LEGO half year results best ever

[ArneNielsen]

LEGO headquarters here in Denmark just made a press release about the financial outcome of the first half year of 2021.

Two interesting tidbits:

The sales rose astonishing 46% compared to same period in 2020. 

Best selling themes was: LEGO® City, LEGO® Star Wars™, LEGO® Harry Potter™, LEGO® Creator Expert and LEGO® Technic. 

So my thoughts: LEGO is still going strong getting stronger, and it is the old established themes that drives the sales.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by ArneNielsen

[BrickBob Studpants]

What I find particularly noteworthy is that Creator Expert is in the top 5. Contrary to populary belief, the „Adults welcome“ campaign must‘ve paid off then 

[Robert8]

What?

Where is Marvel? 

And Harry Potter being still listed there, I dont see that theme going anywhere anytime soon.

(The Creator line could be there thanks to the Friends Apartment set I guess)

[Lyichir]

Happy to see Lego doing well. Disappointed to see Harry Potter among the top themes. Given J.K. Rowling's recent crusade against trans equality I had been deeply hoping that it might fade into history the way it had several times before, but I guess with the sets selling well and Warner Bros. continuing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with new movies, that won't happen any time soon...

[MAB]

4 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Happy to see Lego doing well. Disappointed to see Harry Potter among the top themes. Given J.K. Rowling's recent crusade against trans equality I had been deeply hoping that it might fade into history the way it had several times before, but I guess with the sets selling well and Warner Bros. continuing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with new movies, that won't happen any time soon...

Harry Potter is still huge with tourists wanting to get their photo taken at King's Cross and shop in the various Harry Potter themed shops near me. Even when there are so few tourists around, those shops are packed. 

It wouldn't surprise me if HP sticks around like Star Wars, with lots of movies, characters and scenes to draw from.

[williejm]

18 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Happy to see Lego doing well. Disappointed to see Harry Potter among the top themes. Given J.K. Rowling's recent crusade against trans equality I had been deeply hoping that it might fade into history the way it had several times before, but I guess with the sets selling well and Warner Bros. continuing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with new movies, that won't happen any time soon...

I share your cynicism, and don’t buy the line for *the reasons*, but I do think they have put a lot of effort into sets for HP. Some pretty innovative ideas and nicely-realised buildings, as well as some character diversity. 

Good to see Lego doing well, especially in terms of them embracing efforts to be more diverse, representative and responsible. If one went by reading AFOL forums you’d be forgiven for thinking Lego was in the doldrums and not producing anything of quality or popularity at all.

Perhaps diversity is good for business after all. 

[koalayummies]

12 hours ago, ArneNielsen said:

The sales rose astonishing 46% compared to same period in 2020.

Sales are better than 2020!?! Shocking!

[Lion King]

It’s really neat to hear how well Lego is doing so far.

Now, they need to do their best next year!

[TeriXeri]

I guess making more sets, more large, sets, and more limited/exclusive sets helps their growth a lot.

Not that I like the fact that even City , Creator 3-in-1, and other inhouse themes are trending toward more sets exclusive to LEGO.com only  (varies per country but I'm speaking NL)

[Faefrost]

“Sales rose 46% compared to same period 2020!” The world was under a lockdown during same period 2020. I’m not sure using 2020 as a sales metric is particularly valuable? 
 

The rise of Creator Expert to top 5 status is a little worrying. Mainly because it has the high potential to teach Lego Marketing people entirely the wrong message. Creator Expert is a line that concentrates profit into fewer higher value customers. In video gamer terms, it is a line based on “Whales”. This is a nice profit point to have, if you can achieve it as an add on above and beyond your core business. But attempting to make ever fewer whales the centerpiece of your business either intentionally or by chasing the wrong marketing numbers will eventually lead to ruin. Hopefully Lego is smart enough to keep a well balanced product portfolio and while they should continue to service and market to the whales (us!) they should not overcorrect chasing them. 
 

