List of Not Lego Forums and Blogs - 2015

I thought I'd share my list of forums and blogs that happily (some not so happily) discuss the latest alternative brick brands, bootleg lego news and finds.

Forums with little or no drama (brick enthusiasts)

From Malaysia,  the Official Bootleg Bricks thread,
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3401983


From Australia, the Cobi & Alternative Brick Sets thread,
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2350232


Also from Australia, the WP KO Bricks Wiki,
https://sites.google.com/site/wpkobrickswiki/


From Europe, the Eurobricks community,
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94997

The Bloks Forum, set reviews
http://bloks.hyperboards.com/action/view_board/board_id/4/start/1

Here's a couple from Great Britain,

Lepin starts at page 278,
https://www.avforums.com/threads/lego-lepin-lego-the-everything-lego-related-thread.1948894/page-278

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=159&t=1615833

Forums with drama (Lego purists, resellers)

From the USA, the Brickpicker Community,
http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/2804-fake-non-lego-knockoff-and-counterfeit-sets-plus-reproduction-minifigures/


From England, the Brickset Forums,
http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/16099/lego-fight-against-chinese-counterfeit-lego

From Italy, the Italian Lego User group

http://itlug.org/forum/index.php/topic,618.0.html

Blogs

https://customizeminifiguresintelligence.wordpress.com

http://bootlegbricks.xyz

http://mybrickstore.blogspot.com

http://alternabricks.over-blog.com

http://downtheblocks.blogspot.com

http://brothers-brick.blogspot.com

Hsanhe 6411-1 Not Lego KFC Shop Set Review

It's time to review another one of the Hsanhe modular sets.  This one is the KFE shop model 6411-1. It's modelled after a KFC outlet but obviously they can't use the proper brand.  This little modular has 188 pieces according to the packaging.  As with the other sets, clutch is good and the original windows and doors were not too scratched up.

Here's my build of the KFE/KFC shop.  The outside of the shop has a little seating area with a table and two chairs.  Landscaping consists of a small tree and a row of plants.  There are two signs that you get stickers of the KFE logo.  Below the main sign is a small red and white awning.

Each Hsanhe modular set comes with two minifigures and this set is no different.  You get a male store employee and a female customer.

In case you were curious how the minifigures look from behind, here's a pic of them.  Turns out the male is wearing a hoodie underneath his uniform.

Back side view of the building reveals an L shaped seating area, a counter with cash register and a cooking area, complete with fan hood with storage area above it. Unlike the other two Hsanhe modular sets which I've reviewed, this one has no lights on the ceiling.

Another view of the seating area. Someone forgot to clean it up after the last customer.

Here's the cooking area.  Not sure if those protrusions are supposed to be knobs for the grill or representations of food.

The KFE shop without the roof on.  Only one problem with the layout is that the female customer's big ponytail hairpiece prevents her from actually sitting in the little nook.  They should have used a different hairpiece for the girl.

Ok I already didn't follow the instructions that came with the set.  I lowered the two chairs outside so any seated minifigures would not sit so high up.  Also I changed the two window panels on either side of the door.  The original windows provided were the full size floor to ceiling ones (1x4x6).  I decided to save those windows for a future MOC building, so I used smaller 1x4x5 windows instead. 

Lastly, I used a single 1x4x4 brick for the main sign instead of the bricks that were provided because I prefer to have a sticker on one brick instead of over two or three pieces. 

I've already quickly built up a second floor for the building using my spare bricks. I just need to change the roof structure of the lower level and maybe add some more detailing to the top of the building.   So much for for such a low price.

Brand: Hsanhe

Series: Mini Shop Modulars

Model: 6411-1 KFE mini shop

Number of pieces: 188 plus a few extras.

Recommended:  Yes.

Hsanhe 6409-1 Not Lego Sweet Shop Set Review

I recently purchased a set of six mini modular buildings from the Hsanhe brand.  I already reviewed the Coffee Corner set, so today let's look at the Sweet Shop set number 6409-1.

To save costs, I don't have the box shipped to me, so this is how I receive the Hsanhe set from Aliexpress.

This building set comes in three bags and some plate pieces.

Instructions are provided on a single two sided sheet of paper and are easy to follow.

 There are approximately 193 pieces to this set.  There aren't any special pieces in this set, so you could easily build this shop with your own brick pieces using the instructions above.

Here are the two minifigures that come with the sweet shop, one male and one female.  Quality of both is excellent.  The male minifigure is wearing the sweet shop uniform and apron, and the female is the customer.

The Hsanhe Sweet Shop is based on the Lego ideas concept.  In that concept, this building was a Dunkin Donuts store.  Building pieces and colours are the same, only the stickers have been changed.

Here's the sticker sheet that comes with the set. I only applied the main log sticker to my set.

Left side view.  What makes this a modular set is the holes on the side where you can connect this building to the others.   Not sure what the green box is supposed to be.  Is it a trash can?  A newspaper box?  A mail box?  I dunno.

Right side view.  There's a small street light that's way too small for the set.  You also get a small strip of plants on the sidewalk.

Police officer smells fresh donuts.  Here's the inside of the sweet shop building.  There are three shelves loaded with sweets for sale.  On the other side of the building is the counter, cash register.

Use the grips please, no dirty hands on the donuts.

Top view of the mini modular.

I moved the counter and cash register so that the mini figure has more room at the takeout window.

Two small lights attached to the underside of the roof.

Here's a last look at the sweet shop.  Thanks for looking.

Brand: Hsanhe
Series: Mini Street
Model: 6409-1 Sweet Shop
Number of pieces: 193  (with some spare pieces).