Comment by jerkstate
2 days ago
Unfortunately, LEGO has decided that they want to make mostly high-margin co-branded sets with Nintendo, Pokémon, Minecraft, Star Wars, Monster Jam, F1, etc rather than cool engineering sets with a lot of flexible pieces that can be built into lots of different things. Luckily Chinese vendors like Uncle Brick and Mould King have stepped in to offer huge sets of Technics compatible parts, including simple motors that LEGO simply does not make anymore, for not much money. It’s really too bad that Lego abandoned that market. I would certainly pay a premium for the original stuff but a lot of what I would like is just not available. Now, I still buy a lot of the branded LEGO stuff, but the Chinese stuff has also entered the rotation for the older kids who are interested in engineering.
You have to be so careful with that stuff though. Some of those knockoff legos are absolutely infuriating to assemble and don’t fit together right—not just with actual LEGO but even with themselves.
There is a definite element of “you get what you pay for” when it comes to that stuff. Unfortunately… because some of those knockoff kits look super cool.