It is no secret that Lego sets are designed primarily for kids - there are a few exceptions like the modulars for example which have an adult appeal and are not necessarily primarily designed for kids.

The lego adult fan base is growing and from what I have realized people are generally dissatisfied, its not as if there is too much going on for adults in regard to certain themes

examples:

there is a lot of castle fans out there and while there have been some amazing sets out there in the past the last castle wave was disappointing in general and the upcoming nexo knights theme will be hardly appealing if one can believe the rumours surrounding this theme (optimistically speaking - personally I believe this theme will be rubbish both for children and adults)

the current pirates line is not that bad IMHO - it is actually quite good in regard to the minifigs IMHO but is lacking in general content, first it is heavily overpriced as its not a licensed theme - the price per piece ration is ridiculous IMHO, second the sets are a rehash of what has been before - which is not a bad thing, especially for pirate newcomers, but as this wave will most likely be discontinued, it does not build up on anything. So if we have to wait another 5 years for the next pirates wave, which might be just another rehash, its not really that cool IMHO. BTW I really like the blue coats - pity there are no battle packs that can let you army-build easily - sad thing IMHO.

the western theme is a pretty rare occurence - so when Lego came along with the lone ranger theme it was a welcome surprise to me - BUT - how many lone rangers do we need? the lack of variety in regard to indians was pretty disappointing - you basically had three different indians - with TONTO in every set...

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of course lego will not change their strategy in order to satisfy a minority of sorts but I thought they should generally create sets with both adults and kids in mind. Sets and themes should have playability for kids and elements that are appealing to adults. For example, the last castle theme, no matter how kiddie it was designed to be, could have included at least one set with some villagers - like a village raid rescue or something.

I guess my ideas are nothing new, but still, what do you think about it?

Just remember that Lego is intended for kids... It's a toy after all. But I do agree with you... There should be a castle theme with more "normal" people, so none soldiers/kings.

Pirates... Yeah, the bluecoats are nice, but the sets and pirates are just NOPE.

Western not really my thing, but it's been absent for the last 25? 30? years orso.

I started to get more into Lego when I was 10-11ish, with the release of the Vikings sets. My god I loved those. Then came Fantasy Era, which is still my favourite Lego theme (Keep in mind, I didn't grow up with the Classic Castle/space/pirates sets). But after that, not a lot of great Castle/Pirates sets were released. That excuse for the last Castle wave... Don't make me laugh. Not great for AFOLs at all. Yeah, the bad guys were nice, but that's about it.

So Please TLG, make more adult oriented sets!

Just remember that Lego is intended for kids... It's a toy after all. But I do agree with you... There should be a castle theme with more "normal" people, so none soldiers/kings.

Pirates... Yeah, the bluecoats are nice, but the sets and pirates are just NOPE.

Western not really my thing, but it's been absent for the last 25? 30? years orso.

I started to get more into Lego when I was 10-11ish, with the release of the Vikings sets. My god I loved those. Then came Fantasy Era, which is still my favourite Lego theme (Keep in mind, I didn't grow up with the Classic Castle/space/pirates sets). But after that, not a lot of great Castle/Pirates sets were released. That excuse for the last Castle wave... Don't make me laugh. Not great for AFOLs at all. Yeah, the bad guys were nice, but that's about it.

So Please TLG, make more adult oriented sets!

Of course Lego is designed for kids, but still it shouldnt be too hard for lego to be more diverese. btw IMHO the pirates are not that bad at all :) - just think about it - they could be worse

I wouldn't mind if LEGO won't make more adult sets. My talent is stuck at trucks and trains and most are done in the same style as the city ones. So at least I can put them next to eachother without one having the amount of detail 10 times better! And there already is the creator expert trains where the rarity makes it the nice thing about it. I bet that when the experts were 'normal' sets I would not even bother to buy it!

Current sets DO include parts that are appealing to both kids and adults. I think Lego realizes that many (if not most) AFOLs are "kids at heart" who enjoy the same aspects of sets they did as children—the builds, the play features, everything.

What you're asking is that certain Lego themes should be designed with ONLY adults in mind—and only the specific subset of adult fans who are interested in historical accuracy above all else. That's a minority of a minority, to be honest—it's no surprise that those interests are considered secondary to Lego's main goal of providing engaging play scenarios and building experiences for fans of all ages.

What makes LEGO excellent is that with a little effort you can make it into what you want.

I dislike (and have always been annoyed by) the lack of female characters. Leaps and bounds have been made and most themes have at least one female character and the CMFs have provided a great diversity in faces and hairstyles. With a little mix'n'match I have a whole crew of ladies for a spaceship, or a number of adventurers, racecar drivers, pilots.... Little difficulty involved.

An AFOL can use the parts sets provide and a few extras from the wide rage of sources we have, to create a MOC or model that fits what we desire. Really, it gets to a certain point and one must ask if LEGO truly is the "medium" for you, if it is not providing the experience you want maybe something for the adult hobbiest is better suited.

