Dear LEGO: Please DON'T make a ____ theme

[Count Blacktron]

I was thinking that a lot of the early licensed set themes that have gone away from the minifigure category really seem to suffer from the Studios theme set design. Studios sets were hardly even buildings. It was like a vertical collection of parts stacked only for the display of minifigures. They were made as a movie lot facade of a real building it seems, Harry Potter and Spiderman especially. It was like building a front with little substance. Compare those sets to the Town and City buildings and you understand how little building incentive you have for the licensed sets. The point of the brand LEGO is to induce building & creative play. Character interaction is a function of the building environment if the product has an exciting process of construction. There were times in the Potter theme that I felt like getting the set done was a chore that I had to finish against my will in order to place the minifigure in his/her story role. At that point you begin to wonder why you are doing it. Factor in the attention span of a child and the line had it's doom spelled out in the way sets were designed. I am glad however that I was able to get all the main characters in sets that did not cost $399 dollars. That'd have killed it faster than a Hungarian Horntail could swallow a Snitch.

[Mog]

Don't make a Halo theme! Why not something based on a videogame series that's actually good, like Final Fantasy or Zelda?

They won't make a Halo theme. Halo is mature-rated, furthermore, Halo actively targets the "Mountain Dew" demographic ("x-treme" 12-20-year-old males) - the same people who would likely dismiss LEGO toys as "kiddie" and a waste of time that could be better spent playing Xbox, skateboarding, or drinking Mountain Dew.

That said, they won't make a Final Fantasy or Zelda theme either. Even if FF had the potential audience for a LEGO adaptation (it's hardly Star Wars) the question would remain - which game would LEGO adapt? Each FF installment starts anew with new characters and a drastically different setting - the series has run the gamut from a traditional medieval fantasy realm to a dystopian steampunk future. And even if they picked a universe to set their toys in, what toys would they make? There's not very many vehicles. There's rarely any "key" locations that would make for good playsets. You're left with a bunch of characters, which are great for the games, but would make pretty lousy toys. It'd be just 'figs.

Zelda is marginally more likely - it's more kid-friendly - but it's still hard to adapt. Again, no vehicles, and you can't really make an underground dungeon out of bricks (and sell it for a reasonable price). You're left with 'figs, and you can also already make approximations of the characters with existing minifigs, as countless vignettes have shown.

I love FF and Zelda as much as the next JRPG nerd, but they simply don't make good LEGO sets. You can hope for a line of classic FF character Kubricks with the release of Dissidia, but that's it. And - quite frankly - that's all I'd want, anyway.

[Karalora]

Rather old thread, but I'm reviving it because I have an absolutely smashing idea for a licensed theme. Now that LEGO has teamed up with Disney to produce the Toy Story, Cars, and Pirates of the Caribbean themes, I think the next step should be...

Disney Theme Parks!

Let's look at the criteria in the OP to see why:

1. A licensed theme should tap into a proven long term product, so it's not just a flash in the pan that will be on the clearance shelves in six months.

Disneyland has been around since 1955, and has been quite popular all along. Walt Disney World is perhaps the most popular vacation destination in the world. The parks have successfully spread into the international market as well.

2. A licensed theme should be broad in scope - not just limited to a particular movie, but rather into a whole universe surrounding that theme. That way you won't run out of set designs after a year.

The sky's the limit here. The themes present in Disneyland alone include jungles, the Old West, pirates (duh), a haunted house, fairytales and storybooks, cartoons, outer space, underwter, and even plain old town settings. Epcot has a whole range of science-related topics plus the multicultural World Showcase. Animal Kingdom...well, it should be obvious. I could go on. You could do almost anything with a Disney theme park line.

3. A licensed theme should appeal to both kids and adults. Bonus if there is already an established collector/geek community among adults.

Bingo. Disneyland was built specifically to appeal to the whole family, and the Disneyana shop does brisk business selling paintings and figurines at price points ranging from a couple dozen to a couple thousand dollars.

4. A licensed theme should provide something that a non-licensed theme does not. Ideally this should be more than just minifigs.

Apart from the intense brand-name recognition, Disney theme parks have a design sensibility that no one else has ever been able to duplicate. Many of the themes mentioned above have rough counterparts elsewhere in the wide world of LEGO, but many do not, or else the counterparts have been out of production for so long that they're ripe for revival.

5. A licensed theme should have a variety of build possibilities - ideally both vehicles and locations.

Definitely. The location aspects should be obvious, but the ride vehicles are just as cool and just as recognizable. Disney has sold models of ride vehicles before; I can't imagine that buildable ride vehicles would be any less popular, especially if they came with a buildable scene from the ride in question.

One more point in favor of this idea is the potential for crossover with other lines--not just the other Disney licenses, but lines like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, thanks to the presence of the corresponding rides in the parks. Disney already sells said lines at the park gift shops and a Starspeeder (from the Star Tours ride) would fit right in with all the droid battles.

What do you think?

[jediknight219]

Oh I just had a horrible thought. With all the Disney themes, can a Hannah Montana theme be far behind?

