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I debated for months as to whether or not I should include a section of Lego clones offered by the Dollar Tree, LIDL and ALDI grocery stores, and (finally) Walmart. After much agonizing over the idea, I decided, what the heck.... Let's go for it. I was looking for a cheap source of spare parts, and not being a "Lego snob", I started by buying a few of these for spare parts - they work well with genuine Lego elements. So we've bought a bunch of them. If you like green, the Harvester is a great deal with 81 pieces - It even includes two packages of parts!
You'll find the Walmart, LIDL, and ALDI offerings here .
Almost everything, they offer only costs you
$1.75. In the whole
scheme of things, that is "nothing". If you are not particular in what
you use to build things with, buying these kits and basic brick elements can
be a cheap way to grow your empire. In late 2024, they started
offering a series of cars and a few buildings for $3 -- then the tariffs
came, and many started appearing at the
$5 level. I've even seen the same kit at two different prices
side-by-sideYou can buy these kits and parts from the Dollar Tree website, but they have a minimum purchase of 24 or 36 of them, depending on how they come packaged from the manufacturer. There is no discount on the price for buying them this way. You can have them sent to your home or to your nearest store, FOR A DELIVERY FEE of around $25.
All boxes are yellow except for one (so far - as of 2/22/25) and have the name "Make-It Blocks" on them. The exception is the Harvester, which has the "Best Lock", and the box is green instead of yellow.
All of the bricks are well made, they assemble with no problem, and things like wheels (so far) spin freely. Tolerances are good enough that the parts mate with each other without coming apart.
I have not had any problem with any of "their" parts inter-mixing with those made by Lego or any of the Chinese clone manufacturers like Mould King. I have noticed only one problem so far in dimensioning, and that is with some of the 32x32 base plates - they were ever so slightly large, and needed to be filed down in order to mate with the better produced stuff from Lego and Mould King.
BTW, every kit sold includes printed instructions, and ALL of them are well lithographed, in color, and follow the Lego convention with graying out the parts already assembled.
Somewhere in each kit and each bag of parts, will be one part stamped with "Greenbrier International".
By the numbers. There are three different numbers associated with the products Dollar Tree sells. There is a 6 digit SKU, which does not appear on all products. There is the standard barcode. And there is a 20 digit number that I'm going to guess is their stock number. Since there is no one unique identifying number for each product, I've decided to do away with my normal numbering of the parts and kits. I have seen only one instance where the bar code is used for three different kits, and those are the three ZOMBIE kits. Two of the Zombie kits also have the same stock number - I dunno how the Dollar Tree's inventory system handles ordering product with multiple kits having the same number(s), seems like it would be a red flag to me :-)
Acknowledgements:
The Dollar Tree boxes and website
Websites and other additional information sources of interest:
https://www.dollartree.com/toys/building-blocks-sets
Dollar Tree Elements / Building Block Basics
The Dollar Tree offers a number of assorted items to help a budding brick builder with a number of cheap options.
As of early 2024, this is what I have seen (all at $1.25 per):
-- 32x32 Base Plates in green, brown, gray, and blue.
-- 16x16 Plates in green, brown, and gray.
-- A 25 piece bag of bricks and plates in brown, gray, blue, and white (finding the white bricks is really, really hard - not seen since 2023)
-- A 16 piece bag of bricks in brown, gray, and blue.
-- A 25 piece bag of bricks in assorted colors.
2025 updates:
Towards the end of 2025, they increased ALL $1.25 items to $1.75 due to the Trump tariffs.
2026 updates:
-- In the early weeks of 2026, they started carrying white bricks again.
I noticed at the beginning of March, Dollar Tree has updated a bunch of their offerings, including:
-- A new set of three pullback cars, very similar to the last bunch offered with small redesigns.
-- The flower set of four, still being offered, but the box is redesigned.
-- The boxes of elements are now offered in 100 quantity packaging.
-- New race cars, similar to the first set of three, but again, a slight redesign.
In 2024 on their website, I did not see three things:
1) Any white bricks.
2) The smaller 16x16 plates.
3) The mixed bags of elements other than the one shown below that contains only bricks,
In the past, I have purchased bags that contain plates in them, but have not seen them for a while.
They also offer boxes to keep your parts in, they come in two different color combo's.
