Don't you hate people that spurt out "oh, LEGO is too expensive I'll just pick this cheap chinese knock off that's exactly the same! It's my way of getting back at Lego for taking my money!"? It gets so annoying having to tell them about the type of plastic lego uses, the exceptional customer service, the licensing fees, and the fact that Lego has to hire tons of creative designers and engineers to pump out the hundreds of lego sets they produce each and every year (and making sure things work smoothly in the back end to get to everybody's hands: investors and children alike). Yes they make record profits, but they make sure people d*mn well enjoy the experience of building their products instead of pumping out cheap garbage. I will personally burn every Frisco Fe set I ever see in person. Argh!!!! /rant.

Kre-o is about the same price. Speaking of which...has anyone seen the newly released Star Trek Enterprise? Anyone willing to admit they bought it? (I did...only b/c i found a listing that listed them at 4.99 instead of 49.99 and I got 5!) I might get beat up for saying this but I think it's a pretty cool set.

I must admit that when considering knock offs, KRE-O is actually pretty good. I don't care for the people figures (or Kreons) but I do like the Transformer ones.

I must admit that when considering knock offs, KRE-O is actually pretty good. I don't care for the people figures (or Kreons) but I do like the Transformer ones.

I hate the Kreons but love the themes...Transformers...GIjoe...Star Trek...

I WISH LEGO got any of those themes.

I know someone has probably asked but any ideas if anyone has the rights to He-Man?

I know someone has probably asked but any ideas if anyone has the rights to He-Man?

He-Man is a media franchise of Mattel. So if anything, He-Man is open game for anyone but I figure Mega Bloks would win the license. :-S

(I did...only b/c i found a listing that listed them at 4.99 instead of 49.99 and I got 5!)

Where was that?

I hate everything that isn't lego... besides very quality customs designed specifically for Lego

Kre-O and Mega Blocks languish on store shelves in my locality. I'm sure no one buys them, have never seen kids browsing for them as they pretty much stop at the end of the Lego section.

The Lego aisle of Target is a bright, aromatic utopia of well-mannered citizens and shared wisdom. In the Mega Bloks aisle, Lego Ninjas punish the ignorant. Lmfao. My brother does the Halo sets, they're impressive. Don't ask me how he got past the ninjas.

I use Mega Bloks and Kre-O in some of my MOCs (I build mini mechs for a LEGO tabletop game), and I can say that they both have their uses. I prefer LEGO and always will, but the lack of certain pieces leaves me wanting. For example, Mega Bloks and Kre-O both make plates with studs on both sides. Genius. On a slightly unrelated note: LEGO has either been doing some cost cutting by cutting the density of their plastic, or has started using cheaper material. Begin small rant. I have LEGO pieces ranging from the recent to stuff I've had since I was a child (14+ years old). When it comes to these NEW pieces, there are certain ones that split on me CONSTANTLY: -1x1 30 degree slopes, aka, "cheese wedges". These split ALL THE TIME. It's not a matter of if. It's when. Always in the same spot. They crack on the thin edge at the tip, and it proceeds to split the piece in half completely. -1x1 "Headlight" bricks. The 'new' style ones (they've actually been doing them for awhile now) with the slot crack easily as well, from either of the stud-receiving holes. -1x1 Tile with clip. These split on the clips, usually breaking a tip of a clip off. -1x1 plate with clip, both horizontal and vertical. These also split along the clip's tips. -1x2 "Jumper plates". These crack alone the 1-stud length frequently. -1x2 plates. See "Jumper plates". -1x2 tiles. See "Jumper plates". -1x2 bricks. Even these suffer from the cracks along the 1-stud length as all the other 1x2 plates/tiles do. I know this isn't a bad batch or a recent issue. This is a widespread problem. I have an extensive collection of these pieces in "Old Dark Gray", save Cheese wedges, (old discontinued color later replaced with "Dark Bluish Grey" or "Dark Bley"), and NONE, as in NOT ONE of my pieces on this list have split. EVER. While LEGO's quality is still leaps and bounds above any similar product or imitator, they are slacking in the quality of their product without changing their prices, which means in a way I'm getting ripped off. I don't want this trend to continue. I have a growing graveyard of pieces that are breaking, cracking and splitting with minimal wear or use on my end.

Go Go Power Rangers. My kids love them. Too bad the blocks don't stay together very well and the block colors stick out like a turd in a punchbowl when mixed in with their LEGO's.

Where was that?

Was on ebay. They corrected shortly after I ordered. It was a store, I think, they had like 50k feedback. I didn't want to get greedy and buy a bunch to where they wouldn't do the sale so i didn't buy all of them. I figured if I was too greedy they wouldn't honor at least this way I still had a chance of them honoring...which they did.

I must admit that when considering knock offs, KRE-O is actually pretty good. I don't care for the people figures (or Kreons) but I do like the Transformer ones.

