Lego... that is not Lego...

[Tk'ya'pyk]

So, as mentioned in https://www.lustria-online.com/threads/what-are-you-doing-today-hobbywise.20843/page-232, one of my High School buddies and I are on a quest. A stupid quest. To find Lego-like bricks that are slightly more affordable.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lego. A lot. I've been collecting since I was 5, for cryin' out loud, so it should be obvious that I like it, but lately they seem to be catering to, well, people with a lot more money than I have. The Bricklink designer program, for example: a good dozen sets I would love to have, all of them in the $150-300 price range. I might - MIGHT - be able to afford ONE such set a year, and they're coming out a lot faster than I can afford them. Not to mention the normal sets. I love the idea of the big Castle set they brought out ($400 - way out of my budget) and Rivendell ($500 - even MORE outside of my budget), but I can't afford them.

We got to talking about this issue one day, and how pricing is creeping up lately even on normal sets. $0.07 USD/piece isn't that unheard of in non-licensed Lego sets, and the licensed ones can easily go to $0.13 USD/piece or higher. So the discussion turned to NOT-Lego brick sets. 30 years ago, they were... not good. 20 years ago they were... tolerable, but still not the best. But it is 2025 now. Have things changed???

The answer... is yes.

A side note, something that has begun to crop up a lot as I'm looking this stuff over - there are now at least FOUR different scales of "Lego" brick on the market. Normal, "mini," "micro," and so forth. This annoys me. There are a LOT of sets out there I would LOVE to get, *IF* they were the right freakin scale...

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

Test subject #1: Mattel.

Better known as Mega-Construx/Mega-Blok/Mega-whatever, Mattel recently announced that they were going to offer a pick-a-brick kind of service for their own brand of PBB (plastic building brick - remember this term, I'll be using it often), and branding stuff under the Mattel name more often. Honestly, I'm not at all surprised that Mattel owns Mega-(whatever). I have high hopes for this company in the future. After all, Mattel pretty much screams 'toys' if you know about their other products. They're the ones currently in charge of Hot Wheels, Barbie, and many others.

Mega-Construx has made/currently makes Halo sets, Masters of the Universe sets (still kind of want to scrounge up Castle Greyskull from somewhere), big Hot Wheels car sets, Barbie sets, and until this year, Pokemon figures (Lego now has the license, don't know why or what they'll do with it until 2026). They also did Minions sets several years before Lego got the license rights to that.

I own a few of the minions sets. They amused me, and I play Brikwars (wargaming with Lego-ish figures), and the Minions (Yelpillz as I call them) made good opponents for Lego figures.

I also own a lot of the Pokemon figures and a few larger Pokemon sets. Why? Because the Pokemon builds are ANNOYINGLY CUTE, and building them is oddly cathartic and relaxing. I mean, look at this guy:


Isn't he just the happiest little Cubone??? They're really pose-able, kind of adorable. I also picked up Mega-Construx's Pokemon Center set (no pics at the moment, I need to take some).

I suppose this means we should talk about ranking. Right now, the things we're looking for are: Price per part, playability/features, set design/coolness, durability, and clickability (how easy it is to click bricks together - this is an important one, because some otherwise good sets are a pain to assemble).

So, where does Mega rank?
Well, the individual Pokemon figures aren't a good judge, so we're going to look at the Pokemon Forest Center. 648 pieces, MSRP about $80, though currently clearancing out for $40. I paid about $60 for mine.

