I am a big Bluebrixx fan but the quality is a bit shite at the moment.
Their medieval sets are stunningly beautiful. Probably the best looking set on the market.
They are great for experts but definitely not great as a casual first buy for people that try Lego alternatives. They love to use insane build techniques that are fun for experts but not really suited for beginners.
The Star Trek series has been a huge disaster for both design issues but also quality of pieces. They have serious stability issues and barely hold together. I am unironically considering plastic glue for my models.
They are constantly improving and I am sure the kinks will get worked out but currently I can only recommend them for people that like a challenge. Again, they have some stunningly beautiful sets and are worth keeping an eye on but do not buy them for children or inexperienced people.
interesting, the reviews that i saw about the star trek models pointed out some issues but were not as bad. and besides that i have not seen any other star trek set that was better, with the exception of the mega bloks one, but their way to connect the warp nacelles i would consider cheating.
Yeah, some things are really difficult to do any better with standard pieces but honestly that can't be excuse. The quality of pieces that xingbao can deliver is simply not up to the task and they should have expected that.
Plus the pressure that is put in the pieces by the weight of the models might cause them not age well. So the benefit of using standard pieces might not be that great in this case.
As for the reviews, Held der Steine is sadly very biased towards towards Bluebrixx. Look at the comments under the last video where he shows the big Enterprise. They are extremely negative.
Also quality is very inconsistent. Some people are very lucky and get good pieces while some others have less luck. So you can't really know if you get a good batch.
Honestly they are still OK display pieces but the price is not really justified by the quality.
i have read through the comments. most complain about the price and the hanging nacells. none of the commenters have built this model yet. most sound self righteous and they were never going to get this thing anyways. i'll wait until i see more reviews from people who actually built the thing.
maybe i am biased towards lego alternatives, but i don't think that the same model with original lego bricks is going to be any better. i highly doubt that the quality of xingbao bricks is the problem here.
rather this model is at the limit of what plastic can hold, and unless you cheat, like mega bloks, i don't think it is possible to do better.
in my personal opinion, if the model doesn't fall apart, then the quality of the bricks is good enough. yes, there are issues with inconsistent quality, and i have seen models that actually do fall apart. if that happens, then criticism is justified. but for the model as presented in the video, i didn't see such quality issues, and hence i don't agree that the review was biased.
I had my own mid-sized Enterprise-A falling apart multiple times when I tried to pose her for photos. I dread having guests over that want to take a closer look/touch it so even as a display model it does not work for my personal need. I could just have had bad luck though.
My point is not that it is a bad model for people that know what to expect. I had fun building her but that people that just like Star Trek and might buy their first Bluebrixx set might have a very bad time.
I hope they will introduce sets that play more to their strengths, that is architecture. Mini figure scale bridge and all.
Again, I love Bluebrixx and I hope they succeed but no need to sugar coat them. They have serious issues when it comes to quality control and professionalism. You can tell from their videos where they are as surprised by the set they are reviewing as the viewer. Zero preparation and the sets are sometimes not even properly assembled. Even had signs upside down for the Chinese modular buildings.
the most expensive part of any video is the salary for the work time of the employees. professional preparation would easily multiply the cost of each video, which will force bluebrixx to charge more for their products.
in the spirit of the original topic "lego has changed since we were kids": the biggest change is that now many alternatives exist. those alternatives are cheaper and offer more choice.
more professionalism would be nice, but i for one prefer that the prices stay low. the added benefit of more professional videos is not really worth the extra expense. better to spend that time on resolving quality issues on the actual products.
Their medieval sets are stunningly beautiful. Probably the best looking set on the market.
They are great for experts but definitely not great as a casual first buy for people that try Lego alternatives. They love to use insane build techniques that are fun for experts but not really suited for beginners.
The Star Trek series has been a huge disaster for both design issues but also quality of pieces. They have serious stability issues and barely hold together. I am unironically considering plastic glue for my models.
They are constantly improving and I am sure the kinks will get worked out but currently I can only recommend them for people that like a challenge. Again, they have some stunningly beautiful sets and are worth keeping an eye on but do not buy them for children or inexperienced people.