What about the Star Trek license?

[hachiroku]

I had an USS Enterprise in Lego Ideas, which it was rejected: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/83171

But now, Kee-O and Hasbro will release nothing for Star Trek Beyond, and TLC is going to release a Mission Imposble pack. The MI license, as far as I know, is owned by Paramount (and produced by Bad Robot) who is the Star Trek owner. So maybe, now we have a chance.

I tried to contact with Lego Ideas, but I didn't find a way.

PS: here are a couple of more pic of the Enterprise. I update it to fix an illegal connection

USS Enterprise by hachiroku24, en Flickr

USS Enterprise by hachiroku24, en Flickr

[xboxtravis7992]

Unfortunately Star Trek has joined Halo on the list of "licenses Megablocks has that I wish Lego had." Megablocks has been slowly churning out Star Trek sets, although they have a TOS bent for adult collectors and don't seem to be as common on store shelves.

"I'm sorry Jim, but the chance of Lego licensing Trek right now is dead." :)

Like Halo though; Trek has a few obstacles to be a TLG brand even if Mega loses their license someday. As long as TLG is running Star Wars sets I doubt they will ever adopt another Sci-Fi franchise that involves space ships and lots of aliens. The only reason I think Dr. Who didn't step on Lego Star War's toes is because Dr. Who is aimed more at AFOLs, has a more limited production, and has few ship or vehicle sets (okay that Phone Booth is kind of a ship, but not in the sense an X-Wing is a ship...). In comparison what kind of sets could Trek or even Halo produce? Ships and vehicles; which is unfortunately the bread and butter of Lego Star Wars.

Lego doesn't want to self cannibalize sales of Star Wars sets. If Lego produced a Trek theme alongside Star Wars Christmas shopping would not be a decision of "What if Lego's coolest set now..." but a decision of "Do I want the Millennium Falcon or the Enterprise-D this Christmas?" It would split the consumer base. Again the same problem with Halo, "Do I want an ODST drop pod or a Droid Escape set?" That is a reason it is unlikely Lego will take on those themes. (Not to mention %90 of Halo's material is rated M in the US...). Star Trek might not have the intense violence of Halo, but it would cannibalize Lego Star Wars big time.

Edited June 10, 2016 by xboxtravis7992

[Blondie-Wan]

Not necessarily, since there are still tons of people who like only one franchise or the other, and among those people who are fans of both, there's also a subset who could afford and would actually buy both.

That said, it's true Mega Bloks has picked up the Star Trek license and is active with it. As long as that's the case, LEGO won't be able to do anything with the franchise, and we don't know how long MB's license will last.

[xboxtravis7992]

Not necessarily, since there are still tons of people who like only one franchise or the other, and among those people who are fans of both, there's also a subset who could afford and would actually buy both.

True I guess. And the fanboys with the money will be buying both themes anyways.

One possibility though I forgot to consider. Paramount owns rights to the films, but CBS owns rights to the TV series... The Megablocks sets are based on the TV series, what if their license doesn't include the films? Could be a strange loophole to allow Lego to run a film based set line. Still, it would limit most sets to post-2009 Trek, or maybe the occasional Enterprise-E or Enterprise-A model.

Edited June 10, 2016 by xboxtravis7992

[Tomsche]

The movie license for the "Abramsverse" and the license for the series are a bit the same situation as the Spider-Man issue between Sony and Marvel.

And like many companies have to tackle the issue that Disney doesn`t allow Marvel and DC to be mingled (hence no DC figures for Infinity, that was stipulated), I can imagine there is something of a veto on Trek by the Wars owners. Sure it`s the eternal fanboys war, and even though I linger more to Trek, I haven`t smacked around the 10 year old overhere who thinks he is the second coming of Kylo Ren

On a totally different yet related topic: that is a gorgeous Enterprise!

[Blondie-Wan]

And like many companies have to tackle the issue that Disney doesn`t allow Marvel and DC to be mingled (hence no DC figures for Infinity, that was stipulated)

It wasn't that they don't allow Marvel and DC to be mingled; it was that there's nothing in the game that isn't owned by Disney. Disney Infinty is made up entirely of Disney properties.

[Tomsche]

Yes, but there are some thingies about it in contracts (don`t know the details, I don`t work at Lego legal departments) which is why (so far) they haven`t popped up in Dimensions either, which is Warner "property" run.

Though the rumours do exist they will be announcing Star Wars for that platform, with the demise of Infinity, but that is probably a "Spider-man" like situation (aka, the call of big bucks).

