Lego David

When Should Ninjago End?

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On 3/21/2020 at 2:11 PM, Gorilla94 said:

It´s not the unlicenced theme´s fault if the sets are overpriced. It´s no valid argument not to produce such things in the future because some megablocks were too greedy back then.

To make it short: I don´t want "inspired" figures and sets. I want well made representations of what i love like the wonderfull dragons knights with this gorgeous bronze, black, green colour scheme (but now with a few more different weapon and helmet-moulds, dual moulding and printed arms/legs here and there). You should just accept, that some people don´t want to mix these things. For my part i love many themes. History, Mythology, Fantasy, some licences, Lego City... Give me these things in their classic form and i am happy. I do mix these occasionally like for example a classic viking sitting in the parisian restaurant, too. But i don´t want a hipster-Viking wearing glasses and a pink unikitty-fan-scarf over his chainmail (as a print i cant separate. if they use the new scarf mould i´d be fine with it) combined with a anime-logo print on his helmet whch makes the piece useless for me. If the figures and builds were made in a way that allowes me to use everything with mild modifications as a classic pirate-, city-, viking- or samurai-thing and not just as something from this crazy mashup world with tons of anime-influence, I´d buy it. So I just bricklink something like the bone armor for my orc chieftain from time to time, which isn´t satisfying. I don´t say Ninjago should end. But there should also be sets not with less but without asian influence. One big set for every theme like a good blacksmith and a pirate ship and i wouldn´t complain.

 

"But i don´t want a hipster-Viking wearing glasses and a pink unikitty-fan-scarf over his chainmail"

:laugh::laugh::laugh::roflmao: thank you for this <3

Seriously: but we dont live in the high era of LotR or PotC - it may come again, who knows maybe we get a medevil vampire theme soon after some video game or tv show becomes very successful.
As long as this doesnt happen interest is gonna be split in licenced themes and those established, which can cover many areas: Ninjago can cover pretty much everything. And it can even look good doing it.

I understand it is not what you want but it is what TLG deems marketable. I think the only hope we have here are singular sets - like the current amazing pirates set from IDEAS.
I think it is very sad Vox cancelled the TV show "Firefly". I think the show could have been also really successful on the long run. But we dont make these descisions.

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On 3/21/2020 at 3:38 PM, Brandon Pea said:

Sorry I think I might've misread. My apologies. I think a western theme is a great idea. I actually recommended a desert/outback/ranch subtheme for City once. One with cowboys and stuff like that.  

No problem :) Oh, I´d love that... I was just old enough to get classic western sets back then. A ranch in nice colours with a bunch of animals like sheep, pigs, horses and cattle would sell crazy.

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1 hour ago, Kim-Kwang-Seok said:

"But i don´t want a hipster-Viking wearing glasses and a pink unikitty-fan-scarf over his chainmail"

:laugh::laugh::laugh::roflmao: thank you for this <3

Seriously: but we dont live in the high era of LotR or PotC - it may come again, who knows maybe we get a medevil vampire theme soon after some video game or tv show becomes very successful.
As long as this doesnt happen interest is gonna be split in licenced themes and those established, which can cover many areas: Ninjago can cover pretty much everything. And it can even look good doing it.

I understand it is not what you want but it is what TLG deems marketable. I think the only hope we have here are singular sets - like the current amazing pirates set from IDEAS.
I think it is very sad Vox cancelled the TV show "Firefly". I think the show could have been also really successful on the long run. But we dont make these descisions.

You´re welcome... :laugh:

I hope so... ^^´

I think Ninjago can do that, too, as long as there are parts, you can use in another theme. The new ninjago wave has a great orc in sand green like the old fantasy trolls. That whole figure is perfect. The purple one is ok, too. Maybe a bit coloufull but it´s still fine. The new armor for the heroes is great. the gold/black silver/black one is really usefull unlike the nexo knights headgear assembly in transparent colours. When I wrote my ironic comment only the magic villain was leaked, which has not a single usefull part for generic castle. Now i am really looking forward to the new sets.

