thetang22 Posted August 31, 2015 it has been revealed on several occasions that around 5 to 10 percent of sales (depending on theme) are bought for adults. I've seen this mentioned several times, and have a hard time putting a whole lot of stock in this stat. Surveys and purchasing data - that's the only way of really knowing. Surveys have to be MASSIVE and account for tons of variables (which frequently are NOT accounted for) to have any real integrity to them. I'm struggling to envision this being accomplished adequately from a toy company without having biased results or flaws in the survey methods. Purchasing data is a joke in this case too, as the large majority of Legos HAVE to be bought by adults anyway, either for their kids or themselves...so that doesn't really tell us. What am I missing? How can this stat possibly be that accurate? And to be clear, I'm not trying to argue the stat is or isn't close...I'm trying to argue that ANY % for a stat as odd as this would likely be a flawed stat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frozen Assasin Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) I would actually want to see a He-Man lego series.Just think of all the recolors and new pieces. Edited August 31, 2015 by Frozen Assasin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
x105Black Posted August 31, 2015 First, from early in this threads speculation; the LEGO Legends of Chima range had absolutely nothing to do with the return of the Thundercats TV show. Although several of us remembered the show from our childhoods it was never the basis for the theme and the Chima theme was well into development when we found out it was returning. This worried us, fortunately it wasn't very good and most kids didn't see it or draw any parallels. We probably drew more inspiration from Fabuland than the original Thundercats! Are you saying that the new Thundercats show wasn't very good, or that Chima wasn't very good? As a huge fan of Thundercats from the 80's, I actually liked the new Thundercats series, and wished that they had been able to continue into their second season. It was looking promising. Not as good as it could have been, catering too much to children rather than their (now) adult fans, but it was still good. As for Chima, it was pretty bad. I'm not a fan of the armor styles, the mechanized robot animal vehicles, or the abundance of transparent pieces on weapons and armor. I did, however, like the fact that they had those army building Tribe sets. Unfortunately, they never made one with the Tiger guys in it. I actually liked the Tiger dudes that came in that Tiger's Mobile Command set (70224), but it was way too much to spend on such a horrible set just to get the minifigures. I also liked the Gorilla Legend Beast (70125), despite my general disdain for brick-built animals and the ugly over-sized Hammer weapon. The Gorilla is the only Chima set I purchased. As to the person above who wants He-Man LEGO, I'd love to see a line of MOTU Themed LEGO as well. Eagerly awaiting new information on this Nexo Knights to see how it stacks up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gedren_y Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) I thought one of the Lego designers admitted that the Chima lion mold was originally from a concept pitch, when the Thundercats license was up for bids. The license went to Hasbro's Kre-O (saw the toys, they were awful). Since the concept designs were not accepted, Lego was able to re-purpose them. If I am wrong about this, okay. When the first set descriptions were leaked, I made the leap to an in-house MOTU idea. I even went in search of any potential MOTU future media. I found one 'in development', and postulated that the same thing that I had believed happened with Thundercats happened with MOTU. Looking again now, even without an IMDb Pro account, I can see a script update date on the 'in development' Masters of the Universe page; August 21, 2015. It looks like a new MOTU show will happen eventually, whether it has anything to do with Nexo Knights or not. Hopefully j2g (at least I think it was him) will have something for us tomorrow, when the Doctor Who images release is supposed to happen. Edited August 31, 2015 by gedren_y Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted August 31, 2015 A few facts for this thread! (Because it's seriously lacking in them :P ) First, from early in this threads speculation; the LEGO Legends of Chima range had absolutely nothing to do with the return of the Thundercats TV show. Although several of us remembered the show from our childhoods it was never the basis for the theme and the Chima theme was well into development when we found out it was returning. This worried us, fortunately it wasn't very good and most kids didn't see it or draw any parallels. We probably drew more inspiration from Fabuland than the original Thundercats! Second, just to clear things up, it has been revealed on several occasions that around 5 to 10 percent of sales (depending on theme) are bought for adults. As an AFOL we are hugely outnumbered by kid fans, though as customers we will (generally) spend more in a year and