Unbranded Version of the Lego Bricklink 910001 Castle in the Forest

 

Hi Brick fans!  Did you guys find any good deals on the 11.11 shopping holiday?  

I found this replica of the Lego Bricklink 910001 Castle in the Forest set on Aliexpress listed for approx $60 CDN (approx $40USD).  According to brickset.com the OG set currently sells for about $650 CDN. I've seen this same fake Lego set sell on Aliexpress for approx $90 CDN, but $60 was definitely the cheapest.  The seller was really new and only had a feedback score of 6, but I thought why not give it a try because I could always raise a dispute with Aiexpress in case the item wasn't shipped or something different was sent.

I waited for a few days and kept checking the store listing on Aliexpress.  Suddenly, all of the store items, well over 200 building block sets, were no longer there.   The store was still there but it was empty.  I had that sinking feeling in my gut that is was Aliexpress dispute time.

A few days later, I checked my order and it was assigned a tracking number.  This typically happens for a lot of bogus stores so that you can't cancel the transaction due to non shipment.  A tracking number tells the Aliexpress platform that the item has shipped regardless whether it actually did or not.  During the course of the listing on Aliexpress, the tracking number never updated.

Instead of using the Aliexpress package tracker I decided to plug the tracking number into my favourite tracking app called the Parcels Tracking App, and now I could see my package was making it's way through the Canada Post delivery service.   Turns out my package had shipped on Nov 14 and arrived in Canada Nov 18.  And today Nov 23, the Castle in the Forest replica set arrived at my doorstep!

Sadly, the store from which I bought from has now disappeared off Aliexpress, so I can't even leave positive feedback for them.   Anyways, the replica set is unbranded and has a set number of 85668 if anyone is curious.  Piece count on the manual says 1957 pieces so hopefully it's all there.   If not, I won't really be able to get contact the seller since they are no longer on the Aliexpress platform.

Here are some other stores selling the replica Castle in the Forest version on Aliexpress.  Hope you can find a good deal!

Look for a full review in the coming months.  I currently have a ton of other sets to build and review, thanks to Afobrick.com, Funwhole.com and Sillbird.com, so I can't get to it any sooner.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say for today,   Bye for now!

JMBricklayer's Dinosaur 70001 and Chameleon 70124 Bundle Sale!

 

Hey brick fans, this just in!   JMBricklayer is having a special bundle sale right now on their two most popular building block sets, the 70001 Mechanical Dinosaur and the 70124 Mechanical Chameleon!  Buy both sets and save $45!   Special bundle pricing is $104.98 USD and includes free shipping.

I believe this special bundle promotion is available exclusively from the JMBricklayer online store.

Both sets are very unique and you can find my reviews of them here:

70001 Mechanical Dinosaur: https://bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com/2023/08/should-you-buy-latest-jmbricklayer.html

70124 Mechanical Chameleon: https://its-not-lego.blogspot.com/2023/07/whats-my-latest-set-its-jmbricklayer.html

For more details of the bundle promotion head on over to JMBricklayer's website: https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/bundle-dinosaur-70001-chameleon-70124/

This special bundle promotion is only on until October 7, so hurry on over and take advantage of this deal.

Here's my latest purchase off Aliexpress - 12 Arcade Game machines by Forange

 

It's a set of 12 video game machines that are made out of bricks and on a scale similar to minifigures. I've included some larger pictures below.  The brightly coloured machines are all approximately 100 pieces or so.  At an average price of $4.50 each, I think they are a pretty good deal.

I'm hoping to make a game arcade modular building to house them in, after I've built them.   I was thinking about a building that is modelled after the Oxford Blocks Game Room set BM35227.

I think the brand is Forange and the set number is FC8282.

Thanks for looking!

JMBricklayer Mother's Day Promotion - Butterfly Orchid 20106 is 40% off $17.99

JMBricklayer's Mother's Day Promotion is now in effect!  Get this beautiful Butterfly Orchid Building Set for 40% off at only $17.99 which includes free shipping.

It's a really lovely set and it makes a nice gift for that special someone.   I reviewed the Butterfly Orchid set not too long ago.

