Lego David

Themes LEGO should discontinue

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7 hours ago, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

Well, for people like me, I don't do online shopping. I always hunt at retail or third-party dealers. And I'm pretty sure not everyone has the privilege of using Bricklink.

Describes me as well, I have bought many many sets that I don't even care for, just to get the bricks. I have never bricklinked anything. 

Strange, the direction this thread is headed.

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21 hours ago, Lego David said:

If I will just stop buying LEGO and just MOC anything I want, how would LEGO make profit? If everybody who is angry at LEGO for not making what they want and just MOC what they want, how would LEGO make money?

13 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Let's see, they're getting my $$$ through Pick A Brick Wall at LEGO retail store,  Pick A Brick online LEGO Shop@Home, Bricks & Pieces, and sets that are good parts pack.

This exactly.  I buy sets mostly when they have good minfigures and good parts that can be used to build my own creations.  If I don't like the build in the set, I'll probably go to BrickLink for the minifigures (those are sets purchased from stores, so LEGO has their money from that already).  If I don't like the minifigures, I'll just try to find the parts online at Bricks & Pieces or BrickLink.  And the Pick A Brick Wall at my local LEGO Store has been very valuable.  Lots of pieces fit in the cups, and you'll get a better value there than anywhere else.

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16 hours ago, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

to get some CCBS parts and after comparing prices, realized that it's much more worth it getting the actual sets that the parts belong to.

Have you not noticed yet that, at least for now, CCBS is dead? The Star Wars buildable figures were cancelled last year in 2018, and this year we don't have any more CCBS sets. This makes it the first year since 1999 with no constraction sets at all.

Edited by Lego David

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32 minutes ago, Lego David said:

Have you not noticed yet that, at least for now, CCBS is dead? The Star Wars buildable figures were cancelled last year in 2018, and this year we don't have any more CCBS sets. This makes it the first year since 1999 with no constraction sets at all.

I am very well aware of that. Like I said, I also hunt at places where third-party dealers hang out. That's where I can find retired sets including CCBS,

Quote

Johnny1630 said:

Strange, the direction this thread is headed

Yeah, still, it is an interesting read. :grin: Gotta thank for the creation of the thread though. It made me dust off my old bricks that I haven't touched for years and start being creative with them. Realized (again) that there's more fun to Lego than just collecting. :thumbup: And in fact, messing around my old bricks plus this discussion has also made me be needing more parts and I do see sets that can make great parts packs! And I'm starting to drawn to Creator and Classic too...

Edited by JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)

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I buy for parts alone.

So LEGO should discontinue all themes and just make all parts manufactured available in all colours produced that I can then purchase by volume or weight, continue to release printed parts across a range of generic "genres" and make minifigs packs in generic themes so I can populate my MOCs.:grin:

Or, I will keep on buying sets for parts I find useful and use Bricks and Pieces, PaB, BaM and Bricklink for other things to supplement my building supplies.

I am entirely not a fan of Star Wars, but even that theme produces parts and prints I can re-use elsewhere. Harry Potter is something I was never into, but there are colours and parts and prints that are great. The list goes on.

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13 hours ago, kingbily said:

LEGO rotates themes all the time, especially subthemes. Aquanauts and their brethren, Aquaraiders, Aquasharks, et al, and the related but distinct Divers (a subtheme of town) all had their day in the sun and then were supplanted. It's believed this is to give the products freshness. Each subtheme may get only one product release, or it may get two, or even three, if that's in plan (product design and release cycles preclude instantly responding to sales, a laggy theme may well have a second or even third cycle of new sets while a very popular theme planned for only two cycles may not get a third)

Right now the subtheme Atlantis is filling the undersea niche but it's probably close to the end of its run, with only one more product refresh (new sets in the theme), if that, likely.

 

2

Atlantis finished in 2011/2012.

 

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14 hours ago, kingbily said:

 

Why quote my post about minecraft, add some weird links ( Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher ?? )

I just found the exact same post it made on https://www.quora.com/Why-did-LEGO-decide-to-discontinue-themes-like-Pirates-and-Aquanauts dating back 2011.

Must be a bot 100%.

Edited by TeriXeri

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27 minutes ago, Lego David said:

Actually Atlantis was lasted for 2010-2011.

 

I don't see your point. Those were the release dates. Sets were still available to purchase in 2012.

17 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

Why quote my post about minecraft, add some weird links ( Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher ?? )

I just found the exact same post it made on https://www.quora.com/Why-did-LEGO-decide-to-discontinue-themes-like-Pirates-and-Aquanauts dating back 2011.

Must be a bot 100%.

Yes, good spot. A very bizarre post.

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Uh-oh.  How did the bot get past the registration captcha?  Hope this doesn't mean there's a wave of spam on the way.