over a period of more years then most kids. Thus the adult sets are made to cater for us, and I would speculate, are likely to continue being made. Third, if a theme is marked 5 and up it is obviously designed for younger kids, it will be more basic in structure and building style (it's actually very difficult to design for 5 year olds and under) and probably hit only the iconic aspects of that concept. (See the latest Castle and Pirate lines). If the sets are marked 7 and up they will be more complex both in story and building style, probably appealing slightly more to AFOLs. Sets marked older are pretty complex, almost AFOL sets, enjoy them! Can't comment on the rest, and as you noticed none of my facts are really 'historic' related, sorry about that! I will be able to talk about January sets (whatever they may be) from either 15th November or 1st December (I need to check) - I'm sure by then you guys will have figured out a way to know one way or another if this theme exists or not. Until then, cheers. Thanks so much! I always appreciate your insights into the themes you've worked on, even though I know your hands are tied when it comes to talking about upcoming themes! Are you saying that the new Thundercats show wasn't very good, or that Chima wasn't very good? As a huge fan of Thundercats from the 80's, I actually liked the new Thundercats series, and wished that they had been able to continue into their second season. It was looking promising. Not as good as it could have been, catering too much to children rather than their (now) adult fans, but it was still good. As for Chima, it was pretty bad. I'm not a fan of the armor styles, the mechanized robot animal vehicles, or the abundance of transparent pieces on weapons and armor. I did, however, like the fact that they had those army building Tribe sets. Unfortunately, they never made one with the Tiger guys in it. I actually liked the Tiger dudes that came in that Tiger's Mobile Command set (70224), but it was way too much to spend on such a horrible set just to get the minifigures. I also liked the Gorilla Legend Beast (70125), despite my general disdain for brick-built animals and the ugly over-sized Hammer weapon. The Gorilla is the only Chima set I purchased. You realize you're calling Tiger's Mobile Command "such a horrible set" in a reply to the person who designed it? I know you probably didn't mean for that comment to sound rude or like a personal attack, but it certainly comes off that way. I got quite a few Chima sets, but could never quite commit to collecting it since I was already collecting quite a few other themes like Hero Factory, The LEGO Movie, and Ninjago. Still, I really love some of the sets I've gotten. I also think Tiger's Mobile Command seems like quite a nice set. Love the "tiger-stripe" treads, the elegantly sculpted head, and the claw bikes! If Nexo Knights ends up being anywhere near as colorful and distinctive as Legends of Chima I can see it becoming quite a popular theme with kids, whether or not adults are prepared to open their minds enough to appreciate it. I'm sure some people in this thread are already surprised to hear how nostalgic other AFOLs are for Knights' Kingdom II. Ten years from now, I think we'll see the same for Legends of Chima, and while some older AFOLs will never warm up to it, others will appreciate it as a remarkably imaginative and well-constructed theme. Bear that in mind if Nexo Knights turns out to be just as off-putting to the AFOL "old guard" — the themes which seem too wacky and kid-oriented for the AFOL community today are often the themes that will help to create the AFOL community of tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted August 31, 2015 Most of the Chima I purchased was on clearance. The style is not really my taste and the parts are not very reusable for historic / castle building for me. That said, they are great as vehicles based off of animals. It is like saying a car is terrible when you really just prefer a motorcycle. If the minifig prints are able to be reused in a more traditional castle / historic setting, I think this line will be a success. LEGO has a lot of different types of fans and we all want something completely different. I think they will find a way to make these sets appealing to AFOLs as well as kids. If not, I might just spend more time and money on CMFs, Ninjago, and Modulars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ardelon Posted August 31, 2015 I can only say one really good thing about KK2 – at least it had an epic-style storyline with multi-year continuity. I have no problem with Chima so long as it stays out of the Castle theme . Never seen the series, so I dont know how that would skew my opinion. Considering Nexo Knights, I wonder how the steampunk rumors will play out. Honestly, the logo evokes more dieselpunk, maybe even cyberpunk. Steampunk in itself could be pretty cool, though still not ok for a castle theme - unlike some here, I dont find steampunk siege engines any better than steampuk modern vehicles, in the context of a Castle theme. But still much better than robotics and eletronics. So I guess the best way a robo-horse