Kits
Military
Zombies
City Block Misc
Fire and Police
Construction
Birds
Animals and Dinosaurs
Stores - small versions
Stores - large versions
International Sights
Cars and Vehicles
Lazer Blocks - with light up kits
City Block Collection - 8 small vehicles
The Harvester
"Pullback" Cars
Race Cars
Small Cars
Large Cars
Flowers
Fidgets
Stickers
Minifigs
Obviously, for a buck seventy-five, you're not going to be getting a lot. However, in an effort to comb my area to see what the various stores were offering, I came across a store after New Year's 2024 that had a few additional kits. One was a "huge" kit at 81 pieces to build a "Harvester" (a type of farm machinery), and three kits that include a battery/light module (the Lazer kits)!
Military:
Fighter jet / 30 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Helicopter / 26 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Battle tank / 25 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Zombies:
The Zombie collection is not shown on the Dollar Tree website as of early January 2024, nor in early 2026.
Will they do another run of these???
The boxes measure 15cm x .8cm x 2.6cm.
Grave, headstone, zombie minifig / 49 pieces
Headstone with plants, headstone with cross, zombie minifig / 51 pieces
Funky black headstone, black headstone with cross, zombie minifig / 55 pieces
City Collection Misc:
Bench, mailbox, lamp post with base / 36 pieces
Gas station pump with roof with scooter / 44 pieces
Traffic Light, motorcycle, hydrant, box, base / 28 pieces
Fire and Police:
Police Helicopter / 25 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Fire Rescue: Fire hydrant and fire extinguishers on a rack with a shovel and 2x6 base / 24 pieces
Fire Rescue: Mini-Fire truck / 22 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Fire Rescue: Vehicle and minifig / 52 pieces
Fire Rescue: Boat and minifig / 52 pieces
City Patrol vehicle: "Police robot" with "grabby" arm / 28 pieces (can be assembled in two configurations)
Construction:
Issued in two different sets, and can be differentiated from each other by the back of the box, readily apparent.
Not sure how many are in the second set, cause I never saw them on the DT website - I found four kits.
The first series of boxes with the "fancy" backs are.....
The second series boxes are 15cm x 12.7cm x 2.5cm.
Construction: Cement Mixer / 37 pieces
Construction: Crane on platform with base, shovel, and cone / 34 pieces
Construction: Mini-Bulldozer with fencing, shovel, and "dirt wall" / 35 pieces
Construction: Covered gas pump with scooter / 36 pieces
Construction: Traffic light, fire hydrant, and motorcycle / 36 pieces
Construction: Bench, mailbox, and street lamp. / 36 pieces
Construction: Steam roller with minifig and shovel + / 57 pieces
Construction: Helicopter and minifig / 52 pieces
Construction: Heavy Duty Crane and minifig / 56 pieces
Construction: Compactor on wheels / 24 pieces
Birds:
Dollar Tree offered four different birds, they've been around since 2023 or so, and you can still find them:
Animals and Dinosaurs:
This category originally had (only) the six kits shown immediately below.
The series includes an EAGLE, so it is included here rather than the birds section, which was a different series they brought out.
The original set also included a "hanging tab" so they could be hung on the display instead of being mass displayed in a box.
Shark / 30 pieces
Triceratops / 34 pieces
Lion / 30 pieces
Pterosaur / 30 pieces
T-Rex / 32 pieces
Eagle / 30 pieces
Purple Stegosaurus / 19 pieces
Yellow Triceratops/ 18 pieces
Green/brown Allosaurus? / 20 pieces
Green Pterodactyl / 13 pieces
Yellow Stegasaurus? / 18 pieces
Dark Blue unknown dinosaur (kinda looks like a turtle :-) / 10 pieces
Storefront Buildings / Small Store Building Sets:
Large Store Building Sets:
There are three sets in this series: a diner, a fast food joint, and a gas station.
Notice the price increase from $3 to $5 because of the Trump tariffs in 2025.
Construction Stores: Gas Station / 126 pieces
Construction Stores: Fast Food / 142 pieces
Construction Stores: Diner / 122 pieces
International Sights:
All of these were originally $3, and then with the Trump tariffs in 2025, they went to $5.
They all have three bags of parts. Boxes are 19cm W x 15cm H x 4.4cm D.
Tokyo / 234 pieces
Berlin / 199 pieces
San Francisco / 206 pieces
Venice / 181 pieces
Lazer Blocks:
These three kits include a battery module with two LR41 batteries and a flashing RGB LED.