LEGO is a bigger company now with over 15000 mouths to feed. I think it is harder for a large corporations to cater small niche markets due to their underlying cost structures. Not saying it can't be done but It is a hard sell to justify the business case. Maybe it was easier back in the early 2000's to have AFOL sets when they didn't have good business controls or sense.

I think the Architecture sets are primarily targeting adults, possibly to make them an AFOL.

I agree with the main point of this topic. I think that the Creator Expert Modular Buildings fill that niche, but only for fans of City themes (which is arguably likely to be the majority of fans).

I think that some Expert level buildings would sell really well in a Castle theme. They could do 1 a year, like the Modular Buildings, and I'm sure there would be a fanbase to support it.

They could do the same with other classic lines, like Space and Pirates, and I'm sure they would sell. If they are concerned about the viability of this, they could even rotate those types of themes so we get 1 awesome Expert Castle themed building in (for example) 2017, followed by Space in 2018, then Pirates in 2019, and back to Castle in 2020...

It would be really nice to see a wider range of products offered with AFOLs in mind. That's the point. I believe that they can do this while still maintaining their focus on being a successful children's toy company.

Edited September 19, 20159 yr by x105Black

While I admire the modulars, I am not really a city builder, and so I feel no need to own them.

On the other hand, I think it would be neat if every other year or so they released a different-themed modular, whether it be Castle or Pirate or Western or whatever.

However, I say that knowing what my budget is, and that it would take a lot for me to agree to hand over $150+ for a single set...when I know that could buy me nearly a dozen PAB cups throughout the year, or a number of smaller sets. A Western modular (like Kris Kelvin's CUUSOO project years ago) might be able to convince me...

But I am guessing that is part of why this doesn't really happen often (the MMV and Kingdoms Joust are exceptions): A lot of us, if it came right down to it, would put our money somewhere else, no matter how much we said we liked a certain adult-aged set/theme.

Edited September 19, 20159 yr by rodiziorobs

What makes LEGO excellent is that with a little effort you can make it into what you want.

I dislike (and have always been annoyed by) the lack of female characters. Leaps and bounds have been made and most themes have at least one female character and the CMFs have provided a great diversity in faces and hairstyles. With a little mix'n'match I have a whole crew of ladies for a spaceship, or a number of adventurers, racecar drivers, pilots.... Little difficulty involved.

An AFOL can use the parts sets provide and a few extras from the wide rage of sources we have, to create a MOC or model that fits what we desire. Really, it gets to a certain point and one must ask if LEGO truly is the "medium" for you, if it is not providing the experience you want maybe something for the adult hobbiest is better suited.

I agree, the lack of female charakters is disappointing.

I wouldnt say that lego is NOT the medium for me, - I just shared my opinion, thats all

Certain Lego themes should be designed with adults in mind!

Creator Expert.

Oh, and the beauty of LEGO is that you can purchase sets targeted towards children and modify them.

Move along...

Creator Expert.

Oh, and the beauty of LEGO is that you can purchase sets targeted towards children and modify them.

Move along...

yes, creator expert is awesome when you want to build lego cities

indeed, sets can be modified

I am moving...

Creator Expert appeals only to people interested in City themes.

If they were to produce other themes in that style, I would completely agree that it was a non-issue.

They could do the same with other classic lines, like Space and Pirates, and I'm sure they would sell. If they are concerned about the viability of this, they could even rotate those types of themes so we get 1 awesome Expert Castle themed building in (for example) 2017, followed by Space in 2018, then Pirates in 2019, and back to Castle in 2020...

I was thinking along these same lines. Just do one big fantastic set per year for AFOLS that loved the old lines. Personally I would by multiples for the parts alone like I did with Benny's Spaceship.

I'd love for them to do a sort of Classic Space Creator set where you can make a space ship, a rover, and a base. If they had a couple different wings, wheels, windscreens, and minifigs then you could by the set in multiples and make whatever you want. If they made this a deluxe creator's set they could really make it appeal to adults and still charge more. I'm thinking the same level of detail as the fantastic Modular Buildings. And for the love of god NO STICKERS.

Surely they can throw us AFOLS a bone once a year right?

Some could argue that the tower of Orthanc was a castle theme set targeted to adults... I am however joining those whose opinion is that we need a set targeted to adults which has the classic vibe...

what I was basically referring to was that lego should design their sets in a way that they can suit both children and adults alike - I dont think a child will mind if a minifig knight or pirate or cowboy will have a 'realistic' look, nor will children bother if there are some civilians involved - for example: one of the last castle sets was some sort of a carriage getaway - this could have included some civilians for example - the set might have needed some revamping and could have appealed to both -

what I was basically referring to was that lego should design their sets in a way that they can suit both children and adults alike - I dont think a child will mind if a minifig knight or pirate or cowboy will have a 'realistic' look, nor will children bother if there are some civilians involved - for example: one of the last castle sets was some sort of a carriage getaway - this could have included some civilians for example - the set might have needed some revamping and could have appealed to both -

The set could've had civilians, but unless you somehow made them involved in the main play scenario—the carriage getaway itself—they'd be redundant and would do nothing but reduce the number of parts that could be used on the actual subjects of the set, those being the carriage, ballista, and small outpost.

