Oxford (옥스포드)

 

Ah, Oxford! Oxford is a South Korean manufacturer of blocks that just so happen to be compatible with Lego. While living in Korea, I've been able to get quite a few of Oxford's sets. While I will be talking about the sets individually, I do have a few general comments to make here about Oxford in general.

Some people might assume that if interlocking bricks aren't made by Lego, they probably aren't any good. Well I don't have any experience beyond Lego and Oxford, but I can honestly say that Oxford comes quite close to giving Lego serious competition. Though I have found that the blocks do not fit together quite as nicely as Lego, the overall quality and variety of sets is pretty good. 

Another interesting thing is that Oxford makes military sets. The only soldiers I know of in Lego are in the pirates and castles series. Oxford goes all out with modern military equipment, and they are pretty sweet.

Another plus is the price. At least in Korea, Oxford sets are about half the price of similar Lego sets. On that note, I really hate how expensive something like Lego can be... They're just blocks! I mean, get real...

So, is there anything negative about Oxford? 

See the lovely mess? Oxford doesn't really organize the pieces very well. You might have to open all of the bags at the very beginning just to build the first few steps! Digging through EVERY bag can be insanely annoying. Some Oxford sets (like the Empire Castle) do have numbered bags similar to current Lego sets, but even they are not quite as well sorted. Just getting the pieces ready is an integral part of the building process, though I must admit it is strangely fun... in retrospect!

One other small thing. Oxford uses a lot of stickers instead of actual printing on blocks. It's no big deal, but it is not my preference.