I recently got nostalgic and checked Amazon for some Technic Lego sets to tinker with as an adult.

I feel bad saying it after growing up with Lego, but I ended up going with two collections of assorted pieces by some knock-off brands. The Lego sets are much more expensive and almost all of them have obnoxious branding tie-ins. Some of the Technic sets looked kind of dumbed down compared to what I remember as a kid, too.

The generic parts have been fine so far. Other than off colors and no embossed "Lego" logo, I can't really tell the difference. There are no instructions or pre-decided models to build, but making stuff up was always the best part.