Themes LEGO should discontinue

[MAB]

27 minutes ago, Lego David said:

Well, for the most part Nexo Knights is no way a Castle theme, so I don't think people can really complain about that. Nexo Knights clearly relates more with Ninjago and Chima rather than Castle.

There is only one view that matters when it comes to production and overlap of current themes - LEGO's view. They clearly didn't think there was overlap between NK and Ninjago or if there was, that it was not problematic.

 

[x105Black]

23 hours ago, Lego David said:

Well, for the most part Nexo Knights is no way a Castle theme

Agreed.  And it's great that fans feel that way, but LEGO did consider it to be a Castle theme, which is why Castle fans were irked by its presence.

[TeriXeri]

I think it's hard to truly judge Nexo Knights negativity.

Of course on this forum, there's a huge amount of AFOLs, and the Pirate and Historic subforums are much larger then the Action ones.

But even this forum had Nexo Knights listed under Action/Adventure, so there was certainly concensus that it wasn't meant as a 100% successor to 2013 or former "classic" , or in-house Fantasy castle line but more of a standalone spinoff with its own media/game/show/books.

In-house Castle sets were sold nearly each year from 1978 up to 2014 (minifig packs) , even when not including action figures or licensed (LotR/Harry Potter etc.)

Now I don't think it would have made sense to have a Castle or Fantasy line going on during Nexo Knight's lifespan, but something might have happened to see Nexo Knights be made in the first place.

A lot of investment was certainly put in the first 2 years with nearly 100 sets, alongside the digital media, magazines and books. 

 

I think winter 2020 might have the largest chance to see either a Pirate or Castle theme pop up again, as obviously TLM2 took the big spotlight for Winter 2019, and Hidden Side for Summer 2019.

 

And if you consider IDEAS, there's been only 3 sets that made it to 10.000 remotely related to a Castle theme and none of them were actual Castles 

- Medieval Market Street https://ideas.lego.com/projects/e0df59b0-f400-4e1d-8dbe-afbcc7133ce5

- Merchant's House https://ideas.lego.com/projects/8e77ca75-5189-409c-8a53-ce39200b96a7

- Medieval Watermill (deleted?) https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/44b47f39-cb42-46a8-917a-a24f235a639f

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by TeriXeri

[EABricks05]

LEGO Harry Potter. I think Harry Potter had its run from 2001-2011 and I personally think it should've stayed that way because I don't think a reboot would be a good time right now and plus LEGO Harry Potter is great don't get me wrong but it had its fair share, why did we need to reboot it? And did we really need a reboot?

Edited April 8, 2019 by EABricks05
Forgot to add something

[Henry Bricklider]

3 hours ago, EABricks05 said:

LEGO Harry Potter. I think Harry Potter had its run from 2001-2011 and I personally think it should've stayed that way because I don't think a reboot would be a good time right now and plus LEGO Harry Potter is great don't get me wrong but it had its fair share, why did we need to reboot it? And did we really need a reboot?

The Harry Potter reboot happened because Harry Potter and the Wizarding World were coming back into the general public’s perception with the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I think though that Harry Potter is a rather strong pop culture icon and franchise that it warrants a revival and resurge in popularity every few years.

[Johnny1360]

And if you walk into most any toy store right now you will notice LEGO is not the only company rebooting Harry Potter stuff at this time. 

[Lego David]

On 4/8/2019 at 1:19 PM, Henry Bricklider said:

The Harry Potter reboot happened because Harry Potter and the Wizarding World were coming back into the general public’s perception with the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Crimes of Grindelwald wasn't a very good movie, with surprisingly low ratings for a Wizarding World movie... So yeah, I don't think it was really worth rebooting to whole line just for the cause of a mediocre movie...

Edited April 9, 2019 by Lego David

[Henry Bricklider]

1 hour ago, Lego David said:

Crimes of Grindelwald wasn't a very good movie, with surprisingly low ratings for a Wizarding World movie... So yeah, I don't think it was really worth rebooting to whole line just for the cause of a mediocre movie...

