Lego is such a huge brand and pressence, practically synonymous with brick building toys. So it is always cool to see what other companies can come up with
I am glad other companies are starting to offer increasingly better quality products. Competition is always good for the customer and LEGO need to stop increasing their price while reducing the production quality. And I am saying that as someone who own multiple big sets and love the LEGO system.
great review as always!!! this looks soooo much better than most of what LEGO came up with recently ... best thing: no off colors.. no stupid blue pins... printed plaque... it looks nice from every angle... i love LEGO , dont get me wrong... but this is how LEGO racing cars should look like... and the icing on the cake is the price, which is really fair...
The competition is creeping up, guess what Lego: cheaping out on prints, getting less colour consistency between parts and raising prizes can only work so long. Really hope Lego slowly but surely feels the consumer moving away from most of their overpriced crap. Good job CaDA!
TLG has built up a huge loyal fanbase though. In the end that always wins out over pure quality. Sure some people will look elsewhere but most won't. A lot of people even get instant icky feelings when considering "fake" Lego. A daily read of the Lego subreddit makes that pretty clear. I do hope that Lego takes note and starts improving their stuff. For now though... I don't think they have to when it comes to sales.
The thing that's nice about the more well established third-party brick companies is that they actually license designs from community members and AFOLs. So people that are working more towards a passion project than towards a product. And that also allows them to do models of slightly different types of things than Lego does. Like more obscure licensed stuff, military vehicles, and niche interest topics.
For $150, this seems like a great value. I agree though - their sticker game needs improving big time. But nearly $100 less than a LEGO set of the same size....very, very nice! Thanks for the review! Very fair and detailed, as usual!
The modular sets from other companies offering brick sets are also starting to match and in some cases exceed Lego for design, ease of build, etc. The quality of the bricks is close enough at this point that a person can no longer legitimately say "It's not Lego quality bricks so I won't buy it". Lego needs to wake up and wise up
This set looks so good! I have the Lego racers 1:9 scale Ferrari F1 car, one of my most priced sets.. I’m not a fan of technic so I really wish Lego would produce more brick built F1 cars in that scale.
Even though the quality of the product itself may be comparable, what mostly concerns me with off-brand construction toys is that Lego has always put a lot of effort and resources towards developing and expanding their system, all while maintaining full compatibility. That is what makes it so great. If Lego would face too much competition from companies that do not make those investments, and instead simply base their products off of what Lego is doing, Lego might have to cut down on innovation. Not saying that this is the case right now btw, not by a long shot, but it might be in the future
I started buying Cada sets and have really enjoyed making them as they are for now, a much different experience from building a Lego set. The design, parts, building techniques are very different from Lego, so it does require you to be more attentive on what you're doing and rechecking your work is also a must when you first start doing Cada sets. The value of their sets is totally amazing given the piece count of the sets they offer. I have not bought this set yet that you reviewed but it's definitely on the list now.
Great review. I built this model a few months back. The finished product is really quite impressive. But as far as general building experience goes, I gotta give it to Lego. Way less frustration, more fun, and still sufficiently challenging; just my opinion.
I just realize that CaDa is a brand owned by the toy company in my hometown, which I am not surprised. My hometown make and export almost 50% of Chinese-made the toys and stuff animals. After copying/imitating Lego for many years, these Chinese brick brands now developed many original theme and customized bricks (including some very delicates food sets). Cheaper, but less durable than Lego, they are really good supplements to any Lego brick collections.
I too had a couple of pieces missing but CADA sent replacements real quick for me. I also had the same random extra pieces, including the two red connectors you mentioned, they were actually one of the pieces I was missing but in a different colour, white I think it was. This is a great set, far more accurate, and way better than any F1 Car LEGO have ever done. My only complaint is also the stickers, I don't mind the clear backing but the stickers over multiple pieces, especially when no need to be, was annoying. I'd rather the stickers be pre cut in to sections so you put part of the sticker on each of the pieces it covers. CADA also do a little Speed Champions style version of this car and that is awesome too, except the stickers in that also cover multiple pieces and oddly are used on the tyre walls, very strange. Great content, and thanks for the alternative reviews!
