Hello and welcome to the other side of the bricks. This is a starter guide for everyone who wants to buy any types of bricks, building blocks or minifigures from China.

It's a reworked version of the previous guide. This guide contains everything you need to know and has lots of useful links. List of all guides is available here.

Introduction.

This sub was named after one of the most famous knock off bricks company - Lepin. Lepin is shut down now, but for many people the term "Lepin" means all kind of bricks and sets from chinese companies. There's no unified terms: ko bricks, bootlego, Lepin, alternative bricks etc.

This sub is about all kinds of bricks and building blocks.

In short, about the chinese bricks market:

There are dozens of brick manufacturers in China. The items they produce can be categorized into:

1. Made of Lego-compatible bricks:

• Lego replicas (including replicas with modifications)
• MOCs (from any sources - freely available, licensed and even taken without permission)
• Original sets (for example Enlighten's sub brand Keeppley has the license on Evangelion and Doraemon sets, CADA has the license on Initial D)
• Spare parts (including baseplates)
• Duplo-like stuff (mostly bricks, plates and figures)

2. Made of Lego-like bricks:

• Smaller scale Lego bricks (like Loz)
• Not quite Lego-like bricks, but still bricks (like Nano Blocks, Diamond Blocks)

3. Minifigures:

• Lego minifigure clones
• Custom minifigure clones
• Original ones (based on existing series, but ones Lego doesn't have or just really original ones)
• Minifigures spare parts

Each cloned set can be produced by several brands. Brick4.com is your best friend in searching sets, checking differences, browsing reviews with pictures.

But there are also many original sets and MOCs, don't hesitate to use search by name.

Contents:

1. What is Lepin? What about other brands?
2. What brands exist nowadays, and what about their quality?
3. What should I know before buying?
4. Where to buy and how to buy?
5. Spare parts, extra bricks.
6. Minifigures.
7. Support original creators
8. Additional info.
9. Got questions?

​

1. What is Lepin? What about other brands?

Skip this if you are not interested in Lepin story. Just remember Lepin does not exist as a brand anymore. Now it operates as KING/Queen/Jack/ZEBRA/Lion King. There are many more companies, some of them existed even before the creation of Lepin.

Lepin was a Chinese manufacturer that appeared around 2016 and continued its activity till 2019. Lepin has produced replicas of more than several hundreds of diffirent Lego sets, as well as some MOCs, Ideas sets that were not produced by Lego and even few original products.

Lepin became pretty popular in these 3 years, mostly because it gave people what they wanted - affordable good quality replicas of retired Lego sets and cheap replicas of current Lego sets. At first it seemed Lego didn't consider Lepin as a threat, seeing them as just another small bootleg company like Sheng Yuan (that existed before Lepin btw) or Decool. But later seeing Lepin's success Lego filed a lawsuit against Lepin and a couple of other bootlego companies.

In 2019 several Lepin officials were arrested and their factory was shut down. Of course it was because of Lego.

After a pause Lepin returned under the name NUOGAO, but very soon they revealed new names - for now brands KING/Queen with subbrands Jack, ZEBRA and Lion King.

Lepin also had sister company XingBao which still exists and from the beginning was focused on original MOCs instead of Lego replicas. So it didn't suffer the shutdown as designs were mostly original and Lego bricks patent has expired (means any company can legally produce Lego compatible bricks).

Other ko companies also had lawsuit filed against them, mostly for using Lego's box design. Btw Lego can't sue someone for IP that doesn't belong to them. For example if Lego Star Wars sets were copied, Disney would have to sue the Chinese companies as SW IP belongs to them.

A lot of companies have some additional names, like Decool (JiSi) and Bela (Leri/Lari).

2. What brands exist nowadays and what about their quality?

As said above Lepin is dead, long live the KING. But in general we discuss all kinds of brands here and generally, their quality is impressive and prices are reasonable.

You can check the brand list on Brick4. Brick4 is a catalog of all kind of Lego, knock off and original sets (MOCs as well). If you know any set number you can find all replicas of the set.

Brands: http://brick4.com/brand/list/

Brands that produce sets:

KING/Queen/Jack/ZEBRA/Lion King, Mould King (it's not related to KING, it's a different brand), Sheng Yuan (SY), Sembo, Decool/JISI, LELE, Bela/LERI, Xingbao, Panlos, Super 18K, Enlighten, Winner, Kazi, Ausini, Sluban, DINGGAO, Cobi, CADA and many others.

Brands that produce minifigures:

Pogo(PG), XINH, World Minifigures (WM), LELE, Decool, SY, Kopf, Koruit, KL, DLP and some more.

You can check existing minifigures on https://www.herobloks.com/. It also includes Lego and custom Lego minifigs, don't forget to use filters.

Quality. These days it is really hard to find shitty quality sets. The brands listed here are all of quite decent quality. At least 95% of Lego quality, but usually better.

Of course some sets, especially big MOCs that were designed digitally will have assembly issues, sometimes they require some fixing. But the price you pay for it is way lower than if you were using real Lego parts.

