Super Mario 2021 - Rumors & Discussion

[PhoenixBuilder]

On 4/25/2021 at 8:07 PM, Lyichir said:

I do hope Lego is planning to take on Zelda next, but I don’t know if more minor franchises like Metroid or Star Fox are likely to see sets at all in the long run, given that they’re a good deal more niche than those big hitters despite how passionate their fans are. Best case scenario for  some franchises might be a Disney-style CMF series that could feature a wide variety of characters, if not their vehicles or settings.

  

Do we know if the deal between Lego and Nintendo covers franchises other than Mario? Everything has been branded 'Lego Super Mario' so I wonder if the current products are specifically under that and not a wider Nintendo deal. It might be a reason for Zelda sets not appearing yet? 

[Kit Figsto]

On 4/25/2021 at 2:07 PM, Lyichir said:

Best case scenario for  some franchises might be a Disney-style CMF series that could feature a wide variety of characters, if not their vehicles or settings.

I agree, I think that seems most likely.  Mario is obviously big enough for a wave of sets, I think Zelda could do well with either some sort of D2C or small wave, but I don't really see anything else being big enough to warrant either a D2C (in the vein of Disney doing D2Cs for some properties rather than full on themes) or a full theme.  With a CMF series, they could maybe do some alternate costumes of the main Mario characters (Mario, Luigi, Wario, etc), throw in some characters that may not make it into sets (Daisy, Rosalina, etc), a few Zelda characters, then characters like Samus, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Snake (maybe not, actually, unless they only included his box.  Probably too many weapons for LEGO ), and so on.  Characters like that, especially a Captain Falcon, are very popular (mostly due to Super Smash Brothers), but I highly doubt a set from F-Zero would sell well enough, since a lot of people probably haven't even heard of that game.

[Lyichir]

17 hours ago, PhoenixBuilder said:

Do we know if the deal between Lego and Nintendo covers franchises other than Mario? Everything has been branded 'Lego Super Mario' so I wonder if the current products are specifically under that and not a wider Nintendo deal. It might be a reason for Zelda sets not appearing yet? 

I would guess that, like Marvel or DC movie licenses (which all have to be negotiated separately despite the existing of the overarching "Super Heroes" theme), the rights for each Nintendo game or franchise would have to be negotiated separately even if there were an existing brand partnership. That's not to see we couldn't see other franchises—the success of the Mario theme is good precedent that would likely make future negotiations much easier—but Lego is unlikely to be paying for overarching brand rights if they're not doing anything with those other brands yet, and similarly Nintendo isn't likely to be licensing their franchises out as a bulk package without the assurance that all of those franchises are being utilized and represented properly.

[2lazeetomakeaname]

1 hour ago, Lyichir said:

I would guess that, like Marvel or DC movie licenses (which all have to be negotiated separately despite the existing of the overarching "Super Heroes" theme), the rights for each Nintendo game or franchise would have to be negotiated separately even if there were an existing brand partnership. That's not to see we couldn't see other franchises—the success of the Mario theme is good precedent that would likely make future negotiations much easier—but Lego is unlikely to be paying for overarching brand rights if they're not doing anything with those other brands yet, and similarly Nintendo isn't likely to be licensing their franchises out as a bulk package without the assurance that all of those franchises are being utilized and represented properly.

Marvel and DC are completely separate companies, Nintendo owns both Mario and Zelda

[gedren_y]

1 hour ago, 2lazeetomakeaname said:

Marvel and DC are completely separate companies, Nintendo owns both Mario and Zelda

I think @Lyichir is referring to how movie sets have different licensing and branding in both Marvel and DC to the more generic comic/cartoon based sets. There even have been in the past small differences in price-per-parts ratio because there are other companies that get merchandize profit share. That, more often than not, is because of a part made specifically for a movie prop that becomes a major merchandizing item. Lego doesn't do this much anymore, but that is why the baldric piece is only in POTC and Lone Ranger sets (probably because of Jerry Bruckheimer Films).

Of course I would love Link, and his much celebrated accessories, in Lego.

Edited May 2, 2021 by gedren_y

[Kit Figsto]

Apologies if this is way too off topic, but just a slight tangent about the minifig-scale set discussion - based on the picture of the 10775 Mickey and Donald's Farm, Farmer Mickey's torso looks like it'd work really well as a purist Mario torso.  Not sure what head would work best on the figure, but just thought that was kind of notable.

