Last week was New York Comic Con and The Brick Show was there with West End Toys, a company that sells legitimate LEGO products. However there are other “companies” there that also sell what appears to be LEGO but in reality, they’re just cheap knock-offs from China.
Stephen went around to a few booths showing what products they’re selling and found there were about “20-30” booths selling all kinds of counterfeit LEGO from bricks to minifigures. As LEGO fans, we know which minifigures are legit and which are not but parents and kids who aren’t enthusiasts can’t really tell the difference because they look so similar and are priced way cheaper. As one person at these booths states about selling fake LEGO,
That statements bugs me because they’re all about the money. Notice they don’t even use the correct terminology when describing where the minifigures are standing on as they only call it “the thing.” Not a stand or on studs but “the thing.”
Note that this was at New York Comic Con, one of the largest fan conventions in the US. This is my first time hearing about booths selling fake LEGO products at these conventions as I don’t see them at San Diego Comic Con but then again, they are different organizers so they probably don’t care what is sold there.
As LEGO keeps growing bigger and bigger, the more likely companies in China will continue to churn out these counterfeits. It wasn’t that too long ago that Huw over on Brickset did a review on some. There’s really no way to stop them as trademark and copyright laws don’t work over there. At least there will be a new factory being built in China to try to combat this.
Also keep in mind the difference between legit custom minifigures and knockoffs. Real custom minifigures use real LEGO products with modifications to them whether in printing, accessories, etc. Knockoffs use cheap plastic and paint and the quality is subpar and could be potentially dangerous for younger children to play with.
Even at Toys R Us, you can’t really be too careful as they’re also selling some fake LEGO Racers stuff on the endcaps. If you’re going to these conventions or just shopping in general and find what appears to be LEGO, just use some due diligence and make sure that you’re getting the real thing. If you’re worried or not sure, just send me a quick message.
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This happens at Baltimore Comic Con every year too. Sometimes they are mixed in with legit LEGO minifigures which can cause even more confusion.
There were about 4 or 5 booths of these at Dragon Con this year as well. They sold legitimate Lego figures alongside the knock offs, but the latter were clearly labeled as “custom” at each booth and were ~1/3 of the price of the real figures.
Can you consider that Galactus Minifig as a Knock Off LEGO doesn’t have one? I buy Lego and Buy Knock Off’s. consider some of them don’t exist and Lego so my question stands are those not available in lego to be considered KO?? I guess all depends on the buyer. guess it’s like buying bread all made of flour just different quality of make and at the End of the day it’s up to the consumer/buyer which they want to buy Right?.
It’s still uses lego designs and molds, so it is a knockoff.
Fun fact = not the same molds.
Design, well yes – intellectual property of Disney now. Perhaps game developer if it’s pulling game artwork.
The guy recording this video is a jerk “thats what you have to tell yourself to justify it”. Listen I would not touch fake Lego products with a 10 foot pole, hell I even consider mega blok and kreo knock off but come on man don’t be such a jerk about it. Do you work for Lego? No. The only thing you can do is contact lego and show them this and maybe they can shut them down or something. I really like how the video went silent because the guy probably made him look like the entitled afol that he is. Listen, no matter what you do, there will always be bootleg products you either buy it or don’t. Unfortunately you can’t combat it because you are not Lego. Don’t be that guy that tells people “oh thats fake don’t buy it blah blah blah” people will do what they want, just get over yourself.
The problem is typical such knockoffs are illegal and should be reported to LEGO (especially if LEGO has a presence at the convention these are sold at). I think a few lawsuits thrown at these stores selling counterfeit LEGO (these are not ‘customs’ when another company is making these off of not only the LEGO minifigure design BUT also likely violating Disney/Marvel copyrights)would stop this garbage. Never mind the obvious licensing violations as I doubt Disney is allowing these knockoffs to be made. It is one thing to sell them in China where the copyright laws are hilariously ignored, but when they show up in the US these should be immediately reported to LEGO CS and/or their legal dept and perhaps Disney who may be far more keen to stop such ‘action figures’ from taking away from their license.
Then don’t buy them. Other people who share the exact same view as you will do the same, I admire you for being a purist, but there are a lot of shades of grey that people choose to live in. There are purist out there that also believe that official LEGO parts should not be altered, yet there are many people out there that choose to alter or customize LEGO to fit their needs. Is it our place to go after them as well. What about resellers that are selling current available sets (like SW: TFA & Scooby-Doo) at a 10-20% mark-up? I think that is wrong and it is my choice to not buy from those sellers, but it is not my place to tell someone else that they can’t buy them. If someone ask me my opinion on whether it is a good choice, then I will let them know what I think. It is wonderful as adults that we get to make our own decesions, right or wrong, rather than someone telling us what we can do. I prefer to buy official LEGO products (heaven knows I have spent A LOT of money with them), but I can’t swear I will never buy another brand…legit or counterfeit.
Illegal vs legal.. Which is right? Purist has nothing to do with it. you are buying an unauthorized counterfeit product that could be also potentially dangerous, if not also being of inferior quality. At least customizers typically use a LEGO figure, but if you notice eBay boots anyone from selling a custom figure as ‘LEGO’, same if they are in the US trying to sell knockoffs like these (but apparently cannot stop the Chinese from selling them, which is why they are on eBay still). But sure LEGO or Disney could go after the guy making a custom figure and selling it. Now, if you like pirating cds and movies and like buying another companies mass produced counterfeit LEGO figures, then you are right I cannot stop you, but don’t act like it is a good thing, it is not. As for those trying to make a buck off of a LEGITIMATE LEGO produced set? Apples and oranges (but apparently still an excuse to try to justify buying illegal copies of a product). While you may or may not have an issue with that, at least it is a LEGAL copy of the set made by LEGO, not some fly by night Chinese company which is abusing the LEGO minifigure patent in the least.
