LEGO Competition

Overview
WHAT COMPETITORS ARE DOING AT THE MOMENT

Introduction
Researched and identified competitors
Main competitors Megabloks, Kre-O, Nanoblocks, Knex, Meccano, and Playmobil
Put together an overview of what they are doing licensing and IPwise

Gathered information through what they are currently doing, what they did formerly, where
they appear to be going as well as using resources provided by others at the company
Went out to Toy stores in London to see what competitors are doing

Megabloks/Mattel
Markets: Worldwide
Currently mostly established in North America,
based in Montreal
Sells to 100 countries worldwide with
manufacturing offices in 11 countries
Mattel using Megabloks as main area of growth
Main areas of growth are through TV, Video
Game and movie IPs 17 out of their 23 product
lines are licensed IPs
Of those 4 are based off of TV shows. 1 is based off
a movie. 3 are video game IPs. 8 are from existing
toys.

73% of their products are from a licensed IP

Megabloks is one of the most established IP

businesses within construction
They hold many IPs across various age groups.
They have
6 IPs marketed towards boys 3-4. 2 of which are
homegrown IPs
2 IPs marketed towards girls ages 3-4
6 additional IPs marketed towards boys 5-6 all
based off of a movie or TV show
1 additional IP marketed to girls 5-6
2 IPs marketed to boys 7-8
2 IPs marketed towards boys 8+

Megabloks Cont.
Appear to be going after big name IPs that LEGO wont
o Halo, Call of Duty, Assassinss Creed are all huge in the video game industry
o Also has the License for Despicable Me, Spongebob, Cat, John Deere, and Thomas

Seem to be one of if not the biggest competitors LEGO has

Megabloks is significantly cheaper than LEGO and is significantly lower quality

Has a very small store presence(At least in the UK)
Price Ranges: $10 on average for smaller sets, 25-40 for medium, 75-250 for larger sets

Kre-O
Markets: Worldwide
Established pretty much globally, based in the
US
Distributed through Hasbro
IPs all based off of Hasbro toy lines(Currently
only Transformers)
All IPs marketed towards boys
100% of their portfolio is licensed IPs
All of their IPs are marketed towards 6-12 age
group

Appears to be slightly higher quality than

Megabloks
Is pretty much dead(Currently only have one
product line)

Prices for smaller sets $5-15, medium sets

$20-35 on average
Dont appear to be offering any large sets

Nanoblocks
Markets Asia, Europe, US

All products are display/building toys

Most established in Japan, founded and based in Tokyo

Much smaller scale than LEGO(very small pieces)

Distributed by Ohio Art Company in North America,

Marks Europe in Europe, and Kawada in Asia

Very little store presence

Current IPs are either based off of animals, musical

instruments, or places(For example the leaning tower
of Pisa)

Popular in Asia

Main area of growth seems to be through locations

and miscellaneous properties

No IPs really marketed towards boys or girls specifically

Had license to Shaun the Sheep, only released 2
products

Recently partnered with McDonalds in China

Average prices between $12-40(Absolute largest is
365)

Knex
Markets: Worldwide

Most building in sets are fairly simple

Established globally, based in the US

Small presence in stores

6 out of their 15 product lines are based off of licensed IPs

Only construction toy with Nintendo IPs

Licensed IPs include Mario Kart, Super Mario, Plants VS Zombies,

Titanfall, Pacman, Nascar and Family Guy

1 IP marketed towards girls

Well established in construction Clearly competes with LEGO
Products marketed to a variety of age groups. Majority being boys
6-12
Distributors:
Europe: Big on Innovation, Knex UK, Nelostuote Oy - Tactic Games,
Educa Borras
South America: YoyoYtoys, Cega Groups,
Asia: Camtec Marketing Services, Bankee Trading, Esquire Kids, Gaia
Corporat

Main areas of growth are Nerf type construction

toys(Buildable Blasters)
Price points, $7, 18, 25, 50 on average

Meccano
Markets worldwide(Mainly Europe)
Very well established in construction as one of the oldest construction toys
Based in France, in US as Erectors
100% of their building product line is homegrown IPs

Products arent really marketed to boys or girls specifically

Growth through construction and working to help inspire kids to become engineers.
Has models based off of the Gears of War franchise but no construction toys*
Main products are cars, trucks, construction equipment etc.
Rebranded Meccano: Maker System
Also have a small store presence
Prices ranges $15, 20, 25, 35, 45-120 on average(Largest is 999.99)

Playmobil
Markets worldwide
Well established in toys, is definitely a competitor to
LEGO

In the stores I checked Playmobil had the second

largest area for their products with LEGO having the
largest

93% of product line is homegrown IPs

Appear to be doing similar themes to LEGO just more

generic, IE Castle, Western, Super Agents

8 product lines marketed towards boys 5 to girls

Has Porsche license(No products at the moment)

Main areas of growth through TV series, and girls

products
Distributors

Wisekids Shanghai-China
Headstart International-Australia
Self-distributed in UK, US, Canada, France, Spain, Mexico,
Germany
Price Ranges: Multiples of 5:
10, 25, 45, 50, 190(Most expensive) on average

Store Checks
I went to Hamleys, Selfridges, and Harrods
Lego DOMINATED the building toy sections often having a whole floor/room to itself
Playmobil had its own section at all three stores as well

Competitors at Hamleys shared one small section

Megabloks and Playmobil were the only competitors at Selfridges
Harrods had one section for Megabloks, and one for Nanoblocks

I actually had to search to find Competitors

Competitors at Hamleys. All of these were right next above or

below each other. LEGO had at least 10 areas of the same size, and
a whole wall

Competition at Selfridges. Megabloks had that one area, Playmobil had 4 more of the
same sized areas

Harrods. Playmobil had a small room with more units of this size. Megabloks had one small area on a shelf.
Nanoblocks had a square in that size on each side

Conclusions/Summary
LEGO invests heavily in its store presence
Megabloks, Knex, and Playmobil are the only ones that appear to be going after IPs
Playmobil is unoriginal and uncreative

Nanoblocks Mcdonalds products sold out within hours after release

Kre-O will be releasing new products off of their one product line
Meccano is reimagining itself

Knex is going into something new for construction toys

Megabloks seems to go after any IP LEGO passes or just wont do

Video Game Project

Played and provided feedback for LEGO Jurassic Worlds
Researched and identified potential genres for a game based off of
the LEGO Friends line
Provided recommendation of features to include in the game, as
well as things to avoid

Recommendation
Recommendation: Multiplayer oriented, somewhat of a strategy game in the sense that you
have an area that you build and add to over time. A build your own city style game is likely to
be popular as two of the top three grossing apps on IOS are that style, you could do a build your
own Heartlake City. Candy Crush games are the next most popular games. Four of the top 6
grossing IOS apps are either the strategy or candy crush games. Maybe have a mini game that
incorporates candy crush, temple run, and makeover style games. You could also incorporate the
video clips by unlocking them through mini games.
There are many more games that are just nearly as popular only they are slightly different,
meaning they are basically just the same game with a different name and main theme, but are
the same concept.

LEGO CLUB Project

Provided feedback on LEGO CLUB magazine as well as many other
popular kids magazines in UK
Compared CLUB to its competitors
Thought of ways to improve CLUB