The corporate identity is supported by the company’s own website and international trademark filings. In trademark records, Decool Science and Education Toys Co., Ltd. is listed at Fengdong Road, Waibu, Fengxiang Street, Chenghai District, Shantou City, Guangdong, China [1].

Origins

Decool comes from Chenghai, Shantou, one of China’s most important toy-manufacturing clusters. The company’s own materials describe it as an enterprise with many years of production experience, equipped with production equipment and technical capabilities for developing and manufacturing toys [1].

The exact founding date of the Decool brand is somewhat unclear from publicly available primary sources. One supplier/company profile for Shantou Chenghai Decool Plastic Toys Factory gives 2007 as an establishment year, while the current Decool corporate website does not provide a specific founding date. Therefore, 2007 is best treated as a reported company-establishment date rather than an unequivocally verified Decool brand-founding date [3].

The company says that it developed its products through its own product-development methods, studying market requirements and customer demand and experimenting with new technologies, materials and manufacturing processes [1].

Development of the brick business

Decool subsequently became known internationally in the construction-brick hobby community. Older independent references particularly associate the brand with:

• Technic-style mechanical models
• Sports and supercars
• Superhero-themed figures and vehicles
• Minifigure sets
• LEGO-compatible construction elements
• Large-scale vehicle models

An independent brick reference describes Decool as one of the more prolific Chinese manufacturers in the Technic-style clone/compatible-brick market and notes that its products were particularly known for superhero vehicles and minifigures [2].

The brand’s history is therefore somewhat unusual: Decool developed both a reputation as a third-party/compatible-brick producer and a catalogue of its own themes and product concepts.

The company’s Chinese official website identifies the business as:

汕头市得高科教玩具有限公司
Shantou City Degao Science and Education Toys Co., Ltd.

International trademark documentation uses the English name:

Decool Science and Education Toys Co., Ltd.

For example, a Canadian trademark registration identifies Decool Science and Education Toys Co., Ltd. as the owner of the BRICKCOOL trademark and gives its address in Chenghai District, Shantou, Guangdong [4].

A separate international trademark filing identifies the same company as the holder of the DECOOL mark, covering Class 28 goods including building blocks, toy vehicles, toy robots, toy musical instruments, dolls’ houses and other toys [4].

This is useful because it establishes that Decool is not simply an unofficial reseller name; the brand is associated with a formally identified Chinese toy company and trademark owner.

Decool’s official catalogue is considerably broader than its reputation among Western brick enthusiasts might suggest.

The company’s current Chinese catalogue lists numerous product families, including:

• 回力科技系列 — Pull-back technology series
• 回力车系列 — Pull-back vehicle series
• 多变系列 — Variable/transformable series
• 科技系列 — Technology series
• 三国小侠 — Three Kingdoms Heroes
• 恐龙骨架模型 — Dinosaur skeleton models
• 大头仔系列 — Big Head Boy series
• 酷小砖 / Brick Cool
• 街角系列 — Street Corner series
• 创意系列 — Creative series
• 无限城市系列 — Infinite City series
• 古风系列 — Ancient-style series
• 积木大电影系列 — Building Blocks Movie series
• 电动积木系列 — Electric building-block series
• 萌军工厂 — Mengjun Factory
• 激斗西游记系列 — Fighting Journey to the West
• 水浒小侠系列 — Water Margin Heroes
• 八格车系列
• 红楼梦系列 — Dream of the Red Chamber
• 封神小侠 — Fengshen Heroes [1]

This catalogue demonstrates that Decool has increasingly emphasized Chinese cultural themes and original product families, rather than being defined solely by its older reputation for compatible or copied models.

One distinctive aspect of Decool’s product strategy is its use of Chinese historical and cultural subjects.

The official catalogue includes products based around:

• Three Kingdoms
• Water Margin
• Dream of the Red Chamber
• Fengshen mythology
• Traditional Chinese aesthetics
• Chinese-style characters and vehicles

For example, the current catalogue contains Three Kingdoms characters including Lu Meng, Zhou Yu, Sun Quan, Gan Ning and Taishi Ci, alongside Water Margin figures [1].

This gives Decool a somewhat different identity from many Western-facing construction-brick brands, whose catalogues concentrate heavily on European architecture, licensed Western entertainment properties and modern vehicles.

Decool has historically been particularly associated with mechanical and vehicle-oriented construction sets.

Older products included large Technic-style automobiles and other mechanically complex models. Examples documented in Decool’s international retail catalogue include:

• Porsche 911 GT3 RS-style construction models
• Bugatti Chiron-style models
• Ford Mustang Hoonicorn-style models
• Pull-back vehicles
• Racing cars
• Volkswagen T1-style vehicles

The Decool international store, for example, lists models such as the Decool 3368 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Decool 3388 Bugatti Chiron, and Decool 33003 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn [4].

