Leaderboard

Most people don't share the same care, and are loyal to their wallet not multibillion dollar companies. Many of the MOCs are based on licensed products that the bootleg companies have no rights to. You wouldn't download a car would you? The MOC creator didn't own the IP, so it wasn't stolen. What they did was skirt the spirt of the Ideas program.

The ick factor on fake bricks is gone. There are still some of the bottom barrel producers that have poor clutch and an oily feel (similar to Megabloks), but across the board you'd find it hard to notice a difference in quality without looking for the logo. I've come across a ton of them while sorting, and previously I could just tell by touch... but now I have to actually look at the studs. The quality really changed when Lego opened facilities in China for production, as they steal and copy everything they can get their hands on. It probably didn't take until the end of the first shift for mountains of data to be provided to the other companies there. It's never going to be 100% as good, but 95% is still an A, and the vast majority of people are going to be happy with it. It will never be lights out for Lego though, as they still sell multitudes more product, and many people are so absolutely brand conscious that they'd never buy anything else. And the move to China only helped Lego grab a footprint in a multibillion person country, which has its own brand conscious people. If you recall, around the time of the move the news was full of "China's growing middle class", and how the "China middle class will surpass America". If they had to give up trade secrets to grab that market, they knew who they were making a deal with. It's going to hurt resellers more than anyone, as the bootleggers keep sets in production for years. It doesn't help that Amazon will display bootleg sets right next to genuine sets on search results. As the reseller price rises, and the bootleg price stays the same, you're going to have more people taking pause and digging deeper. If I'm looking at having a UCS star Destroyer, am I going to spend nearly 4x the price for 2.5x less parts? This is the question our buyers will be asking when seeing these side by side. 6x the price for 2.4x less pieces? Our customer base is getting old, and the replacements are overall not nearly as brand attached, nor are they going to have the disposable income of the previous generations. And Amazon is just blatantly telling them there are other options out there, and to "click here" to explore more. I've bought bootleg animals/dinos for my kids that Lego hadn't produced yet, and it's hard to tell the difference. For example the styracosaurus and pentaceratops feel and clutch the same as the triceratops. Had a brachiosaurus for years now, as well as countless zoo creatures that Lego is still catching up on. You also have MOC artists on rebrickable licensing their designs directly to MouldKing and other brands, as they pay out a lot more than selling instructions on rebrickable. I suppose a lot of people "like" designs but rarely buy the pieces once they see the part cost. Now you can get your MOC instructions and parts in one transaction, for 1/4 of the cost of sourcing them yourself. I don't blame the MOC designers for making money, but it directly affects part resellers.

Lego has continued to raise prices, which has given the bootleg companies wiggle room on prices. Watching this consistently since this thread started all those years back, the bootleg prices have moved upwards as Lego provides them room to still be a comparable deal, and make a larger profit on top of it. Take Rivendell for example. Lego: $499.99. Bootleg: Less than 1/3 of the price. I'm sure enough people will be happy to get 3 large sets without "Lego" written on the studs, for the same price. This price difference is worse for resellers than Lego itself. Brick Bank on Amazon today: $655. Bootbank: Can be found at nearly 1/10 the price. Any set that bootleggers keep in production, is hurting product moving on the aftermarket. Sure, most buyers wouldn't buy at that price... but each person that is swayed will affect stagnation. We cater to the upper class with money to blow, but the cost of actual necessities is going up and people may still want to get their fix. I've seen enough "I'm a lifetime Lego buyer but after this, I'm hooked" posts on reddit/facebook to know that people with actual money are being swayed. I disagree with copyright infringement, but I don't blame anyone for saving money for something that they are shoving in their private residence... that someone would need to be close enough (and care enough to pay attention to) a little word written on the studs. I can't agree that the bootleg fans are about instant gratification though, as they wait months after an official Lego set release before they can get their hands on the same set. You'll see many posts about "when will bootlegs make this set" whenever a new desirable set appears. They've just decided that building something a couple months earlier isn't worth paying triple the price. A lot of AFOLs are quite vain about being able to afford expensive sets, and the bootleg fans laugh at them. If I wasn't playing with house money/damn good at finding deals... I can't say being prideful about spending multiple times more than someone else for a non-essential would be enough to make me do it. The younger generations have less disposable income, and have been raised in a culture that focuses on the experience versus the status. Getting the same exact build experience for 1/3 (or less) of the cost... all while not supporting billion dollar profits? That ticks all the boxes. Whether you agree or not, this generation is your future customers. Buying alternatives is going to be ingrained in them, and unlike previous generations... they're going to have an uphill climb with owning property and other essentials to living... I'm not sure the bulk of them are ever going to have "piss away" money to splurge on 400% aftermarket increases.

This is a family forum. I don’t think you’re allowed to talk about your Funwhole here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quality aside, none of the Flego brands have licenses for the IP (Star Wars, LotR, etc). So buying any of those is effectively stealing from the IP owner. MOCs are a different story. No issue there as long as they are either original or licensed to the designer. I’m all for legit competition with Lego using original ideas and quality parts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love the Rivendell extended MOC. I am planning on doing it as soon as I can get a good deal on 2x sets. Also plan on doing the "extended base" available on Rebrickable. Not sure I could ever buy FLego. It would really bother me if it ever became mixed up in the real stuff 😛

So for me Rivendell is by far the best build I have ever done, I don't do technic, but no other set has come close in build, display, play or enjoyment. I looked into doing this MOC: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-149444/Fanpeixi/10316-rivendell-extension/#details and buying a set off ebay without minifigs as I couldn't see paying another $500 and still needing over 1K pieces. I reached out to 2 people that posted the build on FB and one used all Flego and the other did a mix with an original set and FLego and said that besides the minifigures and stickers there was no difference in the parts so you would have no issues with the FLego. He sent me a link to a "reliable" vendor he used that offers the set with or without box but I couldn't pull the trigger. I watched a few videos on this vendor and they have very good reviews. I did try Flego from Aliexpress once it was Le Pin brand and at that time around 2017 it was horrible, had a terrible smell, poor clutch power, no luster, trans elements were foggy, just all around junk, oh and no numbered bags, so I just gave it away. One vendor with over 1K units sold and the price.