Should LEGO Star Wars take a break?

[Bartybum]

10 hours ago, Flieger said:

Lego is very conservative if not downright hesitant when it comes to Star Wars. That's why they are going through the motions, release the bare bones of (minimally redesigned) classics and not much else.

...I’m not sure I’m inclined to agree here. We’ve seen a number of new evolutions of sets that are significantly different to their predecessors, both the normal line and UCS. Off the top of my head, from UCS there’s the Falcon, the ISD, the Y-wing and the Snowspeeder. From the system scale there’s the Droid Gunship, the coming Falcon, the Rogue One Y-wing and the X-wing. These are all significant evolutions of their predecessors, and to say they’re bare-bones redesigns is unfair imo.

[MAB]

10 hours ago, Flieger said:

...but then, just compare Lego's coverage of Star Wars media, compare TCW or TOR with Rebels or Resistance. If Lego was so damn sure that Star Wars is a such a hot deal, why would they ignore so many possible minifigs and sets, vehicles as well as locations? Resistance in particular screams for Lego sets and minifigs. All the aces and their racers, the pirates and their ships (a Lego combination that should be done: Star Wars and Pirates!), Pyre, Tierny...

I could go on with other subthemes but to make a long story, Lego is very conservative if not downright hesitant when it comes to Star Wars. That's why they are going through the motions, release the bare bones of (minimally redesigned) classics and not much else. Whatever Lego's policy may be, one thing it is not: exhibiting confidence in Disney's Star Wars.

I agree LEGO is conservative, but they may well be reacting to who buys SW sets. I buy them for me, and for my kids. I tend to gravitate towards the movie sets only (and just the original trilogy for me). I haven't a clue about storylines or characters in Clone Wars, TOR, Rebels and Resistance, aside from that they exist. I imagine a lot of people (parents) go for the mainstream movie related stuff, but not so much with the extended universe.

 

[Flieger]

On 10/1/2019 at 1:14 PM, Bartybum said:

...I’m not sure I’m inclined to agree here. We’ve seen a number of new evolutions of sets that are significantly different to their predecessors, both the normal line and UCS. Off the top of my head, from UCS there’s the Falcon, the ISD, the Y-wing and the Snowspeeder. From the system scale there’s the Droid Gunship, the coming Falcon, the Rogue One Y-wing and the X-wing. These are all significant evolutions of their predecessors, and to say they’re bare-bones redesigns is unfair imo.

Sorry, I should have been more precise: the 'minimal redesign'-thing refers more to Disney than to Lego, i.e. the ST X-Wing or Y-Wing compared to the OT X-Wing or Y-Wing. It is true that the Lego adaptations get better and are often worth a purchase, but there too is a limit of what they can do. As far as construction is concerned some designs in some sizes have probably peaked, like the Y-Wing (compare R1's Y-Wing with the current TRoS model).

 

On 10/1/2019 at 1:26 PM, MAB said:

I agree LEGO is conservative, but they may well be reacting to who buys SW sets. I buy them for me, and for my kids. I tend to gravitate towards the movie sets only (and just the original trilogy for me). I haven't a clue about storylines or characters in Clone Wars, TOR, Rebels and Resistance, aside from that they exist. I imagine a lot of people (parents) go for the mainstream movie related stuff, but not so much with the extended universe.

...which is kind of my point. Disney failed to attract new audiences. When TCW was running, the kids were loving it and they bought the TCW Lego sets, or asked their parents to do so. Therefore Lego found it profitable to release those sets. And now we have DIsney Star Wars shows supposedly aimed at younger audiences, Rebels and moreso Resistance, offering a lot of opportunities for toy makers. Yet Hasbro and Lego show little intrest (especially in case of Resistance). Unless Lego and Hasbro are totally dumb that means kids today just do not like the stuff Disney is producing for them. And that is a big problem for a toy maker.

I know it is hard to imagine for us old time Star Wars fans. I too was shocked when a retailer said the kids like Ninjago much better than Star Wars. Unfortunately we are living in a world where children are less and less interested in Star Wars, largely because of Disney's strategy. That has consequences in the long run; declining sales figures are just the beginning.

Btw., the EU is dead, and TCW, Rebels and Resistance are all canon just like the movies.

[Samppu]

57 minutes ago, Flieger said:

Sorry, I should have been more precise: the 'minimal redesign'-thing refers more to Disney than to Lego, i.e. the ST X-Wing or Y-Wing compared to the OT X-Wing or Y-Wing. It is true that the Lego adaptations get better and are often worth a purchase, but there too is a limit of what they can do. As far as construction is concerned some designs in some sizes have probably peaked, like the Y-Wing (compare R1's Y-Wing with the current TRoS model).

 

...which is kind of my point. Disney failed to attract new audiences. When TCW was running, the kids were loving it and they bought the TCW Lego sets, or asked their parents to do so. Therefore Lego found it profitable to release those sets. And now we have DIsney Star Wars shows supposedly aimed at younger audiences, Rebels and moreso Resistance, offering a lot of opportunities for toy makers. Yet Hasbro and Lego show little intrest (especially in case of Resistance). Unless Lego and Hasbro are totally dumb that means kids today just do not like the stuff Disney is producing for them. And that is a big problem for a toy maker.

