21348 Lego Ideas Dungeons & Dragons and D&D CMF

[Lyichir]

10 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Agreed. Had they planned to do more, they would‘ve launched an entire theme from the get-go rather than holding a contest on Ideas to create one set

So far, the only Ideas sets to get follow-ups were Minecraft and Friends. Sonic doesn‘t count since the sets aren‘t really compatible.

You left out Ghostbusters (which had an initial successful Ideas set and followed it up with a companion set of the headquarters and one based on the reboot). And I would argue that both Sonic and Minecraft count in a "foot in the door" sort of sense. Once Lego had established a relationship with the licensors and the initial Ideas set sold well, they had the confidence and means to spin both off into full themes.

I feel like there's a small chance something like that could happen with this set, though a slightly lesser one than with many other cases—both because as a larger set it might be harder to extrapolate the sales of a set like this into the potential for a larger theme, and because of the inherent complexity of licensing from such a major competitor.

[BrickBob Studpants]

3 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

You left out Ghostbusters (which had an initial successful Ideas set and followed it up with a companion set of the headquarters and one based on the reboot).

Whoops, you're right!

3 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

I feel like there's a small chance something like that could happen with this set, though a slightly lesser one than with many other cases—both because as a larger set it might be harder to extrapolate the sales of a set like this into the potential for a larger theme, and because of the inherent complexity of licensing from such a major competitor.

Plus there's another major difference: this isn't a normal Ideas set. Instead of securing the license after determining a winner, they first got the license and then basically used Ideas to let fans decide what they want to celebrate D&D. So this is pretty much the ultimate D&D set, as decided by the fans! 

[Lacdaran]

I think this is way more likely to continue than one might normally think if it sells well.  Hasbro (owner of D&D) is in such dire financial straits they will do anything that makes them money.

[Black Falcon]

3 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Agreed. Had they planned to do more, they would‘ve launched an entire theme from the get-go rather than holding a contest on Ideas to create one set

So far, the only Ideas sets to get follow-ups were Minecraft and Friends. Sonic doesn‘t count since the sets aren‘t really compatible.

Compatibility isn´t really something I would take to rule out sets based on. In the end the only thing that matters is whether and IP got more sets or not. 

3 hours ago, Lyichir said:

You left out Ghostbusters (which had an initial successful Ideas set and followed it up with a companion set of the headquarters and one based on the reboot). And I would argue that both Sonic and Minecraft count in a "foot in the door" sort of sense. Once Lego had established a relationship with the licensors and the initial Ideas set sold well, they had the confidence and means to spin both off into full themes.

In case of Sonic that really surprised me though, since it didn´t seemed to sell that well to me honestly. Of course we never know how well it is really selling in the end ;).

3 hours ago, Lyichir said:

I feel like there's a small chance something like that could happen with this set, though a slightly lesser one than with many other cases—both because as a larger set it might be harder to extrapolate the sales of a set like this into the potential for a larger theme, and because of the inherent complexity of licensing from such a major competitor.

The size - and with that the price is a good point, but then again they would likely not base the popularity of a set by the total number of sales but by how well it is doing compared to other sets of this size. Also I don´t think the licensing would be an issue. In the end when they were able to agree on licensing for this set, there shouldn´t be an issue for licensing for other sets.

In the end it will really depend on how good this set is doing and with Dungeons and Dragons having a huge fan-base aswell as the fact that you don´t need to care about the franchise at all, if you are a fan of fantasy stuff this might be just as appealing to you, I would say it doesn´t seem that unlikely that they would do more, though in the end it would likely be two to three years till that happens.

On the other side there are surely a lot of Ideas IPs aswell as one time Icons Sets such as Dune that the set would have to stand out from those sales wise to get more. That beeing said, time will tell.

[Breakspear]

8 hours ago, Triceron said:

I'm hoping Lego expands on the theme, it sounds like this has a lot of potential.

 I hope so too! I see lots of potential to leverage this into a whole line of fantasy inspired diorama/vignette sets, which could have broad appeal. The customizable nature of Lego minifigures lends itself well to the adventure/hero building themes of D&D.

The main impediment would be risk of competing with LEGO LoTR or classic Castle sets.

Edited February 13 by Breakspear

[zoth33]

2 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

Compatibility isn´t really something I would take to rule out sets based on. In the end the only thing that matters is whether and IP got more sets or not. 

In case of Sonic that really surprised me though, since it didn´t seemed to sell that well to me honestly. Of course we never know how well it is really selling in the end ;).

The size - and with that the price is a good point, but then again they would likely not base the popularity of a set by the total number of sales but by how well it is doing compared to other sets of this size. Also I don´t think the licensing would be an issue. In the end when they were able to agree on licensing for this set, there shouldn´t be an issue for licensing for other sets.

