LUBOVILLE UPDATE - DECEMBER 2023

After much unpacking, sorting and yes, some procrastination we have finally stated laying out and building our brick city, Luboville.

Mount Serenity and the companying cove are nearing completion, there however remains a fair amount of detail that needs to be added along with minifigs to bring this area to life.

Future home of Luboville Raceway has been earmarked with a basic layout and are looking to see how best to incorporate our Speed Champions sets into this area.

This little song bird has become very curious and visits each morning and evening, tapping the window repeatedly until the blinds are opened.

75875 - Ford F-150 Raptor & Ford Model A Hot Rod

 This Speed Champions set launched in March 2016 and was withdrawn in December 2017.

Box contains five polybags of  parts and three instruction booklets along with a sticker sheet. Speed Champion Sets always provide fun builds and often surprise with some interesting building techniques; we particularly appreciated the working suspension on the Ford Raptor.  Yet at times these builds can be a bit repetitive in relation to the "extras" in the bigger sets viz, tool racks, trophy stand, winners podium.

This is the first official set that we have purchased that has contained 6054852 Plate (A) 4M 45°

Four included mini-figs are unique to this set.

LEGO 30590 - FARM GARDEN & SCARECROW

Typical simple poly bag build with some interesting pieces and will make a great addition to any farm scene in your city.

 

ZURU MAX - WHEELS, WINDOWS & DOORS

Our first time buying Zuru Max Blocks, found this set at ToyZone on special; The set marked down from R 399.99 to R 199.99 (R 0.80 per piece)

The plastic container is a little thin and seems a bit flimsy, will however make for some useful storage. All pieces are sealed in four separate poly bags. 

We will give feedback on brick quality, compatibility as soon as we have the new brick room sorted and are in a position to start up some building projects.

LEGO ALTERNATIVES - THE CHINESE BRICK MARKET

Lego® purists will cringe at the idea of incorporating compatible building bricks and will always state the obvious arguments of quality, copyright, IP, etc. There are however many alternate brick manufacturers providing unique and creative sets at competitive pricing. 

Here at Lubo's Creative Brick we are happy to incorporate quality alternatives. It is also important to note that many manufacturers have realised the importance of brand value and are focusing on manufacturing accuracy and precision, while reducing production costs. The Guangdong region of China has already produced tens of thousands of sets of molds for plastic products for various countries around the world. Many factories have accumulated decades of experience in making precision molds, and the industry chain is also very mature with many talents in precision mold manufacturing. 

Alternate building brick options can only get better as time progresses. Yes there are still those producing direct copies of Lego®, then again many are producing their own unique and creative sets; Sluban, Banbao, Cobi, Sembo, Wange, Pantasy, Jaki, DeCool, Mould King, Cada, Xingbao, Enlighten, Loz and Keeppley.  Use the links below to explore the many options that are available: 

https://www.blockbrickworld.com          https://www.yourwobb.com

In our local market many of the above brands are not easy to come by and when available through a retail outlet, they are often priced in-line with genuine Lego. 

 Analysing various Lego sets price per piece tends to range from R 1.01 (+/- $0.05) per piece up to R 3.94 (+/- $0.20). It is also interesting to see that City sets tend to carry the higher price per piece, with Poly Bags carrying the highest price per piece ratio. 

Alternate bricks can be sourced from as little as R 0.36 (+/-$0.02) per piece up to around R2,41 (+/-$0.13). However beware and always check pricing per brick as we have seen retailers offering alternate bricks at over R5.00  (+/-$0.26) per piece.

CAN THE PRICE OF LEGO BE JUSTIFIED?

Is Lego®  really facing cost pressures and can the latest increases be justified? 

The building block giant announced that it is facing cost pressures due to rising energy and logistics and raw material prices.

Lets look at their 2022 financial report;

Revenue grew by 17% to DKK 64.6 billion (US$9.2 billion).

Operating profit is up to DKK 17.9 billion with Net profit growing 4 percent to DKK 13.8 billion (US$1.9 bn) with  Free cash flow of DKK 9.3 billion (US$1.3bn).

There is a belief that Lego's price increases are profit driven - Lego is confident in their brand advantages and does not see the increases affecting sales. Lego has firmly held a monopoly position in the global building block market for many years, making it difficult for other players to enter the market due to many factors and unfortunately many adopt the wrong approach and simply "copy".  (We in no way advocate copyright infringement and the direct copying of Lego®.) 

Lego® has however become more and more out of reach for the average family and hence the need for budget friendly options. There are many compatible building block manufacturers who have ventured into creativity and produce unique sets. In just a few years original players in the building block market have emerged such as Senbao, Brucol, Pin Qi, Qiaohe, Weiji, Zhideler, Zhidele(ZDEL), and Keeppley. 

There are quality alternatives available with many options available to explore on-line. Locally alternatives are often difficult to come by and like many things in the local market, distributors who do stock alternate bricks are offering these at pricing equal to original Lego® sets!

REVIVAL OF LUBO'S CREATIVE BRICKS

Time passes by, there is always tomorrow and before you know, 7 years have passed since the last blog post! 

Our city "Luboville" originally founded in April 2014, would have combined building blocks and other forms of modelling techniques. Luboville remained unfinished and was eventually broken down, boxed and placed in storage.

Embarking on a new adventure of reconstructing our city, exploring alternative brick options and rediscovering the joy of creative construction, we started sorting through our existing brick collection, remnants of earlier creations hoping to reuse and repurpose as much as we could. Unfortunately many pieces were exposed to direct sunlight before being boxed and ended up discolored, with the white pieces ending up worst off.

It is turning out to be a long arduous task to sort through the bricks and isolate all discolored pieces - you live and learn, the new home for our city has been fitted with blinds to limit direct sunlight.

And so dear readers our city is rising from the ashes, with a mix of Lego® and alternative compatible bricks. Join us on this new adventure brick by brick and celebrate the magic of these colorful bricks. A place where imagination has no bounds, lets reconnect, create and inspire together. Welcome back!

 

LEGO® MIXELS #41548 - DRIBBAL

Dribbal from Series 6: Glorp Corp is our favourite Mixel so far. We like the way he reminds us of a nerd. Th use of the magnifying glass pieces to model his glasses adds to the overall appeal for us.

DREAMLOCK #5701 - X Striker Starfighter

Our second purchase of Dreamlock bricks from Toys R Us, and from the picture on the box it is clear that this is modeled on the X-Wing fighter from Star Wars. Consisting of 361 pieces and 1 mini-fig, the set offers fair value for money. Some odd building techniques used with the build proving to be a bit repetitive. 

Instructions are presented on a single sheet and at times it is difficult to make out the detail of a specific section - younger builders may need assistance in getting the build correct.

Please note that the model does not include 'landing gear' this detail we added at the end of the build. Also note there are no printed blocks or stickers to add detail to the completed model.

LEGO® CREATOR #31048 - LAKESIDE LODGE

Lego Creator sets are always great and the main build in this 3in1 rates as an all time favourite. Released in 2016 with 368 pieces and 1 mini-fig, the price per part count is average.

 Build 1 - not sure what to make of this, it seems a bit awkward and you get the feeling it was thrown together to meet the 3in1 build requirement.

Build 2 - Observatory; this really works in our opinion and makes for a nice alternate build.

Build 3 - Lakeside Lodge or rather 'cabin'. The overall proportions represent well with a good representation of parts and details. The water lillys are excellent and the inclusion of the cracked egg in the frying pan adds to the appeal.

 Designers give yourself a pat on the back, the inclusion of the built moose is awesome!