I know it is hard to imagine for us old time Star Wars fans. I too was shocked when a retailer said the kids like Ninjago much better than Star Wars. Unfortunately we are living in a world where children are less and less interested in Star Wars, largely because of Disney's strategy. That has consequences in the long run; declining sales figures are just the beginning.

Btw., the EU is dead, and TCW, Rebels and Resistance are all canon just like the movies.

I couldn't agree more on the first point. However, at least in the case of TFA the redesigned X-Wing is a sort of nostalgic tribute to the McQuarrie concept art X-Wing:

Nevertheless, they should have used more imagination in general. Almost exact remakes of the classic TIE fighter, Y-Wing and A-Wing are not tributes to anymore, but just dull and feel almost lazy. Not that I would really care about the sequels anyway, had they done so, due to the poor or basically non existent story line that they copied that too, in addition to the vehicles.

One additional big reason why Resistance is not attracting so much young audience is, at least in Finland and probably the same reason applies to some other European countries, that the Resistance is only shown on Disney+ paid channel that basically no one here owns (it is not really part of the culture here to buy a whole TV channel for your child, as Disney+ does not really have any adult shows). Had they sold it to the regular channels or even Netflix or something that is commonly used here, it would be more available to the kids. Probably they thought people will simply buy the Disney+ channel, but I consider that poor local strategy. They might have been better off showing at least the first season in some more common channel and then put it to the Disney+ for the second season or something like that if going to be so greedy.

- Samppu

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Samppu

[Flieger]

45 minutes ago, Samppu said:

I couldn't agree more on the first point. However, at least in the case of TFA the redesigned X-Wing is a sort of nostalgic tribute to the McQuarrie concept art X-Wing:

True. Indeed, I would argue the whole design of Rebels was nothing but a very nice tribute to Ralph McQuarrie. I especially liked the AT-DP.

And I do not think Disney's designers themselves lack imagination or originality. On the contrary! Just let them do their thing and they come up with wonderful stuff, as some of the Resistance designs prove, or the very detailed references to WWI equipment in Solo which make so much sense in-universe and out-of-universe/irl. The artwork books, especially those of the anthology movies, show what they can do. But it seems the executives tell them to stick to the classics.

I mean, disliked Resistance but the space pirate designs were cool:

 

PS: yes, distribution of the show was certainly a problem in my country too. That is Disney's fault, once again...

 

[Roebuck]

On 9/20/2019 at 12:17 PM, Lego David said:

What do you think? Should LEGO Star Wars take a break after the Episode 9 wave? Or just keep going without ever stopping?

As long as Lego make money they will make SW sets! SW only had one set (MF 75192) among the top 10 best-selling sets last year, so the average SW sets do not sell better than best-sellers from others themes, but they most likely sell enough I guess..

[Sucram]

Lego cannot and would not be allowed to stop making Star Wars sets. Im fine with the remakes, but they should at least remake sets from 5 years ago at the latest. Surely at this point theres no more new ships to make sets from, so they cant really do that.

[Bartybum]

2 hours ago, LEGODrongo01 said:

Surely at this point theres no more new ships to make sets from, so they cant really do that.

The Nebulon-B and GR-75 would like to have a word with you (so would all of the Royal Naboo Starships, but they're chrome and curvy and impossible). A bunch of prequel-era transports and some Old Republic ships might as well.

[Sucram]

13 hours ago, Bartybum said:

The Nebulon-B and GR-75 would like to have a word with you (so would all of the Royal Naboo Starships, but they're chrome and curvy and impossible). A bunch of prequel-era transports and some Old Republic ships might as well.

I reckon the curvy ships could be made at this point

[Bartybum]

1 hour ago, LEGODrongo01 said:

I reckon the curvy ships could be made at this point

The royal starships? Dunno what others think but I've never looked at a MOC (even the chrome ones) and thought hell yeah that looks good.

[Lego David]

On 10/6/2019 at 12:53 PM, LEGODrongo01 said:

Lego cannot and would not be allowed to stop making Star Wars sets.

What do you mean? Of course they could stop making Star Wars sets if they wanted to. They have full control over their products. 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Lego David

[ClassicLook]

If the remake is better than the previous one, than it's OK. However, sometimes I see sets that are just simplified without much improvement.

I like that they produce even better minifigures (except for the new stormtoopers...).

Edited October 19, 2019 by ClassicLook

[Sucram]

12 hours ago, Lego David said:

What do you mean? Of course they could stop making Star Wars sets if they wanted to. They have full control over their products. 

The higher ups wouldnt allow it since they make too much money

[Lego David]

14 hours ago, LEGODrongo01 said:

The higher ups wouldnt allow it since they make too much money

Well... when people refer to the TLG, arren't they usually referring to the higher ups?

 

[Sucram]

9 hours ago, Lego David said:

Well... when people refer to the TLG, arren't they usually referring to the higher ups?

