CubitOom@infosec.pub 2 days ago
This sucks, my daughter just got into Lego. I guess it’s just another evil company I’ll be boycotting.
If my daughter wants more Lego, I’ll just buy it second hand
This isn’t a great look, but calling Lego “evil” is a bit of a stretch. This was one report that has no bearing on how they run their company or how they interact with their customers.
They still support and promote diversity in their products, which is where it matters.
No, it’s not. Lego has been bullying local distributors of other brick systems (e. g. CADA) by issuing patent claims, knowing very very well that those claims are false and the patents have expired long ago.
However, customs has to hold and store the shipping containers until the court settles, and they charge for it. A lot. This forces small shops (down to your local mom&pop toy store) to pay for customs storage fees, for weeks, sometimes months. These costs are high enough to force small shops out of business, mind you.
Along with the declining quality of the sets and the increasing cost, Lego is very well a shitty company.
The high cost is an issue, but I don’t know what you’re talking about with declining quality. It’s still fantastic quality.
You might have a point. It’s only one document that they decided not to mention DEI related words in dispite using it 7 times in the same document the previous year.
However, I’ve been on the fence about even buying Lego for my daughter. The fact is that they sell a product entirely made from plastic, it doesn’t matter that they use paper bags now to contain their plastic. This is the modern day equivalent of buying your children toys made with asbestos or lead. These products make our children and planet less healthy in ways we aren’t fully sure yet.
Maybe they aren’t evil. But they also seem to be far from innocent.
I think I’ll still stick to buying second hand if at all.
The plastic used to make Lego is a byproduct of fossil fuels. It won’t stop being added to the environment until we get off of fossil fuels. It’s not like Lego is digging up oil just to make toys.
They’re also actively searching for renewable plastic alternatives. Like, it’s a huge initiative for them.
In the meantime they just recently started a recycling program where they buy back old bricks, with the stated purpose being their concern for what happens to the plastic when it’s no longer being used.
If you’re looking for a toy company that’s conscientious about their impact on the environment, you’d have a hard time finding better than Lego.
I’d agree “evil” might be hyperbolic, but it’s not like Legos are made out of bamboo or aluminum, either.
There are also great alternatives for LEGO compatible toy sets. Some of them are even higher quality than LEGO.
What are the alternatives?
I haven’t built a lot of non LEGO sets but the Pantasy set I recently built was phenomenal. It was the retro computer I got as a gift.
Some of them are even higher quality than LEGO.
Like such as?
Pantasy for instance.
Which ones? Mega Bloks make really nice designs, but the Lego bricks feel better to build with.
I haven’t built a lot of non LEGO sets but the Pantasy set I recently built was phenomenal. It was the retro computer I got as a gift.
If my daughter wants more Lego, I’ll just buy it second hand
That’s where most of the sets my kids had came from.
It’s a durable product that is easy to clean. Buying used is very low risk.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Good news: their patent expired, and offbrand lego now fits on Lego, at a third of the price.
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Do those companies have DEI policies, or are we just indirectly dinging Lego for having had one in the first place?
golli@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Lego as a brand does imo substantially benefit from positive associations such as heritage, sentimentality, and other positive attributes. Otherwise how would they be able to demand such premium prices.
So I would see it less as them being “dinged” for this action, but them losing some of those privileges.
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I have a hard time reading this thread as anything other than suggestions for boycotting Lego based on them having removed their DEI policy, while suggesting alternatives which never had one.
And they still deserve credit for having invented the concept and designed the bulk of the bricks. I don’t see how that changes at all based on whether they have a DEI policy. They obviously should lose any benefit from having a better DEI policy, since they no longer have one, but that doesn’t change anything else.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
I get mine from weird Chinese sites, soooo…
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The official bricks have a better feel than any of the off-brand versions I’ve encountered, though. Every other brand is usually too tight, or sometimes too loose. Lego spent a lot of time perfecting the clasping power, and it shows.
hikaru755@lemmy.world 2 days ago
When have you last tried? The competition has changed immensely during the last couple of years, and there are brands now that have it dialed in just as well as Lego. I highly recommend checking out Lumibricks or Pantasy, those are best in class at the moment, and actually better than Lego in many ways, imo. Or maybe Cada, if you’re more into the Technic side of things
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 days ago
OK, I haven’t tried those. I am currently building the Pikachu from Mega Bloks with my young children, and they are having a noticeably harder time putting the pieces together than with similar complexity Lego sets. That being said, I love the design of the set, and the assembly instructions are arguably at least as good as Lego.
tkohldesac@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Care to share some of these offbrand 1/3 the price lego brands?
Agosagror@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
We should push to add lego piracy to the piracy megathread.
Cheap deals and 3d print models
hikaru755@lemmy.world 2 days ago
My recommendation is Lumibricks or Pantasy. They’re not quite 1/3 of the price of Lego, more around 1/2 on average I think, but both offer the best brick quality that you’re going to get from any company at the moment (they use the same supplier, gobricks). They’re also both offering exclusively original designs, so no copied sets or anything like that, and doing a lot of stuff setting them apart from Lego. Lumibricks has light kits integrated seamlessly into every set and goes hard on printed pieces, no stickers anywhere. Pantasy likes using lots of metallic painted pieces, bigger custom molded pieces, and has a few interesting IPs.
If you’re into Technic, there’s also CaDa, and if you want very accurate display models you could look into Cobi. The later is a polish company that designs and produces entirely in Europe, in contrast to any other brand out there, but that also comes with a price tag that’s pretty similar to Lego at this point.
gratux@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
for technic there’s CaDa
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Anything “Lego” sold on aliexpress.
Zwiebel@feddit.org 2 days ago
Dunno bout cheap ones but BlueBrixx is good quality
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 2 days ago
What about the other colors, though?
hikaru755@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Bluebrixx is definitely around that 1/3 of lego prices. They are hit or miss though when it comes to quality as they use different brick suppliers for different sets, and it’s not always easy to know what you’re getting beforehand.
CrayonDevourer@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Bad news, their patent expired and they in turn, trademarked the bricks. They sue everyone under trademark now, instead of patent infringement.
FenrirIII@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I bought a bunch of minifigs off Amazon sold as “cake toppers” to escape notice.