I like that Mattel is not just sticking with the copycat formula and is introducing interesting custom parts. And if they can hold a price point under what Lego has while matching the quality and care put into a Lego brand set, I think they have a good shot at finding a place in the market. I probably won’t buy any myself, but… if they were to put out some Batmobiles… well, maybe I’d just have to get them to see how they really compare, right?

Also, not a fan of F1, but watching that video was cool. When brick pieces shattered off of one of the cars in a collision, it put a huge smile on my face — YES! A real Lego build, and real Lego destruction! Very fun to watch!

I’ve never heard of those clones until reading your article. I don’t recognise or remember the clones. Aside from the aforementioned Anko, I’ve not seen any other brands in retailers.

I don’t think these alternative brands are a threat to Lego… yet. They could rise and become a threat. As an established toy brand, Mattel could capture some of the market. As it is currently, Lego has almost become a generic term. Any type of building brick tends to be referred to as “Legos”. I think that shows how ingrained Lego itself is as the dominant player.

I agree that competition boosts innovation and competitiveness of value. Which I think has been lacking a little in the brand. I am a huge Lego fan and the only reason these other brands have caught my interest has been some of the interesting designs and parts and pricing.

My partner and I have a few Megabloks and Cobi kits between us, and both brands are substantially more physically painful to build and the instruction manuals could occasionally do with another pass, but the prioritisation of prints over stickers is a relief, even if the print quality generally isn’t any better than Lego (print quality could do with a boost across the board). I’d say I think I prefer Cobi by a smidge – I like the work they do with museums – but it’ll be interesting to see whether this relaunch of Mattel/Mega gains some ground.

Personally always preferred Nanoblock of the not-Lego building block kits since it brings something entirely different to the table with the smaller bricks and the heavy use of offsetting instead of just being Lego… but not.

I think it’s fantastic that other brick building companies are entering the market, however, I’m less a fan when those companies copy directly (more because I’m not a fan of taking ideas), I would prefer for them to come up with their own builds and then more power to them.

While the bricks are usually great (brittle brown era not withstanding), things like still including a huge sheet of stickers in a $500 set is something I find really “cheap”.

If Lego wants to command a premium price, they really should be providing a premium product like they used to.

I still have a Black Seas Barracuda I got for Christmas in 1989, and it’s in great condition.

Meanwhile, my Ninjago City looks terrible because after a few years the glue on the stickers fails and begins peeling off.

After that, I bought the genuine Lego first Star Wars Advent Calendar in 2011 and the first Back to the Future set, and slowly started to collect genuine Lego sets again.