Lepin: Green Grocers / Lego Chinese Knock-Off / Seafoam Green

Discussion in 'Lego and Other Building Bricks' started by purr1n, Oct 27, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Lepin: Green Grocers / Chinese Knock-Off Lego

    FWIW, I kind of don't approve of this stuff, but I don't want to dwell too much on it. The patents expired over twenty years ago, and it's only now that we see stuff like Mega Bloks. The Lego people have been doing a lot of cock-blocking to prevent other companies from selling compatible bricks. This is big business. I think Lego is bigger than Mattel now.

    Where I am most disturbed by Lepin is that they basically copied the design and manual for the Green Grocer kit. It would have more proper had they just provided the exact bricks needed without a manual, since the manual can be downloaded from the Lego site.

    I've wanted to build the Green Grocer, one of the first modular sets that came out, for some time now. This set has long been unavailable - used sets are listing for near $1000 on eBay. I tried bricklinking the set (buying individual pieces), but found out that certain pieces, such as the colored Seafoam Green bricks, were super rare as they only came with this kit. Just these Seafoam Green colored bricks would have cost two to four times more than this kit.

    I really wish Lego would move to the modern age and offer a viable way for people to buy any part they needed directly from them over the Internet as an alternative to the usual bricklinking sites. Lego does offer a way to buy bricks, but the selection is extremely limited and the costs per piece prohibitively high.

    BTW, this Lepin set, purchased from Aliexpress.com cost me around $50. The huge downside to doing this is that you get a box with a bunch of parts. The parts are not organized in a series of numbered bags like the real Lego kit, so we need to spend a ton of time sorting all of the pieces. A lot of time.

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  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    BTW, I should mention that there were a few missing pieces. None of these pieces were major structural items. A 2x1 tile, a few small 2x1 and 4x1 plates, 2x1 brick, etc. Lepin kits go a little bit smoother for folks who have built quite a few sets and have a stash of extra parts.

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    You can see a substitute light blue tile on the floor in the above photo. The kit was missing one of the medium blue 1x2 tiles.

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  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    This is the second floor. BTW, the Lepin pieces are fully compatible with the real Lego pieces. They are actually fairly high quality and 93% there. Where they differ is that they have a softer, gooier, less snap like feel when putting them together. It's not a huge difference in feel from the real Lego bricks, and I am probably overemphasizing things, but I did notice this.

    Being one of the earlier Modular kits, the second floor is a bit sparse. The later sets like the Parisian restaurant (one of my favorite sets) usually have more furniture, a bed, a lamp, etc. I'm just pretending here that the Lego people cleared everything out for a dance party upstairs.
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  4. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Regarding alternatives to Lego, we have the Mega Blocs Dread Eye's Phantom:

    https://www.amazon.com/Mega-Bloks-Pyrates-95524-Phantom/dp/B004SUXK1O

    It was pretty affordable when we got it for my son. However, for some reason the Mega Bloc toys seem to have issues snapping in place. I had to use some glue here and there. The figures are also a bit more fragile. I do prefer the look of the Mega Bloc toys, and indeed is good to see alternative companies to Lego.

    That Lepin looks awesome!
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Here is the third floor and the roof. You guys notice the Seafoam Green bricks by now? Only in this set.

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  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I had no problems with the Lepin pieces snapping into the place with the exception of about 1 out of 8 of the hinge plates, which snapped in loosely: [​IMG]
    I am actually very impressed with Lepin quality. The other thing I noticed is that the Lepin pieces seem to have a little bit more gap in between them. We are talking micrometers though.
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Here is some detail of the the front roof.
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    This is where there is a minor fail. The skeleton leg pieces that form the vertical railing on the roof are a bit too tall, preventing the horizontal pole of the railing from fitting into an intentionally designed gap.
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  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Goes into the Lego city. The other kits are the authentic Lego.
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    I need to get the Camaro and Mustang cars.

    Can you find Captain America?
     
  10. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    Crap! That's awesome! :bow:
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Quick, someone steal @MuppetFace 's BHSE and replace the chassis with seafoam green Lepin blocks...
     

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