I don’t think the movie is good at all, but prior to the film’s release there was certainly a lot of buzz around the Wizarding World which I’m sure certainly helped sales. Not to mention that Harry Potter as a pop culture icon is still prevalent and relevant today as much as it was in the 2000s during the release of the movies and books. I, and many others were very excited for the Wizarding World theme, specifically the Harry Potter based sets, because it was something I and many others really like. I grew up with the 2010/2011 waves of Harry Potter and was super stoked for the line rebooting. Not to mention, the 2018 wave was extremely successful both financially and from a notoriety standpoint. 71043, 71022 and 75954 were all finalists for the 2019 Toy of the Year Awards, and 75954 won Construction Toy of the Year and 71022 won Collectible of the Year in the 2019 Toy of the Year Awards. I don’t think these accolades and notoriety came about because of The Crimes of Grindelwald coming to theaters, it was because these were high quality, innovative and well made LEGO sets that also had brand recognition from a franchise that is beloved by many young and old. I don’t think Harry Potter should be discontinued. It is a solid theme that proved successful and has not lost any steam yet.

[Tariq j]

1 hour ago, Lego David said:

Crimes of Grindelwald wasn't a very good movie, with surprisingly low ratings for a Wizarding World movie... So yeah, I don't think it was really worth rebooting to whole line just for the cause of a mediocre movie...

Lego doesn’t usually know how a movie is going to perform critically though. Nor do they wait and see. They usually produce sets to tie into the release of the movie. 

[Lego David]

9 hours ago, Tariq j said:

Lego doesn’t usually know how a movie is going to perform critically though. Nor do they wait and see. They usually produce sets to tie into the release of the movie. 

Yeah, but a lot of times this is risky... Like with Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia where most of the audience hated the movies and had no interest in the sets... And that made them sell poorly.

 

9 hours ago, Henry Bricklider said:

I don’t think the movie is good at all, but prior to the film’s release there was certainly a lot of buzz around the Wizarding World which I’m sure certainly helped sales. Not to mention that Harry Potter as a pop culture icon is still prevalent and relevant today as much as it was in the 2000s during the release of the movies and books. I, and many others were very excited for the Wizarding World theme, specifically the Harry Potter based sets, because it was something I and many others really like. I grew up with the 2010/2011 waves of Harry Potter and was super stoked for the line rebooting. Not to mention, the 2018 wave was extremely successful both financially and from a notoriety standpoint. 71043, 71022 and 75954 were all finalists for the 2019 Toy of the Year Awards, and 75954 won Construction Toy of the Year and 71022 won Collectible of the Year in the 2019 Toy of the Year Awards. I don’t think these accolades and notoriety came about because of The Crimes of Grindelwald coming to theaters, it was because these were high quality, innovative and well made LEGO sets that also had brand recognition from a franchise that is beloved by many young and old. I don’t think Harry Potter should be discontinued. It is a solid theme that proved successful and has not lost any steam yet.

I have never been an Harry Potter fan and I never will, so I can't tell if those sets deserve this award or not. We are nowdays in desperate need of new/returning in-house themes rather than new/returning licensed themes... We just have enough of them... So I was very annoyed when I found out that Harry Potter was returning and when I found out that LEGO Overwatch was going to be a thing... It's just enough in my opinion... We need more in-house themes nowdays, not more licensed themes.

[MAB]

4 hours ago, Lego David said:

Yeah, but a lot of times this is risky... Like with Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia where most of the audience hated the movies and had no interest in the sets... And that made them sell poorly.

 

Name one film where most of the audience had interest in buying LEGO sets.

I don't believe the LR sets or the PoP sets sold any worse than sets like Indiana Jones or the HP sets that were released around 2010 or LOTR.

 

15 hours ago, Lego David said:

Crimes of Grindelwald wasn't a very good movie,

 

4 hours ago, Lego David said:

I have never been an Harry Potter fan and I never will

1

So did you go to see Crimes of Grindelwald, or do you base your opinions on what you have read elsewhere?

4 hours ago, Lego David said:

We are nowdays in desperate need of new/returning in-house themes rather than new/returning licensed themes... We just have enough of them...

1

You have made your anti-licensed stance very clear in this and all the other threads you have started. Licensed sets are here to stay. LEGO makes a lot of money off the back of them.

