Overwatch 2019 - Rumors & Discussion

[Nexogeek]

If it turns out to be true that the January wave is canceled that would be a shame. If the theme does continue i'd love to see a route 66 based set good spot for new figureds and McCree with Rex's hair/hat combo from TLM2 cmf

[Puresh]

Just now, Nexogeek said:

If it turns out to be true that the January wave is canceled that would be a shame. If the theme does continue i'd love to see a route 66 based set good spot for new figureds and McCree with Rex's hair/hat combo from TLM2 cmf

I'm not saying anything is confirmed since there have been times in the past where multiple people got wrong info from somewhere, but three independent sources, in addition to the one @Hoth Rebel had, doesn't really give me any hope

[Wonkyeye1]

10 minutes ago, Puresh said:

I'm not saying anything is confirmed since there have been times in the past where multiple people got wrong info from somewhere, but three independent sources, in addition to the one @Hoth Rebel had, doesn't really give me any hope

Do you think the fact that those 6 set numbers leaked could lend hope to the theme continuing? Or is it more likely that LEGO set those set numbers aside in case they decided to go ahead with the theme?

[Puresh]

Just now, Wonkyeye1 said:

Do you think the fact that those 6 set numbers leaked could lend hope to the theme continuing? Or is it more likely that LEGO set those set numbers aside in case they decided to go ahead with the theme?

I think the sets were fully finished design wise and they were just waiting for the production greenlight, so that's why we have the names. I guess the sales of the first wave were so poor that they canceled it

[HalfBloodPrince]

I think these sets weren’t as popular because Overwatch was at it’s peak 2016-2017. If lego made the sets earlier, I am pretty sure they would’ve sold better. They just decided a year where Overwatch is kinda dead.

[Puresh]

20 minutes ago, HalfBloodPrince said:

I think these sets weren’t as popular because Overwatch was at it’s peak 2016-2017. If lego made the sets earlier, I am pretty sure they would’ve sold better. They just decided a year where Overwatch is kinda dead.

Yeah, not only did they miss the huge hype train of the game, but also they only sold them exclusively from their website / shops for too long. Overwatch fans looking to buy merchandise don't look on lego.com, they go on the official Blizzard Gear store. The sets should've been available there since day one

Edited July 28, 2019 by Puresh

[Wonkyeye1]

29 minutes ago, Puresh said:

I think the sets were fully finished design wise and they were just waiting for the production greenlight, so that's why we have the names. I guess the sales of the first wave were so poor that they canceled it

Damn, disappointing. So close to getting more sets, if only this theme had started a year or two earlier.

Thanks again for all the info today, saves us from having to play the waiting game. 

[strangely]

It's too bad if this info turns out to be true, I was at least hoping to get Mei before the theme ended. It's at times like these where I wish Lego would just confirm or deny rumors. After the set leaks happened they could have just denied it then. Instead people had just enough time to get their hopes up, so it's definitely a bit more disappointing as a result.

Still, who knows, maybe we'll get something after all. Maybe the next two sets will sell well.

To some degree, I think Lego just chose a bad strategy with these sets. They should have aimed them more at adults. Even at it's height, I don't really think Overwatch was heavily popular with kids. Most of the other Overwatch products feel more like they're for teens/adults, so Lego probably should have followed suit. These sets always looked out of place crammed between Harry Potter and Ninjago...

[Brick Cucumber]

Someone suggested the rumor that Lego was going to reserve the line to their website only and stop stocking retailers after retailers couldn't order the two new sets. Could this be how the rumor of "cancellation' came about?

[HalfBloodPrince]

2 hours ago, Brick Cucumber said:

Someone suggested the rumor that Lego was going to reserve the line to their website only and stop stocking retailers after retailers couldn't order the two new sets. Could this be how the rumor of "cancellation' came about?

That is just going to make the sales worse.

[strangely]

2 hours ago, Brick Cucumber said:

Someone suggested the rumor that Lego was going to reserve the line to their website only and stop stocking retailers after retailers couldn't order the two new sets. Could this be how the rumor of "cancellation' came about?

