No more EU from LEGO?

[HJR-Holland]

I just read this at jedinews.co.uk :

Paul Harrison over at our The Force United allies Jedi Temple Archives has posted this piece detailing Hasbro and Lucasfilm's decision to cease production on any Expanded Universe characters.

The Expanded Universe is dead folks. Hasbro has been directed by Lucasfilm, Ltd. (the culprit in many of Hasbro's bad business decisions) to avoid the Expanded Universe like the plague. Not only is it next to impossible that we'll see a brand new Expanded Universe figure in the near future (we're talking years folks), older and hard to find figures will NEVER see re-release either.

So far there is already an exception. Hasbro has received permission to get Bastila Shan, Darth Malgus, the Republic Trooper and Starkiller out into the line again, but that's only because of the distribution nightmare surrounding The Vintage Collection which have been planned way in advance to the recently announced "No EU" directive.

Hasbro said, and I quote, to "not expect to ever see Jaina Solo or Jacen Solo or any other older Comic Packs figure re-released in any way to get out to collectors".

Sorry to be the bearer of tragic news, but that's what's going down.

On a related note, we will see a huge cutback on the characters from the Prequel Trilogy as well. They're not off limits, but the focus will be on the Original Trilogy and Star Wars: Rebels for the foreseeable future.

Read into that what you will, but we are definitely approaching new and uncharted waters as Episode VII draws nearer. Watch this space

AFAIK Lucasfilm is also the sparring partner of TLG, so I could very well understand if they would pass a similar message to them: only sets based on the forecoming movie(s) and Star Wars Rebels, and nothing else. LEGO will release a JEK-14 set for this year, but it might be that's the last for now. What is your feeling towards abovementioned decision and an eventual similar decision towards TLG?

[arc]

This doesn't really bother me. I never really cared for the EU or old republic sets. But the starkiller minifig in the rogue shadow was pretty cool. Not to mention dark too. That was the only minifig I've ever seen with blood printed on. But that's a discussion for a different thread. Bottom line is, I won't miss EU very much.

[montgocloud]

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Personally, I'm not too beat up about no EU either and I'm glad that we're going to see a lot of OT in the future. There's plenty of material for the next couple of waves until it gets Episode 7 heavy.

[LegoFjotten]

I'm fine with that, will be nice to see more OT stuff. Just hope we won't be stuck in rehash mode on the same old sets. I'm actually somewhat hopeful we will see a new Cloud City set sometime in the next few years, maybe even something from Dagobah.

Hopefully the Rebel sets will be good too, and a nice source of new alien characters from the SW universe.

[canuckster]

I second the motion on more OT and less everything else.

[sin]

No tears shed here. I have always wished that waves were more OT heavy, not that I didn't like TCW sets. There is just too much subject matter from the OT that I haven't had a chance to acquire in Lego form yet (came out of my dark ages in 2010).

[MKJoshA]

I guess I'm in the minority. I will always mourn the loss of the EU. Sure, there were some real stinkers in the book line, but I've always thought of Jacen and Jaina as the true continuation of SW. I'll be sad to see it get replaced by Disney's 7, 8 and 9.

[TheLegoDr]

That's interesting news. I assume they weren't hot sellers then?

I actually preferred the EU over most of the other official Trilogy sets. The characters were neat in LEGO form. The ships were actually decent. I don't particularly care for the Rebels ships, although those figures look neat too.

If it isn't obvious, I'm a figure collector. That's all I care about. Neat figures.

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Well, from a market perspective, this seems to be an understandable move. EU items sell well for highly immersed fans. But TLG has to face market contenders on a mass market. To keep the selling numbers right, you need cash cows. OT has proven to be such one, EU not. Cartoon series work for a time and may make kids get into LEGO seriously. Does anyone remember Cad Bane?! AFAIK he was some blue TCW goon. He's gone and certainly won't come back. The same will happen to the rebels series. They come and go. EU stuff simply can't keep up with the epic timelessness of the OT. Drama and big themes in an almost perfect mix. We'll likely see some PT set here and there but the focus is clear.

