Just one "Datapoint", but I have a colleague that works in injection molding. Granted, he works on the "other end" of the size scale (complete car underbodys in one part), but he always said it was more or less a given fact that the two companies wo had "dialed in" their molding processes to near perfection and quality were Lego and Games Workshop in the UK.
LEGO has always had that rep as the injection molding MVP but I have to say I've been really impressed with bandai. They really dominate the model kit space and I find myself noticing how high quality they feel. I've built a bunch of gundams, Star wars, Pokemon, and one piece kits and they were all super fun. I also like how they kind of inspire me to customize them which I don't feel as much with Lego kits these days (I still love Lego but the kits are so good oob I just leave them as is)
So, this is something LEGO is desperately trying to preserve: The opinion that LEGO's prices are reasonable due to better quality and more creative design / higher quality engineering.
The quality in all terms is not better at all... they may be CAPABLE of better quality, but they don't provide it just to reduce costs. That's why they provide stickers instead of prints and holed out plastic parts instead of solit ones. It's cheaper in production. If you compare LEGO parts from 20 to 15 years ago and todays parts, you immediately notice the difference.
There ARE indeed manufacturers and brands that deliver bad quality, but if you pick the non-ripoff brands, the quality may even better.
