Super Mario 2020 - Rumors & Discussion

[Lacdaran]

1.  I want a Koopa Airship with Koopa Kids.

2. I really hope this leads to Legend of Zelda lego sets.  

[Borex]

2 minutes ago, Takanuinuva said:

If Lego does do a collectible minifig Mario series. It'll be a lot easier to get ahold of the characters you want with Bricklink

Though I will give K'nex the credit in that their character designs were accurate.

I feel like official Mario minifigures will look somewhat like the bootleg ones with minifig heads.

I just hope they do the non human characters justice. K'nex made a really good Bob-omb that I still own.

I also have some K’nex figs. Very pleased with them too. But they were very hard to get in my country. I hope tlc makes the characters really good because i want all of it ?

[Megbricks]

2 hours ago, NetherCreeper said:

I started play Mario odyssey recently, and I was really starting to think how cool it would be to get LEGO Mario, and now here we are! I’m really hoping that they do make normal Minifigures, especially since the question mark block is out of scale with this weird figure. If they are all like this, however, I’ll be disappointed. 

My guess? They’ll handle this like the Minecraft theme, with the different separate blocks that can be rearranged to make new levels. That would be cool.

Oh yeah like minecraft. Makes sense!!

2 hours ago, Gruff666 said:

Looks like there's a switch in the figure

Where? I wanna see where you see it. :) I’m looking too fast I can’t see. Too excited:)

[ARC2149Nova]

So, I'm 50/50 with this. On one hand, great for Nintendo fans, no question. On the other, why? Just why? Minions, Trolls, and now Mario. 3 new one-off licences, and before anyone says different, make no mistake, this will be a one-off. Unless they do some really deep dives, this can cover Super Mario Bros, Galaxy, Odyssey, and the Donkey Kong games. Maybe even Mario Kart. It's also frustrating to see this when Star Wars could've gotten an anniversary wave for Empire Strikes Back, and a Season 7 wave for Clone Wars, but no, a mishmash of sets and that's all folks. Not to mention themes like Space and Castle, which have dead for years, and people are clamoring to be brought back.

Actually, I change my mind, I'm 25/75 on this, and far more skeptical than positive, sadly.

[Lego David]

When exactly are those sets supposed to come out? This year? Or next year?

[Marvelous Spidey]

For the people thinking that there's a switch/smartphone in that Mario: unless they're using different size bricks, Mario is only about 4 studs wide. Not nearly big enough for either

It's probably just a reference to Super Mario Land 2 where there's something that looks VERY similar in a world based on Nintendo's version of LEGO (that were available at the time)

[CF Mitch]

Whoah, such surprising news!
I need to try and rein(?) my expectations and enthusiasm in, 'cause I can see a lot of possibilities for this.
According to a few IG'ers  it will be thirteen sets and a CMF. This sounds very cool to me, so I'm gonna hold out hope it will indeed be (at least) the CMF, but I'm sure the sets will be very interesting as well!

Regards,
Mitch

[Fenghuang0296]

Okay, this is the last thing I was expecting. And it has potential. 

But why the hell are we getting MARIO sets and not Sonic the Hedgehog? If they did Sonic properly I’d buy the hell out of it . . {sulks}

Still, can’t wait to see pictures. Rumour has it 12-13 sets and a CMF, right? I wonder how they’re going to handle Bowser? He’s have to be a bigfig. There’s no way there’d be a CMF with a bigfig. Still, the existence of a CMF implies they’re doing a lot of deep cuts. Fingers crossed for Rosalina (my favourite character).

Also, I’m certain there’ll be at least a couple of Mario Kart themed sets. LEGO loves doing vehicles too much and you can basically categorise Mario games as ‘Main series’, ‘Kart’ or ‘Party’ with a few exceptions.

. . . There’s no way they’d do a Mario Party set with a board game design right? That’d be awesome.

[TheNerdyOne_]

30 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

So, I'm 50/50 with this. On one hand, great for Nintendo fans, no question. On the other, why? Just why? Minions, Trolls, and now Mario. 3 new one-off licences, and before anyone says different, make no mistake, this will be a one-off. Unless they do some really deep dives, this can cover Super Mario Bros, Galaxy, Odyssey, and the Donkey Kong games. Maybe even Mario Kart. It's also frustrating to see this when Star Wars could've gotten an anniversary wave for Empire Strikes Back, and a Season 7 wave for Clone Wars, but no, a mishmash of sets and that's all folks. Not to mention themes like Space and Castle, which have dead for years, and people are clamoring to be brought back.