I enjoy the transformer ones also.

Seeing World of Warcraft megabloks sets on Walmart clearance shelves is a regularthing for me. I could swear every Walmart around has a plethora of them.

Seeing World of Warcraft megabloks sets on Walmart clearance shelves is a regularthing for me. I could swear every Walmart around has a plethora of them.

can't imagine why ;)

I guess seeing original creations/different licensing options by Mega Bloks and Kre-O don't really bother me. It's just when I see those Enlighten train sets (e.***. the Santa Fe rip off "Frisco Fe", or the older World City trains) and having people around the online community promoting them as a cheaper alternative just really irks me. Most of my work revolves around intellectual property and it sucks to see another company out there produce what appears to be a direct rip off of someone else's work without giving credit nor properly licensing the original designs.

I use Mega Bloks and Kre-O in some of my MOCs (I build mini mechs for a LEGO tabletop game), and I can say that they both have their uses. I prefer LEGO and always will, but the lack of certain pieces leaves me wanting.

For example, Mega Bloks and Kre-O both make plates with studs on both sides. Genius.

On a slightly unrelated note: LEGO has either been doing some cost cutting by cutting the density of their plastic, or has started using cheaper material. Begin small rant.

I have LEGO pieces ranging from the recent to stuff I've had since I was a child (14+ years old). When it comes to these NEW pieces, there are certain ones that split on me CONSTANTLY:

-1x1 30 degree slopes, aka, "cheese wedges". These split ALL THE TIME. It's not a matter of if. It's when. Always in the same spot. They crack on the thin edge at the tip, and it proceeds to split the piece in half completely.

-1x1 "Headlight" bricks. The 'new' style ones (they've actually been doing them for awhile now) with the slot crack easily as well, from either of the stud-receiving holes.

-1x1 Tile with clip. These split on the clips, usually breaking a tip of a clip off.

-1x1 plate with clip, both horizontal and vertical. These also split along the clip's tips.

-1x2 "Jumper plates". These crack alone the 1-stud length frequently.

-1x2 plates. See "Jumper plates".

-1x2 tiles. See "Jumper plates".

-1x2 bricks. Even these suffer from the cracks along the 1-stud length as all the other 1x2 plates/tiles do.

I know this isn't a bad batch or a recent issue. This is a widespread problem. I have an extensive collection of these pieces in "Old Dark Gray", save Cheese wedges, (old discontinued color later replaced with "Dark Bluish Grey" or "Dark Bley"), and NONE, as in NOT ONE of my pieces on this list have split. EVER.

While LEGO's quality is still leaps and bounds above any similar product or imitator, they are slacking in the quality of their product without changing their prices, which means in a way I'm getting ripped off. I don't want this trend to continue. I have a growing graveyard of pieces that are breaking, cracking and splitting with minimal wear or use on my end.

I had a rant about the supposed lack of quality of the modern bricks.

I buy bulk lots so I see bricks from the 1950s to the 2000s. The best ones seem to be the bricks that were made from approx 1986 to the early 2000's.

New bricks seem to have slightly washed out colors and more seriously you can easily see the "dot" where they came out of the mold. This dot is on the older pieces but it was no where near as noticeable as on the new pieces. I built 10230 this Christmas and it was very noticeable, I had to turn bricks around to hide them.

I also compared a new 6x10 grey plate to an older one and it definiately looked better, despite the wear.

But I have not had any splitting issues but I do not do that much building.

I have a lot of broken older pieces from when I was a kid, but i suspect that might have been me.

Yeah those visible dots are really annoying... Sadly LEGO is becoming worse quality day by day...

They are still better than mega bloks!! I just sold 1.8 kg of those for 99p. It was a local pickup and I had to explain the difference to the buyer. He thought he was getting lego. But I told him how much a similar weight of lego would go for. He went away happy as it was for his 4 year old.

It's just when I see those Enlighten train sets (e.g. the Santa Fe rip off "Frisco Fe", or the older World City trains) and having people around the online community promoting them as a cheaper alternative just really irks me.

That 'grinds my gears' too. Cheaper alternative my ass, you get what you pay for. I've seen a lot of closeups on such a high number of 'bootleg bricks' that I can't remember how many but I can tell you, they're all knockoff garbage. At the least, Mega Bloks looks okay and Kre-O/Oxford are actually pretty good but still not quite like Lego.

Most of my work revolves around intellectual property and it sucks to see another company out there produce what appears to be a direct rip off of someone else's work without giving credit nor properly licensing the original designs.

That reminds me of this software company who makes video game for the PC and this is their basic policy; to rip off everybody elses good ideas to make the same amount of profits. It's called Zynga and you can read this report from SF Weekly on them. Just to give a prime example of the CEO's gameplan, check out this quote of his to employees.

Mark Pincus, CEO at Zynga

I don't f***ing want innovation, you're not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.