There is one brick supplier (OEM) that is considered the best - GoBricks. Some say it's on par with Lego. You can check what brands use GoBricks here and here.

! Read this, it is a very thorough opinion about different brands by u/arsenal2LikeAllForum: https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/kd0ueb/bootlego_knockoff_lepin_review_and_a_few/

What quality-related problems can occur?

• Missing pieces (if you miss a few bricks, it's the factory's fault) or missing bags (usually the seller's fault).
• Damaged or malformed pieces - most likely damaged or unfinished during the injection molding process.
• Incorrectly molded pieces - pieces that have some excessive height, for example.

Of course they don't occur in every set, but you can encounter such problems from time to time. You can contact the seller and ask them to send missing/broken pieces. Alternatively, here is a list of stores that sell separate bricks: https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/gi89wf/spare_parts_stores_list/

Are Chinese bricks safe?

I would say yes, they are mostly made for the Chinese domestic market, using the same process and materials (ABS) Lego uses.

Besides, we use lots of plastic things everyday, including kitchenware made in China.

In the last couple of years, I haven't heard any cases of lead poisoning or anything else serious from contact with these bricks. They might be a little oily with residue leftovers, but this might happen with Lego bricks too, because the production technology is similar.

After owning ko sets and minifigures for more than 5 years myself, I’m still alive.

How do the bricks age?

From my personal experience, they age normally (I have sets from 2015). Yellowing of white colored pieces is possible - it’s the same as with Lego parts. Just don't expose them to direct sunlight and don't use any aggressive cleaning agents on them.

3. What should I know before buying?

• Lepin doesn't exist anymore, so Lepin sets might be hard or impossible to obtain. Some stores might still have a couple in stock (see store list below).
• If you want a replica of a certain set or MOC, use brick4.com to find which brands make it and use their setcodes for searching.
• Brick4.com is also helpful if you want to take a look at real pictures of the set. If you look up the set info, there might be links to reviews in Chinese - they usually include many photos.
• Before asking which brand is best, get an idea about which set you want to buy. A brand’s quality might differ from set to set, and some sets might only be available from a single brand, anyway.
• Picking a store depends on your location and user reviews. Some stores do not ship to certain countries, while others might charge crazy delivery fees.
• There are a lot of reviews on this sub. They might help you decide what sets to buy. Use the search function or look for reviews on the item pages on brick4.com
• Usually all types of building blocks are sold without the original box to customers outside of China, because it massively reduces shipping fees. In case you want a boxed version, you have to contact the seller - the box will cost you extra. Generally speaking, the boxes usually aren’t very high quality and aren’t worth the additional money, in my opinion.
• Check prices at different stores to learn the average price. Some stores do not include shipping in the item price, while others do.
• Minifigures might not be displayed on pictures because of Lego copyright issues, but they are included (if the original set has them). Mocs might not include minifigures. Look for reviews.
• Older sets that were released before 2017 didn't have the parts sorted into the bags by building steps, now they usually do. Some still don't, especially MOCs that are sold by some stores as a bunch of spare parts.
• You might have to buy the instructions from the original creator if the set you bought is a MOC. Message seller for info or visit Rebrickable.
• If the set is a replica of Lego set (check Brick4), Lego instructions can be used. You can download Lego instructions here. Other brands’ instructions might be harder to find.
• Customs fees might occur, they depend on your country's laws. The seller may assist you by declaring lower package value, but that won't guarantee you won't be charged.
• Do not order “presell” (preorder) sets before they are out. They won't be shipped earlier, prices might change and you don't know when the set is going to be released.
• Anything sold supercheap is most likely fraud. Don't be naive, there is self-cost of the set and at the delivery fee. If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
• There are brands that sell smaller scale but still Lego-like bricks - LOZ, for example. There are also diamond blocks that are even smaller, but they are not Lego-like.

4. Where to buy and how to buy?

Where:

None of the brands have an official store. Stores either have their own stock or do dropshipping, which means you are buying from a reseller. Always. Any store that claims to be official is lying. Here's an example.

The correct way to buy is to find a reseller in China.

There are several sources to buy from (they all received positive feedback here, check our Seller Ratings threads):

1) Online stores. You can read detailed info in Stores rating thread (available on sidebar or "About" section on mobile version).

Yourwobb (https://www.yourwobb.com/) 5% discount on selected products by Reddit YWOBB promocode. Managed by[ u/Loy_Chen](https://www.reddit.com/u/Loy_Chen/)

Jeremy (https://www.comebackjeremy.com/)

Loltoy (https://loltoy.myshopify.com/)

Joy (https://joooooy.com/)

Barweer (https://www.barweer.com/) Mixed feedback, but has US warehouse.

Astrobricks (https://astrobricks.com/) Order via AliExpress, coupon codes are here, managed by u/Rickozz

Astromoc https://astromoc.com/ same as Astrobricks, but focused on MOCs, website order. Coupon codes are here.

CreepHybrid (https://creephybrid.easy.co and https://www.reddit.com/r/CreepHybrid/) Retired Lepin sets and rare sets by other brands, but also new ones. Managed by[ u/magnifizio](https://www.reddit.com/user/magnifizio/)

Hitian (https://www.hitian.cn/)

Vonado (https://www.vonado.com/) A lot of MOCs sold as sets of bricks.

