Ideas for the Next License

GothamConstructionCo

Has any one mentioned the simpsons yet? Something that will appeal to kids not just afols as alot of ideas thrown in so far.

The characters and sets lend themselves well to the lego medium.

CCC

^ I've had a go at MOCing some of the simpsons. Marge and homer are quite easy. The hair on Marge is very easy to make with polymer modelling clay. Bart and Lisa's hairdos are another matter, much more tricky but doable. But proper Lego pieces would be good here. Then there is Maggie - size is an issue here. Homer and Marge with full size legs, Bart and Lisa with short legs leaves Maggie with ??? She'd probably need a new body piece or be made from a microfig. In fact, (realistic sized) babies all round are somewhat lacking.

pstrickler27

Transformers would be cool.. and TMNT (or TMHT in the UK) would be too sweet - I believe new movies for both are in the works..

@ninjagolightly - If you believe Monsters Inc. is pretty much gaurenteed.. do you believe Brave is a gaurentee as well? I think we would have seen sets for them by now - I think Wreck it Ralph would have more appeal than Monsters Inc. (IMO) - I'm not sure how well Cars/Toy Story sets did for TLG - I noticed almost all of them discounted at EOL - On another note - loved your Statler and Waldorf gaffe - they are my favorite Muppets

graphite

^ a Brave theme would be cool if they did some nice Viking themed MMV style sets so that you could build a town like in How to Train Your Dragon. I'd totally MOC up that island.

weinner

The Simpsons

pstrickler27

@graphite - I doubt we will get Brave LEGO.. the movie is due out in July - so sets would probably see an early June release - we would have seen something by now..

@weinner - The Simpsons is a little past its prime (IMO).. plus.. it's not exaclty suitable for children.

fyrmedhatt

It's a shame the Percy Jackson movie was a piece of cow dung, because if done well Lego could easily have used the license as a follow-up to Harry Potter.

Unlike most of the young fantasy out there, Percy Jackson does have what Lego looks for: young male protagonist, a pre-teen male following, big-time action, cool supernatural creatures and plenty of great architecture to do in Lego. Throughout the series there's even several vehicles playing central roles, more so than in HP, that could be made to make the sets even more attractive to the youngsters.

With the ancient Greek mythology and culture this would also have been awesome for AFOLs, I can only imagine the armies of centaurs, cyclopes and satyrs some collectors would assemble.

In all honesty one can only hope that with the success of the Hunger Games someone will retry the Percy Jackson franchise on the big screen, as the books keep getting better and increasing the potential of great sequels (with Lego merchandising of course).

weinner

@pstrickler27 So the Simpsons lunchbox I own isn't for children? Lol

Legogeek

Muppets - resounding YES.
Any Disney theme should have success, even if it is only for a set or two per theme.

Simpsons - good idea, but not likely something I'd personally buy.

ninjagolightly

@ninjagolightly - If you believe Monsters Inc. is pretty much gaurenteed.. do you believe Brave is a gaurentee as well? I think we would have seen sets for them by now - I think Wreck it Ralph would have more appeal than Monsters Inc. (IMO) - I'm not sure how well Cars/Toy Story sets did for TLG - I noticed almost all of them discounted at EOL - On another note - loved your Statler and Waldorf gaffe - they are my favorite Muppets

If there was going to be anything for Brave we would have heard about it by now.
Since it's a new franchise with unknown potential (like, say, Wall-E, which would have been really hard to make good Lego sets for, I bet), there is more risk, and as a "medieval" theme it also would have been overkill with LotR launch. I can see why Lego passed.
Monsters Inc is a whole different ball of wax. Different demographic segment (slightly juniorized, like Toy Story), established and beloved franchise.
I will be genuinely shocked (and super-sad) if there's not a Lego line for that one.

By the way, whoever said Tintin... absolutely, that makes a ridiculous amount of sense.
I'm amazed actually that it wasn't done to tie-in with the movie. Maybe if a sequel comes along?

andhe

^Jackson and Spielberg pitched tintin as a trilogy, taking it in turns to direct (and I guess they arm wrestle over the third). A sequel is in the works so who knows about a licence...

Venunder

I can see many superhero film releases for 2013 so I suspect that theme which is aimed at children, even if AFOL's also enjoy it, will continue to be expanded.

Enders Game is a brilliant book and could produce some good Lego spaceships. The Formics would be a good new enemy, using lego heroes/ bionicle /technique style bricks. Although the theme of genocide is probably too dark for Lego to follow.

I see Jurassic Park mentioned so maybe the dinosaur theme will be continued?