At first, I thought the switch on the light module is momentary, but after much persuasion, it will latch in the ON position.
The 15cm x 10.2cm x 2.2cm boxes contain one bag of parts.
Lazer Blocks Spaceship / 26 pieces
Lazer Blocks Helicopter / 38 pieces
Lazer Blocks Racecar / 39 pieces
City Block Collection / Small Cars:
There are 8 vehicles in the City Block Vehicle collection, altho I have never considered a train engine a vehicle :-)
Kits contain one bag in a box that is 14.7cm x 10.2cm x 2.9cm.
Yellow Crane / 57 pieces
White Tow Truck / 56 pieces
Red Fire Truck / 56 pieces
Yellow Taxicab / 54 pieces
Blue Car / 56 pieces
Pink Delivery Van / 63 pieces
Blue Off Road Truck / 56 pieces
Green Train Steam Engine / 55 pieces
The Harvester:
Harvester / 81 pieces
This kit is not on the Dollar Tree website as of early 2024.
This the ONLY kit produced, so far (as of early 2026) in the FARM series.
Notice the box states this is BEST LOCK "product" instead of the standard MAKE-IT BLOCKS.
Notice the rear of the box also has dimensions, which no other box has.
For the price of a buck-twenty-five, this had to be the best deal going for any block type model, bar none!
This was a most interesting addition to the Dollar Tree line-up of block kits.
"Pullback" Cars:
There are three models in this series, they came out around 2024? The rear wheels are spring loaded, so you pull them back, let them go, and they go running off with spring power. One of the few, if not the only series that uses metal screws! The spring unit is a self contained module with 5 gears and a watch-like coil spring.
Come March 2026, I noticed a full new container of cars at the Timonium MD store. I looked at them, and said they don't look familiar, and sure nuff, it's a set of three new pullback cars! They are basically the same, just slightly redesigned, and the green car is a greener green than the first run.
The first set of three:
The second set of three:
The pullback spring power engine module:
Race Cars:
Dollar Tree's initial offerings of the race cars includes a set of four, in the 300 piece range, making them slightly more elaborate than the large car series below.
Small Cars:
See the City Block Collection / Small Cars section above.....
Large Cars / Large Vehicle Set:
I think, if I remember correctly, these came out in late 2024. Each model comes with four bags of parts, of which one is for the included minifig.
Notice the last one, the green race car, seems to have come out a little earlier, for the orientation of the box is not the same as the other four, and the price is only $3,
And, this race car IS NOT part of the race car series above.
Large Vehicle Set: SUV / 212 pieces.
Large Vehicle Set: Jeep / 208 pieces.
Large Vehicle Set: Pick-up Truck / 212 pieces.
Large Vehicle Set: Fire Truck / 222 pieces.
Large Vehicle Set: Green Race Car / 214 pieces.
Flowers:
There are four kits in their flower series.
The first one pictured, the rose, is from the original run, the other three are from March 2026.
Notice some slight changes to the box design: size and the info in the lower right hand corner.
For the blue (and orange) flower above, in step #8, they have an interesting piece that I have not come across before,
Does this piece exist in the LEGO world?:
Fidgets:
I believe they offered two of these, they came in a bag. Here is one......
They are cute little kits, dunno why they didn't keep them around longer! :-(
Lots of unknowns here.
I only saw this one set of stickers -- They were Army related.
I don't know if they had other sheets of stickers for anything other than the Army.
I believe I found these in 2024, but not sure.
Dollar Tree sells mini-figs in two different packaging options: five-packs and three-packs. The five-packs characters have a common theme. The three-packs cover a slightly wider variety of characters, and don't appear to be duplicates of those found in the five-pack sets. While none of these will ever be worth $20-30-40, they are a cheap way to populate your build, city, or space-port!
Some of the kits above come with a minifig or two, and sometimes they are packaged separately from the rest of the elements.
Here are their standard offerings, since this page was originally done several years ago, I have not been following them to see which ones are still available.
The 6 five-pack sets.
The 6 three-packs.
Detail of one of the three-packs.
Firemen
Police Force
Space
Military
Medical
Construction CrewNo Floobydust for this page, so far.... :-)
Disclaimers:
New format 10/26/23: Please check out my disclaimer page for my standard dribble and contact info here
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