[theboywarrior]

Oh I just had a horrible thought. With all the Disney themes, can a Hannah Montana theme be far behind?

Oh dear sweet merciful heaven no!

It wouldn't sell well, (I hope) so logically, that just wouldn't happen. Yay!

[AK_Brickster]

Oh I just had a horrible thought. With all the Disney themes, can a Hannah Montana theme be far behind?

With the fall of Miley Cyrus from grace (she's the next Lindsay Lohan), I doubt that Disney is all that interested in Hannah Montana anymore anyway. Fear not, friends!

[jediknight219]

Even though Hannah Montana is pretty much over, nature abhors a vacuum. Something similar will replace Hannah Montana, the same way Hannah Montana replaced Lizzie McGuire. As long as it would sell at least as well as Belville, this is a possibility. Given the sheer volume of Hannah Montana Merchandizing, it almost seems inevitable.

Ugh. Just had another terrible thought. High School Musical Lego sets.

[theboywarrior]

Ugh. Just had another terrible thought. High School Musical Lego sets.

Stop! I will get nightmares! Enough already!

[Hoboman]

Keep in mind that the themes so far from Dsiney have all been movies released in theaters. Now while both Hanna and HSM have had sequels that made it to the theaters, both franchizes have really run their corse already. I believe it would not make sense for Lego to do any Disney Brand that started on Disney Channel.

Now on the other hand, a Disney short term theme like John Carter or any of the upcoming Marvel films would seem more in line with a Disney/Lego license strategy.

[dyntar]

Ok... some people may not agree with this one...but

Please don't make a Lord of The Rings theme.. or even one from the upcoming Hobbit movie.
reasons ---
*I don't want my castle/kingdoms theme replaced by a franchised set. [the Pirate theme got replaced by Pirates of the Carribean so it seems likely they would do the same for castle]
*I don't want to see fleshy castle folk.
*inflated prices on franchised sets. no thanks... just to get a few new awesome weapons and torsos.
*Surely the people who work at Lego can create their own and more kid friendly version of LOTR... We have already had some pretty awesome trolls, elves and dwarves maybe Lego should do something with them.


[I read rumours ... or just someone dreaming on another site that lotr was being brought out by Lego next year.]
I think Lego can do something more original than that.

[Tedward]

Ok... some people may not agree with this one...but

Please don't make a Lord of The Rings theme.. or even one from the upcoming Hobbit movie.

Not sure I disagree entirely. I certainly do not like the increased costs of the licensed sets but I have come to appreciate how many new and interesting elements are funded by the license. ie: I am not sure we would have the really cool new buckets if the POTC line had not appeared. Its not just weapons that get new molds.

POTC kinda got me upset as it killed off Pirates for the forseeable future and certainly I could see LOTR displacing Castle for a few years. However maybe a couple of years doing different things might be good for the Castle designers. I think they have been producing some of the best Castle sets ever in the last couple of years

The fleshie thing is my biggest gripe but then I have started collecting all my fleshie parts (ooh sounds a bit rude) in a little ziploc that I have started to carry around @ any sort of AFOL gathering. I try to let anyone know I am willing to trade 1 for 1 and have managed to get rid of quite a few and replace them with yellows.

On balance I could live without a LOTR theme but I think I'm not gonna get my knickers in a twist if it comes about.

[Tower of Iron Will]

I seriously doubt that LEGO would make a LOTR theme. The topics are too advanced for the normal kid age range for Castle. Plus, IMO, I think that they would have made a theme if they wanted to given how popular the LOTR movies were.

Castle, in my opinion, is doing too well for LEGO to need a LOTR theme. The sets are better designed and the minifigures look awesome. When I go the local Target and Wal-Mart, Castle sets don't last that long on the shelves, even when I don't buy it .

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy every bit of the movies and books. I am thinking that LEGO is smart enough to keep Castle rolling like it is.
-Tower

[Lobberuno]

[the Pirate theme got replaced by Pirates of the Carribean so it seems likely they would do the same for castle].

1. Well, Pirates of the Caribbean was not bad at all, because Lego introduced the Revenge of the Queen Anne, one of the three best ships in the whole Lego Pirates story (and also the black pearl as runner up).

1a. I'm no trying to say that Lego Castle could be better with a franchise... but, I'm just because Lego doesn't need licenses, they only need to inspire imagination like the good days. There are many ideas out there in the world waiting to be used. I think the Lego executives (not designers) need to play a while with children and teens, and check the message boards also for know their REAL interests (and not sell ideas based on statistics and economy equations). For know the AFols interests, Lego only need to visit MOC web pages, and reviews made by AFols (or websites like CC).

2. Exoforce was a very good idea... until its 2nd season... some of the sets on the third I sensed as "forced". Although, the mini bots was a great idea.


4. Don't do again a theme like Time cruisers... maybe was good for obtain bricks and pieces but... only for that.


6. End of the world theme just because people say 2012 rumors... Well, an apocalyptic one maybe could be ok, hehe but Lego doesn't build violence.