I mean, I love Lego as much as the next guy, but this isn’t your battle, it’s theirs. They’re a billion dollar company, I think they can fight their own fights.
I don’t think I’m fighting for LEGO to take down these companies. I’m simply informing readers who may not know what is going on at conventions. Some may appreciate this, some simply won’t care. I’m just getting the word out there.
Meant the conversation more for the guy in the video running around trying to shut down the vendors.
I keep hearing a bunch of:
AV Club Guise) “I sell hard to find coconuts (Well, harder-to-find after I buy so many to to store).”
AFOC) “Hey you know there’s other coconut vendors and even other coconuts for sale here…”
AV Club Guise) “WHAT? … OMG we need to stop every reseller and put up a wall to keep other coconut species from infiltrating our space. Kids will die (based on no data). You’re not really a AFOC anyway. Its really about ethics in toy journalism, you know.”
How can you say its not our battle? We appreciate Lego. Maybe you appreciate crab legs. Do you feel like you got ripped off when you get imitation crab thinking its real? Do you think people should know about it when that happens to you? Same deal for people who appreciate Lego.
I can’t speak for NYCC, but online I’d say 90% of the people selling are totally upfront when selling “Lego compatible”. The real problem is going to start when people start selling their collections, and don’t honestly know what percentage figures they have are real.
There were six or 7 booths at Salt Lake Comic Con selling “customs” as well. I don’t mind them selling custom figures like a Red Hulk or the Fantastic 4 since LEGO doesn’t produce these figures and they are truely custom. The problem lies with these people producing “custom” Loki minifigures or Batman minifigures since LEGO does have the license for those and they are selling the “custom” right beside the actual products.
What counterfeit LEGO City sets are they selling at Toys-r-Us?
I rephrased it. It’s more of a Racers type set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Tyn5TE19M
Whether it is Batman or a Red hulk, they are taking from intellectual property of LEGO and Marvel/Disney, it does not matter if they are ‘not making one’ as a LEGO figure right now. Anyone buying these are perpetuating this idea these should be made and sold and they are wrong. Period. Now, Should one person take on all of these vendors? No, they should be documenting the sale of these and reporting them to the administrators of the convention and LEGO’s CS/Legal dept, as well as likely Disney’s CS/Legal dept. Given that at least Disney holds their licenses very dear I would imagine many of these vendors would get cease and desist orders. Again people have to get this kind of evidence and report it to the companies. The companies may or may not have people at every convention, it is up to people who love the brand to report these fakes and rip offs.
How pure is your revolution, dude?
If LEGO wants my Doctor Strange LEGO money, then they have to make Doctor Strange LEGO. Until then, the money I spend on that is going to the company that is putting out tangible product instead of hypothetical vaporware.
I also won’t support Mini’s released in a way designed to inflate absurd secondary markets and just give $119 worth of profit to some nobody who had four people stand in line for him at SDCC because that’s his business. The cash isn’t going to LEGO, and they’re creating that environment. They should stop. If they want my SDCC Exclusive Character dollars, they should try just selling the product to me instead of making it unavailable.
If I can walk into a store and buy something LEGO – I go out of my way to do it. If not, nobody can cry that I purchase it from the people who make it, and then go to bricklink to upgrade the arms, hair and other bits.
Even that is starting to slip, since the shift to China, Mexico, and other factories for production and LEGO’s slightly relaxed QC.
No actual LEGO molds are being used by other manufacturers – these are clearly new molds (not modded with adjustments, but new cut molds of new designs). They are concept bootleg only in that they follow the form of LEGO minifigures, which having been established in 1978 have fallen largely to public domain at this point with LEGO losing some high profile legal cases in several countries. An argument here is legally identical to saying that because Apple provides phone chargers, no third party company should be allowed to ever sell phone chargers, especially if they are not base white (because Lego doesn’t actually make a Galactus, get it?)
The real injured party here is Disney, being the legal owner of the intellectual property in question. Feeling a bit for LEGO’s previous missteps (lunchboxes, bikes, Galador, lack of female minifigures and this stupid Friends line because obviously the LEGO company thinks Wimmin’s little brains can’t understand the basic euclidean geometry of standard minifigures) and how that left the company on shaky financial footing, I’m glad they’re doing better if still making a few missteps.
Disney will be OK. I promise. They’ll start doing even better in about 2 months.
So I find a lot of this protest terribly precious snowflake, particularly when it comes being shouted from scalpers that are in truth only protesting what they believe to be their own lessening of profits from a scarcity of supply that they manufacture.
It strikes me as the kind of argument point driven home by people loudly screaming that reality must be BLACK AND WHITE because people, and actually reality, is not catering to them. It’s a big beautiful, multi-colored world out there… and if someone is making a good product I might buy it. If someone has sad pandas that they aren’t getting $300 for their SDCC exclusive mini because you can pick up printed chests and heads from reprinters or third party manufacturers – well I don’t really care about them.
At all.
Even a little.
