I'm reposting this Its-Not-Lego blog post I did way back in 2014 when I first stumbled onto the world of not Lego building block sets, otherwise known as Lego compatible, alternate Lego and downright fake Lego.
I've updated the blog post to reflect what has changed in 2020. I've also removed all the eBay references, as I feel this is no longer a viable platform to purchase Lego compatible building sets. I now only use the Aliexpress shopping platform to buy my not Lego sets and minifigures.
Mini-figures
Mini-figures can be bought individually, or in sets of 4, 6 or 8. You can also buy big figs either in sets or individually. The knock off minifigure world used to be dominated by Sheng Yuan and Decool, but now the best quality bootleg mini-figures in 2020 are made by Kopf, World Minifigures, Pogo and Xinh. There are other less known Chinese brands but their quality is questionable. Some of those brands include Dargo and Koruit. The most popular themes for minifigures are Superheroes and Star Wars.
If you ever need to find a particular Superhero or Star Wars minifigure, I recommend using the HeroBloks website. I find it's a great resource in searching for that elusive minifigure.
Building block sets
Building block sets can be bootlegs of older and newer Lego sets, or unique designs by Chinese brands such as Sluban, Enlighten, and Ausini.
Sluban makes a few airplane and city vehicle sets. Enlighten sets clones some of the older Lego sets like submarines and trains. Ausini makes their own train series that Lego has not produced.
Examples of knock off Lego sets are Creator and City sets or more recently, Modular buildings and Star Wars themed sets.
The latest block company to enter the foray was Lepin. They successfully cloned all of the Lego modular buildings and several of the large Star Wars sets.
However, they were shutdown in 2019 when the Chinese authorities clamped down, but since then there have been a number of newer brick brands to hit the scene, namely Sembo, King and Mould King.
Where to buy - Aliexpress
I've been using Aliexpress since early 2014. Aliexpress is like an online mall where many sellers have virtual storefronts. You are basically dealing with a seller and not Aliexpress directly, although they will try to mediate disputes. There's no auction style listings, only fixed price listings. Some listings will state a minimum quantity that needs to be purchased, because they might sell both retail and wholesale.
Some items will be shipped for free and others will charge for extra shipping. I don't know why but it takes up to one week for a seller to ship an item, and then it takes over one month for it to arrive. Aliexpress guarantees shipment within 2 months or 60 days. If you don't receive your item after that period of time, you can raise a dispute and get your money back.
It's somewhat intimidating for new users because of the plethora of products available. There's a learning curve to figure out how to filter out the items you are looking for. Start by browsing the Toys / Blocks category and use the search filters to find things you are looking for.
Be warned that seller ratings and feedback are irrelevant. Do not trust any of the feedback or reviews because they may be bogus. Even sellers with great ratings will still try to scam you. You have to understand that it's buyer beware and ethical behaviour is not always followed on Aliexpress.
You may discover some amazing deals, but even though they are listed, the seller might not actually have any stock. I have bought items only to find out that the seller lied about having inventory. Sometimes they will give you a fake tracking number and indicated that they shipped it when in fact they didn't.
There is no requirement for a seller to honour an item's price. They might decide not to sell you the item because they realized they priced it too low. Sometimes they try to ask you for more money after you have bought. If that happens raise a dispute right away. I tried to file an Aliexpress complaint against the seller, but there are limited complaint categories and if it isn't listed, they will not listen to your complaint. Seller asking for more money after an item purchase is not considered as fraudulent by Aliexpress.
Your only recourse is to get a refund but you will have to raise a dispute and wait sometimes up to one month to get your money back.
Paypal is not an option for Aliexpress users. I have purchase protection on my Visa card so I use this as my payment option.
Package Tracking
Most items come with a tracking number but there are two types, one for small packages and one for larger packages.
I use this website to track packages originating from China.
https://www.17track.net/en
Larger packages come with a different format tracking number, ie: RI586779712CN.
The first letter will always be R and the last two letters will be CN, sometimes SG or HK. The last number is a check digit to verify the other numbers in the tracking number.
Here's a link to the Blocks category on Aliexpress if you are interested to know what sort of sets are available.
Here are some popular searches for building sets on Aliexpress.
1. Modular Buildings
2. Technic sets
3. Star Wars
2. Technic sets
3. Star Wars
Hope this information has been useful to you. As always, thanks for visiting Its Not Lego and See you next time!