[Lyichir]

9 hours ago, Lego David said:

Yeah, but a lot of times this is risky... Like with Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia where most of the audience hated the movies and had no interest in the sets... And that made them sell poorly.

It is risky—but it's a measured risk that has the potential for a significant reward. Waiting on a new franchise's success to be proven is more or less an invitation for one of Lego's competitors like Mattel to swoop in and get an exclusive deal before a franchise gets big. By signing on early, Lego can gauge the success of the theme for themselves. If successful, they might have a multi-year winner on their hands (like with Harry Potter, which Lego was smart to originally license at the start of the movie franchise). And if not? The theme gets cancelled, like the themes you mention, without being any more of a drain on Lego's resources than an original theme would have been (and let's not pretend that original themes are that much less risky—there are plenty that lasted no longer than Lone Ranger or Prince of Persia).

In any case, Harry Potter and Overwatch are not examples of these. Harry Potter was a proven franchise and even if the Fantastic Beasts sets didn't pan out in terms of sales, there was a lot of pent-up demand for Harry Potter sets since the theme ended previously. And for Overwatch, Lego notably DIDN'T make the theme to launch alongside the game—rather, the theme launched three years after the game's release once Blizzard had an established player base that they could point to as proof of its potential.

[MAB]

15 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

It is risky—but it's a measured risk that has the potential for a significant reward. Waiting on a new franchise's success to be proven is more or less an invitation for one of Lego's competitors like Mattel to swoop in and get an exclusive deal before a franchise gets big. By signing on early, Lego can gauge the success of the theme for themselves. If successful, they might have a multi-year winner on their hands (like with Harry Potter, which Lego was smart to originally license at the start of the movie franchise). And if not? The theme gets cancelled, like the themes you mention, without being any more of a drain on Lego's resources than an original theme would have been (and let's not pretend that original themes are that much less risky—there are plenty that lasted no longer than Lone Ranger or Prince of Persia).
 

 

What further follow-up sets could they have really done with Lone Ranger or Prince of Persia? I doubt these were even going to be long running themes. SW, HP, Indy, LOTR/Hobbit, Jurassic Park/World, etc are all multiple film franchises with loads of source material.  Even if Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia had been box office smashes, they would only have been at the forefront of people's minds for six months or so.

 

And of course, who released the movies - Disney. LEGO has a good relationship with Disney, I cannot see them turning down Disney movies without affecting that relationship. Even if one movie is a stinker, the sets they make still sell eventually, even if at a discount. It is funny to think that most of the sets of both PoP and LR are actually pretty good, even as parts packs they contain sought after pieces.

Edited April 10, 2019 by MAB

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

What further follow-up sets could they have really done with Lone Ranger or Prince of Persia? I doubt these were even going to be long running themes. SW, HP, Indy, LOTR/Hobbit, Jurassic Park/World, etc are all multiple film franchises with loads of source material.  Even if Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia had been box office smashes, they would only have been at the forefront of people's minds for six months or so.

If they'd been box office smashes, then they could have easily been greenlit for a sequel a few years later and the themes could have come back stronger at that point, just as the Jurassic World sets did. After all, even Jurassic World has only had ONE set based on the current films so far, so it's strange to act as though it being a multi-film franchise has been the reason for its ongoing potential.

A theme doesn't have to stick around year after year to be a success in its own right. in fact, with so many themes like City, Friends, Ninjago, Star Wars, Super Heroes, and Disney that DO have that type of constant presence, it makes sense that LEGO might want a lot of their newer product lines (whether licensed or non-licensed) to focus on subjects they can rotate between instead of on long-term commitments, so that they can always count on having something really new and unexpected to catch their customers and competitors by surprise.

It's honestly strange to me how frequently people flip-flop about how what longevity can tell us about a theme's success. If a theme gets a lot of love from AFOLs, like Monster Fighters, Scooby-Doo, Castle, Pirates, or The Lord of the Rings, then a short-ish lifespan with relatively few sets supposedly means that either LEGO failed to design and market it right, or that they cut a theme with considerable momentum short for no reason at all. But at the same time, a lot of AFOLs act as though longer-running themes like Legends of Chima, Nexo Knights, and Elves were failures from day one and their 3-year lifespan was just a sign of LEGO having no idea what fans want or how well their own sets are selling.