Look you CANNOT, AT.. ALL… justify illegally made figures, cause guess what? LEGO may not be making them but Disney has the rights (to Marvel at least) and DC has its rights, fairly certain that their designs are not authorized to be used on cheaply made LEGO knockoffs.. PERIOD otherwise companies in the US would be doing this. Why do they not? Because LEGO Marvel and Disney would sue them into submission, why do oyu think all of these knockoffs are made in China, or at least outside the US?!. Unless you also think that everything should be pirated and free. If you do, good for you, but in this non-communist country there is free market. I do not agree with large prices for SDCC characters either, but I just do not buy them period. If LEGO is not making these figures, then go yell at LEGO instead of trying to justify criminal activity.
“That statements bugs me because they’re all about the money. Notice they don’t even use the correct terminology when describing where the minifigures are standing on as they only call it “the thing.” Not a stand or on studs but “the thing.””
Bahahaha, like anyone cares.
i completely agree with you, it’s ripping of Lego while giving out crappy versions of their products, this can also lead to more fake ones being sold online which are labeled real.
this isn’t even taking in to account the money their stealing for genuine retailers who rely on fans to buy the sets of them.
i think people/buyer know it’s bootleg (look from price)but they/people bought its because
1. its cheap.
2. many minifig,bigfig probably lego never do or release
Whatever their excuse, People buying these are no better than those ripping off the license to make illegal copies of the figures. Period. There are not ‘customs’ either (and even if they were, technically Disney/LEGO could still go after those making customs to sell for profit without giving Disney/LEGO their cut).
i didn’t say buy bootleg is good but many people buy it because they don’t have the money to buy real lego..
real lego in my country very expensive even small set.
Those imitation is very ugly. I don’t know how one cannot distinguish them from original. They quality is nowhere near original. I read on some blog like mybrickstore.blogspot.com and some YouTube channel, the fake is soooo distinguishable. No need to waste our time over their existence. It’s totally not worth it.
depend on brand.
Decool and SY are most quality.
I was there at NYCC, and I counted maybe 6 or 7 booths, not 20-30. That is a major exaggeration. Also, all of the vendors were really nice people.
Those two things aside, I do think it’s a good point that they should not try to “fool” parents into buying knockoffs by calling them legit. However, I saw no evidence of this; when I mentioned to one vendor the fact that a lot of his product was knockoff Lego, he did not deny it for even a second. I consciously picked up a knockoff Fantastic Four, and then purchased some other official Lego merch from a few of these vendors, and I even got offered a deal on the knockoff FF.
Overall it was a really positive experience. No, their vocabulary is not as articulate as most of us AFOLs, but they certainly don’t mean any harm. I agree with most on these posts; this is something for Lego to look into themselves.
Pretty certain that it does not matter. If vendors know they are deliberate illegal copies from China then they should not be selling them. It does not matter if they have figures that are not currently made either. The license for Marvel is held by Disney, not where they companies are that are making these.
They also had signs at many of these booths saying they were not official Lego (not shown in the video, conveniently). My point is these vendors are not the problem, the problem is Lego not properly enforcing infringements. Get mad at Lego for this happening, not the peopel trying to make a few bucks to feed themselves, jeez….
Ok, but in a comment above you chastise a vendor for selling a no longer made set for at an ‘astronomical’ price. So which is it? Either someone is trying to feed their family or they are all ‘corrupt’? Except one vendor is selling a legitimate set, whereas these people are selling knockoff/illegal copies.
….you’re reading too much into things, friend.. Relax a bit. I said the guy in the video is basically calling these vendors corrupt. That is why I put “corrupt” in quotes, because I do not agree with that term. You follow?
Really?
Please do not refer to yourself as an AFOL as you clearly are not
And how would you know?
Is there a criteria?
If you are buying knock offs and promoting it as this individual is then not one AFOL would consider you an AFOL. The name in and of itself usually means you are biased to LEGO. That has been our experience anyway from going to ten plus LEGO only shows a year and spending many hours with the best builders in the world who display mocs. Nycc is one of the only shows we even attend(NOT SELL) where theres other things besides LEGO
I urge you to consider rebranding yourselves as the more fitting, “The Brick Snobs”.
I’d also like to point out that while I was at NYCC, the most unreasonably priced booth selling Lego product was the Brick Show’s, who created this video. They were asking astronomical prices for sets just a couple of years old. To be honest, I feel that’s just as “corrupt” as he is accusing these vendors of being, if not more. So clearly this guy is upset that he wasn’t selling as much due to the cheaper options out there on the show floor.
How is the vendor ‘corrupt’ exactly? They are selling a hard to find set for a large price. It is the law of supply and demand and has been around for AGES. Do not like it, do not buy. However, he did not make an illegal copy of the set to sell for that price. These other vendors are apparently knowingly selling knock offs, and one would argue illegal, copies of legitimate licensed figures or characters. The motive of this one vendor aside, it does not make what these other vendors are doing legit. Now, if LEGO legal or Disney Legal says ‘no problem’ then I’ll stop being so concerned about it, but I doubt LEGO and Disney are happy about these illegal copies. In China they cannot do much, but it US they sure can.
I didn’t say that it validated anything, I am simply saying that this guy could have had an ulterior motive. And no, I did not like, so I did not buy. Neither did anyone else, which probably got this guy a little POed. There is not “demand” happening here for a random Serpentine Ninjago set that was originally 20 bucks that this guy marked up to $60. Sorry, but agree to disagree there that “supply meets demand”. He is ripping people off, plain and simple. I can get it for much cheaper on ebay, which is saying something.