Don't get me wrong. There were quite a few good EU sets and i desire to get the Rogue Shadow (i loved the TFU video games) but left the dark age too late. Luckily i have all SWTOR sets (although i didn't ever play the MMORPG). I will miss that subtheme.

Just have a look at the discussion in the rumor''s thread. The majority is up for the straight OT sets, it's all too obvious. Admittedly, i belong to that group.

[Alfadas]

The imperial dropship, this battle pack, was my first Star Wars set together with this one, I bought them at the same time, so it does have a bit of sentimental value to me. Nowadays I am not so much into SW, but I do like the sets Lego produced.

[sin]

The imperial dropship, this battle pack, was my first Star Wars set together with this one, I bought them at the same time, so it does have a bit of sentimental value to me. Nowadays I am not so much into SW, but I do like the sets Lego produced.

I don't really consider those to be EU sets because the figures included were straight from the OT movies. Admittedly the vehicles aren't, someone can correct me if I am wrong here...

[DarthTwoShedsJackson]

Contrary to the majority so far in this thread, I'm all for variety and creativity as opposed to a strict 'only original trilogy'-policy, even though I'm a die-hard fan of the OT. So, I'm a bit sad, because I've come to like quite a lot of EU elements outside of the OT or PT. I don't care much for marketing, and if they steer clear from EU stuff, I'm looking forward to see what custom minifig creators will come up with and shove a huge middlefinger right into the face of Lucasfilm's and Disney's marketing zombies.

Edited February 18, 2014 by DarthTwoShedsJackson

[BrickG]

Good.

Much of the EU sucked (like killing Chewie in that manner). And it is being overwritten anyways (Chewie is back!).

Also good about the prequels being dumbed down. Focus on your strengths.

[Blondie-Wan]

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, I can't even keep up with "just" all the OT releases, never mind everything else. I've enjoyed getting certain prequel-era stuff, since I can always use nice Star Warsy elements in OT (and "personal EU") creations regardless of what sets they come from (it's notable that a good decade and a half after the theme began, Tusken Raiders have still appeared in just one single set, and that's from the PT). I will note I'll be glad to see the LEGO Star Wars shelves in stores filled entirely with sets from the OT and the OT-era-ish Star Wars: Rebels. I do kind of wish I'd gotten more stuff from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but my area of primary focus will always be the OT (and certain older EU material that was never likely to be represented in official sets anyway).

[Mr Man]

I've never cared about the EU, I've played a few games and read one or two books, but that's it. I only care about the films and TV shows, so this means little to me.

[Darth Punk]

Hurrah! No big surprise though. I'm sure the EU was going to make the creation of further movies very complicated. Plus any elements that they like can be added in while not tying their hands. People should view this as a good thing.

[Brickdoctor]

I'm in the same camp as most of the rest of you; this isn't really a surprise. We knew all along that Disney was going to ignore the EU, especially since they're working on major publications in the same area that a lot of the EU storyline already exists in. I'm still sad that more of the EU isn't going to make it into the new movies, but we all knew that that was going to happen, and if it means more OT sets and fewer PT sets, who am I to complain? I can make EU stuff myself if I want to, other than some of the minifigs, and a lot of the EU stuff that I enjoy is stuff I enjoy because of it's similarity to and continuity with the OT stuff that they plan to give us more of.

[Galaxy Explorer]

This is interesting to hear. I follow EU to some degree, but am not an expert by any means. I don't have any EU LEGO, and very few CW sets. I am, however, a huge Episode collector, and this move will probably cost me a lot of cash! For the last six years or so, each Star Wars wave has been peppered with sets based on CW and EU, sometimes very heavily- 2008 comes to mind. Since I passed on most of these sets, I saved quite a bit (spent more on other themes) Rebels will certainly fill in the EU gap for a bit, and I will most likely pass on them as well. But I just can't resist sets from any of the films, with a special love for the OT. I can look forward to spending $$ but I can also look forward to a lot of cool sets!

