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Because Lego has a monopoly, built on people not knowing the alternatives - and, in fact, the original inventor, Kiddie Craft, too - and using legal loopholes to sue anyone however possible.
Other manufacturers have long since overtook Lego in terms of quality (especially color consistency), quantity, love poured into design, licenses - while sometimes being a third of the price, but always cheaper. Including Cobi, who exclusively produce in Poland, while Lego also produces in China. One part of Burg Blaustein/Blaustein Castle (made by BlueBrixx) would probably cost as much as the whole thing if it was made by Lego!
HQ Lego Alternatives:
Military, aircraft, small cars: Cobi. Technic: CaDa has licensed premium lines like the AMG GT One . Models with Lighting: Fun Whole, but can near Lego pricing, with higher quality. Kids: Buy used Lego sets, don't bother too much with lost parts, replace them on Bricklink.
And there is a few others. I listed only companies not ripping off duplicates. There is more good ones, and of course a lot of copycat companies.
AreaX has a licenced SpongeBob Krusty Krab set that's actually really well made, well packaged and the instructions are on par with Lego. I bought one from the China warehouse with its full packaging (you can order without it for a bit cheaper) and it was a total of $117.
If you handed me the pieces and told me it was Lego, I'd believe you until I saw there wasn't "LEGO" molded into the studs.
Not really - the set actually has a cool, innovative feature. I feel like it has more technic in it than any Lego set, including the so called "technic" series. So you'd feel a natural disturbance, seeing how they did not butcher the license with horrible but IP protected figures, at least two missing walls and actually even put in LEDs - which you don't have to permanently hold down on.
I've checked out everything you listed - and neither company has the range of Lego.
That said, I'm ordering some sets from BlueBrix , that one seems the best from all mentioned in the topic. :)
LEGO is of vastly higher quality, in terms of tolerances and consistency.
Yeah, no.
Maybe 20 years ago? But nowadays LEGO has worse quality than nearly any other brand, especially in terms of color consistency.
While I agree LEGO's quality has gone downhill in the 21st century, I still find it to be at the top for tolerances.
Except megablocks, the only brand you see in American stores other than Lego.
Out of interest, are the alternatives compatible with Lego? As in, made to the same sizes?
All I know are compatible, though they may not have the (exact) same color.
Same sizes, yes, but never the same tolerances.
Are there any good price comparisons for Lego vs alternatives? I didn't look at the piece per piece price, but the non-liscensed sets seem comparable at best (~€10 for a small build).
The only things way out of proportion for Lego are licensed sets (Disney tax keeps going up) and minifigures (collectors blow a lot of money)