Cobi, Best Lock . . .and Oxford?!

by pacman110011 on Sun, 08/20/2006 - 08:46

I also saw that set yesterday and thought of buying it but I then noticed that I could't see any weapons so I decided against it. I didn't know that they were Oxford parts in there though as I don't own anything Oxford. This might make it more interesting and possibly a buy... but probably not. -Pac

( < wakka wakka wakka wakka

Proud brother of a United States Marine

It looks like Cobi-Best Lock

by the enigma that... on Sun, 08/20/2006 - 09:21

It looks like Cobi-Best Lock have entered into an agreement with KMart to produce items for their "Just Kidz" line and it's these sets that contain the Oxford elements.

A discussion about it on the Bloks Forum and on Lugnet

Interesting indeed . . .

EDIT - So there's a KMart next to the groccery store I use, so I popped in to see what I could see. I can confirm the three sets with ~100 pieces that where discussed on the Bloks Forum. For the record here, there's a police set with a small police van and two minifigs (one with SWAT helmet, one with officer's cap), a small fire truck, and a jeep. The sets did not contain any of the modern weapons. Colors are Cobi-Best Lock but the elements and design is Oxford for sure. I didn't see the larger "value set" I had spotted in TRU, though.

badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
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I'm gonna see about getting

by Recluce on Mon, 08/21/2006 - 06:49

I'm gonna see about getting some of these and molding some of the better designed headgear. Hope they have a police vest too, cause I could mold that. Totally worth it!

Emily J. Brownlow

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~Custom Cast Helmets and Hairpieces~

Interesting! I was just

by Redbean on Mon, 08/21/2006 - 18:41

Interesting! I was just going to post start a new thread about clone brands cloning each other but I guess I will post it here instead :)

Anyway, back on the old forum, I think I have mentioned once already that there Shifty brick, since 2005 (as far as I know), has been cloning some of Oxford's elements especially from its military line. Then in 2006 I discovered another clone brand in Asia called 'Sluban' which I strongly suspect to be yet another incarnation of Shifty (based on the coincidental disappearance of 'Shifty', and the fact that they are sold in the same places. However, the quality of 'Sluban', at least for the accessories, are significantly higher than 'Shifty'). I recently purchased this set:

While I am pretty sure some of the accessories are not from Lego (the gas mask, for instance), unfortunately, I do not have enough knowledge of the newer Oxford sets to be able to confirm whether they are from Oxford or not. So for the time being, I will simply list them under 'Sluban' in our database.

Another interesting observation is that whereas in the past, the accessories of 'Shifty' bricks come individually in the same manner as one would expect to see in a Lego set, the 'Sluban' accessories come in a spruce like this:

Now for those who are fortunate enough to own an Oxford set, this should be a familiar sight because Oxford had been doing this since the very beginning. However, while I am pretty sure the handgun, the walkie talkie and the ammo pack are cloned straight from Oxford, I do believe the bigger guns along with the handcuffs are original, although, once again, I could be wrong. I will be posting those accessories onto our database shortly.

But an interesting question is this: with clone brands no longer focusing only on Lego, does this mean other clone brands are finally catching on or is this simply an Asian thing (interestingly, no clones of Megabloks are known to exist, at least as yet)? But I suppose this can only be good news to us customizers.

I have a few of the "Police"

by the enigma that... on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 00:38

I have a few of the "Police" Oxford sets, and I can confirm that all of those elements are from Oxford (cool sniper rifle and gas mask helmet included).

Since it's been confirmed that Oxford parts have been showing up in the Cobi-Best Lock sets, I think we can safely say this use of Oxford set designs and accessories goes beyond Asia, at least distribution wise; I have no idea where the CBL parts are manufactured . . .might be an interesting clue about how all these Oxford parts are ending up in other companies' sets.

Now I'm a bit irritated actually - the US . . .well I hesitate to call them "pirate sets" but if it walks like a duck . . .sets don't have all of the accessories that should go together (i.e. gas helmet without the vest) but the Asian ones do. We shall see what the future holds, I guess.