There is a Percy Jackson film in there, so maybe Lego could bring in some Ancient Greek stuff with a modern twist ??? If this film succeeds the theme could continue for a few years.

Star Trek 2 is also there so maybe StarTrek could be taken up by Lego, even if it is just for a UCS Enterprise?

There is also a Wzard of Oz film so maybe we will get a yellow brick road :) :) :)

I guess we will find out sooner than we think.....

tamamahm

It's a shame the Percy Jackson movie was a piece of cow dung, because if done well Lego could easily have used the license as a follow-up to Harry Potter.

Unlike most of the young fantasy out there, Percy Jackson does have what Lego looks for: young male protagonist, a pre-teen male following, big-time action, cool supernatural creatures and plenty of great architecture to do in Lego. Throughout the series there's even several vehicles playing central roles, more so than in HP, that could be made to make the sets even more attractive to the youngsters.

With the ancient Greek mythology and culture this would also have been awesome for AFOLs, I can only imagine the armies of centaurs, cyclopes and satyrs some collectors would assemble.

In all honesty one can only hope that with the success of the Hunger Games someone will retry the Percy Jackson franchise on the big screen, as the books keep getting better and increasing the potential of great sequels (with Lego merchandising of course).

What's a shame is that licenses seem to need to be connected to movies, and I'm not convinced they need to be. Friends has been a huge line without that. City is a huge line without it. One of course could argue that Ninjago has become as big as it is because of the cartoon, while on the other hand Cars I don't think did as well as a line. *See aside below.

As said earlier in this thread, I think this Percey Jackson would appeal to many, and you have listed some of those reasons. In addition, there are a several female characters that could be part of the theme as well, so like HP it could really have a universal appeal. To me this seems such an obvious line after Harry Potter. I just don't see any chance of it happening until LOTR is gone.

*Cars I suspect did not do so well because it does not hit the target age group. My son was obsessed with the Cars line, when he was 3. Then he flipped the other directions and wanted NOTHING to do with Cars. He didn't even want to see the movie. Most of the kids in his pre-k class, kids that started the school year at 4 1/2 to 5, were far more into Star Wars and Ninjago. In addition, I very quickly discovered that most kids this age can barely put together a small set. (I know there are exceptions, my kids have been.) My nephew who is 5, actually is interested in Cars, but at the same time, he has no interest in Lego. This really ratchets up the age for this line to closer to 6-8, and many kids at that age are simply out of the interest in Cars. If it is a choice between Cars or Ninjago at that age... Ninjago wins out.

Tammy

kuf

I'm with @wertyjj and would love to see Hunger Games sets, but doubt we'll see it.

Missing_Pieces_15

I would love to see an NFL licensed theme. 32 teams, collectablility, iconic stadiums, year after year renewed interest in the subject, AFOL and Children markets, cheerleading, broadcasting, halftime show.
Like Ninjago you could sell booster packs with collectable cards.
The bricks could be mostly traditional, sets would be a showcase for the mini figs.
The theme is Not probable but definately possible. There is an amazing MOC of Lucas Oil Stadium, referenced in threads somewhere on the forums.

weinner

I don't see them doing nfl, nba didn't do well.

Missing_Pieces_15

your probably correct. However NBA isn't doing well, period.
Where NFL is growing like a weed.
NFL doesn't have the same worldwide exposure as football. But it definately has a strong, growing fanbase (both youth and adult) who's proved a willingness to open it's wallet.
Possible not probable theme.
I'll be purchasing the Modular, LOTR & Super Hero themes in 2012 however I would love to add a stadium or pitch to my city/modular mocs and probably will eventually. I just think it would be a cool and easily doable theme.

ninjagolightly

What's a shame is that licenses seem to need to be connected to movies, and I'm not convinced they need to be. Friends has been a huge line without that. City is a huge line without it. One of course could argue that Ninjago has become as big as it is because of the cartoon, while on the other hand Cars I don't think did as well as a line.

Well, Friends, City and Ninjago aren't licenses. They are TLG's own in-house properties.

Unfortunately, other than Ninjago, Lego's own new themes seem to have done disastrously poorly in the past couple of years, even though I personally thought they were fantastic sets for the most part. I loved PQ, Atlantis and AC, yet I did not pay more than 35% off for a single set. Averaged out, I paid about 40 cents on the dollar to MSRP. I personally saw a minimum of 200 PQ Scorpion and Atlantis Gateway sets languish at 50% off for months across my local bigboxes and then get remaindered. Slow-churning chains like B&N still have exactly the same number of Scorpion sets on the shelf that they had at Christmas as far as I can see. I certainly got some great Cars and TS3 deals too, but I've paid more like 60 cents on the dollar for those on average, and plenty I missed because they never went clearance that I could tell.

