LEGO Ideas - 123 Sesame Street

[TheBrickPal]

Confirmed!

Discuss.

[Robert8]

Interesting....

They will have to make new moulds for this one, right? There is no other way around it

[Another Brick In The Wall]

The structure is pretty bland to be honest, a bit like Ghostbusters HQ.  Winnie the Pooh and Seven Dwarves had better building designs. 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Another Brick In The Wall

[Blondie-Wan]

Big congratulations to the creator! This is a much-earned accomplishment.

26 minutes ago, Another Brick In The Wall said:

The structure is pretty bland to be honest, a bit like Ghostbusters HQ.  Winnie the Pooh and Seven Dwarves had better building designs. 

You think so? Huh. I think it’s lovely, myself. Of course fidelity to the source material is a major consideration.

44 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

Interesting....

They will have to make new moulds for this one, right? There is no other way around it

One might think so. OTOH, the project creator did a marvelous job of showing how many of the Muppet characters could be realized remarkably effectively using existing elements.

Then again, given that this will likely be a large-ish set, they might be willing to invest in new parts, especially if it leads to a whole theme. And Ideas in general has been growing from its modest beginnings, what with them going ever larger with sets, as well as now having approved three ideas at once in a single review. Most notably, they actually just had two Ideas sets this year that each introduced new pieces - granted that one was already designed for a minifigures series released a month later, and the other was “only” a die-cut textile element, but it still showed that Ideas sets can introduce new parts after all. Could this be the first one for which new molds are specifically created?

[Alpinemaps]

1 hour ago, Another Brick In The Wall said:

The structure is pretty bland to be honest, a bit like Ghostbusters HQ.  Winnie the Pooh and Seven Dwarves had better building designs. 

WtP and 7D are for the next review, so luckily, those haven't been pushed aside (yet).

When I was showing my wife the design this morning, I described it the same way - GBHQ.  

Congrats to the creator.  It's not in my wheelhouse for LEGO purchases, but it's a great achievement nonetheless.

 

 

[Borex]

So it is through? Congratulations to the designer. 
I think the whole set needs to get a scale-down, but i love the theme. Hopefully more muppets to come after this. It even could use a cmf series :-) 

It needs new moulds though. And the seagulls need to be pigeons. That would be so awesome

[mostlytechnic]

I think this would sell MUCH better if they scaled it down - Perhaps even made it just a facade with the characters. They are what will sell the set, not the building, and I suspect it won't sell that great at a high ($150+) price. 

Heck, what if they went Duplo with it? That'd hit the target market better! First ever Ideas Duplo set???

[Blondie-Wan]

Just now, mostlytechnic said:

I think this would sell MUCH better if they scaled it down - Perhaps even made it just a facade with the characters. They are what will sell the set, not the building, and I suspect it won't sell that great at a high ($150+) price. 

Heck, what if they went Duplo with it? That'd hit the target market better! First ever Ideas Duplo set???

They don’t want to change an Ideas idea too much, and I think they’d consider (as most of us would) turning a System creation into a Duplo set to be too much of a departure.

But if this launches a whole range of Sesame Street sets, I’d certainly imagine future ones would be Duplo (though isn’t K’Nex or somebody already doing sets for this license for kids in that age range? Could it be that this was approved only because it’s actually aimed at nostalgic adults, and thus targets a totally different age demographic from a competitor’s products?).

[mostlytechnic]

Agreed - I don't think they'd change this ideas set into duplo, that was a "what if" idea. But what if they did both - "matching" System and Duplo sets? 

[Pchan1983]

I wonder what characters will become minigifure in the final set

[MatthewRC]

4 hours ago, Blondie-Wan said:

They don’t want to change an Ideas idea too much, and I think they’d consider (as most of us would) turning a System creation into a Duplo set to be too much of a departure.

But if this launches a whole range of Sesame Street sets, I’d certainly imagine future ones would be Duplo (though isn’t K’Nex or somebody already doing sets for this license for kids in that age range? Could it be that this was approved only because it’s actually aimed at nostalgic adults, and thus targets a totally different age demographic from a competitor’s products?).

Mega Brands has the Sesame Street license as far as I know, they make sets for younger children, similar to Duplo. However, Mega Brands’ Sesame Street may be a non-exclusive partnership.