EDIT - Apparently this hasn't gone unnoticed by Oxford

badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
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Thanks for the info

by Redbean on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 20:28

Thanks for the info badger.

I have updated the accessory database accordingly.

redbean

by Vidgamer838 on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 20:57

redbean wrote:

(interestingly, no clones of Megabloks are known to exist, at least as yet)? But I suppose this can only be good news to us customizers.

Who would want to clone megablocks? ; )

I just picked up the "140pc

by cwencker on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 21:33

I just picked up the "140pc construction police playset," which sold for $5 at my local KMart, and I must say I'm pleasantly suprised. I saw all three sets that badger mentioned, and determined that they must be completely Oxford sets (the set with the military jeeps looks identical to an Oxford jeep that I got from A&K Shop). As I opened the box and looked through the pieces, I was even more convinced -- many of the pieces are distinctively Oxford (such as the unique 2x4 inverted slope). When I opened the instruction set, though, it said "Cobi" and "Best-Lock" on it, exactly as the new Best-Lock sets do. Other than the branding, however, the set appears to be completely Oxford -- including the minifigs, which have the Oxford-style legs. Apparently, Oxford has overcome its fear of importing into North America, and hopefully we'll see more of their goods on the way.

Please, call me Chris.

Chris, did you see any sets

by BrickArms on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 22:37

Chris, did you see any sets with WW2 US style military helmets ("Steel Pots")? The Oxford sets were reported to have them, but I wonder if others may as well.

Will Chapman • BrickArms.com

Will, I can confirm that the

by the enigma that... on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 22:41

Will, I can confirm that the 140 piece jeep set comes with two of the Oxford WWII US helmets.

Hope that helps,

badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
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vidgamer838 wrote: redbean

by Recluce on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 09:37

vidgamer838 wrote:

redbean wrote:

(interestingly, no clones of Megabloks are known to exist, at least as yet)? But I suppose this can only be good news to us customizers.

Who would want to clone megablocks? ; )

I would.

Emily J. Brownlow

MCN Supervisor Moderator

Leader of the Sneaky Forum Ninja Assasination Squad

~Custom Cast Helmets and Hairpieces~

BrickArms wrote: Chris, did

by cwencker on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 22:48

BrickArms wrote:

Chris, did you see any sets with WW2 US style military helmets ("Steel Pots")? The Oxford sets were reported to have them, but I wonder if others may as well.

I'll have to defer to badger on that, but I can tell you that I got six steel pots in the Barrack set that I got from A&K Shop. Half had red stars on them, and half had yellow stars.

EDIT: I checked the figures I have, and the pic is correct: there are six steel pots in this set. Kind of pricey just to get the helmets, but the rest of the set is good too.

Please, call me Chris.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! - Looks

by the enigma that... on Sun, 08/27/2006 - 16:24

IMPORTANT UPDATE! - Looks like the CBL Oxford clones DO contain the Oxford modern weapons!

I picked up the value set at TRU yesterday, and lo and behold, found four trees similar to what Red Bean posted. The quality is a bit iffy since it appears CBL is using a softer plastic, but the weapons themselves look fine and come in an interesting silver color.

Since they were not shown in the box art, it is entirely possible they can also be found in the other new clone sets that can be found in the US. We shall see . .

badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
Brickshelf account

Ohhh. Big guns. Lots of

by Limpfish on Tue, 08/29/2006 - 20:06

Ohhh. Big guns. Lots of weapons. Tank car thingy. MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

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I just received my

by BrickArms on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 17:33

I just received my Sluban-Chenghai-Century-Youyi-Toys-Co.-Ltd sets with the gray guns. I was buying them for the great WW2-style "steel pot" helmets, but was pleasantly surprised to find the guns inside as well. The quality is decent, but they are not ABS. They are also loose in the hand of a Lego minifig.

I bought the Leading Tank (M38-B6500), and the Amphibian Tank (M38-B6300) sets for about $8 each. The quality of the brick is not very good. My 9 year-old gave up building the vehicles after the parts kept popping off after he tried in vain to keep them on. We actually had one "ping" off of the model while we were just looking at it. Spooky!

