Thoughts about Licences and TLC's future

[SuvieD]

I posted some thoughts on Lugnet and I thought I would share them here as well to see what things people would like to see.

Please note that these should be Lego building sets not other products like t-shirts or games. ;)

So many people have said that Star Wars Lego brought them out of their "dark age." People who liked Lego as a child and enjoy SW, it was the common ground on both that got (older) people back into Lego. If I was in charge of Lego I would go back and look at what was/is the most popular cultural tie-ins and produce a series' of them. If you did this in 1960-1970 you may have done something like the lone ranger. Today what do 20-30 somethings who used to play with Lego remember fondly that might bring them into the hobby as adults? These are not fads that died out. These are cultural staples that have endured time and critisim. Some ideas that come to mind:

GI Joe-what young boy didn't have GI Joe, just look at brickshelf and do a

search to see all the different custom figures or even the fan made Joe/Lego

site

Transformers-many a young boy played with transforming vehicles into robots.

This may be another Hasbro option to look into.

Nintendo-the system that made electronic gaming a household name. A Mario

series of sets with King Koopa, Luigi, Peach, Toad and all their other friends

this could do extremely well. I doubt there is a 10-30 year old who doesn't

know about Mario. The Lengend of Zelda, I think would sell better than Harry

Potter. With the new game coming late this year Lego would do well to at least

check into the possibilties.

Lord of the Rings- I know that this may be a day late or a dollar short but it

may be the best time for it. Character recognition is now at an all time high.

Even without the movies I think this would have done well. Head over to

brickshelf and check out the most popular folder. It is LOTR. It has almost

half a million views for adults. Most children do not spend much time on

brickshelf, these are adult Lego fans who have an interest in this. Imagine

what type of sales you would have if you made this. I would suggest getting a

liscence to make sets from the books directly and not from the movies. You

would have more liberty in the sets and I am guessing it would cost less.

Narnia-the first of seven new movies that will come out soon. Get on board now.

Children for years have been reading these books and have enjoyed the many

interesting stories and lands. This would be great.

Disney- Lego and Disney partnership seems inevitable. Classic movies like Snow

White or Bambi all the way up to greats like Aladdin or the Lion King. This

could do very well also. Disney isn't a small name it has instant recognition

and for many adult, boys and even girls, Lego contruction sets with the loveable

and collectable Disney characters would be a sure success.

Barbie/Bratz-teaming up with Barbie or Bratz could be the very thing that might

help Lego finally reach girls. I am not sure if Barbie would ever want to be

associated with Lego but I can only see it building off of each others name

recognition.

These are ideas as far as liscencing goes. I do not think Lego should set aside

it traditional sets or series nor should they fully persue more than one or two

of these at any time.

One thing I would also like to mention is that Lego is not involved in any type

of roleplay using it's minifigs as customizable units. Games like these are a

popular item for teen and adult hobbiests. This could open up a new market it

the field that could compete with hero clix or warhammer and for less moreny.

One figure for those others can cost up to ten dollars. Lego would not even

need new molds. It could produce small figure sets with almost limitless

configurations that people would be more willing to buy because of the lower

price point. Not only that but many of the people who want larger armies of

figures would also be satisfied. The point being is that this is an untapped

money maker for a company looking to broaden it's appeal to different ages,

satisfy current customers, introduce new customers who are into gaming/

collectables, and wouold allow TLG to make strong revenues. Please if you

decide to discard all my other ideas look into this one. This is seriously the

best idea I have seen for getting 12-25 year old people to maintain a buying

relationship with Lego that is only enhanced by the 2-10 years of previous sets

they may have gotten. Look into this.

Also, some others I posted.

A small model series. $20 price range. Start with popular sports car models.

Small compact designs with any of the following; opening doors, hoods, trunks,

wheels that turn, flip up lights, or convertible (if possible at that size).

Make them nearly studless, and 8X16 studs in size. Then maybe add other

vehicles, planes, boats, or other desktop model sized sets.