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4 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

You´re welcome... :laugh:

I hope so... ^^´

I think Ninjago can do that, too, as long as there are parts, you can use in another theme. The new ninjago wave has a great orc in sand green like the old fantasy trolls. That whole figure is perfect. The purple one is ok, too. Maybe a bit coloufull but it´s still fine. The new armor for the heroes is great. the gold/black silver/black one is really usefull unlike the nexo knights headgear assembly in transparent colours. When I wrote my ironic comment only the magic villain was leaked, which has not a single usefull part for generic castle. Now i am really looking forward to the new sets.

Personally, I went the opposite way; the Skull Sorceror could easily be reinterpreted as a plague doctor or dark mage or evil priest with some modification. And the orcs and goblins are nd skeletons are all good by me.

But the uses of the new armoured ninja outfits seem rather limited to me. (The mismatched arms don’t help - who only has armour on one arm? Budget cuts?) Like, go all the way ninja suit or all the way knight suit, but I don’t really know what to do with these weird half-and-half suits. I’ll probably use them as castle guards of some sort - they’re all wearing the armour over the Forbidden Spinjitzu suits so I’ll probably get maybe two armoured Jays or Coles (depending on figure distribution) and put them together with a Forbidden Spinjitzu non-armoured version of the same suit as representing ‘underarmour’, or a guard who hasn’t gotten dressed yet. 

But honestly I just don’t think these outfits are generic enough. Though, we haven’t seen Zane or Kai yet. Hopefully they’ll be a pleasant surprise.

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On 3/30/2020 at 11:19 PM, Fenghuang0296 said:

Personally, I went the opposite way; the Skull Sorceror could easily be reinterpreted as a plague doctor or dark mage or evil priest with some modification. And the orcs and goblins are nd skeletons are all good by me.

But the uses of the new armoured ninja outfits seem rather limited to me. (The mismatched arms don’t help - who only has armour on one arm? Budget cuts?) Like, go all the way ninja suit or all the way knight suit, but I don’t really know what to do with these weird half-and-half suits. I’ll probably use them as castle guards of some sort - they’re all wearing the armour over the Forbidden Spinjitzu suits so I’ll probably get maybe two armoured Jays or Coles (depending on figure distribution) and put them together with a Forbidden Spinjitzu non-armoured version of the same suit as representing ‘underarmour’, or a guard who hasn’t gotten dressed yet. 

But honestly I just don’t think these outfits are generic enough. Though, we haven’t seen Zane or Kai yet. Hopefully they’ll be a pleasant surprise.

Ok, I can´t imagine that, but would like to see the result :) I can´t see the body be usefull for classic fantasy because of the asian symbols on the robe. For a plague doctor I have the brickwarrior custom mask and hat for that combined with the Series 17 Highway man. Looks perfect.

Lots of fighters. You already made a good argument with budget cuts. Plate armor is expensive and if your left side is anyways well hidden behind a shield it makes sense from a financial perspective to save costs only armoring your head and right side. Depending on what you are doing it´s good to keep the weight as low as possible. The most famous example of a warrior with such equipment is a murmillo or retiarius gladiator, who´s style of fighting was often compared to dancing. For a more modern example you can take the bulletproof iron armors from Ned Kelly and his fellow bush-rangers. They didn´t cover the legs because they were meant to be used for shooting down from a hill, so the legs were out of danger. Combined with a tower shield and spear this new armor piece works great for guards or elite infantry in my opinion.

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8 hours ago, Gorilla94 said:

Ok, I can´t imagine that, but would like to see the result :) I can´t see the body be usefull for classic fantasy because of the asian symbols on the robe. For a plague doctor I have the brickwarrior custom mask and hat for that combined with the Series 17 Highway man. Looks perfect.

Lots of fighters. You already made a good argument with budget cuts. Plate armor is expensive and if your left side is anyways well hidden behind a shield it makes sense from a financial perspective to save costs only armoring your head and right side. Depending on what you are doing it´s good to keep the weight as low as possible. The most famous example of a warrior with such equipment is a murmillo or retiarius gladiator, who´s style of fighting was often compared to dancing. For a more modern example you can take the bulletproof iron armors from Ned Kelly and his fellow bush-rangers. They didn´t cover the legs because they were meant to be used for shooting down from a hill, so the legs were out of danger. Combined with a tower shield and spear this new armor piece works great for guards or elite infantry in my opinion.