[Blondie-Wan]

56 minutes ago, MatthewRC said:

Mega Brands has the Sesame Street license as far as I know, they make sets for younger children, similar to Duplo. However, Mega Brands’ Sesame Street may be a non-exclusive partnership.

Either that, or I’m guessing Mega’s license is specifically (and only) for sets aimed at children in that age range, meaning LEGO is free to do a Sesame Street set as long as it's specifically created for older builders. It does seem intended more for nostalgic adults than for the preschool children at whom the actual show is targeted.

[Robert8]

7 hours ago, Borex said:

It needs new moulds though.

Agree. The Count is the only that can be properly done without new molds. 

If they go on with the no-new pieces rule for these Im really afraid of what these might look like

I really hope they wont make something like that Big Bird in the project 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

You really have to wonder how much of the structure is going to be compromised in the final set given the fact they will also need to produce new minifig molds.

[BrickG]

No chance I'll buy the set but if the minifigures are good enough (and I too kind of tink they'd often require new molds, especially Big Bird) I will buy them 100% from bricklink due to Childhood nostalgia. I'm really happy to see this set make it. It's a weird one because unless it changes drastically how big it is, it's going to be expensive and aimed at adults, yet it's Seasame Street lol.

I do not think they'll make new molds.

I only wish it would have Kermit...

Edited September 27, 2019 by BrickG

[Darnok]

I like the thing as it is, but believe they will reduce the complexity a bit. I hope it's nothing major, and more importantly that they keep the "spirit" as it is.

Looking forward to this, I love the whole "puppet house" style. My main issue with the final product will most likely be the price.

[MAB]

I find the set very bland although I was never into Sesame Street. Even if I was, I'm not sure I'd buy it as an adult. I don't mind displaying things a teenage me enjoyed (Ghostbusters, Simspons, Star Wars,...) but would I display toys a 3-5 year old me enjoyed? Probably not.

[Another Brick In The Wall]

46 minutes ago, MAB said:

I find the set very bland although I was never into Sesame Street. Even if I was, I'm not sure I'd buy it as an adult. I don't mind displaying things a teenage me enjoyed (Ghostbusters, Simspons, Star Wars,...) but would I display toys a 3-5 year old me enjoyed? Probably not.

I agree. The demographic of a prospective Sesame Street set is ill-defined, to say the least. It's going to be an expensive set, that's for sure. 

[Blondie-Wan]

As a System set, though (and a largish one at that), this really doesn’t appear targeted at kids in the age range the actual show is aimed at. If anything, particularly given the project’s (remarkable) social media promotion that garnered interest and supports, I’d say it’s aimed at nostalgic adults.

In fact it’s quite possible this only can be produced as an adult-oriented set. Mega Bloks currently offers brick-based construction toys aimed at kids of the same age at which the show is aimed. Normally, one of LEGO’s competitors offering a construction toy based on a given property would preclude any possibility of LEGO doing it; the fact this was approved at all means either the MB agreement is non-exclusive, or (more likely, I would guess, though of course I have no way to know) the licenses can coexist because they specifically define (different) age ranges for which the products are meant. I suspect the LEGO Sesame Street set is going to be designed and marked for builders ages 16+, and that it can only happen at all because the license expressly says it will be marketed as an adult collectible, not something for three-year-olds (for whom a System set remotely resembling the project would be too advanced anyway, not to mention far more expensive than most parents are willing to spend on construction toy sets aimed at preschoolers).

I realize that seems counterintuitive, given that the show is intended for very young children, ones for whom LEGO offers Duplo, but... it’s also a classic, beloved institution, one which has been around for decades - it’s actually celebrating its 50th anniversary this year - and which many adults of today (of multiple ages, from early 20s to late 50s) watched as children when they were the target age for it, and for which many feel nostalgic, not to mention many of them continuing to watch the show now - either with their own children, or even as adult fans.

After all, though principally aimed first and foremost at children, the show has long appealed to audiences of all ages, and garnered a number of adult fans who continue to enjoy it even while well outside the target demographic. Hmmm - there’s something familiar about that, that I can’t quite put my finger on...