(this is for, car lovers, model lovers, LEGO lovers)

Fairy tale sets for 6-12 year olds with the story included. Jack and the

Beanstalk, Puss in Boots, Rapunzel, Little Red Ridinghood. Standard minfigs,

repeated use of the same parts to keep costs down. Use the same one or two

parts for things like the beanstalk (triple leafed plant stem), or Rapunzels

tower the 1X3 brick/1X1 brick round combination.

(nostalgia for parents, introduce the classics to younger generations, extras

for the AFOLs)

A new product for girls similar to Belville or Paradisa. The girl market is

still available. I know many girls who enjoy building or used to play with LEGO

as children. They want romantic things like a princesses and a knight to save

them from the witch/baron/ogre. Things to include would be flowers and

accessories. Maybe add a few extra pieces so each girl can change her

appearance. A few different color hair parts, a different outfit, a hat, or an

extra head with a differnt print would achieve this nicely. make them

affordable. The current prices for Belville are quite high. Try and to younger

girls still in the baby doll and dollhouse age 6-10.

A fantasy/mythology series. Brick built dragons, ogres and other beasts.

Medusa, a faun or satyr, a centaur all as minifigs. Follow the adventures of

Hercules as he battles the monsters and saves the world type of stuff.

***Ultimate*** Camelot. You would have the knights of the round table with the

siege perilous. A church yard where Arthur becomes king. The Lady of the Lake.

The fight with Mordred. A great tournament with ladies in the stands. The block

of floating marble. We would need all the unforgetable characters of Arthur,

Lancelot, Bors, Merlin, Mordred, Guenivere, Gawain, Percival, Gareth, Galahad,

Bedivere, Kay, Tristan, The Lady of the Lake, The Green Knight, and Morgan Le

Fay. Though the stories and legends are full or adult themed content they could

be simplified or the stories they used for children in school could be used.

This is where LEGO castle should go.

So don't be shy. Lets get some discussion going and have everyone post what they would like to see. |-D ;)

-SuvieD

[Mister Phes]

Transformers-many a young boy played with transforming vehicles into robots.

This may be another Hasbro option to look into.

Hasbro has already looked into this option with PlaySkool...

Transformers have always been good with this type thing. No matter what the other popular type of toy there is on the market (for males at least), Hasbro has always found a way to make a Transformer equivalent.

[SuvieD]

Have actually seen some of the Megablok or BTR versions. Not to be mean to anyone who has some but they suck! *sick*

I want a real Lego version with quality pieces and compatibility.

Transformers was low on my list of wants anyways, I would much rather have something castley :-D ;)

[Mister Phes]

I was really excited when I first saw them... Then I noticed they were made by PlaySkool and my excitement sank dramatically...

[Wolf04]

Army!!!! We need tanks....and missiles launchers and Cubans with Nuclear Silos!!!!....and minifigs with legs or arms....and...and.....Middle East Terrorists with dynamite around their waist!!! *drooling*

[Assassin]

Barbie and Lego, Disney and Lego ?

Very much doubt that that will happen, it would involve Lego with licences again, and I doubt that is somewhere they want to re-visit.

Lego and Lord of the Rings ? regretably, again a licensing issue, also I think some other company got the license to produce those as building sets.

Lego and Narnia ? licensing again.

What I would like them to do is go into a castle/mythology/fantasy area so that we could get mythological monsters, properly designed elves, dwarves, giants, ogres etc. By properly designed I mean (for the giants etc) larger minifigs (maybe 4+ sized ?) that had movable legs and arms, not like the troll from the Harry Potter set that could only move one arm and had a head that seems out of proportion.

Just think of the kind of sets that they could produce by taking ideas from Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts, stories of the Greek gods etc. Plus there are countless areas from the mythology of other countries, properly done this theme could continue for years without repeating itself.

Then there is the possibility of producing decently sized models of national landmarks from various countries similar to the sculpture of The Statue of Liberty. Examples could be The Eifel Tower, Big Ben, Stonehenge, The Colliseum, various Castles from different countries. Again, the opportunities in a theme of this type are endless, but the sets would have to be large which would mean fairly expensive, but they could be worth it.

