Lego Pro: There is a market for used Lego, both complete sets and pieces. I bought my Market Street used off the ‘Bay. The first owner got to build it, enjoy it for a while, then get most of his money back.
@@jimm244 there definitely is a market for used LEGO and LEGO bricks hold/increase in value as time goes by. That is something we mentioned off camera as a plus for LEGO over alt bricks.
Good video! I would disagree with a couple points: 1) Parts quality: Lego has very noticeably been slipping in recent years, with brittle parts, color inconsistency, bad prints, missing parts, etc. On the other hand, current sets from Cobi, Pantasy, or Funwhole usually have better quality control all around. Similarly, the manuals from Cobi or Funwhole are actually better in terms of clarity and user friendliness. 2) IP: Alternative brands run the gamut from outright counterfeits and unlicensed knockoffs (Lepin) to totally above-board licensing. Cobi, Pantasy, Funwhole, BlueBrixx, and Cada, for example, have partnerships with major franchises and companies. To me the only real advantage of Lego is its resale value for investors. But just in terms of hobby enjoyment, the competing brands are doing some amazing stuff for way lower prices than Lego, and it makes zero sense to stick with Lego exclusively unless you're only interested in the franchises to which they have rights.
@@SO-ym3zs great points! Brittle brown is definitely an issue with LEGO. We had missing parts with Cobi and FUNWHOLE so far, not Pantasy, but have only done one or two yet. Definitely have some great companies that are licensing and doing it correctly- completely agree with Cobi, not sure I have seen FUNWHOLE do licensing (could be totally off base- BUT love that they are doing their own designs and being original for sure)
@@SO-ym3zs and AGREED that LEGO holds value and investing- I think we will find this for other companies as well in the future and look forward to seeing that happen, because they are doing great work!
@@CurKymBrickBuilds You're right, iirc, no licensing from Funwhole (yet), but the others mentioned do it. Given the presumed complexity of getting hundreds or thousands of correct parts into each set, the overall quality control of all the brands under discussion is amazing. But when Lego is charging double what some of other brands do, they better be darn near perfect, and in recent years, I've actually had a lot more problems with their sets than any competing brands. A far cry from years back when I could open any Lego set and know all parts would be there, match in color, etc. I know I'm hardly alone with that experience. The color inconsistency in particular has been widely commented on.
@@CurKymBrickBuilds I could easily see that happening, too, particular with Funwhole, who have rightly been generating a lot of buzz with theirs sets. Once more people catch on, a secondary market could develop for their sets. Personally, my chief interest is in theme, design, quality, and price. Whether or not I can resell a set isn't as important.
Great review. Greetings from Republic of Georgia...
@@zazanikuradze8829 thank you! Greetings!
Lego Pro: There is a market for used Lego, both complete sets and pieces. I bought my Market Street used off the ‘Bay. The first owner got to build it, enjoy it for a while, then get most of his money back.
@@jimm244 there definitely is a market for used LEGO and LEGO bricks hold/increase in value as time goes by. That is something we mentioned off camera as a plus for LEGO over alt bricks.
Good video! I would disagree with a couple points:
1) Parts quality: Lego has very noticeably been slipping in recent years, with brittle parts, color inconsistency, bad prints, missing parts, etc. On the other hand, current sets from Cobi, Pantasy, or Funwhole usually have better quality control all around.
Similarly, the manuals from Cobi or Funwhole are actually better in terms of clarity and user friendliness.
2) IP: Alternative brands run the gamut from outright counterfeits and unlicensed knockoffs (Lepin) to totally above-board licensing. Cobi, Pantasy, Funwhole, BlueBrixx, and Cada, for example, have partnerships with major franchises and companies.
To me the only real advantage of Lego is its resale value for investors. But just in terms of hobby enjoyment, the competing brands are doing some amazing stuff for way lower prices than Lego, and it makes zero sense to stick with Lego exclusively unless you're only interested in the franchises to which they have rights.
@@SO-ym3zs great points! Brittle brown is definitely an issue with LEGO. We had missing parts with Cobi and FUNWHOLE so far, not Pantasy, but have only done one or two yet.
Definitely have some great companies that are licensing and doing it correctly- completely agree with Cobi, not sure I have seen FUNWHOLE do licensing (could be totally off base- BUT love that they are doing their own designs and being original for sure)
@@SO-ym3zs and AGREED that LEGO holds value and investing- I think we will find this for other companies as well in the future and look forward to seeing that happen, because they are doing great work!
@@CurKymBrickBuilds You're right, iirc, no licensing from Funwhole (yet), but the others mentioned do it.
Given the presumed complexity of getting hundreds or thousands of correct parts into each set, the overall quality control of all the brands under discussion is amazing. But when Lego is charging double what some of other brands do, they better be darn near perfect, and in recent years, I've actually had a lot more problems with their sets than any competing brands. A far cry from years back when I could open any Lego set and know all parts would be there, match in color, etc. I know I'm hardly alone with that experience. The color inconsistency in particular has been widely commented on.
@@CurKymBrickBuilds I could easily see that happening, too, particular with Funwhole, who have rightly been generating a lot of buzz with theirs sets. Once more people catch on, a secondary market could develop for their sets. Personally, my chief interest is in theme, design, quality, and price. Whether or not I can resell a set isn't as important.
@ same. I want a good price point and something that I enjoy looking at. The resell is not important! Thank you so much for the great convo!!!!