LEGO's own Clone Wars

[bnb123]

With LEGO patents recently expired more of these sets (which seem a little too close to the LEGO brand) will be popping up.

This one can be purchased directly from Amazon.fr.

You normally see these imposters being sold in droves by lower end retail operations, so this is a first to see Amazon buying large stocks of these clones.

http://www.amazon.fr/TopaZ-Construction-Maison-Vacances-Pi

[Jeff Mack]

Wow what an excellent find. I looked a little more at their products and they have a full line available and some look pretty good. I too now will be surprised to see how many companies launch their own LEGO product line

Topaz LEGO products

[bnb123]

Yeah I have seen signs of this earlier this year with the launch of Kreo (by Hasbro). I wasn't expecting to see such interesting sets out of companies not backed by budgets like Hasbro. The figs look a little suspect, but some of the parts look identical to LEGO. Wonder about the plastic quality. That usually is a deal breaker for serious LEGO afols and even some picky kids and parents. LEGO's profit margins over the past couple years (especially during recessive times) are too obvious for all types of current and prospective toy producers to ignore.

[Ed Mack]

Mexican LEGO Knockoffs...

[TheOrcKing]

Good lord... I've lost count of how many Lego clones there are out there. It's one thing if they copy the basic "idea" of Lego and create some unique sets or figures (like the way Oxford or Mega Bloks does), but when they blatantly copy sets that's when it gets ridiculous. 'Enlighten' is a wierd one, being half original & half ripoff. Their military & train series sets are good and original (from what I've seen & heard), but as for everything else they're old retired Lego sets where all they did was slap the 'Enlighten' name in the corner and changed the box a little. And when you put an 'Enlighten' minfig next to a 'Lego' minifig, there really isn't much difference in design or looks (quality is another thing, though). 'Kazi' is another odd brand, and they're about the same as 'Enlighten' only worse! 'Sluban' has a similiar strategy to 'Enlighten', but they also ripoff 'Oxford' sets as well! One line is called "Transformative Robot" (copy of 'Oxford's "Trans Kaion" series) and one of these sets is called (I kid you not) Humblebee. Really?.... 'Jubilux' sets are just 'Oxford' sets with their name slapped on it. 'I*Dol' is a rather miniscule one. The couple of sets that I can find appear original, but the figures look like 'Mega Bloks' old (and I do mean OLD) minifigures. 'Best-Lock' is one we've all heard of and, at one time or another, probably got stung by these god awful things. Their slogan is "Build a lot, Pay a little!". Just like the very low pricetag, sounds good (too good). Then we get one of these sets, open it up, look inside, and wonder "What the heck possessed me to buy this absolute, horrendous, POS?!" The plastic is just horrible, the pieces don't go together at all, the figures are atrocious (they're a blatant knock-off of 'Cobi' minifigs), and the accessories are 'Oxford's! Good grief. They're a knock-off of a knock-off!! 'Superblox', don't even get me started on these f***ing things! They're even worse than 'Best-Lock'! How bad is that?! Speaking of 'Superblox', a couple of those 'TopaZ' sets (the Missile Battery, Mega Tank, and Attack Helicopter in particular) look like the exact same thing, with the exception of a few different parts. The Military Base (as well as the other Military sets) look like 'Oxford's "K-1 Special Force" series. At the very least, I wonder what the quality of these 'TopaZ' sets are like. Overall, here's my list of 'good' ones: Oxford/Kre-o Oxford's quality is REALLY GOOD! The figures are slightly different than Lego (leg's and arms are more rounded), the feel of the pieces are just right, and they go together & hold very well. All of their sets & designs are original (pretty cool too!). I really can't find anything wrong with these. And since Oxford makes the Kre-o sets (look at the bottom on the back of the box, you'll see their little yellow mascot) those are just as good. (They'll be even better if they stay the heck away from those plastic tires!) If you're looking for military sets and/or parts, you can't go wrong with Oxford! Mega Bloks Their quality has gotten better in the last few years, but they're still abit difficult to put together (or take apart), especially the long flat parts. Honestly, I'm already burnt out on the Halo series since last year. I swear I have about a hundred Master Chief's for crying out loud, and how many times do they have to keep redesigning the same thing over & over again! Or do the same set in a different color (wow, instead of green, now its red! ooooh!! whatever...) Plus all the current (Halo) sets are so expensive. Is there anything less than $50? The only thing I'm looking forward to is the StarCraft sets they'll do next year, really. Cobi From what I've heard, the quality of these are good, I just don't know how good. The figures are somewhat unique. Using fleshtones on the hands, as well as the head which are molded with indentations where the eyes are and an actual nose coming out. The faceprint, though, looks as if someone took a magic marker and scribbled one on (the ones I've seen). Another thing to note is they use (especially for vehicles like their jeeps & trucks) large single molded pieces. Still, the quality seems good and original. As for everything else, DO NOT BUY!!! EVER!!!! Especially 'Best-Lock' or 'Superblox', they are HORRIBLE!!!

[Huskers1236]

Sorry to bump a REALLY old thread, but I picked up a bulk box in town from Craigslist that had some COBI blocks in there. In black, they are damn near identical to Lego, I crap you not. Other colors were off a bit so I could pick them out. The tube design on the bottom was pretty much identical as well. As said above, the minifigs were pretty bad, but the bricks and plates were pretty well done, much better than Mega Blok. I'm not saying I would ever, ever tell someone to sway from Lego, but the clones are getting much better.