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Cheap lego caterham
pekwah1 - 25/3/17 at 11:36 PM

Hi guys,

Following a few other posts of people's lego Caterhams, I thought I'd post mine.
First of all, this is NOT lego and comes from https://cheap-bricks.com/
It took a few weeks to arrive but only cost around£30, less than half of the real lego.

Quality wise, I wouldn't know any different to the real lego, and kit is now complete with no problems!
I took the opportunity to go with the caterham blue and yellow which you can't get with lego.

I'll let the pics do the talking:



It came with guns for the exhaust manifold, is this the same as the lego set???






Slimy38 - 26/3/17 at 10:51 AM

Love the guns, it would be interesting to know if the real set has done the same!!

I'm intrigued by these cheap sets now. They've popped up because Lego's patent has expired (or something similar) so they're meant to be pretty much spot on. Having said that, I have heard stories that their quality control isn't the best, and some bricks just don't fit (either too loose or too tight).

I was looking at the Lego Porsche as a first 'dabble', but apparently the real Lego Porsche isn't a great kit to start with. For example, the gearbox is so high ratio that it won't turn in the higher gears. And the flappy paddles are accomplished with elastic bands.

Still, the one thing the cheap sets have (apart from price) is a variety of colours. Even this Caterham comes in half a dozen colours?

Can I ask whether you had to pay any import taxes, VAT/Customs etc?


Slimy38 - 26/3/17 at 11:28 AM

Found the real one, looks like it does!!



MikeRJ - 26/3/17 at 02:50 PM

The real ones uses old school revolvers rather than modern semi-automatic pistols


Gre3D - 26/3/17 at 07:23 PM

that's a nice looking thing! still think it's quite expensive for a chinese copy though :-)


Andi - 26/3/17 at 07:31 PM

Just came back from the Lego shop in Leicester Square (my boy is mad on the stuff) I did pick up the Caterham one and almost bought it
but something was telling me to hold back.
Which is obviously this post
Think ill give these a try
Andi


pekwah1 - 26/3/17 at 08:16 PM

Honestly the quality is spot on, they don't have "lego" on each of the bumps and doesn't come with a box, but one of these or real lego at more than twice the price, I know what I'm.buying next!

Like I said, just be prepared to wait a few weeks for the overseas post...


tr7v8 - 26/3/17 at 09:04 PM

I can't see it on that link, got a better one please?


pekwah1 - 26/3/17 at 09:29 PM

Just use the search option in the top right..,

Otherwise try this:

https://cheap-bricks.com/lepin-21008-creator-caterham-seven-620r/


nick205 - 27/3/17 at 10:46 AM

Having just received and assembled a genuine Lego Caterham that one looks OK to me. Mine used revolvers for the exhaust down pipes - odd maybe, but the finished result looks good to me.


cjwood23 - 28/3/17 at 02:25 PM

That looks pretty good for the money.
I see they also do the Porsche....

Might get the Cateringvan and have a bash at building it - love the exhaust manifold!

***EDIT***

Ordered one - oops!

[Edited on 28/3/17 by cjwood23]


907 - 28/3/17 at 03:43 PM

Does anyone else feel just that little bit sorry for Leggo ?

I was brought up with Leggo. Then along comes some cheapskate who haven't got the brain to invent there own stuff
and destroys your company.


Paul G


steve m - 28/3/17 at 06:32 PM

I do agree with Paul, as I also was brought up with Lego, and loved it

But, they seemed to of got there prices very wrong, for what is basically, a plastic bag full of plastic bits
yet an unkown manufacture, has produced virtually the same thing, from scratch, yet its have the cost ?

mmm, sounds like the lego management team are on a bonus scheme to me


rf900rush - 28/3/17 at 06:55 PM

What I don't get is how much Lego is.

For example over £50 for this. It's a box of plastic bits.

lego
lego



less than £30 for this. This is a box of plastic bits plus a remote controller , 4 electric motors , a controller and a camera.

XC5
XC5


Guess which one I have bought.


