The LEPIN "LEGO" for non sensitive types
Discussion
I got about halfway through my YILE Caterham last night, and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Large egg trays are very useful for separating bits out.
I think I have two missing pieces already. One might be the wrong colour, and if so will be very out of sight, and might be able to be bodged with other bits if need be, for no structural or aesthetic loss. The other my mate has offered me, as it's a simple skinny 1x3 in black.
It's looking good though, I'm excited to finish it tonight.
I think I have two missing pieces already. One might be the wrong colour, and if so will be very out of sight, and might be able to be bodged with other bits if need be, for no structural or aesthetic loss. The other my mate has offered me, as it's a simple skinny 1x3 in black.
It's looking good though, I'm excited to finish it tonight.
grant666uk said:
I am still waiting on the order to ship that I put in on the 13th, Six days ago. The seller first told me they don't ship over weekends then about 20 mins ago I got a msg saying
"Every thing is ok.Because of Chinese traditional new year, many courier companies have a holiday, so all the goods will be delayed, hope you can understand"
Now does that mean till after the Chinese new year ? So they are not shipping till the 2nd of feb ? The order runs out in 4 days and it will auto cancel so we shall wait and see.
Hello; some Aliexpress tips hope you will find useful:"Every thing is ok.Because of Chinese traditional new year, many courier companies have a holiday, so all the goods will be delayed, hope you can understand"
Now does that mean till after the Chinese new year ? So they are not shipping till the 2nd of feb ? The order runs out in 4 days and it will auto cancel so we shall wait and see.
Edited by grant666uk on Wednesday 18th January 18:06
1. Once you place an order, and the payment is correct, the seller has 4 days to ship your order. In this period you can cancel it if the seller has not shipped it. If the seller don't ship the item in this four days, but you want the item (because you used coupons, because the price was good,...), you can extend the period of time to give the seller more time to prepare the item. This is important in presell items, you may extend the time. The most usual is just the opposite, the seller "ships" the item inmediately, usually with a "false" tracking number. This is not inmoral, they do this to prevent you to cancel the order while they are preparing it and work in vain. They mark the item as shipped, and then they prepare the package, confident that you cannot cancel the order. The real shipping ocurrs one day or two after. The problem cames when they are cheeky, and sell items they don't have in stock, and buy them when you order them. If they can't find the item, or is more expensive than what they thought, they won't send the item.
2. I prefer to browse for items in the computer, because the categories list works better.
3. Selecting a seller. Once you know the exact item you want to buy, check the price in the app, because some prices are cheaper. What works better for me is sort the list by price (low to high). You will have to add price + shipping, in order to know the most convenient. Number of orders of the item is good, but sometimes those orders were made when the product was cheaper, and it is possible that other seller is more convenient at the moment. To select a seller, you will have to take into account the price, the feedback (% happy), and the volume of orders, which are the symbols next to the shop name. Medals - Few orders; Diamonds - Big number of orders; Crowns - Very big seller. Also is important the time since the shop was "opened". For example, I prefer a 98% 5 year old Crown Seller rather than a 100% 2 months old Medal Seller.
4. App deals. In the app there are some products with "flash discount", like special offers which are daily or each two hours changed. Look out, check the price before buying, because some times you can find these products cheaper with other sellers. Some of them are worth, others don't. An easy way to know which is worth, with the flash deals, is to see the % of items remaining. It people buy it, it is worth, if not, the price is not good.
Hope it helps
Just finished building the UCS X-wing set and my only complain with this set is that R2-D2 doesn't sit properly but I tried my genuine one and it sits nicely and snugged, I guess I'll just buy those R2-D2 Lego key chain and use those.
Since there are no real picture of the set i decided to upload few pictures to show you guys how it looks like.
Didn't bother to put the stickers on since I've ordered the one that says "Star Wars" instead of "Star Plan".
Since there are no real picture of the set i decided to upload few pictures to show you guys how it looks like.
Didn't bother to put the stickers on since I've ordered the one that says "Star Wars" instead of "Star Plan".
Finished off my Yile Caterham last night, and have 3 missing pieces. 1 is quite common and a friend is giving me replacement. Another can probably be easily substituted for something that will work, but the final one is a bit of a pain, bring a tiny cylinder in the exhaust.
I've messaged the seller, but expect the Chinese New Year celebrations will cause quite a delay.
It looks good though. Pics when it's complete.
I've messaged the seller, but expect the Chinese New Year celebrations will cause quite a delay.
It looks good though. Pics when it's complete.
Greetings, fellow builders, from beautiful Ohio... This thread has been an informative read, and I just wanted to pitch in my two cents, which some may find helpful.
Having wanted the UCS Falcon since 2007 (Way out of my price range then AND now), I was stoked to discover the Lepin replica on AliExpress, but after many failed attempts at actually making a purchase (I don't have a CC), I figured I was going to have to shell out (quite a few) extra bucks and pick one up on eBay. But then I ran across a Shopify store, LOLToy, and their prices were competitive, and in some cases better, than AliExpress. The best part, though, is the fact that you're able to use PayPal.
