Unofficial movie tie-ins and other set timing

[icm]

I apologize if there's already a thread for this topic, but I couldn't immediately find one and I wasn't going to spend all day searching for an existing thread with rate-limited searches.  Mods, please merge this into any existing thread.

 

I wasn't aware of it at the time, but in retrospect it seems obvious that many of the themes from my childhood were unofficial tie-ins to movies or other topics of general interest at the time, before TLG went deeply into licensed themes as a corporate strategy.  For a lot of other themes, it seems like there must be some kind of connection, but I can't quite pin it down.  A few other sets and themes have unofficial connections and timing that are currently obvious, but may not be obvious to someone browsing Brickset in ten years.  I'll list what I see here.  Please comment on any connections you see that I may have missed, or connections I've made that you don't agree with.  These aren't in any particular order.  I'm not including sets that commemorate internal TLG anniversaries, like the 40th anniversary Technic sets or the 2008 homage to the 1958 Town Plan set.

 

Obvious, but unofficial, connections:

• 2001 line Life on Mars (subtheme of Space) - This line coincides with the movies Red Planet and Mission to Mars.
• 1998 line Space Port (subtheme of Town) - This line coincides with the movies Armageddon and Deep Impact, and the Mania Magazine that introduced it gave it a narrative of defending the Earth from a deadly meteor shower.
• 1998 line Insectoids (subtheme of Space) - Except for the insect styling of the vehicles, the colors and visual style of the line remind me of the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact, which was released the same year.  There may be some connection, but it's more tenuous than the links above.
• 1997 line UFO (subtheme of Space) - This line was released one year after the movie Independence Day and coincides with the movie Men in Black.
• 1995 line Launch Command (subtheme of Space) - This line coincides with the movie Apollo 13.  Although that movie features moon rockets rather than space shuttles, the Lego line is clearly all about NASA.
• 2013 line Galaxy Squad (subtheme of Space) - This line coincides with the movie Ender's Game, and the box art of the bug aliens swarming over a planet looks a lot like the depictions of swarming bug aliens in that movie.  However, TLG must have decided that a direct movie license would be unprofitable or that a non-compete agreement with Lucasfilm prevented them from pursuing one.
• 2014 set X-Men vs. The Sentinel - This set coincides with the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past, for which TLG did not have the rights to make direct tie-in sets.
• 2006 line Batman - This line comes one year after the movie Batman Begins, when it was clear that the Batman franchise had recovered from Clooney and Schwarzenegger but while TLG was still testing the waters for direct superhero licenses.
• 2008 set The Tumbler: The Joker's Ice Cream Surprise - This set coincides with the movie The Dark Knight, for which TLG did not have the rights to make direct tie-in sets.
• 2001 line Dino Island (subtheme of Adventurers) - This line was released one year before the movie Jurassic Park III.  The very next year TLG released direct tie-in sets for the movie.
• 2001 line Dinosaurs - This line coincides with the movie Jurassic Park III.
• 2011 line Space (subtheme of City) - This line coincides with the end of the Space Shuttle program.
• 2010 and 2011 sets Shuttle Adventure and Shuttle Expedition - These sets coincide with the end of the Space Shuttle program.
• 2015 set Blue Power Jet (Creator) and 2017 set Air Race Jet (Technic) are obviously inspired by the F-35.
• Solar panels on houses and electric cars in recent Creator and City sets are obviously inspired by real-world developments in the solar industry and automotive industry; food stands and food trucks are inspired by the growth in the food truck industry over the last five to ten years.

Official connections that may not be obvious to someone browsing Brickset in ten years, because they refer to real-world events and anniversaries:

• 2003 set Wright Flyer - This set coincides with the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight.
• 2003 line Discovery - This line coincides with the launch of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and with renewed interest in the Space Shuttle and International Space Station due to (sadly) the loss of Columbia.  It also coincides with general interest in air and space due to the 100th anniversary of flight.
• 2017 set 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 - This set commemorates the 50th anniversary of a major Ford racing win and celebrates a major Ford racing win in 2016.
• 2006 set Boeing 787 - This set is obviously promotional material for the Boeing 787, which was then in development.
• Various large Technic models, including the Bugatti Chiron, Porsche 911 GTR, Mack Anthem, Claas tractor, Volvo wheeled excavator, Volvo front loader, BMW motorcycle, and Arocs - These sets are obviously promotional material for fancy new toys and tools from the manufacturers whose products are depicted.