Also I purchased the Yoda sculpture (great source of tan blocks) and I would love to see further sets like this. I don't know what subjects they could use, but hopefully, they could turn out sets that would act as a source of hard to get colours, Statue of Liberty provided plenty of sand green (pity it was not available in retail shops) so imagine a set that gave plenty of sand blue in different sizes, you get the idea ?

[SuvieD]

Is it possible to keep my post as a seperate thread. I know it is related but I don't think it is the same. I think it will be lost now that it has been changed.

I was hoping people would express there own ideas about what they would like to see LEGO make. This went off-topic so fast I am not sure it has any other ideas added. Perhaps, people have already listed what they would like to see some where else but I didn't see it in the other thread either.

Anyway, I would like to also see a bulk tub (or box to save on costs) of mostly bricks for each theme. Castle could be mostly gray with some accessories and 5-10 minifigs. Pirate (since there is no boat) could be yellow green with a palm tree, monkey, treasure chest, and a scurvy crew. Each tub could have a rare minifig only available in the tub. It would also be a great way to reintroduce classic space.

[-DJ-]

If LEGO gets a new license, it should be a Nintendo license. It would sell very well to kids, probably equal to BIONICLE's sales. I don't really see how LEGO could mess it up either. This would be one theme where you would only need the main characters, so no problem there, and the minifigs would be pretty easy to make.

[xwingyoda]

I know TLC will get rid of licences.

Here's the 3 I want:

1) SW all the way

2) Manga (really generic: Captain Harlock, Ulysse 31, Goldorak)

3) Pirates of the Carrabean

[Wolf04]

I know TLC will get rid of licences.

Here's the 3 I want:

1) SW all the way

2) Manga (really generic: Captain Harlock, Ulysse 31, Goldorak)

3) Pirates of the Carrabean

Pirates of the Caribbean is actually a great way to bring the Pirates theme to children these days. Hopefully LEGO grabs a license for the next two movies.

[snefroe]

I know TLC will get rid of licences.

Here's the 3 I want:

1) SW all the way

2) Manga (really generic: Captain Harlock, Ulysse 31, Goldorak)

3) Pirates of the Carrabean

Mangas, you say? Master Yoda, as a Frenchman and European you should be ashamed!! I don't want that japanese stuff in here!! there's more than enough material in own European comic books!! like the space craft on this site:

http://yoko.tsuno.free.fr/index.php?mod=engins&pg=1001

in fact, it's one of the big traumas of my life that i've never been able to build a lego version of the Navette. Such a beautiful ship, but the bricks simply didn't allow those smooth lines... Obviously, we're never going to see a line of lego craft like these, but they're amongst the most brilliant ships i have ever seen...

however, i did see a lego ship on brickshelf that looked a lot like the "vaisseau d'akhar", a while ago...

[xwingyoda]

Yes snefroe1,

My favorite ship of all times (apart SW of course) is the Arcadia (Atlantis in French): I'm sure mister_phes will like it, its a space pirate ship ;)

Check here for some pics: http://www.albatorssx.com/index.php?menu=i...x&page=atlantis

View the magnificant Arcadia flying for freedom

[snefroe]

Yes snefroe1,

My favorite ship of all times (apart SW of course) is the Arcadia (Atlantis in French): I'm sure mister_phes will like it, its a space pirate ship ;)

Check here for some pics: http://www.albatorssx.com/index.php?menu=i...x&page=atlantis

View the magnificant Arcadia flying for freedom

so it's been established then: there are pirates in space :P Mister_phes will be pleased indeed :P

[Centaur]

Right now, I think that Lord of the Rings might sell the best. Another possibilty would be for lego to follow history, and do Ancient Greeks, Ancient Romans, Ancient Chinese, and so on. I really like mythology, so I think that incorporating some mythology into the themes (such as the trojan war) could bring a big boost with AFOL.

[Mini]

A GI Joe license would be a waste of time. Outside of the US the brand is pretty much dead.

Of those you mentioned probably Nintendo would be the most suitable.

[snefroe]

i think a Lord of the rings theme wouldn't be smart. the films have been released, the hype is over... sure, TLC would still sell sets, but they probably wouldn't get much out of it, financially. After all, the licence won't be cheap. They might just as well produce a line of their own and keep all profit.