[Lion King]

13 hours ago, Kit Figsto said:

Apologies if this is way too off topic, but just a slight tangent about the minifig-scale set discussion - based on the picture of the 10775 Mickey and Donald's Farm, Farmer Mickey's torso looks like it'd work really well as a purist Mario torso.  Not sure what head would work best on the figure, but just thought that was kind of notable.

No need to apologize! Now I think about it, it could work as a minifig-scale Mario. However, I do’t collect Super Mario sets so I can’t be sure if Mario’s head can work on minifigure’s toro tho.

[Darth Shadowthrone]

6 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

No need to apologize! Now I think about it, it could work as a minifig-scale Mario. However, I do’t collect Super Mario sets so I can’t be sure if Mario’s head can work on minifigure’s toro tho.

There's other heads with mustaches that could work for Mario -  

 

Plus there's the fake mustache piece from the Lego Movie / CMF sets

[Lyichir]

On 5/2/2021 at 2:51 PM, gedren_y said:

I think @Lyichir is referring to how movie sets have different licensing and branding in both Marvel and DC to the more generic comic/cartoon based sets. There even have been in the past small differences in price-per-parts ratio because there are other companies that get merchandize profit share. That, more often than not, is because of a part made specifically for a movie prop that becomes a major merchandizing item. Lego doesn't do this much anymore, but that is why the baldric piece is only in POTC and Lone Ranger sets (probably because of Jerry Bruckheimer Films).

Of course I would love Link, and his much celebrated accessories, in Lego.

Correct. So for instance, Lego has to negotiate for separate licenses to each individual Marvel movie even though they all fall under the "Marvel Super Heroes" umbrella. It's not just one overarching "Marvel Cinematic Universe" license, so it involves multiple licenses (even if the licenses to several upcoming movies can be negotiated at one time).

In the case of Nintendo, the fact that it's taken this long for them to license any of their franchises to Lego at all should be evidence enough of how close they hold those franchises to their chest. Now that the results of the Mario deal have been positive it bodes well for future endeavors, but those too might take multiple years to reach fruition.

[jp-30]

 https://www.brothers-brick.com/2020/03/13/everything-you-want-to-know-about-lego-super-mario-feature/?

RE: Recent discussion.

Quote

Again, I can’t go into any specifics here, but I can say that we haven’t worked for four years to release just one wave of products. We hope to have a long and fruitful relationship with Nintendo and their IPs, and we are really looking forward to working with them on a longer-term. They have a lot of very exciting IPs that we might do or might not do.

 

[nicknack116]

16 hours ago, jp-30 said:

 https://www.brothers-brick.com/2020/03/13/everything-you-want-to-know-about-lego-super-mario-feature/?

RE: Recent discussion.

 

From my understanding, both aspects of this recent discussion are correct: LEGO wants to work with Nintendo on more than just one wave of products (and they've already released more) and is looking into other Nintendo IPs than Super Mario.

But, Nintendo's licensing with past partners (like Jakks Pacific or K'Nex or Hot Wheels) seems to be on a franchise-by-franchise case. They've also been so hesitant to license for anything that they seem to have a wait-and-see approach before licensing out more. And there's also the issue that some Nintendo characters aren't fully-owned by Nintendo by shared with second-party companies.

I think Nintendo wanted to see how LEGO Super Mario turned out before moving forward on another project with a different IP. But, it's been a success, I think, and so I'm guessing Nintendo is now fully onboard with another franchise getting a LEGO treatment?

I think Jakks Pacific's "World of Nintendo" line of toys is the best case of what we could potentially get from LEGO. At its most productive, Jakks made toys based on Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Star Fox, and Pikmin.

My predictions?

While I'd love to see minifigure Zelda sets, I think we'll get a dungeon-building line of sets that are essentially the same as LEGO Mario, but with a digital figure Link and Legend of Zelda enemies/locations/allies. But maybe with a sword that scans enemies instead of jumping on them?

I think Donkey Kong is another likely character to show up, but I wonder if we're going to see him appear in a set based on the classic arcade game so Mario can still be used in it? But, Donkey Kong is supposed to be getting the first expansion at the Universal Nintendo land in Japan. So, maybe Nintendo has their sights set on expanding that character more?

And then I think the rest of the characters aren't popular enough. Or, in Animal Crossing's case, exploded in popularity too recently for anyone to know/discussed how to capitalize on the licensing in toys yet.

[gedren_y]

I could see Donkey Kong as a playable character, with bigfig scale arms, and posable legs. Using this system, Donkey Kong Country isn't out of the realm of possibility. Diddy Kong would be easy to do as a buildable character.

