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.

Lepin 20033 - Technician Green RC Tracker Racer

It's been a while since my last post, in the meantime I have bought some items but didn't take time to write about.

My 8 year old son wanted an RC vehicle for Christmas, instead of a standard RC car we thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to more advanced blocks and construction techniques, so Santa brought the Lepin 20033. He built it in a couple of hours and has been enjoying it for the last three days. It's a copy of the Lego RC Tracker Racer 42065, and it costs half the price, it arrived in less than three weeks via DHL. Here's the AliExpress original listing: Lepin 20033 - Technician Green RC Tracker Racer

He went throught the construction steps with ease, he just made a couple of mistakes that I had to help him solve, mostly because it was his first time building with these techniques.

I am positively surprised with the Lepin Power Functions, these are not IR, but 2.4 Ghz, no need to point to the sensor. My son has the Lego Blue Cargo Train 60052, I never liked the IR controller behavior, we tested the Lepin receiver and controller with the train it worked perfectly! I'll be looking for more Lepin Power Functions to use my own vintage Lego Technic.

The brick quality is excellent, great fit, no missing parts. When the build was finished the car falled from the table and a 3m axle broke, fortunately I had a Lego spare one that fits perfectly, I can't blame Lepin on this, the drop was hard, and nothing else was damaged. I haven't had the chance to have the Lego original model in my hands, but I have lots of Lego Technic from the 80's and 90's, I liked the Lepin, I will be looking for other models from them.

Here are a couple of videos, my son took it to the outside to try it in the snow, the tracks blocked with the ice, but on compact snow it behaved fine. After drying it continued working perfectly at home.