What will happen when star wars lego is gone forever?

[General Zen]

Hey guys! I really have been contemplating things lately, and I didn't see this topic anywhere else but correct me if I am wrong, but I have really thought about lego's future without the star wars line to back it up. Star wars lego does put a major amount of cash in the lego group's pocket. Will they be affected financially from the absence of star wars? Or will they simply find some other licensed product to mass market? Will they extend the theme a few more years all together? Please tell me what you think.

Another thing that I realized is that lego started my craze for star wars in the first place. When that is gone, will lego still have the effect it has on me now? I really enjoy the non-liscensed themes lke aqua raiders, etc, but starwars lego has always been my favorite. What does star wars lego mean to you? How will you feel when it is gone?

Sorry that this topisc sounds so depressing X-D , but it is something on my mind and I would appreciate any imput generated by anyone!

[Scouty]

Well, figuring that the license ends in 2011 (lest it be extended!!), we'll still have three years, and I imagine-more like hope- that TLC will just dump alot of sets or something big at the end.

[General Zen]

Yeah, I suppose so. I guess I make it sound like the end of star wars lego is the end of the world! X-D what I m really getting at is how lego will do afterwards. I really hope that it can still prosper without one of it' most proficient boosters! ;-)

[captaintau]

Well, it seems there's plenty of mileage in Star Wars for the moment what with live-action TV series which I suspect will expand.

The future Star Wars (Cade Skywalker) also opens possibilities.

I think LEGO will continue with SW until they stop making money from it, whatever make cause that.

And when they do, many of us will go onto Space and then spend many hours on EB moaning about the then-current Space line could never match up the good old days of "proper" space sets (Star Wars) :-P

[Greyfox327]

I don't care about the line anymore. The only sets that appeal to me now are the battle packs. I love the universe, but, I think Lego should go back to the Original Trilogy. I want small sets again!

[General Zen]

I don't care about the line anymore. The only sets that appeal to me now are the battle packs. I love the universe, but, I think Lego should go back to the Original Trilogy. I want small sets again!

I agree with you about the original trilogy, i would like some more sets..like...say...endor bunker set with speeder bikes and at-st! But lego just has to stick with "current" star wars media if it wants to appeal to the kids, not adult fans. :-/

But come on! Lego will have to drop this theme at some point! Maybe the interest in star wars will fade away to make room for some other trilogy! ;-)

[blueandwhite]

I don't think this relationship will die anytime soon. In fact, I would be surprised if both parties didn't extend this licence. It's almost been a decade and it is still one of LEGO's biggest sellers. Licencing has become a major factor for LEGO's financial success. Heck, they currently have Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Sponge Bob, Ferrari, Harry Potter and Batman, not to mention Speed Racer. Losing Star Wars would probably have a devistating impact on LEGO.

[Omega 8]

I don't see Lego allowing the license to lapse. SW has too mauch potential, as was stated above, Legacy (as well as other Dark Horse comics) offer a huge well of untapped characters/vehicles/scenes. The Clone Wars Series will obviously expand on what we've already seen, and re-makes of the saga sets will always be good sellers.

As for the OT vs New/Eu stuff, I too am a OT fan first and foremost but sets like the Ep3 JSFs and the Rouge Shadow are just amazing. There's always room on my shelf for more SW sets.

Don't worry about Lego losing SW, the other licenses are failing left and right :-( SW keeps going strong!

Edited January 8, 2008 by Omega 8

[General Zen]

You guys are right. Sorry for posting this pointless topic. :-/ I'm new so i'll try to think these through for the next time. well, on a positive note, star wars is forever!

[Omega 8]

You guys are right. Sorry for posting this pointless topic. :-/ I'm new so i'll try to think these through for the next time. well, on a positive note, star wars is forever!

No need to get offended or defensive. It's certainly a valid question, just not one you have to worry about until 2011 (and probably not at all ;-) )

Edited January 8, 2008 by Omega 8

[Ogel111]

If the horible event comes where lego drops star wars I would at least hope they would go out with a

bang and make a 10,000 piece set or something.

[narf]

Wow scary thought for lego fans and the Lego n Lucas Arts accountants alike.

Both Lego and Lucas arts are rolling in some good coin with the SW line but it all boils down to the almighty dollar figure each side wants when 2011 hits.

