What franchise should Lego do next?

[LEGODalekbuster523]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

In the UK, I don't think they sold anywhere near as well. It was easy to purchase for ages at 1/3rd off, sometimes more off than that, and loads of them got bought to part out on bricklink.

I live in the UK, and most shops had sold out of the Doctor Who packs. They were a huge success.

2 hours ago, MAB said:

I'd also like to see more Doctor Who sets (at least one containing my Doctor Who, Tom Baker!), but I think the sets aspect is the problem. There are loads of characters they could do, but sets ... there is the Tardis (done) and ... not much else.

On 28/01/2017 at 11:36 AM, LEGODalekbuster523 said:

Are you kidding? There's over fifty years of material! You could have a Dalek spaceship, Cyber tombs, the K1 Robot, Bessie, the Whomobile, the Skarasen, UNIT jeep etc...

[Digger of Bricks]

I've said this before elsewhere, but I think Universal Classic Monsters particularly would be a good franchise for Lego to look into, perhaps as a Collectable Minifigure line. 

6 hours ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - a cheesy Gil Gerard/Erin Grey show from ~1980; again space ships, space stations robots, domed cities, lame plots and a hawk-man, what's not to love?

Just give me old school Buck Rogers from the 1930's comic strip instead, with colorful, wacky, retrofuturistic spacesuits and rocketships! 

[MAB]

10 hours ago, LEGODalekbuster523 said:

I live in the UK, and most shops had sold out of the Doctor Who packs. They were a huge success. Just because you like a theme doesn't mean it is a success. When the LEGO store has to reduce the price of a product to 50%, it is an indication that sales were not good.

 

This is simply not true. Most stores in the UK sold this for £32-34 for large amounts of time, reduced from the RRP of £50.

LEGO stores had to reduce it to £24.99 to get rid of the remaining stock.

A snapshot from HUKD showing prices ...

 

 

[LEGODalekbuster523]

13 minutes ago, MAB said:

This is simply not true. Most stores in the UK sold this for £32-34 for large amounts of time, reduced from the RRP of £50.

LEGO stores had to reduce it to £24.99 to get rid of the remaining stock.

A snapshot from HUKD showing prices ...

Shops have sales all the time. That's proof of nothing. All shops near me had sold out of the LEGO Doctor Who stuff in no time.

[MAB]

LEGO doesn't sell top items at 50% off all the time. It is very rare for them to have to discount items to 50% to get rid of them. Which is a good indicator that Doctor Who was not a good seller and probably a significant reason that LEGO has not done further sets.

Combined with the fact (and this is a fact, just look at the multiple times it was listed on HUKD) that this set was usually sold at £32-35, it shows it was overpriced and simply did not sell at the RRP of £50.

Edited May 25, 2018 by MAB

[Whovastron]

To be fair, in the UK, Lego sets nowadays go to 20/30% off extremely quickly, and stay that way for a long time. However I don’t think the sales of the set were anywhere as good as the Dimensions packs, it was quite overpriced.

[MAB]

31 minutes ago, Whovastron said:

To be fair, in the UK, Lego sets nowadays go to 20/30% off extremely quickly, and stay that way for a long time.

 

Not at the LEGO store. It is usually only the really bad sellers that get discounted there. Which is why I think it is highly unlikely we will see any more Doctor Who sets in the near future.

[Whovastron]

2 minutes ago, MAB said:

Not at the LEGO store. It is usually only the really bad sellers that get discounted there. Which is why I think it is highly unlikely we will see any more Doctor Who sets in the near future.

I know not in the Lego store, I was just talking generally about the other retailers.

however, you say it was discounted to get rid of stock, was it when it was retiring? Because Lego do often do huge reductions to get rid of retiring stock. Usually at half price, I got the Phantom II for half price earlier this year and a few Star Wars sets last year for half price.

[Paradosis]

The fan-made versions of this have been great, but I'd love to see some official Horizon Zero Dawn sets, and not just the machines but also architecture, a bandit camp, and maybe some action scenes through a landscape.

[ShaydDeGrai]

18 hours ago, MAB said:

Are you British? I might as well add the late 70's British classic Blake's Seven. There are some great MOCs of the Liberator and LEGO would never do it as good as them.

Yes and No on the "british" question.  On paper, I'm a first generation Yank.  My dad's family is originally from the Isle of Lewis before they moved to the "tropical south" that is Dundee, Scotland.

