Buying a LEGO-compatible model from China
A few years ago, when Lego patents expired, several companies started selling “Lego-compatible” models. These used pieces compatible with classic Lego but featured the companies’ own designs. Some companies, such as the Chinese manufacturer Lepin, even began copying and selling existing Lego models directly, at significantly lower prices.
Choosing a model
Since I have quite nostalgic memories of Lego, I had been considering buying some after perhaps 15 years. I was interested in something like Lego 75102, which according to the Czech price comparison site Heureka was available from CZK 1,798 (around €70).
That is quite a high price, so I tried to find a “copy” on the Chinese AliExpress. I found Lepin 05004, which was supposed to be an exact copy of this Lego model. The price was $24, or around CZK 520 (€19). I found a seller offering the model with free delivery and a rating of more than four stars. Customer reviews included photos where everything looked fine, so I ordered it.
Delivery
It took just under two weeks from paying for the order by card to the seller shipping it. The package then took almost a month to travel from China to Prague. Since it was a shipment worth $22—below the €22 limit at which customs duty had to be paid—it cleared customs in one day.
The seller declared the value as $5 and shipped it without the original box, so apparently nobody at customs felt like investigating the actual value of a package full of plastic pieces. It might have worked even with a more expensive model.
The Lego arrived well packed in protective plastic, with instructions. The individual pieces were also packed in smaller groups inside additional bags.
Quality
The first thing that caught my attention was the instruction manual. It does not say Lego Star Wars but Lepin Star Wnrs—a deliberate typo, presumably to avoid infringing the trademark. The manual had some problems with colours; sometimes it was quite difficult to tell when to use a light-grey piece and when to use a dark-grey one. Since the piece bags did not match the way they were supposed to be packed according to the instructions, some preparation was needed before building.
The quality of the individual pieces was very good, exactly as I remembered from genuine Lego. The only issues were that the figures’ joints seemed too loose and the transparent plastic in their helmets had been replaced with opaque plastic.
The package contained all 736 required pieces, plus several unnecessary leftovers. One of those spare pieces looks like it came from a completely different children’s model. A Lego separator tool was included as well.
Exactly six pieces were a different colour than they should have been. Four were used inside the model, so that did not matter, but two were dark grey instead of black and were in visible locations. Dark grey is used in several other places in the model, so it is not particularly distracting, but you can notice it. I contacted the seller and asked them to send me those two pieces in the correct colour; I am still waiting for a reply.
Conclusion
I was very happy with the purchase. The model took about a month and a half to arrive and had the few problems mentioned above, but at around one-third to one-quarter of the price of “real” Lego, it offers very good value for money.