Do you also think it’s okay for people to go to SDCC, get all the exclusives, and sell them on ebay for a thousand dollars a piece? “Supply and demand”, right? If so, you’re in the minority there, bud.
Nope, I think it is a travesty that LEGO give away a set amount of figures that most turn around and pawn off on eBay. But those are legal products. Those folks on eBay selling official LEGO SDCC figures for dear prices? Who is the bad guy? The seller for asking 500 USD or the guy paying it?! Guess what, if they had no demand the price drops, but as long as people want to be foolish with their money then they can be, but it is FAR different with illegal copies. It is apples and oranges friend.
LOL foolish? Okay, that is what you believe. However, I purchased an FF for 20 bucks, and I think they look great sitting next to my other Marvel figs. My wife agrees. So I don’t think I’m foolish at all; I think it was a great deal.
“You don’t like it, don’t buy it”, right? Why does it bother you so much? The way I see it, these guys need money more than Lego does, but from the way you rabidly defend them, you’d think the company was hurting! Don’t worry about it, let the little guy get some of the action for once.
“Who is the bad guy? The seller for asking 500 USD or the guy paying it?!” But…weren’t you just saying the vendors selling knockoffs are wrong? My answer to that is: both of them are wrong, the seller and the buyer. NO one should feel they have to pay that much for a 2 inch tall toy. Selling knockoffs (which isn’t illegal btw, look into it..) for just a few bucks each? Who is the victim there, friend? Lego?! HAHA I think they’ll be okay!
Do you like Chinese toothpaste too? Again if the one products is illegally made without authorization of the parent company I have a huge issue with it. You also have no idea about any toxicity in these knockoffs. From what I have heard the paint wears off of them after only handling them a handful of times (and I guess the Chinese NEVER used lead paint in anything else), Again Legal vs illegal is the issue I have. By the way, using the icons and designs off of superheroes without authorization is infringement of either copyright, trademark or patent last I checked, at least in the US it is. Again 500 USD for a LEGITIMATE minifigure vs whatever for a ILLEGAL copy. If the ‘little’ guy had a proper authorization to make these and sell them I would have no issue with them, but they do not.And I am fairly certain it is illegal if they are almost Identical and could confuse a consumer as to which is which.
First of all we did not have a booth there. Just a table to give out FREE posters and stickers. But the booth we were at had sets there that were marked the same or just above amazon prices. And vendor booths are not free so you do have to make a profit, but it would be nice if we all could buy stuff at the manufacturing price!! Next time you should know your facts before making accusations
oh well, unless YOU yourself are Lego or Lego legal, I don’t see why you are so concerned about it. It’s THEIR product and THEIR license. Let THEM handle it. You don’t have to be the all good moral police about it. Some kids want to play and they cannot afford the ridiculously expensive sets. I say screw Lego, they have too much money anyways they’re too busy counting their wealth instead of running after copyright infringements.
The Brick Show was at Brickfair VA this year selling Scooby Doo sets(which streeted THAT WEEK) for a 50% markup. They actively encourage scalping in their videos, and have posted videos of themselves scouring local stores when going to conventions to hoard desirable sets so that regular fans will not be able to buy them at retail.
Their own lack of ethics and disregard of fair conduct makes their stand on this chinese bootlegger subject extremely suspect to me.
Well said! I don’t like that they hike up their prices so much knowing that they get FREE LEGO sets sent to them. It’s also a shame that people would sell FAKE LEGO to fans. They all should be ashamed!
I have mixed feelings about this. As long as the buyer knows they are buying a imitation (knock off) and they are paying a price fitting of that then I’m willing to go with it. I bought one of SY’s Groot Minifigures online no too far back for around $8 because I wanted one that could actually fit with the other TGOTG figs. The quality was pretty decent, had the Woody style long arms and legs, and the printing on it just used a scaled down version of the larger build Groot’s stickers. Yes, I would prefer to have an official LEGO made one, but they have chose not to make one (yet they have done a Hulk Minifigures). I have a problem when these imitations are being passed off as real LEGO and sometimes even priced as the official version (compared to Bricklink). Not everyone is fortunate enough or willing to shell out the money for a SDCC 2014 TGOTG “The Collector” minifig, so the imitation is a reasonable alternative.
I have seen some of these booth at the conventions, and some do clearly state whether they are real LEGO or simply imitations…others have not been as honest and take advantage of the average buyer who is not aware. On the other hand, most of these average buyers probably don’t care. I do feel bad that they are most likely being taken advantage of and could easily buy the exact same figure online at a fraction of the price, but it is not my place to be the LEGO police with strangers. Most of the serious collectors know which Minifigures are made officially by LEGO and know to check for the LEGO logo or part number on all/most of the pieces.
As stated, copyrights and trademarks are a tricky matter in China and even mega corporations like Disney have a hard time going after counterfeiters there…especially since most of these companies actually have their products manufactured there. But part of the problem rest on LEGO and the fans as well. LEGO chooses to make some minifigures less than others; this drives the demand. Resellers choose to take advantage of this demand and sell highly sought figures at a higher price. Conterfitters are just taking advantage of this demand as well. Sometimes LEGO intentionally (or unintentionally counters this by releasing more sets with the highly wanted minifigure. A good example would be Loki; the average price on Bricklink for the God of Mischief is $15. Next year there will be a LEGO Juniors Ironman set that has a Loki. It will most likely drive down the market value of the ones from the first Avenger sets because there will be a cheaper alternative to purchase him.