These products helped establish Decool’s reputation among Technic and alternative-brick enthusiasts.

One of the most important aspects of Decool’s identity is its relationship with the broader LEGO-compatible brick ecosystem.

Many Decool products have historically been marketed as compatible with standard LEGO-style construction bricks. An independent Decool store describes its blocks as having dimensions and connection characteristics intended to allow them to be mixed with LEGO-style bricks [4].

However, an important distinction should be made:

Decool is not a LEGO-owned or LEGO subsidiary brand.

It is a separate Chinese manufacturer.

The phrase “LEGO-compatible” generally refers to physical interoperability of the construction system, not corporate affiliation.

This distinction is especially important when discussing older Decool products because the brand’s history includes products that independent hobby sources characterize as clones or knockoffs of LEGO sets and licensed themes [5].

Decool has had a controversial reputation within the construction-brick community.

During the 2010s, independent brick communities commonly grouped Decool with Chinese manufacturers producing LEGO-compatible or clone products. Some Decool products reproduced the designs of existing LEGO sets or used characters associated with licensed LEGO themes.

A 2015 Eurobricks discussion, for example, described Decool as a Chinese brand that had progressed from producing minifigures to producing complete cloned sets [5].

Another independent reference described Decool as particularly prolific in superhero vehicles and Technic-style products [2].

This history matters because Decool should not simply be described as an ordinary LEGO alternative without qualification. Its historical catalogue contains products that have been criticized as unauthorized copies, particularly in relation to LEGO designs and licensed characters.

At the same time, the company’s official catalogue today includes many product families that are not simply reproductions of LEGO sets, particularly its Chinese historical, creative, vehicle and original-character lines [1].

Decool also developed a significant presence in the third-party minifigure market.

Its earlier figures included representations of characters from popular superhero, science-fiction and fantasy properties. Independent hobby references have described Decool minifigures as relatively well-produced compared with some competing Chinese third-party figures of the same era [2].

This helped make Decool recognizable to collectors even when they were not buying its full construction sets.

The minifigure business also contributed to the brand’s controversial status, because some figures represented characters from heavily licensed properties without the official licensing relationships associated with LEGO’s versions [6].

According to Decool’s own corporate description, its product-development approach emphasizes:

• Independent product development
• Market research
• Customer demand
• New materials
• New manufacturing techniques
• Product upgrades
• New product categories
• Variety of designs

The company describes its operating philosophy as:

“务实奋进，信誉第一，锐意创新，以质取胜”

which can be rendered approximately as:

“Pragmatic endeavor, reputation first, innovation, and winning through quality.” [1]

The company also states that its products have been sold internationally, mentioning markets and regions including Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia [1].

Decool’s own retail material describes its construction blocks as using ABS plastic and emphasizes dimensional consistency, color quality, durability and compatibility with other standard construction bricks. These are manufacturer claims rather than independent laboratory findings [4].

Independent hobby references from the 2010s generally regarded Decool’s brick quality as relatively good for its category. One independent reference described its brick quality as high and its minifigures as comparatively well regarded, while also noting that individual Technic components could occasionally be unusually tight or loose [2].

Therefore, a fair summary would be:

Decool developed a reputation for being one of the better-known Chinese third-party brick manufacturers, although its quality can vary by product generation and set.

Decool’s international trademark activity provides evidence of a more formalized modern brand strategy.

A trademark application for DECOOL was filed internationally on 28 August 2023, with priority based on a Chinese application filed on 19 June 2023. The listed goods include building blocks and various other toys [4].

The same company also owns the BRICKCOOL mark. Canada’s trademark database records BRICKCOOL as registered in 2025 for construction blocks and other Class 28 toys [4].

This suggests that the company has been actively developing and protecting its own branding and product identity internationally.

Decool’s location is significant.

Chenghai District of Shantou is one of China’s major centers for toy manufacturing. The concentration of manufacturers, component suppliers, mold makers, packaging companies and export businesses in the region has helped create an ecosystem capable of producing large quantities of relatively inexpensive toys.

Decool’s business model fits naturally into this environment: it combines plastic injection molding, construction-toy manufacturing, character design, vehicle modeling and export distribution.

This also helps explain why Decool has historically been able to produce a very broad range of products rather than specializing exclusively in one construction-brick category.

Decool states that its products have reached markets across:

• Europe
• South America
• Africa
• Middle East
• Southeast Asia

The brand also operates an international-facing store/catalogue offering categories such as Creator, Technic, Movie, Super Racing Cars, Super Heroes and BrickHeadz-style products [4].