In the end it will really depend on how good this set is doing and with Dungeons and Dragons having a huge fan-base aswell as the fact that you don´t need to care about the franchise at all, if you are a fan of fantasy stuff this might be just as appealing to you, I would say it doesn´t seem that unlikely that they would do more, though in the end it would likely be two to three years till that happens.

On the other side there are surely a lot of Ideas IPs aswell as one time Icons Sets such as Dune that the set would have to stand out from those sales wise to get more. That beeing said, time will tell.

It depends on the licensing agreement and what's in the contract.  If the contract says only 1 set then this would be it.  If they agreed to possibly make more if this sells well then we will have to wait quite awhile to see if they will make more.  

[Black Falcon]

16 hours ago, zoth33 said:

It depends on the licensing agreement and what's in the contract.  If the contract says only 1 set then this would be it.  If they agreed to possibly make more if this sells well then we will have to wait quite awhile to see if they will make more.  

I didn´t mean their agreement would need to include any option or anything but that they can do a new agreement for new sets.

[AmperZand]

On 2/12/2024 at 5:05 PM, Triceron said:

I'm personally not as excited as the original announcement.  In the past year I've built my own Beholder, Owlbear and a large skeletal Dragon, so I kind of have those covered already. 

The dragon in this set isn’t a draco-lich, i.e. skeletal, so there wouldn’t really be an overlap between this one and yours. But even if there were, what’s so bad about having your own version of a monster and LEGO’s too? I have many such examples in my display collection, e.g. harpies, duergars, death knights and pegasi among others. I even have an overlap with two of the beasties in this set: the beholder (MOC) and the myconids.

 

[MAB]

On 2/12/2024 at 12:30 PM, THELEGOBATMAN said:

That's literally a great deal, especially for a licensed set.

If it was priced like most recent Star Wars or Marvel sets, you'd have to pay 500–600€ for that. 

I doubt it. You have to look at the contents and not just the number of parts.

[jodawill]

I'm very interested in seeing what parts come from this set. I'm not familiar with D&D. I can't tell from the leaked photo - are the torsos on the minifigures going to be useful for historical castle?

[Triceron]

18 hours ago, AmperZand said:

The dragon in this set isn’t a draco-lich, i.e. skeletal, so there wouldn’t really be an overlap between this one and yours. But even if there were, what’s so bad about having your own version of a monster and LEGO’s too? I have many such examples in my display collection, e.g. harpies, duergars, death knights and pegasi among others. I even have an overlap with two of the beasties in this set: the beholder (MOC) and the myconids.

 

I'm a fantasy creature collector.  I haven't been too fond of brickbuilt creatures though I've grown to appreciate them more, the ones I've seen in the D&D set aren't really interesting to me.  The original creator's dragon is much more impressive, while the leaked one's head is on par with the Skull Sorcerer's Dragon size of head which I absolutely hated (and ended up making my own).

Nothing wrong with overlap, just saying that I'm not as excited for the set as I once was since I've gone ahead and made those same creatures with better moc builds so I don't need to spend $300+ on a set that gives me more of the same.  The only thing that appeals to me would be the buildings and the figures, and I'll wait and see on the official announcement before I make judgement.  These are just my first impressions.

On 2/12/2024 at 12:13 PM, THELEGOBATMAN said:

I think it's a one-and-done type of IP. They are making that single set to celebrate the IP as a whole due to the upcoming anniversary.

One and done's are also a gateway into new themes.  Might take years until another tie in release, but with any liscence deal there's always the potential for more.  D&D is a thriving franchise, and it shouldn't be a no brainer for Lego to capitalize on appealing to D&D crowd.

I think we need to see how successful the sets sell first, since that's usually what leads to more liscencing deals.  Money talks, after all.

----

--- Hot off the presses, looks like we'll be getting a D&D CMF wave later this year. ----

Insert other media

Edited February 14 by Triceron

[Mopasali]

2 hours ago, Triceron said:

Hot off the presses, looks like we'll be getting a D&D CMF wave later this year.

Well if that's true, I guess I'm going to buy my first pack(s) of CMFs this year.  Can't imagine any will be duds for Castle/fantasy builds.

[Black Falcon]

3 hours ago, Triceron said:

--- Hot off the presses, looks like we'll be getting a D&D CMF wave later this year. ----

I wish they would, it is very unlikely another license would have more appeal to me than one that would give us several fantasy minifgures. Though I fear the chances for it aren´t great.

[Roebuck]

Sounds interesting. Is there any chance for any normal animals are are they fantasy creatures if they are included as accessories?

[Triceron]

sorry for the huge images.

Edited February 14 by Triceron

[THELEGOBATMAN]

The CMF series is definitely one of the most unexpected sets of this year.