JoinToy (https://www.jointoy.com/)

Brick Me Up Scottie (https://www.brickmeupscottie.com/) managed by u/brickmeupscottie

Blue Brixx (https://www.bluebrixx.com/) German store with Chinese sets, but not replicas.

Minifigures Mall (https://www.minifiguresmall.com/) Minifigures.

World Minifigs (https://www.worldminifigs.com/) Minifigures.

2) AliExpress.

AliExpress is a huge trading platform. Refer to our AliExpress buyer's guide to learn the basics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TApv0EhSMiZsrqH1xZxDE7LLSGgZPIlAmmiujHfq2U0/

There are plenty of brick sellers out there, some even provide delivery from european warehouses (from Spain or Poland, for example). Check here how to search for sets.

Check the seller ratings thread and reviews before ordering. AliExpress has buyer protection, though some actions might be required for it to work, refer to the AE FAQ above. A list of AE stores with good feedback can be found in Monthly Stores Rating: https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/wiki/storesratingthread

3) There are couple of more options but they are not that popular:

Taobao + shopping agent service. Taobao is a domestic Chinese marketplace (AliExpress is an international version of TaoBao), and sellers usually don’t ship internationally. You have to use a shopping agent service that will forward your items. The final prices are on par with AE, but AE has better buyer protection. TaoBao can be used to obtain some rare or older sets that you can't buy anywhere else.

Ebay prices aren’t that good usually, because on ebay you deal with a reseller that already bought items in China from a Chinese reseller and added extra markup.

! Fake official Lepin-something websites or stores (lepinland, bricklepin, lepinbrick, etc) are lying about being official, often do not include shipping charges in items' prices and tend to be more expensive in the end, but they will ship your orders.

Shady online stores with way too attractive prices that will take your money and will vanish.

HOW:

If buying from AliExpess, read the AliExpress guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TApv0EhSMiZsrqH1xZxDE7LLSGgZPIlAmmiujHfq2U0/

If buying from an online store, follow some simple rules:

• Find your wanted set on brick4.com and check which brands make it, check the description if there are differences between them. Browse reviews on the item page, make sure you are checking reviews with the correct set number.
• Check reviews on reddit.
• Check prices in trustworthy stores.
• Pay preferably with PayPal.

5. Spare parts, extra bricks

There's a separate thread with stores that sell spare bricks: https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/gi89wf/spare_parts_stores_list/

6. Minifigures.

Not all brands produce separate minifigures. It's impossible to get a minifigure from KING set separately, for example. But there are brands that produce “loose” minifigs and brands that produce minifigs only.

Minifigures are sort of forbidden to sell on AliExpress for now (copyright issues), though some sellers still sell them. They display heads only, usually (but they sell whole minifigures).

So far there are 2 web stores from ex-AliExpress minifigure sellers:

https://www.minifiguresmall.com/ (Kopf Store)

http://www.worldminifigs.com/ (World Minifigures store)

Be aware that ko minifigures sometimes are sold on different websites that claim these are customs minifigs, which is not true. Of course custom minifigs exist, but they are made from real Lego minifigs, usually.

And some shady resellers try to sell Chinese minifigures as custom minifigures for a much higher price. You can find them on Ebay or Etsy, for example. The real price of chinese minifigs is about 1-1.5 USD.

Previously you could use AliExpress app image search to figure out if these "custom" figs were sold on AliExpress or not. But since sellers display heads only now, you should check for these figs on the two sites listed above.

Also you can use https://www.herobloks.com/ to find existing clone (and original) minifigures. Don't forget to set up the filters correctly.

Quality-wise. Minifigure brands as well as Brick brands have increased their quality throughout the years. There still might be new old stock with lower quality. Hard to tell anything about the quality without knowing about the era a certain minifig is from.

There is also some variance in quality from fig to fig - sometimes you get a perfect example, sometimes the print is a little smudged or a part of the minifig is damaged. Since they only cost about a dollar, I recommend just ordering another one.

Most AE sellers (and the online stores mentioned above) do not sell bad quality minifigs, they sell well known brands.

7. Support original creators.

In the past, Lepin and other brands were mainly focused on replicas of Lego, but these days there are many MOCs available. Some manufacturers use freely available instructions, some pay designers (like CADA), but some may take instructions from creators (buy a single copy) to then distribute them with every set sold.

We highly encourage you to support the original creator by purchasing the instructions from them directly. MOCs are usually very big and complicated sets, so their design takes a lot of time and effort.

8. Additional info.

There's no set requesting available here, because we have no contact with KING or any other brand. We also have no idea which sets are planned or when new or old sets will be (back) in stock.

9. Got any questions?

Ask in our General Questions thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/k5cmr4/general_questions_discussions_megathread_2/

Some of the most frequently asked questions are answered there too.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. We have a Discord as well: https://discord.gg/DfJ9vMZ

A special thanks to u/nerdfriend for helping me with this guide.