Some even struggle to accept that themes like LEGO Friends or Ninjago have been major successes, even with Ninjago on the verge of surpassing LEGO Pirates' original nine-year run in the late 80s and early 90s and showing no signs of stopping.

2 hours ago, MAB said:

And of course, who released the movies - Disney. LEGO has a good relationship with Disney, I cannot see them turning down Disney movies without affecting that relationship. Even if one movie is a stinker, the sets they make still sell eventually, even if at a discount. It is funny to think that most of the sets of both PoP and LR are actually pretty good, even as parts packs they contain sought after pieces.

By that argument, how come they licensed The Angry Birds Movie from Sony in 2016 but failed to license three vastly more successful Disney films from the same year (Finding Dory, Zootopia, and The Jungle Book)? I think there's a lot more to LEGO's licensing decisions than any sense of brand loyalty.

The Lone Ranger in particular could have been a game changer for the entertainment industry had it succeeded, since it might have revived the Western genre's relevance with mainstream audiences in a similar manner to how Pirates of the Caribbean revived the pirate genre after it had suffered something of a killing blow from the failure of Cutthroat Island in the mid-90s.

It seems strange that fans of these "traditional genres" would treat major Hollywood films backed by one of the world's largest media empires as poor licensing decisions on LEGO's part, while also believing that there's major potential for in-house success in those same genres even as they remain mere shadows of the pop culture megaliths they once were.

Let's also not forget that with these licensing agreements built up around new movies, LEGO has to make their decisions well before fans have enough info about the franchises to make any sort of judgment call about their likely quality. And it's not as though Prince of Persia, The Lone Ranger, and The Angry Birds Movie came out of nowhere, — they were all reboots or adaptations of series that had a history of great success in TV, gaming, and other forms of media.

I can see how LEGO might have seen all these themes not only as a fairly worthwhile investment, but also — perhaps just as importantly — as brands that would stand out from other major themes and provide a major dose of novelty to the then-current LEGO portfolio.

[samurai-turtle]

On 4/10/2019 at 4:44 AM, MAB said:

Name one film where most of the audience had interest in buying LEGO sets. 

If I had to guess The LEGO Movie (& Part 2), LEGO Ninjago: The Movie and  LEGO Batman: The Movie. 

[MAB]

47 minutes ago, samurai-turtle said:

If I had to guess The LEGO Movie (& Part 2), LEGO Ninjago: The Movie and  LEGO Batman: The Movie. 

Good point, probably the closest. But even then, I know quite a few kids that have seen the various LEGO movies and don't have sets from them.

 

[Retro]

Ok, this is slightly tongue in cheek, but...

Jurassic Stuff - I don't see the attraction of this theme. Why the excitement about dinosaurs? They're just animals. Like cows or elephants. Maybe you had to see one of the films in your formative years to feel the nostalgia.

Lego Technic - I know we need Technic parts to keep our spaceships together. But as a theme on its own it doesn't do anything for me. That bitty, mechanical look...

[Johnny1360]

Blasphemer, no seriously I guess that is why we are so lucky that LEGO has so much diversity in their product line, something for everyone's taste. I have said it before though I don't think because a person doesn't particularly like a specific theme is a justifiable reason to terminate said theme. 

[TeriXeri]

While LEGO Star Wars certainly won't go away (and I don't think it needs to at all), I do hope after Episode 9, there's some room for some in-house Space non-licensed Space theme again.

And with that I mean Either Space Police, or some  2 faction theme.

Doesn't have to have a TV show, App or big story with named characters behind it, doesn't have to have conflict either.

Edited April 14, 2019 by TeriXeri

[Digger of Bricks]

19 minutes ago, TeriXeri said:

While LEGO Star Wars certainly won't go away (and I don't think it needs to at all), I do hope after Episode 9, there's some room for some in-house Space non-licensed Space theme again.