My guess is that TLG's own new themes are high-risk, high reward (ie, the Ninjago jackpot... Kai's Blade Cycle alone probably makes up for all they must have lost on Atlantis)... they get to keep more profit per set and potentially move more inventory because lower price points are possible than with licensed. But the licenses and the vast marketing engines they are attached to probably make a certain level of performance very sure. I bet getting the right balance of own-brand and licensed is one of the top strategic concerns of company management.

So I think a safe guess is that we will see very little shift away from the current mix, with expiring licenses or in-house themes replaced pretty much one-for-one at a comparable target demographic. They won't look to replace HP with some new in-house theme, they will want a marquee license. Of course nothing could really ever match HP, even though I don't personally care for it in the least, it's unquestionably a monumental epoch in pop culture unlikely ever to be repeated. So maybe TLG will hedge bets with two lesser franchises to replace that single behemoth...

bluemoose

Tintin!

This. There is huge scope for figs, vehicles, scenes. Very compatible with Lego's design ethos & the company's values. I believe they've been a bit wary of Tintin, perceiving that it wasn't a strong a brand with today's kids and not well known in the US.

Steve_J_OM

I watched TinTin last month and it also struck me as something that would be a perfect fit for a LEGO theme. Though I think one of the clone brands has a license to produce TinTin, perhaps Nanoblocks - it's certainly ringing bells as something I've seen before.

Here's a something to ponder over: if TLG had a license to produce The Simpsons, would they be classic yellow or licensed fleshie? ;)

ninjagolightly

Though I think one of the clone brands has a license to produce TinTin, perhaps Nanoblocks - it's certainly ringing bells as something I've seen before.

A quick google turned up:
http://tintinology.poosk.com/2011/11/15/tintin-nanoblocks/
If the comment at the bottom is legit, it sounds like the prospect of LEGO getting this license is very, very slim. The nanoblock sets shown are very sculptural, which looks kind of cool but is just not my thing, in LEGO or other brick. Gotta have that playability!

So instead, for Eurocomic-heads, how about a Moebius memorial edition?
Arzach LEGO FTW!

dashofdashing

Would love to see Back To The Future top of the list,discontinue Dino Lego and release Jurassic Park Lego,would love sets from the film or even JP car :)

andhe

A quick google turned up:
http://tintinology.poosk.com/2011/11/15/tintin-nanoblocks/
If the comment at the bottom is legit, it sounds like the prospect of LEGO getting this license is very, very slim. The nanoblock sets shown are very sculptural, which looks kind of cool but is just not my thing, in LEGO or other brick. Gotta have that playability!

TLG has picked up the Marvel licence after Mega Bloks so just because another company has made stuff doesn't rule TLG picking it up. And these look based on the books rather than the movie directly. Nice stuff, no idea what the quality is like and compatibility etc. Nice find.

CCC

discontinue Dino Lego and release Jurassic Park Lego

You'll end up paying 50% more for virtually the same stuff.

cheshirecat

Exactly - why the desire for everything to be licensed? Sure some may sell better and that gives TLG money for new moulds etc, but looking at the discounts available on Cars, Toy Story etc they're not always going to make money.

A non licensed dino theme gives TLG much more freedom to be creative and (more importantly) create sets that suit being made in LEGO rather than trying to fit LEGO to a movie scene or a movie set designer's imagination etc. The same is true of Pirates, Castles and even Space, personally all are better as non-licenced themes and a childs love of those themes is, in my opinion, there with or without the movie tie in.

tamamahm

What's a shame is that licenses seem to need to be connected to movies, and I'm not convinced they need to be. Friends has been a huge line without that. City is a huge line without it. One of course could argue that Ninjago has become as big as it is because of the cartoon, while on the other hand Cars I don't think did as well as a line.

Well, Friends, City and Ninjago aren't licenses. They are TLG's own in-house properties.

Unfortunately, other than Ninjago, Lego's own new themes seem to have done disastrously poorly in the past couple of years, even though I personally thought they were fantastic sets for the most part.

Uh. I guess I was not very clear. Of course these are not licenses. My point is that so many of the recent licenses are connected to movies, and I am not sure that they need that with a license to be to be successful. I gave the example of Friends and City, because those are both succesful Lego lines, and not only are they not licensed, but there is not a movie/show associated with them.. In the flip, there are plenty of licenses where there was a recent movie, and that did not make the Iine successful.

