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I am in the position to pick up a full pirate ship with a lot of pieces for only
$20.
But, it is a Best Lock brand set, and I am very wary of incorporating an unknown
clone brand in with my Legos.
I know for a fact that BTR and Oxford are absolutely awesome in their
compatability with Lego and have never failed me through thousands of pieces.
However, Tyco and Megablocks are terrible in the fact that those pieces are
pretty much random in how they connect, both with themselves and with Lego. I
won't be burnt by Megablocks again.
That being said, I do not want to be burnt by another piss poor quality clone
brand that fails to connect together to itself or to other brands.
So, is Best Lock any good? Or, should I stay far away from that brand?
Looking for help from my fellow AFOLs, Avery
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In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Avery Christy wrote:
> I am in the position to pick up a full pirate ship with a lot of pieces for only
> $20.
>
> But, it is a Best Lock brand set, and I am very wary of incorporating an unknown
> clone brand in with my Legos.
>
> I know for a fact that BTR and Oxford are absolutely awesome in their
> compatability with Lego and have never failed me through thousands of pieces.
>
> However, Tyco and Megablocks are terrible in the fact that those pieces are
> pretty much random in how they connect, both with themselves and with Lego. I
> won't be burnt by Megablocks again.
I'm surprised that you classify Tyco as terrible, since many people regard it as
the best of the clone brands. In my view, Oxford, BTR, Qubo, Byggis, and Tyco
are all of excellent quality, on par with The Canonical Brand.
> That being said, I do not want to be burnt by another piss poor quality clone
> brand that fails to connect together to itself or to other brands.
>
> So, is Best Lock any good? Or, should I stay far away from that brand?
"Good" is a subjective issue, but here are the basic facts:
Best-Lock bricks are 5/6X the height of LEGO bricks, and Best-Lock studs are
1.5X the height of LEGO studs. In addition, Best-Lock bricks have no studs on
their undersides; they have a series of slots, for lack of a better term, to
lock into other bricks, and the clutch power is not nearly as good as LEGO.
Because of the height difference, it is tricky, though not impossible, to
incorporate Best-Lock into LEGO MOC's, and the stud-height difference prevents
LEGO plates from fitting atop Best-Lock elements.
The plastic of Best-Lock is more rigid than LEGO or MegaBloks, but the colors
are good and generally compatible with LEGO colors.
The best part about Best-Lock is the accessories, which fit nicely into LEGO
minifig hands.
> Looking for help from my fellow AFOLs, Avery
In a nutshell, if you don't like MegaBloks, you'll like Best-Lock even less.
However, if you have any MegaBloks that you'd like to get rid of, send them to
me, and I promise that you'll never need to worry about them again.
Dave!
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In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Avery Christy wrote:
> I am in the position to pick up a full pirate ship with a lot of pieces for only
> $20.
>
> But, it is a Best Lock brand set, and I am very wary of incorporating an unknown
> clone brand in with my Legos.
>
> I know for a fact that BTR and Oxford are absolutely awesome in their
> compatability with Lego and have never failed me through thousands of pieces.
>
> However, Tyco and Megablocks are terrible in the fact that those pieces are
> pretty much random in how they connect, both with themselves and with Lego. I
> won't be burnt by Megablocks again.
>
> That being said, I do not want to be burnt by another piss poor quality clone
> brand that fails to connect together to itself or to other brands.
>
> So, is Best Lock any good? Or, should I stay far away from that brand?
>
> Looking for help from my fellow AFOLs, Avery
I have the $20 Best-Lock pirate ship (the regular, not skeletal one) sitting on
a shelf.
The Short Review: Ain't as good as LEGO. The figs can be tossed. The cannon
mountings are excreble. The bowsprit is wobbley. The half-height bricks make it
incompatible with Lego (though I haven't tried to connect Best-Lock bricks with
LEGO bricks). Generally, it just isn't as sturdy as a LEGO ship. But....! It
actually is a substantial ship for $20. Pirate Game fans should like a cheap
addition to the fleet. If you want a display ship, get the Black Sea Barracuda
(though this doesn't look bad at all sitting on a shelf). If you want a cheap
gaming ship this is perfect. If you are somewhere in between, I think it can be
rescued from it's less sturdy design areas, though it may require some
retrofitting of LEGO parts (cannons!).