Actually, I change my mind, I'm 25/75 on this, and far more skeptical than positive, sadly.

I would be completely shocked if this is a one-off series.  Your argument can also be made for the Minecraft series as well (and was, many times), and look how far that has come.  At the end of the day, if it makes money, it's gonna stick around.  I mean, for Minecraft they've just straight up made up locations and designs simply as an excuse for more sets.  Mario is still leagues above Minecraft in terms of sales (by several hundred million).  These sets, should they be well-done, will undoubtedly be huge hits.  Minions and Trolls are being made to go alongside a new movie for a quick buck, Mario is the institution in video gaming and has nothing to advertise right now.  There is, of course, a movie in the works, but that won't be a factor for quite a while and they wouldn't be releasing the sets now if the movie was the reason.

Mario itself is definitely not a content-rich series, though there's more than enough in just the recent games for multiple waves.  Odyssey is a gold-mine, and you still have things like Captain Toad, Mario Maker, or Mario Kart to fall back on.  Plus Galaxy, classic games, and Donkey Kong like you mentioned, and I think it's safe to throw Yoshi games in there too.  However, this is much larger than Mario itself.  This could very easily be nothing more than the first step towards a full-on Nintendo line.  Fans have been clamoring for Zelda sets for years (as evidenced by the multiple successful Ideas projects, one of which is currently under review and may well be approved in light of this), and Nintendo has been trying to get into the construction block game for decades.  As mentioned in this thread they even tried to start their own line and got shut down by LEGO.  They've had multiple partnerships with a variety of other construction toy companies since then.  I fully believe that the only reason we haven't seen this much sooner is because LEGO used to think that video games licenses were too risky (which Minecraft and now Overwatch have overwhelmingly disproven).  Back when I was trying to get the Minecraft Cuusoo project approved, that was the main hurdle.  Had the project not been such a huge hit I'm not sure LEGO would have even gone for it.

The only way this is a one-off series is if the sales are somehow disappointing.  The fans want it.  Nintendo wants it.  LEGO just needs some convincing when it comes to video games (and I'm sure Nintendo isn't quite ready to jump in head-first given how their history with construction sets has gone).  There's boatloads of content to pull from with other Nintendo properties.  License deals with Nintendo are very rarely just for one IP.  Just look at other companies making their merchandise.  It may start out that way, but on the condition that sales are good, there's no reason for this to just stay a Super Mario deal.

Edited March 10, 2020 by TheNerdyOne_

[Fenghuang0296]

Hold on, let’s not get too optimistic.

Don’t forget that Mega Construx currently has a Pokémon line going on. Did they and Nintendo have a falling out? Because I don’t see why LEGO would get Mario and not Mega Construx.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Feng-huang0296

[MandyNeko]

Speculation/wishlist for possible sets:

• Peach’s Castle
• Bowser’s Castle or airship
• some sort of level diorama with Mario (or Luigi) with a few bricks, enemies (Goombas, etc), and ? Blocks. Maybe several variants (grassland, water, sky, etc)
• small fortress with flagpole
• Yoshi themed set
• Mario vs Bowser set

Just things I’d like to see. :)

[DentedFrood]

 

Just now, Feng-huang0296 said:

Hold on, let’s not get too optimistic.

Don’t forget that Mega Construx currently has a Pokémon line going on. Did they and Nintendo have a falling out? Because I don’t see why LEGO would get Mario and not Mega Construx.

This has been officially teased by LEGO and Nintendo, and I would assume Mario and Pokemon are entirely seperate licenses. Isn't Pokemon a joint venture partially owned by Nintendo versus Mario being solely Nintendo's?

[THELEGOBATMAN]

3 minutes ago, Feng-huang0296 said:

Hold on, let’s not get too optimistic.

Don’t forget that Mega Construx currently has a Pokémon line going on. Did they and Nintendo have a falling out? Because I don’t see why LEGO would get Mario and not Mega Construx.

The theme was officially announced by Lego and Nintendo themselves, it's 100% confirmed.

[Nerd-with-a-Pencil]

17 minutes ago, TheNerdyOne_ said:

you still have things like Captain Toad, Mario Maker, or Mario Kart to fall back on. 

Man, a crafting box style Mario Maker set would be incredible.