Slimy38 - 28/3/17 at 07:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by steve m
I do agree with Paul, as I also was brought up with Lego, and loved it

But, they seemed to of got there prices very wrong, for what is basically, a plastic bag full of plastic bits
yet an unkown manufacture, has produced virtually the same thing, from scratch, yet its have the cost ?

mmm, sounds like the lego management team are on a bonus scheme to me


I agree, I reckon the cost of Lego should have dropped over time, not gone up. I can understand having to cover R&D costs for each new model, maybe a bit of money for licensing, but as you say the cost of manufacture should be rock bottom by now.


coozer - 28/3/17 at 09:25 PM

I wanted the Emerald Night train and the cheapest i could find for the Lego was £450... But found it on that place for a non Lego one for £55 .... I love lego but why not as it looks exactly the same and I've saved a fortune...


cjwood23 - 29/3/17 at 05:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rf900rush
What I don't get is how much Lego is.

For example over £50 for this. It's a box of plastic bits.

lego
lego



less than £30 for this. This is a box of plastic bits plus a remote controller , 4 electric motors , a controller and a camera.

XC5
XC5


Guess which one I have bought.


The Caterham????


Schrodinger - 29/3/17 at 08:55 AM

I wanted a Lotus 7 but could not afford it then along came locostbuilders...........


coozer - 29/3/17 at 10:00 AM

The 24 hour race car on cheap-bricks.com looks canny...


coozer - 29/3/17 at 10:35 AM

And I'm going to order the Tatra 813 truck.....


Matt21 - 29/3/17 at 10:36 AM

Love the big bang theory one cheapbricks sell.... named 'the big explosion' haha

Do you get taxed on the import of them at all? They're all listed in dollars

[Edited on 29/3/17 by Matt21]


coozer - 29/3/17 at 12:59 PM

You can change the currency with the drop down box at the top right.


cjwood23 - 31/3/17 at 01:52 PM

Has anyone been hit with import duty on these?


pekwah1 - 31/3/17 at 05:45 PM

No import duty for me...

To echo other people's comments, problem with lego is that they have massively inflated the cost.
I get pricing according to the brand, but this is supposed to be a mainstream toy...


prawnabie - 31/3/17 at 07:26 PM

IIRC the patent ran out on lego a whilst back..


coozer - 1/4/17 at 08:02 AM

I've got a dude at work who is a lego collector... he has tons of the stuff, generally buys 3 sets when they come out, keeps 2 builds 1..

He's been on the telly with his collection...

You really need to see the sucking lemons look on his phyat when in I mention cheap bricks


cjwood23 - 13/4/17 at 11:27 AM

Well my Caterham turned up yesterday courtesy of Royal Mail - no customs fees to pay as the seller had handily marked it's value at $15.

Have yet to unpack it and see which manufacturer it is or what the quality is like.

Quite impressed with delivery time too as I ordered it on 28th March.


cjwood23 - 13/4/17 at 11:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I've got a dude at work who is a lego collector... he has tons of the stuff, generally buys 3 sets when they come out, keeps 2 builds 1..

He's been on the telly with his collection...

You really need to see the sucking lemons look on his phyat when in I mention cheap bricks


My Lego mad mate at work has referred to it as 'smego' or 'rego'.

Mind you though, I'll be the one laughing if it turns out decent quality - which if it does I can see the GT3 RS making its way over too.


02GF74 - 13/4/17 at 06:37 PM

When the Lego management team were told about cheap bricks they went to pieces.


Andi - 13/4/17 at 07:55 PM

I ordered one just after this post came up. Took 5 days to get here and is fantastic.


02GF74 - 13/4/17 at 09:23 PM

After the finance people analysed the impact on Legos profits due to cheap bricks, the directors were bricking it.


cjwood23 - 27/4/17 at 06:48 PM

Started my Caterham last night.


Realised that bag numbers meant diddley and just dumped the lot on a tray - way more fun!


Went together fairly well and impressed with the quality of the bricks. Only issue was trying to distinguish between black and dark grey in the instructions.







Really good fun and pretty good quality - well worth the £25.00!!

Will be getting more in the future - tempted to get my lad the Millennium Falcon for his Birthday.


dome - 18/5/17 at 11:57 AM

I've had the genuine Caterham since Christmas and always wanted a blue one to match my Locost. Just ordered one of these, thanks for the headsup!


coozer - 19/5/17 at 11:27 AM

How long did it take to come?

So far I've ordered one house which arrived in 48 hours and I've now been waiting 9 weeks for the Tatra 8x8.. now battling with aliexpress to get a refund....