AIBU to give off brand building sets rather than Lego as birthday presents?

[SoManyQuestions52]

Would anyone be offended for their child to receive “fake” off brand ‘Lego’ for their birthday?

I’ve just picked up some really good priced sets in Lidl that I was planning to gift at some the soo many parties we’ve got coming up (mainly 5th birthdays), but then I wondered if that would be offensive or considered cheap?! Photo of one of the sets for reference (not my photo).

I obviously wouldn’t be offended if my little one was gifted something like this but would anyone else be?

How can a present be offensive?
it’s a lovely gift

Lovely gift - especially if it "fits" branded lego pieces so can be built in to almost anything.

Kids that age wont care as long as its fun to play with.

God no, you’d have to be a proper snob and twat to be offended at that.

Why would it be offensive? Itl be a tiny bit annoying if they’re shit, we tried some own brand Lego when DC were small and it was unbuildable, but it was off Amazon. Hopefully supermarket branded ones are ok

Unless a specific set has been asked for then it's fine.
(as you can tell from my user name I am a big Lego fan. I also buy and build alternative brands)

No I wouldn’t be offended. But some of these off-brand kits are complete rubbish. Impossible to make due to poor instructions. So that would be a pointless present and destined for the bin unfortunately.

I wouldn't give own brand version of lego to an older child who was really into lego and had an awareness of the different lego ranges etc but I think they're great presents for 5 year olds.

I would be fine with that, says it’s compatible with real Lego anyway so not a big deal

I wouldn't find it offensive or cheap (especially at that age!) but the off brand ones that DS has received in the past have been badly made with crappy instructions and the bricks have been really fiddly compared to Lego

Fake lego is a bit crap I'm afraid. It doesn't click together as nicely as the real stuff.

I would not be offended at all by it being off brand. I would say that it’s a fine present for most children but I might not give it to a child who I knew to be an absolute Lego fanatic.

We have been given some of these types of sets although close to a decade ago now and they were pretty rubbish. Can you open one and build it to see what the quality is like?

Not offended but a lot of off-brand stuff like this is rubbish, so it may end up being a waste of your money.

For class-birthday-party gifts they are perfect. As you-asked-parents-for-lego-and-got-this, not so great.

I’d rather gift the cash than this

Not offended, but we would regift without opening.
Cheaper stuff isn't compatible with lego, and my kids just wouldn't play with it.

I agree. My kids are older now. Their Lego is still there. It holds together well and has a decent resale value. The cheap stuff they had was landfill long ago, because it doesn't fit together properly. Id have rather they were given a fiver in a card ( I haven't had a 5 year old for 10 years so a fiver may be way off now!)

I wouldn't be happy, we've just received some fake lego from a birthday party, it was a nightmare to build, keeps coming apart and I'm trying to keep it separate from the "good" lego till it can be siphoned to be given away or binned. I'm not a brand snob but I detest non- branded lego.

Offensive? of course not

A bit of a waste of money? Often it is, they are cheaper but crap and they end up in the bin while Lego last forever.

I would buy one yourself and give it to your own child and see how they get on with it. Our experience of some of them is that they were really fiddly. The Wilko ones were OK but I did have to help more.

These aren't "fake" though.
They are legit alternative brands.

Wouldn’t be offended but agree with the others, we have had a few non Lego brand sets and they were a pain

I wouldn't be offended and I would gift an off-brand set BUT only if I'd tried that brand myself.

A lot of the non-Lego sets are really awful. Sharp pieces that don't fit together well etc. Just cheap rubbish that isn't enjoyable to build/play with.

Always worth a try, though.

If you've stumbled on a good one then they're lovely gifts.

I wouldn’t buy it for my kids but I would love it and be grateful if someone else did.! My snobbery does not extend to others’ purchases esp for kids birthday parties 😂

Fake in this context just means "not genuine Lego".