In the end we each have to decide what aspect of the LEGO market we want to participate in and try not to feel it is our position to tell others how to participate.
I agree
Fake Lego is big problem.
Is it lego product?
He use lego product set number at subject.
He use dimensions lego at preview of fake lego.
Lego company have to check video of this channel.
And Lego company have to notice copyright.
I think this big problem too.
What do you think about below videos, ?
Youtube Chnnel link
https://www.youtube.com/user/danbisw
Please check below link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjRrhekyZo
https://youtu.be/HpXvwpEnJaA
https://youtu.be/T51hvz3UihE
a little problems about the fake bootleg Lego products because the Lego dinosaurs have lead paint on it and gave people a cancer and gave people with child a Autism and dispersed the why lead paint is so dangerous.
Please reply with evidence and proof of this occuring
Yeah exactly guest
Just give me an article about this incident
I know that George Loila.
it’s legal to bootleg Lego with lead paint on its at the American
people makeing bootleg Lego they don’t know legal and unsafe
U get what u pay for, the quality of these probably sucks.
This is all a bit much coming from The Brick Show, judging from the comments people are saying the same things I was going to say about them.
These guys don’t care, they are in it for the money, get rid of the fake Lego, and The Brick Show will be the only stall there.
The fact that they buy multiple sets to sell later to make a profit shows they only care about money. I’d much rather buy fake Lego than support The Brick Show, they are no different to ticket scalpers.
Kids, tell your parents, don’t buy fake Lego and don’t buy from The Brick Show.
Agreed
Btw Is this the real leo? Love the videos been a subscriber for years
Again leokimvideo…we did NOT have a booth there. Stephen was there to cover the Nexo Knights reveal and help out some friends at their booth. Yes, they sold lego at market price and other toys.
It is funny, I see all your YouTube videos are monetized.
Apologies to Leo, I had a brain fart when typing out my name, I was telling myself in my head to look up his videos on youtube…apologies again, if someone could please delete my original comment…or change the name…I signed in as a guest.
Finally, in my comment I didn’t mean monotized youtube videos.
The only time I buy knockoffs is when I can’t find a LEGO piece or a figure or a set for a reasonable price. This is where my beef with the re-sellers comes in. Buying product at full retail and then flipping them for increased prices just so you can make back your nut seems like a really dumb business model. I guess you can hook the rubes, but they must get soaked a lot. Anybody moving any Lone Ranger sets out there?
And do we know these knockoffs have lead paint, or are we all just being xenophobic? Seriously, have any of them been tested?
I agree with this.
If I can get LEGO product, I buy LEGO product. If LEGO doesn’t make it, I have no problem buying third party (Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, Etc) but then I also “upgrade” part quality to LEGO by buying identical LEGO stock body parts and changing out anything I can from third party pieces to higher quality manufactured LEGO.
Where I have beef with LEGO is this entire ridiculousness with SDCC exclusivity. It’s a toy line, for kids, with AFOL collectors. They make a lot of bones about not caring about mainstream AFOL concerns, because kids first, and if that were more commonly true I would love that. Reality is different. The fact that you can only pick up classic blue and gray “Batman” in a Juniors set with much higher price per brick cost, but you can only get 30 versions of Ice Suit Outer Space Aqualung Batman in sets is cynical. That brightly colored, kid friendly versions of many characters are only available through an increasingly absurd limited quantity SDCC gimmick is cynical. I understand they may be skittish to do Star Wars Minifigure Collector blind bags like they did Simpsons recently due to the Hasbro suit from years back, but honestly there is no reason not to have B-String Marvel characters kids would enjoy in a wave… Except for the fact that they release based on what they perceive will be a sales-driving desire, putting a mix of sought after minis (Velma) in more expensive sets. That is what it is, but the exclusive game is purely speculative adult and scalper focused, building their brand and driving sales not one bit.
A lot of people will be paying whoever is actually just making the product they want to buy. To me that’s not a hard concept to grasp. I would have bought a Phoenix if it were available, but being a SDCC exclusive permanently soured it for me, and I was much happier buying a third party one.
This is not accurate. Every vendor has to mark up prices slightly as it costs thousands of dollars to be a vendor along with travel expenses. This show we did not even vend at
“Mark up prices slightly”? You are currently selling the Lego DeLorean for nearly 3 times its retail cost on Amazon! I realize supply and demand plays a role in your pricing, but is it so hard to see that you are indirectly promoting the cheaper brick alternatives with these business practices?!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQC2FPM?m=AQRQ1DSRWHEYW&ref_=v_sp_widget_detail_page
Don’t like it do not buy it. Period. LEGO discontinued it, it happens, but yet I do not see this vitriol toward LEGO toward removing the set from production. Instead it is aimed at folks who had enough forethought to hold some sets after they get discontinued (and guess what? They paid for these sets like everyone else). So how much of this ‘outrage’ is really sour grapes that they did not have enough forethought or money to do this themselves?
I’m not buying it. What you have failed to understand in my comment is that the overpriced resale and limited availability of Lego has driven consumers to consider turning to the knock-offs. I am not arguing the morality of the issue. But rather that it is not hard to understand how and why this market has flourished from a consumer standpoint.
Name a set that was impossible to get that wasnt easy to buy at retail price before it retired. BTTF set is $100 now but you could buy it for months at $27.99 on amazon.
I bet if you own a home you will hope to sell it for more one day. I am sure you don’t use your same logic with real estate.