Now I'm definitely buying the Ideas set. Filling it with all those characters will be so fun, and it will look absolutely incredible. 

Edited February 14 by THELEGOBATMAN

[Triceron]

More info

- Dragonborn will reuse the Vidyo dragon head.  Will have pauldron with some armor that partially covers chest.

- Most CMF in this line will have new mold, aside from Strahd, Szass Tam and Tasha

- Many will have Male/Female alternate faces!  Meaning it's not actually a female Dwarf, it's (probably) Male and Female dual printing.

- Halfling Bard is a typo, it is actually Half-Elf Bard

- Flesh tones for humanoids, if anyone was wondering.  Some darker shades of skintone for certain characters.

Edited February 14 by Triceron

[Agent Kallus]

That is insane I love it!!!!

[Roebuck]

28 minutes ago, Roebuck said:

Sounds interesting. Is there any chance for any normal animals are are they fantasy creatures if they are included as accessories?

Dog, bird and rat it seems 😅

[Black Falcon]

4 hours ago, Triceron said:

--- Hot off the presses, looks like we'll be getting a D&D CMF wave later this year. ----

Insert other media

Ok, honestly I didn´t think you meant this serious but even better if we are really getting it. Might be the first series where I might a whole box. The Aarakocra might become my favourite if done well and I am glad we get many different characters, though i would have kinda prefered to have more random characters instead of the enemy ones - and well something else instead of two Halflings :P. Anyways I expect many cool parts and torso prints from it.

[JohnTPT17]

Oh, looks like the conversation about these is happening here! Anyways, I typed up the list and added a few links, in case anyone is like me and has no idea about these characters:

1. Female dwarf barbarian with axe, and torch (bearded alt face). Possible new mold for axe.
2. Githyanki warlock with eye staff, and possible new molds for knife and hair.
3. Tiefling sorcerer with red baby Dragon and new molds for hair/horns and trans-pink claws (?)
4. Dragonborn Paladin with shields and mace. Vidiyo dragon head. Possible new mold for armor and mace head.
5. Halfling druid with fancy cape, bird and staff. New mold for antlered hood.
6. Aarakocra ranger with bow and small dog. Faun legs, possible new mold for head and wings. 
7. Mindflayer with intellect devourer (new molds for head and devourer)
8. Strahd Von Zarovich with sword, goblet, rat, and cape.
9. Halfling bardHalf-elf bard with printed lute and sword. Possible new mold for hair and scarf.
10. The Lady of Pain with a printed cube and fancy cape. New mold for headpiece.
11. Szass Tam with trans-red skull, energy blast, and dark red collared cape
12. Tasha the Witch Queen with book and cauldron. Uses Hocus Pocus witch hat and hair piece.

I think this sounds promising, and I'm sure it will get a lot of people into army-building with a lot of these characters. I'm interested to see what these will look like, though, since I know that these characters don't have one look. 

[Black Falcon]

1 minute ago, JohnTPT17 said:

1. Halfling bardHalf-elf bard with printed lute and sword. Possible new mold for hair and scarf.

Ah that makes more sense than including two halflings and not including any Elf at all.

3 minutes ago, JohnTPT17 said:

Oh, looks like the conversation about these is happening here! Anyways, I typed up the list and added a few links, in case anyone is like me and has no idea about these characters:

I had to look some up when the list got posted here. I knew some of them but certainly not all.Githyanki is a race I never heard before for instance.

[Triceron]

15 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

Ok, honestly I didn´t think you meant this serious but even better if we are really getting it. Might be the first series where I might a whole box. The Aarakocra might become my favourite if done well and I am glad we get many different characters, though i would have kinda prefered to have more random characters instead of the enemy ones - and well something else instead of two Halflings :P. Anyways I expect many cool parts and torso prints from it.

apparantly was known for a month.  The news drop on the individual CMFs is happening since someone else confirmed the wave.

[JohnTPT17]

A few minor things from r/legoleak:

• The halfling bard ins a half-elf (already noted here a few times)
• The dwarf, githyanki, tiefling, halfling, and half-elf have masculine and feminine alt faces.
• The gith is yellow. Dragonbotn appears to be pearl gold, tiefling is orange, aaracokra is white.
• The printed box that the Lady of Pain carries has a red circle with a blue mountain printed on it, with gilding along the edges (anyone know what that might be?)
• There is no skin printed on any of them (I assume that means legs/torsos?), except for the aaracokra's legs. 

[kill will]

2 minutes ago, JohnTPT17 said:

• There is no skin printed on any of them (I assume that means legs/torsos?), except for the aaracokra's legs. 

That might be the most exciting news yet! I am primarily interested in cool new torso prints but was a bit concerned about them being fleshie and every other color of non human. This sounds like it has a ton of potential for some really cool figs, excited to see how they turn out!