PPP (Price per part): We're grading this as a C. Mega- averages out to about $0.10 USD/part, but closer to $0.12 USD at original MSRP. Not unheard of for licensed IP sets, mind you, but a little high. Still, there are worse.
Playability: I am using this to set a baseline at a C. There are some features, like a revolving door, pokeball dispenser, and most of the Pokemon build sets have some kind of motion-thing included, but they're pretty basic. It does include "minifigures" in the form of pokemon builds, so that's decent, but we need a baseline and this is a good place to start. C is a passing grade at an average level. This set has some features, but some quirks (the revolving door, like a real one, sticks for example).
Coolness: C (again, we need a baseline). This isn't the best set to use for this as it is Licensed, but it is a good approximation of a Pokemon Center.
Durability: C (again, we need a baseline). Supposedly, Mega- sets are prone to broken 'clips' and small parts. I haven't run into this myself, but I do see sets with broken parts in the secondhand market often.
Clickability: C (again, we need a baseline). Mega sets go together okay, but they fit a little hard at times. Also, some of the connections aren't as strong as they could be. Some of my Pokemon figures just fall to pieces if you try to do anything more than display them.

So, using Mega as our baseline product, we have a grade of C for them. This isn't bad. Could be better, but definitely not a failing grade.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

Trial #2: Insoon

So one of the criteria we're picking the sets to test on is... well... for my part, I'm looking for inexpensive Pirate-/Medieval-/Fantasy- themed builds that look cool. Oh, and key thing here, that DO NOT VIOLATE COPYRIGHT. If it looks exactly like a set Lego does/did, I'm not buying it. Similar but different is good, since it is almost impossible not to do something similar to something Lego has done - they've made a LOT of sets over the decades.

So I was browsing Amazon, getting ready for this challenge, and ran into this:


Insoon is a Chinese company (near as I can tell, anyway, as many of these are) that makes several sets that interest me.

Looks good, went together well. Judging:
PPP: This set has 1502 pieces, and set me back $46. That makes a very favorable $0.03 USD per piece. A+ for this set.
Playability: It is compatible with my Lego minifigures (redcoat soldier shown for scale). The drawbridge goes up and down, it comes apart and can be reconfigured several ways. Working door, working crane (I didn't put the string on it yet), an oddly nice bedroom for a prisoner, and a nice little boat. Does NOT come with any kind of minifigures, but that isn't a failure. Honestly, I have plenty of minifigures, but YMMV. I rank this a B+ (lost points due to no minifigures).
Coolness: B+ Lots of play features, looks really cool, fits in well with existing Lego Pirate stuff. The scale is perfect for minifigures to use, the boat is neat, and being able to move the sections into different configurations is a great play feature.
Durability: Yet to be tested. No pieces broke during assembly. Cannot rank yet, assume a C at this point.
Clickability: This is where things are a little iffy. It feels like maybe the studs on the bricks are a hair too tall. Pieces fit together, but rather stiffly and you need to really force them sometimes. This isn't a huge issue on the building, but the little ship is kind of a fragile build. Oddly enough, one of the parts on the ship has the opposite issue - you can't actually turn the gear to raise the anchor, because it is too loose on the axle and just spins instead of raising the anchor. Additionally, it was missing a piece (only a 1x2 plate, non-essential, and in fairness I may have accidentally dropped it). C on this. It is buildable, but kind of tetchy.

Pros: The build looks great, is fun to play around with, and a really good value for the money. Oh - and the cannon on the one tower section is the kind with the spring-loaded launcher, so you can actually fire 1x1 cylinder "cannonballs!"
Cons: Stiff assembly, missing part(?), no minifigures. Stickers instead of printed bricks (minor issue that I am ok with, but some people get incensed over this so it needs to be mentioned). Biggest issue: There are 9 bags of parts. Each bag of parts has 2-5 smaller bags of parts inside it, for a LOT of plastic waste that cannot be recycled in my area. Not a dealbreaker, but annoying.

Overall grade: B Insoon surprised me by how good it was and honestly, I needed this out of the gate to keep me interested in doing this. This is a great set for a really good value, and the company has several other builds I'm looking at right now, like a vineyard that would fit into my castle/pirate/fantasy theme.

Addendum Note 5/25/2025: When shopping Insoon's line, read the description carefully - they make a lot of stuff out of "mini" bricks (something like 2/3 scale) as well as normal size stuff. There's at least three sets they make that I would LOVE to buy, if they were normal scale.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

Trial #3: Funwhole...