Some of the other top 5’s feel strange. Although granted it is worldwide. Has Technic ever appeared top 5 before? The fact that we are seeing 2 lines that primarily exist in the Direct 2 Consumer space, Creator Expert and Technic, may be a reflection of overall weaknesses in regular brick and mortar retail worldwide during the pandemic. 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Faefrost

[The Stud]

I’m sure this is only going to get higher in the second half of the year considering all the hype there was for the August waves of sets, not to mention the Marvel CMFs and some very large D2Cs coming out in the fall months.

[MAB]

9 hours ago, Faefrost said:

The rise of Creator Expert to top 5 status is a little worrying. Mainly because it has the high potential to teach Lego Marketing people entirely the wrong message. Creator Expert is a line that concentrates profit into fewer higher value customers. In video gamer terms, it is a line based on “Whales”. This is a nice profit point to have, if you can achieve it as an add on above and beyond your core business. But attempting to make ever fewer whales the centerpiece of your business either intentionally or by chasing the wrong marketing numbers will eventually lead to ruin. Hopefully Lego is smart enough to keep a well balanced product portfolio and while they should continue to service and market to the whales (us!) they should not overcorrect chasing them. 

I don't find it worrying. The Creator Expert range has expanded and so it is not surprising that sales have gone up. It may have taken a Top 5 spot, kicking out another theme, but that is the only thing it has done to other themes. It has not affected the number of other themes or the number of sets produced in other themes. I cannot see them dropping Ninjago or Friends or Creator (3-in-1) to concentrate on Creator Expert. They are different markets.

[Alexandrina]

I've not kept up with these figures religiously in the past, but I can't help but find the absence of Ninjago interesting. Now, I'm not saying that the theme's about to die - but could it be that it's entered a decline? All evergreen themes have, eventually (apart from Town/City) - I wonder if we'll see some new action/adventure in-house themes coming along to try and get the thunder before Ninjago can't hold the fort any more.

[MAB]

53 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

I've not kept up with these figures religiously in the past, but I can't help but find the absence of Ninjago interesting. Now, I'm not saying that the theme's about to die - but could it be that it's entered a decline? All evergreen themes have, eventually (apart from Town/City) - I wonder if we'll see some new action/adventure in-house themes coming along to try and get the thunder before Ninjago can't hold the fort any more.

They don't say it is not performing well or on a decline, just that it is no longer in the Top 5. It could well have sold better than the same time last year but not increased as much as other themes.

[Faefrost]

4 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

I've not kept up with these figures religiously in the past, but I can't help but find the absence of Ninjago interesting. Now, I'm not saying that the theme's about to die - but could it be that it's entered a decline? All evergreen themes have, eventually (apart from Town/City) - I wonder if we'll see some new action/adventure in-house themes coming along to try and get the thunder before Ninjago can't hold the fort any more.

Friends is not mentioned either. Yet just from eyeballing a sampling of local retail they seem strong. If anything Star Wars feels weaker than it has been. Granted that is simply looking at a small local/regional sample. 

Also note these are Q1/2 results. Most Big Box retail lines see their best sales Q3/Q4. I again note the aisles at my local Targets appear looted. Creator Experts largest and most sales guaranteed release wave is normally Jan 1. Whereas most of the more kid focused stuff, especially the big stuff sells several orders of magnitude better than everything else around Black Friday. 

[Robert8]

Ninjago and Friends not being there is interesting indeed, although they can be #6 and #7. We just don't know

 

 

[MaximillianRebo]

Regarding the Star Wars line, even though this year's winter wave was less enthusiastically received by many AFOLs, with its rerelease of X-Wing and TIE Fighter sets, the lower price point of those sets may have struck a chord with parents looking to buy a recognisable ship at an affordable price. Would be interesting to know how those sets fared and how much they contributed to keeping the line in the top five.

[MAB]

The statement they make in the report is ... All market groups delivered double-digit consumer sales growth which was driven by excellent execution and a diverse portfolio which appealed to builders of all ages and interests. Top-performing themes included LEGO® City, LEGO® Star Wars™, LEGO® Harry Potter™, LEGO® Creator Expert and LEGO® Technic.

I doubt they are going to go after "high value" customers only given they have picked out that the current portfolio covers a diverse group of age and interest. I think they are just highlighting that targeting adults and non-traditional LEGO interests works and they will continue to do so, but not at the expense of kids.