I love the way it's taking shape but it's maddeningly difficult in certain parts, mainly because the building process has not been as well thought out with the builder in mind, like we're used to with Lego. Nevertheless, if you have the patience to undo and rebuild, it will turn out to be a stunning piece.
Awesome coverage, Jang! as always. As great as this looks - especially for the price, I really wish this (and many others like it on the market) didn't all so heavily rely on so many copied individual pieces from Lego's library... and I'm not talking about generic pieces like standard studded bricks (which lego themselves originally copied and have since lost the patent to) or simple '+' axles... I mean very specific, recognizable, original lego shapes and designs like a lot of the "technic panels" here (and in particular those classic "bohrok eye" parts) that the only explanation for another company even having being that they stole it from Lego too when they coppied their entire library. Without the history behind some of those specific parts - there's no justification for them being totally identical imo. I personally wouldn't call myself a purist, and I can count the total number of Lego sets I've bought since before the pandemic started on my two hands - none at all in over a year now too. It just makes it harder for me to take these brands as seriously as I want to, and to see their products as a true competitor to Lego's when they are so blatantly ripping off Lego's work and relying on that familiarity instead of really innovating. In other words: these aren't the Xbox to Sony's PlayStation 2 I want to see give Lego a run for their money... they're the cheaper, "off-brand" PS2 *compatible* peripherals that are seemingly banking on being mistaken for - or at least close enough to the "real thing".
Stickers applied over multiple parts is an extreme no-no from me. I love to dis-assemble sets after being built so I can then re-build later and still get the satisfaction of the build process. And to aid with swapping out sets in my limited space....
I’m not a fan but I can live with them if the set is good enough. Used to be pretty common with Lego too - I think my Maersk train has several areas with STAMP
Significant Brick construction mixed with Technic. I wish Lego would do this again. Like the old Model Team kits. I like the action features seen in modern Technic, but not the open gaps and holes everywhere. and not the tedium of hundreds of tiny axles and pins to squeeze together.
Hi Jang. I had the same 2 red pieces left at the end. My nose is bowed upwards as well. I wish you wouldve rolled it cause mine is semi loud from the 3 knob gears. Thanks for the review!
Even though Lego is still unmatched in its quality, they can afford to slack of with their design high price point and still get away with it because there's simply no competitors on the market. That is, however, slowly starting to change and this a prime example. It's miles better in terms of authenticity than both the McLaren and the Mercedes Technic models. We need other brands to step up their game and make Lego step up theirs as well.
I can see the appeal of Lego's more obvious Technic build but as a representation of the real thing this set is far more impressive. I'm also struck by the willingness of a lower cost competitor to go the extra mile. It makes Lego's failure to produce properly sized rear tires all the more glaring.
this is a very surprising video to find here :O nevertheless, you seem to enjoy it and sum it up in yourusual, positively minded neutral-ish opinion way- i like it ah i see a branching happened. good thing they also look great without the stickers
It looks so good, and so much better than the Mclaren Lego came out with (and I'd say the nose is done better than the Mercedes even) but shame about the stickers going over multiple parts.
The nose shouldn't be angled upwards. That's a builder error I'm afraid. I can confirm though that the half-pins in the engine have too much friction and need swapping out for Lego parts to operate smoothly.
By chance do you see in the video what's off, or do you have any idea what it might be? If I squeeze & rotate the nose assembly forward as far as it'll go (it has pin-connected points that allow the top & bottom surfaces to shimmy before final assembly) the gap I mentioned goes away, but when it's at rest a little bit of stress pulls it back out 1-2mm. All the pin placements along the dark red band are verified correct. If anything was shifted by a full modulus in any direction the whole structure would be significantly thrown off. When you built yours, did you not feel like the 3W top panel with the long sponsor/number sticker needed another 1 or 2mm length to span the distance comfortably?
@@JANGBRiCKS I didn't have any difficulty with the top panel causing tension, though I do recall the nose being a bit awkward to connect. The gap on the underside area of your nose connection (visible at 14:58) should not be there - see instructions step D115 for how three pins there should connect for a flush finish. I can't tell from your video what's causing your gap, but maybe a mismoulded pin somewhere preventing that connection.