I believe if Lego picked correctly, they could manage to have a licensed line without a movie, and have that line do well.

The difficulty is with picking. I thinks we have seen there are plenty of lines licensed and unlicensed that have flopped. My point is that a movie alone does not make a line successful, and some non-licensed lines are successful without a movie. Why not a licensed set, without a movie?

My point with Ninjago, is that one can use that to really argue the other direction. When a line is done right, AND has a movie/show with it, the success can be huge. I believe Ninjago is as big as it is because they have the TV show. When prek boys are paying Ninjago at recess, and the entire sectionis sold out at stores, then one knows Lego reallllly did something right. I have three kids here that are already waiting for thus coming show. This includes two girls that have really loved Nia as Samurai X.
Tammy

The_Brick_Builder

James Bond would be an amazing action-filled set.

legos4ever

I would love the Muppets.

pstrickler27

@pstrickler27 So the Simpsons lunchbox I own isn't for children? Lol

Lunchboxes are not necessarily made for children anymore - they have become collector's items (for adult collectors) - I have seen a number of Lunchboxes that are unsuitable for children (South Park, Family Guy, Playboy) - you may argue with my first two examples, but Playboy is never suitable for children..

If TLG ever shifts their focus to specifically target AFOL then I could see The Simpsons being plausible.. until then.. it's just a dream.. like a lot of these ideas..

@ninjagolightly - Your argument is sound, but I really hope they don't waste their time on Monsters Inc. and focus instead on classic Disney movies that would appease both AFOL and the kiddies - not to mentions millions of Disney fanatics - It's just my opinion, but the modern Pixar animation movies don't hold a candle to the Disney classics (aside from UP - that movie was great).. If they license anything new to come from Disney I hope to Christ it is Wreck it Ralph which looks about 9999 times cooler than Monsters Inc.. (IMO)

graphite

^ I could totally go for a modular style "UP" house.

ninjagolightly

James Bond would be an amazing action-filled set.

I would prefer Uncharted. To my mind that is the best action franchise out there today, across all media. I don't know if a movie is in the works for it but the games stand on their own as works of great action storytelling anyway. Can you imagine sets like the Himalayan train chase and the Shangri-La temple? Wow.

Brewer51

Uncharted would be a niche market though, surely?

Diggydoes

I would love to see "Hellboy" as a upcoming license! But i guess as long as they don't do a new movie this won't happen!

ninjagolightly

Uncharted would be a niche market though, surely?

The all-knowing wikipedia says "The series has sold 13 million copies worldwide as of December, 2011."

That's about the equivalent audience to a movie that did $200 million at the box office. Not Indy Crystal Skull, but not small potatoes. And unlike the Indy films, 100% record of AWESOME as opposed to alternating 50/50 between AWESOME (raiders, last crusade) and UNWATCHABLY AWFUL (doom, skull).

jadeirene

^ Isn't the 13 million sold for the entire series of games?

ninjagolightly

Les Miserables!
Chrome silver candlesticks!
Minifigs with a built-in sound chip that play a few bars of a song!
"Sewers of Paris" set!
Epic win!

MarkMilton

a Greek-theme would be probably do pretty well.

if i'm not mistaken, the Percy Jackson series is pretty popular, and so is it's continuation. so you've got a build-in fanbase you can appeal to.

adults would want them due to, well, never being available before.

Lego could re-use some the Atlantis parts and minifigs to save cost.

honestly, Atlantis looked like a perfect segue into a Greek theme to begin with...

weinner

@Pstrickler37, sry mine was definitely made for children, marketed for children. So your theory is wrong. Simpsons is a cartoon with mild adult humor for the whole family.

Maybe the lunchboxes are your describing are not but mine certainly is. Old, plastic, and with thermos. Playing soccer.

oh no, that would just corrupt a childs mind. Come on now, use you noggin a little bit.

Your bringing up playboy and sh*t, that's just a really a dumb*ss example.

I also have a simpsons cassette for music made for children, from my childhood. Lol, what adults do you know that was listening to simpsons music while driving around?

I'm sorry to come off hostel but your reasoning is just lame and not thought out very well.

Brewer51

Uncharted would be a niche market though, surely?

The all-knowing wikipedia says "The series has sold 13 million copies worldwide as of December, 2011."

That's about the equivalent audience to a movie that did $200 million at the box office. Not Indy Crystal Skull, but not small potatoes. And unlike the Indy films, 100% record of AWESOME as opposed to alternating 50/50 between AWESOME (raiders, last crusade) and UNWATCHABLY AWFUL (doom, skull).