From a "designer" like point of view, I can understand they wouldn`t be to happy about having to make ST sets, the more rounded forms (the big saucers in other words) aren`t that easily to be made for cheap sets not taking 100s of small bricks (heck, even MB and Kre-O made a lot of special large parts just for that) compared to the more angular vessels of the SW universe.

Add to that the non-appeal to a lot of younger kids these days for Star Trek, being at the moment a franchise relying on an older fanbase, with even the most recent show being a decade old, and the slow pace of the series as a whole (they had 24 x 46 minutes to tell a tale each year) compared to the flashy lightshows of a cinema franchise (who must tell it in 2 - 3 hours), I doubt they would have much of a target audience / revenue prospect.

Star Trek is a great franchise (spoken by someone with a huge Enterprise on his leg), but I`m also the first to admit that as it currently stands, the series is just not really geared towards the 8 - 12 years audience, an important market for Lego, due to that fact.

Like I tend to say in the always lively discussions with my SW maniacal buddy: "Star Trek is like a good bottle of wine, while Star Wars is your Coca Cola behemoth"

[pittpenguin123]

I'm really disappointed megablocks has it. At least when kre-o has it, stuff fit with Minifigs MB figures are bigger so every thing is off scale :(

Also people seem to think that its more then fans with trek vs wars thing, its not (at least used to) like that, Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas were good friends and both admired each others franchises and went to anivsary party's for the franchises all the time. Never once did they think that there should be a franchise war like people think they thought.

[hachiroku]

they have a TOS bent for adult collectors and don't seem to be as common on store shelves.

I guess this is the answer I was looking for.

I didn't know they were releasing that collection, is really cool. There is even a Mirror, Mirror set with the bearded Spock.

Edited June 10, 2016 by hachiroku

[PicnicBasketSam]

Well.... I know my little sister would love a Star Trek line, but it seems like that would be pretty hard to do considering MB has the license, as well as several licenses LEGO has held in the past (TMNT, SpongeBob). It is probably worth pointing out that they had the rights to make Marvel building toys between the LEGO Spider-Man 2 and Avengers 1 lines. Now, if the MB sets were any good, I would take a look... but even their promotional video shows pieces not even fitting properly on the front of the Enterprise. So no.

Personally, I'd rather have a Harry Potter theme (a proper one) than Star Trek... there's a new book coming out this summer and a spinoff movie trilogy(?) starting this fall, plus that Dimensions set, so why not?

[hachiroku]

Well.... I know my little sister would love a Star Trek line, but it seems like that would be pretty hard to do considering MB has the license, as well as several licenses LEGO has held in the past (TMNT, SpongeBob). It is probably worth pointing out that they had the rights to make Marvel building toys between the LEGO Spider-Man 2 and Avengers 1 lines. Now, if the MB sets were any good, I would take a look... but even their promotional video shows pieces not even fitting properly on the front of the Enterprise. So no.

Personally, I'd rather have a Harry Potter theme (a proper one) than Star Trek... there's a new book coming out this summer and a spinoff movie trilogy(?) starting this fall, plus that Dimensions set, so why not?

The UCS Enterpise looks OK in promotional pics and videos. But I found this image from a expo and...

I know that, maybe, a Lego version would have the same problems with the stability an the weight, but this model looks really awful. The auxiliar engines and the saucer have almost 20º of desviation.

Edited June 10, 2016 by hachiroku

[xboxtravis7992]

"Scotty, it looks like our engines are bending off!"

"That's impossible, gravity doesn't work like that in space!"

[HawkLord]

The figure might be cool, but the ships aren't really doing it for me. Considering how long the Star Trek IP has been floating around, it feels like it's all been done before in some form or another. Playmates, Diamond Select, Hasbro (Kreo), and now Mega Blocks. Plus, QmX. I feel

Like it would be too much to ask for one company to just keep the material long enough to produce a great line. DS came close, though.

Still wishing Hasbro would have released that last Kreo wave with Worf in the US...

[pittpenguin123]

The figure might be cool, but the ships aren't really doing it for me. Considering how long the Star Trek IP has been floating around, it feels like it's all been done before in some form or another. Playmates, Diamond Select, Hasbro (Kreo), and now Mega Blocks. Plus, QmX. I feel

Like it would be too much to ask for one company to just keep the material long enough to produce a great line. DS came close, though.

Still wishing Hasbro would have released that last Kreo wave with Worf in the US...

Yah shame kreo didn't put the wave out. I did manage to get shran from enterprise on eBay for 10$

[Columbus019]

I'm afraid that Megabloks (sorry) has the liscence now..........but they are doing TOS!!!

