Lego David

Those small licensed themes that literally nobody wants take up the shelf space and the budget that could go towards making more original themes. I also hardly think anyone would feel "excluded" if LEGO stopped producing such licenses as Wicked or Wednesday that literally nobody asked for. And why aren't we allowed to speak about how we, as fans of original LEGO themes, feel excluded and completely ignored by LEGO, but when we speak out against LEGO's clear problem with the over reliance on licenses, this somehow means that fans of licensed themes will then be excluded in return? How does that work? We aren't asking that LEGO give up beloved popular licenses like Star Wars or Harry Potter that have tons of fans; we are simply asking to be treated with the same dignity as Star Wars and Harry Potter fans, and to also receive more sets catering to what we also want.

Thank you so much for going out of your way to actually count the exact number of sets. That is going to be very helpful. Regardless, while technically speaking and strictly in terms of set count the ration seems more even out, there is still a clear noticable lack of Original Action Adventure Themes. 2025 only had Ninjago, Monkie Kid, and Dreamzzz. I don't honestly think Monkie Kid should even count here, because it only got two sets that were excluisve to China and not widely available in Europe and America. That leaves us with only Dreamzzz and Ninjago in 2025. Going forward into 2026, with Dreamzzz confirmed to be ending, that will leave us only with Ninjago.

Okay, fair enough. But this still doesn't address the central problem that is driving so many people to complain about the lack of original themes: The lack of diversity when it comes to original themes. There may be a lot of Ninjago or Friends sets, but most people who are into original themes don't care about those two particular themes, outside the occasional set that may have pieces that they could use in their MOCs. On the flip side, just a quick glimpse at the list I posted earlier reveals a shocking variety of licensed themes currently on offer, ranging from popular kids cartoons (Bluey) to Anime Shows (One Piece, Pokemon) to popular video games (Fortnite, Zelda), and various 18+ Icons sets based on properties from more adult oriented Shows (Stranger Things). Basically, if you are an adult pop culture fan, there is more than enough for you to choose from. The same cannot be said for fans of original LEGO themes at all.

That's kind of what @MAB has been implying with his comments. However even if we take it from that perspective and count it purely based on the number of sets, the balance wouldn't look that much better, because themes such as Icons which are counted on this list as a single license get a tone of sets, while some of the original themes such as Dreamzz barely got a few new sets this year to close the theme out. I don't have the time to do a formal counting of all sets right now, but even if I did, I would bet the results wouldn't be that much different.

Noted. I edited my original message and moved Icons, Ideas, Architecture, and Art in the hybrid category, thanks for the feedback. I would still count DC and Marvel as two separate themes because although they do have the same design team they are still two different licenses coming from two different license holders. If you're going to count it based on the design team, I think technically the same team that worked on Ninjago worked on Dreamzz also (correct me if I am wrong) but that doesn't mean we should count Ninjago and Dreamzz as only one theme.

I am so confused by the people in this thread who are trying to deny that Licensed Themes vastly outnumber original themes. They clearly do, that is literally an undeniable fact. I went to Brickset and I looked at all the themes listed in 2026. For the sake of the argument, I will be generous and also list unlicensed non-minifigure based themes such as Creator and Botanicals. Here is the result: Licesned Themes: Animal Crossing Bluey Brickheadz DC Super Heroes Disney Editions Fortnite Gabby's Dollhouse Harry Potter Jurassic World Kpop Demon Hunters Marvel Superheroes Minecraft One Piece Pokemon Sonic the Headgehog Speed Champions Star Wars Super Mario The Legend of Zelda Hybrids (Themes that have both Licensed and Unlicensed sets) Technic Collectable Minifigures Duplo Icons Ideas Architecture Art Fully Original Themes (no licensed sets at all) Ninjago Dreamzzz (confirmed to retire soon) City Creator Friends Botanicals That's 20 Licensed themes in total, plus 7 hybrids, which makes 27 in total, versus 6 Original themes in total. If we exclude non-minifigure themes, we are only left with Ninjago, City, and Dreamzz, three original themes in total, and if you don't count Dremzzz because it is confirmed to retire soon, you are only left with City and Ninjago. No Matter how you try to spin it, Licensed Themes outnumber original themes almost 20 to 2. That is absolutely insane, and the imbalance is absolutely undeniable.

