WEBSITE: OXFORD
LOCATION: South Korea
AVAILABLE VIA: see below
PRICE: reasonable (see below)
OXFORD Toys is a South-Korean company that sells building-toys similar to and fully compatible with LEGO. LEGO-fans refer to such companies as “clone-brands” and often avoid them in their own creations. However I believe that some of these brands are worth mentioning due to their high quality, compatibility with LEGO and interesting elements.
I’m not planning to review every LEGO clone-brand in detail, nor will I review crappy clones with no appeal to LEGO-fans. However I will highlight unique sets and elements from clone-brands that I believe LEGO-fans might find interesting and useful. And if you have further interest in clone-brands I will list some resources that would give you more information on each reviewed brand. Now back to OXFORD Toys… 
QUALITY: From all clone-brands OXFORD has the reputation of being the highest quality. In fact, the brand is often referred to as “Korean LEGO”. If you mix OXFORD with your LEGO-bricks you will have an extremely hard time distinguishing them!
The quality of the plastic, the vibrancy of the colors, the weight and feel of the bricks, the precision and clutch-power of the pieces is exactly the same as that of LEGO-bricks. Pretty much the only way you can distinguish them is that OXFORD-bricks have no logo on the studs. However parts with no studs – good luck! 
COLORS: The colors of OXFORD elements are either the same or extremely close to LEGO colors. Please note that the OXFORD brown is the same as LEGO’s old-brown, and the OXFORD gray is the same as LEGO’s old-gray. OXFORD Toys also has some really sweet unique colors especially in the tan/earthen color-range.
ELEMENTS: OXFORD parts are fully compatible with LEGO elements. OXFORD has the same brick-size and plate-size as LEGO bricks and plates. Arches, windows and roof-pieces are also the same and/or are fully compatible with LEGO. OXFORD also has some special elements not made by LEGO – this being the main draw for LEGO-fans.
Most OXFORD-sets have the same building style as LEGO-sets; vehicles, buildings, etc. are constructed from smaller bricks and elements.
However there are some OXFORD-sets that have Mega Bloks-like large pieces that simply snap together to serve one purpose only. I assume these sets are geared towards younger children and are less of an interest to adult LEGO-fans due to the “juniorized” parts. You can especially see sets like this in their fantasy and castle line.
THEMES: OXFORD Toys carries the same or very similar themes as LEGO; city, police, fire-station, construction, airplanes, ships, trains…they have them all!
In addition they don’t shy away from modern military sets – filling a gap for LEGO-fans. In fact the OXFORD military-helmets and firearms have been a perennial favorite of LEGO-fans!
OXFORD also has some very unique fantasy-themed sets, as well as themes from Korean history.
MINIFIGURES: The OXFORD minifigures are quite similar to LEGO figs, although there are some distinct differences as well. Overall the OXFORD figs are very nice; reminiscent of the older-style LEGO minifigs with their somewhat simpler print. They are also the same height as LEGO-minifigs.
OXFORD minifig-heads are fully compatible and interchangeable with LEGO heads. In addition LEGO-headgear fits perfectly fine on OXFORD heads. However please note that OXFORD headgear (at least the ones I have) have a stem that fits inside the hole on the minifigs head. The stem is a tad too long to fit the hole on LEGO minifig heads. This can be remedied easily with a little modification, but I just wanted to warn you so there are no disappointments.
OXFORD minifig torsos fit well on LEGO minifig leg-assemblies, however OXFORD minifigs legs don’t look good on LEGO minifigs, due to the somewhat different design; with OXFORD leg-assemblies the hip area actually slips inside the torso, whereas on LEGO minifigs the torso sits on top of the hips.
OXFORD Toys minifig hands and arms are fully interchangeable with LEGO hands and arms, although OXFORD arms are slightly longer.
In fact, if you like OXFORD minifigs, you may want to change their arms to LEGO minifig-arms, as the OXFORD arms get loose fairly quickly (pretty much their only fault). As you can see on the picture I have changed the OXFORD minifig’s arms to gray LEGO arms. This combination creates a very nice and tight fit.
Another unique feature of some OXFORD minifigs is a special wrap-around paper clothing. I have only seen these in the castle-line of products. The paper is sturdy, with brilliant colors and a nice shine. It would hold up to at least as much use as any LEGO stickered piece, if not longer.
MINIFIGURE ACCESSORIES: To LEGO-fans this is one of the biggest draw of OXFORD; they have some really unique weapons, armor-pieces, and other accessories that a LEGO minifig-customizer may be interested in.