[Childe_Roland]

10 minutes ago, gedren_y said:

I could see Donkey Kong as a playable character, with bigfig scale arms, and posable legs. Using this system, Donkey Kong Country isn't out of the realm of possibility. Diddy Kong would be easy to do as a buildable character.

I mean they've made a bigfig ape before - Winston from Overwatch. A reskin would work fine for DK if they want to go that direction.

I personally think that they'll eventually do minifigures, but they'll all have molded heads. Nintendo is pretty particular as to how their properties are displayed, so I would see them giving consent for other themes only if they took the Simpsons or Loony Toons route. While it doesn't fit the best with regular system Lego, it'd be fine enough for me. I just hope if thry ever do make a legend of zelda set that link comes with hat that is removable. A hat piece with elvish ears and a hair mould would be quite useful in many fantasy settings. A CMF would be my ideal solution for those, but only time will tell.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Childe_Roland

[Lyichir]

4 hours ago, nicknack116 said:

From my understanding, both aspects of this recent discussion are correct: LEGO wants to work with Nintendo on more than just one wave of products (and they've already released more) and is looking into other Nintendo IPs than Super Mario.

But, Nintendo's licensing with past partners (like Jakks Pacific or K'Nex or Hot Wheels) seems to be on a franchise-by-franchise case. They've also been so hesitant to license for anything that they seem to have a wait-and-see approach before licensing out more. And there's also the issue that some Nintendo characters aren't fully-owned by Nintendo by shared with second-party companies.

I think Nintendo wanted to see how LEGO Super Mario turned out before moving forward on another project with a different IP. But, it's been a success, I think, and so I'm guessing Nintendo is now fully onboard with another franchise getting a LEGO treatment?

I think Jakks Pacific's "World of Nintendo" line of toys is the best case of what we could potentially get from LEGO. At its most productive, Jakks made toys based on Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Star Fox, and Pikmin.

My predictions?

While I'd love to see minifigure Zelda sets, I think we'll get a dungeon-building line of sets that are essentially the same as LEGO Mario, but with a digital figure Link and Legend of Zelda enemies/locations/allies. But maybe with a sword that scans enemies instead of jumping on them?

I think Donkey Kong is another likely character to show up, but I wonder if we're going to see him appear in a set based on the classic arcade game so Mario can still be used in it? But, Donkey Kong is supposed to be getting the first expansion at the Universal Nintendo land in Japan. So, maybe Nintendo has their sights set on expanding that character more?

And then I think the rest of the characters aren't popular enough. Or, in Animal Crossing's case, exploded in popularity too recently for anyone to know/discussed how to capitalize on the licensing in toys yet.

I don't know if I'd necessarily expect a Zelda theme to be a similar format to the Mario sets. Mario works, in part, because of both having one main way of interacting with things (jumping), and being more vocal and expressive generally (Link, by contrast, uses a wide array of items and equipment from swords to bombs to bows and doesn't really speak outside of vocal grunts). I do expect Zelda sets would focus a lot on dungeon building with various traps and functions, but I don't know if the Lego Mario formula would necessarily be the best fit for that. Of course, this is all speculation, so bear my opinions with a grain of salt.

I'm not sure we'd see Donkey Kong except as an extension of the Mario theme (either in a Mario set like you describe or in a Mario Kart extension of that). The Donkey Kong Country series of games is moderately popular, but not as much so as Mario and Zelda, and its gameplay isn't nearly as easy to adapt to Lego in my opinion.

Animal Crossing could be a good fit for Lego but would likely be VERY different from Zelda or Mario, focusing mainly on buildings and interior design. In terms of subject matter, it's not entirely unlike the idyllic Fabuland theme of yore. It might benefit from a larger scale than minifig-scale as well, not necessarily because it needs fancy electronics but because a larger scale could make it easier to build a wide variety of furniture. But on the other hand, a smaller scale like minifig-scale might be more conducive to the buildings that house that furniture.

Splatoon has very quickly become one of Nintendo's top franchises, but as cool as it would be to see its characters and settings represented in Lego, it might be one of the toughest major Nintendo franchises to adapt to Lego simply because its gameplay is so fluid-based—not necessarily the easiest thing to represent with solid plastic.

[Lion King]

Pokemon is more unlikely right now because of so many molds for certain Pokemon like Bulbasaur, Mewtwo, Dialga, PIkachu, etc... and of course, characters require new hairpieces and Pokeball mold. Definitley more unlikely but it may be possible in a few years if Nintendo-Lego partnership continues. 