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=133883&hl=

Check out my topic on it

Columbus

[Coca-Cola]

While I agree with most of what everyone has said on the matter here are my two cents..

I do believe Star Wars has something to do with Star Trek's chances of being a theme but not in the way I think has been suggested. Lets say they started up Star Trek and continued with Star Wars. Now someone who has no idea about either properties and just wanted a LEGO spaceship standing in the LEGO isle with the option of Star Trek or Wars. They will most likely choose Star Wars as it not only is more in the mainstream currently but has a much larger variety of ships and and settings, and arguably cooler designs.

One of the coolest parts in all Star Trek lure, the Borg, have a literal Cube as their ship. As awesome as it is, LEGO, a company that markets imagination and creativity may have problems getting children to buy a giant cube, especially when they have an option to buy a Millennium Falcon.

I think also the demographic LEGO appeals to isn't too invested in Star Trek. The past 2 movies have made 853.1 million combined. Force Awakens has made over 2 billion and it was only one movie. Disney airs Star Wars shows, Darth Vader is one of the biggest halloween costumes to this day, where as Star Trek hasn't had a show since 2005. The hype for the new movie is mixed with fans, and is non-existent to those who aren't invested in the franchise.

While the new show may come along and change everything, as of now Star Trek is not popular with today's youth, which remember is TLG's target audience. It is mostly the Adult fan's they would be catering to should they decide to release sets. Which is why I believe a proper theme will not happen.

However in saying all of this a LEGO Ideas set or a one off collector's piece like the Simpson's house I think is possible, should LEGO attain the rights in the future. I mean, 10 years ago Megablocks had the rights to both Spider-man and Ninja Turtles and look who has them now.

EDIT: I rambled and ended up saying what has been said because I thought it hadn't been said so I said it. Oh well, I tried.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Coca-Cola

[Blondie-Wan]

I pretty much agree, except...

However in saying all of this a LEGO Ideas set or a one off collector's piece like the Simpson's house I think is possible, should LEGO attain the rights in the future. I mean, 10 years ago Megablocks had the rights to both Spider-man and Ninja Turtles and look who has them now.

Actually, who does have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now? I know LEGO had it just recently, but only for two years; someone else has already taken over that franchise - was it Mega Bloks again? I forget, but I know it's not LEGO...

[xboxtravis7992]

I pretty much agree, except...

Actually, who does have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now? I know LEGO had it just recently, but only for two years; someone else has already taken over that franchise - was it Mega Bloks again? I forget, but I know it's not LEGO...

Yeah it was Megablocks that does Turtles now.

You know if Lego got the Trek license they could run it like the Simpsons and Disney lines, two series of Collectible figures to cover characters across the franchise, and one or two D2C UCS sets. That way it can appeal more to adult collectors, and not overlap with Star Wars's sale strategy.

Edited June 13, 2016 by xboxtravis7992

[Blondie-Wan]

They could easily spend more than two years on it. Heck, they could just devote one year to each major era / crew, and have enough just with that to keep it going five or six years while only just scratching the surface. It's not going to happen, though (at least not in that way), until Mega Bloks's license lapses.

That said, as long as there is this split between the film and TV rights, I wonder whether LEGO could at least start doing the movies, if not the shows...

[Coca-Cola]

Actually, who does have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now? I know LEGO had it just recently, but only for two years; someone else has already taken over that franchise - was it Mega Bloks again? I forget, but I know it's not LEGO...

lol you got me there.

But yeah, a CMF line could work too. If the first series does well they could possibly release other series in the style of the different shows. Series 1 would be the original team, 2 could be Next Generation etc. I don't see it happening but it's always a nice escape, thinking about what could be.

[winbrant]

And don't forget MegaBloks' Kubros Line which focuses on brick-built figures...Spock, T-800 (Terminator), He-Man and Skeletor, not to forget about Master Chief and Ezio. Just to reinforce that they will continue to push the lines that don't seem to have many sets at this time but retain a license for.

[DarthHank]

I like both Star Wars and Star Trek, and would certainly shovel out the money to buy both. But honestly, I can't think of many sets that most people would buy. The only really notable vehicle is the Enterprise itself, and it would need to be gigantic in order to look decent. Although I might, I highly doubt most people would buy multiple incarnations of the Enterprise, so your dream of getting one from each series is unlikely. However, I don't think it's out of the question for TLG to release one giant Enterprise and maybe a minifigure series and then be done with it, like the Simpsons, as others have mentioned.

