The little one? Yeah it's ****. I have put my sons on a baseplate when he wants to play with it he can then do so without a 3 hour rebuild.
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- Thread starter Rameses
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The little one? Yeah it's ****. I have put my sons on a baseplate when he wants to play with it he can then do so without a 3 hour rebuild.
No, the ucs! I've got fairly large forearms so trying to get them in the channels to pick it up is a nightmare. Always end up knocking something off
Soldato
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What's the deal with lepin then? Seen it mentioned a few times and a friend pretty much only buys that stuff! You all had good experiances with it? I havent thought of buying one yet but the saving offered is clearly enticing
Considered to be and are to be honest a chinese knock off from the Lego Brand. The company makes no products or designs of their own, instead they copy the exact same model the Lego Group sell. However, reason many buy them is not to save money from the Lego Group, but to buy models that Lego no longer sell - such as long retired Lego UCS star wars sets or Technic or Modular models.
I personally wouldn't buy a Lepin set of a current and available Lego model, however I have purchased a few to fill in gaps for my Star Wars collection, currently my Red 5 x Wing and my to as yet be delivered imperial shuttle.
The qaulity of the parts is not up to Lego branded parts but they are not poor, they have good clutch (locking) and the model I built up built up perfectly fine and was stable and looked every bit as good as the one Lego once sold. It did however mean I got the model for a fraction of the price that speculators on ebay etc try to charge for a boxed Red 5 x wing UCS - up to £400 + whereas I paid £51 including delivery. Lego group have sold all theirs, so buying from Lepin only meant I didn't line the pockets of a speculator - Lego Group lost nothing from me - however I wouldn't buy a current for sale Lepin set I can get direct from Lego.
Hope that makes sense.
Soldato
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I didn't even think about the angle of sets that Lego no longer produce. Makes sense to me now, thanks very much for the info. The chap I know just likes to build as much as he can for his money I think so just goes Lepin regardless so I can understand his situation too.
Appreciate the post, Thanks!
Money saving is important, supply and demand means that demand for older sets far outstrip the supply. Lego Group retires sets quickly, 2 - 3 years is the average life of many sets, so Lepin have found a market to supply the demand at a cheaper price. It IMO prevents speculators making money, however it also means Lepin have started to offer current models - at a much knocked down price.
Lepin also offer creations by talented Lego creators, many of which are reproduced without consent of the creator, its a erm, iffy area to discuss. Some will buy Lepin only to save money, some will buy Lepin to obtain a model that they can't get, and some look to Lepin for own creations they see and would like to build but don't want the hassle of getting the bricks from bricklink or pick a brick.
For me, Lepin brand only serves to fill in gaps for my collection, sadly Lepin will be a go to for a UCS Sandcrawler and a UCS AT AT. As I missed those two as well. If Lego released the sets again or I can find at reasonable price, I'd go for Lego branded every single time.
Soldato
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All makes sense. Have Lego ever tried to have a go at Lepin for reproducing their products in a legal case?
Yes. But do you know what happens in China when a company from outside tries to sue a Chinese company?
What like Landrover attempted with the Chinese Landwind or something like that? They lost - or landrover didn't even attempt or something along those lines. I think Lego filed a complaint with the chinese courts back in September 2016, and not a lot more heard - they'll not win the case.
Exactly like that. The judgement was due last month but I can't find anything on it.
Doubt you will, seems China courts turn blind eye as to what copyright is - as in they don't care and do very little to stop it. I think over in China you can walk into any toy shop and buy Lepin sets right there and then just like we do with Lego sets in UK toy stores. Considering what you pay for a kit with shipping costs included - the sets are dirt cheap comparable to Lego Group as I doubt its free shipping from China to UK. The cost includes the shipping fee more like. So a £50 lepin set I bet costs half this once you remove the shipping costs, and consider the same set from Lego costs £180 - what a huge cost difference.
Associate
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Last year near Christmas I saw some lepin sets on a pop up stall/shop thing in the middle of a massive shopping centre!
Doesn't surprise me, and hardly anyone would even know to report to trading standards - cheaper Lego sets, I bet they sold fairly well. There was a facebook advertisement I was seeing for a little while, but it was removed eventually. It would come up on my feed, and you need to watch out on ebay. Minifigs are worst culprits. Lepin Minifigs are not the greatest, they are ok, but they are sold on ebay and you need to watch the wording and where delivered from. Easy to buy a minfig on ebay thinking its genuine Lego and its actually not.
Soldato
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Really interesting reading all of the above as I haven't a clue about Lepin really until asking you guys today. I'm glad they can co exist for reasons explained such as access to old models.
Saturn V has arrived today. My partner is working an evening shift at Waitrose and will bring it home (click and collect)
Saturn V has arrived today. My partner is working an evening shift at Waitrose and will bring it home (click and collect)
Soldato
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Mrs said there was another one waiting for collection today too, must be a popular one at the moment.
Hopefully start tomorrow night
Decided I'm going to get the lepin imperial shuttle for Xmas. I'll have to get it for myself as it's too expensive for gf to get me.
Not going to bother with any of the legit lego cheap sets this round. Apart from bb8 the rest look a bit cheap
Not going to bother with any of the legit lego cheap sets this round. Apart from bb8 the rest look a bit cheap
Caporegime
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The mini or VW camper van is decent.
Mrs said there was another one waiting for collection today too, must be a popular one at the moment.
Hopefully start tomorrow night
That does look a really cool set.... Loving the cat approval lol
I'm not overly impressed with anything released in the last few months either. Seems legit sets for me have dried up. The latest batch of Star Wars sets apart from BB8 didn't grab me, the star destroyer looks ok ish. The only Lego Technic set I don't own that I might have taken an interest in is the 6x6x6 tow truck, but its really overpriced.
I'm currently looking on ebay for anything Star Wars or Technic at reasonable prices. And I'm going to start rebuilding my Super Star Destroyer and Death Star II soon. Given up hope of getting that Imperial Shuttle from Lepin on Ali Express - no idea. Guess I'll end up getting refunded...
Associate
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Took advantage of the double points last night and ordered the London Bus and The Caterham R7.