OCTOBER 5, 2022 - While “LEGO” might have become almost the generic term for building brick sets (like Kleenex or Xerox for their respective products), LEGO is not the only company making building bricks. BlueBrixx, a German company, also makes the plastic bricks, and they have the added advantage of producing licensed Star Trek kits.

TrekCore recently reviewed two of the many Trek kits from BlueBrixx, their Galileo shuttlecraft from Star Trek: The Original Series and the USS Rio Grande runabout from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Galileo kit is 493 pieces at minifig scale, and finishes at 256 x 128 x 90 mm. The Rio Grande is 3090 pieces and builds out to 490 x 290 x 155 mm.

In both cases, the reviewer was impressed with the screen accuracy of the models and the ability to be creative with spare bricks on hand – including LEGO bricks, which also fit with BlueBrixx pieces – to vary interior spaces.

The latter feature works because, according to Wikipedia, the patents underlying the LEGO bricks expired in 1978. LEGO has since tried to sue several manufacturers of LEGO clones for trademark infringement, to varying degrees of success.

The review sums up by saying, “Now that I’ve built multiple BlueBrixx Star Trek sets, it’s becoming increasingly evident to me that these kits are clearly a labor of love, developed by devoted Star Trek fans.... For someone who’s waited a long time for Star Trek-themed LEGO sets, it’s such a joy to see Star Trek building brick sets being made by people who really care about paying homage to the franchise and doing their best to recreate some of its icons.

For the full review, including lots of images and a video from BlueBrixx at Destination Star Trek Germany, head over to TrekCore.