Alternative Brands and Shops (investing/building)

Frank Brickowski · 2020-08-01T08:40:58.000Z

What's everybody's experience building brick sets from non-LEGO brands like Cobi, MEGA, Xingbao, Wange, QMan, Sembo and so forth? Do you think there's good/any investment potential in these alternative brands' sets? MEGA and Cobi have (already proven) potential for sure, but what those Chinese manufacturers? Another point I'd like to address and hear your thoughts about here: In Germany there's this company called Blue Brixx, whose progression and altercations with TLG I've been following very closely over the last months, mainly due to its "David vs Goliath" appeal. They are pretty serious not only about distributing alternative brands (now even being THE official main importer for Xingbao) in Europe but also about establishing their very own product lines, featuring trains ( https://www.bluebrixx.com/en/bluebrixxspecials/trains ), buildings, space station stuff - they also have made licensing deals (sets for "Kingdom Come Deliverance" coming up), offer their own parts packs, are starting to make their own printed parts and they'll soon be opening their 3rd B&M store. I can imagine TLG has a growing stomach ache with Blue Brixx as they are rapidly growing and gaining popularity (on the Geman market) - already having handed out one or two restraining orders to the company (very interesting topic by the way, since this case could lead to a final clarification on the question "how close" other brands' minifigures are allowed to resemble LEGO's minifigures). Do you think small companys like this can cause TLG serious trouble in the future concerning market share? Are there companies like this in the U.S., UK or other markets as well that could enlarge the problem for TLG?