Yeah, I kind of cringed at the name as well. They're in the process of changing it to Lumibricks, so going forward they'll be less, hmm, memorable? Might be a good thing though.

For this trial, I picked out a set that was on sale on Amazon, the Funwhole Medieval Forge House:


This is a BIG set, 1595 pieces.

PPP: 1595 pieces, retails at $89. This sounds poor, but it still works out to just under $0.06 USD/piece. I actually bought it on sale (they do pop up sometimes on sale) for $65, which worked out to just over $0.04 USD/piece. We'll use MSRP for this, but that's still a B at this point.
Playability: Ranking this an A-. It includes lights built into the build, which I cannot light up due to lack of AA batteries at the moment. It has three floors, lots of doors, furniture, and forge equipment builds. Lots of weapons, and Funwhole does make their own line of minifigures:

They are pear-shaped people that are ALL assembly required (as in, put the hands in the arms, the arms in the sockets, the legs are in three pieces, etc). Not bad, but a little fiddly to assemble. Still, they add some play features to the set. It lost points because while awesome, the build is kind of cramped and I would have to disassemble a wall to get my big hands in there to place figures. Could do with some hinged wall sections that swing open, but they built this to act like the big city street sets Lego did, so tall walls with each floor a sub-build that can come off.
Coolness: ...look, I've been looking at sets from this company for a while because the sets look awesome in adverts. Turns out they look awesome sitting in front of me as well. A+ This is a BIG set, over a foot tall. Seriously, for those Ork players out there, this thing is about the size of a Stompa once built.
Durability: Cannot rank yet, nothing is broken. Assume C.
Clickability: Not the top, but pretty darn close. B+ for Funwhole. Bricks went together really well, everything fits nicely, nothing really loose, nothing really tight. The wiring was a bit fiddly to put in, but they make special bricks to run the wires through. The only real issue here was this:

That lone light tan tile? That is supposed to be the same color as the rest of the floor. At least they included a piece of the right type and size, even if they missed the color, and at least it is in the same color family? Still, lost some points here.

Pros: Really awesome looking build, lots of play features and included (technically not-minifigures). This is a truly complete set. Would be a nice display piece, or a fun play piece given all of the things you could have the included figures do. Everything went together well (exception below), no force-fitting, no really loose parts.
Cons: Building the figures was annoying, and it is meant for people with smaller hands than mine (gee, I wonder why?), but that isn't a surprise. One wrong piece, but mollified by the fact that it was included, just in the wrong color.

Overall grade: A- I have heard that Funwhole was supposed to be good, and it lived up to what people were telling me. This was a joy to build, and I have several of their other Medieval sets on my radar for future purchases.

At the moment, this is where my exploration has ended. I have plans to continue, and am open to suggestions. Remember, I'm looking for GOOD alternates to Lego, not looking to see how BAD some of them are.

 

[Killer Angel]

I have plans to continue, and am open to suggestions. Remember, I'm looking for GOOD alternates to Lego, not looking to see how BAD some of them are.

I'm gonna ask a friend of mine, which is into lego & similar things.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

I know of a couple... KREO, which made some nice Star Trek sets back in the days of the Abrams trilogy, and COBI, which has branched out into making tank models to a defined scale. It's worth you looking both of those up.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

I know of a couple... KREO, which made some nice Star Trek sets back in the days of the Abrams trilogy, and COBI, which has branched out into making tank models to a defined scale. It's worth you looking both of those up.

Those two are on my radar as well, but I need to find a set from them that fits my "build choice" list. That is proving tricky.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl Ah... Kreo...

Can't do Kreo.

If you look anywhere online, you'll notice that Kreo bricks are... rather expensive at the moment. That's because they actually stopped production a few years ago. As I am looking for currently active companies, that rules them out.

Cobi on the other hand... they're a little pricey, but they have some smallish Roman sets I may pick up to test. Cobi might be a decent way for a would-be Emperor to amass a small group of Roman Legionaires without breaking the bank, and OHMYSOTEKTHEYHAVEAROMANWARSHIP... ... ... I might have to scrounge up the funds for that one...........