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by MAB

[Mylenium]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:20 AM, ArneNielsen said:

LEGO is still going strong getting stronger, and it is the old established themes that drives the sales.

The themes may be established ones, but on some level it's still an apples vs. oranges comparison, as even with those themes the number of bigger and more expensive sets has grown massively. You know, it's an inevitable conclusion that with what feels like five 350 Euro sets each month of course they'd have to make a bigger cut. The growth in revenues needs to be viewed in this context as well as prices generally having gone up already even before the announced harmonization. So really not much surprising news here.

Mylenium

[Lego David]

17 hours ago, Faefrost said:

Some of the other top 5’s feel strange. Although granted it is worldwide. Has Technic ever appeared top 5 before? The fact that we are seeing 2 lines that primarily exist in the Direct 2 Consumer space, Creator Expert and Technic, may be a reflection of overall weaknesses in regular brick and mortar retail worldwide during the pandemic.

Technic has always been present in the top 5 in every report since about 2018. So yeah, it is a lot more popular than most System purists might imagine, especially with the recent large D2C sets like the Lambo. 

6 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

I've not kept up with these figures religiously in the past, but I can't help but find the absence of Ninjago interesting. Now, I'm not saying that the theme's about to die - but could it be that it's entered a decline? All evergreen themes have, eventually (apart from Town/City) - I wonder if we'll see some new action/adventure in-house themes coming along to try and get the thunder before Ninjago can't hold the fort any more.

Ninjago hasn't been in the top 5 since about 2019. So the "decline" has been a thing for at least two years now. 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Lego David

[MAB]

On 9/28/2021 at 9:20 AM, ArneNielsen said:

Best selling themes was: LEGO® City, LEGO® Star Wars™, LEGO® Harry Potter™, LEGO® Creator Expert and LEGO® Technic. 

So my thoughts: LEGO is still going strong getting stronger, and it is the old established themes that drives the sales.

I also don't think it is right to say old themes are driving sales. City, granted, is old and can be traced back a long way. Obviously Star Wars and Harry Potter are driven by the licenses and while SW is old some of it still gets sets based on modern media. I don’t think the same can be said for HP. It was a theme 20 years ago then disappeared for a long time. And what they are doing with it now is quite different to the early days. Creator Expert is reasonably young but has shifted massively recently now being about 50% license and object dependent not like the early days of Cafe Corner or Palace Cinema or whenever you choose it starts. If the new style sets such as the licensed sets and cars and football stadia and so on got moved out, I doubt Creator Expert would be as strong. Similarly Technic is really quite heavily license driven now with large realistic models. Rather than being driven by old established themes, I think it is driven by modern and licensed twists on established themes. If sets were released looking like they did 20 years ago, I doubt they'd be in the top 5.

[Mylenium]

12 hours ago, MAB said:

Similarly Technic is really quite heavily license driven now with large realistic models. Rather than being driven by old established themes, I think it is driven by modern and licensed twists on established themes. If sets were released looking like they did 20 years ago, I doubt they'd be in the top 5.

Absolutely! Technic is no longer really about "technic" in the engineering sense, but has moved on to render highly detailed vehicles of all stripes with app-controlled functions in a move to appeal to collectors or people who just want to play with their favorite excavator when they can't have the real thing.

Mylenium

[Toastie]

15 hours ago, Mylenium said:

when they can't have the real thing.

Yes.

Best
Thorsten

[CP5670]

All the licensed sets have definitely driven up profits across all themes, including Technic and Creator. They are bringing in a lot of new people into the hobby who were not into Lego before. I've met AFOLs at shows who said they only got into Lego recently after buying some of these sets, and did not play with Lego growing up.

[CopperTablet]

Creator Expert being a top theme doesn't surprise me.   It's good to see City doing well, however.   I think the 2020 City lineup, with sets like 60253, 60266, and 60267, illustrated the versatility and creativity of the theme for both AFOLs and KFOLs: the theme has gone beyond "simple buildings and 6-wide vehicles" to a "variety of entities that translate well to plastic bricks", and you can make up an emergent story and build around it.   Maybe the lioness is the protagonist of 60267.

Edited October 4, 2021 by CopperTablet