Like most, I was a bit hesitant, but went ahead and picked up the Falcon for about $178, free shipping. The seller communication was brief, but existent, and ten days later UPS dropped off a well-packaged box on my doorstep. I'd definitely recommend using them, although they aren't shipping again until Feb. 4th, after the CNY, just an FYI.
As for the set, I was surprised how nice the bricks were, and only had a few issues: first, the minifigures weren't bad, but Han Solo's legs had been printed on the back rather than the front, and Luke came with a goofy wig that is most definitely meant to be a female character's hair, but I have genuine Lego replacements, so no big deal.
The second issue was a bit more problematic. There are supposed to be about 30 technic pin connectors in the set and I received exactly zero. It seems that Lepin shorted the whole bag. I didn't have that many of my own on hand, so I picked them up on eBay for $2. Not a big deal, but I was a but disappointed I couldn't finish it right away after waiting so long.
All told - when you have all the pieces - it's a great build. A marathon one, for sure, but fun nonetheless, and, again, the bricks and pieces were surprisingly nice; if they had 'LEGO' stamped on them, it would be hard to tell the difference in most cases. I'll definitely be ordering more Lepin sets (Death Star, Ewok Village, Sandcrawler) in the future. But that said, I'll probably stick to the genuine article for minifigs and sets that can be had for under $200, but that's just my two cents.
If you want to check out Lol Toy - and I'm in no way associated with them, just trying to help out those looking for a PayPal-friendly alternative to AliExpress, you can find their site at: loltoy.myshopify.com.
Thanks again for all of the insight, and happy building!
Having wanted the UCS Falcon since 2007 (Way out of my price range then AND now), I was stoked to discover the Lepin replica on AliExpress, but after many failed attempts at actually making a purchase (I don't have a CC), I figured I was going to have to shell out (quite a few) extra bucks and pick one up on eBay. But then I ran across a Shopify store, LOLToy, and their prices were competitive, and in some cases better, than AliExpress. The best part, though, is the fact that you're able to use PayPal.
Like most, I was a bit hesitant, but went ahead and picked up the Falcon for about $178, free shipping. The seller communication was brief, but existent, and ten days later UPS dropped off a well-packaged box on my doorstep. I'd definitely recommend using them, although they aren't shipping again until Feb. 4th, after the CNY, just an FYI.
As for the set, I was surprised how nice the bricks were, and only had a few issues: first, the minifigures weren't bad, but Han Solo's legs had been printed on the back rather than the front, and Luke came with a goofy wig that is most definitely meant to be a female character's hair, but I have genuine Lego replacements, so no big deal.
The second issue was a bit more problematic. There are supposed to be about 30 technic pin connectors in the set and I received exactly zero. It seems that Lepin shorted the whole bag. I didn't have that many of my own on hand, so I picked them up on eBay for $2. Not a big deal, but I was a but disappointed I couldn't finish it right away after waiting so long.
All told - when you have all the pieces - it's a great build. A marathon one, for sure, but fun nonetheless, and, again, the bricks and pieces were surprisingly nice; if they had 'LEGO' stamped on them, it would be hard to tell the difference in most cases. I'll definitely be ordering more Lepin sets (Death Star, Ewok Village, Sandcrawler) in the future. But that said, I'll probably stick to the genuine article for minifigs and sets that can be had for under $200, but that's just my two cents.
If you want to check out Lol Toy - and I'm in no way associated with them, just trying to help out those looking for a PayPal-friendly alternative to AliExpress, you can find their site at: loltoy.myshopify.com.
Thanks again for all of the insight, and happy building!
Edited by MrRussell on Saturday 21st January 22:16
darthshot said:
Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on my order.
Despite Toys Factory saying that it would dispatch my order Thursday or Friday, that didn't happen and no answer to my messages has been given... I guess I'll have to wait until February for my Slave 1 to ship...
They sent me a pm yesterday morning to say my Simpsons house had shipped and that I would get a msg 8 hours later with a tracking number, Status stays as processing till 6pm today when I got a shipping notification, all in all it sat for 10 days doing nothing. Unlike my Ghostbuster fire station that I bought from H&H and shipped two days later.Despite Toys Factory saying that it would dispatch my order Thursday or Friday, that didn't happen and no answer to my messages has been given... I guess I'll have to wait until February for my Slave 1 to ship...
Not be using Toys Factory again.
MrRussell said:
The second issue was a bit more problematic. There are supposed to be about 30 technic pin connectors in the set and I received exactly zero. It seems that Lepin shorted the whole bag. I didn't have that many of my own on hand, so I picked them up on eBay for $2. Not a big deal, but I was a but disappointed I couldn't finish it right away after waiting so long.