What about Dreamzz though? Do you have any anecdotal experience about how well Dreamzz may have performed?

Do we know anything about how well did Monkey Kid and Dreamzzz sell? Personally I was quite surprised that both of them seem to have surpassed the usual 3 year life span that is so common for Original Themes these days... Dreamzz lasted for 4 years, one year more than usual, and Monkie Kid lasted a whomping 6 years... double the usual lifespan we have come to expect of original in-house themes. Could this be a sign that both themes performed above expectations? I am curious what is the experience of the people in this thread with those themes, did you perceive them as being shelf warmers that were always on discount, or they tended to sell well in your experience? I am asking this because I think how well both those themes did could have a major impact of whether we will get any new original themes at all in the coming years, and whether what we will get will be something in a similar style, or whether we'll get something different entirely. Given how ridiculously many Licensed Themes overcrowd LEGO's product protofolio these days I wouldn't be shocked if it will be another few years before we get another proper original theme.

It is connected very securely, it won't pop out no matter how much you shake it. It is connected using part 3464 which can connect with the small hole inside the ball. For a connection that was completely unintended, it is surprisingly strong, almost like the two elements were made for each other.

I'm honestly surprised Monkie Kid made it for this long, despite the incredibly limited release outside of China, lack of marketing, and poor availability for the show. The last time an original LEGO theme lasted for 5 years instead of the usual 3 was Hero Factory over a decade ago. I guess this is a testament to the theme's success in its intended market of China. Hopefully, this has shown LEGO that original themes other than Ninajgo can still be successful, and this would encourage them to continue making more of them. On a side note, because of the very limited availability, the sets will probably become very expensive on the secondary market outside China in the long run, so if there are any sets you particularly wanted, I would suggest getting them as soon as possible before the theme completely retires and the sets will become prohibitively expensive. I am glad I managed to get the Bone Demon Lady Mech while it was still out, that was a pretty great set that I really enjoyed.

Built for the first round of Bio-Cup 2023, the theme being Biomes, with the subtheme of Tundra.

While I am very glad that we're finally getting another original theme, I can't help but feel worried about its success. Ninjago is also having a massive "soft-reboot" release this year, exactly at the same time as this new theme. So there's going to be a lot of direct competition, especially with all this cross-promotion that they've done. If I were in LEGO's shoes, I would have released this new theme either before the Ninjago reboot wave, or after it, when interest in Ninjago wouldn't have been at the highest. I'm afraid this might lead to yet another Chima vs Ninjago situation, where two similar themes with a similar target demographics compete for shelf space, inevitably causing one of them to lose sales to the other. And if history is anything to go by, Ninjago usually always comes on top. Another thing that concerns me, is the theme's title itself. "Dreamzzz" just doesn't sound like a cool name that would attract kids' attention. "Ninjago" sounds cool. "Bionicle" sounds cool. But "Dreamzzz"? It kind of gives me the same strange, cheesy vibe as "Vidyo", which we all know how that one turned out. I really hope that the sets and the TV show will be good enough to carry the theme, but given its strange title and competition with Ninjago, I am seriously worried about its chances of coming on top.

Wouldn't the Crocodile Locomotive set sort of fit into that category though? It was a set that was never approved, but LEGO still released it on their own later, despite being a rather niche vehicle. I don't think that many people outside of Trains fans would even know what this particular Locomotive even is.

Just because both the original Ideas project and the LEGO version were based off a pre-existing IP doesn't diminish what I said. The people who originally submitted the project still put a lot of thought and effort into adapting and designing the things from those IPs into LEGO projects, and LEGO still more or less copied their designs, without giving them credit. Not to mention how if it weren't for LEGO Ideas proving there was interest in such a set, LEGO would probably have not made it out if their own initiative. If this only happened once or twice, it could be dismissed as having been just a coincidence... But it has happened way too many times to be just a coincidence.