DC Superheroes 2020 - Rumors & Discussion

[RedHoodPug]

It intrigues me whenever someone says that DC is dying, or Marvel is way better, like they have some sort of inside knowledge. I deal in vintage comic books and where I am DC is more sought after than Marvel. You might find Marvel stuff making a bit more on a few titles, but when sourcing goods the fight is to get hold of DC. Thats what happens when you have companies with near century long histories and fanbases in different countries. @HalfBloodPrince I was being civil. There was no need to ramp up the argument.

[Kit Figsto]

7 hours ago, dario2739 said:

Have to agree – has anybody got actual figures of sales of certain lines? From my experience in the UK, I see Marvel sets collecting dust on the shelves, and they seem to go to sale quicker than DC sets, so should I assume Marvel doesnt' sell?

LEGO's a private company, so the only data we see is what they put out.  Their annual report does list their general revenue and stuff but it's not broken down at all, and then also top 5 selling sets, but it doesn't say the exact order, nor does it quantify what "sales" means (does it mean dollars? units?) and it doesn't give any numbers at all.  If I'm not mistaken, the top 5 was something like Technic, Creator, City, Star Wars, and Friends last year, and I think the year before that it, Ninjago was on there instead of either Friends or Star Wars.  In other words, neither DC nor Marvel are on there, so I don't see how DC not being on there = the brand is dying, when the other superheroes sets aren't considered a top 5 seller either.  

And again, we don't know what sales means, for all we know, the reason that Technic, City, and Star Wars even make the list is because they have a ton of D2C/UCS sets priced $100+ compared to almost every other theme LEGO produces.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Kit Figsto

[GeneralNumberOne]

8 minutes ago, RedHoodPug said:

It intrigues me whenever someone says that DC is dying, or Marvel is way better, like they have some sort of inside knowledge. I deal in vintage comic books and where I am DC is more sought after than Marvel. You might find Marvel stuff making a bit more on a few titles, but when sourcing goods the fight is to get hold of DC. Thats what happens when you have companies with near century long histories and fanbases in different countries. @HalfBloodPrince I was being civil. There was no need to ramp up the argument.

Honestly, the Marvel vs DC thing has always been really stupid imo. Like, you can prefer X-Men to Doom Patrol or whatever, but this sort of rivalry just hurts the industry and makes the community seem childish. Like, just read what you like. I mostly stick to DC because I prefer the characters and universe, as well as it being what I grew up with, but if there's a Marvel book that interests me, I don't hesitate to pick it up. And honestly, with what's going on right now, comics fans need to band together for the industry to make it through this.

 

So long story short, everyone, support your local comics shop when they reopen, most of them are already running either at a loss or at a very slim profit margin, so this may very well be a death blow if people don't spend money there when they reopen. Idk, buy a few comics, pick up your pulls, and buy a few of those dusty Power of the Force figures that haven't moved once the entire time you've been shopping there.

[lego_guyon02]

Just now, GeneralNumberOne said:

Honestly, the Marvel vs DC thing has always been really stupid imo.

I agree, but pretty much every versus things sucks. The standard lines like ''you can't like both Marvel and DC'' and ''you're not a true Star Wars fan if you like the sequels'' are really stupid. People can decide by themselves what they do or don't like, they don't need angry fanboys to decide for them. 

[GeneralNumberOne]

Just now, Guyon2002 said:

I agree, but pretty much every versus things sucks. The standard lines like ''you can't like both Marvel and DC'' and ''you're not a true Star Wars fan if you like the sequels'' are really stupid. People can decide by themselves what they do or don't like, they don't need angry fanboys to decide for them. 

My favorite is "you can't appreciate DC if you're an atheist"

[NXS7]

2 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

 If I'm not mistaken, the top 5 was something like Technic, Creator, City, Star Wars, and Friends last year, and I think the year before that it, Ninjago was on there instead of either Friends or Star Wars.  In other words, neither DC nor Marvel are on there, so I don't see how DC not being on there = the brand is dying, when the other superheroes sets aren't considered a top 5 seller either.  

