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Does anyone has experience with BanBao bricks? BanBao World

Are they compatible with Lego bricks? They have basic sets and plates which are at a good price.

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  • Their new banbao bricks are much better than wayback and much better quality. The banbao bricks are compatible with lego and much cheaper !
    – user5637
    Apr 1, 2015 at 22:24
  • Recently, I just bought a BanBao brick Snoopy range. The quality is not bad. Great for kids to build for hours. The price are great value for money.
    – John
    Oct 24, 2017 at 6:16
  • Do you have a picture of the vintage pre-court case figures? I’m trying to work out if it’s what I have a bulk lot of. Certainly the plates are higher like BanBao… but I have about 16 figures too that I can’t identify the brand of… !Selection of clone figures Oct 4, 2021 at 14:28

4 Answers 4

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I have 2 Banbao set from before the lawsuit with Lego (minifig style minifigs) and they are more and less compatible with lego, the pitch between the studs is the same. But there is some remark I noticed within comparing both brands for a few minutes.

  • Studs are higher, a Lego plate on a Banbao brick will leave a small gap between both bricks
  • Plates are thicker. Lego ~3.2 mm and Banbao 3.6 mm. Bricks -> 11.4mm instead of ~9.6mm
  • Fit between Banbao bricks can be loose.
    • I have a small pull-back car that contains jumper plates that are placed vertical, parts mounted to them will fall off.
    • Bushes just slide over cross axles as there is no friction between both parts
    • Hinges are loose.
    • Usage of large parts, like 24x10 molded piece as a base for a vehicle.

I don't know if the quality of the bricks is better nowadays or they changed the dimension of the bricks. I would say just go to the store and by the cheapest set you can find and look for yourself.

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    The bricks are higher!? This is a problem if you want to mix basic sets. Very good feedback! Feb 18, 2015 at 16:39
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    I just visited to my local toy store in the Netherlands and found a couple of the small sets for only 0.49 euro, so I bought one. Quality of the bricks is improved in respect to my other 2 sets, bricks stay together. The hinge now stays in position. The size of the bricks didn't change. They are still higher than lego bricks.
    – Joost
    Feb 19, 2015 at 14:33
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I bought BanBao a few weeks ago in Germany, Kaufland. I bought a green city bus. I was impressed by the quality. The studs connect very well. I also tried on some LEGO bricks. It was no problem to combine the bricks together with the LEGO bricks. Some parts are different but a child will never notice[?]

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    Are the standard BanBao bricks higher? Suppose you build a house and and mix lego and banbao bricks, will it be possible to build walls? Feb 19, 2015 at 13:00
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The question is rather old, but I have one thing to add to the other answers.

There is also a Banbao line for younger children (Banbao Young Ones, 3+). There's a review here. It's in Russian but Google translate worked well :)

I have one set. It turned out that it is really compatible with DUPLO, and quality is very good.

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The quality of Banbao was really amazing. For some reason one of the minifigures can only sit, other one only stand (for comparison - LEGO minifigs can both sit and stand by default), but both have movable hands (as LEGO minifigures), details and colors are great.

Very good value for less money and really much better than other Chinese products. LEGO and Banbao bricks have slightly different height, Banbao are taller, but are otherwise compatible.

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    I don't know, why "jncraton" edited my answer, but that is not more the same answer, as I've stated. That's not ok! I've never statet that both are compatible.
    – ALEX-74-DE
    Apr 27, 2017 at 15:31

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