[Terrasher]

It wouldn't make sense not to have normal minifigures. If TLG made figures only in this blocky, screen style, the scale would be off with the blocks we see in the teaser, and the only pose-ability would be in the arms (I don't see how the legs or the head can move).

I'm eager to see more pictures.

[ARC2149Nova]

12 minutes ago, TheNerdyOne_ said:

I would be completely shocked if this is a one-off series.  Your argument can also be made for the Minecraft series as well (and was, many times), and look how far that has come.  At the end of the day, if it makes money, it's gonna stick around.  I mean, for Minecraft they've just straight up made up locations and designs simply as an excuse for more sets.  Mario is still leagues above Minecraft in terms of sales (by several hundred million).  These sets, should they be well-done, will undoubtedly be huge hits.  Minions and Trolls are being made to go alongside a new movie for a quick buck, Mario is the institution in video gaming and has nothing to advertise right now.  There is, of course, a movie in the works, but that won't be a factor for quite a while and they wouldn't be releasing the sets now if the movie was the reason...

...The only way this is a one-off series is if the sales are somehow disappointing.  The fans want it.  Nintendo wants it.  LEGO just needs some convincing when it comes to video games (and I'm sure Nintendo isn't quite ready to jump in head-first given how their history with construction sets has gone).  There's boatloads of content to pull from with other Nintendo properties.  License deals with Nintendo are very rarely just for one IP.  Just look at other companies making their merchandise.  It may start out that way, but on the condition that sales are good, there's no reason for this to just stay a Super Mario deal.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised, I'm expecting it. This needs all the right pieces to fall into place, and frankly, I don't see that happening. Not just sales, but consistent set design, proper figures (mini or big), and, best of all, a decent consumer base. The "Fans" want Zelda, the "fans" want Nintendo, not necessarily Mario. The "Fans" will buy Mario hoping it gets them Zelda/Pokemon/etc. Of course, I'm not saying that no one wants Mario, but let's keep things in perspective. Look at Star Wars, Marvel, Space, Castle, DC, etc and see how much of a damn Lego gives about what the fans want.

Minecraft has the advantage that Creator has, being a "do-whatever-you-want" theme with some proper builds and a modular structure. But, I guarantee you that Minecraft stayed in Micro-scale, that theme would've ended quicker than you can say Enderman. The figures are interesting, the builds are simple yet often quite flavorful, and Minecraft is a relatively relaxing game about exploration and building, so it's like the perfect Lego game, without obviously being Lego. Overwatch is a different basket altogether. While initially it probably did well, there's no second year for Hasbro's Ultimates line, and no confirmed Lego waves this year either. That theme is, as far as we know right now, dead. Which is unfortunate, as I like the characters and locations.

Back to my point about a consumer base, there aren't a lot of Nintendo fans who buy the Mega Construx stuff (I know, I work in gaming retail, and most video game customers don't care about building toys). Lego is by far a more popular brand, yes, but that means little to the average gamer. Lego's licenses bank on not just Lego fans of X property, but also X fans who might buy a Lego set or two. A lot of Mario toys (save plushies) stay on the shelf. It's a slippery slope. I hope I'm wrong, and that Mario lives a long Lego life, but I'm keeping expectations low as possible.

[Nerd-with-a-Pencil]

The problem with LEGO Overwatch was, in many eyes, timing. By the time the sets released, Overwatch had fallen pretty far from its peak popularity (and That controversy coming soon after didn't help anything). Mario and Minecraft are by now household names, unlikely to be forgotten soon, and its that edge that gives them better chances.

 

(on that note, hey LEGO sonic is ALSO a game brand with permanent sticking power just saying)

[TeriXeri]

6 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

I certainly wouldn't be surprised, I'm expecting it. This needs all the right pieces to fall into place, and frankly, I don't see that happening. Not just sales, but consistent set design, proper figures (mini or big), and, best of all, a decent consumer base. The "Fans" want Zelda, the "fans" want Nintendo, not necessarily Mario. The "Fans" will buy Mario hoping it gets them Zelda/Pokemon/etc. Of course, I'm not saying that no one wants Mario, but let's keep things in perspective. Look at Star Wars, Marvel, Space, Castle, DC, etc and see how much of a damn Lego gives about what the fans want.

There are plenty of "Fans" that don't care about Zelda or Pokemon, but love Mario.

Edited March 10, 2020 by TeriXeri

[TheNerdyOne_]

12 minutes ago, Nerd-with-a-Pencil said:

Man, a crafting box style Mario Maker set would be incredible.

