Third-Party Religious LEGO Products

[Jared]

I'm surprised it hasn't turned into a debate either. The adult LEGO community is really admirable!

I actually agree with most of your post there...Too many Christian churches, to me at least, lose their religion in the struggle to stay relevant (not to bash anyone's church or anything.)

It's hard to explain my thinking behind the whole concept of this thread. I'm a bit different and awkward socially. There's not many jobs I'm really suited for, I'd be perfectly happy sweeping floors my whole life. People often tell you to follow what you love. I'm a longtime LEGO fan who's at least fairly adept at MOCing and I've studied a lot of various theological subjects...Recently as I've made my way through various LEGO communities, I realized it is possible to make a living out of LEGO if you know what you're doing. I'm not trying to get rich or anything like that. I just don't want to attempt jumping in without gauging what people think first.

From the comments in this thread, here's what I think: There would be a small interest in various non-building set products, but the big drawing point would be the building sets. Maybe just two or three (the Nativity, the Resurrection, and maybe Noah's Ark?) Simple enough to be inexpensive, easy for kids to build but complex enough to be satisfactory to afols. Maybe an architecture set targeted towards adults, as well. A well made website with a recognizable, easy to remember name could create a decent enough internet presence to make it successful. Maybe if I got the product and website designs together and then launched it via Kickstarter?

No worries, I feel like that too.

Yeah, I'm sure those would work. I know playmobil does stuff like that, but since LEGO doesn't, you may be able to "bend" the system.

Well, best of luck with whatever you choose to do in the end.

[Cloveapple]

I've seen some very nice third party religious (or cultural/historical) Lego-type items for sale. eclipsegrafx sometimes carries some custom Christian-oriented things. They make old-testament style robes for minifigs and have a Jesus minifig (out of stock right now). Sidan toys makes minifig accessories that reflect Japanese culture and has items to outfit little Buddhist monks. So yes, it can be done. I'm also sure there is a market.

As for what I'd like to see offered, I'm not Christian, so I'm not your target audience. However, I still have an interest in culture, architecture, history, and traditions connected with Christianity. Also I enjoy creating minifigs with all sorts of backgrounds. So if you ever offered minifig accessories, I'd certainly take a look at them. (Things like choir robes or angel wings would make me very happy.)

Things I think other people would buy include, an Advent calendar, a Nativity scene, a small rustic little church or chapel, Lego-style angel keychains. I also wonder if there are any sorts of wedding favors that could be done with Lego? Cake-top bride-and-groom sets are already popular, so there ought to be other wedding possibilities. I agree that sets would be a big drawing point.

You might also consider reselling some other people's work alongside your own creations. If I was looking for Lego-compatable religious themed-things, I would pay a little more for the convenience of finding them all in one place instead of having to order from 5 different places.

Good luck with your plans.

[dr_spock]

You won't know if you don't try. You could start small with your local church and find out what people there might be interested in.

[BrickBelt]

These comments are really helping, guys. Thank you so much!

Hmmm...It sounds like from the serious LEGO community the biggest interest would be in sets or custom pieces. Here are my thoughts on various things as of now and I'm curious as to what you guys think...

Custom pieces: Outside of my league right now. Certainly something I'd love to look into if I worked my way up there, but as of now I have no experience with making them and it'd be too big of an investment.

Custom Minifigures: I have a bit of experience with making custom minifigures. I made my younger sister a Legend of Zelda set with a custom Link because she's a massive Zelda and LEGO fan. However, at least at this time, I don't think it's something I'd be comfortable doing. It'd certainly be something I'd love to get into, but once again I'd have to work myself up there a bit first.

Custom sets: This is something I could definitely do. I have experience in graphic design and I've previously had success in LEGO contests, so I am capable of making well presented, well designed sets. The difficulty with these would be the price. I wouldn't want them to cost an arm and a leg so I'd have to be selective with what pieces I used. I think due to the high prices it'd be hard to target them to anything but serious LEGO enthusiasts.

Other items: Things like religious themed minifigure key chains would certainly be a feasible endeavor. These items would more be aimed as gifts for children who have a religious related event such as first communion, confirmation. baptism, etc...But they wouldn't appeal much to the serious LEGO fans outside of a few who bought them for their kid or family member as a novelty item, of sorts.

Another idea I had was is crafting a few religious themed LEGO illustrated books. I've seen the Brick Bible before and I really wouldn't want to infringe upon that, so I wouldn't do Bible stories (sorry to any Sola Scriptura Christians.) Instead I was looking at touching upon the lives of Saints and maybe branching out to things like Saint Thomas Aquinas's five ways (it'd be difficult, but I think it could be done.) I was originally having a hard time figuring out the exact way to go about it, but I think I have a good idea in my head now. The question would be whether to attempt this before attempting other products or the other way around?

My seasonal job just started up rather suddenly and a bit earlier than last year. So I've been light on free time lately. Once I get more in the swing of things I should be able to crack down and get to work on this. If it does come into frutation maybe I'd try to launch something towards the 3rd quarter of the year.

[Cloveapple]

I just stumbled upon a Last Supper set and a Nativity set and thought you might like the link: http://thebrickblogger.com/2014/03/lego-compatible-bible-based-sets/

[fred67]

I've seen some very nice third party religious (or cultural/historical) Lego-type items for sale.....

Wow, thanks for the links... some really neat stuff on that site. My list of third party products grows...

For the record, I think this is a great idea (as long as you're not planning on making a living off of it... at least at this stage). I'm not particularly religious personally, but I definitely think there's a market.... often even for non-religious people who just might want some custom parts. I could see making a Buddhist temple of of some sort; the links given here to the brickemyoung site were great - cathedrals can be great architecture for a city (I just wish they were custom sets made from real LEGO).

Good luck.