Ensuring Authenticity: Tips for Verifying Genuine LEGO® Sets and Pieces

Since The LEGO Group’s launch in 1932, the world-famous toy brand has been met with success after success. First launching the iconic LEGO® brick that we all know and love in 1958, The LEGO Group has since released over twenty thousand sets.

Unfortunately, with success comes copycats, despite the LEGO Group trademarking their traditional LEGO® brick, there have been countless fake LEGO® bricks released into mainstream markets. So, we thought we would give you the tools and knowledge to identify counterfeit LEGO® bricks before you buy or sell.

The Importance of LEGO® Brick Authenticity

First of all, let’s take a look at why it’s important to be able to tell the difference between fake LEGO® bricks and genuine LEGO® bricks. There are a few reasons why being able to tell the difference between genuine and fake is important, let’s take a look:

Resale value: LEGO® sets can be a great way of investing your money, a lot of the top-end LEGO® sets frequently go up in value after they are retired by the LEGO Group, however, this rule does not apply to fake LEGO® sets, which can in fact, heavily diminish in value over time.

Durability: Genuine LEGO® bricks are made to be durable. The LEGO Group uses special materials and a carefully engineered design to ensure that their bricks and sets are tough. In contrast fake LEGO® pieces can often be made with cheaper materials, using designs and manufacturing processes that result in a much lower quality product.

Safety: The LEGO Group puts their products through rigorous safety checks to minimise any risk of damage to the people using them, they also provide plenty of safety warnings on their products, but manufacturers of fake LEGO® pieces rarely, if ever, invest as much time into safety testing their products and may not include the appropriate safety precautions and warnings on their product packaging.

Compatibility: There is no guarantee that fake LEGO® bricks will be compatible with genuine LEGO® bricks. The last thing you want is to come to the end of a build and discover that some of your bricks don’t quite look right or just don’t fit.

How to Ensure Your LEGO® Bricks are Genuine

If you are looking to sell your old LEGO® bricks or just looking to buy some more LEGO® bricks to add to your collection, it’s a good idea to stay vigilant and use the following techniques to ensure your LEGO® bricks are genuine.

Visual Inspection Tips for Spotting Genuine LEGO® Bricks

The first and probably the most obvious step is to give the LEGO® bricks in question a thorough inspection. The attention to detail and consistency that goes into the making of each LEGO® piece works in your favour. Every brick is precise in both colour and shape with some small details that make them easy to identify when compared to a fake brick. Here are some things to look out for when inspecting your LEGO® bricks.

• Colour Fading: The colour of genuine LEGO® bricks is crisp and consistent, and where it is possible for the colour to change over time due to things like sun damage; if you open up your brand-new LEGO® set and your bricks already show signs of obvious discolouration, it could be a sign of counterfeit LEGO® bricks.

• Variation in LEGO® Brick Size and Shape: Consistency of brick size and shape is important. An easy way to check for any variations in size is to compare various examples of the same type of LEGO® brick. If they are all the same size and shape then great, but even if they are off by even the smallest of margins, they could be fake.

• LEGO® Logo on Studs: nearly all genuine LEGO® bricks have the LEGO® logo printed on the top of their studs (if they have studs). If you find LEGO® bricks with nothing but black studs, they are probably fake. Even if your LEGO® bricks have ‘LEGO®’ printed on the studs, it’s worth comparing the style and font against genuine bricks because real LEGO® products will always follow the same font and style.

• LEGO® Brick Weight: This one might be harder to identify without using a set of scales. The plastic used by the LEGO Group is lightweight and durable, however, other companies, in an attempt to replicate the classic LEGO® brick at low cost, may resort to using heavier, more brittle materials.

Verifying LEGO® Set Numbers

Another way to verify your LEGO® sets is by cross-referencing set numbers. Every LEGO® set has a unique number that can be cross-referenced with the official LEGO® website. Matching numbers means your LEGO® set is a good indicator that the set is genuine.

Online Resources for Authenticity Checks

If you are struggling to figure out whether your LEGO® sets are genuine or not, you can ask the LEGO® set community for help. There is a huge community online that can help you with all your LEGO® set needs from finding reliable stores to identify the authenticity of your bricks. Here are a couple of useful forums that can help you find the advice you need.