AVALABILITY: If you have friends who travel to South Korea, you should have no problem getting some OXFORD sets. In addition, OXFORD is frequently available on eBay. OXFORD sets have better price than comparable LEGO sets, if you can get them directly from South Korea. If you get them on eBay, the prices are going to be compatible with LEGO – not cheap – but if you are looking for something very unique, they are worth the price. 8)
RESOURCES: I highly recommend browsing OXFORD’s website! You might just find something that you like from their amazing selection! Also check out these excellent reviews on various OXFORD Toys sets (lots of pictures!):
OXFORD Korean-Style Tank Review
OXFORD Military Set Review
OXFORD Police Set Review
OXFORD Military Jeep Review
OXFORD Cobra AirForce Review
OXFORD Namdaemun (historic pagoda-style gateway) Review
OXFORD Castle Set Review
OXFORD Red Devil Set Review
OXFORD Special Z-Force Police 03 Review
OXFORD Z-Force Police Robot Review
OXFORD Hello Kitty Set Review
OXFORD Special Z-Force Police 01 Review
OXFORD Excavator Review
OXFORD Korean Hwacha (war-machine) Review
OXFORD Siege-Machines Review
OXFORD Mini Sets Review
OXFORD Siege-Tower Review
OXFORD Special Forces Hover-Craft Review
OXFORD Largest Military Set Review
OXFORD Princess Set Review
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. I hadn’t realized that OXFORD matched against LEGO so well. Especially nice seeing as how the recent Mario Kart K’NEX aren’t nearly as compatible with LEGO as I was hoping they’d be. I like the figs, but they draw normal LEGO minifigs and they’re hands are too big to hold LEGO items.
YTjedi, yes, sometimes it takes some trial and error to find LEGO-compatible brands! I’m sorry to hear that the Mario-figs dind’t work out the way you wanted!
I highly recommend OXFORD for its full compatibility with LEGO, for the quality, and for the unique elements it offers. I really like those curved up corner roof-pieces for Asian-style buildings, and the minifig accessories are super sweet! Oh, and I forgot to mention; some of the accessories come in chrome-gold!
You are really tempting a purist to break out! lol!
I love the castle/historical elements, especially the weapons and shields. They look awesome. I wouldn’t mind some of those historical sets, too. Something I wish LEGO would do. I’d love historically accurate buildings and locations.
He-he, Sarah, I knew I would get you with those castle sets! Those are my favorites from OXFORD! It is really worth getting just a small set, and see how it looks.
BTW, I forgot to mention; with OXFORD sets all minifig weapons and tools come on full sprues, so you always get a whole bunch of extras!
oooh, that’s nice! I love extras.
Nice read and @ Sarah, don’t be a purist, clone lovers have more fun:)
But really, there is nothing I find more fun than building with bricks, not only LEGO, but other brands too.
I have a large collection of “clone” bricks, some utterly bad, some very good.
Remember, old LEGO parts also suck due to warping……
Maxx, let me know if there are other clone-brands worth revewing in your opinion. Right now I’m looking for brands that have quality as good as LEGO and offer some interesting variety for LEGO-fans (not just a copy-cat), but later I may also add reviews about brands to stay away from. I’m not sure yet. Also if you would like to write a review yourself about the brands you have let me know.
Anna and Sarah, clone brands are usually cheaper than LEGO, so going over budget is harder to do(c:
I will check my clone collection on compatibility and quality.
But non come up right now.
There are newer brands like Sluban and Banbao, that do have good quality and very great prices (1/3 the price of LEGO).
I would love to write more, but I have limited time between work, my kids and my free time, I need to put time in my 2×4 collection and catalog everything.
I get asked a lot about it, but I haven’t catalogged/photographed everything yet (can anyone say perfectionist…).
Maxx, it is your perfectionist-self that makes you such an expert! So keep it up!
Hi,
Could you help? I am looking to contact Oxford Toy by email in order to purchase inventory to sell in the UK. Do you have a contact email address to pass please.
I will much appreciate your help
Thank you.
FQ
Francesco, they used to have an email address, but since they updated their website I can’t locate it. The only thing I find are phone and fax numbers. I don’t see another way to contact them at this point.
lol, Maxx! I think the main reason I stick to LEGO-only made pieces is because it helps me control my spending. I’m afraid that as soon as I break out, I’ll be more than broke, but in debt lots of money.
But I know that one of these days, I will buy customized pieces. I’ll just get too fed-up with LEGO not making what I want. And I’m sure it will start with centaurs and then move on to other castle-themed arms & armors.
And if I see anyone making really cool Castle-themed female minifigures, I know my resistance will shatter immediately. LEGO just does not make enough females of any line.
I do have to say that growing up I did have a good number of clone bricks. Not so much figures or sets, but 2×2 and 2×4 bricks. Megablocks and Tyco would sell buckets of bricks in the 300+ pieces range for really cheap. The best thing about it was the color selection, because they had buckets of neon colors, pastel colors, and kinda earthy colors. It greatly expanded the colors in my creations as a kid and even though LEGO has more colors now than back then, they’re still missing some shades that I had as a kid.
Hm….you got my interest there! 2×2 bricks in non-LEGO colors???!!! I collect 2x2s! And Maxx collects 2x4s, so if you have any left and you no longer want them let us know!
Also, if you ever like to write a review about a clone-brand, colors, or any other LEGO-related topic, just let me know. theBrickBlogger is also here to give LEGO-writers space and a chance to express themselves.
Hahaha, whatch it there Anna, but I have those allready.
I too love the color range of Megablocks.
