Gungnir wrote:dilanski wrote: Just noticed something weird, if you click the pictures you zoom in, and on the Rib and Jeep sets, some of the bricks look like they've got 'LEGO' printed on the studs? Anyone with better eyes confirm?
Yes, those say 'Lego' on them. I'm recognizing a lot of other Lego elements as well, like the steering wheel on that boat.
No it says 'COBI' . The Asian makers can be a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to quality with some being a lot better than others. With some items it can be really difficult to tell which is the clone and which is the LEGO part, but other makes will take lots of shortcuts and it shows.
I use a lot of COGO bricks because they generally fit together tightly and the quality is reasonable. The supplier I buy sets from will give me a set free for every four I buy which has to be a good deal in anybody's book. As a religious sister I don't have a lot of money to come and go on so cheap bricks or no bricks is the way I have to do it. The special bricks and Minifig parts and accessories I buy are usually LEGO, but I do have quite a few clone minifigs as well that have been a part of sets. Mostly I put skeleton heads on them and they become UnDead minions, but some of the better ones have joined the ranks of the mercenary pirates of Tyrus or else the degenerate 'Lost Civilisation' in the Lost Valley on Dinoreich.
Most of the COGO set designs are structurally pretty poor and difficult to make without them constantly falling apart during construction, but that's not so much because the bricks are no good. The problem lies in just plain not designing shapes so they have any strength to them. I have a Pirate ship set that was hopeless how it was supposed to be built, but is proving to be on the way to being an Ok MOC with me building it how I want it to be.
