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In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, John Neal wrote:
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What’s the allure?
Can we all agree that LEGO is superior in quality? If so, why buy clones?
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LEGO is of superior quality only as it pertains to the actual plastic stock, and
this is becoming less true with each passing year. The main reason that I buy
clones is because of the set designs and the alternative part inventories.
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Is it simply a price issue? If LEGO were cheaper would you still buy clones?
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Price is generally an issue, and it’s what first inspired me to try Mega Bloks
back in the early nineties. If LEGO were exactly as it is today but at a lower
price, I still wouldn’t be interested in most of it. For one thing, with the
exception of Batman, all of the licenses leave me cold. Even the Star Wars
theme ran dry for me a few years back. The new city-themed stuff looks pretty
cool, though; if I were to check out anything, that’s what it would be.
Another thing that helped seal the deal was the debut of the ProBuilder line.
These offered sets with 300+ pieces for $9.99, when LEGO was putting out
200-piece sets for $19.99. I can’t recall specifics other than to contrast the
LEGO Snowspeeder against the Mega Bloks 9707 Combat Tank. For piece;price
ratio, there’s no comparison. Additionally, ProBuilder used only basic
elements (basic to Mega Bloks) and showcased really clever designs and great
colors. This was at a time when LEGO had stagnated somewhat, languishing in
very poorly chosen properties (software, Galidor, ZNAP). YMMV, of course, but
there was really no contest IMO.
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Is it that you have something against TLG the company?
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Not really. However, I have to admit that their choice to abandon their policy
of non-violence bothers me because it was solely driven by market forces. This
is the height of calculated and cynical hypocrisy and somewhat greedy besides.
I mean, they’re privately held company, so it’s not as though they have to
appease the shareholders, yet still they cast aside their non-violence when it
really began to hurt their margin. They could have made a principled stand and
continued to release non-violent toys, but then their market share might have
suffered, and we can’t have that, can we?
I know that Castle sets have been around for 30 years, but I think that it’s
generally agreed that the violence of those themes differs from the BFG’s that
we see in Exo-Force. If only they’d been candid in articulating the reasons for
their shift in policy, I would find it less smarmy.
This isn’t my main objection to the LEGO brand, but it’s still a factor.
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Is it something else I’ve missed?
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One thing that really hurt my interest in LEGO was its embrace of juniorization.
I know that I’m hardly unique in that regard, but as a cloneophile it might be
worth mentioning. Certainly Mega Bloks has its share of large, modular
building elements, but these for the most part have always represented
structures that couldn’t have been produced in “regular” bricks anyway, a la
“POOPs.” The LEGO 1x2x5 brick is a juniorized “cheat” in a way that a Mega
Bloks rock element is not (though honesty compels me to disclaim that there has
been some undesirable movement in this arena in the past year or two). Still,
the only Mega Bloks element I can think of off the top of my head that
qualifies as truly juniorized in this way is a recent 2x2x2 brick,
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Help this “purist” understand your strange ways.
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Well, I don’t know if that’s possible, since we all know that you’re crazy.
Fun question, though!
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Heads up, Cloneophiles
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| What's the allure? Can we all agree that LEGO is superior in quality? If so, why buy clones? Is it simply a price issue? If LEGO were cheaper would you still buy clones? Is it that you have something against TLG the company? Is it something else (...) (17 years ago, 26-Oct-07, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, FTX)
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