Posted November 2, 200717 yr With us all hyped over next year's sets, I've been wondering, now that we have seen them, where do we think The Lego Company is headed towards with it's themes? Juniorisation? Another Golden Age? License heaven? Great sets with horrible brick quality? What??? I apoligise if a thread like this has been made already, but I searched and couldn't find one, so sorry if one has and please close if necessary :-$ Personally, I think that this recent string of great lines means that TLC is moving back to the better days, with fresh ideas and good designs. I also believe that it is starting to cater more heavily to AFOLs, and we might eventually see a whole line of AFOL requested sets. I fear for the brick quality though, and can see it going downhill.... Thats my thoughts anyway, what are yours? Batbrick Away! >:-)
November 2, 200717 yr This has been done, in a smaller form in each of the "New sets for 2008" type threads, but those are usually divided by theme. Taking the subject as a look at all of LEGO, this could be a worthy new thread (Hinckley: the thread you suggested is purely about decline in quality, which I hope isn't what we're all expecting from LEGO for the future). Personally, I think 2007 has been better than 2006, and the predictions for 2008 look better still, with the good things continuing and new ones coming. I don't think AFOLs are or will ever be catered to, but I do believe we're being considered, and that's really all we can hope for. I expect that will continue. More Castle, Star Wars (especially battle packs), Indy, the new look and feel of City: I think we have a bright future ahead, very bright indeed. One word of caution though. It would be easy to overdo it. It is possible for LEGO to produce too many good (and large, especially) sets. There will always be a collector base that can afford to buy anything and everything, but that isn't true for most, and if there are too many greats sets, it can be as overwhelming as too many bad sets in some ways and can result in the same problems that the SW line faced early on, too much stock sitting on the shelves. So I predict plenty of good things coming, but I hope we see a certain amount of restraint from LEGO when it comes to flooding us with too many sets at a time.
November 2, 200717 yr Author Is this the same sort of discussion as in this thread? ___________ Not really, brick quality was only an example I used, I wanted to see people's opinions on what TLC is heading towards in terms of its themes, marketing and AFOL relations. Once again I apoligise if this has already been done, I just wanted to see people's opinions on what we thought or could expect in the future in those terms :-$ Batbrick Away! >:-)
November 2, 200717 yr Author Cool! Just checking. Carry on... *sweet* *y* _____ thanks! :'-) I'll put down my thoughts more thoroughly now: You are probably right imperialshadows, TLC will probably never cater to AFOL's, but I do still think that it will give us more treats in the future like CC and Town Plan, though knowing them I think a USC Castle is a long way off |-/ One thing I can only see becoming worse is as you stated the problem of flooding us with sets. I am still trying to finish the Viking theme and about twelve others, and it doesn't look like I will catch up! I predict that more useless licenses will come about, and after Indy and StarWars not many great ones will be left. Still, to be positive, I'd say that TLC has started to realise that good sets = good profits, and reckon we will be treated to some more great lines. Batbrick Away! >:-)
November 2, 200717 yr IMO, TLC is going to another golden age. Most of the sets and themes in the the last coupke of years have been great!!! (besides the millionth bionicle theme) But i think it's safe to say that Lego can only get better.!
November 2, 200717 yr I think it depends on what theme your looking at, for me Star Wars and Castle are entering another golden age. However i feel that other themes such as space for example are not, this is a shame as i would love to see all themes on a par with each other.
November 2, 200717 yr I'd say that TLC is on the right track, but not quite there yet. They seriously need to work on issues like quality and distribution (I for one am definitely not happy the Dwarfs Mining special hasn't been released in Europe yet). As for themes and set design I've seen a major improvement in the last year, just look at the new City sets and the new Castle line. If TLC keeps improving like this, I'm sure we're at the start of a new golden age for LEGO.