Marvel was on the list for last year. But just because DC isn't, really doesn't mean it's dying, it's not a hard competition when Marvel releases 5 Spider Man sets, 1 Captain Marvel set, 6 Avengers Endgame sets and 3 Spider Man: Far From Home sets, compared to 6 (plus 2x 4+) Batman sets, and a D2C

Just now, GeneralNumberOne said:

My favorite is "you can't appreciate DC if you're an atheist"

That's absolutely ridiculous. But it doesn't stop me from appreciating 60% of the movies and the Arrowverse shows 

[lego_guyon02]

10 minutes ago, GeneralNumberOne said:

My favorite is "you can't appreciate DC if you're an atheist"

That's so weird it's actually hilarious

[RedHoodPug]

27 minutes ago, GeneralNumberOne said:

My favorite is "you can't appreciate DC if you're an atheist"

Is that a Phantom Stranger/Spectre/Lucifer thing or are there darker forces at work I’m forgetting? There’s potentially a massive hole in the logic.

[dario2739]

28 minutes ago, GeneralNumberOne said:

My favorite is "you can't appreciate DC if you're an atheist"

What??? What has religion got to do with it!?!

40 minutes ago, GeneralNumberOne said:

Honestly, the Marvel vs DC thing has always been really stupid imo. Like, you can prefer X-Men to Doom Patrol or whatever, but this sort of rivalry just hurts the industry and makes the community seem childish. Like, just read what you like. I mostly stick to DC because I prefer the characters and universe, as well as it being what I grew up with, but if there's a Marvel book that interests me, I don't hesitate to pick it up. And honestly, with what's going on right now, comics fans need to band together for the industry to make it through this.

 

So long story short, everyone, support your local comics shop when they reopen, most of them are already running either at a loss or at a very slim profit margin, so this may very well be a death blow if people don't spend money there when they reopen. Idk, buy a few comics, pick up your pulls, and buy a few of those dusty Power of the Force figures that haven't moved once the entire time you've been shopping there.

Whilst I am a DC fan mostly – I am a comic book first of all, and there are Marvel characters I love – Spidey, Hulk (proper Hulk, not the MCU disaster) and Punisher... but I also love Judge Dredd (one of my all time favourite comic book characters), Hellboy, Jack Staff, Billy the Cat etc. etc.

For me, collecting the DC stuff mainly means collecting the minifigures, so the more the better for me (loved the recent CMF series)

[Kit Figsto]

32 minutes ago, Quicksilver838 said:

Marvel was on the list for last year. But just because DC isn't, really doesn't mean it's dying, it's not a hard competition when Marvel releases 5 Spider Man sets, 1 Captain Marvel set, 6 Avengers Endgame sets and 3 Spider Man: Far From Home sets, compared to 6 (plus 2x 4+) Batman sets, and a D2C

Unless I'm missing something, neither Marvel nor DC made it for 2019 or 2018.

Link here: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt55a9aaa4253b2fa5/Annual_Report_2019_ENG.pdf.pdf (2019) and https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt02144956ae00afa1/Annual_Report_2018_ENG.pdf (2018).

There was a presentation I remember seeing a few months ago from a Toy Far that listed the top selling themes in Europe specifically, (there was a similar blowout in the SW forum about how the theme was "dying" because it wasn't a top selling theme in Europe), so Marvel may have been on there, but according to these, no Superheroes theme cracked the top few in either of the past two fiscal years.

[BigGuy4U]

24 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

Unless I'm missing something, neither Marvel nor DC made it for 2019 or 2018.

Link here: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt55a9aaa4253b2fa5/Annual_Report_2019_ENG.pdf.pdf (2019) and https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt02144956ae00afa1/Annual_Report_2018_ENG.pdf (2018).

There was a presentation I remember seeing a few months ago from a Toy Far that listed the top selling themes in Europe specifically, (there was a similar blowout in the SW forum about how the theme was "dying" because it wasn't a top selling theme in Europe), so Marvel may have been on there, but according to these, no Superheroes theme cracked the top few in either of the past two fiscal years.

Yeah, it's funny how there's currently 33 different themes currently listed on the Lego Shop's website, not even counting duplicates like DC vs. Batman or Marvel vs. Spider-Man or things like Xtra or Power Functions, but a theme doesn't make it in the top 5 sellers for a year and suddenly that theme doesn't sell at all and is probably going to get cancelled.