Your issue is with lego, not us.
Real estate? Sure the same logic applies. I, and many other consumers, would much rather buy close to production cost. And if I were selling, I may adopt your model of trying to shutdown the competition to force buyers into paying my exorbitant price, or snag a sucker, which ever comes first.
You are doing what is in your best financial interest and I can understand that. Veiling your motivations behind a self-righteous, pro-Lego “exposé” is what annoys. Especially when you said Lego was unwilling to do anything about it.
My point in the earlier comment is that the extreme mark-ups from re-sellers have created a huge void that Chinese manufacturers are obviously willing to fill.
So you would sell your home at market price. Thats all I need to read. That is all we are doing. 162 offers on Amazon for the BTTF set and we are one of the lower prices.
The point of the video was to draw awareness more than anything. The difference between this and real estate is there is no pirating of licenses.
Sure if I was selling Lego I’d be all up in arms with you, but I’m a buyer.
I am missing the confusion. The “market price” you are referring to is amongst Lego re-sellers. You are part of that group. That is okay. But that high “market price” is what has opened the door to a cheaper alternative. People like cheaper alternatives.
The video was used for scare tactics and to call out the guy who wanted to buy the knock-offs (and then further harass him in the above article). Unprofessional.
The point was to show how he thinks it is ok to pirate a license. You obviosly do too. It is sounding more like you and Dropeye Dave are the ones producing the knockoffs or are the resellers of it. He already said he works in plastics. The consistency and language of the replies leads me to believe you may be the same person and are trolling. Peace.
If you ever buy an old house from the 50’s good luck buying it at its original price. Read the definition of a sale. A mutually beneficial transaction agreed upon by both parties.
Anyone reading these comments would see that it is you who are name calling and making ridiculous accusations. I have attempted to give you the perspective of the consumer to explain why the knock-off industry is thriving. I have also expressed my distaste for your methods of “informing” folks.
Go ahead and get the last word in, I sense you must.
Yes because the way you all are acting is quite mature? I’m a freaking kid and and let me tell you I don’t treat people like this. Being passive aggressive like “Go ahead and get the last word in, I sense you must.” or “you need help………” And Brick Fan, stop replying to individual comments and just make one big official statement to the feedback. I’m going to be passive aggressive and say this. Maybe you’re all childish because you guys still play with toys.
Wow, now I Dropeye Dave, you need help………
Actually I’m thinking the same logic applies to Tulip Bulbs as well for any students of history out here.
Real talk:
I think one might legitimately make the argument that the expansion of low cost alternatives that don’t match the LEGO QC both fuels consumer desire for high quality controlled product (aka Builds overall LEGO brand appreciation) and generates LEGO sales potential by keeping interest high in the core product (bricks, building, universe creation) while removing the cost to LEGO of producing (IE paying royalties out and generating mold costs) second-string characters which are a riskier profit conversion for the LEGO company.
So… people can get their Ambush Bug printed on old recycled lego parts, and go out to buy more lego sets to house his adventures.
The Brick Show is what it is. I can certainly appreciate that some people enjoy their program and some people don’t (I’ve got mixed feelings myself) but you certainly can’t fault those guys for finding a way to make their hobby their job.
I watched the video and can understand the feelings behind it, BUT I am a little confused… I was looking at The Brick Show’s YouTube channel and had a question about third party fake Lego. What is the difference between them and custom pad printed minifigs? Your channel, which you say is only purist Lego, is advertising pad printed customs. How does anyone know if these are safe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inmshKbJnn0 Is this not also a form of copyright infringement? I know the figure is named Killstrike, but your video is titled and refers to him as Deathstroke. If one uses official lego parts to create an official marvel character, are they violating copyrights? Or is this only a problem if they are trying to sell?
Sounds like they’re violating copy rights by the looks of it.
After researching a little more, looks like the fig is made in France. And the seller has named the figure Killstroke so I could assume they are not violating the “Deathstroke” copyright. I guess it is just hard to know where to draw the line…
If they do not sell them in the US, or they import them, then I think it is up to that country’s courts to stop it. If you notice anyone trying to sell these illegal copies in the US on eBay have their listings frequently removed.
I don’t think that is true… All you have to do is search for lego custom minifig and you can find knock offs in and out of the US.
I have suspicions that the knock off minifigure booths hurt The Brick Shows sales at the NYCC. They are after all scalpers with their marked up prices.
I too would buy the knockoff deadpool for $5 bucks or preferably $1.00 on EBAY, it’s only plastic after all.
Prime ABS current cost $.90/lb. and $1.80 to make a pound of plastic bricks.
They both use the same ABS plastic and inks for pad printing.
The humorous part of this article is hearing a scalper cry wolf.
Is it really fair to identify the guys from The Brick Show (or any third-party resellers) as “scalpers”?
If you want retired or hard to find sets, of course you are going to pay more than the original retail price.
I moved to Australia three years ago and access to LEGO here is rotten when compared to the U.S. (not a single LEGO Store on the entire continent). Once you come to terms with the fact that circumstances and conditions are always going to drive up the market price of certain sets, pieces and minifigures, this “scalping” is actually a service I am happy exists.
Yes its fair. You can interpret it one way or another, but they make money stockpiling sets to resell at high prices. You could call that enterprising, I call it scalping.