 

What I mean is sure, technically Lego could stop, but there is far too much money in it for them to actually do so. Higher ups at Lego would never allow it. Plus Im sure they have a contract with Disney

[Digger of Bricks]

Deadline - ‘Star Wars’ Setback: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Duo David Benioff & D.B. Weiss Exit Trilogy

Quote

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the duo who in 2011 launched the singular screen sensation known as Game of Thrones, have walked away from their much-publicized deal with Disney’s Lucasfilm to launch a feature film trilogy in 2022.

Benioff and Weiss were supposed to usher in the post-Skywalkera era of the Star Wars brand with a 2022 new-start story that would stake out a new frontier for the era-defining cinema brand created by George Lucas. The Emmy-winning pair cited their historic deal with Netflix. They said their enthusiasm for Star Wars remains boundless but, regrettably, their schedule is full up

[Sneakguest]

Take a break from repeating sets, yes!

[gotoAndLego]

On 10/29/2019 at 9:28 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

Deadline - ‘Star Wars’ Setback: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Duo David Benioff & D.B. Weiss Exit Trilogy

“We love Star Wars,” the pair said in a statement to Deadline... but life is too short to deal with the movie negativity.

Edited October 30, 2019 by gotoAndLego

[Bartybum]

Yeah bloody good, they’re hacks. Half-assed GoT’s last seasons so they could move on to something new

[Digger of Bricks]

58 minutes ago, Bartybum said:

Yeah bloody good, they’re hacks. Half-assed GoT’s last seasons so they could move on to something new

I would really like to know whether or not their departure has delayed the launch of the next cinematic trilogy by at least a few years, as Disney had scheduled its launch for Christmas 2022. 

[r5-j2]

10 hours ago, Bartybum said:

Yeah bloody good, they’re hacks. Half-assed GoT’s last seasons so they could move on to something new

Totally agree ,so glad they are away from Star Wars, but I`ve tried putting my own (negative) feelings about current Star Wars to one side , instead I am looking forward to the upcoming Clone Wars and hoping this will be a good ending to a great T.V. show (even better than Rebels, which I loved ). I love the diversity of vehicle types and even the variety of the different clone units..6 out of my last 7 S.W. Lego purchases have been either prequal or Clone Wars sets...including reeling in some 2nd hand ones , that I missed first time around. 

[Pdaitabird]

Not sure if it's relevant to this topic or not, but I found it interesting regarding Star Wars' current popularity.

My church held a "trunk or treat" last night (for those unfamiliar, it's an outreach event where church members fill their car trunks with candy in the church parking lot so that kids can go trick-or-treating in a safe environment) and had around 300-400 kids come through. I saw a grand total of four Star Wars costumes. Darth Vader, a stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and (surprisingly) K2SO. In contrast, there were scores of Marvel superheroes represented. Star Wars is obviously still one of Lego's top-selling themes, but its minimal representation at this event was striking. (On a lighter note, one kid was dressed as a Nexo Knight! )

[r5-j2]

14 hours ago, Pdaitabird said:

Not sure if it's relevant to this topic or not, but I found it interesting regarding Star Wars' current popularity.

My church held a "trunk or treat" last night (for those unfamiliar, it's an outreach event where church members fill their car trunks with candy in the church parking lot so that kids can go trick-or-treating in a safe environment) and had around 300-400 kids come through. I saw a grand total of four Star Wars costumes. Darth Vader, a stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and (surprisingly) K2SO. In contrast, there were scores of Marvel superheroes represented. Star Wars is obviously still one of Lego's top-selling themes, but its minimal representation at this event was striking. (On a lighter note, one kid was dressed as a Nexo Knight! )

The local shops here are heavily discounting Star Wars merch..I got Boba, Han and Chewie 3.75 inch figs for 70% less than list price. Funko Pops can be had for 50% off..but S.W. Lego is still bucking this trend, I hope we get some Clone War sets and if the Mandalorian does well, then maybe another set or two from that that would be good!..finally ,I find it interesting that the kids turning up for this trunk or treat event ,were all representative of the original 1977 onwards trilogy (even K2-S0`s time-line falls just before A New Hope )

Edited November 1, 2019 by r5-j2

[legolandia]

On 10/6/2019 at 10:53 AM, LEGODrongo01 said:

Lego cannot and would not be allowed to stop making Star Wars sets.

There may be truth in this. If Lego stopped making sets then they would be paying for the licence fee without making any money out of it. And if they terminated the contract there would be quite a few other brands that would love to jump on the opportunity. Plus it wouldn't be in Disney's interests either since the sets provide quite a bit of advertising for the franchise.

On 10/6/2019 at 10:53 AM, LEGODrongo01 said:

Surely at this point theres no more new ships to make sets from, so they cant really do that.

There are a lot of ships which have not been made in Lego form. Plenty from the PT to start with.

Edited November 2, 2019 by legolandia

[legolandia]

On 10/31/2019 at 3:25 PM, Pdaitabird said:

I saw a grand total of four Star Wars costumes. Darth Vader, a stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and (surprisingly) K2SO. In contrast, there were scores of Marvel superheroes represented.

Since when did Halloween become an event where people can dress up in their superhero costumes? It's not a fancy dress party.