Lunar Space Station

Last winter I got a good deal on the Lego Lunar Space Station 60227, it's a nice set, and would have been better if it was bigger, in April while browsing in AliExpress I found an unbranded copy of that set for less than 30 CAD$ shipping included.

I placed the order and waited, waited, waited... four months later the package was still "delivered to the airline", I offered to extend the buyer protection, but the seller never answered, the protection expired and I got a full refund. Three weeks later it was delivered to my mailbox! I found out that the store no longer exists, it might explain why they never answered.

The instructions booklet is way smaller than the Lego one, but it does the job, I was able to follow it without issues. The bags were not numbered, I had to sort all the parts previously, as I had to do as a child, and I like to do so.

It comes with a good quality stickers, however the white is a bit darker than the pieces, Lego stickers are almost a perfect match in comparison.

There is no indication on who the manufacturer is, but the plastic looks like the Bela blocks. When assembling the minifigs I found out that the torsos design was a mirror copy of the original ones, so I decided to build a mirrored space station too...

There is no way to attach the visor on the orange astronaut helmet, it's larger and keeps falling, the Lego visor fits perfectly. Lego astronaut is at the right.

Here are the other minifigs and the robot, Lego ones are on the right side. The blonde scientist eyes disappear under the hair piece, not great... the robot eyes are the same size, I will replace them by a Lego spare eyes that I have somewhere.

The finished build, and the Lego one on the left side this time.

I will probably modify both in order to assemble them and have a bigger space station.

Lepin 02012 - Deep Sea Exploration

By the end of December my son asked to browse through AliExpress, I showed him how to look for the best deals from reliable sellers. It didn't take him too long to find the Deep Sea Exploration set from Lepin (Lepin 02012), based on the Lego Deep Sea Exploration 60095, he has been saving money for a while, and tries to get the most value for his pocket. He paid 51 CAD$, shipped via ePacket, the package arrived three weeks later to the mailbox.

Here's the original listing from AliExpress: Lepin 02012 - Deep Sea Exploration

I was gladly surprised with the seller, everything was properly packaged and protected inside a box.

The build was long but simple, the bags were numbered, so it was easy to follow the instructions, however there were some parts spread in other bags. There were no missing, or damaged parts. Transparent pieces came in separate, and sealed bags, no scratchs.

Lepin minifigs arms and hands had to be assembled to the torso. These are the first Lepin minifures I have had in my hands, I am gladly surprised with the quality and detail. I have an original Lego captain, below is a picture of both minifigures (Lepin at left, Lego at right).

The finished build...

I am almost certain that I will buy more Lepin sets in the future, the quality is far above what I have seen on other brands (Bela, Enlighten, Kazi). In fact there are some in my wish list for soon.