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Personally I feel Star Wars has been going for too long. So many sets have been rehashed time and time again and I feel that the appeal for the theme is not as strong as it used to be. I don't think the theme should necessarily retire, yet I think it should have fewer releases to make room for more classic space themed sets.

 

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10 hours ago, Hickernator said:

Personally I feel Star Wars has been going for too long. So many sets have been rehashed time and time again and I feel that the appeal for the theme is not as strong as it used to be. I don't think the theme should necessarily retire, yet I think it should have fewer releases to make room for more classic space themed sets.

 

It would be interesting if they put classic space sets on the shelves at the same time as Star Wars and see which one theme sells the best. My money would be on Star Wars, even now after 20 years.

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Just now, MAB said:

It would be interesting if they put classic space sets on the shelves at the same time as Star Wars and see which one theme sells the best. My money would be on Star Wars, even now after 20 years.

Even though I would love for the classic space to do well, I would probably have to agree with you.

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36 minutes ago, MAB said:

It would be interesting if they put classic space sets on the shelves at the same time as Star Wars and see which one theme sells the best. My money would be on Star Wars, even now after 20 years.

Classic space will probably not sell very well nowdays. BUT, Space doesn't have to be "Classic Space" to be great. As a fan who grew up with themes like Mars Mission and Space Police, it'd rather have those back than the Classic Space. Classic Space is still in some form or another a subtheme of City...

 

11 hours ago, Hickernator said:

Personally I feel Star Wars has been going for too long. So many sets have been rehashed time and time again and I feel that the appeal for the theme is not as strong as it used to be. I don't think the theme should necessarily retire, yet I think it should have fewer releases to make room for more classic space themed sets.

 

Agreed. Maybe they should not retire the theme completley, but I think a short break wouldn't be bad at all. They should take a break for let's say, a year, bring back some original Space Stuff, than continue the theme as before. Really, a break wouldn't ruin the theme in any way.

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Just now, Lego David said:

Agreed. Maybe they should not retire the theme completley, but I think a short break wouldn't be bad at all. They should take a break for let's say, a year, bring back some original Space Stuff, than continue the theme as before. Really, a break wouldn't ruin the theme in any way.

3

What message does that send to Disney though? We can do without your property for a year, but want it back. Disney would probably find another partner to make their toys, and LEGO would be left out.

If LEGO want to do their own space sets, they should just do them. Personally, I don't think the audiences for in-house space and Star Wars intersect that much.

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3 minutes ago, MAB said:

What message does that send to Disney though? We can do without your property for a year, but want it back. Disney would probably find another partner to make their toys, and LEGO would be left out.

LEGO had the Star Wars license way before Disney took over Lucas Film. So I don't get why would Disney just take away the license if they just took a break? Didn't this happen with Harry Potter? (Disney has no tie to Harry Potter but you get the point).

And another thing I should point out is that LEGO shouldn't depend on other companies to be able to make their products. If tomorrow Disney says to LEGO "Hey, we won't give you the license anymore" that doesn't mean LEGO should die because of that. But rather they should respond "Ok, it's fine. We can make our own Space-Themed toys, we don't need  your license to be a successful company'".

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2 hours ago, Lego David said:

LEGO had the Star Wars license way before Disney took over Lucas Film. So I don't get why would Disney just take away the license if they just took a break? Didn't this happen with Harry Potter? (Disney has no tie to Harry Potter but you get the point).

And another thing I should point out is that LEGO shouldn't depend on other companies to be able to make their products. If tomorrow Disney says to LEGO "Hey, we won't give you the license anymore" that doesn't mean LEGO should die because of that. But rather they should respond "Ok, it's fine. We can make our own Space-Themed toys, we don't need  your license to be a successful company'".

If LEGO decided to stop doing Star Wars, then Disney lose a revenue stream. They are likely to go to another company to produce brick built Star Wars toys. And that is not likely to be a one year deal.  I highly doubt Disney would allow a break but then pick up the license under the same conditions later on. Asking for a break suggests that there is a problem with the range plus the conditions (and cost) will likely change for any new agreement.

And of course LEGO should be able to make their products without Disney or other licenses. They can make their own space themed toys.  However, those toys are likely to have to compete with shelf space with official Star Wars brick built toys made by Megabloks or another company if LEGO gives up on Star Wars. So if they think an in-house space theme will sell well when up against Star Wars, then they might as well do it and retain Star Wars themselves. The alternative is that they go up against another company doing Star Wars.

I don't think they would ever drop the Star Wars license, unless they really thought that merchandising around it was dead. If they drop it, another company will take it.

 

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16 hours ago, Hickernator said:

Personally I feel Star Wars has been going for too long. So many sets have been rehashed time and time again and I feel that the appeal for the theme is not as strong as it used to be. I don't think the theme should necessarily retire, yet I think it should have fewer releases to make room for more classic space themed sets.