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

Trial #4: BlockTech!
Forgot I had these. I picked up some small pirate ships on clearance after the holidays.

Got this one, and another called "Captain Dread's Pirate Ship." I assembled Captain Dread's Ship.



PPP: Pretty good. These sets seem to retail for about $7.99 for 225-ish pieces, and there is a bigger one that is $40 for 1000-ish pieces (I don't know why they're not more precise? It is weird). This works out to about $0.04 per piece, which ranks near the top in value. A for this.

Playability: Ehhhh... I'm going to rank these a C+. The wheel moves, the figures are usable, but there's not much else? The bigger sets might rank higher? These aren't bad. They're simple builds, with solid hulls (and I do mean SOLID - brick all the way through), with some interesting SNOT techniques for the hulls. The sails are fragile, because the hulls are solid you can lift the flags hiding the cannon holes, but there's nothing behind them. They do some with some interesting minifigures that are about a head taller than a Lego minifigure.

These are very pose-able, with the forearms on ball-socket joints. Kind of weird to build, but I have seen worse?

Coolness: Eh, so far they're a B- or C+. They have some interesting parts that Lego does not make, like this:


But really, the design is kind of basic, there's not a lot of play features. Sails are PAPER, not cloth, so I didn't put them on. On the plus side, they are compatible with Lego so far.

Durability: C- One of the parts in the box (a small technic locking-ring thingy, so something pretty fragile) came pre-broken, and again, paper sails, not cloth. Those are NOT going to last long. Otherwise, seems ok so far?

Clickability: B. Went together okay, but the lack of indexing pin on the undersides of some of the pieces made assembly a little annoying. Fits well with Lego so far, didn't have to force anything.

Pros: Really cheap, proprietary minifigures that have unusual features. Solid design for the hull, nice SNOT techniques.
Cons: Really basic, not a lot of special features, and for some reason the ship's wheel is facing the wrong direction? Also the manual is printed REALLY REALLY small print, so it is hard to see which parts you're trying to use at times. Could do with some clarification.

Overall Grade: C+ Price-point is very good, but there's not much new here, and while they're going to make nice harbor-filler for my pirate/castle port, they're nothing special.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

I know of a couple... KREO, which made some nice Star Trek sets back in the days of the Abrams trilogy, and COBI, which has branched out into making tank models to a defined scale. It's worth you looking both of those up.

Cobi...

Hoo boy, kettle of fish here.

So, right out of the box, Cobi is on the pricier side of things. I ordered a box of Cobi's Roman minifigures to see if i liked them before splurging on a bigger set.


I really should have rotated those first, but meh.

PPP is an F. Prices for Cobi (in the US at least right now) vary wildly. A box of 3 Roman figures is $15 even on Amazon, which works out to pretty much EXACTLY what Lego charges for minifigures. $5 each. I did some price comparison on their Roman line. It ranged from $0.07 USD/piece for the big Roman ship, to a STAGGERING $0.22 USD/piece for the Roman Chariot. This is NOT good, and actually MORE expensive than Lego in some sets! Mind you, $5 for a Roman figure (and you can get three different sets of 3 for the Roman era - Soldiers, Barbarians/Gladiators, and Praetorians) is a good price for Roman figures compared to the Lego CMF Romans.

Playability: Well, these are just minifigures, but they're pretty poseable, really well done, good printing, good quality plastic, lots of accessories. I'm going to rate this a B at the moment, because they went together more easily than the Funwhole figures did, are chonkier and more durable, and kind of cool.

Coolness: ...okay, they rate a B here, flat out. They're well done, durable, look really thugly, and this is an affordable way to make an army of not-Lego Romans for a LOT less than a pile of Lego CMF Romans would cost.

