Forget about that counterfeit Coach bag your hubby “accidentally” bought for your anniversary, the latest copycat is for the pint-sized set. According to reports, the Chinese toymaker, Lepin has been raided for allegedly selling knockoff LEGO sets.
LEGO bricks are nearly synonymous with a hefty price tag so when Lepin building blocks showed up online with deeply discounted prices, plenty of people took notice—including the Shanghai police.
photo: Rick Mason via Unsplash
While the toys don’t boast the LEGO logo, they were reportedly copied from the plastic brick-maker’s blueprints. The Lepin website advertises the nearly-identical sets (including faves such as Star Wars) as “compatible with LEGO.”
The Shanghai police noted in a statement, that Lepin is suspected of selling over 30 million U.S. dollars’ worth of the knockoff products. Following an investigation, four suspects were arrested and 630,000 finished products were seized, according to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. Shanghai police also took more than 90 production molds used to make the LEGO-esque bricks.
Lepin posted a statement on its website, announcing that the company will continue selling all remaining sets but will stop future production May 1 per the Chinese Government and Shanghai Police’s requests.
—Erica Loop
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