BrickArms: LEGO Compatible Products Coming to Bricklink

Another evolution of the platform bricklink which will generate a lot of ink (for not much): The marketplace specializing in LEGO products is opening its catalog to products of the BrickArms brand.

For those who don't know BrickArms, it is a manufacturer of LEGO compatible accessories that produces contemporary military weapons and equipment for minifigs, a niche left vacant by LEGO for philosophical and moral reasons.

BrickArms products are very popular. They meet growing demand and the manufacturing quality is at the rendezvous. These products are not counterfeits, nothing prohibits the manufacture of accessories compatible with LEGO products and the current market is flooded with various and varied accessories intended to extend the "LEGO experience".

In addition, the sale of custom products on Bricklink is not new, it has long been possible to sell unofficial products on the platform, including custom minifigs, as long as they remain in the ecosystem. LEGO.

Some are already crying scandal, pretending to pack their bags and invoke, as with each evolution of the platform, the betrayal of the memory of Daniel Jezek, the founder of Bricklink now deceased whose mother sold the concept to Nexon, a southern company - Korean specializing in online video games.

Over the years, many have "appropriated" the Bricklink platform, as if it belonged to them when it is neither more nor less than a market place, certainly specialized, as there are hundreds of. 'others on the internet.

To blame Bricklink for evolving in order to survive and develop is nonsense. Bricklink has never been a public service, sellers have always paid a commission on their sales to the owner, whether at the time of its founder or since the acquisition of the structure by Nexon ... nostalgic and followers of "It was better before"some of which are already" predicting "the arrival of LEPIN and other Playmobil to the platform's catalog.

The decision made by Bricklink is interesting, however, for both buyers and sellers. It expands the available offer with the arrival of new, very popular products and will ultimately increase the visibility of this space with the (a little less) austere interface and (still) obsolete ordering processes. If Bricklink is to become a hub for the wider (legal) brick market, in my opinion that's good news for everyone.

Those who saw Bricklink as a bastion reserved for official LEGO products will be able to continue to buy their bricks there, Nexon intends to maintain the BrickArms catalog as a separate and identifiable entity.

Fundamentalists who see the arrival of BrickArms as a betrayal of the platform's original spirit will be able to turn to other marketplaces that remain (for now) specializing in official LEGO products, but they will have to accept losing at increase in visibility and turnover to satisfy their convictions.

The market for LEGO and compatible products is changing and Bricklink, which only belongs to its owner, is adapting. Nothing more.