On my mom's side, the family came down the coast from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

I grew up in a Scotch & Irish immigrant enclave just outside Boston where you were just as likely to overhear Gaelic on the streets as English (two streets over it was Italian, a block in the other direction, it was Hindi).  Anyway, with the bulk of the extended family in Scotland and Canada, and living in a neighborhood where "football" meant "soccer" no matter how well the Patriots were doing in the playoffs, I grew up in a very "British culture influenced" household.  My dad might _watch_ the local hockey pros (The Boston Bruins) on TV but, but he was a die-hard Dundee Tigers fan at heart.  Half my comic books, toys and what passed for "pop" culture influences of the day came from Scottish relatives or BBC productions.  Jon Pertwee was _my_ go to Doctor (though in hindsight it was really UNIT and the Pertwee era incarnation of The Master that drew me to the show, other Doctors got out a lot more (cosmically and temporally speaking) and David Tenet eventually unseated Pertwee for the #1 slot in my book).  When I got to watch TV (which was limited as a child) I gravitated to PBS (which showed a lot of BBC stuff) and independent UHF channels, which also picked up a lot of imports) because all the people on the main channels had funny accents - well, at least I thought so, then I went to school and realized I was the one who was talking funny... 

Getting back to the topic at hand though, is anyone here old enough / "British" enough to remember Captain Scarlet?  it was another of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation productions.  As I recall Spectrum had a bunch of funky vehicles that would make interesting Lego models.  I could never afford them myself growing up, but I had a friend who had the full Captain Scarlet line of Dinky Toys (he also had their full line from the UFO series, lucky bastard).  About the same time that Jack Kirby was coming up with the SHIELD heli-carrier, Captain Scarlett was launching Angel Interceptors from the deck of the Cloudbase.  The ground vehicles all had that sort of "Detroit Concept Car" thing going for them that made them at once retro yet timeless.  As a Lego theme, I think it would be a lot of fun, as a Licensed Theme though it would be a waste of money as I haven't met anyone born after the Apollo 11 landing who even remembers this IP.

 

[x105Black]

It has been mentioned that Game of Thrones is too adult for LEGO.  This is true.  Still, it is a property that would work really well and sell really well.

I wonder if there is a possibility in the future for LEGO to spawn a branch of the company geared towards adult collectors.  That is something I think would be a really good idea for them.  Expanding their target audience could expand their market share.  They just have to figure out a way to do so that does not compromise their LEGO branding.

Anyways, this one is just as far fertched for completely different reasons.  I'd love to see LEGO make sets and minifigures based on classic Sierra adventure games like King's Quest, Quest for Glory, and Space Quest.

[MAB]

7 minutes ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

Getting back to the topic at hand though, is anyone here old enough / "British" enough to remember Captain Scarlet?  it was another of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation productions.  As I recall Spectrum had a bunch of funky vehicles that would make interesting Lego models.  I could never afford them myself growing up, but I had a friend who had the full Captain Scarlet line of Dinky Toys (he also had their full line from the UFO series, lucky bastard).  About the same time that Jack Kirby was coming up with the SHIELD heli-carrier, Captain Scarlett was launching Angel Interceptors from the deck of the Cloudbase.  The ground vehicles all had that sort of "Detroit Concept Car" thing going for them that made them at once retro yet timeless.  As a Lego theme, I think it would be a lot of fun, as a Licensed Theme though it would be a waste of money as I haven't met anyone born after the Apollo 11 landing who even remembers this IP.

 

1

This is the voice of the mysterons ... I remember it being (re)shown in the 1970s. I had a Dinky SPV.  I imagine younger viewers remember it too as it was also repeated in the 1980s and again in the 90s. I think it became quite popular in the 90s again as my nephew was always dressing up as Captain Scarlett and had loads of modern toys based on the series. I think it was also going to be reshown in 2001 but one of the episodes about the attack on London got cancelled due to 9/11.

[icm]

38 minutes ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

Getting back to the topic at hand though, is anyone here old enough / "British" enough to remember Captain Scarlet?  

I'm not British at all, but my dad and uncle grew up watching Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet when they first aired, so I grew up watching them on VHS and DVD and wanting Lego sets based on them.  There have been a few good Thunderbirds projects on Ideas, but they haven't received enough support to be really viable.  I think TLG missed its chance to do Gerry Anderson sets when it didn't pick up a license for the new series Thunderbirds Are Go (which is fantastic, by the way).

[Digger of Bricks]

I really do wish the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise were up for grabs, as it was my very first obsession while growing up. But, not only does Mattel have exclusive licensing to the franchise, they practically OWN it. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Digger of Bricks

[MAB]

9 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I really do wish the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise were up for grabs, as it was my very first obsession while growing up. But, not only does Mattel have exclusive licensing to the franchise, they practically OWN it. 

I often wonder why LEGO didn't do Thomas the Tank engine system sets when they made duplo sets. I guess either the license was only for duplo or they didn't see a market for the age range that can put lego together.

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, MAB said:

I often wonder why LEGO didn't do Thomas the Tank engine system sets when they made duplo sets. I guess either the license was only for duplo or they didn't see a market for the age range that can put lego together.

I'd suspect the latter reason if anything. It's still a shame though that they didn't take advantage of the license for at least one "L-Gauge" set. 