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Blondie-Wan said:

I realize that seems counterintuitive, given that the show is intended for very young children, ones for whom LEGO offers Duplo, but... it’s also a classic, beloved institution, one which has been around for decades - it’s actually celebrating its 50th anniversary this year - and which many adults of today (of multiple ages, from early 20s to late 50s) watched as children when they were the target age for it, and for which many feel nostalgic, not to mention many of them continuing to watch the show now - either with their own children, or even as adult fans.

After all, though principally aimed first and foremost at children, the show has long appealed to audiences of all ages, and garnered a number of adult fans who continue to enjoy it even while well outside the target demographic. Hmmm - there’s something familiar about that, that I can’t quite put my finger on...

I guess the question then is, would these adults display Sesame Street toys? I don't mind displaying things from my teenage years. But from my toddler years, I don't think so. I'd chat with my friends now about plot lines of Star Wars or Ghostbusters, or things like that which were coming out as I was an older kid. I don't think I'd talk to them about what happened in Tom and Jerry or Sesame Street (if I had watched it).

Edited September 27, 2019 by MAB

[Blondie-Wan]

10 minutes ago, MAB said:

I guess the question then is, would these adults display Sesame Street toys? I don't mind displaying things from my teenage years. But from my toddler years, I don't think so. I'd chat with my friends now about plot lines of Star Wars or Ghostbusters, or things like that which were coming out as I was an older kid. I don't think I'd talk to them about what happened in Tom and Jerry or Sesame Street (if I had watched it).

I don’t know what others would do; I guess you’d have to ask them. Speaking for myself, though, I think I’d draw a distinction between Sesame Street stuff (good Sesame Street stuff, anyway) and stuff from most other shows aimed at that age range. Sesame seems... more respectable, somehow, and there’s also a something about it that can bring joy to anyone - perhaps even adults moreso than kids. And if this set focuses on the show’s history, as the social media campaign suggests it could - with characters who departed the show decades ago, and so on - I really see a certain number of adult fans who’d go for it. Hardly everyone, of course, but then it’s not like LEGO’s larger, more expensive sets are expected to sell in the millions anyway, especially in the Ideas line.

Also, I don’t know how old you are, but speaking for myself - I’m 51, just old enough to dimly remember the beginnings of the show, when Oscar was sort of orange rather than green - I can attest that as one gets older, one tends to reach a point where one cares less about whether other people think a particular piece of entertainment is age-appropriate for oneself. I’ll now happily watch and enjoy kids’ shows, and freely acknowledge it, that I might have been mortified to have been caught watching in my 20s, say.

(Tangentially... Tom and Jerry? That’s your idea of a comparably child-focused franchise to put in the same category as Sesame Street? I’d expect something like Dora the Explorer or Bob the Builder, but Tom and Jerry? If anything, I’d think Tom and Jerry was more of an older kids thing...)

[Boettner Builds]

I think this would fit quite nicely next to the brownstone modular (pet shop).

[Still Raindrop]

I'm very excited for this one. I do hope they'll reduce the size and complexity a bit to make it more affordable ($100 would be nice, though that's probably unrealistic). My wife and I both grew up watching Sesame Street, and we now watch it with our three kids. It's a lot of fun, and it's a perfect mixture (for me) of nostalgia and a cool building. I do wonder what minifigures they'll include. I imagine they'd get rid of Biff and Sully, but I'm not sure if they'd replace them with anyone (Zoe or Abby would be good candidates; though they're newer characters, having a few extra girls would be nice. Luis and Maria would also be good).

[The Brick Boss]

Even though I'm in my 20s, I love this. It brings back so many great memories. 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

10 hours ago, Still Raindrop said:

I'm very excited for this one. I do hope they'll reduce the size and complexity a bit to make it more affordable ($100 would be nice, though that's probably unrealistic). My wife and I both grew up watching Sesame Street, and we now watch it with our three kids. It's a lot of fun, and it's a perfect mixture (for me) of nostalgia and a cool building. I do wonder what minifigures they'll include. I imagine they'd get rid of Biff and Sully, but I'm not sure if they'd replace them with anyone (Zoe or Abby would be good candidates; though they're newer characters, having a few extra girls would be nice. Luis and Maria would also be good).

I am expecting something with complexity of Sanctum Sanctorum (76108), which is okayI guess. However, this set will live or die based on its minifigs. 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Another Brick In The Wall