Yeah, I mean why are they even SELLING the figures or sets, why not just give them away for Free? In fact, why does anything cost money, why isn’t EVERYTHING free, That evil LEGO corp is SELLING their items? WOW, they must be scalpers too! I think people miss the idea of supply and demand and free market here.You also CANNOT compare selling legitimate LEGO figures for what demand dictates to legitimize someone selling obvious unauthorized knockoffs. Period. End of story. Those calling sellers ‘scalpers’ tells me they are either very young, and or very naive to the world. People knowingly selling these unauthorized copies should be stopped as it can hurt their sales and are also poor quality as well.
Your obviously all about the free market, supply and demand when it goes the way you want it to. Well the free market has spoken…
*Drops mic*
LEGO records all time profits and knockoffs want a piece of that pie, by whatever means.
I’m very familiar with China manufactured products. I’ve also been in the plastics industry for over three decades.
Your fear is, loosing the value of you investment stock pile of Legos. There is no question SY, Decool, LELE, and Lego all have to follow the same import standards into Europe, so don’t use your inferior products scare tactics. You have no data to back you tiny opinion. I do, it’s called European product standards and all imports products must meet them. Next time you open a Import minifigure it may do you good to read the bottom of the box and review the product certifications.
Wow, you are way off. Don’t have much of a stockpile. Now, i will get back to filming MOCs for some great LUGs here at Brick Fest.
Well said. Our markup compared to lego is not in the same stratosphere.
…if we had a booth…but we did not.
I think you miss the point. Comic Con or NYCC, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day your baseless fearmongering only serves to secure your wild profits. You guys may be pro-Lego, but ironically your grossly marked up prices only fuel the cheaper brick market.
well said dude, agree totally
Our main business is youtube and other websites we own, not retail.
That’s fine. Judging by your comments I’d say your right on track to becoming the Rush Limbaugh of the Lego world. Sowing fear and anger can be quite lucrative, if that’s your cup of tea.
I’m out. You lost me.
Oh, you didn’t see the video?
Maybe you need to go back and read through the above article which is full of speculation, and personal opinion, example “Knockoffs use cheap plastic and paint and they quality is subpar and could be potentially dangerous for younger children to play with.”. This is the fear tactic MrPruitt is referring to.
People look up to you guys and when you make statements that are based on speculation and not backed with facts or data, it has a negitive impact.
All that needed to be said was “buyer be aware”.
Your clear. You think pirating is fine.
Does it matter? No
I was at the show and i did notice many bootleg legos. When i asked them if they were bootleg they responded with a firm “yes these are customs from china”. I would have a problem if they said they are official legos. So i do not see the harm being done. I am a AFOL and wanted to get the past comic con exclusive minifigures, but dishing out $200-$400 EACH! compared to paying what i paid for pheonix,the collector and sdcc spiderman all for $10! I am a happy camper and so is my wallet. It does bother me that they are fake but i would never pay that much money for a minifigure that costed the same amount of money to make.
Look, it is simple. These are unauthorized copies and illegal. You can throw out this sour grapes ‘ire’ at these people to legitimately bought a real LEGO set and held on to it to sell at a later date when LEGO no longer makes them. If you are mad about it, either contact LEGO to complain that you cannot get that set anymore from them, or deal with the fact there are those that do this and it is legal (especially so if the set is no longer made by the original company). If you are mad at those who get the SDCC figures to only turn around and sell them, I get the anger, but then complain to LEGO as to why they insist on making sought after figures limited (which is what I did to their CS). However, again, that does NOT justify the illegality here. This ‘anger’ at the re-sellers has NOTHING to do with the issue at hand, which is these are unauthorized copies of a design, not just LEGO’s minifigure, but also using designs that are licensed by Marvel, and DC without consent. These are mostly coming from China (or maybe other countries not stopping knockoffs like this). China’s licensing laws are hilariously ignorant of outside companies and they do not care about these being violations of patent, copyright, or trademark infringement. Nor do they care that they are made many times with substandard paint (I’m ‘sure’ there is no lead in the paint used on these) and plastics. This is also why all these knockoffs are coming from China, and not another company in the US, as they would be immediately sued by LEGO, Disney, DC, or all three, to cease and desist. Never mind this can also hurt LEGO’s brand as they do look a LOT like LEGO figures and a parent may not tell the difference, where as Megablock figures really do not look like LEGO figures at all. If you can glance at the figures and cannot tell the two apart it is a violation of license. Period.
I think if you see a vendor selling these unauthorized copies, get their info and report them to LEGO, Disney, or DC. Now, if they come back and say ‘we do not care’ then Ill get off my soapbox, but I have a feeling they DO care.
Now I know there are those that think everything should be pirated, and it is what it is, but do not try to justify it as some moral good here. It is not.
So to sum all that up, you are pro-scalper and anti-bootleg. Well I hate to break it to you but it seems as though people have been reporting this (the joker in the video) and I don’t see the knock-offs disappearing from the internet, so I am one of many who will continue to buy them. As for the legality, I’ll leave that to the courts to decide. Until then I will continue to round out my collection for a fraction of what you paid the scalpers 😉 That is assuming you aren’t one yourself???
Ohh, are we deflecting? ‘Scalper’.. you mean someone that had enough forethought to LEGALLY obtain a set, hold it, and then sell it later (Like it is rocket science that you could not figure out)?
It is easy for people with no ideas to stand there and talk about how illegal copies of someone’s product is hurting no one. Again, deflect it to ‘evil’ resellers all you want, but at the end of the day it is about legality. Sorry if I’d rather not be someone that is endorsing theft of property.
