Would WARCRAFT fit the TLG guidelines?

[Itaria No Shintaku]

Hello again folks.

I was wondering, after seeing the first Warcraft movie: IMHO it would fit TLG's guidelines. I mean, that's not worse than any Lord of the Rings movie, and plus it looks a lot more child-oriented than Hobbit or LotR have ever been.

So, provided I have absolutely no clues on whether TLG would acquire such a license, knowing already this has been property of another building toy (but other have been in the past too and Warcraft's partnership is over with the other party), what do you think?

Would you think that this would come eventually? Or not.

If not why?

Thanks for reading!

[The_Cook]

If they had picked up the license I would have expected to see merchandise on the shelves by now. You want product on shelves at the same time the movie's marketing campaign is running to maximise your own sales.

[Littleworlds]

Afaik it takes up to 2 years for a set from the earliest planning stage till its release, so I guess a whole theme would take at least as long to realize, plus license negotiations. They would indeed be pretty late if they start it now

On the other hand, if it fares good enough for a sequel... I am not really a WoW fan, but I certainly wouldn't mind a fantasy theme...

[HawkLord]

I think Nexo is already very similar to WoW to some degree. The weapons and armor are big and fantasy-like and there are some demon-like creatures.

As for WoW itself, I think Lego may steer clear of it because they don't "need" another licensed IP in that field right now. WoW would require many new molds, just from the races alone and would take time to ramp up for profits. Plus, WoW is kinda on the decline. The movie didn't do well in the US and membership is at all time lows. It might be too risky.

[BrickCurve]

I agree with HawkLord, Nexo Knights sort of fills the gap for where WoW would have gone.

[SirBlake]

There's a new Arthurian movie coming out next year. Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur. Directed by Guy Ritchie with some decent actors assigned to it. It's supposed to be somewhat kid friendly, and be the first in a 6 part series of films. I think they're going for a PotC type of vibe.

Maybe that could go somewhere?

[durazno33]

A few months ago (and before the new guidelines) I tried to submit my Warcraft I micro display to Lego Ideas. They rejected the project saying that it didn't fit with Lego standards of staying away from themes with:

• c. Sex, nudity, drugs, or smoking
  
• d. Alcohol in any present day situation
  
• e. Swearing or profanity
  
• f. Death, killing, blood, terrorism, horror, or torture
  

This surprised me because Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean in particular wouldn't have qualified for these. So I don't think they will unless, 1) they get the rights to make the toy from Mega Blocks and 2) they decide it will make them lots of money so they can justify it.

Edited July 10, 2016 by durazno33

[SerenityInFire]

Seeing as how there's a building called the "Temple of the Damned" I highly doubt Lego will ever go for the WarCraft license.

[Artanis I]

A few months ago (and before the new guidelines) I tried to submit my Warcraft I micro display to Lego Ideas. They rejected the project saying that it didn't fit with Lego standards of staying away from themes with:

• c. Sex, nudity, drugs, or smoking
  
• d. Alcohol in any present day situation
  
• e. Swearing or profanity
  
• f. Death, killing, blood, terrorism, horror, or torture
  

This surprised me because Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean in particular wouldn't have qualified for these. So I don't think they will unless, 1) they get the rights to make the toy from Mega Blocks and 2) they decide it will make them lots of money so they can justify it.

I don't know about e (I doubt it), but c & d in Warcraft? F is in nearly every licenced product they produce, including Ghostbusters & Doctor Who. Sure there's a lot in Warcraft, but LOTR, SW, Jurassic World and many of those Disney movies have too.

[General Magma]

Seeing as how there's a building called the "Temple of the Damned" I highly doubt Lego will ever go for the WarCraft license.

But they don't have to name the set that.

[TeriXeri]

I love warcraft (Played WoW 2004-2013), still playing Warcraft 3 sometimes too.

The license is huge, it would have to last many many years to cover the most core locations and there are dozens if not hundreds of unique named characters that aren't like "generic orc grunt" or "generic stormwind footman", as well as creatures/dragons that would likely need a whole bunch of specialized pieces.

The games only cover the more recent(in the timeline) lore (with a few flashbacks), and the movie only covers a small bit as well.

mega bloks covered the license in the past, and they used a lot of specialized heads and they got more detailed posable figures in general , no idea how well they sold

iconic locations would have to be huge sets as well to have sufficient detail

I agree nexo knights does cover the current "knights vs monsters & magic conflict theme" for the time being and should be easier to manage as an in-house theme since it doesn't have to be lore accurate

If it was just based off the movies there wouldve been sets by now. And if it's based of the lore in general they would have to pick a specific time period to begin as the world changed a whole lot

I would love to see LEGO try it, but it'd need to be very specific to be a well known product, and the movie was the chance they had for the general public.

Warcraft 3 is already 13 years old so no kids (LEGO target age 6-12 or so) really grew up with that, and world of warcraft mmo changed drasticly over the lifespan, and mega bloks did try their hand to cover some of the major events like Lich King/Pandaria/Deathwing at the time

Edited July 11, 2016 by TeriXeri

[Fantu]

I think that if the WoW itself doesn´t fit TLG guidelines, they could perfectly use the Movie license instead. But Warcraft license has some bigger problems to be dealt, as MB had it (and I think it lost already) and Blizzard folks are quite strict about their lore and characters and perhaps they want theys minifgs heavly molded to fit Blizzard standards.

But.. TLG PLEASE MAKE WARCRAFT!

[BrickJagger]

I guess it fits the guidelines, but the chances of it actually happening are pretty low. NK is currently the resident fantasy theme and Warcraft would be too close to it.

[Suproc]

Honestly, I play WOW almost every day and I just don't think there's a need for it. From the newest Castle line from a few years ago with Orcs and Dwarves and everything to the LOTR line which was even more fantasy. I just don't see Warcraft providing anything new to the table.

The only way they'd be able to diversify it from the others is introducing a ton of new molds and prints which would cost a lot of money for a license that won't even make that much back. I mean kids today aren't going to be buying these sets unless they really make them simple which would lose the adult appeal. Look at Marvel, it took them about 2 years before they started to really experiment with the line and create a lot of new things.

With Warcraft they only have one movie which is already past it's prime and a game which is launching a very serious and dark expansion that isn't exactly kids material.

I just don't see this license worth going after if I was Lego.

[Lordofdragonss]

I once heard rummor (never found a source) that Blizzard actualy wanted to have Lego sets, but Lego responded they will not modify classic figures and armors as much Blizzard wanted ( like every character to have unique bodies beyond prints). Blizzard was not satisfied what lego offered and they go to Megabloks where they failed.

To show Blizzard they can made unique creatures and armors still using ordinary figs they madeChima which if you think about it has A LOT of common with Warcraft.

1. Lions are Aliance, Croc are like orcs

2. Ice undeads, frozen throne and ice blade

3. OUTLANDS

4. Battle gets bigger influencing other races as conflict grows.

And now with elves many buildings actualy looks like taken from Warcraft - like Naida ship!

Edited July 12, 2016 by Lordofdragonss

[SerenityInFire]

I once heard rummor (never found a source) that Blizzard actualy wanted to have Lego sets, but Lego responded they will not modify classic figures and armors as much Blizzard wanted ( like every character to have unique bodies beyond prints). Blizzard was not satisfied what lego offered and they go to Megabloks where they failed.

Actually, the guys at Megabloks made a few prototype sets to show Blizzard and then THEY went to Blizzard and asked for the license, not the other way around.

Edited July 12, 2016 by SerenityInFire