The new armor also reminds me of WOW, Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, Elder Scrolls and even some of the weird orc armors in the LOTR movies.  It's definitely usable in a fantasy setting and as you say even a historical setting if used correctly.  I don't know if I agree that you can't use the torso's because of the asian symbols, It's lego you can use it for what ever you want especially in a fantasy setting.  The symbols could be anything you want them to be.  I really like the new wave and can't wait to see the sets.  

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On 3/30/2020 at 2:19 PM, Fenghuang0296 said:

Personally, I went the opposite way; the Skull Sorceror could easily be reinterpreted as a plague doctor or dark mage or evil priest with some modification. And the orcs and goblins are nd skeletons are all good by me.

But the uses of the new armoured ninja outfits seem rather limited to me. (The mismatched arms don’t help - who only has armour on one arm? Budget cuts?) Like, go all the way ninja suit or all the way knight suit, but I don’t really know what to do with these weird half-and-half suits. I’ll probably use them as castle guards of some sort - they’re all wearing the armour over the Forbidden Spinjitzu suits so I’ll probably get maybe two armoured Jays or Coles (depending on figure distribution) and put them together with a Forbidden Spinjitzu non-armoured version of the same suit as representing ‘underarmour’, or a guard who hasn’t gotten dressed yet. 

But honestly I just don’t think these outfits are generic enough. Though, we haven’t seen Zane or Kai yet. Hopefully they’ll be a pleasant surprise.

You could also use the one arm armor for archers maybe. The armored arm could be the one holding the bow, therefore being more exposed. 

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I don't mind at all if Ninjago keeps selling. When buying used Lego, usually just lots of pieces in a big box, I've stumbled upon quite a few Ninjago sets over the years. And after building them I must say that I really like them. Very inspired designs where the creators could do pretty much what they wanted. Lately I've bought both the Ninjago City and Docks, new but on sale, and had lots of fun assembling them. My 5 year old daughter also like to play with them, but the Ninjago population was quickly replaced with her Friends and Elves figures instead :) 

Also, a local store here with a big Lego section usually have a couple of mid-range Ninjago sets for sale, perhaps 40-50% off, so they become pretty nice parts packs for my other builds :) 

 

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I don't get why people want Ninjago to end if it still sells. This won't bring a bunch of original themes back. Anyway, I hope they have a plan to wrap things up if they get the call to end the theme. A story ending on a bad note is just awful... Looking at you Rise of Skywalker.

Edited by Harkonen

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On 4/12/2020 at 7:34 AM, Harkonen said:

I don't get why people want Ninjago to end if it still sells. This won't bring a bunch of original themes back. Anyway, I hope they have a plan to wrap things up if they get the call to end the theme. A story ending on a bad note is just awful... Looking at you Rise of Skywalker.

I would agree. Although I am not sure if It is blocking out the possibility of other themes (hope not), it doesn't seem like Ninjago is going to end soon, though.

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It “sells” despite the exhaustion of originality and story only because it’s become an ever-present theme with all the associated marketing push and promotions. This summer’s new sets morphing into some sort of exhumed Nexo Knights mashup says it all.

Of course it’s blocking other new in-house themes - imagine if it was cancelled, would TLG simply make the designers (a limited resource) redundant or put them to work on new themes? Not difficult to work that one out.

Edited by Lucarex

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On 4/12/2020 at 2:34 PM, Harkonen said:

Anyway, I hope they have a plan to wrap things up if they get the call to end the theme. A story ending on a bad note is just awful... Looking at you Rise of Skywalker.

That's the thing... The more the theme keeps going, the more likely it becomes to get a very unsatisfying ending. And with the story's current status, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what will end up happening. In my opinion, instead of just continuing to go nowhere, they should start building up towards the story's ending now, so they can still have it end on a high note whenever the time comes for the theme to end.