Clickability: B- While the figures went together well, and they WILL click onto Lego plates and stuff, it is an awkward fit that looks like it forces their legs wider than they should go... But they're easy to assemble without tons of force. Helmets are a little weird fit onto the heads, but no worse than trying to put any kind of helmet onto a Friends minifigure.

Pros: Cheaper Romans than Lego has, and a decent line of sets for an Antiquities theme, which Lego does NOT do at all. Good printing, good color, easy to assemble. Plastic is good quality, no breakage (even when I had to pry bits apart because I put the legs on the mount backwards the first time), good color consistency.
Cons: While their Romans are cheaper than Lego, their sets in general are just as costly, or MORE costly than Lego. As this entire thing was done to find cheaper alternatives to Lego, this hurts their overall grade a LOT.

Overall grade: C-, brought down to this level purely from the pricing. If the pricing was better, their score would be at least a B. Not a deal-breaker, but not cheaper than Lego.

 

[Tk'ya'pyk]

Time for another round of Lego that is not Lego! Today's applicant:

BLDR



Soooooo apparently, after Mattel/Mega-Construx lost the license several years ago, BLDR picked it up? I guess? Anyway, I picked up Kuroppi's General Store as a present for my sister (who loves frogs and collects them actively), and having grabbed a couple of minifigure bags from Target ($2.99 each, so a good price - I know Target is being boycotted by people, but my wife and I have dietary restrictions and they're one of the only places nearby that sells the food my wife can tolerate without getting sick), I decided to grab Hello Kitty's Dream Cafe on an Amazon order (had to order the Kuroppi's store from there since it is sold out everywhere locally).

PPP: Solid A for this. This set has 354 pieces, and while I picked it up on sale, the MSRP is about $20, so roughly $0.05 per part. That's pretty good for a branded product line, and good in general!
CORRECTION: drops to a B+ - turns out the MSRP for this set is actually $29.99, which puts the cost at $0.08/part. Not the best, but for a branded IP set that's still pretty good. Doesn't change the overall grade though.

Playability: aaaaand this is where things get... iffy. I'm sure it was a design choice, but if you look at the two views above, those windows on the front of the building? You can't see them on the inside, and they open up onto blank white walls. However, the shutters and doors open, the walls swing open to let you access the inside easier, and it looks like a cafe. There's a counter with a cash register, chairs, etc. The minifigures are kind of simple. Cinnamoroll (little white thing with ears - I think its a rabbit?) is just a single-piece figure, Pompompurin's (yellow dog) arms move and his hat comes off, but otherwise he's a solid single-piece figure. Hello Kitty is more pose-able, her arms move, her head can turn, etc, but not much else. Still, the figures match the iconic look of the IP very closely, so there's that. You may notice another Pompompurin on the tabletop over the build - that one came out of the polybag for $2.99, and it is nice to see them giving the polybag figures different outfits and expressions. I'm choosing to rate this as a B, but honestly my complaints are minor nitpicking.

Coolness: B. Nice little build, not much innovation here, but some NPU for the kitty ears over the door.

Durability: C? Nothing has broken, so I cannot judge this, therefore it receives the default grade like the others. ABS might be a tad softer than Lego, I did notice one of the pieces had a very light scratch in it, but I may have done that when I cut the bags open with a hobby knife to get at the parts.

Clickability: A+ Everything went together smoothly, with no issues. Easy to assemble, no force-fitting, no loose joints. Feels like Lego.

Pros: Good price, easy to work with, some interesting parts.
Cons: Minifigures leave something to be desired. This company also makes Squishmallow sets, and I'm not sure how poseable those could be, either, but at least they have interesting choices for IP?

Overall Grade: A These are nice sets at a good price point. While they don't have as many options as bigger companies, they're using what feel and act like quality bricks that go together well, and they're got some interesting IP. In addition to Hello Kitty and Squishmallows, they make Anime figures that scale well to normal action figures, and a lot of generic theme polybags, INCLUDING castle themed ones. Each of those has a small build and an assortment of accessories!

 

[Killer Angel]