Lego, Mega Bloks, Kre-O? Which brand do you like most? Which is the sturdiest among the three leading building block/ construction toys brand? What’s the difference between the three? Which is the cheapest?
History first!
Lego is the oldest among the three, in fact, Lego is the original or the mother/father of all building blocks. Lego building blocks is already 65 years old! wow (check out Lego at Wikipedia for a detailed history)
Mega Bloks is a Canadian company founded in 1967. In 2006, it changed its name from Mega Bloks, Inc. to Mega Brands, Inc. Last February, Mattel acquired the brand.
Kre-O is manufactured by a Korean company, Oxfor. This like of construction toys is marketed by Hasbro.
This is how a Lego brick look (photo from Lego website), each stud has the Lego logo on it.
A brick from our Mega Bloks collection, Mega Bloks logo is embedded on every brick/ block.
This is from our Kre-O collection. Each brick has a hole on it.
Price comparison: Lego vs Mega Bloks vs Kre-O (all prices from Amazon)
- Lego tub with 6o7 pieces is $29.99
- Mega Bloks tub with 450 pieces is $24.99
- Kre-O Tub with 700 pcs is $41.00, sale for $27.91
For themed products
- LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter (560 pcs) is $75.95
- Mega Bloks Caterpillar Heavy-Duty Transporter (778 pcs), $39.99
- KRE-O Transformers Sentinel Prime Construction Set (386 pcs) is $44.99 on sale for $20.15
Judging from the prices I got from Amazon (no theme blocks), Lego is the cheapest…and along, I thought it was the most expensive! Nyaks!
When it comes to themed products, well I guess the theme matters a lot. For example, while shopping for blocks last week, Toys R Us staff mentioned that their Mega Bloks Barbie theme is more expensive than their Hello Kitty product line. I guess licensing has something to do with it.
Quality Comparison: Lego vs Mega Bloks vs Kre-O
We haven’t tried Lego (one of these days maybe..) and we’re still new with Mega Bloks and Kre-O but here is what I noticed so far:
- Kre-O looks more polished than Mega Bloks, but Lego beats the two.
- In terms of interlocking, Mega Bloks is better than Kre-O. I still have to see and experience it with Lego
- Kre-O has a shinier finish than Mega Bloks
- Kre-O’s non brick parts (like the door part of Bumble bee’s car mode) chips easily
Which to buy: Lego vs Mega Bloks vs Kre-O
Well, it all depends on which character your kids love! I opted for Kre-O because it was on sale.. much much cheaper than Lego during that time. And the kids love Transformers although they were rooting for Lego Movie sets. Our little girl on the other hand, got her Hello Kitty from Mega Bloks.
Here’s a list of some products/ theme from each building blocks brand:
LEGO Themes (click here for the complete list)
- Disney Princess
- Friends
- The Hobbit
- Marvel Superheroes
- Mine Craft
- Lord of the Rings
- Star Wars
- The Simpsons
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Mega Bloks Themes (complete list)
- Barbie
- Cat
- Dora the Explorer
- Hello Kitty
- Hot Wheels
- Power Rangers
- Smurfs
- Thomas & Friends
- World of Warcraft
Kre-O Themes (complete list here)
- Transformers
- G.I. Joe
- Star Trek
I grew up playing Lego but when I became a mom, I fell in love with Mega Bloks Maxi blocks because of its size. In a way, my family grew up loving Mega Bloks, from their Maxi line to Micro line…my loyalty is with Mega Bloks.. but I guess it is just me! wahaha because for them anything small is called Lego (whatever the brand is) while the bigger blocks is Mega Bloks LOL.
For cheaper building blocks, here are some brands that might interest you:
- EMCO from Indonesia
- COGO from China
I’ll try to look for these brands and see for myself if the quality is closer if not the same with the 3 brands I mentioned above as well as the price and themes of the two brands.