[gedren_y]

Donkey Kong Country isn't all that different in gameplay from Super Mario World, though the grasping and swinging function would be difficult to pull off, unless the scanner box weight can be reduced significantly.

The Legend of Zelda works better as a minifig. Even in the 3D versions his nose isn't all that prominent, so the standard minifig head design works, though the faces would be more like Exo-Force (or maybe early Clone Wars). I see sets working more like Minecraft.

26 minutes ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Pokemon is more unlikely right now because of so many molds for certain Pokemon like Bulbasaur, Mewtwo, Dialga, PIkachu, etc... and of course, characters require new hairpieces and Pokeball mold. Definitley more unlikely but it may be possible in a few years if Nintendo-Lego partnership continues. 

Pokémon is never going to happen. Mega Brands has too much of a hold on the license, and they are pretty accurate.

[Lion King]

5 minutes ago, gedren_y said:

 

Pokémon is never going to happen. Mega Brands has too much of a hold on the license, and they are pretty accurate.

Ah right. I forgot about Mega Brands. Thanks for a reminder tho.

[Darth Shadowthrone]

The only thing I’ve gotten from this theme so far is the character bags but I had an idea: 

What of in a few waves time we get actual characters in the bags and not just enemies? I could see something like the Lego Movie where there were smaller versions of Metalbeard and the alien queen for all sorts of brick-built characters: 

- Bowser

- Baby Bowser 

- Toad 

-Yoshi 

Some of their sets solid be discontinued in a year’s time so it could be cool to see smaller, more affordable versions 

[nicknack116]

36 minutes ago, Darth Shadowthrone said:

The only thing I’ve gotten from this theme so far is the character bags but I had an idea: 

What of in a few waves time we get actual characters in the bags and not just enemies? I could see something like the Lego Movie where there were smaller versions of Metalbeard and the alien queen for all sorts of brick-built characters: 

- Bowser

- Baby Bowser 

- Toad 

-Yoshi 

Some of their sets solid be discontinued in a year’s time so it could be cool to see smaller, more affordable versions 

I hadn't thought of that, but I think that's a great idea and might be pretty likely.

My kids have grabbed some sets, but I wish there was an easier way to grab a Toad/Bowser/Yoshi figure without needing a set. This would be perfect. LEGO could make all the different colored Yoshi and Toads pretty easily that way, too.

[BrickBob Studpants]

1 hour ago, Darth Shadowthrone said:

What of in a few waves time we get actual characters in the bags and not just enemies?

Good idea! They have to run out of enemies eventually, so that would be a nice alternative 

Btw, isn‘t the full set list already long overdue? Mario’s now the only theme besides Monkie Kid that still doesn‘t have set names for its 2HY releases 

[Lion King]

12 hours ago, Darth Shadowthrone said:

The only thing I’ve gotten from this theme so far is the character bags but I had an idea: 

What of in a few waves time we get actual characters in the bags and not just enemies? I could see something like the Lego Movie where there were smaller versions of Metalbeard and the alien queen for all sorts of brick-built characters: 

- Bowser

- Baby Bowser 

- Toad 

-Yoshi 

Some of their sets solid be discontinued in a year’s time so it could be cool to see smaller, more affordable versions 

I have a same thought! I mean, I’m not interested in enemies alone. I was hoping to see some characters in Character Series but darn it... It would be very easy to access to get one without buying an entire set. 

I guess BrickLink and eBay websites are the options I could acquire specific characters. 

[Falconfan1414]

1 up power up confirmed 

[Lion King]

43 minutes ago, Falconfan1414 said:

1 up power up confirmed 

Thanks for sharing!

[nicknack116]

49 minutes ago, Falconfan1414 said:

1 up power up confirmed 

Saw the line-up of series 3 blind bag characters for LEGO Mario and oof, they are already scraping the bottom of the barrel on enemies! I mean, there are only so many to draw from at that size, and it's cool that they're making obscure characters. But I hope they get more creative with the blind bags as they go. A 1-up shroom is nice, though!

I'm just eagerly awaiting news on the rumored/speculated set 71395 for $169.99. I'm still crossing my fingers for a microscale Peach's Castle/Mushroom Kingdom, please!

[gedren_y]

There has been a rise in retro gaming since the pandemic (me included), and a number of more obscure Mario games are being marketed these days. It stands to reason that Lego would capitalize on this with the character packs, as they are an easy sell to that market. Additionally, a lot of that market likely have kids in the right age range that the gameplay of this theme could appeal to. Parent and child crossover appeal is a major accomplishment for a theme, and I've seen that happen firsthand with Super Mario.