It came with tools, but the quality is awful. Flashing, nick-marks, and loose fit for all of them. And no, the big pliers-thingy is not properly sized to be easily gripped by minifigs. The mold-maker even located an ejector pin location on the rim of the wrench head. Sloppy! ;)

Note: The minifig in the photos is a Lego minifig with a Kam decal, and Sluban helmet.

The rifles are crazy-huge.

The figs cannot really hold them in any useful poses. I tried, but failed, and my soldier tipped over.

Here are the guns in comparison to BrickArms and LA guns.

.. And people said MY M1911 pistol was too big! Their Desert Eagle is a monster!

Will Chapman • BrickArms.com

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I tend to agree with you,

by cwencker on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 19:24

I tend to agree with you, Will. I've been using some of the guns I got from A&K, which are basically Oxford/Enlighten weapons. They tend to fit a minifig's hands alright, but the size & shape of the weapons make them a little unwieldy. (Not a plug, but you can check out a couple of them in action at http://www.geocities.com/chris_wencker/Action_Squad_teaser.wmv. You can also see your M-4 in there.) I think the weapons in the new CBL/Just Kidz sets are a little better, but still not just right. I just ordered a set from LA, so hopefully those will do the trick. I do kind of like the size of the Desert Eagle, though -- it's a pretty big gun anyway.

Please, call me Chris.

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Well. . . uh. . . . . .

by Damien on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 20:07

Well. . . uh. . . . . . the helmet is nice.

~blink~

Really, I was trying to think of something positive to say, but I'm pretty lost. Those are aweful-looking guns. They're just. . . huge. And not exactly nice looking. Maybe with a little customization they would work well as vehicle-mounted weapons, but that's pretty much the only reason I can see for even bothering with them.

That said, Will - how do you like the design of the tanks? And is it possible to glue the pieces together as you build it -- so that they won't pop apart?

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how do you like the design

by BrickArms on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 22:23

how do you like the design of the tanks?

Meh. They're nothing special. They're way overbuilt. Maybe that's to keep them from falling apart more easily?

And is it possible to glue the pieces together as you build it -- so that they won't pop apart?

I suppose they could be glued. Seems like a waste of good glue, though.

We finally finished it tonight, and although the tank looks decent when sitting on the shelf, it cannot really be played with.

The turret doesn't rotate completely around without getting hung up on two rear deck protrusions. No matter, I suspect that by morning the whole turret will have popped off and have undergone spontaneously disassembly. If not, I'll nudge it off the shelf, and help it along.

Also, the treads are poorly molded, and have a divot in the tread edge where it was injected. It makes a "brrrr-blip-brrrr-blip-brrrr-blip" sound when the tank is pushed along. And the smell! They smell like the cheap yellow raincoat I wore as a little kid (circa 1972) <shudder>.

I really dig the dark olive green color of the bricks, though. Too bad Lego won't mold in that color. 6 shades of gray, but no O.D. Green.

Will Chapman • BrickArms.com

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Haha? Six?! I think there's

by Damien on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 23:09

Haha? Six?! I think there's actually seven shades of grey if we include that 'Pearl Silver Gray' colour that they use on like .. two whole items in their entire stock.

That is too bad about the lack of dark olive green, though. Have you tried matching the colour with any of the available plastic dyes out there? This website looks promising:

http://www.worlduph.com/semdye.htm

I'm colourblind, so I don't know if they have a matching colour here. But it might be worth a look. The site claims that this stuff bonds to plastic. And since it's dye, I imagine it doesn't 'coat' the item like paint would.

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Certainly your stuff blows

by the enigma that... on Fri, 09/01/2006 - 23:37

Certainly your stuff blows Oxford's weapons, Will, although the larger machine gun (first row, third from the top) looks fairly decent when placed on a tripod or mounted on a vehicle as Damien mentioned. My main interest in the whole phenomena is that it seems a US company is using pirated parts from a company that until recently was the sole maker of anywhere close to decent (albeit oversized) modern weapons. As I believe I've posted elsewhere, your stuff has been an incredible breath of the fresh air into MOCing with eagerly awaited, high quality products.

