On 6/5/2019 at 11:50 PM, MatthewRC said:

  On 6/5/2019 at 10:13 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Well, did it even seem like they had plans for further sets beyond those two last year? With nothing heard for such since then, I believe that may be the first licensed theme since Avatar: The Last Airbender to receive no more than two sets. 

Okay, I might as well expect PPG BrickHeadz sets in 2020.

Sure, that seems quite likely; and come to think of it, perhaps it's somewhat unfair to compare PPG to The Last Airbender theme, as Lego has technically done four tie-in products for the franchise if you're to count the two Dimensions packs that preceded the playsets.

  On 6/6/2019 at 9:45 AM, MAB said:

  On 6/5/2019 at 12:40 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Yet that logic didn't seem to apply to the original Toy Story theme, Indiana Jones, POTC, LOTR/The Hobbit... 

 

It did with the Hobbit - the sets came out at similar times to the movies. And presumably the studios or LEGO thought that it would be a good idea to do LOTR as well - there were loads of LOTR MOCs at the time and I imagine LEGO was aware of this.

IJ and POTC (at least for me) have much more longevity as a series than, for example, Despicable Me. In the same way as Star Wars is THE classic Space Opera, they are essentially THE historical action man and THE pirate franchise. People still buy merchandise for both franchises, and it is aimed at slightly older audiences. LEGO went all in to do them. Whereas with Trolls and Minions, I imagine they are just going for the short-lived movie tie-in and that's it. A lot of minions products got treated as essentially line clearance after the movies. If they do Gru and half a dozen minions connected with the new movie, I'm not sure what of the back catalogue they'd really want to do to make even more sales.

Again, irrespective of my own or others' feelings for either franchise, I'm hoping that TLG do have longer term plans for both the Trolls and Minions lines if they're moderately successful, as I'd personally find it disheartening to see Lego contented with releasing product lines that have no aspirations for the long run. 

  On 6/6/2019 at 12:36 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Again, irrespective of my own or others' feelings for either franchise, I'm hoping that TLG do have longer term plans for both the Trolls and Minions lines if they're moderately successful, as I'd personally find it disheartening to see Lego contented with releasing product lines that have no aspirations for the long run. 

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I find it nice that they do short lived themes for 'smaller' licenses like this. If they did Minions, or Trolls, or Angry Birds, or ... for three years they get stale. I'd prefer they do three one year themes based on something of current interest (due to a Movie), rather than one that lasts three years. I would also imagine sales for three short themes are better than one longer theme, even if the total number of sets released are the same. Especially when they have longer running themes, Harry Potter, SW, Super Heroes, it is nice to have some other short lived licenses that change more often.

  On 6/6/2019 at 2:49 PM, MAB said:

I find it nice that they do short lived themes for 'smaller' licenses like this. If they did Minions, or Trolls, or Angry Birds, or ... for three years they get stale. I'd prefer they do three one year themes based on something of current interest (due to a Movie), rather than one that lasts three years. I would also imagine sales for three short themes are better than one longer theme, even if the total number of sets released are the same. Especially when they have longer running themes, Harry Potter, SW, Super Heroes, it is nice to have some other short lived licenses that change more often.

Subjectively speaking, I strongly disagree, as I much rather prefer and hope to see the further introduction of longer-term, broadly-encompassing umbrella themes more akin to DC/Marvel SuperHeroes, City, Creator, the non-licensed Collectable Minifigure line, etc (something I really wish they'd do for Disney). 

  On 6/7/2019 at 12:22 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

Subjectively speaking, I strongly disagree, as I much rather prefer and hope to see the further introduction of longer-term, broadly-encompassing umbrella themes more akin to DC/Marvel SuperHeroes, City, Creator, the non-licensed Collectable Minifigure line, etc (something I really wish they'd do for Disney). 

 

Isn't that exactly what they have, just without the name? Invent an umbrella theme called "Kids' Movies". Then in that umbrella theme put Angry Birds, Trolls, Minions, etc, as subthemes. Then remove the umbrella theme name. What do you have, a collection of smaller subthemes.  Given how merchandise sales really tales off once a movie has gone from theatres, I cannot see Minions having the longevity to last three years, with new sets each year. These have to be short-lived themes with sets coming out only while the movie promotes merchandise sales.

