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Comparitive study of studded construction bricks

Comparitive study of studded construction bricks
Having kids is a good excuse to buy yourself a bunch of neat toys. When I was a kid, I didn't have near as many Legos as my sons do, so now I get to play with them, too.

Over the years, we've bought mostly Legos because of their quality and variety and number of kits. We have a few Megablocks from Canada, my son is a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and MegaBlocks got the contract to make constuction kits for the franchise. A few years ago we spotted some Kids Connection bricks at Wal-Mart, they were extremely cheap and in a neat storage case, so we snatched them up. I've recently discovered another company, Best-Lock out of England.

Legos are to found everywhere. Kids Connection is a brand owned by Wal-Mart, so they're exclusive, but they look a lot like MegaBlocks, so I bet MegaBlocks makes them for Wal-Mart and several other retailers. Mega-Blocks are found everywhere. Toys'R'Us has Best-Lock on their shelves and on their amazon.com portal.

I'm sure there are a dozen different companies that copy Legos or come into their own, these are just the name brands that I've come into contact with.

I just found out that K'NEX also makes good quality bricks that are compatible with Legos, but we don't have any K'NEX bricks, just the sticks and connectors. (thanks westfw!)
 
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Step 1Lego my construction brick!

Lego my construction brick!
Legos are the tops. They make all sorts of neat shapes and sizes and custom bricks. They are the standard other companies are measured by.

They are made of relatively dense plastic and very opaque. They usually have very little flash on their pieces. The denser plastic also makes for better adhesion. If the bricks make a sharp click when they stick together, they're going to be harder to seperate. (Thanks for the reminder, LilPunk32!) Legos almost always click, and some times require the use of the Lego Brick Seperator tool. The tool comes in handy when dealing with flat plates that require leverage.

