has to be SOME demand for sets to be worth anything.

 

For our kids, we get them what they want and have fun watching them build, play, etc.

 

For our Lego investing, it is almost entirely Lego exclusives and a very short list of other sets that are special for their own reasons.

 

I could gamble two hundred bucks on a stack of "cheap" sets (Lego and non) and hope/pray they show a return.

 

Or, I could just spend that $200 on a Tower of Orthanc, R2, etc.that are as close to risk-free investing you'll find.

[matt1147]

I will say this about the Halo sets - they keep up in quality and the "wow" factor. That being said, they're still Mega Bloks so no real Lego fan will take them seriously. I could forsee some of the halo sets being worth it later on IF the movie is a hit and the brand retains fans and attracts new fans.

Still, at this point, I'd have to find sets discounted 50%+ for me to buy as investment.

[MarleyMoose]

My box of woe is growing. It include Kreo, Megabloks, BestLock among some others. I'd say now I have about 15+ lbs of the worthless junk. I hate sorting.

[Cross]

If they are simply space killers- of which our household has had many- a donation to the local Good Will is a great move.

 

Two reasons...

 

It's a great cause and gives some folks a nice chance to acquire these sets for their children around the Holidays.

 

Also, it is a very legitimate tax ride-off.

 

If anyone has NOT donated to Goodwill or Salvation Army before, they will provide you with a form to declare the value of your donation. It's ethical and reasonable to state the value at MSRP (IMO). These organizations are outstanding.

 

You make some additional money on your tax return, and clear up some shelf space for higher-quality investments in the meantime.

[TheOrcKing]

Each year I always donate at least some money to the Salvation Army and since the opening of a nearby Goodwill a couple years ago in my area; I have donated stuff I do not need any more to that store. In either case, I never bothered with any sort of form. I figure I'm clearing space in my home and perhaps someone else will get some use out of whatever it is at the time I'm unloading.

Now going back to Mega Blocks, they are alright but probably better when it was something more than just a license brand as it is now. The whole Dragons line was rather cool especially towards the futuristic end and Alien Agency alongside Command-Ops was neat back in the day but currently I barely even notice all the Halo sets mainly because they are the same things over again year after year kind of like how Lego is with Star Wars in a way. Thinking on it, I wouldn't mind trying to collect some of the old Mega Bloks figures for Masked Rider or the Mobile Suit Gundam models perhaps. Some someday perhaps.

With all that said, I do believe Mega Bloks has done a respectable job with Call of Duty and Halo from what I see. However much like McFarlane's latest attempt at building blocks, they just are not my thing and I shall respectfully decline from purchasing any of either said product. That is only my opinion. I am not childish to bear ill-will towards anyone who does like Mega Bloks or K-REO or even McFarlane's bricks (whatever those will be called). Best-Lock on the other hand truly is the most worthless pile of cheap plastic a person could ever waste their hard earned cash on and I say that from experience in one of those experimental phases of curiosity.

[Kooz]

Ended up with a Mega Bloks Hello Kitty house (for my kid).  It's not a bad set.  The quality of the pieces is greatly improved from a couple years ago (still hurt our fingers to put together, nut not as much), and it's made dollhouse style (like HH), which is pretty cool.  Still relies on stickers where Lego would be brick build (sticker of a sink and water tap instead of bricks), but play-wise, it's pretty cool.  Good size, retails for $30, my kid likes it a lot (except the Hello Kitty minifigures (dolls?) which are boring, static figures.  

So my opinion of MB has changed a bit--I think they have a long way to go before the catch up to lego in terms of the quality of the parts (which seems to be improving) and the quality of the actual build (which is about what anyone could come up with given the bricks and some time).  But, they are making improvements.  I can't imagine this set in particular would ever rise in value (at least not much), but for playing, it's pretty solid.  Not as good as Lego, but still pretty good.

 

Have some Kre-O too.  The quality isn't so great.  The plates are always slightly warped and nothing seems to fit right (clutch is too tight or too loose; pieces are consistently inconsistent).

[TheOrcKing]

[TheOrcKing]

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Source: ToyArk

[marcandre]

The Terminator bust is pretty cool. The rest is meh... I wonder if there will be another wave of spongebob. Still hate that lego gave that up. The new movie is doing big business. 

[holleman67]

I think the licenses they picked up will do well for the business. Tmnt is top you for boys, monster high still pretty hot for young girls, cod scene looks nice, and new terminator should bring some adult fans. Good moves

Oh and this minions are going to be gold.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Brickpicker mobile app

Edited February 16, 2015 by holleman67

[marcandre]

Monster High looks like Goth Friends. 

[Kooz]

I think these look great. I know MB has struggled with the quality of the builds, but these are great properties. Terminator will do very well. If Monster High puts out a haunted mansion, I'll be buying it.

I wonder if the long term prospects of investing in MB are changing. They are stepping up their game. This could be the beginning of something huge.

[biniou]

The Assassin's Creed Gunboat Takeover looks great for a mega blok set.

 

 

The T-800 bust is cool...

Edited February 25, 2015 by biniou

[TheOrcKing]

I did see the new Assassin's Creed sets at Target and must say the box art certainly catches your eye. Also saw the new SpongeBob Squarepants ones based on the latest film which caught me off guard since I never heard anything about those. Not surprised by them; just made me have a double-take like "wait, what?". Haha.

[TheOrcKing]

These are quite cool if you are into military builds and whatnot.

[TheOrcKing]

[TheOrcKing]