 

For Disney, they might get away with it, as at least some of those movies have the longevity and there is a whole range of movies to choose from. In a sense we already have a Disney umbrella theme in the Disney Princess line, which has been going for the past five years.

  On 6/7/2019 at 12:58 PM, MAB said:

Isn't that exactly what they have, just without the name? Invent an umbrella theme called "Kids' Movies". Then in that umbrella theme put Angry Birds, Trolls, Minions, etc, as subthemes. Then remove the umbrella theme name. What do you have, a collection of smaller subthemes.  Given how merchandise sales really tales off once a movie has gone from theatres, I cannot see Minions having the longevity to last three years, with new sets each year. These have to be short-lived themes with sets coming out only while the movie promotes merchandise sales.

No, of course those three themes could never be under the same "roof" so to speak. More ideally, each of those respective themes could've rather been under a more broadly-encompassing Angry Birds line based upon the games (with tie-in sets for the Movie acting as a subtheme under that umbrella), a DreamWorks Animation theme, and Despicable Me/Minions theme. I mean, if only one particular facet of any of those franchises is financially viable in the short-term, why not seek out different IPs that have much more to offer for the long-run instead? 

  On 6/7/2019 at 12:58 PM, MAB said:

For Disney, they might get away with it, as at least some of those movies have the longevity and there is a whole range of movies to choose from. In a sense we already have a Disney umbrella theme in the Disney Princess line, which has been going for the past five years.

Exactly, so why couldn't they just concentrate their efforts on delving further into Disney's back catalog for further one-off sets beyond the minidoll Princesses sets, rather than acquiring more inevitably disposable franchises? Even if Disney's Princesses are one of the few subfranchises that's sellable on a retailer-wide basis, I'm pretty sure at least several sets a year based upon other animated classics sold as LEGO Store/Shop at Home/Disney Store exclusives would do quite alright! 

kind of sounds like you're just mad they're not doing one off sets for old movies you like, instead of doing one off sets for new movies you don't necessarily like.

  On 6/9/2019 at 1:05 AM, InnerRayg said:

kind of sounds like you're just mad they're not doing one off sets for old movies you like, instead of doing one off sets for new movies you don't necessarily like.

No, not quite, as it's the potential fate of these two upcoming sequel themes that concerns me much more, as they could be possibly going the same one-and-done route the Angry Birds Movie theme went. Put more simply, despite having no attachments to either franchise, I just want to see both the Trolls and Minions themes run at least two more years after their initial promotions of their respective sequels just for the sake of it, though I'm afraid I can't quite count on that... 

  On 6/8/2019 at 3:04 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

No, of course those three themes could never be under the same "roof" so to speak. More ideally, each of those respective themes could've rather been under a more broadly-encompassing Angry Birds line based upon the games (with tie-in sets for the Movie acting as a subtheme under that umbrella), a DreamWorks Animation theme, and Despicable Me/Minions theme. I mean, if only one particular facet of any of those franchises is financially viable in the short-term, why not seek out different IPs that have much more to offer for the long-run instead?

1

Maybe because they have enough long running licensed themes already. They have SW, Marvel, DC, HP.  There is a difference between these and franchises like Despicable Me and Angry Birds in the age group they are marketted to. The current long running themes are aimed at older consumers (that have a longer attention span) and are known to be good themes for merchandise. Whereas themes aimed at younger kids rotate a lot more, whatever is at the cinema is popular and often soon forgotten.

Thinking back, Minions seemed to be all the rage when Despicable Me was out, then died down quickly, then all the rage again for DM2 (but not Despicable Me merchandise, it had to be DM2), then died down just as quick. I imagine it is better for them to make three or four one-off flash-in-the-pan themes based on current movies than it is to make one long running theme over multiple years for properties like this. If you don't like one franchise, chances are there will be something else along soon. If you like more than one small theme, then they'll get your cash multiple times. Whereas if it is one long running theme, they might get boring after a while or you might feel you have enough if you just buy into one wave and not bother with later ones. If you didn't like the theme, then maybe they miss doing other franchises as they concentrate on the one they chose. Plus other companies will probably get rights to the themes LEGO didn't buy into and LEGO will lose sales to these competitors that do the current movies while LEGO continues in the longer themes based on older non-current themes.

It's likely too late in the game for there to be any window of possibility for such to happen next year, but it'd still be pretty cool if Lego were to do a line of sets based upon this for then...