You can order all sorts of bricks on-line at lego.com through their "Pick-A-Brick" program. You can also order any piece from any set over the phone, but it'll cost ya, they have to ship them from their headquarters in Denmark.
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35 comments
May 8, 2008. 11:28 PMthematthatter says:
i always wondered if the sets were compatable reminds me of that family guy episode where peter wanted legos but Lois bought him mega blocks and they werent the same thing
Jul 5, 2011. 1:19 PMtheexpert says:
i love that episode its so funny
Aug 31, 2008. 4:31 PMfiresketch says:
That sounds like such a great episode :/ Lol : D
Jul 6, 2010. 9:21 AMlegofan1995 says:
LEGO IS THE BEST IN M 2GETE OPINIO0N CZ MEGABLOKS DNTG STICK 2GETHER AND IVE NENVER HEARD OF THE OTHRS LOL
Jul 5, 2011. 1:18 PMtheexpert says:
stop playing with legos and learn to spell not trying to be mean but i cant understand your comment
Apr 3, 2011. 5:21 PMjaxen90 says:
Legos are by far the best building brick on the market. Everything else is just a cheap knock off in my opnion. If i ever get a box at a garage sale or thrift store I toss any and all megablocks I find mixed in right away. They are worthless junk. Btw wittzo, ever hear of brickwars? Its pretty much 40k with legos. But more room for creativity and fun. I've never actually played but it looks like a blast!
Jul 21, 2010. 2:07 PMtheexpert says:
id like to point out that mega blocks are much easyer to break and there people look stupied plus they will melt if buried in a pile long enough
Mar 4, 2010. 9:40 AMRobot Lover says:
A few years ago when i played with legos i always complained when i saw a mega block in the bucket. Probably because when you stack a mega block and a lego they don't stay, so if you tipped the stack over then the mega block would fall over.
Oct 22, 2009. 9:05 AMC0mPuterHaCkErKiD says:
Very good instructables 5 stars, but ive used lego to make like the guns and stuff but i found lately using lego tecnic for it because there packs with hydrolics for good and cool things to do with them atm im trying to make a semi auto hand gun with em so do a reveiw on lego technics would be good (:
Oct 2, 2009. 6:44 PMGage987 says:
wonderful bravo five stars
Sep 23, 2009. 9:04 PMftking_83702 says:
I just came across this instructable. Wanted to mention-yes there are many other brick systems out there. Historically, there were Tyco Blocks, Tandem Bricks, and Cuboville Blocks. My personal favorite were the ELGO blocks, ;) All were more or less compatable with the LEGO components. Sometimes these other systems are good for alternate colors or details. (Note the rounded edges on the KNEX bricks). I attended BrickFest in Portland 2 years ago and eveyone was talking about the one row of nonLEGO blocks in a building structure. Fun!
Thanks for the instructable!
Aug 24, 2009. 6:41 PMgeodez says:
dont forget knex bricks.
Sep 14, 2008. 5:07 AMmunchman says:
Unlike most of the other instructables. This doesn't show you how to make or build anything. However, I actually found this to be wonderfully well written and informative. I enjoyed reading this (as much as a person can when reading a comparison of lego style bricks). Good Job!
Jun 11, 2008. 1:09 PMmaker12 says:
this is more of a slide show or foum topic! From the "Submit an Instructable" page: What is an Instructable? An Instructable is a step-by-step guide showing how you made or did something. What makes a great Instructable? Start by sharing what you're passionate about. Well taken photos for each step will make it easier to follow. Make sure it's complete and not missing any steps. Use the spell checker. What's acceptable to post? Just about anything that's complete, well documented and you are the author of. If you haven't documented your project, share it as a slideshow or video. Please refrain from posting illegal or illicit content.
Jun 11, 2008. 1:09 PMmaker12 says:
it is good anyway! ;p
Dec 31, 2007. 3:18 AMwestfw says:
We got some "k'nex Bricks" for Christmas; they're lego-compatible but feature special holes and connectors so that lego and k'nex can be used together to build things. I'll have to compare them to lego base on some of your ideas. (while perhaps not quite an instructable, I found this both interesting and useful...)
Feb 9, 2008. 4:45 PM00beever says:
lego to knex converter bricks sound intense!
Dec 31, 2007. 3:25 PMwestfw says:
I think the k'nex bricks are a special set.
Feb 7, 2008. 7:00 PMmaker12 says:
yes
Feb 7, 2008. 6:57 PMmaker12 says:

WTF? watch how it,s made!

Dec 31, 2007. 1:38 AMlilpunk1302 says:
Personally, I'm just gonna stick to my lego's, but good instructible anyways, + from me. Although, you forgot to mention the sticking power of each one, I;ve noticed that legos stay together when attached, and I mean like REALLY stay together, MEga blocks tend to come apart quite easily. Also, what does the flash of the sprew have to do with anything?
Jan 1, 2008. 1:57 PMVertigo666 says:
Flash is ridiculously anoying. You play 40K?
Jan 14, 2008. 4:40 PMVertigo666 says:
Fear the wrath of the Deathwing!
Jan 1, 2008. 8:01 PMVertigo666 says:
That's impressive. You could still use them, though, in Apocalypse battles. I've got around 2000 pts of Armoured Company.
Jan 14, 2008. 8:20 AMjdege says:
Nothing about Fischer Technik?
Dec 31, 2007. 12:51 PMELVISWMD says:
About a month ago I went through my son's Lego collection and threw out the megaBlocks. My experience has been that the non Lego brand don't fit with the Legos very well. You can stick a Megablock on top of a lego but you cannot stick a Lego on top of a megablock. SO it though you can use the building sets together, the interchangeability is frustratingly limited. So don't count on using the two together to build a bigger castle.
Dec 31, 2007. 12:10 AMGorillazMiko says:
This is not really an Instructable, it just shows the types of bricks that have been made.. But still, good idea of showing this and telling about how 4 types or bricks that have been made are different.
Dec 31, 2007. 12:46 AMjkm says:
@ GorrilazMiko: this instructs how to save money! V useful. Wouldn't even have thought about trying non-original "Lego". Save a few $ on staple bricks. Bigger castles.

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Author:wittzo