LEGO & Disney License (Toy Story, Cars,Prince of Persia)

[Count Blacktron]

I hope the Toy Story line gets System style sets of a similar nature to the Sponge Bob sets. Also a large sculpture of Mr. Potato Head is a no-brainer.

[Username]

I wonder if Prince of Persia means the end of the Fantasy Era line.

[Heir of Black Falcon]

I wonder if Prince of Persia means the end of the Fantasy Era line.

Why are so many people on this forum so pessimistic? From what we have heard from Lego designers in the recent past I do not think this likely anytime soon.

[Foamrider]

I would say the current castle theme would end with or without PoP.
'09 would be the third year for Fantasy Era, and that seems to be time enough for this line. But I also don't anticipate PoP replacing castle...

[Bluesecrets]

I believe so many are pessimistic because we know the goods and bads of licensed lines. They are more expensive. They have less parts. They have fleshies. (And yes, before you fleshie fans jump all over me, I don't personally like them and that makes it a negative for me. And I do not believe I am alone in this feeling.)

Personally, I would much rather LEGO come up with their own lines. But, it only makes marketing sense. Disney is a big pull with kids and parents. Cars is a great movie. People adore Toy Story.

When it comes to these three specific lines, I'm "meh" about it. Ironic, since I'm the girl that builds desert castles. One would assume I would be all happy and excited to see PoP, but I'm not. I guess for me it falls under, if I wanted a Mater MOC, then I'd learn how to build one myself.

[timber_wolf899]

lego is running space and star wars so why not castle and PoP?

Now as has been pointed out, the real question is ho wlong fantasy ear has, or to textend that, how long the current htemes within it have. Remember that running a theme fo ra couple years then shutting down and 'rebooting' is only a recent thing. castle ran for nearly twenty years withought a full restart back in the 80s-90s.

[Username]

I wonder if Prince of Persia means the end of the Fantasy Era line.

Why are so many people on this forum so pessimistic? From what we have heard from Lego designers in the recent past I do not think this likely anytime soon.

I'm not being pessimistic at all. Just wondering if Prince of Persia will take over Castle for a bit since Fantasy Era has been running for a few years now.

[Tedward]

MB scooped the Spider-man franchise from LEGO now LEGO returns the favour

My toddler actually likes the one MB Cars-themed set. It fits well with his Thomas Duplo trains.

For myself I concur with those who are excited by the PoP and TS lines. A real Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blaster for minifigs would be sweeeeet. And some "Persian" accessories would be very welcome for lots of different uses.

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Sorry Bluesecrets I should have been more specific. I was referring to the quote and the near constant gloomy comments we see almost weekly about castle theme’s pending demise.

I am not all that keen on many of the licensing that Lego does as I think it can be a limitation. That said some cool unique items have come from such lines in the past. I hope the PoP sets come in with some neat pieces, especially weapons and armour. I am sure my kids will love some of these new Disney/Duplo themes as well.

Heir

[Baites]

I'm wondering if this was a package deal with Disney. Why do I think this?

Megablocks had the Cars license. If the line was doing well for them, I suspect they would have paid what was necessary to keep it. If the line wasn't doing well or the price of renewal was too high, then Megablocks would have let the license expire. Now, if Megablocks let it go, why would Lego go and pick-up the license? You would think they would also take a walk. And how much steam does Cars have left? Unless a new movie or animated series is coming out, it will start to fall off kids radar.

Prince of Persia. Disney is probaly going around saying it's the next hit to follow Pirates of the Carribean. Megablocks had the Pirates license and I think Lego really wasn't interested. If they were and they simply didn't bid enough to get the license from Disney, I think the Pirates line would have been out sooner to cash in on the Pirates craze. I would suspect that if Lego didn't want Disney's Pirates idea, I don't think they'll want Disney's Prince idea.

So that brings me to Toy Story. When the first movie came out, everyone talked about how foolish Hasbro was for not letting GI Joe in or Barbie be in the movie. So Lego hears about a third movie coming and decides to get onboard for the product placement. Get the license and you get to make Lego theme based on the movie. And I bet they can get a Lego ride at the Disney parks, or use Disney licenses in the Legoland parks (if that is possible with Lego selling the parks).

