Non-genuine items in BrickOwl Store? Dealer request for "clear" photo?

RobertJM

Dear Sir/Madam,

My order number is #1346986. Bought from store DD Bricks. A portion of the items I received, I failed to see there are any part numbers, or Lego brand molded on the surface. There are particular one item that caught my attention the most. Technic Through Axle Connector with Bushing (32039 / 42135) Light Gray. It caught my attention that cause me to suspect that they are not genuine, because I have exactly the original one on hand to compare with, that comes from a set, in a different colour, black, and I noticed that the design, the structure of that item, both of them totally not the same.

The quality of the material is not the same. The design is not the same. And it has nothing on the surface. No Lego brand. No part numbers. What would you think if you were me?

For this particular item, I have already gave them the photo. By just comparing on the structure of the item, it is already quite clear that it is different from the original ones that I have in hand. So is that genuine or not?

So in the current negotiation with the dealer, they just requested me to provide him "clear" photo, although I have already did sent them the photo previously. And they request me to send again. So I have no idea how many times I need to do the same job again.

Beside, the attachment that can be attached in the email, only limited to 3mb. How clear can a photo be, with a limitation of 3mb? It looks impossible isn't it?

I would like to leave a feedback to my purchase. And to my surprise, I found that I am unable to select the "negative" option. The message says that it require the store to reply within 48 hours. But days have passed and no result achieved. I am still stuck here with the parts that I am not sure that whether it is genuine or not.

I hope BrickOwl can look into matter like this. Because it has been a long time and the matter still can't be resolved.

Thank you.

White Horse Bricks

Are you 100% that they are fake? There are several mold variations of this part, and technic parts old enough to be light gray quite often don't have the part numbers or even lego logo on them.

Lawrence

As 'White Horse Bricks' mentioned above, parts vary over time, especially comparing old and new parts. There will have been several molds during that item. This particular item has a note on it stating that it may or may not have reinforcements.

There is even a helpful comparison photo here https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/EXTN/47546.png

RobertJM

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure. That is why I am seeking help in the forum. This dealer seems to me that he is blur and has no clue himself of the items he is selling. Different variations are fine to me as long as they are genuine, as I am fully aware which platforms are selling fake products with insanely low prices, but I still insist on coming here, paying the price only for genuine products and that is what I am expecting to obtain.

But are you sure parts without Lego brand and part numbers are genuine?

I ordered a lot of parts. It really, truly, hurt my eyes to check one by one to find those markings, old or new, whatever. And so I asked the dealer, please assist me with which area of that specific item should I look into, so I won't miss the markings and able to spot them more easily. He still has stocks left. And he simply ignored my question.


There are actually 7 items that I am having problems. I tried as hard as I could to spot any markings. I might miss yes, but so far these are the details.

1) Claw with Axle Hole (Bionicle Eye) (41669 / 48267) Orange
Quantity = 33 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, all looks new (Ordered 50 pieces)

2) Cross Block with Two Pinholes (32291 / 42163) Red
Quantity = 5 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, same colour red (Ordered 20)

3) Beam 3 x 0.5 Thin with Axle Holes (6632 / 65123) Yellow
Quantity = 6 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, same colour yellow (Ordered 20)

>>>>>(diff variation) 4) Technic Through Axle Connector with Bushing (32039 / 42135) Light Gray
Quantity = 50 pieces (Ordered 50)

5) Cross Block Beam Bent 90 Degrees with 4 Pins (49130 / 55615) Medium Stone Gray
Quantity = 13 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, same colour, quality is obviously (Ordered 50)

6) Beam 6 x 0.5 Thin (28570 / 32063) Yellow
Quantity = 40 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, same colour(Ordered 40)

7) Beam Bent 53 Degrees, 4 and 6 Holes (6629 / 42149) Yellow
Quantity = 50 no Lego brand/part numbers, same colour (Ordered 50)


Take for example for this item:
1) Claw with Axle Hole (Bionicle Eye) (41669 / 48267) Orange
Quantity = 33 pieces no Lego brand/part numbers, all looks new (Ordered 50 pieces)

How come their colour are the same, but 17 pieces has Lego brand and part numbers, while the rest do not? A totally clean surface, no matter how hard I tried to spot, I can't see any. Are they genuine? Appreciate your replies. Because I certainly will not mix the fake one with my existing stock which is genuine.