November 2, 200717 yr I think it depends on what theme your looking at, for me Star Wars and Castle are entering another golden age. However i feel that other themes such as space for example are not, this is a shame as i would love to see all themes on a par with each other. I have to second Vaders opinion. TLC is not doing well in all of their themes. There still is a great variety in themes and not all of them are likely to sell well. I expect Mars Mission, Aquariders and Sports not to sell in huge amounts and I even have doubts that Indy will be a chart breaker, because the children don
November 2, 200717 yr as for me, i couldn't be happier with TLC. if every theme was a hit, i would have been far sadder because... just think of the wallet. :'-( :'-( as it currently stands, i think SW 07/08 line has too many sets as it is. i'll be shopping a lot this coming holiday season. probably single-handedly rescuing the stagflating US economy! :-D :-D :-D
November 2, 200717 yr How/what is TLC? According to our EB Glossary ( ;-) ) it means the Lego Company !! *yoda*
November 2, 200717 yr i'm having mixed feelings about Lego's direction. As said before by others, castle and star wars are doing great, *sweet* i don't think castle is in a golden age. assuming your success needs to be a bit longer than 6-8 months before you can call it a golden age. no doubt, sw is in a golden age. 1 bad thing: prices for these sets are oh so high... Not sure about city though. a year ago, i would have said that's in a golden age as well, but now i feel they're running around in their typical circle again. they can't seem to step away from the police theme for more than two years or so and they're still not producing a large variaty of city sets... it's not bad, but i don't see a golden age... then there are the weird decision-themes, like aquaraiders and mars mission.... don't see the point of having those in the catalog... not sure where these two are going to, don't know what Lego's long term plans are for these two... The other licenses seem to have had their best days. HP, Ferrari, Spidey, batman,... Maybe the golden age for the licenses, if there ever was one, is gone... there used to be a time when lego thought every license would be an instant hit.... those days are over, that's for sure... golden days of bionicle and exo force are over too. in both themes i find that lego is repeating itself.... nothing interesting here... popularity of bionicle has gone down for quite some time now... "creator" is becoming Lego basic of the past. Creator is in a golden age, no doubt lego technic? hm... their last golden age was about 25 years ago i think.... but what i most of all hate is the way in which lego commercialises her products these days: some sets are only available via sah or tru, so if there's no tru in your vicinity, you have to pay extra for posting and shipping for sah, for a toy that is, btw, already quite expensive. then there's the issue of the golden c3po and the other real exclusive sets.... Lego seems to think there are different markets with different needs, they don't realise there's one large community that wants access to all products lego is producing... in that way, i don't think they're in a good direction at all... Edited November 2, 200717 yr by snefroe
November 2, 200717 yr then there are the weird decision-themes, like aquaraiders and mars mission.... don't see the point of having those in the catalog... not sure where these two are going to, don't know what Lego's long term plans are for these two... Well having new short lifespam themes can be cool and add novelty but if they were done correctly !! AR was okie, but MM is just a HUGE waste of time, money, shelfspace and what have you |-/ I wonder what we'll witness in may ;-) *yoda*
November 2, 200717 yr Honestly, I have really been loving what TLC has been doing! Personally, I thought back a few years, they were really going down - towns composed of minimal large parts, huge specialized peices and combining of peices, juniorization, was just not looking up to my expectations. Albeit it was still lego - how bad can it be! But lately theyve just seemed to astound me (other than the not so new grey colors, icky!) Theyre really getting back to their roots of imagination, creativity, and large peice per dollar ratios! Even look at the battle packs - just for army building *wub* Space themes *wub* Mechs even! And for the city dwellers, they havent been all that bad either, along with castle (though we could do with some new pirates, eh?) All in all I think theyve been doing great, and am quite happy thus far :-$