It really would!  In the same vein, though a bit more niche I would kill for a basic Captain Toad level that you can modify/re-arrang

 

2 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

I certainly wouldn't be surprised, I'm expecting it. This needs all the right pieces to fall into place, and frankly, I don't see that happening. Not just sales, but consistent set design, proper figures (mini or big), and, best of all, a decent consumer base. The "Fans" want Zelda, the "fans" want Nintendo, not necessarily Mario. The "Fans" will buy Mario hoping it gets them Zelda/Pokemon/etc. Of course, I'm not saying that no one wants Mario, but let's keep things in perspective. Look at Star Wars, Marvel, Space, Castle, DC, etc and see how much of a damn Lego gives about what the fans want.

Minecraft has the advantage that Creator has, being a "do-whatever-you-want" theme with some proper builds and a modular structure. But, I guarantee you that Minecraft stayed in Micro-scale, that theme would've ended quicker than you can say Enderman. The figures are interesting, the builds are simple yet often quite flavorful, and Minecraft is a relatively relaxing game about exploration and building, so it's like the perfect Lego game, without obviously being Lego. Overwatch is a different basket altogether. While initially it probably did well, there's no second year for Hasbro's Ultimates line, and no confirmed Lego waves this year either. That theme is, as far as we know right now, dead. Which is unfortunate, as I like the characters and locations.

Back to my point about a consumer base, there aren't a lot of Nintendo fans who buy the Mega Construx stuff (I know, I work in gaming retail, and most video game customers don't care about building toys). Lego is by far a more popular brand, yes, but that means little to the average gamer. Lego's licenses bank on not just Lego fans of X property, but also X fans who might buy a Lego set or two. A lot of Mario toys (save plushies) stay on the shelf. It's a slippery slope. I hope I'm wrong, and that Mario lives a long Lego life, but I'm keeping expectations low as possible.

You make a good point, LEGO doesn't care about what the fans want.  Why?  Because fans aren't what drive sales for the vast majority of their product line.  What the fans wan't doesn't really matter, because it's the kids that decide what sells and what doesn't.  And kids love Mario, in addition to its many fans.  Mario is the #1 selling video franchise ever, I don't think that can be underestimated.

As far as Overwatch though, while technically not confirmed, we have every reason to believe that 6 more sets are on their way in 2020.  And with Minecraft, ya it probably would have died if it has stayed at microscale, but I don't really see how that's relevant?

Mega Construx sales are vastly inferior to LEGO regardless of the product line.  However, it should be noted that Pokemon is definitely their best-selling line right now.  Most video gamers might not be huge into LEGO, or toys in general, but kids are.  Most Nintendo toys have done pretty well for themselves, well enough for Nintendo to continue the licenses and pursue new ones.  So long as LEGO gives us normal Mario sets that everyone is expecting, it is very likely to do extremely well.  It's Mario.  Mario as a media franchise more sales than Marvel, more than Harry Potter, and more than many, many other franchises LEGO has done in the past which were definitely not one-shots.  The average comic fan is probably just as likely to buy LEGO as a video game one, if those can succeed then Mario has a pretty good shot.

[TeriXeri]

19 minutes ago, Nerd-with-a-Pencil said:

The problem with LEGO Overwatch was, in many eyes, timing. By the time the sets released, Overwatch had fallen pretty far from its peak popularity (and That controversy coming soon after didn't help anything). Mario and Minecraft are by now household names, unlikely to be forgotten soon, and its that edge that gives them better chances.

Overwatch suffered from Overwatch 2 annoucement with being very early in development, and that just killed the hype imo.

 

I'd say Mario is a lot stronger known name indeed, having 30+ years of games under it's belt, on many different platforms, not even strictly Nintendo consoles:

My first Mario game I played was the 1987 version of Mario Bros on the Commodore 64, also Donkey Kong, Technically a Mario game before the name Mario.

And even then, there was competition between the NES and the Commodore 64, Mario Brothers vs Giana Sisters.

Jumpman Junior also was a Mario-like game on Commodore 64 before the official Mario name.

Still, beside all that competition, Mario is still known today due to it's staying power and branching out into many different types of games later on, Mario Kart, Mario Party being large game-series on their own.

One of my most played Mario games actually has been Mario Land 2 on Game Boy.