Lawrence

Unfortunately I can't specifically explain why a specific part would have a part number, and another would not. Certainly in the past it was less common to have part numbers, or the Lego logo, especially on smaller parts.

I would suggest that if you are unhappy with the order, you may want to arrange to return that back to the store.

White Horse Bricks

Several of those parts are 100% available with no logo. I've got technic parts that I've had from new going back to the '70s to check against.

Hoddie

Many of the smaller Technic parts didn't get a Lego logo or a part number until moulds were retired and replaced. There will be some part/colour combinations that were never produced with a Lego logo, simply because they've never appeared in later sets, many of them from the early waves of Mindstorms. As far as I know there isn't a list of affected parts anywhere, but the light grey connectors from your first post may be one of them. I don't have any in stock as I sold mine long ago.

mfav

Parts manufactured prior to 2008 will be more likely to NOT have ID numbers and markings.

https://hispabrickmagazine.com/blog-en/blog-en.php?id=33528

Pikka

We currently have 20 pieces of orange Bionicle Eyes (41669 / 48267) that came from sets spanning 2017 to 2023. We parted them out ourselves, so we know they are genuine. Half of them don’t have any markings, while the other half have a small, hard-to-spot Lego logo – not something I could easily capture in a photo. As others have mentioned, Lego often uses different molds for the same part, which can result in small variations, like differences in texture or other minor details, even though the part number stays the same. The store the OP purchased from is reputable, so I would feel confident in their authenticity.

RobertJM

Thanks for all your replies. Your help is much appreciated. For your information, the dealer has replied to me concern how to identify genuine Lego product.

So he told me some parts just have a "C" on it. Some just have part numbers. Some may have none. Those are considered all as genuine. Therefore, after rechecking and excluding items that have a "C" on them or ANY part numbers that exist on the surface (there are so many different numbers), and some with Lego brand that I had missed to spot, the remaining are not many, probably just 20 pieces.

Phone's torch light is not strong enough, so I have to buy a stronger torch light in order to do the checking. Spending like 7 hours, I just went through a horrible experience in my life, checking on those tiny markings of parts repeatedly, thousands of time.

The reflection of the torch light. The strain on my eyeballs. And an additional expense on a torch light. I have no idea whether those are genuine or not, but I would not mix them together with my existing stock to prevent greater headache.

Thanks for all the help. Appreciate it.

adjour

I'll simply say that fake "normal" parts are not very common. Most fakes are going to be something like, a Marvel Figure or Ninjago figure. You can also post a pic here, most of us can tell a fake just by looking at it, no logo needed

Calibrick

Agree with Adjour, most fakes I have come across tend to be for Star Wars minifigure parts and minifig accessories - I don't think I've ever even seen a fake Technic part, for example (not to say they aren't out there... they could be?). I have bought from DD Bricks myself several times over my years here, FYI, and I find them to be highly reputable. I do suspect there is a bit of a language barrier with DD, so the emails may unintentionally read as a bit brusque, but really, they're just getting to the point. Though all sellers here are just human, I would venture you would rarely or more likely never see fakes from any store with solid feedback on Brickowl. I would venture that most of the fake sellers like to hit the larger markets on the other site and almost certainly won't have the corresponding strong feedback. :-)

Have I personally run into fakes when sorting and cleaning large lots I bought elsewhere to resell here? Yes, but only here and there fortunately. Most reputable sellers here make EVERY reasonable effort to catch those first so you don't have to. Tho again, we're only human. :-) Good luck!