Oh, dear, sliding down the slippery slope of clones-brands!
I…just…can’t …do ..it….
I can’t go there, I can’t buy non-Lego sets.
Introducing non-official Lego would be like putting an impurity into my collection….
It would feel…dirty.
:0(
Am I a snob?
Inger, I appreciate your honesty. As far as your question, you are the only one who can answer that. Personally I do not analize so much how and why adults enjoy their hobbies. If they are habby with it, I’m happy. However there is a saying; “How we do anything is how we do everything.” - so I’m sure our hobby-habits could be connected with various personality traits; both empowering and limiting.
If you feel fine and happy with your current way of enjoying the LEGO-hobby, there is nothing to worry about. Some people are collectors of one brand or another, some people are builders, some people are customizers…
There are LEGO-fans who just collect the sets, but never open them or build them. There are also LEGO-fans who do build the sets but only according to instructions – they feel building your own way is impure. There are also LEGO-fans who would never mix sets, and consider mixing sets is contaminating. So there is really a wide scale.
Personally I look at building-toys as a medium of artistic expression; just like clay, paint or any other material. I prefer the LEGO-brand – just like I have a favorite paint-brand – but if something is not available from my favorite company I have no problem buying it from someone else, or even making my own. But there are also people who would only buy a certain brand of cereal or laundry-soap, and they stick with it no matter what.
Is that a character-fault? I believe it depends. If the person feels good about it, if it empowers them and inspires them, I don’t think so. However if the habit feels limiting and stiffling, or if it makes the person judgemental, critical or intolerant of others – it might be a good idea to look at the underlying cause and try to become more open to other possibilities.
If someone does feel limited one thing that might help is adjusting the perception. As the saying goes; “Give the dog a bad name and hang it”. Rather than referring to other building toys as non-LEGO sets, clones, non-official LEGO they are just what they are; other building-toys.
LEGO does not have exclusive rights to building-toy designs, nor was it the first one. In fact, if you want to get very technical about it, LEGO is a clone itself. The first interlocking building-toys were made by a British company named KiddieCraft, not LEGO. LEGO copied KiddieCraft’s self-locking-brick design without their knowledge and permission. Yep, that is LEGO’s own shady past. 8)
Inger, I hope this helps some. Enjoy the LEGO-hobby your way and be happy! And if you have any other thoughts on the matter let me know.
You’re not a snob. You do what you do because that’s how you do it. And as long as you enjoy, no one can tell you that you’re doing it wrong.
I agree with Anna on everything she said (good lengthy post, by the way).
I certainly feel the same way you do. I think if/when I get to buying customized pieces, I’ll still keep them separate and not mix them in with LEGO. I doubt I’ll ever buy any of the commercially available clone brands, but I could be wrong. Maybe one of these days, they’ll produce something that I really really want and I won’t be able to resist. Still, I’m pretty sure I’d keep it separate.
And that’s how I roll. And I may change, I may not. It all comes down to what you want out of your hobby and what you want can change over time. And that’s okay.
Same here, I also have a good number of non-LEGO brands.
But I keep them seperate, not out of purism, but because I like to keep them complete.
Next to complete (mostly old sets) I also have a very large collection of clone 2×4 bricks.
It is after all one of those bricks found in nearly all brands (together with the 2×2).
Collecting is very personal, no one else can really tell you what to do.
So you can’t go wrong(c:
UPDATE: The website address of OXFORD has changed. I updated the post as well. Here is the new address: OXFORD Toy Website
UPDATE: Oxford’s website is either down or have changed again. I will wait a couple of days to see if it comes back up.
Trying to get information on buying Oxford toys wholesale..Cannot get onto website….
Marilee Boothe
Let me check on that…
Marilee, it looks like their website is down. Here is the actual address: http://www.oxfordtoy.co.kr
I have tried it several times directly and through Google search but the website won’t come up. I was not able to pull up the catched version either. I would suggest to wait a couple of days and see if it shows up. The site could be under maintenance, or changing servers, or something like that. If you can’t find the site after a couple of days let me know. I do have some contacts I could ask to see what’s going on.
wow! this look good for quality and pieces
Thanks for the really useful info, a medium-big toy retailer in the UK has picked these up and I was worried about compatibility issues with the other Lego sets I was planning to buy – that’s not the case now.
Unfortunately the retailer hasn’t picked up the fantasy sets but the Military and usual Emergency services kits are available…
Gavin, maybe you could convince your trailer to add the fantasy sets. They are really gorgeous!
i got my son for christmas the oxford police set number NPA35000 and there is a piece missing how do i get a replacement piece
Susan, I would suggest that you contact the retail location you bought it from and ask them what to do. They could probably exchange the set for you, or give you a phone number for Oxford’s Customer Service.
How to Order Oxford Blocks outside of Korea (found of FB):
http://www.facebook.com/notes/oxford-blocks-%EC%98%A5%EC%8A%A4%ED%8F%AC%EB%93%9C/how-to-order-oxford-blocks-outside-of-korea/312814185439936
Very useful information. Thanks for sharing!
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