So like so many actors that sign three movie deals for a franchise movie, Lego probaly had to buy a license package to get Toy Story. After all, Speed Racer is pretty much done. I don't hear any talk about sequels or renewed interest in animated Speed Racer, so how much can Lego do with that license now. I would think that the lessons learned there would influence a decision to pick-up Prince of Persia and Cars. I don't think there are any more Cars movies coming soon enough to justify this license and if the Prince of Persia movie only shares a title with the game, the license wouldn't offer much if we only get one movie that doesn't generate cross-promotion with the games.

[Azaghal]

I'm wondering if this was a package deal with Disney. Why do I think this?

Megablocks had the Cars license. If the line was doing well for them, I suspect they would have paid what was necessary to keep it. If the line wasn't doing well or the price of renewal was too high, then Megablocks would have let the license expire. Now, if Megablocks let it go, why would Lego go and pick-up the license? You would think they would also take a walk. And how much steam does Cars have left? Unless a new movie or animated series is coming out, it will start to fall off kids radar.

This makes a lot of sense, although there does appear to be a sequel to Cars in the works. Not that I knew that before just now, either.

Prince of Persia. Disney is probaly going around saying it's the next hit to follow Pirates of the Carribean. Megablocks had the Pirates license and I think Lego really wasn't interested. If they were and they simply didn't bid enough to get the license from Disney, I think the Pirates line would have been out sooner to cash in on the Pirates craze. I would suspect that if Lego didn't want Disney's Pirates idea, I don't think they'll want Disney's Prince idea.

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning here. If TLC passed up the license to Pirates before it became such a huge hit, wouldn't they be trying not to make the same mistake twice, especially if Disney is promoting Prince of Persia as the "next Pirates"? (If they are doing that, though, that makes me a bit wary - the first Pirates movie was, I think, something not so easily replicated. Just look at the sequels. )

So that brings me to Toy Story. When the first movie came out, everyone talked about how foolish Hasbro was for not letting GI Joe in or Barbie be in the movie. So Lego hears about a third movie coming and decides to get onboard for the product placement. Get the license and you get to make Lego theme based on the movie. And I bet they can get a Lego ride at the Disney parks, or use Disney licenses in the Legoland parks (if that is possible with Lego selling the parks).

I don't know how relevant this is, but last time I was at Disneyworld there were LEGO Star Wars sets in the gift shop attached to the "Star Tours" ride. I think it quite likely that TLC would also be able to put Toy Story, etc., sets in the gift stores for the appropriate rides, and this would be a much bigger market than LEGOLAND parks.

So like so many actors that sign three movie deals for a franchise movie, Lego probaly had to buy a license package to get Toy Story. After all, Speed Racer is pretty much done. I don't hear any talk about sequels or renewed interest in animated Speed Racer, so how much can Lego do with that license now. I would think that the lessons learned there would influence a decision to pick-up Prince of Persia and Cars. I don't think there are any more Cars movies coming soon enough to justify this license and if the Prince of Persia movie only shares a title with the game, the license wouldn't offer much if we only get one movie that doesn't generate cross-promotion with the games.

Based on what scant information on it I can find (thank you Wikipedia) I think it's just a trifle harsh to be assuming that the Prince of Persia license is going to tank. True, it'll probably not be a Star Wars, or even an Indiana Jones, but at least to me (who knows next to nothing about the video games) it sounds like it's going to be a pretty decent film, and one the studio will probably make sequels for unless it does utterly tank.

Then again, I'm the guy who was desperately disappointed at the lack of an LXG 2, so perhaps my opinion isn;t the best barometer of what's going to be the next big hit.

[natelite]

Megablocks had the Cars license. If the line was doing well for them, I suspect they would have paid what was necessary to keep it. If the line wasn't doing well or the price of renewal was too high, then Megablocks would have let the license expire. Now, if Megablocks let it go, why would Lego go and pick-up the license? You would think they would also take a walk. And how much steam does Cars have left? Unless a new movie or animated series is coming out, it will start to fall off kids radar.

i dont know why you would think that. cars merchandise is selling very well and is one of the top products for MB. this is evident from the many new sets that they keep designing and releasing.

contrasts that with speed racer. you can hardly find any SR merchandise now. CARS however are still selling 2-3 years after the movie release.

as for steam...how much steam did you think TS had initially? well guess what? it is still selling well despite close to 20 years in production. and how about SW? would you have thought it was running out of steam about 10-20 years ago?

i do think cars will be one of those evergreen classics that just keep selling and selling.