Lego is going to price themselves out of business soon. They need to wake up. These other companies are getting close or almost even better than Lego brick quality.
LEGO got their start by copying another company's basic bricks (starting with the iconic 2x4). The other company didn't know bout it for years, is how they got away with it. By the time the previous company's founder found out, he was already in financial ruin and nearing the end of his life and made the kind gesture of giving LEGO his (completely informal) approval. After nearly a decade of profiting from their ripoff, LEGO introduced their first design innovation and acquired a design patent for it. That patent, in turn, expired in most forms & regions by the 1980s, meaning any company since then has been able to make compatible bricks legally. Only in the past handful of years has LEGO found a legal process in the EU that lets them begin to patent brand new individual part designs for protection, which they've been doing rigorously, and sometimes hilariously. They tried to patent the "new" 1x5 plate, for example, an effort which COBI (which has sold 1x5s, 2x5s, 1x7s, 2x9s, etc. etc. for years) handily shot down. Many of the "new" pieces LEGO has introduced over the past decade have been produced by other brands long before. This CaDA set has more unfamiliar (to me) pieces than anything I've ever had my hands on before. They have Technic panel shapes, pin/axle permutations and connectors that are generic enough to be used for all sorts of subjects, but without equal in the LEGO catalog. CaDA also has numerous useful brick-based parts that the likes of Cobi & Mega have done great work with for years, like various wedge tiles, different styles of "cheese wedge" type bits, and best of all, plates with studs on top & bottom for instant 180 building direction changes without resorting to bulky SNOT contraptions.
Im building this one right now and did have one major part missing which was the white part on the gearbox that hold the gears in place which cada sent out qite promptly i have to say.The big disappointment with this kit is definitely the stickers as i was going into this with high expectations not to mention the colour of the white writing is really not that white at all going by what they look like on the model in the instruction manual ,the clear backing is just a horrible idea and considering all the things they did to make this kit look so good E.G presentation which is just Beautifully done i just dont understand how they could get the sticker set so horribly wrong! If anyone is building this at the moment i recommend to NOT use the soapy water method for the stickers as it will make it worse i tried it and ruined one sticker and being a modeller and a rc car builder pretty hard for me to do but not with these unfortunately! Be careful when putting the wheels on and dont force them as you may break one of the pins inside the wheel, i also found that i did have some parts left over and some bigger parts which i thought strange so i looked over thoroughly and noticed i had left a couple out so just make sure to check and double check! I really love the look of the car and its just such a shame that the stickers really let it down but apart from that its good build and can be pretty tricky at times !
Cada is not a competitor at Technic, its the current leader. Lego may have more sets and more variety, but recently the technic sets have been very basic and underwhelming. Cada does not only make great looking display sets, but the technic part is also very satifying.
Jang casually saying to Lego: “You can do better and for much less money”
Lego is such a huge brand and pressence, practically synonymous with brick building toys. So it is always cool to see what other companies can come up with
Honestly they've been overdoing Lego is some aspects for a while now.
I would buy every LEGO Technic set if they looked this good. (but that would easily double the cost, I know)
I am glad other companies are starting to offer increasingly better quality products. Competition is always good for the customer and LEGO need to stop increasing their price while reducing the production quality. And I am saying that as someone who own multiple big sets and love the LEGO system.
Holy cow, that is incredible looking. Great review as always!
great review as always!!! this looks soooo much better than most of what LEGO came up with recently ... best thing: no off colors.. no stupid blue pins... printed plaque... it looks nice from every angle... i love LEGO , dont get me wrong... but this is how LEGO racing cars should look like... and the icing on the cake is the price, which is really fair...
The competition is creeping up, guess what Lego: cheaping out on prints, getting less colour consistency between parts and raising prizes can only work so long. Really hope Lego slowly but surely feels the consumer moving away from most of their overpriced crap. Good job CaDA!
TLG has built up a huge loyal fanbase though. In the end that always wins out over pure quality. Sure some people will look elsewhere but most won't. A lot of people even get instant icky feelings when considering "fake" Lego. A daily read of the Lego subreddit makes that pretty clear.