Its international presence is therefore not limited to China, although its strongest historical association remains with the Chinese and broader Asian alternative-brick market.

Among adult construction-brick enthusiasts, Decool is generally discussed as part of the alternative-brick / third-party-brick ecosystem rather than as a direct peer of LEGO in terms of corporate positioning.

Its reputation has gone through several stages:

Early period → relatively obscure Chinese toy manufacturer

2010s → growing reputation for third-party minifigures and LEGO-compatible/clone products

Mid-to-late 2010s → increased attention for large Technic-style models and vehicles

More recent period → broader emphasis on original products, Chinese cultural themes, creative construction toys and formally branded Decool/BRICKCOOL products

This evolution is important because describing Decool only as a “LEGO clone brand” gives an incomplete picture of its current catalogue.

1. Large and diverse catalogue

Decool’s product range is unusually broad, spanning simple children’s construction toys to large mechanical and vehicle models. Its official catalogue contains dozens of product families [1].

2. Strong vehicle focus

Cars, racing vehicles, pull-back vehicles and mechanically oriented models have been an important part of the brand’s identity.

3. Technic-style construction

Decool became especially recognizable for sets using a construction system similar to the mechanical building systems popularized by LEGO Technic.

4. Minifigure production

Decool was one of the better-known Chinese producers of third-party minifigures during the 2010s [6].

5. Chinese cultural themes

The modern official catalogue places considerable emphasis on Chinese historical literature and mythology, including Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Dream of the Red Chamber and Fengshen-related themes [1].

6. International distribution

The company says its products are sold internationally, including in Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia [1].

The key point is that Decool and LEGO are separate companies. Decool products that physically fit with LEGO-style bricks should not be interpreted as products made by, licensed by, or officially affiliated with LEGO.

Decool’s history has to be understood within the broader legal controversy surrounding Chinese construction-brick manufacturers.

The construction-brick industry has experienced numerous disputes involving:

• Copyright
• Design rights
• Trademarks
• Minifigure designs
• Licensed entertainment characters
• Packaging
• Set designs

Independent sources specifically identify historical Decool products as part of the Chinese “clone” market [5].

However, it would be inaccurate to assume that every Decool product is necessarily an unauthorized copy. The company’s current official catalogue includes independently branded lines and themes, and its trademark portfolio demonstrates active ownership and protection of its own branding [4].

The modern Decool brand appears to be broader than its older reputation suggests.

Its official product portfolio increasingly emphasizes:

construction + creativity + vehicles + Chinese culture + educational play + original characters

rather than simply reproducing Western licensed construction sets.

The company’s own website currently presents Decool as a manufacturer developing new products according to market needs and independently researching new technologies, materials and product structures [1].

The existence of international trademark registrations for DECOOL and BRICKCOOL also indicates an effort to establish recognizable proprietary brands in the international toy market [4].

Decool occupies an interesting position among collectors.

For some builders, its appeal comes from:

• Lower prices than premium construction-brick brands
• Large vehicle models
• Technic-style mechanisms
• Unusual subjects
• Chinese historical themes
• Third-party minifigures
• Compatibility with standard brick systems

For others, the brand’s historical association with cloned products is a significant negative.

Consequently, Decool is best understood as a historically important Chinese alternative-brick brand whose identity has evolved over time, rather than simply categorizing it as either a conventional toy company or a LEGO clone.

If LEGO represents the best-known global premium construction-brick system, Decool represents a different path that emerged from China’s enormous toy-manufacturing ecosystem.

Its story can roughly be summarized as:

Chinese toy manufacturer → construction-brick producer → major third-party/clone-brick presence → Technic and vehicle specialist → broader original product portfolio and stronger proprietary branding.

That evolution is what makes Decool interesting from a construction-toy history perspective.

• LEGO — the Danish construction-toy company whose brick system is the principal reference point for the compatible-brick industry.
• Technic-style construction — mechanical construction systems using beams, pins, gears and functional mechanisms.
• Alternative building bricks — the broader industry of construction-brick systems outside LEGO.
• Chenghai toy industry — the manufacturing ecosystem in Shantou, Guangdong, from which many Chinese toy and brick brands originate.
• Third-party minifigures — independently manufactured figures designed around the general minifigure format.

1. 关于我们-汕头市得高科教玩具有限公司-迪库Decool积木
2. WP KO Bricks Wiki – DeCool
3. Company Profile – Shantou Chenghai Decool Plastic Toys Factory
4. DECOOL Store – Official DECOOL Blocks Store
5. Decool – Community – Eurobricks Forums
6. Decool – Superhero Minifigs (Autumn 2014)