Not LEGO Archives - whataslacker about bricks

FLEGO is Not All Bad

So, so many AFOLs are also LEGO snobs and refuse to build with anything other than LEGO. Of course this is a requirement if you are in a LUG or taking part in any LEGO endorsed events like Brick Fair or Brick Cascade and of the other LEGO events around the globe. No FLEGO (fake LEGO) allowed at those events.

I will never be LEGO recognized media or a LAN ambassador because my screen name which I have had since the days of AOL chat rooms does not seem to meet their requirements. And I, quite frankly, refuse to change my name for them. Mind you if they would accept me as I am and not try to make me something I am not, I would jump on it in a heart beat. If only to show other LAN ambassadors what the FTC requirements are for disclosure.

LEGO is and always will be my number one love. With a very close second being Nano Blocks and LOZ because mini bricks are just super awesome (anyone remember when Mega Bloks had mini bricks). Yes LEGO has mini bricks (Modulex) too but they are fair to expensive for me to buy (I think I own like three bricks).

There are alternatives to LEGO out there and most at a fraction of the cost of LEGO. No these are not knock-offs. The brick is no longer under patent and anyone can make a brick set. LEPIN was/is a perfect example of knock-offs. Stealing both the LEGO intellectual properties and their set designs. If they weren’t stealing from LEGO they were stealing from AFOLs that posted their MOCs on Rebrickable or LEGO Ideas.

These competitors are not doing any of that. They are getting their own licenses and creating their own sets. Most of them with very good quality bricks to boot (okay, not as great as LEGO but better than super cheap bricks).

My favorite FLEGO brands are as follows:

Lumibricks (used to be FunWhole)
BrickCraft
Pantasy
Mega Construx
JMBrickLayer

Don’t fear the FLEGO.

Cow Cat Stretching MOC Review

I was sent this MOC for review. The opinions stated below are my own.

This is a quick little build that is a lot of fun. The bricks are good quality ABS and come nicely packaged. The instructions (digital only) are easy enough to follow, although I did have to take the giant image and break it up into a Word document to print it out (I no longer have a tablet, and building from my phone is not really possible for me).

The build starts with the front legs, and I found that they kept falling off or coming apart as I built the rest of the cat. This is not because of the brick quality, more that this portion of the build should have been last.

The set is only 64 parts, so it doesn’t take long before you have a fun kitty to display.

Overall, a good smaller MOC. The only thing besides re-ordering the instructions so as not to start with the front of the cat is the addition of three 1×1 tiles, a black one for the tail tip, and two white ones for the tops of the back feet. The added thickness on the back feet would be a plus, same on the tail. An added bonus would be covering the studs on the back half of the build. Should you want a studless design, you could also swap out a few of the parts on the head, too.

My cat also approves of this MOC. If he had thumbs, I am sure he would give it two thumbs up.

There are a total of five different cow cat MOCs, and I look forward to building the rest.

This set is available at Game Toy Friend along with my review. (this is an affiliate link where I get a small percentage of any sales made through it and you get 30% off using this code: whataslacker30%off )

Grinch Sets from Brickcraft

The huge brandnames aren’t the only game in town and Brickcraft has brought is some wonderful holiday sets this year. These are officially licensed and made from quality bricks. All at prices you’ll love.

Available at Walmart. Check out my Instagram and TikTok posts for videos and reviews.

Green Army Guys

I got a set of the classic green army men from Brick Mini during Bricks LA and have to say they are pretty darn cool.

They work on a LEGO stud or minifig hand so your sigfig can sit around and play with them.

You get eight standing (all in different poses) and three tank parts (the dude coming up out of the tank and two tank hatches, one opened and one closed).

Chess Anyone?

I had seen the Brick Mini chess sets around Instagram and Facebook, but had only thought of getting them in passing.

Then at Bricks LA’s virtual con I got to see a presentation of their products and decided to bite the bullet and place my order (the attendee’s discount didn’t hurt either). I got a chess set (seen in this review), a set of the nano soldiers, and a couple meeples (I will discuss the others in another post).

For the chess pieces you can take your pick from a number of LEGO color matched options. I went with the classic black and white.

You buy each side separately. So a full set will cost $18, but doing so allows you more creative options with the color schemes. Each side is comprised of two sets of four pawns, a rook, a knight, a queen, and a king. You wind up with an extra king and queen for each side.

You have to build your own board or buy a starter board from them (the parts will be official LEGO pieces).

You will need 64 1×1 plates in two colors. 32 of each color and an 8×8 plate.

The pieces are all designed so that a minifigure can hold each one.

These are really kind of fun. Whether you want a little something for your own desk or want to add a touch of Queen’s Gambit to your city’s park, I think you’ll like these.

Available at BrickMini.com.

Hot Wheels Ride-ons #notlego

Cool new twist in the Hotwheels line. The ride-ons give your minifigs a chance to zip through your city on a speedy orange track.

Ride-on are designed to attach figures from leading brand blocks companies. As you can see from my photos they can clip on different areas via their hands and even sit in some of the rides.