November 2, 200717 yr I think, in the overall, LEGO is going towards another golden age. I really enjoy the new sets we get, and LEGO seems to be going more and more modular, instead of using large base plates like they started using in the late 1990s and early twenty-first century. I am loving the design of the new Castle line; I was not a fan of the original Knight's Kingdom (2004) sets, but I started noticing the improving castle with the 2005 Vladek Battle Theme. And now this new Castle line is very, very good. We get factions, plenty of war-weapons, and no useless castles! Although I don't collect City, I like the new airplanes, but not the new police plane; I think they should have used a smaller body, not the plane pieces they use for the Cargo Plane and Passenger Plane. City nowadays is a huge improvement from the old days of LEGO World City. Those sets were not very good at all. MarsMission is not of my taste, so I haven't gotten any, but I can see the appeal and nice design of the sets, with the exception of the aliens that do not move. I think the sets are very well designed, and I really like those neat missiles, though they haven't much use outside MarsMission. Although some 2008 themes don't seem that good to me (I am not an Indy fan, and the 2008 Exo-Force don't look as good as the 2006/2007 ones), I think that LEGO as a whole is continually improving and this is being more noticed here on Eurobricks because they are starting to throw in AFOL sets here and there, such as the Hobby Train, Cafe Corner, Market Street, and next year the Town Plan, for one. I really like the direction LEGO is headed. And fortunately, BIONICLE is still the best theme they have out there; this is excellent for me, as I collect BIONICLE. The new Phantoka look amazing, and the design of the Toa Ignika "board" is superb. I can barely wait to see the new Titans. Snefroe, you are incorrect. Personally, I don't see how BIONICLE is repeating itself, it seems to be getting better and better. Also, it's popularity is NOT going down. Here on Eurobricks it may be, perhaps, but last year BIONICLE returned as LEGO's #1 Theme, and its sales improved 10% over BIONICLE 2005. So it is anything but going down in both quality and popularity. And LEGO's commercializing is nothing new, snefroe. Some sets are available at only TRU or only Wal-Mart or only SAH because they are promotional sets. Firstly, it increases anticipation and collectibility of the set (only here? It must be rare!) Secondly, stores such as TRU and Wal-Mart are tempted to buy more LEGO if they are offered a set they only THEY can sell, besides LEGO themselves. It is just business, snefroe, and I don't think it is more common with LEGO than with anybody else. So, overall, LEGO is improving in both construction (interesting builds) and completion (finished result). That is what I think matters, and I am very pleased that they are finally recognizing the value of the minifigure! VK
November 2, 200717 yr Well having new short lifespam themes can be cool and add novelty but if they were done correctly !! I thought the same thing *yoda* . I've noticed that they are discontinuing sets and themes a lot quicker than they used to. It is kind of sad to lose Vikings and AR so quickly but I think it is a new marketing strategy. Supply and demand. So, we won't be seeing these sub-themes grow like they used to. LEGO seems to be pushing new products and stopping production once sales level off...
November 2, 200717 yr well, i hardly see bionicle selling. the top 25 list is dominated by SW, city and castle. haven't seen AR on clearance yet but i'm guessing it will be inevitable after christmas. :-D it's a silly theme :-D nice as yellow parts packs though. :-P
November 2, 200717 yr well, i hardly see bionicle selling. the top 25 list is dominated by SW, city and castle.haven't seen AR on clearance yet but i'm guessing it will be inevitable after christmas. :-D it's a silly theme :-D nice as yellow parts packs though. :-P aww...I like them. They have a big squid that eats people! X-D
November 2, 200717 yr I've noticed that they are discontinuing sets and themes a lot quicker than they used to. It is kind of sad to lose Vikings and AR so quickly but I think it is a new marketing strategy. Supply and demand. So, we won't be seeing these sub-themes grow like they used to. LEGO seems to be pushing new products and stopping production once sales level off... I think I read somewhere that this is due to retailer demands. The retailers aren't interested in a new line of Viking stuff, since they already have Viking stuff on their shelves (same with any theme). Its easier to persuade them to pick up a new theme. So Lego is forced to created new themes. Steve
November 2, 200717 yr I think I read somewhere that this is due to retailer demands. The retailers aren't interested in a new line of Viking stuff, since they already have Viking stuff on their shelves (same with any theme). Its easier to persuade them to pick up a new theme. So Lego is forced to created new themes.Steve Interesting. I wondered about that. That makes sense from a retailer standpoint and it would be too much trouble for LEGO to produce Vikings sets that only appeared on the website and other themes to fill the retails shelves... stupid retailers... :-/ Perhaps that is why 2008's castle line focuses so heavily on the dwarf and troll factions...they look very different from last year's castle line.
November 2, 200717 yr stupid retailers... :-/ Perhaps that is why 2008's castle line focuses so heavily on the dwarf and troll factions...they look very different from last year's castle line. Lego could work this issue into a system that would be great for us long-term collectors. One year they could do Castle, the next Vikings, the next Pirates, the next Romans, the next Ninjas and then after five years, start they cycle over again with a second line of each set. Steve
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