I'm a Lego guy and always have been. For as long as I can remember I've been building Lego and my earliest recollection of it is at about the age of four to five years old. Forty five years later at the age of fifty I still build Lego; The sets are far more complicated and technical, but the enjoyment is the same.
I started this Lego community as a place for me to drop Lego posts so I'd be able to find them easily later and a few others have started posting here also...Not many, just a handful. That's ok though, not everyone likes Lego.
So...A community about Lego...Why then have I just posted about not Lego?!
That's right folks, this post doesn't depict some cool looking Lego build I've just done...Sure, it's cool and I built it, but it's not Lego at all.
Not lego? What crazy-talk is this?
I came across this other brand a couple weeks ago and the military nature of it captured my eye. You see, Lego don't make military sets; It seems they shy away from that sort of thing which has always annoyed me as they seem quite comfortable with making Star Wars and other sets that are basically military sets. Anyway, I saw this stuff and I got interested pretty quickly.
Whilst there are other brands that do military sets I've never found them affordable but this one is. It's called SLUBAN. They don't just do military stuff but that's what captured my interested through the inability to get it elsewhere, for a reasonable price.
If you follow the Sluban hyperlink back there you'll see the sets they do and may even notice that they support Kids with Cancer and also Legacy which is an organisation that supports military veterans and their families. I think that's pretty cool indeed.
Sluban isn't the same quality as Lego, I'll admit that; It's compatible though and I've tested it to make sure. I won't be mixing it in with my Lego blocks though preferring to keep my Lego pure and unadulterated. However After building two of these Sluban sets I can see myself buying more.
The instructions are not as good, the packaging is not as polished or as flashy and the fit, whilst good, is not as precise as Lego. It's a cheaper version of Lego though, so I don't expect it to be as good. However, having said that, the sets they have available are very interesting and vastly different to what Lego have on offer now or will probably offer in the future.
Sluban have aircraft carriers, submarines, battleships, destroyers, Fighter jets, F-117 stealth bomber, army tanks, UH-60L Blackhawk helicopter, transport helicopters, Apache gunship helicopter, F-35 fighter jet, artillery guns, mine sweepers, military hovercraft and loads more.
They have plenty of little mini-figures also, and they come with cool accessories, a few of which you can see below.
From the top there's a radio, hand grenade, smoke grenade, AR-15-style rifle, machete, AK47-style rifle, semi-auto hand gun, knife and revolver. There's others too. The little figures have tactical vests, helmets and other accessories also, all in keeping with the period of their origin.
If you want to check out their range take a look at the SLUBAN website as they are all listed there by category. There's girls, fire, police and rescue, aviation, cars and of course the military section. Also, check out the coming soon tab...There's some really cool stuff on the way this month.
I'll be honest, I can't see myself switching from Lego to Sluban completely, but due to the sets they have available that Lego refuse to create I can see myself getting some more. The sets I got were the smaller ones, just to try it out. In fact, I got eight sets which, when combined into one set, can make a big APC (armoured personnel carrier) or tank...So, it's pretty flexible and can offer quite good value.
The price is better than Lego too. The sets were eight Australian dollars each so I'd say about 35-40% cheaper than what an equivalent-sized Lego set would be which I thought was pretty good considering the fact they're sets Lego won't design and make.
I don't think Sluban are ever going to rival Lego for market dominance although I'd say they will pick up a niche market, people like me who like military builds, and also those who don't want to pay the exorbitant prices Lego charge for their products.
Just before I leave, I mentioned another company doing military sets above. It's called Brick mania and their sets are pretty amazing...They are really expensive though, so well out of my ability to buy. Check them out though, it's pretty neat and very realistic-looking stuff! The exchange rate between America and Australia make it far too costly for an average bloke like me though.
Thanks for looking at my post.
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Be well
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