Yeah it is a very popular series (I love it, personally; some of the best games I've ever played). But 13 million sales doesn't equal 13 million people who would buy the Lego series. I was just making the point that The category of 'those who buy Lego' and 'those who love Uncharted' probably doesn't have a large amount of people in it.

That said, I think it's a great idea.

pstrickler27

@weinner - We could argue about this all day.. Some people find the Simpsons appropriate for children and others do not.. I don't believe my argument was lame - and I'm definitely not wrong.. haha.. it isn't an argument where one side could be wrong and one side can be correct.. However.. I doubt TLG will ever make a Simpsons themed LEGO (it's fun to dream.. but I would put $10M on it not being the next license).. There are few reasons why it won't be made..

1. The appropriateness is arguable (you and I are evidence of that)
2. It is way past its prime (also arguable - but that's my opinion)
3. It's hard to convert humor into playability - (action always wins out - How much action could Homer provide?? haha)

All of this is of course my opinion.. feel free to argue your side..

Yellowcastle

@ninjagolightly - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a classic and should never ever be equated with that other Gopher Laughing Indy Stuck in a Fridge Tarzanning Monkeys Snake as a rope movie. :o)

...oh no, that would just corrupt a childs mind. Come on now, use you noggin a little bit. Your bringing up playboy and sh*t, that's just a really a dumb*ss example....I'm sorry to come off hostel but your reasoning is just lame and not thought out very well.

@weinner- I understand what you're trying to say, but you are way out of line here. Dial it back.

ninjagolightly

@ninjagolightly - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a classic and should never ever be equated with that other Gopher Laughing Indy Stuck in a Fridge Tarzanning Monkeys Snake as a rope movie. :o)

Have to agree to disagree on that one... the only thing that can be said that makes Doom not as bad as Skull is that it's less bloated... from the actors physically, to Spielberg's ego, to the budget and SFX. Skull took the basic sloppiness of Doom and added 20 years of ugly fat (which could also describe Shia LeBouf). The lessons of "1941" (a movie that defines "bloated") were still fresher in Spielberg's mind back when he made "Doom."

Anyway, supposedly an Uncharted movie is in the works. I doubt they will succeed in capturing the appeal of the games, but it would be a good launchpad for licensed toys like LEGO.

morbiczer

Several people have mentioned Star Trek.

I would be very surprised if Lego's contract with Lucas did not include a two-sided exclusivity clause: Lucasfilm can't grant a license to another company producing constructible toys, and Lego can't produce any other anything for another sci-fi product line.

morbiczer

About the Simpsons: my take on this issue is that the Simpsons was originally (15-20 years ago) marketed for children, but this has certainly changed over the last decade at least.

None of the recent episodes aim at children IMO.

weinner

@yellowcastle, I'm not even close to being out of line :)

Edited for accuracy: YC 4/22/12

pstrickler27

@morbiczer. I would even argue that it was never targeted for children. The show comes on (and always has) during the prime time hour (6:00-9:00). Which is targeted at adults returning from work. If it was intended to be a children's show it would have aired either on Saturday or Sunday morning or right after school let out (2:30-4:30 range). The humor has always been targeted at adults (all the jokes went over my head as a child - and I really only watched it because I wasn't supposed to). Which brings me to my final point - the allure of the show for kids (IMO) is that it deals with adult humor, and it is in the familiar cartoon format - making them feel older if they get a chance to watch it (South Park and Family Guy do the same thing). I can distinctly remember having this feeling toward the show when I was younger - and to this day have only laughed at a few episodes.

That's my rant on the Simpsons (hopefully my last). Now let's use this space for its intended purpose.

wertyjj

I'm with @wertyjj and would love to see Hunger Games sets, but doubt we'll see it.

Well hopefully it can get enough votes on CUUSOO.

pstrickler27

^ Hunger Games would be a solid replacement for Harry Potter.. considering there will be 2 more movies (probably 3.. if they follow the splitting the last movie trend).. that's 2-3 more years of sets.. pretty good chances in my opinion.

Istokg

Gee.... it's been 14 years already.... in 1998 there was a LEGO "Acropolis" contest, with Greco-Roman (as well as other ancient) architecture...
http://www.ancient-theme.com/1998/ancient.html

This should give the Greek-Roman LEGO lovers some inspiration! :-)

CCC

^ There are some nice builds there. Although some of them look very "blocky" / and monotone. it is amazing to see how things have changed in 15 years.