What seems to have you fired up all over this thread is the issue of legality. Where are the cease and desist letters? Are you an expert of international law? There are people selling all over the world (including the US), why aren’t they being stopped? Why haven’t these anti-bootleg con goers just called the police to shutdown this illicit practice? Maybe you can enlighten us 😉
if they care they would do few years ago.(Imposible Lego and IP Holder don’t know about these bootlegs)
Try to rationalize it all you want, but again at the end of the day these are not authorized by LEGO or Disney, and buying them does not make you a good person, it only helps those making knockoffs to keep making subpar products.
sorry my eng
i’m not proud to buy lego bootleg. but real lego in my courntry very expensive.
Ant Man Final Battle price is around 45$ (well,tax)
I went to NYCC and asked people at Minifig booths if they were actual LEGO and they all replied “They’re real. They’re 100% LEGO.” Which clearly they were not. It’s pretty disgusting how they can stand there and lie.
I’ve seen this at quite a few CC’s over the last few years, and while I was really against it at first now I enjoy having a look through to see which characters they’ve made that TLG hasn’t done officially. Also, I’d much rather pay $5 for a fig like the SDCC Marvel Collector than the $300 or whatever it is they go for now on the secondary market. With 3D printers becoming a lot cheaper Lego needs to really think about a strat for the future otherwise these will be a lot more commonplace.
Okay lets get this straight about the Brick show. They’re a family who collect and love Lego bricks and the culture. They made their hobby and love a business. End of story.
“They stockpile LEGO sets!” Uh yeah? Isn’t that called collecting?
“They markup the prices so high! They’re scalpers!” Okay 1. That’s called business, how are they going to make a profit if they give it away at the same price? 2. While they buy a lot of sets, it could be for many reasons. They’re two families with a love of Lego and enough money, so yeah maybe one set for each household and one set for each of the two people that work there. (I forgot their names) And of course enough to sell to people who love them. 3. Maybe the prices are too high, but at least you can trust the Brick Show to not be selling you toxic fake cheap Minifigures.
“They’re fear mongering so people will buy their sets at their booth! There’s no proof theirs toxic paint!” Ummm yeah but its from China and its illegal so do you really think their going to apply legal, nontoxic paint if it costs a little more? Its a real possibility these fake Lego’s are harmful, especially to little children Also do you really think “Oh now that theirs no cheap fake LEGO I have to buy The Brick Show’s set, even if theirs like a THOUSAND other Lego stores and online sites!”
“The Brick Show are hypocrites. They show custom minifigures!” Custom Minifigures and Fake Minifigures are two different things. Fake Minifigures were designed to make a profit by tricking buyers. Custom Minifigures are people apply their artistic talents onto real Lego Bricks and showing it off to those who may enjoy it. To compare Fake Minifigures and Customs is like comparing apples to oranges.
Again, if you think The Brick Show is a evil group that are going to make their website the only LEGO store out there… 1. That’s impossible and 2. You obviously use no logic when you think.
Also a message to The Brick Show, I can see why people confused you guys for having a booth because in the video it seemed that you kept referring to “our booth” and also instead of replying to everyone’s individual opinion, just write one long official comment replying to the majority of all comments, like I did. It’ll make you look more organized and respectful and get a lot more people to see it.
The Rub here is that The Brick Show portrayed themselves as giving a journalist type expos’e on import minifigures. Their negative comments were all based on speculation and opinion. Now where I come from journalism is based on facts and data.
Fact: the import minifigure companies in China are OEM/ODM, Original Equipment Manf./Original Design Manf. If their OEM requires a Disney license they acquire it. Now they can produce licensed product to their OEM & ODM their private brand products to the market with that license.
Fact: The import minifigure manufactures are required to certify their products. There are quite a few of the including very strict European standards. These required certifications include, RoHS, ASTM, HR4040, P6, EN62115, EN71, EMC, and EN60825. These protect the consumer as the certify their products contain no heavy metals or toxins within the composition of the product, or minifigure is this case.
The Brick Show needs to stick to doing reviews. Spreading misinformation is what tabloids do.
Yeah a bunch of real wholesome, family friendly folks who enjoy heckling con goers? Why not just goad the vendor?
And…The Brick Show for the win! Seriously, I haven’t seen people carry on like this in ages. It’s like The Nature Boy used to say, “What’s causing all this?”
Well, it’s the boys at The Brick Show and the carny in me loves it. Keep ranting you ranters – this is awesome.
Wow Steve thank you, you just helped me realize why the brick show guys don’t understand. They are like the Wayne’s world guys, I won’t waste anymore time trying to explain.
sorry, I’m late to the discussion…. But Lego really has made their bed with this situation. Two or three years ago I was going off on the SDCC exclusives. I basically said that when you artificially inflate the value of your product (which you know is in high demand) counterfeits and price gouging will ensue. Pure and simple.
So now I’m not the least bit surprised that this is happening. And honestly it’s just going to get worse. Lego is going to continue to put one exclusive figure per 250 dollar set, continue to put wildly popular figures as ultra limited exclusives, continue to feature figures in their TV show and video games that they don’t produce.
Lego is setting up this environment and will continue to do so.
Can not wait sells Fake bootleg products with lead paint on them is legal at the USA.
Hey some ppl are pour let them buy nock offs! I bout one it’s nice an 26 dollar better than 200 bucks.
It is bad however they do have some figures that LEGO haven’t released and look really cool.
I don’t want no fake Lego minifiuger no think you.