Speculative connections:

• Surely the Speed Champions sets with multiple Porsches and multiple Ferraris must have some reason for picking those cars at this time, but I don't know enough about cars to tell why.
• The same goes for the older licensed Ferrari sets with named drivers.
• There's probably some connection between movies like The Fast and the Furious or its sequels and the various waves and subthemes of Racers.
• Surely the various subthemes of Castle owe something to contemporary entertainment properties (e.g., Fantasy Era and Tolkien, Forestmen/Dark Forest and Robin Hood), but I don't know enough about castle and fantasy fiction to identify anything specific for most of them.
• Can anyone identify possible inspirations for Space sets and subthemes between 1985 and 1995?
• If the first wave of Classic Space is acknowledged to owe a lot to a wave of interest in sci-fi space opera driven by Star Wars and other contemporary sci-fi entertainment like Space:1999, as also to anticipation for the Space Shuttle, was there a wave of interest in real-world events and anniversaries that drove the runaway success of the first wave of Pirates in 1989?
• In the same vein, did TLG capitalize on anything to which the runaway success of the first wave of Bionicle in 2001 can be attributed?
• 2001 line Alpha Team - Perhaps this is loosely inspired by the movies Mission:Impossible, The Matrix, or Spy Kids?  Perhaps a James Bond movie or some superhero movie?
• 2015 line Space (subtheme of City) - This line is mostly a rehash of the 2011 Space subtheme, but perhaps the timing of its revival is a delayed reaction to the success of realistic/near-future space exploration movies like Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian?
• 1995-1997 line Aquazone - Perhaps this is loosely inspired by the movie Waterworld?
• 1993 set Magic Flash - That sure looks like the A-Team van to me.
• 2003 line Island Extreme Stunts - It's directly a tie-in line for a Lego video game, but maybe it was also meant to tie in with things like the Olympics and the X Games.

Suspected connections:

• Since I remember reading a few articles about divers and underwater labs in National Geographic World magazine, I wonder if the timing of the 1997 Divers line (subtheme of Town) can be attributed to any real-world wave of interest in the subject due to events or anniversaries.
• The same goes for the 1998 Extreme Team line (subtheme of Town).  From my perspective as a kid at the time, I remember a lot of magazine articles about mountaineers climbing this or that peak or shooting this or that river.  The Daredevil Flight Squad set might be partially inspired by the contemporary retirement of the SR-71 Blackbird.
• I also read a lot of magazine articles about polar exploration, perhaps since the heroic age of Antarctic exploration was getting to be about a century old by the release of the 2000 Arctic line (subtheme of Town).  But what about the timing of the 2014 revival?
• The desert, jungle, and Orient subthemes of Adventurers are clearly inspired by the Indiana Jones movies, but what's responsible for the 1998 timing of the first wave and the 2003 timing of the revival?  Was there any major news event or anniversary?  I remember reading a lot of magazine articles about ancient Egypt, the pyramids and mummies, etc - was there a wave of interest in ancient Egypt in 1997 or 1998, and if so, what was the cause?
• The 1997 Western theme is obviously inspired by cowboy movies and American history, but why was it release in 1997?  That predates the movie Wild Wild West by two years, but was there another big movie or TV show in 1997?  It seems like that genre had pretty much died out long before 1997.  Perhaps an anniversary of a classic Western movie or novel was getting a lot of press?  Was it just generally related to the nebulous sesquicentennial of the settlement by Americans of much of the American West, or the nebulous centennial of the age of Wild West outlaws?
• The 2002 Studios line was obviously inspired by old monster movies, but is there a good reason why it was timed for 2002?
• The 2012 Monster Fighters line was obviously inspired by old monster movies, but is there a good reason why it was timed for 2012, except perhaps as a 10th anniversary tribute to the previous Studios line?
• It seems like the 1999 Rock Raiders line must be inspired by something in contemporary sci-fi in movies or TV, but I don't know what that would be.
• It seems like the 2006-2008 Exo-Force line must be timed to coincide with a wave of interest in anime/manga mecha shows, but I don't know what those would be at the time.
• The 2008 revival of Alpha Team in the form of Agents could be timed to go with the 2007 revival of the James Bond franchise in Casino Royale, or perhaps to go with the impending Marvel Cinematic Universe, for which TLG did not yet have a license.  This connection seems pretty tenous, though.
• Are there any events or anniversaries coinciding with the timing of sets depicting famous architecture, like the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, the Taj Mahal, the Sydney Opera House, Tower Bridge, the Burj Khalifa, the Guggenheim Museum, etc?  What about famous cars like the Mini Cooper, VW Minibus, Ferrari F40, VW Beetle, or Routemaster bus?
• 2003 NBA line - The license is obvious, but why the timing? Was NBA basketball bigger than usual at the time, or was TLG just picking up ideas and seeing what stuck, this being in their days of near-bankruptcy?
• 2018 Speed Champions set of 1968 Ford Mustang GT - A subtle allusion to the 50th anniversary of the movie Bullitt.

OK, that's all I can think of.  Time to take my tin-foil hat off and get back to work.