The Kingdoms Mill Village Raid was a fantastic set when it came to civilians, but that's partly because it made them part of the action—they could rebel against the foreign invaders using features like the hay loft, crane, and horse cart. They were INTEGRAL to the set, rather than peripheral to it. And the size of the set made it so that every figure could have something to do all at once, something that's much harder to do with a $20 set that already features three figures.

What makes LEGO excellent is that with a little effort you can make it into what you want.

Sometimes it's a little effort... sometimes it's a LOT. I don't mind building my own things if I can get the pieces, but the way they build most sets these days (most) is with very specific pieces, making it hard to accumulate a lot of certain basic building bricks in certain colors - for example, a thousand 1x2 in LBG for castle builders.

I know, I know - bricklink. That's everybody's answer to that problem, but while bricklink is great (and this year I spent more at bricklink than on new sets from TLG), it's just not all that, and to get a lot of bricks in a specific color like that is unduly expensive when TLG could release a "castle bucket."

As the OP pointed out for various other themes, too - a pirate bucket, a western bucket - that could include more brown and ship pieces or something (although, in this context, a castle bucket makes more sense). That's the "AFOL" version, if you ask me, and suitable for kids, too.

And my guess (and I admit it's only my feeling on it) is that such buckets would sell very well - the same way the doors and roof slope sets sold VERY quickly (and, in fact, I never once saw them in the store - my local LEGO store was always sold out, as was S@H). My guess is they know it would sell... but they'd rather us buying 20 sets we don't need for certain pieces than one set with what we really want. I get it - it's business, but I do think we have a right to say something about it.

TLG could release a "castle bucket."

As the OP pointed out for various other themes, too - a pirate bucket, a western bucket - that could include more brown and ship pieces or something (although, in this context, a castle bucket makes more sense). That's the "AFOL" version, if you ask me, and suitable for kids, too.

And my guess (and I admit it's only my feeling on it) is that such buckets would sell very well - the same way the doors and roof slope sets sold VERY quickly.

Absolutely. This is a no-brainer. I've spent a considerable amount more on BrickLink this year than on actual LEGO sets, and I've purchased more than 2 $100 sets. I would prefer to spend that money at the LEGO Store. Buing from the Pick-A-Brick Wall would be better as well, but they don't tend to have the pieces I am looking for (basically lots of small Grey plates). Now they take up so much room on the wall with those Pick-A-Models, it's unlikely I'll see what I want there for a while.

As the OP pointed out for various other themes, too - a pirate bucket, a western bucket - that could include more brown and ship pieces or something (although, in this context, a castle bucket makes more sense). That's the "AFOL" version, if you ask me, and suitable for kids, too.

Don't forget the Space bucket!

I'm thinking these buckets would at least have the pieces to make an medium sized small castle/pirate ship/spaceship as well as a couple minifigs.

Another thing that I would personally like to see would be some historic minifig packs - one for pirates, one for castle and one for western - each year some new figs, civilians etc.

And my guess (and I admit it's only my feeling on it) is that such buckets would sell very well - the same way the doors and roof slope sets sold VERY quickly (and, in fact, I never once saw them in the store - my local LEGO store was always sold out, as was S@H). My guess is they know it would sell... but they'd rather us buying 20 sets we don't need for certain pieces than one set with what we really want. I get it - it's business, but I do think we have a right to say something about it.

Absolutely. This is a no-brainer.

I don't think it is necessarily a no-brainer. If they release a castle bucket, then it affects sales of other castle sets. They also have the excuse that if you want lots of a specific brick, you can buy the exact number you need on online PAB.

There's no value in PAB online. They know it. It's expensive because someone has to hand fulfill your order.

If they are serious when they say they are not marketing sets to us (so stop whining!), then the kids would keep buying Castle sets while the adults bought the buckets. But they know we're buying - that's the point. They could also keep castle buckets for sale a lot longer than normal sets, and on top of all that, they don't have to pay a designer to come up with a set.

Moreover, the "Castle Bucket" would mainly just be basic bricks - the greebly interesting elements - chains, weapons, the figures themselves... they'd still be in sets. It would be more like you'd buy sets, and then supplement them with the bucket.

Now, now... If soon Lego sets with models of bars, strippers, guns and gangs will start appearing, it would be so close to the end of the Earth...

Hmmm, you could make a Lego set based on SAW movie series out of technic pieces. "Hello, I want to play a game... For years, you have always neglected to learn to build you own Lego stuff... To survive, before the timer stops and a tiny Lego motor will whirl a drill in a hole in this explosive gas container. you must assemble the key to the lock, but there are no instructions, figure it out on your own..."