That seems reasonable. I wonder if Lego is just doing smaller production runs rather than dumping the sets entirely, which honestly might be a better idea. I feel like a lot of times they over produce on certain themes and then can't move the stock. So perhaps doing smaller production runs and only producing more if there's a demand would be the better for these type of themes.

[Hoth Rebel]

3 hours ago, Brick Cucumber said:

Someone suggested the rumor that Lego was going to reserve the line to their website only and stop stocking retailers after retailers couldn't order the two new sets. Could this be how the rumor of "cancellation' came about?

That was an article on Promobricks website, but as far as I know that wasn't confirmed and just a rumor as well. My source has direct links to Lego so I don't expect the line to continue. However it sells pretty well in my area, but not as well as needed globally. 

[Soupperson1]

This Overwatch situation is really similar to what happened with DC Girls, before it became hastily discontinued right after the second wave was released.

[PenPlays]

9 hours ago, HalfBloodPrince said:

That is just going to make the sales worse.

Not quite, if they produce a smaller amount of sets overall. That way they aren't losing money by producing enough for global distribution, but rather just for online retailers' distribution centers.

[Wonkyeye1]

Looks like the two fall (and final?) Overwatch sets are listed on LEGO Shop. Pretty great prices if you ask me, at least in Canada. Looking forward to picking them up.

[BrickBob Studpants]

I usually don’t mind that TLG never spill the beans in regards to confirming or denying rumors, but this time it really annoys me because we won’t find out for a loooong time whether the theme is truly dead or not (look, it’s Schroedinger’s LEGO theme ).

Not even leaked pictures from the retail catalogues could change that, the only proof for a continuation of the theme could be either leaked parts (which wouldn’t show up until at least October, and that‘s if the sets were a January release, which is itself a big ‚if‘) or official pictures, which wouldn‘t surface until shortly before the release date 

The discontinuation of the theme would be even more tedious to prove: waiting till 2020 is over 

[Wonkyeye1]

2 hours ago, Lego-Freak said:

I usually don’t mind that TLG never spill the beans in regards to confirming or denying rumors, but this time it really annoys me because we won’t find out for a loooong time whether the theme is truly dead or not (look, it’s Schroedinger’s LEGO theme ).

Not even leaked pictures from the retail catalogues could change that, the only proof for a continuation of the theme could be either leaked parts (which wouldn’t show up until at least October, and that‘s if the sets were a January release, which is itself a big ‚if‘) or official pictures, which wouldn‘t surface until shortly before the release date 

The discontinuation of the theme would be even more tedious to prove: waiting till 2020 is over 

I agree, it’s going to be a long few months waiting for confirmation of the themes fate. 

Even if the rumoured 6 sets aren’t part of the initial winter 2020 releases, I’ll probably hold out hope until summer 2020 since the two Junkertown sets came out so late into this year.

[Wonkyeye1]

So I just stumbled onto an article on stonewars.de that lists all the known 2020 LEGO sets and it has some new details on the possible 2020 Overwatch sets. I know there are a lot of rumors about the theme being cancelled but here's what the article says:

75978 - Orisa & Efi
75979 - Rio Battle (Could either be Rialto or Rio de Janiero with Lucio probably)
75980 - Omnic Titan
75981 - Talon Jet
75982 & 75983 don't have names

In addition to those 6 sets, they also list 75984 and 75985, which could mean we'll see a similar release schedule to 2019 with 6 sets at the beginning of the year and 2 in the fall. Again, I know it's possible the theme is cancelled but I REALLY hope it's not because these sound awesome.

[Cottin]

4 minutes ago, Wonkyeye1 said:

So I just stumbled onto an article on stonewars.de that lists all the known 2020 LEGO sets and it has some new details on the possible 2020 Overwatch sets. I know there are a lot of rumors about the theme being cancelled but here's what the article says:

75978 - Orisa & Efi
75979 - Rio Battle (Could either be Rialto or Rio de Janiero with Lucio probably)
75980 - Omnic Titan
75981 - Talon Jet
75982 & 75983 don't have names

In addition to those 6 sets, they also list 75984 and 75985, which could mean we'll see a similar release schedule to 2019 with 6 sets at the beginning of the year and 2 in the fall. Again, I know it's possible the theme is cancelled but I REALLY hope it's not because these sound awesome.