• Bricklink - Discussion Forum
• Eurobricks - General LEGO® Discussion
• LEGO® Ideas – Community
• Brickset – Forums

Your search for help doesn’t just have to be refined to an online search, head to your local LEGO® club or one of the many LEGO® events around the UK to get some face-to-face advice from some real LEGO® experts.

Purchasing LEGO® Products From Reputable Sources

If you want to ensure that you are buying genuine LEGO® products, then only buying from reputable sources is a good way to go about it. The big brands are a good place to start if you want to guarantee your LEGO® sets are genuine. If you are looking for brand-new LEGO® products that are guaranteed to be genuine, try the following online stores:

• Argos

• Smyths Toys

• John Lewis

Your local high street toy stores and game stores are also great places to look for your genuine LEGO® sets. Not to mention, you can always rely on your local LEGO® Store.

Stores to Avoid When Buying LEGO® Products

It is important to note, that not every store on the high street or online will offer genuine LEGO® products, it’s a good idea to check review sites like Trip Advisor or Trustpilot to see how other customers got on with their experiences. It’s also worth mentioning that if you find a LEGO® product for a price that almost seems too good to be true, it probably is. Where a great bargain may be tempting, they often carry a higher risk of being fake.

Specialised Tools for Verifying Authenticity of Your LEGO® Bricks

Relax however, you don’t need to do all the heavy lifting yourself, there are tools that can to help you verify the authenticity of your LEGO® bricks. Take a look at some of our favourites:

Brickit Brick Search: the LEGO® set app Brickscan by Brick Monkey

Is Buying Second-Hand LEGO® Bricks Safe?

In short, the answer is yes, buying second-hand LEGO® bricks, parts, and pieces is safe. However, as with buying brand-new LEGO® sets, it pays to be vigilant when purchasing second-hand LEGO® bricks and sets. As long as you follow the same steps: check seller reviews, inspect your bricks, and seek help from the LEGO® community if needed, you’ll be safe to buy your LEGO® bricks second-hand. Check out the list below for some trustworthy websites that sell second-hand LEGO® bricks.

• WeBuyBricks: Get a great deal on a randomly assorted box of genuine second-hand LEGO® bricks.
• Bricklink: With a huge catalogue of used LEGO® sets, bricks and Minifigures, Bricklink is trusted by the second-hand LEGO® community.
• Brick Owl: Search their huge list of genuine LEGO® sets and parts to find what you need.

What To Do if You Have Fake or Counterfeit LEGO® Bricks?

So, you have discovered some fake LEGO® bricks in your collection, let’s look at what to do.

Get a Refund

If you notice that your LEGO® bricks are fake, then the best thing to do is to go back to the seller and request a refund. There is a chance that the seller didn’t know that their LEGO® products were fake so informing them of the issue can help any future customers from encountering the same problem.

Inform the Appropriate Authorities

Informing the appropriate authorities is the next step. If you bought your LEGO® products from a 3rd party selling platform like Amazon or eBay, informing the selling platform directly is a good idea, that way they can investigate further and prevent more fake LEGO® product listings.

Inform the LEGO® Community

If you have found yourself on the end of a LEGO® set scam it’s always a good idea to inform the LEGO® community of the incident. Making the LEGO® community aware of fake LEGO® product vendors will help people avoid any potential scams in the future.

What Should You Do with Your Fake LEGO® Bricks?

If you can’t get a refund on your counterfeit LEGO® bricks and have reported them to the appropriate authorities, what’s next? Well at this stage you have a few options:

• You can keep them and add them to your collection if compatible.
• You can try and sell them, but you must ensure you aren’t trying to sell them as genuine LEGO® bricks.
• You can try and recycle your fake LEGO® bricks, however, there is no guarantee that the materials your fake LEGO® bricks are made from are recyclable.

So, whether you are in the market for a new LEGO® set or looking to sell your old ones, it pays to be careful. Genuine LEGO® bricks have been a source of joy for millions of people and it would be a shame to spoil your experience with counterfeit bricks. But, by following the simple steps set out above you can reduce any risk of finding yourself any fake LEGO® bricks. And remember, we are all in this together, so sharing your experiences with counterfeit products will help the LEGO® community crack down on any fake LEGO® industry.