So that brings me to Toy Story. When the first movie came out, everyone talked about how foolish Hasbro was for not letting GI Joe in or Barbie be in the movie. So Lego hears about a third movie coming and decides to get onboard for the product placement. Get the license and you get to make Lego theme based on the movie. And I bet they can get a Lego ride at the Disney parks, or use Disney licenses in the Legoland parks (if that is possible with Lego selling the parks).

lego is a toy. toy story is a movie about toys. doesn't take a genius to notice the link here right? let's just say i won't be surprised to see cross-marketing done here, like lego and clone wars. we'll probably see andy playing with lego bricks in the movie. just like how barbie dolls was featured in TS2.

however, i want to just point out the merits of a TS license. i don't know why you think TS license will be a flop.

to me, i think the TS franchise has several characteristics that are similar to the SW franchise. first of all, its merchandise continue to sell well for years after the movie was made. for SW, it's close to 30 years now? for TS, it's almost 20 years since the first movie and its merchandise is still selling.

similar to SW, TS has lots of interesting chars, which fans actually remember and want. just like CARS. one of the biggest selling point of lego SW is the fact that sw fans who do not necessarily buy lego will buy lego mfs. i think this will work similarly with TS.

in terms of product placement, can you imagine a buzz lightyear running into a lego mf version of himself in the movie? if this happens the buzz generated by that little episode will cause the lego ts sets sales to go through the roof.

we wont know how well ts theme will sell until they are released but for now i see lots of possibilities with this theme. i wouldnt write this theme off just yet.

[Mog]

Baites: Cars 2 has already been announced, for 2011. (It was actually first announced for 2012, but they moved it up a year.) And Pixar was not shy in admitting that the reason Cars was chosen to get the sequel treatment in the first place (instead of, say, Finding Nemo) was because Cars merchandise sold, and continues to sell, incredibly well. So there are certainly worst licenses for LEGO to pick up.

The Prince of Persia theme will probably be relatively short lived, but that's okay, because it will likely be replaced by a Pirates 4 theme, which will in turn be replaced by the next year's Disney action flick. Such is the nature of the toy business - as long as LEGO continues to make non-licensed products as well, I don't care how many licenses they scoop up. They're a business, and they have the right to do what they think will make them successful.

[Legoist]

Well in my own mind I honestly think a Toy Story LEGO line is crap, a Cars LEGO line is crap, a Prince of Persia as it will probably be developed (lots of "action" minifigs, and very little to build) is half-crap. And I also think Bionicle is crap, Racers is crap, Spongebob is crap, Speed Racer is crap, Bellville is crap, Ferrari is crap, Power Miners is crap, Technic is not nearly what it used to be, Mars Mission is half-crap, Space Police 3 is crap, Indiana Jones is half-crap, and even Castle could be better without dragons and giant trolls.

But thank God, I am not working for LEGO! If I was, I'd be having the company produce only what I like, which is what an AFOL likes: City, Trains, Castle with less fantasy elements, Pirates with less action, more classic-flavored space (no aliens), Creator, and a few more historical themes. And most likely the LEGO company will go bankrupt because of me...

To which I say: crap sells, so let them sell crap. As long as there is something left for me (and among HUNDREDS of new sets produced per year, there certainly IS!), I don't really care if I have to ignore >90% of their products. That 10% alone is worth the pain seeing all the crap in the catalogue, and I can only trust they know what they're doing or at least that they aren't risking too much.

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[Tower of Iron Will]

I believe so many are pessimistic because we know the goods and bads of licensed lines. They are more expensive. They have less parts. They have fleshies. (And yes, before you fleshie fans jump all over me, I don't personally like them and that makes it a negative for me. And I do not believe I am alone in this feeling.)

Personally, I would much rather LEGO come up with their own lines. But, it only makes marketing sense. Disney is a big pull with kids and parents. Cars is a great movie. People adore Toy Story.

Bluesecrets, you are not alone in your dislike of fleshies.

Fleshies killed Star Wars for me and any subsequent theme, which is bad as I really liked Star Wars. Generally this makes me have mixed feelings about licensed themes as they add good parts but are more expensive and add to the fear that all future LEGO minifigures will turn fleshie (shudder).

I don't think that this Fantasy line will end soon as from all reports it's selling good. I hope LEGO continues the Fantasy theme as some of us have been waiting decades for Orcs, Dwarves, Skeletons, etc.
-Tower