Also, I'm quite fond of some of their other minifig accessories, particularly those fond in their ancient Korean line (of which I still need to get a set). The steel pot is nice, and I'll be curious to see how the MCN store's compares. There are also some nice extras in Oxford's SWAT police sets - a pretty nifty barette, a swat vest, and an interesting gas mask.

Actually, I kind of like the size of the Desert Eagle. It's a bit much, certainly, but if you need a minifig to look like he's really sporting a hand cannon, it does the trick.

badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
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Here you go, badger. Try not

by BrickArms on Sat, 09/02/2006 - 00:33

Here you go, badger. Try not to shoot yourself in the foot!

And a couple more pics of the OTHER parts tree I left out of the previous post.

And one more. I'm done now.

Ok, just one more.

Will Chapman • BrickArms.com

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BrickArms wrote:Here you go,

by the enigma that... on Sat, 09/02/2006 - 08:41

BrickArms wrote:
Here you go, badger. Try not to shoot yourself in the foot!

That is a spurious lie perpetuated by those that would attempt to besmirch my exemplary, albeit very short-lived, military career. In all seriousness, all the comparison pics are quite nice to have - it's a good service to the community in terms of showing all of what's out there in terms of modern weapons. badger

"From a simple beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved"
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oh great brickarms, could

by tanotrooper on Sun, 09/03/2006 - 14:12

oh great brickarms, could you make a cast of that "sluban" WWII helmet, and sell it to us WWII fans?

Thanks,

TT

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The chances are slim-to-none

by BrickArms on Fri, 09/08/2006 - 00:34

The chances are slim-to-none on that.

If I were to cast, I would probably end up using whatever I had laying around as a casting material, and "Laughy Taffy" candy may not be the best choice.

I expect that if the taffy helmet somehow happened to hold its shape, any minifig soldier that had to wear the lavender, grape-smelling helmet, would be popped in record time by my Armothe-M1935-helmet-equipped german soldiers toting MP40s & Panzerfausts.

Will Chapman • BrickArms.com

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Lavender helmets that smell

by Damien on Fri, 09/08/2006 - 01:12

Lavender helmets that smell of grapes?

Don't ask. Don't tell.

;)

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Hi there...new to the board

by carvelln on Sat, 09/30/2006 - 16:44

Hi there...new to the board and all that jazz. I had a question regarding the military sets from A&K shop. I was thinking of purchasing some of them because they seem to be the Oxford military sets. However, based on Will's above review, I now believe that those "Oxford" sets on A&k shop's site are knockoffs by Sluban and are of inferior quality. Is this correct?

Anyone happen to know an webstore/Ebayer that sells true Oxford sets?

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That helmet is really nice!

by badboytje88 on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 03:56

That helmet is really nice!

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Carvelln, First, welcome. I

by cwencker on Tue, 10/03/2006 - 17:18

Carvelln,

First, welcome. I have a few A&K sets, and they're kind of hit-or-miss. One of my first was the Military Medic, and it didn't fit together very well at all -- though I did like the figs that came with it. I also got the Barrack, and I was quite pleased with it -- even though the M-16s that come with it are not very useful for minifigs. I have since acquired: the Transporter, which I have modified to an MH-47 (sort of), and I'm pleased with it; the King, which is rather bland but still compatible with other parts; and Tree, plant, railing, which is also dull but was great for finishing off a forest I was making. Overall, I've been fairly pleased with A&K Shop, but then I haven't really expected much from them. Hope this helps.

Please, call me Chris.

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That's interesting, but

by Starwars4J on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 01:58

That's interesting, but would anyone happen to know of a way for someone in the US to buy Oxford sets? They seem interesting, definitely worth a try, but after searching the web I come up with nothing

Thanks

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yep..that helmet is soo

by Blade-Elison on Sat, 11/04/2006 - 04:51

yep..that helmet is soo cool......
and, yeah will, you are right ..tose oxford weapons are "monsteres"....

--------------------<[Blade-Elison]>--------------------

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Cobi, Best Lock . . .and Oxford?!