I do hope that Lego takes note and starts improving their stuff. For now though... I don't think they have to when it comes to sales.
The thing that's nice about the more well established third-party brick companies is that they actually license designs from community members and AFOLs. So people that are working more towards a passion project than towards a product. And that also allows them to do models of slightly different types of things than Lego does. Like more obscure licensed stuff, military vehicles, and niche interest topics.
Wow, this is pretty impressive looking! My goodness!
Love seeing these non-Lego reviews, Jang.
For $150, this seems like a great value. I agree though - their sticker game needs improving big time. But nearly $100 less than a LEGO set of the same size....very, very nice! Thanks for the review! Very fair and detailed, as usual!
Best Set. I bought it last year for 50€ in China. ( work & living there) Stickers are terrible, but without it‘s not a F1. Greetings from 🇩🇪
The modular sets from other companies offering brick sets are also starting to match and in some cases exceed Lego for design, ease of build, etc. The quality of the bricks is close enough at this point that a person can no longer legitimately say "It's not Lego quality bricks so I won't buy it". Lego needs to wake up and wise up
Looks really nice! For a second I thought this was a remote control car!
This set looks so good! I have the Lego racers 1:9 scale Ferrari F1 car, one of my most priced sets.. I’m not a fan of technic so I really wish Lego would produce more brick built F1 cars in that scale.
Even though the quality of the product itself may be comparable, what mostly concerns me with off-brand construction toys is that Lego has always put a lot of effort and resources towards developing and expanding their system, all while maintaining full compatibility. That is what makes it so great. If Lego would face too much competition from companies that do not make those investments, and instead simply base their products off of what Lego is doing, Lego might have to cut down on innovation.
Not saying that this is the case right now btw, not by a long shot, but it might be in the future
Looks fantastic great detail awseome review jang 👍
Beautiful car, thank you for the extensive review.
I started buying Cada sets and have really enjoyed making them as they are for now, a much different experience from building a Lego set. The design, parts, building techniques are very different from Lego, so it does require you to be more attentive on what you're doing and rechecking your work is also a must when you first start doing Cada sets. The value of their sets is totally amazing given the piece count of the sets they offer. I have not bought this set yet that you reviewed but it's definitely on the list now.
Great review. I built this model a few months back. The finished product is really quite impressive. But as far as general building experience goes, I gotta give it to Lego. Way less frustration, more fun, and still sufficiently challenging; just my opinion.
I just realize that CaDa is a brand owned by the toy company in my hometown, which I am not surprised. My hometown make and export almost 50% of Chinese-made the toys and stuff animals. After copying/imitating Lego for many years, these Chinese brick brands now developed many original theme and customized bricks (including some very delicates food sets). Cheaper, but less durable than Lego, they are really good supplements to any Lego brick collections.
Still have to build this one. Looking forward to it very much. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.
I love the colour.
Hi Jang, great review. Prize in Germany is around 100€, so even a greater gap to Lego prizes
Great detailed and fair review! Great model choice, even though my guess was wrong 😎.
at first i thought it was the 8451 LEGO WILLIAMS in red.... very good kit ! like the wheels !
I too had a couple of pieces missing but CADA sent replacements real quick for me. I also had the same random extra pieces, including the two red connectors you mentioned, they were actually one of the pieces I was missing but in a different colour, white I think it was.
This is a great set, far more accurate, and way better than any F1 Car LEGO have ever done.
My only complaint is also the stickers, I don't mind the clear backing but the stickers over multiple pieces, especially when no need to be, was annoying. I'd rather the stickers be pre cut in to sections so you put part of the sticker on each of the pieces it covers. CADA also do a little Speed Champions style version of this car and that is awesome too, except the stickers in that also cover multiple pieces and oddly are used on the tyre walls, very strange.
Great content, and thanks for the alternative reviews!
Thanks! Always great and interesting to see alternative brands! Keep up the great work!!
Lego is offering value for reasonable cost less and less. It's time to explore alternates. This is a great car.
This honestly looks pretty great to my eyes.
