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The state of the licensed lines
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:53 am
by Sir Kohran
I've been in something of a forced dark age for the last few years and haven't paid much attention to developments in the Lego world. The recently announced Lord of the Rings line has got me wondering - what exactly happened to Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spongebob Squarepants, Prince of Persia and any others? Do we know if they were successful?
Nothing needs to be said on the omnipresent Star Wars line, of course.
Re: The state of the licensed lines
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 1:03 am
by Bluesecrets
I believe many of those lines have been "one off's." Meaning the license was only for one year or one cycle through. I can't speak to the success of those lines, but others might be able to. Indy did exist for two different runs.
Re: The state of the licensed lines
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 2:26 am
by Kev
Sir Kohran wrote:I've been in something of a forced dark age for the last few years and haven't paid much attention to developments in the Lego world. The recently announced Lord of the Rings line has got me wondering - what exactly happened to Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spongebob Squarepants, Prince of Persia and any others? Do we know if they were successful?
Nothing needs to be said on the omnipresent Star Wars line, of course.
Spongebob is still going strong. Indiana Jones and POTC both died due to the lack of new supporting movies, thus suggesting that their sales weren't strong enough to sustain them during the dreaded 'non-movie years' (If their sales were high, Lego probably would have renewed/extended the license.) Prince of Persia - one movie, one year. Probably the same deal as the others, if the sales of POP sets stayed scorching hot after the movie left the theaters, I'm sure both parties would have been happy to make a deal.
My personal prediction for LOTR sets is to look at Indiana Jones. Lots of older/adult interest, looong pent up demand from diehard fans, big initial sales followed by solid sales for the new movie(s), followed by a dieoff within 2 years of the last (Hobbit) movie released. And there's nothing wrong or disappointing about that. LOTR legos are a toy line, and LOTR toy lines have not done well. The Hobbit may change this, depending on its tone, and general attractiveness to the 7-10 year old demographic.