[Trekkie99]

9 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I really do wish the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise were up for grabs, as it was my very first obsession while growing up. But, not only does Mattel have exclusive licensing to the franchise, they practically OWN it. 

Bummer. I'd love to see a Creator Expert series Thomas, Annie, and Clare train set. Would probably include a conductor, Sir Topham Hatt, and platform with a couple of passengers. 

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, LegoMonorailFan said:

Bummer. I'd love to see a Creator Expert series Thomas, Annie, and Clare train set. Would probably include a conductor, Sir Topham Hatt, and platform with a couple of passengers. 

One thing that I think should be done for a such set if it were made, is that Thomas himself would be built from Dark Azure bricks instead of Bright Blue ones. In normal light, the hue of traditional Lego blue (Bright Blue) is just too dark compared to his actual paint job.

[cdnlegofan]

On 11/17/2016 at 1:48 PM, (Nexus) said:

I really think LEGO should do Destiny and Uncharted. 

Destiny is only rated T and while it is a FPS. I think it's fictional battles and the ever growing lore would help make great sets based on some actually really well designed set pieces. This is just a stretch however. I think LEGO could make it work.

Uncharted is a largely story led game series that could really be a great theme for LEGO. The games do involve some shooting here and there but it's not a FPS game. There are actually much more fantastic scenes to use for the sets and it could very much so fit the LEGO theme formula. 

And the fact that we need a newer Indiana Jones-like series. 

Yes! 100% in agreement :) Plus the play features for Uncharted could be pretty cool!

[Peppermint_M]

LEGO Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet would be perfect. I loved them when I was small and I actually enjoyed the rebooted Captain Scarlet when I was a teen. Also loving the new Thunderbirds series (The Thunderbird S would be an amazing set).

 

[Digger of Bricks]

3 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

LEGO Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet would be perfect. I loved them when I was small and I actually enjoyed the rebooted Captain Scarlet when I was a teen. 

Thunderbirds would certainly give us some great rocketships, something I don't think many Lego sets have touched upon. Granted, the types of craft seen from that franchise aren't the types of rocketships I'd personally wish to see from Lego, but they'd be rocketships nonetheless. 

3 hours ago, Peppermint_M said:

Also loving the new Thunderbirds series (The Thunderbird S would be an amazing set).

I've never heard of that craft of theirs before, but now I see what you mean... 

[Peppermint_M]

4 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

now I see what you mean

When the production company gets it designed by the guy who worked on Macross you know you are in for a treat. (Gerry Anderson works are super popular in Japan). 

[Digger of Bricks]

It's probably too late at this point in the game, as I would've expected a partnership announcement back at this year's Licensing-Con if it were to be, but a DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon theme would've been interesting to see happen, especially given the attention Classic Castle fans may have given it. Since the final film will be hitting theaters in March next year, I don't believe there'll be another chance after that. 

[davidwilsonwong]

minions , transformer

GUNDAM

[Digger of Bricks]

On 11/18/2016 at 10:14 AM, xboxtravis7992 said:

Also speaking of cartoons, since Lego also has a strong relationship with Warner Brothers they should make more sets based on the cartoons Time-Warner owns the rights to. They already did Scooby Doo sets from the Hannah Barbara division of WB, but imagine if Lego did a Collectible Mininifigure series based on Looney Tunes, Hannah Barbara, and even the WB 1990's TV shows such as Animaniacs? I think that would appeal very well to the collectors market, and we'd be able to display it alongside the pre-existing Disney and Simpsons lines. 

Speaking of Looney Tunes, here's a major piece of news I strangely missed the first time around, reported back on the eleventh of this month:

Variety - Warner Bros.’ ‘Looney Tunes’ Gets Thunderous Reception at Annecy 

Quote

The big new news from Warner Bros. Animation — a short-format revival of the Looney Tunes cartoons franchise — went down, with one short “The Curse of the Monkey Bird” screening to thunderous applause at a sneak peek Monday in Annecy.

It was all part of an Annecy Fest Look Ahead by Warner Animation Group (WAG) and Warner Bros. Animation (WBA), co-hosted by executive VP Allison Abbate and VP Audrey Diehl, which also took in “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” and “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” climaxing with an eight-minute excerpt from “Smallfoot.”

The Looney Tunes cartoons will be 1 to 6 minutes in length, with WBA aiming to produce 1,000 minutes in all, Diehl said. Fifty shorts of varying length are in production. The series features veteran Looney Tunes voice cast members including Jeff Bergman and Bob Bergen, and newcomer  Eric Bauza taking the reins as Bugs, Daffy and Tweety.

All episodes will be in classical 2D animation, Browngardt said, sparking a large round of applause from the Annecy audience.

Point being, given that WB looks to be going back to producing shorts for many of their theatrical releases, could this possibly act as a catalyst to bring the franchise to Lego?