They have a massive universe of resources since they started tapping into the stories outside the movies so it soundn't be a case of lack of material but at the same time...

really my interest is in recreating a few of the scenes from the movies. Not saying that the odd new comic book etc based set wont make it into my collection but my purchace volume will sluff. Plus it adds up to be a big price tag when they redesign them and re-release them over and over. For example the New MTT in '07 cost me around $160 CAN w/ tax from TRU, way better than the previous version but I will not be swapping them out again. Same goes for an army of AT-ST's

With the sweet '08 line I will be very close to owning all the cool vehicles I want from the movies, plus the major minifigs have been released already so the I got the ones I want, so my buying rate should slip. It helps that I let clones double as stormtroopers and vice versa.

Part of me actually wouldn't be too heart broken, it would free up $ I used to spend on basic bricks for MOCs I now end up spending on SW sets. Plus I doubt it would be dropped for too long, Lucas Arts loves to celebrate the Anniversaries of SW so it would likely opt to hit up a fresh batch of AFOLs when the market unsaturates.

LOL - this is a real head spinner topic but very possible as nothing is forever so a person can not really take for granted that SW lego will always be around....

[snefroe]

well i think that sw covers a fanbase that lego didn't have in the past: the Afols, but apart from that, the most successful theme that is around is city, and castle has seen a revival as well. sw may have been vital for lego's success a few years back but it's not as important anymore. in fact, i find that lego's traditional audience is far more into the police and firefighting sets. They can relate to those every day things far easier than to sw. so 2012 may be the end for the sw freaks, but the general public will still buy sets as long as they're good.

[KimT]

Well, figuring that the license ends in 2011 (lest it be extended!!), we'll still have three years, and I imagine-more like hope- that TLC will just dump alot of sets or something big at the end.

Not likely that LEGO will massproduce sets in the end of the license since every set has to be approved by George Lucas himself. That's the backside of licensed themes. They have to be approved and only a certain amount of minifigs are allowed in each set depending on size. This is because LEGO only has the building toy license and not the action figure license. So I guess were supposed to be happy for the army-builder sets and the small amount of regulat bricks in those sets.

After SW? - who knows? After the awfull Power Rangers...I mean...KK there was CASTLE! *y* *y*

After Star Wars there might be a super Space theme again - not LoM :-X

KimT

[brickbitz]

Undoubtedly LEGO tapped into a huge market when somebody came up with the Star Wars license. Star Wars is obviously extremely collectable and there must be a great number of people who love having a minifig Darth Maul and such like on display without the desire to buy other LEGO products.

The end of such a license may well be a large financial blow to LEGO and may well see the disappearance of the casual Star Wars enthusiast but it will not affect my love of the brick. I do have most of the Star Wars sets lined up on my shelves and I too love my Darth Maul minifig. Without Star Wars though, I will still look forward to the next LEGO catalogue. It isn't even generally the first thing I look for when new sets are released.

So in summary, I might have concerns for LEGO's financial future and wonder how they will replace such a huge selling line, but the loss of the theme itself is not a major problem for me. It would certainly save me some money.....

[The Kid]

The future Star Wars (Cade Skywalker) also opens possibilities.

Er, what? Am I missing something here? I mean, is this EU or Star Wars Episode 7? :-P

TK

[Bobskink]

When Starwars Lego stops, some people will be reliefd, cause they can finally let go without having the feeling of missing out cool stuff, but others will be very frustrated because they will never ever have a Hoth luke and Tauntaun.

I will be inbetween of those two.

[trooperdavinfelth]

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if, after 2011, TLC realized how crappy sales were without the Star Wars line so they'd ask for another. But the danger in that is that another company, say Mega Bloks( :-X ), may snatch that license before TLC can even put a foot down. In my view, if they re-up the license before 2011, they'll have more ground to work with for making new models. I.E., if they reup the license in 2011, the designers would have very little to no time to work with for making new models. Plus, reupping it sooner would mean more profits for TLC as long as Toys 'R' Us stays in business. X-D (they always get the shipments two-three weeks sooner)

Sorry if that seemed a bit off-topic(I just realized the above statement had nothing to do with the topic :-| ).

Anyway, SW Lego will be gone 'forever' when Star Wars is gone 'forever'. I mean, there's plenty of stuff to be done yet and I can't imagine Lego quitting now right at the start of another generation of Star Wars!

IF Star Wars Lego should be gone forever(no quotation marks), TLC would need a hell of a license to make up for SW and to make up for the loss of interest. How many people come to a store looking for Star Wars Legos and see something else and buy that too? It's not profitable or logical for TLC to stop the license, but Ah! There I go again. Well, I've said my piece.