can turn out is indeed a steampunk Trojan horse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rhodes81 Posted August 31, 2015 I haven't posted in a long time, but decided to log in for this one. I know we would all love to have a line of Medieval themed sets that are as quality as the UCS Star Wars sets, but that simply isn't realistic. Star Wars has a much wider appeal to both kids and adults than Medieval, and there is more room for the Star Wars line in Lego's product list than there is for castle themes. This requires too much of TLGs Medieval design space to be the same type of castle sets we have seen over and over again because Lego needs those sets to reach the demographics that do care about history. This is good news because it means TLG will continue to put out some kind of history related sets every 2-3 years to make sure they don't miss any of these potential life-long fans (because 2-3 years can be the difference between missing and not missing a lot of children), but it also means that we will continue to see fairly unoriginal designs for this theme because TLG is going for mass appeal. Kids can't collect Lego for 5+ years like adults can. Kids can't buy sets from 10 years ago to fill a void in their collection, so TLG has to keep producing the basic king's castle, evils person's jail, siege tower, etc so the KFOLs can get them. Realistically, most other themes have the same problem, but some of them tend to have a higher percentage of the Lego product list, and thus have more AFOL targeted sets because they simply have more sets in general. This is just a reality of being a fan of the historic theme. AS far as this relates to Nexo Knights, the theme will be a Chima/Ninjago theme if Lego believes that demographic won't be over-saturated, and it will be a Medieval/castle theme if Lego believes that market won't be oversaturated. It all depends on how large TLG believes those two markets are, and how often is too often to create a line of sets for those markets. TLG is an international company with thousands of employees, and is in a better position to make these judgments than we are. The reality is that fans of castle themes are a small subset of Lego fans, and that AFOL history fans are an even further subset, and while they may be the majority on this board, AFOLs that are fans of specifically realistic history sets are an even further subset. Lego clearly sees Ninjago/Chima to give the castle theme greater mass appeal, and so if Nexo knights is similar to these two, that means it is Lego attempting to keep castle relevant while also boosting sales. While it's not what I'm happy to see, it is better than if Lego simply didn't produce any castle related sets this year. Just hope we get some decent pieces to use and take solace knowing that it won't be too long before we get another castle theme. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hive Posted August 31, 2015 You realize you're calling Tiger's Mobile Command "such a horrible set" in a reply to the person who designed it? I know you probably didn't mean for that comment to sound rude or like a personal attack, but it certainly comes off that way. I'm sure he wasn't aware that he was replying to the actual designer. I personally had no idea, and I'm sure most here was unaware. You cannot expect it to be a widely known fact what the LEGO designers have for user names on various online foras. And I'm sure that they wouldn't be here at all if they couldn't take some criticism. You cannot please everyone with everything you make, and they know that. Personally, I dislike most of the Ninjago and Chima sets simply because they evolve around wild-looking vehicles. But that said, I'm pretty impressed with the innovative build techniques and designs used for most of them. Like the crocodile boat and the mammoth mech. Neither have a place in my own collection, but if I were a child I'd be all over those! In short: they are not to my personal liking, but I understand their appeal and admire the efforts behind them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gedren_y Posted August 31, 2015 I was actually able to adapt the bird nosecones of two of the Chima eagle sets (melding their designs) for painted statuary in a GOH build. Quite a few of the animal designs for the vehicles could be used in this manner, though some color changes might be needed. Back to Nexo Knights: I am a fan of Christopher Stasheff's The Warlock In Spite Of Himself, and all the subsequent novels in that universe that I've read. I have my well-loved copy in front of me. The blend of futuristic science and medieval style fantasy can be appealing to adults as well. It is all about the suspension of disbelief. I don't leave sets as is, though I have used elements (see above). The designs are for TLG's (or the license's) narrative of the given theme. I build for my own narrative. If the set names are any indication, I will find these sets filled with useful parts, well designed prints, and possibly a few usable design details. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandysnaps92 Posted August 31, 2015 Power Rules! Book title! images must be coming soon. Also a modern medieval quest for power maybe? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naijel Posted August 31, 2015 Purchasing data is a joke in this case too, as the large majority of Legos HAVE to be bought by adults anyway, either for their kids or themselves...so that doesn't really tell us. Of course most Lego is bought BY adults but it's FOR children. The 5-10% is supposed to be a stat about AFOLs buying stuff for themselves, NOT buying for children. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gedren_y Posted September 1, 2015 Power Rules! I have the power! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetang22 Posted September 1, 2015 Of course most Lego is bought BY adults but it's FOR children. The 5-10% is supposed to be a stat about AFOLs buying stuff for themselves, NOT buying for children. I'm well aware. Did you not understand the point of my post? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8BrickMario Posted September 1, 2015 Oh, that book sounds very Chimesque. Is there some sort of magical energy force, or does it only refer to physical might? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazing Bricks Posted September 1, 2015 Well we're getting closer to the leaks. The catalog is out, no one wants to leak it though. I don't blame them, they could get in trouble. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
x105Black Posted September 1, 2015 You realize you're calling Tiger's Mobile Command "such a horrible set" in a reply to the person who designed it? I know you probably didn't mean for that comment to sound rude or like a personal attack, but it certainly comes off that way. I got quite a few Chima sets, but could never quite commit to collecting it since I was already collecting quite a few other themes like Hero Factory, The LEGO Movie, and Ninjago. Still, I really love some of the sets I've gotten. I also think Tiger's Mobile Command seems like quite a nice set. Love the "tiger-stripe" treads, the elegantly sculpted head, and the claw bikes! I actually had no idea. I'd like to apologize for my abrasiveness, but my opinion holds. I did not like that set. Was it executed poorly? No. It fulfills everything you'd expect from a large set called Tiger's Mobile Command. It's the concept. The concept is flawed from the beginning, and can only be executed so well. There are great things about the design, and it's done well for what it is, but I don't need a huge tiger tank. And tigers are one of my favorite animals. I see he also designed the Ninjago Temple of Light. I love that set. I own it, and as someone who regularly deconstructs builds, this is one set that I still have intact. Even when I finally tear down the structure, I'm likely to keep the golden ninja mech together. It's a great design. I'd prefer if the structure was more dark red than red, and if there were more gold on the mech, but it's a nice set. So it's not the designer. He does a good job at designing what he is tasked to build. I just don't always like the ideas to begin with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naijel Posted September 1, 2015 I'm well aware. Did you not understand the point of my post? Perhaps not..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert8 Posted September 1, 2015 "Power Rules" sounds pretty childish Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickJagger Posted September 1, 2015 Power Rules! Thanks Sci! Three books for this theme so far. Well we're getting closer to the leaks. The catalog is out, no one wants to leak it though. I don't blame them, they could get in trouble. We need the descriptions at the very least. I'm fairly sure Mark himself said on the last page that he'll be able to talk about the "January sets" (Read: Nexo Knights) starting 15 November, implying that they should be not just common knowledge, but non-watermarked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob1321 Posted September 1, 2015 Sounds like an actual rule book to me, part of a game or something of the sort. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetang22 Posted September 1, 2015 Sounds like an actual rule book to me, part of a game or something of the sort. "Rules" could hint at that. I'd be curious if they were actually going with a more in depth system of rules...something that needed a book for rules. To date, pretty much all of Lego's game systems have been very elementary compared to the more complex gaming systems of today. It would be quite shocking if they included a system with some really depth to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naijel Posted September 1, 2015 I'd love a detailed RPG. Not in the Nexo Knights setting though. I'd love it if they got the D&D license. MegaBloks made some interesting little sets but they were not that great. I really wish Lego could do a D&D line aimed at TFOLs/AFOLs. Highly wishful thinking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blakstone Posted September 1, 2015 I think if a LEGO RPG was a blind box that came with some Heroica dice and simple rules LEGO could do well in the miniatures RPG market, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