[Csacsa234]

That doesn't sound good. I'm really fond of EU content and it includes Lego sets as well. On the other side there are still many many thing that didn't make it to Lego form but I worry that we are going to get the same vehicles with minor upgrades from OT (which is already happening). If they going to totally deny EU than they should at least make place for PT sets too.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Csacsa234

[AudiBobaR5-D2]

I hope that doesn't mean REBELS any time soon. I mean I know it won't, but can anyone tell me what category does REBELS fit in. Thanks

[Brickdoctor]

I hope that doesn't mean REBELS any time soon. I mean I know it won't, but can anyone tell me what category does REBELS fit in. Thanks

Technically, yes, Rebels is EU since it's not one of the six, soon to be seven, movies. But in the context of this report, I think it's kind of its own category. The EU typically includes the parts of the storylines that are considered canon, but which aren't of the highest, Lucas-approved level. Similar to how anything that dealt with events prior to Star Wars was once part of the EU (For example, Black Fleet Crisis addressed the issue of Luke's mother.). Just as Republic Commando is still considered EU while The Clone Wars is sort of above it and separate from it, things like Coruscant Nights are still considered EU while Rebels is sort of separate.

Also note that the report is from a toy collector, and the only line quoted from anything official doesn't actually specifically mention the EU. 'The EU' in this case could just be a term used by a fan because we his fellow fans understand what he means; it doesn't necessarily mean that the terminology Lucasfilm or Disney used was 'Expanded Universe'. They could very well have said "Everything other than Star Wars: Rebels and the seven movies".

[AudiBobaR5-D2]

Technically, yes, Rebels is EU since it's not one of the six, soon to be seven, movies. But in the context of this report, I think it's kind of its own category. The EU typically includes the parts of the storylines that are considered canon, but which aren't of the highest, Lucas-approved level. Similar to how anything that dealt with events prior to Star Wars was once part of the EU (For example, Black Fleet Crisis addressed the issue of Luke's mother.). Just as Republic Commando is still considered EU while The Clone Wars is sort of above it and separate from it, things like Coruscant Nights are still considered EU while Rebels is sort of separate.

Also note that the report is from a toy collector, and the only line quoted from anything official doesn't actually specifically mention the EU. 'The EU' in this case could just be a term used by a fan because we his fellow fans understand what he means; it doesn't necessarily mean that the terminology Lucasfilm or Disney used was 'Expanded Universe'. They could very well have said "Everything other than Star Wars: Rebels and the seven movies".

Thanks for clearing that up. To me Rebels look promising, and hopefully lasts for a few years yet.

[Admiral-Ackbar]

I'm assuming that EU includes EVERYTHING out with the movies and TCW? Whether or not it does, I can't say I'll miss it too much, since I was never really a fan of things like the TIE Crawler or the Rogue Shadow (though like other people 7667 and 7668 do hold some personal value for me). If it means more focus on the main part of Star Wars, i.e the movies, I'm all for it! Rebels again I'm not a fan of so far since I prefer less exotic characters and well known ships.

[wesker]

I can't say I'm going to miss the EU since we barely get any sets from it as it is. The cutdown on the PT is going to affect me more.

On the bright side more OT is never a bad thing.

[obsidianheart]

I think "Rebels" will be what a lot of people start calling "The start of the new EU".

Old EU got a bit convoluted. I wasn't really keeping up with it, but I hear at some point they tried to incorporate the events from the Marvel Comics into the novels, and the Droids cartoon into the Dark Horse Comics.

Shame about the Old Republic, as some of the sets were neat and the character designs were a breath of fresh air, but I think the franchise (and LEGO's licence) will be alright without it.