I think you missed my point about lego. My kid builds the whatever-theme set, gets some satisfaction for completing the task, and then within a few days has used the pieces to make something of entirely new. He "consumes" the brand-culture product a few times a year when he gets kits as gifts or saves up to buy them, and for the rest of the year, uses the pieces to color outside of the lines. This flexibility is pretty much unique to lego.
I've been curious watching the market after the lego patent expired. That market is dominated by rather intricate models [e.g., 1]. They aren't attached to big brands, because of the "nobody got fired for partnering with lego" effect, but the quality producers aren't doing buckets of bricks either. (On the other hand; as I write this, that Taj Mahal set is over 3k pieces for $76. The color is boring but holy heck that's a lot of (itty-bitty) parts!)
I've been curious watching the market after the lego patent expired. That market is dominated by rather intricate models [e.g., 1]. They aren't attached to big brands, because of the "nobody got fired for partnering with lego" effect, but the quality producers aren't doing buckets of bricks either. (On the other hand; as I write this, that Taj Mahal set is over 3k pieces for $76. The color is boring but holy heck that's a lot of (itty-bitty) parts!)
[1] https://zhegaoblock.com/shop/zhegao-ql00858-the-taj-mahal-mo...