Product test

Cobi is not a LEGO copy!

24.6.2019

Translation: machine translated

There are several manufacturers of clamping bricks worldwide. The best known of these is undoubtedly LEGO. But what alternatives are there? I take a closer look at a set from Cobi and compare it with the LEGO models I know.

Evil tongues claim that all clamping bricks apart from LEGO are fakes. This is true for some. Founded in 1987, Cobi initially produced board games and puzzles until they started producing clamp bricks in 1992. Recently, you can also find their sets in our range. Reason enough for me to take a closer look at one such set.

Military and Cobi

When I look at the sets from Cobi, something quickly stands out: Military. Many of their models are directly or indirectly related to the armed forces. In particular, their range includes vehicles such as tanks, lorries, helicopters, ships and aircraft. In this area, Cobi clearly sets itself apart from the market leader LEGO. Although LEGO includes various weapons in Star Wars sets, they distance themselves from realistic military scenarios. In 2010, LEGO defined various guidelines in this regard. These include the following sentence:

«The basic aim is to avoid realistic weapons and military equipment that children may recognise from hot spots around the world and to refrain from showing violent or frightening situations when communicating about LEGO products.»

Back to Cobi. So that I can get a complete picture of their models and compare them with the familiar LEGO models, I assemble one. I opt for the "Supermarine Spitfire" aeroplane from the Second World War. Something I notice as soon as I place my order: Cobi's prices are extremely attractive.

Building bricks

Cobi Supermarine Spitfire

The quality of the parts is impressive

But can the set match the quality of LEGO despite its low price? And are the building instructions easy to understand or confusing?

The building instructions and my exemplary layout

Admittedly, I have preconceptions about this set, because I don't expect the quality and straightforward construction of LEGO. After unpacking it, however, I realise how wrong I am. The Spitfire from Cobi is convincing in every respect.

The bricks feel high-quality. They are not made of cheap material, but make a stable impression. As with LEGO, they are packed in various shrink-wrapped plastic bags. Here, however, I discover a small but almost insignificant difference: the bags are not numbered. However, this hardly matters for a set with 280 individual parts. If you organise the parts clearly on a table, you'll find them in no time at all. With the larger sets from Cobi, however, the bags are numbered in exactly the same way as you would expect from LEGO.

In addition to the individual parts, I am also impressed by the building instructions for the aeroplane. They are clear and the individual building steps are easy to understand. What I particularly like is the colour coding. The parts that have already been installed are all shown in white in the instructions. The new parts are coloured. Only with some white or grey individual parts is the difference not clearly recognisable.

Conditionally suitable for cannibalisation

Cobi often uses set-specific individual parts in addition to the standard bricks. These parts are only designed and manufactured for a specific set. In the case of the "Spitfire", for example, these are the two movable ailerons on the wing, the exhaust for the engine or the vertical stabiliser at the rear of the aircraft. In comparison, LEGO only does this in extremely rare cases, such as the wheel rims of the Bugatti Chiron.

Greetings from Captain Cobi. Ace pilot or cannon fodder?

If you buy a Cobi set just to cannibalise parts, you have to expect that some parts will be less suitable or even unusable for your mods. However, as the average part price at Cobi is noticeably lower than that at LEGO, you won't have to worry about this.

Conclusion

On balance, I am positively surprised by the Cobi models. My preconceptions have not been confirmed. The bricks are of good quality, the building instructions are clearly laid out and the selection of sets from Cobi whets the appetite for more. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I prefer to assemble the LEGO models. The reason for this is more emotional than logical. If you've grown up with LEGO like me, you're probably not so quick to go off the beaten track. 😀

Nonetheless, I will definitely unpack another set from Cobi and have a look at it. If you don't want to miss out, just follow my author profile.

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Ramon Schneider

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Ramon.Schneider@digitecgalaxus.ch

I get paid to play with toys all day.

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