Better dimensions than LEGO overall, all the way down to the rubber
I love the way it's taking shape but it's maddeningly difficult in certain parts, mainly because the building process has not been as well thought out with the builder in mind, like we're used to with Lego. Nevertheless, if you have the patience to undo and rebuild, it will turn out to be a stunning piece.
Cada have came a long way. Really slick and good model. 👍🏻
Awesome coverage, Jang! as always.
As great as this looks - especially for the price, I really wish this (and many others like it on the market) didn't all so heavily rely on so many copied individual pieces from Lego's library...
and I'm not talking about generic pieces like standard studded bricks (which lego themselves originally copied and have since lost the patent to) or simple '+' axles...
I mean very specific, recognizable, original lego shapes and designs like a lot of the "technic panels" here (and in particular those classic "bohrok eye" parts) that the only explanation for another company even having being that they stole it from Lego too when they coppied their entire library. Without the history behind some of those specific parts - there's no justification for them being totally identical imo.
I personally wouldn't call myself a purist, and I can count the total number of Lego sets I've bought since before the pandemic started on my two hands - none at all in over a year now too. It just makes it harder for me to take these brands as seriously as I want to, and to see their products as a true competitor to Lego's when they are so blatantly ripping off Lego's work and relying on that familiarity instead of really innovating.
In other words: these aren't the Xbox to Sony's PlayStation 2 I want to see give Lego a run for their money... they're the cheaper, "off-brand" PS2 *compatible* peripherals that are seemingly banking on being mistaken for - or at least close enough to the "real thing".
Great looking set, especially the tires. But just with Lego, I'm not a fan of stickers especially so many and so large ones.
CaDa seems like a good lego-thing
Their Japanese street scene modulars are super cool. Interesting to build and gorgeous on the shelf.
Stickers applied over multiple parts is an extreme no-no from me. I love to dis-assemble sets after being built so I can then re-build later and still get the satisfaction of the build process. And to aid with swapping out sets in my limited space....
I’m not a fan but I can live with them if the set is good enough. Used to be pretty common with Lego too - I think my Maersk train has several areas with STAMP
More non-Lego reviews, please! There are so many interesting sets out there from Lego's competitors.
That looks nice and tidy 🙂
It’s marvelous
They’re also good in designing rear wheels. :)
Significant Brick construction mixed with Technic.
I wish Lego would do this again. Like the old Model Team kits.
I like the action features seen in modern Technic, but not the open gaps and holes everywhere. and not the tedium of hundreds of tiny axles and pins to squeeze together.
❤❤❤ except for the STAMPS 😅
Hi Jang. I had the same 2 red pieces left at the end. My nose is bowed upwards as well. I wish you wouldve rolled it cause mine is semi loud from the 3 knob gears. Thanks for the review!
CADA is Next Level compared to Lego, but not for beginners.
Cada and other brands are great. In the last few years I have gotten more alternative brands than real lego
Jang would you be interested in trying out some of the Cobi 1:12 scaled cars and comparing them with some Lego ones?
Even though Lego is still unmatched in its quality, they can afford to slack of with their design high price point and still get away with it because there's simply no competitors on the market. That is, however, slowly starting to change and this a prime example. It's miles better in terms of authenticity than both the McLaren and the Mercedes Technic models. We need other brands to step up their game and make Lego step up theirs as well.
that's a very pretty set
I can see the appeal of Lego's more obvious Technic build but as a representation of the real thing this set is far more impressive. I'm also struck by the willingness of a lower cost competitor to go the extra mile. It makes Lego's failure to produce properly sized rear tires all the more glaring.
Do those tires fit Lego rims? I would put those even on the orange Lego McLaren with those Pirelli markings...
this is a very surprising video to find here :O nevertheless, you seem to enjoy it and sum it up in yourusual, positively minded neutral-ish opinion way- i like it
ah i see a branching happened.
good thing they also look great without the stickers
It looks so good, and so much better than the Mclaren Lego came out with (and I'd say the nose is done better than the Mercedes even)
but shame about the stickers going over multiple parts.
f1 is booming right now
They got more things right than lego releases. Look at those tires.