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I don't think Ninjago will end soon, but I can see them making more extreme differences between seasons, just looking at 2020 going from cyber-punk gaming toward medieval skeleton dungeons is a big leap.

And there's also still Legacy for more "Classic" Ninjago sets of the past.

 

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I’ve said it before, but I still think TLNM (unfairly slated IMO) was the best place to call it a day.

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Ninjago has basically become a catch all for every unlicensed LEGO idea. Unless LEGO has something very specific in mind (like teens with tech catching ghosts in a modern day setting) LEGO just makes ninjago do it. A good rule of thumb is that if an idea can be summarized in 1 or 2 words then it just becomes ninjago. Mechs, Castles, Pirates, Snakes, cyberpunk. "Why make many theme when one theme do trick?". Give it a few more years and a ninjago collection with a few sets from each of the different eras will look more random than Time Cruisers. 
 

Ninjago consuming everything has become especially prevalent in the last few years now that Castle (2014), Chima (2015), Ultra Agents (2015), Pirates (2015), and Nexo Knights (2018) are dead. Ninjago, Hidden Side, and the upcoming Monkey King are the only Action/Adventure themes we have. Ninjago has also set an unmatchable standard for the popularity of new themes. It seems like every theme is expected to be the next Ninjago, most notably Chima and Nexo Knights. Even something like Hidden Side probably only would've lasted only 1 or 2 years before Ninjago but it seems like LEGO intends for the theme to continue indefinitely. 
 

Ninjago will continue as long as kids still are interested in the core characters. The only themes as consistent and long-running as ninjago that are still surging are Star Wars and city. City will forever resonate with kids as it's the world around them and they make up the characters themselves. Star Wars had proven that it could be handed down generations before it even became a LEGO theme, plus Star Wars has the benefit of having three groups of characters (from each of the trilogies) so it isn't literally all of the same characters every wave. How long can the ninjago characters last? Are they strong enough to be passed down generations? They were after all only designed to sustain a three year toy line and cartoon and I personally am not confident that they can survive as many decades as the Star Wars characters. How long can ninjas be cool? Pirates and castle were thought to be eternal but even those themes have proven that they can't last forever, even when taking breaks every few years unlike ninjago. 

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On 4/18/2020 at 3:15 AM, MaxHeadroom said:

Ninjago has basically become a catch all for every unlicensed LEGO idea. Unless LEGO has something very specific in mind (like teens with tech catching ghosts in a modern day setting) LEGO just makes ninjago do it. A good rule of thumb is that if an idea can be summarized in 1 or 2 words then it just becomes ninjago. Mechs, Castles, Pirates, Snakes, cyberpunk. "Why make many theme when one theme do trick?". Give it a few more years and a ninjago collection with a few sets from each of the different eras will look more random than Time Cruisers. 

And that's precisely my biggest problem with this theme,it's like a big black hole that's sucking out every potential new action theme.

Lego has become complacent with this theme,when a decade ago we had a new action theme almost every year now we're lucky to have a action theme that is not Ninjago.Think about it,ever since 2013 till now the only new "old school" action themes that we got thus far are Ultra Agents and Hidden side (I'm excluding Chima and Nexo Knights because they follow the Ninjago formula) that means 2 bloody themes in the entirety of 7 years.While back in 09-12 we had themes like Agents,Power Miners,Atlantis,Monster Fighters,Pharaohs Quest,Dino etc that I can count off the top of my head,so 6 themes that released in a 4 year span.Now compare this to our current state of things.

Edited by LOTR34

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On 4/19/2020 at 4:46 PM, LOTR34 said:

And that's precisely my biggest problem with this theme,it's like a big black hole that's sucking out every potential new action theme.

Lego has become complacent with this theme,

Yep said as much myself. It’s a comfort blanket and reliable revenue generator that TLG is absolutely petrified to let go of, no matter how tired and flaky it gets. 

 

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1 hour ago, Lucarex said:

Yep said as much myself. It’s a comfort blanket and reliable revenue generator that TLG is absolutely petrified to let go of, no matter how tired and flaky it gets. 

 

They will only let go if the sales go down and I don't see that happening any time soon.

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