I'm not sure if this is Lepin or who-ever repacked them from the Lepin box to the plain box. I've not had any missing bags so far but I know that a few people have.Fastdruid said:
I'm not sure if this is Lepin or who-ever repacked them from the Lepin box to the plain box. I've not had any missing bags so far but I know that a few people have.
Considering the sheer magnitude of the parts in some of these sets I am surprised they are all as complete as they are! (Lego included!) Especially considering how small so many of the pieces are … Lego might be able to claim sets have thousands of pieces but they do not state how many are 1x1 flat or 1x2 flat. They hardly count as pieces … (compared to when I was a kid and 1x2 and 1x1 pieces were the regular height and there were few of them and a lot of big pieces).
voiceofrevolt said:
Considering the sheer magnitude of the parts in some of these sets I am surprised they are all as complete as they are! (Lego included!) Especially considering how small so many of the pieces are …
Lego might be able to claim sets have thousands of pieces but they do not state how many are 1x1 flat or 1x2 flat. They hardly count as pieces … (compared to when I was a kid and 1x2 and 1x1 pieces were the regular height and there were few of them and a lot of big pieces).
My parents purchased a fire station 'compatible' set from a pound shop for my youngest. (one of their "specials", so was about 8 quid)Lego might be able to claim sets have thousands of pieces but they do not state how many are 1x1 flat or 1x2 flat. They hardly count as pieces … (compared to when I was a kid and 1x2 and 1x1 pieces were the regular height and there were few of them and a lot of big pieces).
I'm not sure of the exact piece count, but the sides of the fire engine body are approx 6 rows of 5 1x1 flats, for no reason i can think of other than to boost the part count.
Wilkos sets also have the minifig unassembled, and afaik, count that as 11 pieces.
I decided on waiting till after the Chinese holidays before I placed another big order from China.
To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
darthshot said:
My UCS Slave 1 finally shipped today from Toys Factory. Apparently my phone number was missing from the order information (despite being on the order info itself...).
Let's hope it arrives this week and I manage to avoid any entanglements with the Portuguese customs authority.
With some sellers you can request the value of the order that will be marked on the package. I have found that DHL seems to automatically consider the value marked to be in USD … For some reason, Canada has $20 as the limit for goods to be ordered into the country before taxes and duties are added (apparently it is $800 in the USA - Ebay.ca has a petition they started to get the goods amount raised in Canada). Let's hope it arrives this week and I manage to avoid any entanglements with the Portuguese customs authority.
This works out to be $14 when you convert it.
Find out what your limits are and ask sellers if they will mark the value so as "to avoid any imperial entanglements".
laters said:
I decided on waiting till after the Chinese holidays before I placed another big order from China.
To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
That looks like a very interesting kit. To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
I wonder if Chinese find the instructions to be adequate or if they would like them simplified?
You can see with the Lepin instructions, for instance, they put many more steps on a page than Lego does, for instance.
As a teacher, I see things being "dumbed down" all the time. People rise or lower to the expectations given.
As a similar, I have noted the recommended ages for complexity of Lego sets has seemingly increased. I'm not that old but the 16+ sets would have been 12+ not that many years ago.
voiceofrevolt said:
With some sellers you can request the value of the order that will be marked on the package. I have found that DHL seems to automatically consider the value marked to be in USD … For some reason, Canada has $20 as the limit for goods to be ordered into the country before taxes and duties are added (apparently it is $800 in the USA - Ebay.ca has a petition they started to get the goods amount raised in Canada).
This works out to be $14 when you convert it.
Find out what your limits are and ask sellers if they will mark the value so as "to avoid any imperial entanglements".
Oh i did asking him that. This works out to be $14 when you convert it.
Find out what your limits are and ask sellers if they will mark the value so as "to avoid any imperial entanglements".
In Portugal the limit for no taxation is 20€ so i asked him to mark the package with a value lower than 20 bucks. He didn't acknowledge it, but from what i read from other people who ordered from Toys Factory, he does mark the packages with a low value.
Let's see if it works. I've heard reports that customs still randomly opens boxes of suspect size and a box with ~2000 pieces inside is sure to raise some eyebrows...
laters said:
I decided on waiting till after the Chinese holidays before I placed another big order from China.
To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
]
Found them on ebay but all they are £25, Got a link to the £9 one ?.To keep me going I bought this on ebay. I was shipped from china before the holidays started and arrived in 11 days by normal china epacket.
The prices on ebay for the set is all over the place ranging from the £9 I paid all the way upto £50.
I knew the smaller bricks were quite a bit smaller than lego/lepin as the kids have some nanobrick pokemon/angry birds models.
Overall I have just made a start at sorting the blocks out into more organised bags as they are randomly sealed very much like lepin.
The clutch hold is good, especially when you take into account the size of the blocks.
I am quite looking forward to the build but can see it being quite fiddly to say the least.
The instructions are just about passable but there are 11 steps for the entire build.
If the instructions were lego there would be at least double or more steps for the build.
]
Edited by grant666uk on Monday 23 January 16:29
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