[xwingyoda]

We do need a really nice space theme, that's why I really want a manga theme (old classics of course).

There is SO much potential in this: UCS ships, minifigs, SYSTEM scale ships...

You have the classic Good/Bad characters (the good guys win), its not too violent, have epic space battles, nice fashon blasters and guns...

I'm telling you, this would be great ;)

Why no one is following e on this?????????

[Vader]

LOTR wont be done, lego has said that they wont touch licences anymore. Which is a shame as i believe that they would of had great success with the line.

Manga themes wont be touched either as lego only do sets that are well known across the world and as manga is not well known in the west to many children theres no way they will touch it.

[xwingyoda]

Manga themes wont be touched either as lego only do sets that are well known across the world and as manga is not well known in the west to many children theres no way they will touch it.

I partially agree with you Lord Vader.

Mangas (and I'm really talking of the old classic ones) might not be that popular among the younger generation of KFOLs, however is still a really important interest to people om my age that looked at them as kids, buy DVDs...

Just look how many websites each classic manga has.

Furthermore, even if people are not that aware of mangas, show them great sets with fantastic space ships, and their attitude will surely change ;)

I was never a great fan of TLC's space theme because I think that the ships were never that great looking (apart from that UFO line which was oK, apart from the colors that is).

I will post links to the best space ships, and you will see how wuvh potential this theme has ;)

[Vader]

I agree that it has potential but you have said it yourself manga is very popular with people our age but were not legos target age group so thats a big strike against it ever happening, i to didnt like lego old space line as it always looked poor to me.

[xwingyoda]

I agree that it has potential but you have said it yourself manga is very popular with people our age but were not legos target age group so thats a big strike against it ever happening, i to didnt like lego old space line as it always looked poor to me.

Like I said, trends CAN be made, just show people great sets, and they will buy them (I mean people sometimes buy crappy sets anyway).

If you look the subject on another perspective, this manga theme would be great because it will combine a space theme with:

Captain Harlock: pirates

Ulysse 31: mythology

Goldorak (Grendizer) and Robotech: great Mechas

BTW, look how many MOCs there are inspired by Robothech

[Vader]

I agree with most of your points but the word manga is enough of a turn off for a company like lego, just being linked to a company that produces 18 related cartoon films would be enough to send them running to the hills.

On another note i would love to see a space pirates theme, how cool that could be. :)

[xwingyoda]

I agree with most of your points but the word manga is enough of a turn off for a company like lego, just being linked to a company that produces 18 related cartoon films would be enough to send them running to the hills.

On another note i would love to see a space pirates theme, how cool that could be. :)

The term manga is not good, that's for sure. Furthermore its inaccurate because mangas refer to books and not to TV cartoons. Therefore I propose the term "Animation".

Vader, I'm working on a series of links to prove that this HAS potential ;)

[Mister Phes]

so it's been established then: there are pirates in space :P Mister_phes will be pleased indeed :P

NOOOOOOO!!! No space Pirates! Caribbean Pirates only. I'm very adament about that. I just want another SYSTEM Pirate theme reminiscent of the original exploring the countless possibilities left out touch.

So go away licencing and don't come back!

[snefroe]

about 10 years ago, every comic book writer in Europe feared this japanese wave of comics. many book shops were clearing the shelves, getting rid of tintin,... thinking the mangas would become the next hype... the wave never came... the mangas didn't sell at all, no one wanted them..; today you'll only find mangas in very specialised book shops...

Manga lego sets will fail for exactly the same reason: we don't want them. we don't find them attractive because of what ever reason... i also don't think you can merge the european/danish culture of TLC with the japanese culture of the Manga. to my knoledge, the japanese/ninja theme didn't sell very well in Belgium either...

let's go for the space theme, shall we? we'll need at least a base, a large spaceship, some smaller ships, a few space trucks/cars, if we want to follow TLC's tradition of the 90's

However, i think TLC should try and set up a new concept. i'm thinking a space theme with 20 sets a year; based on a military component, but with the emphasis on small and large ships, tracked vehicles, not so much on handguns, cause that's probably what TLC dislikes the most... the ideal behind is exactly the same as star wars: good against evil...