When Starwars Lego stops, some people will be reliefd, cause they can finally let go without having the feeling of missing out cool stuff, but others will be very frustrated because they will never ever have a Hoth luke and Tauntaun.

I will be inbetween of those two.

How do you know you'll never get a Tauntaun or a Hoth Luke? :-P

Edited January 8, 2008 by trooperdavinfelth

[Wout]

I think that as TLC stops with Star wars lego, They gonna make many afols cry :-P X-D

Now for serious, maybe they don't want to stop with starwars, atleast not until 2020.And maybe George also wants to make as much money as he can. So I think it maybe not stop after 2011.

[Derek]

I mean, is this EU or Star Wars Episode 7? :-P

TK

Mmmm. Episode seven.... Maybe someday...

[Palin Jax]

With all these great, or in some cases dire, thoughts about the future, I think all one needs to do is look into the past... Eurobricks is a testimony to that... topics including pirate, castle, and who can forget city. Lego and Lucas might also be in it for the money, but you need to think Legacy... something I am certain both parties are quite proud of... Even if Lego takes a slight break after 2011, the star wars line will never die, and even if it does, it's hardly sagely advice to acknowledge the talented creative artists within this site.

My guess is that the license will be renewed through the live action series, (100 hrs worth), of which I sincerely believe we will see many new vehicels... And I think as Lucas works more closely with the animated series, as well as directing the live actions first season, it will re-spark his desires for even more movies... I will wager we will see some hints about these movie tie-ins in the live action series. Again, however, this is only a guess.

One thing I think we often take for granted is that we fans, (if you are not, what are you doing here? :-D ), aren't always as flattering as we ought to be. None of us would be here, sharing in this love for pressed plastic, if not for his (George's) imagination. But if you look at allot of our posts, we tend to complain an awful lot. We are not all kids anymore, (if you are, sorry, but at 30 I hope I can do a little reflecting X-D ), so each time it gets harder to impress us. I know we only desire the best, and rightly so, but we should do so while remembering that Lucas/ Lego are doing there best to make us all happy.

In conclusion, this line is not dead, nor will it ever die... I see many long, happy years of Lego lunacy ;-) ahead of us all. Sorry for the lengthy post, but one of the many reasons I love this site is that all of you posses such a zest for these bricks, and to me it would be a shame for any of you to bare the heartache of a star wars lego-less year... Le godt...

Edited January 9, 2008 by Palin Jax

[Trudop561]

I don't know.

In 2011, I will be in cegep, so I will not have the time for play with Legos.

But lego sw is so popular, there is so many things TLC has not do, like :

-Trade Federation cruiser

-Super Star Destroyer

-Tantive IV

-Jedi temple

-Death star (imperial star destroyer style, where we could open it and play with minifigs)

-AT-PT

-AT-XT

-AT-OT

-clone artillery

-Naboo Gian Speeder

-AAT (new version)

-Heavy STAP

-ARC troopers

SO MANY THINGS !

[WookieeWarrior]

To quote Padme, "Let's pray that day never comes".

I would imagine that the SW line has been very good for LEGO, heck, it's the only line my WalMart carries. If it happened, I'd be sad, but I guess I'd just have to build sets on my own- even though I'm pretty bad when it comes to building sets from my own imagination.

[voltio]

well i think that sw covers a fanbase that lego didn't have in the past: the Afols, but apart from that, the most successful theme that is around is city, and castle has seen a revival as well. sw may have been vital for lego's success a few years back but it's not as important anymore. in fact, i find that lego's traditional audience is far more into the police and firefighting sets. They can relate to those every day things far easier than to sw. so 2012 may be the end for the sw freaks, but the general public will still buy sets as long as they're good.

I agree with you that the general public won't stop buying Lego after the license ends (hopefully a long time from now), but considering how much shelf space LSW occupies at Target, TRU, Walmart, etc., I think TLC would have to work diligently to find another license or space theme to fill SW's shoes. Plus, from my own personal experience since 2005 in America, Star Wars sets go on clearance far less regularly than do other themes, and some stores (like TRU :-| ) deliberately exclude SW sets from their before-christmas sales. I think it would be an error for Lego to walk away from such a hot-selling line...perhaps as much of an error as abandoning Pirate in 1997.

[Bobskink]

I forgot, there are still the upcoming series of clone Wars were they can base new sets on, so I think they will continue. No way Starwars will ever go to Mega Blocks, I think George will not add his brand to something like taht.