[lego_guyon02]

41 minutes ago, dario2739 said:

For me, collecting the DC stuff mainly means collecting the minifigures, so the more the better for me (loved the recent CMF series)

Same thing for me, I rarely buy entire DC sets and if I do it's only because there are some nice pieces in it. Though most sets are black Batvehicles so there's not a whole lot of usefull stuff in there. 

36 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

Unless I'm missing something, neither Marvel nor DC made it for 2019 or 2018.

This is from 2019, best selling themes are at the bottom-right

[Robert8]

WB is going ahead with the Batgirl solo movie. And it won't be rated R

So you know what that means...

[Kit Figsto]

2 hours ago, Guyon2002 said:

This is from 2019, best selling themes are at the bottom-right

*snip*

So I guess Marvel must've been six.  The report I linked in my last comment had the top five and had "Classic" listed as Creator, and it was all of those except for Marvel.  

[dario2739]

43 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

So I guess Marvel must've been six.  The report I linked in my last comment had the top five and had "Classic" listed as Creator, and it was all of those except for Marvel.  

Lego Friends surprises me, they always seem to be shelf warmers!

[BrickBob Studpants]

5 hours ago, dario2739 said:

What??? What has religion got to do with it!?!

To some people, fandoms are a religion 

5 hours ago, Guyon2002 said:

I agree, but pretty much every versus things sucks. The standard lines like ''you can't like both Marvel and DC'' and ''you're not a true Star Wars fan if you like the sequels'' are really stupid. People can decide by themselves what they do or don't like, they don't need angry fanboys to decide for them. 

Exactly, gatekeeping is just the worst. The funny (or sad) thing is, the very same people who gatekeep people now were bullied themselves back in the day for liking geeky stuff and now that it's become mainstream, some of them even outright state that they do it for revenge  Just pathetic

[Anonknee Muss]

3 hours ago, Robert8 said:

WB is going ahead with the Batgirl solo movie. And it won't be rated R

So you know what that means...

It better not be Cassandra Cain from Birds Of Prey 

[Robert8]

15 minutes ago, Anonknee Muss said:

It better not be Cassandra Cain from Birds Of Prey 

No. It will be Barbara Gordon and her father in the main roles

The Bartgirl movie will be part of the DCEU, so at least one LEGO set should be expected

[Mandalorianknight]

15 hours ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

In case anyone missed this;

Also, Just2good’s confirmed that the 26 identical” parts are prints, not stickers. Woo-hoo! Can’t wait to pick this one up. I just hope stock will be available in Australia with the country on lockdown.

Oh phew, I was dreading getting all those stickers put on. I might actually buy this.

12 hours ago, Guyon2002 said:

Of course I do, but they wouldn't give him a standalone movie if Batman didn't sell. That doesn't just drastically change overnight.

The fact you personally don't like a set doesn't mean it doesn't sell. 

Exactly. I don't like TPM, but lego pushes out way to many Naboo starfighters for those to not sell.

12 hours ago, HalfBloodPrince said:

Batman started not to sell over 2018-2019, NOT 2017. It was over those 3 years. Personally? Literally everyone from the forum back in March when the summer 2019 sets were revealed called them sets that weren’t good aside from the batmobile. ThE FaCt yOu pErSoNalLY dOn’t lIKe a SET DoeSN’t MeAn it dOesEN’T SeLl. Its more then just my target store. DC is dying. Gimme 3 examples of actually good seta from 2019.

The Endgame and spiderman stuff were still garbage. They literally re-branded a juniors police station into a compound.

If you don't like a set, it doesn't mean no one will buy it. If the majority of AFOLS don't like a set, it'll still sell well if the kids like it, because they're lego's target audience.

8 hours ago, GeneralNumberOne said:

So long story short, everyone, support your local comics shop when they reopen, most of them are already running either at a loss or at a very slim profit margin, so this may very well be a death blow if people don't spend money there when they reopen. Idk, buy a few comics, pick up your pulls, and buy a few of those dusty Power of the Force figures that haven't moved once the entire time you've been shopping there.

Good message (and nice Power Of the Force shoutout)

8 hours ago, Guyon2002 said:

I agree, but pretty much every versus things sucks. The standard lines like ''you can't like both Marvel and DC'' and ''you're not a true Star Wars fan if you like the sequels'' are really stupid. People can decide by themselves what they do or don't like, they don't need angry fanboys to decide for them. 

