What Is Bootlego? (A Definition And The Other Names It Is Known As)

For this article, we'll be tackling the definition of the term Bootlego along with some similar or identical names for it. We'll also be clarifying some some thoughts about the terminology and technicalities behind it.

Bootlego has a variety of affordable brick-based collectible toys that many people have come to love throughout the years. There are also countless more designs than what Lego has and sometimes, these are even preferred over Lego's. Thus, differentiating Lego from Bootlego from alternative brands can be confusing. 

For some, Bootlego refers to anything that isn't from the Lego brand. Some even consider Mega Construx or Kre-O as Bootlego. For others, it's Lego-like brands that come from China (yeah, it's somewhat racist). For us personally, we think it's ideal to use the term "Bootlego" when it's a set (or brand) that copies or clones Lego sets.

The more arguable situation of when to use that term is when an original designed set has Lego-designed minifigures within them. For example, Enlighten brand (a brand that creates their own designs and themes) released a Collectible Minifigure line that used the Lego minifigure mold. Their figures were uniquely designed and even had new/unique molds and accessories, but the base minifigures were still the same as Lego. Lego owns the rights to the minifigure design which should prevent companies from using the base minifigure mold. With that in mind, some original sets from non-Lego companies can be considered Bootlego on the basis of having [Lego-designed] minifigures alone.

So what are the other names that Bootlego is known for?

Google's definition of "bootleg"

Bootlego - A combination of the terms "bootleg" and "Lego". Above is Google's definition of the word. While the definition is referring to music recording, it can still be applied to almost anything else including Lego bricks. With that term though, it doesn't necessarily mean that these sets are 1:1 imitations of Lego's sets (and some really aren't like modified Helicarriers or Customized Batmechs among others).

Knockoff Lego / KO Lego - According to Google, knockoff means "a copy or imitation, especially of an expensive or designer product" and that's true for many bootlego sets.

Counterfeit Lego - We don't like calling bootlego as Counterfeit Lego because being a counterfeit suggests that there is an intention to fool another by imitation. Most bootlego brands have their own brand names and even name their own sets differently. (We're aware of some fake Lego Alarm Clocks though that can surely be called counterfeits because they sport the Lego name on their boxes; not sure where you can buy them though.)

Ripoff Lego - Calling bootlego as Ripoff Lego also doesn't sound as justifiable as rip-offs are usually inferior in terms of quality or are ridiculously priced. For bootlego, sets are considerably cheaper. In terms of quality, some brands are on par with Lego.

Clone Brand Lego - This is another commonly used way of referring to bootlego that we don't like using simply because of the similarity with the term "Lego Clone Trooper" which is a highly sought-after search query.

Fego / Fake Lego - Fake Lego is similar to Counterfeit Lego. We don't like it for the same reasons as we don't like calling bootlego as counterfeits.

Lego-like Brands / Lego Compatible Brands - Beware of sellers listing their items as "Lego----like" or "Lego...compatible". Usually they use these terms so that when you search for "Lego", their products also appear. While the brands themselves aren't saying they're Lego, some sellers might so be careful.

Unofficial Lego - Another name that's commonly used. We think it's a good name other than being long. What we like about this term is that it's not suggesting that these sets are immediately Lego imitation sets.

Alternative Lego Brand / Alt Lego Brand - Brands like Mega Construx or Kre-O easily fall under this because they're real brands that can be alternatives to Lego while still being compatible with Lego. With that, it's also easy for the Chinese brands to fall under the alternative category. 

So why do we prefer calling it bootlego? Honestly, just because it's just one word. It's much easier to refer to the whole hobby as a bootlego hobby rather than a "Alternative Lego Brands Hobby" or "Fake Lego Hobby". There's also no indication or suggestion that these sets are immediately clones or knockoffs. They're mostly really just unofficially made (mainly because of the minifigures).

To clarify things:

For us, brick brands that don't use Lego sets/themes or have minifigures are not considered bootlego. They're just alternative Lego brands like Mega Construx or Kre-O that make their own designs and sometimes their own character figures. Though there are also brands that used to use Lego-style minifigures but now have their own; some of these are Enlighten, Sluban, Xingbao, etc. Some can still argue that they can be considered as bootlego as they have used minifigures in the past (and even some minifigure accessories in the present).

Wait so brands that don't have minifigures and don't copy Lego sets/themes are legit? Well, in terms of being fake Lego, they're not. They're also technically not unofficial Lego and can just be considered as a typical brick toy brand. This is because no one can legally own the general brick type toy design (Lego didn't even invent brick toys, jsyk, but they did revolutionize it), but the minifigure design is owned by Lego and so are the sets and themes that they sell.

Are custom minifigures considered as bootlego? No, unless they're printed on non-Lego minifigures. There are debates about this, especially about custom parts/pieces/accessories that aren't made by Lego and about the ability to sell custom minifigures. Those are topics for another article though, but we'd love to hear your thoughts on them if you have any!

We were gonna include the pros and cons for owning/starting on a bootlego collection here but we'll just make a separate post for it as this post got a bit longer than expected.

Stay tuned for a Brick Brands Guide that we'll be posting soon!

If you're looking at what some bootlego or alternative minifigure brands have to offer, check out our set lists for some of the bigger brands.

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