[milojthatch]

I'm just going to add my two cents here for whatever it's worth. I agree that right now, Star Trek is kind of a dead franchise. Every few years Paramount reanimates the body for one of those Star Wars in Star Trek clothing films by JJ Abrams, but over all Star Trek is probably not going to see the popularity it had in the 1990's ever again. I feel part of the issue is the powers that be were not able to maintain the interest of children. A good second animated series could have helped to fix that. That by the way is an important factor. A few years ago StarTrek.com had a poll asking fans at what age did they first become a fan of the franchise. I don't remember the exact results, but the basic takeaway was that the current franchise was mostly built on the interest of children first who grew up with the franchise. I'm talking 7 to 12-year-olds. I know that was the case with myself. I was originally part of the normal fads for my age. He-Man, ThunderCats, TMNT, and so on. But once I got hooked on Star Trek, I never looked back and in fact carried that fandom well into my adulthood. I personally lost interest when the last show, Enterprise, was canned and then a few years later when JJ Abrams made his reboot film.

Star Wars on the other hand, while I'm not nearly as big of a fan, I have to admit has done a much better job of engaging younger audiences and holding them into adulthood. That's how long standing franchise stay evergreen by the way. If you think about it, most if not all of the really big franchises cater to kids as much as adults. Especially now that Disney is running the show, Star Wars might never slow down, or at least will keep going for a few more generations.

Now, as to how that translates to LEGO, putting current licensing to Mega Blocks aside, I agree right now that it would be a hard sell to kids. I feel CBS could help fix this with one good animated property, and by focusing the Trek franchise back into being a multi-generational property, like it was in the 80's and 90's, but I'm also not sure the current powers that be know what they are doing with Star Trek. And that's really sad, because so far as LEGO sets go, I feel that Star Trek is the largest untapped licensed franchise that LEGO hasn't done something for. With the vast amount of characters and ships, a Star Trek line could easily rival the Star Wars line in sheer number of sets produced.

I know that many fans online claim that Star Wars is the biggest reason Star Trek would never get LEGO sets. I think that's hog wash. DC and Marvel are major rivals and yet they both gets LEGO sets. Warner/ Hanna Barbera and Disney are rivals and yet we get Disney sets/mini-figures at the same time we get things like Scooby Doo sets, and that's not even talking about sets from rivals like Sony and their Angry Birds. My point is that LEGO is not afraid of juggling rival brands at the same time if allowed too. I think the two biggest reasons are of course the licensing issues and then potential consumer interest. Point blank, if LEGO had been doing these licensed sets back in the 80's, we'd have had at least a few TOS and TNG sets a while ago.

On to my own personal feelings and frustrations, as a fan of the classic franchise (i.e. TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, Voyager & Enterprise), I'm sick of previous Star Trek figure lines that never produce all five major captains and bridge crews. The reason why I'm not going to buy the Mega Blocks sets (besides the fact that they aren't LEGO) is that I'm tried of buying Kirk and crew over and over and over again. I want Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer and their crews to be equally featured and that just doesn't happen. The closest was the Playmates and DST lines from the 90's and 2000's, but both of them missed the mark. I feel that LEGO would be perfect format for collectability of these characters in plastic. As such, I've decided to commission various minifig customers to create custom Star Trek figures. The only trouble with that is that it's pricey, takes a long time to get done and some of the figures might not look as nice as I'd like them too, especially the aliens. However, despite these issues, I'm happy with what I have so far. That said, if LEGO ever made an official something from Star Trek, I'm there with bells on!

Edited June 24, 2016 by milojthatch

[xboxtravis7992]

^Great insight into why Trek isn't much of a huge brand right now. Even the new films while successful in the box office, aren't creating much of a fandom. They are just popcorn flicks to enjoy on occasion.

And the new TV show, why is it on CBS All Access? WHY?! It seems they are risking killing Trek again in hopes that somehow people will come to buy another online streaming service (my family has Netflix and Amazon Prime, we don't want any more streaming!)

[HawkLord]

I think the Diamond Select line really hit the mark with TNG. They managed to pull off secondary and tertiary characters pretty well and all had good likenesses. My bridge crew remains one of my favorite sets of action figures I own.

My concern has always been that after the 90s, Star Trek really tried to be Star Wars. It was less about the voyage and discovery and more about fighting aliens. Picard could lead a team without ever raising a weapon. Now Kirk can't finish a scene without a phaser. The Abrams reboot certainly glorifies this by making Spock into some kind of Hulk that has to get angry and then punch somebody out.

We're seeing so many television reboots and most look like straight fails. I'm very much thinking Star Trek will be the same thing.