Edited June 29, 2018 by icm

[BlueberryWaffles]

4 minutes ago, icm said:

2008 set The Tumbler: The Joker's Ice Cream Surprise - This set coincides with the movie The Dark Knight, for which TLG did not have the rights to make direct tie-in sets.

This was intentional tie-in. The movie logo is on the box art, along with a cartoon picture of the Christian Bale Batman. The Tumbler also hasn't appeared in any other Batman media besides those movies. (At least, at that time. Pretty sure it eventually showed up in TLBM.)

[NathanR]

Fascinating list! I believe Lego sets can be in developmnent for a couple of years before they hit the shelves, so some of these tie-ins may well be pure coincidence.  But maybe there is some insider info being exchanged between Lego and Hollywood.

35 minutes ago, icm said:

2001 line Dinosaurs - This line coincides with the movie Jurassic Park III.

I would imagine this line was done to get some more milage out of the specialised dinosaur body part moulds that were needed for the Jurassic Park 3/Lego Studios cross-over sets.  It would also serve as a tie-in to the existing Johnny Thunder adventure on dinosaur island series of set from the year before.

38 minutes ago, icm said:

The 2002 Studios line was obviously inspired by old monster movies, but is there a good reason why it was timed for 2002?

The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), these were all major hits at the time I believe (I've not actually seen any of them).  These films did evoke memories of classic horror movies, Vampire Crypt (Dracula), Scary Laboratory (Frankenstein), Curse of the Pharaoh (The Mummy).

42 minutes ago, icm said:

2003 line Discovery - This line coincides with the launch of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and with renewed interest in the Space Shuttle and International Space Station due to (sadly) the loss of Columbia.  It also coincides with general interest in air and space due to the 100th anniversary of flight.

Not so much a "coincidence", more a Licensed theme.  There was a surge of excitement with NASA attempting to put the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars.  Only three rovers had previously gone to Mars, two by the Russians (one crash landed, one landed in a sandstorm and had its electronics fried by an electrostatic discharge, like a mini-lightning bolt) and one by NASA (the toy-car sized Sojourner).  From the UK there was also excitement over the Beagle 2 Lander which was travelling with an ESA space probe.  Everyone was taking advantage of the Mars launch window that year.  The Discovery channel was running loads of shows about the missions, and Lego went into partnership with the TV channel to release tie-in sets.  Hence each of these sets came with an information booklet in multiple languages.  The Spirit and Opportunity rovers were the centerpiece of the series though, hence a dedicated system scale set (rocket, satellite and rover) and a technic rover.  I vaguely remember a life-size lego rover outside Nasa's mission control (I think... All I remember for sure is a photo of it in a Lego club magazine of the time, and the fact that it had to be built around a steel frame to stop it collapsing).

 

51 minutes ago, icm said:

In the same vein, did TLG capitalize on anything to which the runaway success of the first wave of Bionicle in 2001 can be attributed?

No.  If I recall, Lego was flirting with bankruptcy at the time and they were trying to break into the action figure market.  They had already experimented with Slizers, and Robo-Rider sets, which were interesting precursors to Bionicle.  A lot of Lego's own designers hated the concept of Bionicle, feeling it wasn't true Lego, but Bionicle and the Star Wars license basically saved Lego.  You'll probably get way more info on this over on the Action figure board, I was never overly interested in the series.

[Digger of Bricks]

A most fascinating topic of speculative discussion, with some great observations already made which all sound highly possible!  This is a subject I've pondered myself before in past for some product lines at times, so it's great to see this brought to the table here at Eurobricks! 

8 hours ago, icm said:

The desert, jungle, and Orient subthemes of Adventurers are clearly inspired by the Indiana Jones movies, but what's responsible for the 1998 timing of the first wave and the 2003 timing of the revival?  Was there any major news event or anniversary?  I remember reading a lot of magazine articles about ancient Egypt, the pyramids and mummies, etc - was there a wave of interest in ancient Egypt in 1997 or 1998, and if so, what was the cause?

I've always wondered if the first year for the Adventurers theme was precipitated in anticipation of Universal's Mummy remake that released in 1999. I know that was still two years away from finally being released, but the studio had expressed their desire to do the remake as early as 1992.

[Schwa]

Some other ones to add:

 

Killer Croc Sewer Smash and Harley Quinn Cycle Chase are obvious tie-ins to Suicide Squad, featuring 5 of the Squad's members.

The 2014 Captain America vs Hydra set could be a tie-in to The Winter Soldier. This speculation is further enhanced by Falcon's inclusion in the Hulk Lab Smash set.

The Spider-Man Mech vs Venom Mech set may be a tie-in to Into The Spiderverse.

[Digger of Bricks]

3 hours ago, Schwa said:

The Spider-Man Mech vs Venom Mech set may be a tie-in to Into The Spiderverse.

...and possibly the Venom movie with Tom Hardy releasing this October.