Bruce
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My comments are all gaming related so I XFUT lugnet.gaming
In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Bruce Schlickbernd wrote:
> The Short Review: Ain't as good as LEGO. The figs can be tossed. The cannon
> mountings are excreble. The bowsprit is wobbley. The half-height bricks make it
> incompatible with Lego (though I haven't tried to connect Best-Lock bricks with
> LEGO bricks). Generally, it just isn't as sturdy as a LEGO ship. But....! It
> actually is a substantial ship for $20. Pirate Game fans should like a cheap
> addition to the fleet.
A key part of ESPG is that all minifigs have to be attached to the ship (well
they technically don't have to but they fall off easily if they are not, and
that means they are "in the ocean" and thus lost to you as a player without
special effort). How well would standard LEGO figs attach to this ship if the
studs are different? The minifig foot is not like a plate, it theoretically
could take a taller stud, within limits. How well would a LEGO minifig hand
grasp stuff on the ship (does it use any Rod System sized rods or handles or
similar?)
> If you want a display ship, get the Black Sea Barracuda
> (though this doesn't look bad at all sitting on a shelf). If you want a cheap
> gaming ship this is perfect.
I have my doubts about that, see above, but could be convinced. However I think
there's another issue for me (and perhaps a few other fanatics out there like
me)... it's not LEGO.
I wouldn't allow it in a game I was GMing, and I probably wouldn't play in a
game where the GM was using it. (we had someone show up at GenCon with one, we
didn't let it onto the playing area but that was for perhaps different reasons)
But that's just me. It nevertheless is something to keep in mind I think.
> If you are somewhere in between, I think it can be
> rescued from it's less sturdy design areas, though it may require some
> retrofitting of LEGO parts (cannons!).
How many cannons would it take? Cannons are not cheap so that adds to the
expense as well.
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In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Avery Christy wrote:
> However, Tyco and Megablocks are terrible in the fact that those pieces are
> pretty much random in how they connect, both with themselves and with Lego. I
> won't be burnt by Megablocks again.
>
> That being said, I do not want to be burnt by another piss poor quality clone
> brand that fails to connect together to itself or to other brands.
>
> So, is Best Lock any good? Or, should I stay far away from that brand?
I'd agree with Dave! If you hate Tyco and MegaBloks, you'll hate Best-Lock even
more (And again, I also have to admit I've always been impressed with the
quality of the limited amount of Tyco Super-Blocks that I've been exposed to).
One thing seemingly only I've experienced with my 2 Best-Lock sets that I've got
is that my hands slowly turned greyish black when building the sets. I've
mentioned that a couple times online, but nobody else seems to have had the same
experience. 'Course that was their old castle line from back in 2000 or so, so
it could be either that their quality has since improved, or I got some old
moldy sets or something. But any way you slice it, I wasn't impressed, other
than by their set design (which is admittedly pretty cool).
DaveE
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In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, David Eaton wrote:
> One thing seemingly only I've experienced with my 2 Best-Lock sets that I've got
> is that my hands slowly turned greyish black when building the sets. I've
> mentioned that a couple times online, but nobody else seems to have had the same
> experience. 'Course that was their old castle line from back in 2000 or so, so
> it could be either that their quality has since improved, or I got some old
> moldy sets or something.
Now that you mention it, I seem to recall a weird residue or film on the bricks
in sets I bought in 1999, but I don't think it colored my hands in any
noticeable way. Maybe rather than mold, the substance was mold-release?
> But any way you slice it, I wasn't impressed, other
> than by their set design (which is admittedly pretty cool).
I've found that some aspects of Best-Lock sets can be directly adapted to LEGO,
but it's a laborious process, to be sure.
Dave!
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