Agreed, completely, and not to keep bringing up star wars but especially there.

[The Pearson]

What is the DPCI of Wonder Woman vs Cheetah?

Edited April 10, 2020 by The Pearson

[GeneralNumberOne]

In response to all the people asking about the dumb religion thing, I don't remember the person's reasoning (I think it may have had something to do with Man of Steel). Also, I really hope we get Batgirl sets. I kinda hope we get some minidoll sets as well (I imagine we'd get more sets that way).

But like, I really hope Lego keeps it up with DC. The Harley fig looks great, the CMF was pretty much perfect, and the Wonder Woman set is amazing. 

[TheBatstan]

Yeah, I highly doubt Lego is going to end their partnership with DC after what happened when they did that the last time. They discontinued the original Batman theme back in 2008 because it was apparently a poor seller and then watched as the sets quadrupled in value online, no doubt thanks to the release of the first Lego Batman game plus the immense success of The Dark Knight bringing Batman back into popularity with the general audience. And I have a feeling that history is going to repeat itself soon enough with the new Batman game from WB Games Montreal that was supposed to be announced at E3 this year, as well as The Batman being one of the most anticipated movies of 2021.

As much as people don't want to admit it, Batman is mainly the one that brings in the most money for DC. And with the stuff that's in store for him coming up, Lego isn't going to stupidly end the line like some people here are desperately trying to prophesize. 

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by MisterBatfleck

[Lionbear8]

2 hours ago, MisterBatfleck said:

Yeah, I highly doubt Lego is going to end their partnership with DC after what happened when they did that the last time. They discontinued the original Batman theme back in 2008 because it was apparently a poor seller and then watched as the sets quadrupled in value online, no doubt thanks to the release of the first Lego Batman game plus the immense success of The Dark Knight bringing Batman back into popularity with the general audience. And I have a feeling that history is going to repeat itself soon enough with the new Batman game from WB Games Montreal that was supposed to be announced at E3 this year, as well as The Batman being one of the most anticipated movies of 2021.

As much as people don't want to admit it, Batman is mainly the one that brings in the most money for DC. And with the stuff that's in store for him coming up, Lego isn't going to stupidly end the line like some people here are desperately trying to prophesize. 

 

You can't help but laugh! 

Hey megablocks may get the theme lol 

DC and Batman equals bright future!

 

[Gorilla94]

7 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Exactly. I don't like TPM, but lego pushes out way to many Naboo starfighters for those to not sell.

If you don't like a set, it doesn't mean no one will buy it. If the majority of AFOLS don't like a set, it'll still sell well if the kids like it, because they're lego's target audience.

Of course they sell. Red letter media put it in words very well: Lucas is more a salesman than a movie maker. The prequel trilogy was all about extra profit after the OT´s success. Every single ship or character design was made to sell action figures and models while he cared little about the movies from a story perspective. Even as a child I saw a difference to the OT. The PT had a boring story, which worked just for bringing you from one stunning aesthetics and some cool action scenes to the next. I didn´t watch them very often, but loved the toys and read a lot of books that had better stories in this world. The ST has the same aesthetics and great action scenes in terms of special effects but with it´s extreme plot holes and inconsistencies I wasn´t able to enjoy it even a bit when i saw them. The question is what a true fan is. I guess if you are just interested in cool spacebattles and making out with your girlfriend or checking your whatsapp messages in the dialogue sceenes you´ll probably enjoy all the movies just the same.

This. Giving Vader a castle is cool. He is a bad guy and villains need their fortress or hideout. You can combine it with Kylo Ren´s black shuttle and use Kylo and the Knights of Ren as his unnamed hench men. Works well for child´s play.  When I was a child Vader and Maul worked together to conquer my room, too. It´s not like children would just play the accurate story of the films again and again.

[Anonknee Muss]

13 hours ago, Robert8 said:

No. It will be Barbara Gordon and her father in the main roles

The Bartgirl movie will be part of the DCEU, so at least one LEGO set should be expected

I wish they’d let the DCEU die and move on.

Like Matt Reeve’s The Batman.