Edited March 10, 2020 by TeriXeri

[DentedFrood]

13 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

I certainly wouldn't be surprised, I'm expecting it. This needs all the right pieces to fall into place, and frankly, I don't see that happening. Not just sales, but consistent set design, proper figures (mini or big), and, best of all, a decent consumer base. The "Fans" want Zelda, the "fans" want Nintendo, not necessarily Mario. The "Fans" will buy Mario hoping it gets them Zelda/Pokemon/etc. Of course, I'm not saying that no one wants Mario, but let's keep things in perspective. Look at Star Wars, Marvel, Space, Castle, DC, etc and see how much of a damn Lego gives about what the fans want.

Minecraft has the advantage that Creator has, being a "do-whatever-you-want" theme with some proper builds and a modular structure. But, I guarantee you that Minecraft stayed in Micro-scale, that theme would've ended quicker than you can say Enderman. The figures are interesting, the builds are simple yet often quite flavorful, and Minecraft is a relatively relaxing game about exploration and building, so it's like the perfect Lego game, without obviously being Lego. Overwatch is a different basket altogether. While initially it probably did well, there's no second year for Hasbro's Ultimates line, and no confirmed Lego waves this year either. That theme is, as far as we know right now, dead. Which is unfortunate, as I like the characters and locations.

Back to my point about a consumer base, there aren't a lot of Nintendo fans who buy the Mega Construx stuff (I know, I work in gaming retail, and most video game customers don't care about building toys). Lego is by far a more popular brand, yes, but that means little to the average gamer. Lego's licenses bank on not just Lego fans of X property, but also X fans who might buy a Lego set or two. A lot of Mario toys (save plushies) stay on the shelf. It's a slippery slope. I hope I'm wrong, and that Mario lives a long Lego life, but I'm keeping expectations low as possible.

My nephews (7 & 8) were all about Mario last year for Christmas. It's still a very strong property. They also like getting the Pokemon Mega sets. Unless their tastes have changed, I think they'll be really excited about this theme, and they are right in the middle of TLG target demographic. As someone who's first love game console was the NES (wasn't my first, but the first I really got into), I'm excited to see what they do with this line. You mentioned earlier some of the other tie-ins, I think my niece (almost 5) might like the Trolls line, she was big into it after the last movie and she's just getting old enough for LEGO. Not sure if any of them are into Minions right now, but that also has a new movie, so we'll see. Though my partner has expressed interest in one of the Minions sets, and she usually only wants NASA type space sets, plus the occasional dragon or beast

[gedren_y]

For those wondering how they might do Bowser, consider the Leatherhead fig from TMNT. Most classic depictions of Bowser having him squatting rather than standing anyway. Donky Kong works at that scale too. Diddy Kong could be done like Monkey King, maybe with the short moving legs. Most of the Koopas could be done like the Ninja Turtles. Gombas can be pretty much brick built. New head molds for sure.

This also puts some of the CMF costumes in a new light. Particularly this one.

Edited March 10, 2020 by gedren_y

[Harkonen]

In Super Mario Land 2 one of the levels is made out of Lego bricks so maybe this weird LED Mario has something to do with this from the game. Maybe the screens have to do with some kind of Hidden Side like integration with an app or game? Or it could be just for the teaser. 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Harkonen

[BigGuy4U]

I'm honestly surprised by how many people are discounting this as a "pointless" theme and clumping it together with other recent themes like Trolls and Minions. Mario is the mascot of Nintendo and one of the most recognizable gaming characters in history, still appearing in multiple games a year almost 40 years since the release of Donkey Kong. The franchise itself is the best-selling video game series in history, yes, even beating Pokemon. Every single console released by Nintendo has had at least 3 Mario games in its top 10 best sellers. Super Mario Odyssey alone has sold over 16 million copies in 2 years. In contrast, Trolls and Minions are one and done waves for sequels to kid's movies that don't appeal to anywhere near as many AFOLs. To say that the theme is "pointless", "missed the train", "won't sell well", should've been Zelda/Pokemon/etc. instead, or throwing it in the bin with Trolls and Minions as a terrible decision by Lego is horribly ignorant in my opinion. Lego's definitely made a lot of questionable licensing decisions, but it's ridiculous to say a theme based on the best-selling video game franchise of all time featuring gaming's most recognizable character is one of them. Sorry for the rant, I've wanted this theme for a long time and it baffles me to see it receiving so much of this negative treatment. Just needed to get that off my chest.

[LuigiBobLegoPants]

My triforce of favorite IP's is now complete!