I never would have thought that building an e-commerce platform that sells toys would have been something in the cards for us but here’s our story: “A Lego snob” is what my wife called me when I told my sons that we won’t be buying any “knock off” brick sets and she was right. My policy was that if the brick didn’t have that ever most important little microscopic word “lego” embossed on the top of the stud, it did not enter the house. I have always been a stickler for quality and Lego products have always been the standard. From my youth, I have always loved building and creating things with legos and my boys are no different. They’re a chip off the old “block” you could say. As they have grown, our home has become more and more adorned (or cluttered as my wife would say) with lego sets. Every year we accumulated more sets as the boys would fill their birthday and Christmas lists with their desired kits.
Along with our affinity for legos, we love to spend time learning about history, military history to be exact. We have spent countless hours watching documentaries on fascinating battles and the heroes that fought them. With a huge interest in history, came a huge respect for those who were there and whose sacrifice has written it. To this day my oldest son will not hesitate to approach a hat wearing veteran and shake his hand saying “thank you for your service”. I am so proud that my children have grasped the gravity of the sacrifices made and have an appreciation for our veterans.
As my boys and I were cruising the internet one day looking at people’s different lego builds of WWII planes, we came across Cobi’s website. The boys instantly fell in love with Cobi and each wanted a set for Christmas. As usual, I said no because I assumed Cobi was nothing more than just another low quality Lego knock off brand that I considered contraband in my house. But as we kept going back and looking at these unique sets, the more my staunch brand loyalty eroded and I ordered both of the boys a set for Christmas. You should have seen their eyes when the wrapping paper was hastily torn away to reveal the beautiful shiny colorful boxes which contained the beginnings of a new direction in the toy of choice in our home. I was astonished at the quality of the design of these sets with working ailerons, clear plastic bubble canopies, retractable landing gears and many more detailed attributes. I knew we were on to something good when I was jealous of my kid’s toys.
There are those of you ladies who have learned and appreciate the roles that women have played in military history and love Cobi products. We need to teach our girls and boys alike about the huge contribution to war efforts by women and how victory would have not been possible with out them. Countless planes were riveted together, bombers were ferried across oceans by women pilots and wounded soldiers would not have made it home if it hadn’t been for the exhaustive efforts of battlefront nurses working in unbearable conditions. In fact, on many battlefields, women fought right alongside the men. Many young ladies have found the adventure to be had in the imaginative world of warfare but naturally, most of our customers tend to be boys. Boys are unique creatures. Most parents can say that raising boys involves a lot less drama than raising girls but are much harder to keep alive. They are born risk taking warriors and efforts to suppress that are going to be futile. A boy’s inner warrior however must be bridled by justice. He must be encouraged to fight battles to protect the innocent, defend the defenseless, and advance freedom. These are the battles we pick. Today’s boys (and girls) will profit greatly from fighting the good fight through reenacting the virtuous heroes from yesterday and today rather than spending copious amounts of time in front of devices playing violent games that allow them to go places in their minds and hearts that no honorable person should go.
So what does this have to do with Cobi toys? Well, you take the world’s favorite toy which are building blocks, the love of history, and combine them with the inner warrior and you get Cobi. Cobi historical military bricks are a great tool that can be used to give young (and older) warriors an outlet to battle tyranny, rescue those in danger, and help those in need. As you “piece together history”, you and your child will enjoy learning about the events, soldiers and equipment that has shaped our world. It is our desire at military bricks that you or your child will experience the same joy we have over the years as we pick our battles, then build them.
You just basicly told my faimly story also, and why tought my sons and daughters about Cobi sets.
Thank you,
Merlin USAR VET, 6251ST USArmy Hospital
I enjoyed reading this Blog. I too found COBI by accident after looking at custom LEGO builds that others have done for military sets. I am amazed by the quality of the builds that people do on their own. I was set aback that LEGO does not make military sets, the thing that drove me to buy my very first COBI set was reading the reviews of those who had purchased them and looking at many customer submitted photos of their builds. I was amazed at the detail that COBI has put into their sets, getting the little things (that often make a big difference) right on their sets. Their sets are more akin to a scale model than a toy like most LEGO sets are, no matter the skill level of a LEGO set you buy, they always end up looking like a toy and COBI sets do not.
The first COBI set I purchased was the AU1 (F4U) Corsair the Marines version (2417) and after I completed the build, I was fascinated at how much it looked like a scale model versus a toy like most LEGO sets do. I am a new collector of COBI sets, I just started collecting in February of 2023 and I am now up to 21 sets, my goal is to purchase all of the US sets first starting with WWII and eventually getting some of the allied sets. I love in the OKC metro which is a huge military metro with numerous bases located throughout Oklahoma, in OKC we are fortunate to have the 45th Infantry Division Museum which is in my opinion the best National Guard Museum in the US. The 45th Infantry Division has an amazing static outdoor collection (over 60 vehicles including tanks, jeeps, trucks, artillery, fixed and rotor wing aircraft, missiles, etc and they grow the collection every year. The museum sits on 15 acres in NE OKC and has plenty of room for more outdoor exhibits, the indoor exhibits are just as impressive as the outdoor, they cover all of the wars and conflicts the US has been a part of, they have an amazing and eye opening Holocaust exhibit and a massive collection of Hitler’s personal silver set from his apartment in Berlin. The Museum and it grounds are located at the old 45th HQ in OKC and has numerous buildings on-site including an old motor pool building where many exhibits the museum doesn’t have the floor space to display are stored. Many of the vehicles in the outdoor area are in running condition and are maintained by the 45th Infantry Division motor pool and maintenance unit located at the Norman Military Complex in Norman, OK which is huge in itself, they have around 1000 vehicles onsite at any one time including armor, all kinds of trucks and transport, radar and comms units and many other things that are maintained. The Norman Military Complex is not open to the public but you can see much of the storage area outside the buildings from driving the perimeter roads around the facility. I know someone who works at the Norman Complex, he has been in the 45th for almost 20 years and they have an operating M26 halftrack from WWII they maintain and keep onsite that the shop crews work on in their spare time that is occasionally brought out for parades.
Thank you Military Bricks for opening your business, you have a loyal customer in me.