This is a limited sale, so if you are looking for a nice floral themed building block set, this is the one to get.  JMBricklayer  has other floral themed sets as well which you can find here.

For non discounted items, you can still save 15% using code itsnotlego15% at checkout!

My Second Not Lego order from Temu!

 

Hiya brick fans!  I'm back to share another shopping experience from Temu with you today.

I've got an ongoing project to move all of my Lego compatible modular buildings over to raised baseplates (aka MILS plates).   For this you need two types of baseplates, the original thin Lego style single sided baseplate and a top baseplate on which you build your modular building.  In between the two baseplates, you sandwich some 2x2, 2x4 or 2x6 bricks, spaced apart,  in between to form a rigid structure.

While the single sided thin baseplates are relatively easy and cheap to find on Aliexpress, Amazon and recently Dollar Tree, the double sided stackable baseplates are a lot harder to find and cost a bit more.  You can find them for sale on Aliexpress on Amazon for about $5 CDN each.

On Temu, I found a store that sells a six pack of 32x32 stud 10" double sided baseplates for just a bit over $19 CDN.  That works out to a little over $3 each for baseplate which I think is a really good deal.  Temu offered free shipping on orders over $20 (it has just gone up to $25 recently), so I needed to buy something else to top up my order.

Minifigures are cheap and abundant on Temu, so I looked through a lot of listings. I mean you can find great deals on multipack generic minifigs for your Lego city, or you could fill up on the latest Star Wars or movie themed minifigs such as LOTR or Harry Potter, but I wanted something a bit different this time.  I found the above listing and thought , whoa, these are different.  

I did a bit of research and found this article about Bearbricks.  So anyways, I wasn't sure about the quality of the minifigures, so I bought one to both fill out my order to satisfy the free shipping requirement and also to see what the quality is like.

I placed my order on March 28 and my package was delivered on April 10, exactly 2 weeks in duration, so yeah superfast.  Typical orders from Aliexpress these days take about 3 weeks to Canada for comparison purposes.

Right after I placed my order, I checked the reviews for the store  and found that some people ended up receiving single sided baseplates instead of double sided.  Yeah, I should have checked that before I made my purchase, but I was excited to find double sided baseplates for a low price and hit the buy button right away.

I reached out to Temu customer support and just wanted to leave a message with them to confirm that I wanted double sided and not single sided baseplates.  They got back to me right away and confirmed that's what I would be getting. I took a screenshot of the chat box just in case.

I'm pleased to report that, yes, I did in fact get what I ordered.  The Lego compatible baseplates are branded NextXToys and I even got a free brick separator included.  So about that Bearbrick minifigure ...

Here he is.  He's simply known as Bear 13 on the package.  He looks more like a mouse than a bear to me.  He comes with two black swords as accessories.

The print quality could be sharper in my opinion.  The black lightning bolts on his head look a bit ragged.

The biker or varsity jacket design is pretty cool with the hybrid Japanese/skull and crossbones motif.  His jacket has the word "naoping" on it, not sure what that means. You can see from the previous picture that he even has arm printing.  The sleeve cuff is a nice touch.

However, I'm disappointed with the legs, being clearly all scuffed up.

Turning Bear 13 around we find a huge skull and crossbones tattoo on the back of his head with the back of his jacket adorned with a Japanese lady head, two samurai sword handles and the caption "samurai".   

Fortunately, the Bear 13 minifigure is Lego compatible in construction and size.  When I get tired of the giant bear/mouse head, I can replace it with a standard minifigure head I think.

If you haven't tried Temu yet, go ahead and give them a try. Get 30% off and free shipping for your first order.  I'd be very happy if use my affiliate link for your Temu purchases!  Just click the image above and start shopping!

Here's the link to the baseplates and here's the link to the Bear on Temu.

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!  Bye!

My First not Lego order from Temu!

 

Hello Lego and not Lego people!

In February of this year, I learned about a new on-line shopping site called Temu. It was launched in September 2022, and is relatively new being very similar to Aliexpress.  They have different stores offering building block and minifigures, but the selection is nowhere as extensive as Aliexpress.  You get free shipping on your purchases, but you have to spend at least $20 CDN to qualify.