The nose shouldn't be angled upwards. That's a builder error I'm afraid. I can confirm though that the half-pins in the engine have too much friction and need swapping out for Lego parts to operate smoothly.
By chance do you see in the video what's off, or do you have any idea what it might be? If I squeeze & rotate the nose assembly forward as far as it'll go (it has pin-connected points that allow the top & bottom surfaces to shimmy before final assembly) the gap I mentioned goes away, but when it's at rest a little bit of stress pulls it back out 1-2mm. All the pin placements along the dark red band are verified correct. If anything was shifted by a full modulus in any direction the whole structure would be significantly thrown off. When you built yours, did you not feel like the 3W top panel with the long sponsor/number sticker needed another 1 or 2mm length to span the distance comfortably?
@@JANGBRiCKS I didn't have any difficulty with the top panel causing tension, though I do recall the nose being a bit awkward to connect. The gap on the underside area of your nose connection (visible at 14:58) should not be there - see instructions step D115 for how three pins there should connect for a flush finish. I can't tell from your video what's causing your gap, but maybe a mismoulded pin somewhere preventing that connection.
Just looking at looks so more like a scale model than Lego’s.
Have you seen the new Audi touring car set by Hotwheels/Mega?
Lego is going to price themselves out of business soon. They need to wake up. These other companies are getting close or almost even better than Lego brick quality.
How does a company get away with copying all the parts? Serious question
LEGO got their start by copying another company's basic bricks (starting with the iconic 2x4). The other company didn't know bout it for years, is how they got away with it. By the time the previous company's founder found out, he was already in financial ruin and nearing the end of his life and made the kind gesture of giving LEGO his (completely informal) approval. After nearly a decade of profiting from their ripoff, LEGO introduced their first design innovation and acquired a design patent for it. That patent, in turn, expired in most forms & regions by the 1980s, meaning any company since then has been able to make compatible bricks legally. Only in the past handful of years has LEGO found a legal process in the EU that lets them begin to patent brand new individual part designs for protection, which they've been doing rigorously, and sometimes hilariously. They tried to patent the "new" 1x5 plate, for example, an effort which COBI (which has sold 1x5s, 2x5s, 1x7s, 2x9s, etc. etc. for years) handily shot down. Many of the "new" pieces LEGO has introduced over the past decade have been produced by other brands long before. This CaDA set has more unfamiliar (to me) pieces than anything I've ever had my hands on before. They have Technic panel shapes, pin/axle permutations and connectors that are generic enough to be used for all sorts of subjects, but without equal in the LEGO catalog. CaDA also has numerous useful brick-based parts that the likes of Cobi & Mega have done great work with for years, like various wedge tiles, different styles of "cheese wedge" type bits, and best of all, plates with studs on top & bottom for instant 180 building direction changes without resorting to bulky SNOT contraptions.
If a company with far more limited resources than Lego can get dark red parts to match than why can't Lego...
Im building this one right now and did have one major part missing which was the white part on the gearbox that hold the gears in place which cada sent out qite promptly i have to say.The big disappointment with this kit is definitely the stickers as i was going into this with high expectations not to mention the colour of the white writing is really not that white at all going by what they look like on the model in the instruction manual ,the clear backing is just a horrible idea and considering all the things they did to make this kit look so good E.G presentation which is just Beautifully done i just dont understand how they could get the sticker set so horribly wrong! If anyone is building this at the moment i recommend to NOT use the soapy water method for the stickers as it will make it worse i tried it and ruined one sticker and being a modeller and a rc car builder pretty hard for me to do but not with these unfortunately! Be careful when putting the wheels on and dont force them as you may break one of the pins inside the wheel, i also found that i did have some parts left over and some bigger parts which i thought strange so i looked over thoroughly and noticed i had left a couple out so just make sure to check and double check! I really love the look of the car and its just such a shame that the stickers really let it down but apart from that its good build and can be pretty tricky at times !
😊
😍😍😍
Awesome build. Shame it’s the worst team in F1 though lol.
Cada is not a competitor at Technic, its the current leader. Lego may have more sets and more variety, but recently the technic sets have been very basic and underwhelming. Cada does not only make great looking display sets, but the technic part is also very satifying.