Thanks for sharing the news! I'm with you there, I REALLY hope this theme continues!

[BrickBob Studpants]

Just now, Cottin said:

Thanks for sharing the news! I'm with you there, I REALLY hope this theme continues!

Count me in, this sounds awesome! 

[Fenghuang0296]

28 minutes ago, Wonkyeye1 said:

So I just stumbled onto an article on stonewars.de that lists all the known 2020 LEGO sets and it has some new details on the possible 2020 Overwatch sets. I know there are a lot of rumors about the theme being cancelled but here's what the article says:

75978 - Orisa & Efi
75979 - Rio Battle (Could either be Rialto or Rio de Janiero with Lucio probably)
75980 - Omnic Titan
75981 - Talon Jet
75982 & 75983 don't have names

In addition to those 6 sets, they also list 75984 and 75985, which could mean we'll see a similar release schedule to 2019 with 6 sets at the beginning of the year and 2 in the fall. Again, I know it's possible the theme is cancelled but I REALLY hope it's not because these sound awesome.

This rumour sounds brilliant. I’d love a Talon jet and an Omnic Titan, and if Rio Battle is anything like Dorado Showdown I want it. 

I still really want a Doomfist . . 

[BrickBob Studpants]

I've said before that if they did it cleverly, they could spread the remaining characters over those 6 sets, but now that it's 8 (if the theme isn't cancelled, fingers crossed so hard they may break), they really should be able to do it 

The Talon Jet could easily include Moira, the Omnic Titan set could feature both Torbjörn and Brigitte and the Rio Battle would be a perfect fit for Lucio, and that's just scratching the surface 

[Wonkyeye1]

51 minutes ago, Lego-Freak said:

I've said before that if they did it cleverly, they could spread the remaining characters over those 6 sets, but now that it's 8 (if the theme isn't cancelled, fingers crossed so hard they may break), they really should be able to do it 

The Talon Jet could easily include Moira, the Omnic Titan set could feature both Torbjörn and Brigitte and the Rio Battle would be a perfect fit for Lucio, and that's just scratching the surface 

I definitely think we could get pretty much all the remaining characters over these 8 sets, but it also depends on how many repeat characters LEGO does. The first two waves went well with Reaper being the only repeat, but I definitely see another Tracer, Genji and maybe McCree popping up elsewhere.

Like you said though, we can make pretty educated guesses on who might be included in these four sets:

75978 - obviously Orisa and Efi, but do you think Doomfist could be included her too? Or would that be way too generous of LEGO?
75979 - Lucio seems like a safe bet, and I'd put Symmetra here too since the two of them have a rivalry and LEGO seems to be sticking to the official lore pretty well. 
75980 - as you said Torb seems like a good fit here, maybe with Brig and a minifig-scale Bastion?
75981 - we're still missing Doomfist, Moira, Sombra and Sigma from Talon, I'd bet this one includes two of them, maybe a repeat of Widowmaker and maybe a new hero.

Those four alone would bring our hero tally up to 22-24, so the remaining few could definitely fit into the final 4 sets. PLEASE LEGO DON'T CANCEL THIS THEME.

[zoth33]

This does sound interesting.  It would be great if this continues.  I have a bunch of the first wave of sets and multiples of a few for customizing figs.  Would be great to get some other locations from the game and the rest of the characters.  

[BrickBob Studpants]

8 hours ago, Wonkyeye1 said:

[...] but it also depends on how many repeat characters LEGO does. [...]

I don’t worry about repeats too much since unlike other IPs, Overwatch doesn’t have a handful of main characters that have to appear in most (Harry Potter) if not all of the sets (Indy)  Overwatch is in kind of a unique position here since ALL of the playable heroes can be considered main characters. Being a videogame that pretty much depends on the player’s preferences.

Their popularity amongst gamers varies of course, but from a neutral standpoint they’re all equal and thus there’s no real reason to prioritize some characters over others. Tracer is the only exception IMO because she’s the face of Overwatch if you will, but she’s already featured in the cheapest of the first wave sets which will still be available by the time the third wave (hopefully) hits the virtual shelves