Bloomberg - Star Wars Movies Will Take a Break After Episode IX, Disney Says

Quote

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said he’s not at all concerned that consumers may be overexposed to the Star Wars brand, but the film franchise will go on “hiatus” after December’s big release.

“We have not announced any specific plans for movies thereafter,” Iger said in a Bloomberg Television interview Thursday. “There are movies in development, but we have not announced them.”

The upcoming film, which doesn’t yet have a title, is the ninth in the so-called Skywalker saga and slated for release on Dec. 20. It’s the third installment of a film trilogy that Disney began with “The Force Awakens” in 2015.

After that, the franchise will focus more on TV projects, Iger said.

“We will take a pause, some time, and reset,” he said, “because the Skywalker saga comes to an end with this ninth movie. There will be other Star Wars movies, but there will be a bit of a hiatus.”

 

[Artanis I]

6 hours ago, Johnny1360 said:

I have said it before though I don't think because a person doesn't particularly like a specific theme is a justifiable reason to terminate said theme. 

I have said it before, this is a rant thread, it doesn't need to make sense

 

5 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Bloomberg - Star Wars Movies Will Take a Break After Episode IX, Disney Says

 

THANK THE MAKER

[Lego David]

10 hours ago, Retro said:

Jurassic Stuff - I don't see the attraction of this theme. Why the excitement about dinosaurs? They're just animals. Like cows or elephants. Maybe you had to see one of the films in your formative years to feel the nostalgia.

I agree with you here... It's way too much focus on the dinosaurs that are nothing but giant molds than on the builds of the sets themselfs. I would rather have something like Dino Attack back instead. Not because it's licensed or anything, it's just because they focus on the Dinosaurs way too much and rush out the builds. I want something like Dino Attack... that has equally as much focus on the builds as with the dinosaurs (where actually the builds were more important)

 

10 hours ago, Retro said:

Lego Technic - I know we need Technic parts to keep our spaceships together. But as a theme on its own it doesn't do anything for me. That bitty, mechanical look...

There are a lot of AFOLs who only buy Technic.... so if Technic ends, their passion for LEGO would probably end too. And I really don't see any reason why this should be discontinued, as opposed to something like Star Wars...

 

9 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Bloomberg - Star Wars Movies Will Take a Break After Episode IX, Disney Says

THANK YOU GOD!!! FINALLY AT LEAST A LITTLE BREAK!!!

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

Even though there's the hiatus, the contract only expires on 2022, if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, still three years to go.

Still, I'm glad that the movies is taking a hiatus too! Which means that they could focus on more fun stuffs like The Clone Wars or possibly The Mandalorian. But I'm definitely game for new original space themes if the contract did not renew!

Edited April 15, 2019 by JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)

[Peppermint_M]

Dino Attack was horrible. Dino2010 and Dino were much nicer. 

I hope that we could get a break from so much Batman myself. I think there are a lot of cool superhero characters that need some spotlight. 

[Digger of Bricks]

2 hours ago, JJ Tong (zfogshooterz) said:

Even though there's the hiatus, the contract only expires on 2022, if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, still three years to go.

Still, I'm glad that the movies is taking a hiatus too! Which means that they could focus on more fun stuffs like The Clone Wars or possibly The Mandalorian. But I'm definitely game for new original space themes if the contract did not renew!

I'm pretty sure Lego will be renewing their contract with them after 2022, as LEGO Star Wars still remains as one of their top-selling themes year-after-year. The only thing this cinematic hiatus may possibly promise us is rather a window of time for Lego to give us a new in-house Space theme(s), as we saw four such distinct playthemes shortly after 2005's cinematic release of Revenge of the Sith, starting in 2007 with Mars Mission and stopping in 2013 with Galaxy Squad just before the 2015's cinematic release of The Force Awakens. Much like The Clone Wars cinematic pilot movie and subsequent TV series, shows like Resistance and The Mandalorian shouldn't inhibit in-house Space themes like Star Wars' cinematic ventures have seemingly done.

20 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

I hope that we could get a break from so much Batman myself. I think there are a lot of cool superhero characters that need some spotlight. 

Heh, but when they go and rebrand the DC SuperHeroes line with Batman's insignia, everyone else's chance at the spotlight is brick-outta-luck.