^THIS^ :thumbup: :smug:

4 hours ago, Lego David said:

BUT, Space doesn't have to be "Classic Space" to be great. As a fan who grew up with themes like Mars Mission and Space Police, it'd rather have those back than the Classic Space. Classic Space is still in some form or another a subtheme of City...

Exactly, so many here jump to the presumption that the next in-house Space theme will/should be a revival of Classic Space for some reason. :def_shrug:

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Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

^THIS^ :thumbup: :smug:

Exactly, so many here jump to the presumption that the next in-house Space theme will/should be a revival of Classic Space for some reason. :def_shrug:

I agree. I feel like for some reason most people here want Classic Space back. We just got that Benny's Space Squad set. If Classic Space were to come back, I will probably not care about it very much. But with Space Police, Mars Mission, etc it's a different business...:wink:

Edited by Lego David

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Just now, Lego David said:

I agree. I feel like for some reason most people here want Classic Space back. We just got that Benny's Space Squad set. If Classic Space were to come back, I will probably not care about it very much. But with Space Police, Mars Mission, etc it's a different business...:wink:

I personally wouldn't mind seeing a revival of Classic Space, though I'd rather wish to see it incorporated into preexisting umbrella themes such as Creator for the mean time as so to accommodate something more original for the next in-house Space theme.

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2 hours ago, MAB said:

So if they think an in-house space theme will sell well when up against Star Wars, then they might as well do it and retain Star Wars themselves. The alternative is that they go up against another company doing Star Wars.

 

Exactly.  The company has nothing to gain and everything to lose by dropping the license, even if we concede the presence of an enormous pent up demand for original Space sets.  If the license allows the line to take a break, I'm not opposed to the idea of a year or two without Star Wars, but it would be a really bad idea for Lego to take a year off from it without such a condition in the license.  Despite my familiarity with the AFOL forums, I'm not convinced such Space demands exist in the general audience for Lego and other brick brands.  If they did, Mega Construx would have a competing line of original Space sets.  Instead, Mega and Hasbro/Kre-O compete with licensed Halo and Star Trek lines, apart from an occasional one off model like Mega's Mars rover. Perhaps the best evidence right now that an in-house Space theme wouldn't sell well against Star Wars is the fact that nobody else is doing it.

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Just now, icm said:

is the fact that nobody else is doing it.

What do you mean by this? 

A Original Space theme actually has the chance of selling better than Star Wars, if done properly. I have seen some people who were actually more into licensed themes than original themes say themselves that Star Wars is currently for the first time at it's low point. Quote from a video on YouTube:

"Star Wars has been consistently running for 20 years, but it has never had a low point until now."

I can see Star Wars selling best after Episode IX comes out. After that, people will likey loose interest in the theme, slightly slowing the sales down. And that would be the perfect time to bring back a Original Space back, and could potentially sell even better than Star Wars, again, if done properly.

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22 minutes ago, Lego David said:

I can see Star Wars selling best after Episode IX comes out. After that, people will likey loose interest in the theme, slightly slowing the sales down. And that would be the perfect time to bring back a Original Space back, and could potentially sell even better than Star Wars, again, if done properly.

I can certainly see demand for an original space for 202x onwards, Star Wars had a lot of critics on Last Jedi and Solo. 

Winter 2020 certainly will be focused on Episode IX if it's not delayed.

Does not mean it'll be canceled , I can still see UCS sets, and regular sets going forward, X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Slave 1 and Star Destroyers certainly have timeless demand even just from the original trilogy.

2017 UCS Milenium falcon was the only System set of the 4 most succesful sets of 2018, and that's a €850 set.

Ideas seems to be the place to get NASA and SpaceX type sets (3 in review, and others trending), meanwhile 2019 gets a space-subtheme & LEGO Movie 2 related sets.

Edited by TeriXeri

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^^ I thought my post was pretty clear.  None of the major competitors (Mega, Cobi, Hasbro) has an original Space theme.  They compete with Star Wars by getting licenses of their own.  I infer that they consider those more likely to profitably compete against Star Wars than an original Space theme.  I imagine that Lego will have another little Space renaissance after Episode 9 and before the Rian Johnson trilogy, like it did after Episode 3 and before the trilogy in progress today.

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4 minutes ago, Lego David said:

"Star Wars has been consistently running for 20 years, but it has never had a low point until now."

Quote from... who? Meaning what exactly? I haven't seen any indication that either Star Wars or Lego Star Wars is significantly underperforming compared to previous non-movie years. It's still among the top-selling themes, not even limited to just licensed themes. I won't argue with the fact that a new Space theme could potentially sell well. But selling better than Lego Star Wars is a tall order for both licensed themes and original themes—and Lego would be foolish to even aspire to that with a Space theme, since they have more to lose than to gain by cannibalizing sales from their longest-running and most successful licensed theme.

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