A fake brick that has no logo at all is easy to spot. Every single stud on every single brick has a tiny LEGO logo on it. LEGO goes to a lot of trouble to ensure that they clearly mark all of their bricks. One thing that’s NOT legal is for the bricks to have the LEGO name on them. On top of this, it’s no longer illegal to make plastic bricks that are LEGO compatible and are, for all intents and purposes, identical to the LEGO bricks. The technology to injection mold plastic bricks is getting cheaper and cheaper. When it comes to the actual bricks, things are not quite as straightforward as they are with the set packaging. Google the set in question – if the set is not made by LEGO you won’t find it if it is by LEGO a box shot of the real thing can help you spot differences quickly and easily. Often the English on the box will be pretty broken as well, so native English speakers will know something is up right away. Other signs that you can look out for are spelling errors in the copy and, of course, low-quality images or printing. Watch this hilarious video by Lord Karnage where he shows off his fake LEGO purchase:
Obviously, neither of those names are going to fool anyone, but they are written in such a way that the font makes them look like the real thing. For example, I’ve seen a set that looks like the box of a real LEGO Star Wars product, but it says “Star Wnars” with the company name as “Lepin”. First there is an actual attempt at an exact copy that bears the right trademarks, and then there are ones who are just not quite right.
The problem comes from virtually anonymous manufacturers, usually from the Far East, who churn out knock-off sets with the express purpose of fooling parents and online buyers into thinking they are buying real LEGO. Instead, they are building their own brand image on purpose.
The good clone brands such as Mega Bloks or Oxford aren’t worth mentioning here, because these companies don’t even try to look like LEGO when it comes to their packaging. Let’s start off by talking about LEGO set packaging. How is someone supposed to avoid buying a counterfeit LEGO product or accidentally buying clone pieces? In this article I’m going to go over some of the ways you can tell whether the LEGO that you’re looking at is the real deal. You buy a set of LEGO or order some bulk bricks online, only to find that what you thought was your favorite Danish plastic brick is something made by a foreign company you’ve never heard of. It’s the LEGO collector’s worst nightmare.
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