I decided to test them out and made an approx $20 order on Feb 24.  I found a Ghostbuster's Ecto-1 building block set that has 603 pieces sold by Mould King, set number 10021.  I also had a 30% off coupon, which meant I needed to buy more stuff in order to qualify for the free shipping, so I added 4 minifigures to my order.

My Temu purchases included tracking info so you could get the latest delivery information.  And it let me know that my package had arrived on March 7. So, end to end, it took only 11 days for my building block sets to arrive. Wow, superfast!

If for whatever reason your purchases do not arrived by a specified date, mine being March 8, Temu policy is to give you a $5 credit.

Mould King Model Car - No. Ghost Bus 10021, 8+, 603 pieces.  Looks like fun, I'll do a review for this set in the near future.

Three shiny minifigures cost 0.99 cents CDN each and the Star Wars minifigure cost $1.69 CDN.

The shiny minifigures are a good deal because on Aliexpress, they cost over $3 each. There are a total of six colours you can choose from on Temu.

According to the packaging, the Star Wars figure is Cal Kestis XP499.  I bought it for the BD-1 droid.

Here's the link to the Temu site.   Give them a try and get 30% off your first order with my code fav62990.

See you in my next post, bye!

How much do Lego style base plates cost in 2023?

Hi brick fans!  Ever wonder who has the cheapest Lego compatible base plates out there, right now?  I'm talking specifically about the 10"x10" or 32x32 stud classic single sided base plates.

Here is a list of all of the places you can find base plates on-line and in bricks and mortar stores in 2023.  All pricing is in 🇨🇦 Canadian dollars excluding tax.

Lego

The original Lego base plate from Lego costs $9.99.  You can also find Lego base plates at all of the major retailers like Walmart (slightly cheaper at $9.83) and ToysRUs ($9.99), MastermindToys ($9.99) and Staples on-line ($9.99).  Amazon Canada matches their pricing of Lego base plates with Walmart pricing at $9.83.

I was going to check pricing at Indigo Canada, but they have taken their website off-line due to a cybersecurity breach at the moment.

Lego Compatible

Walmart has an exclusive toy brand called Play Day Toys which I think were originally called Brick Tech.  You can get the Play Day branded base plate for $7.97. They come in 4 different colours: Beige, Light Gray, Green and Blue.

In Canada, we have a discount retailer called Giant Tiger.  They have a Lego compatible base plate called Zuru Max Build More for $5.00 available in green and gray.

I checked BestBuy and Canadian Tire but they don't seem to carry much in the way of toys. As a result, I didn't find any Lego or Lego compatible base plates at these two retailers.  Discount retailer Dollarama doesn't carry any sort of Lego style base plates either.

Things used to be much cheaper on Aliexpress, but these days all of the Lego compatible bricks and parts have gone up in pricing, with very few stores still offering free shipping.  The cheapest base plates I could find on Aliexpress are from the Apan Sapio store at a total cost of $4.73. At least you don't have to pay any taxes on these items.

On Amazon, there are various generic branded baseplates where you can get a good deal if you buy them in lots of 4, 6 or 8.  For example, currently you can get a 6 pack of multi-coloured base plates for $22.94.  That works out to about $3.82 per base plate.  

If you buy more, the price comes down even more. For example this 12 pack of base plates from the Strictly Briks Amazon store costs $29.99 making the average cost of each base plate only $2.50 each.

But, by far the cheapest base plates available are through Dollar Tree for only $1.50 each!  Sold under the name Make-it Blocks.  They don't have a lot of stores where I live so I have to drive a bit to find one. And not all stores replenish their stock regularly.  I think that Dollar Tree has different coloured base plates but I've only ever seen brown coloured ones, which is fine by me.

So there you have it, Lego compatible base plates can range from $1.50 to $7.97 whereas actual Lego base plates will cost between $9.86 and $9.99.  If you know of any other retailers in Canada selling 32x32 stud base plates, please let me know!