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No One Likes Receiving Knock-off LEGO® Or Fake Minifigures.
Here is the typical scenario: you bought used LEGO® from an online, third-party marketplace, and now, you are looking at the pieces saying, “how do I know if my LEGO® is real or fake?”
We are going to split this post into two quick segments you can scroll down to find: how to tell if your LEGO® bricks are real and how to tell if your LEGO® minifigure is real.
How To Tell If Your LEGO® Bricks Are Real Or Fake In 2026
Always check for the LEGO® logo. Part of LEGO® protecting its intellectual property, brand, copyright, and trademark is ensuring its logo is clearly displayed on its LEGO® brick. Without the logo on at least one stud, there is a really good chance you have fake LEGO® bricks. Using a flashlight close to the brick, you should be able to see the LEGO® logo. Just so you know, tiny or studless pieces (like tiles) can lack it or show a mold mark that reads like “L.GO”, and some fakes stamp a LEGO® logo too, so pair this check with the ones below.
Check for the fit of the bricks. LEGO® spent literal decades ensuring the LEGO® brick design seamlessly snapped together with the (practically trademarked) snap. If your LEGO® doesn’t fit together well, or comes apart easily, there is a really good chance it’s fake. The company seldom sells defective LEGO® bricks.
Compare the colors. LEGO® has a distinctive shine and glossy feel due to the ABS plastic it is made out of – if your bricks are lackluster, chances are that lack of color is due to the lack of authenticity.
Feel the material of the LEGO® bricks. Exceptionally brittle bricks are a sign that they are fake. The ABS plastic LEGO® is made of is wicked durable. If your studs are falling off the plastic, there is a big chance it is fake!
Flip the brick over. Genuine LEGO® bricks carry molding info and a part ID on the underside, the plastic has a smooth satin feel, and there is no flash (that thin excess plastic) hanging along the seams. Clones might have no mark at all, or they mold their own brand name to look an awful lot like LEGO®. If the printing is fuzzy instead of crisp, chances are you are holding a fake!
How To Tell If Your LEGO® Minifigure Is Real Or Fake
There are few things more awful in this world than receiving a bulk buy of LEGO® minifigure pieces and finding out a bunch of them are fake. Luckily, it is pretty easy to spot a fake LEGO® minifigure once you know these tips.
Check The Head Stud. Unless it is a really old LEGO® minifigure, the stud of the torso (where the head goes) will have the LEGO® logo clearly displayed on the top of the stud. Also, all LEGO® head studs have a slightly different color than the rest of the torso (usually a rectangular, black-patch) indicating that it is where the head goes! This patch also indicates which part of the torso is the front.
Check The LEGO® Leg Studs. The legs have a distinctive diagonal slant along with their hexagonal design to clip into place with the torso. There is almost always a LEGO® logo in between the studs of the legs.
Shine a light through the underside of the LEGO® feet. If you see a LEGO® logo inside the legs of the LEGO® minifigure, it is a really good sign it is real, but some fakes stamp a logo too, so check the molding quality as well!
Lastly, use the call-outs of fake LEGO® bricks to apply to LEGO® minifigures. Fake LEGO® minifigures lack a distinctive shine and feel brittle. Fake minifigures also come in a slew of wacky, weird colors.
Keep An Eye Out For Fake Or Counterfeit LEGO® Products
Don’t fret if you get fake LEGO®. At one time or another, we all have been bamboozled. It is a part of the collecting and building process of real LEGO®. When you scour the internet looking for a long lost piece, you are bound to get a fake piece, or two. LEGO® Group works hard to keep the market saturated with genuine, real LEGO® pieces, but Brickset points out knock-off sets are still very commonly found, even after Lepin was shut down back in 2019.
However, sometimes bootleg manufacturers appear faster than the company’s legal team can issue a cease-and-desist. Rest assured, LEGO® does everything in its power to remove fake LEGO® from the market.
When buying LEGO® from third-party platforms, always inspect the photos. Third-party sellers is where fake LEGO® comes from. Bookmark this guide and you can protect yourself from the plethora of knockoffs flooding the market.
Matt Buxbaum · CEO at Baumlinks LLC
Matt B. spends his time arm wrestling, boxing, and most importantly, building LEGO®. His eclectic tastes give you dynamic information on all things LEGO® news and LEGO® product releases.
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