Because of the insane level of quality control and consistency involved. Think about how well every Lego piece fits with every other Lego piece. It’s insane.
Those are cheaper because they’re made with much higher tolerances. You can 3D print crude legos for nothing more than the cost of filament. But they’re not going to be any good.
General rule of manufacturing. Every time you decrease the tolerances by an order of magnitude, you increase the cost by an order of magnitude.
Because of the insane level of quality control and consistency involved. Think about how well every Lego piece fits with every other Lego piece. It’s insane.
Are you for real? They aren’t any different from compatible bricks which all “fit with every other piece”.
It’s 2025, Lego quality is not “insane”
It’s run of the mill injection molded plastic that you can get for cents a piece.
Sure. They won’t have the same tolerances though. Knock offs still have problems with pieces being too tight and too loose.
It’s greed. There are alternative “interlocking toy brick” manufacturers, like BlueBrixx, that are cheaper than Lego.
Bluebrixx are great! They’re also like 40% cheaper on average than Lego.
Those are cheaper because they’re made with much higher tolerances. You can 3D print crude legos for nothing more than the cost of filament. But they’re not going to be any good.
General rule of manufacturing. Every time you decrease the tolerances by an order of magnitude, you increase the cost by an order of magnitude.