LEGO Stranger Things Rumours Discussion

[Blondie-Wan]

Just now, Whovastron said:

It is, there’s a fair bit of gore and scares. I think Lego are edging towards producing more adult sets. They’ve really gathered a larger adult market over the past few years, and with all the 80s stuff, then 007, and now this, I think they’re going fully towards some adult themed sets. Nothing too crazy, I doubt we’d ever get game of thrones or something like that. But something like stranger things that walks the line 

I’d have thought Stranger Things clearly goes over the line, myself. I think it’s more a case of the line having been pushed farther and farther.

At this point I could see them reconsidering licenses previously deemed insufficiently kid-friendly, like Halo and Firefly / Serenity. Looking back now at some of the things they’ve done and are apparently about to do, it’s almost hard to believe there was ever a time when it seemed unlikely to many of us that they’d ever do Middle-Earth or Indiana Jones.

[Digger of Bricks]

4 minutes ago, Whovastron said:

40 minutes ago, Legoman123 said:

I thought Stranger Things was an adult TV Show, well maybe not adult but its nit meant for kids?  

It is, there’s a fair bit of gore and scares. I think Lego are edging towards producing more adult sets. They’ve really gathered a larger adult market over the past few years, and with all the 80s stuff, then 007, and now this, I think they’re going fully towards some adult themed sets. Nothing too crazy, I doubt we’d ever get game of thrones or something like that. But something like stranger things that walks the line

If Stranger Things' main characters were instead high schoolers/young adults like Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan, I feel like we wouldn't be seeing this set today. In a way, it's like the series' younger main characters gloss over any of the issues Lego would've otherwise had with the show. I don't know... 

[Whovastron]

2 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

If Stranger Things' main characters were instead high schoolers/young adults like Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan, I feel like we wouldn't be seeing this set today. In a way, it's like the series' younger main characters gloss over any of the issues Lego would've otherwise had with the show. I don't know... 

It’s also the nostalgic nature of the show I think. It’s in the tone of things like ET, Goonies etc., which we know Lego don’t mind doing, so it appeals in the same way

[Foxes Productionz]

20 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

If Stranger Things' main characters were instead high schoolers/young adults like Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan, I feel like we wouldn't be seeing this set today. In a way, it's like the series' younger main characters gloss over any of the issues Lego would've otherwise had with the show. I don't know... 

THIS. And perhaps the fact that the series takes place in the 80s, so it's not as modern, and remians timeless in a sense. 

Edit: @Whovastron basically summed it up perfectly.

Edited April 27, 2019 by Foxes Productionz

[Digger of Bricks]

38 minutes ago, Blondie-Wan said:

I’d have thought Stranger Things clearly goes over the line, myself. I think it’s more a case of the line having been pushed farther and farther.

At this point I could see them reconsidering licenses previously deemed insufficiently kid-friendly, like Halo and Firefly / Serenity. Looking back now at some of the things they’ve done and are apparently about to do, it’s almost hard to believe there was ever a time when it seemed unlikely to many of us that they’d ever do Middle-Earth or Indiana Jones.

Perhaps the key in measuring various IPs for acceptability, is in how much/to what degree a particular property revels in certain aspects that Lego tends to stray away from? I mean, Stranger Things isn't exactly comparable to your typical slasher flick, something that does indeed revel (or should I say, bathe) in those avoided aspects. 

[Dr.Cogg]

I wonder if part of the set will be in the upsidedown ?

[Blondie-Wan]

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Perhaps the key in measuring various IPs for acceptability, is in how much/to what degree a particular property revels in certain aspects that Lego tends to stray away from? I mean, Stranger Things isn't exactly comparable to your typical slasher flick, something that does indeed revel (or should I say, bathe) in those avoided aspects. 

That’s probably part of it. I also suspect, as you do, the youth of so many of the core characters is also a factor.

[SpiderSpaceman]

5 hours ago, Legoman123 said:

I thought Stranger Things was an adult TV Show, well maybe not adult but its nit meant for kids?  

The same intensity was widely considered acceptable for older kids in the 1980s. ET Goonies and Gremlins each have a Lego product and they’re exactly what stranger things tries to recapture. The creators basically thought “they don’t make them like they used to” and did something about it - stranger things is a 1980s kids adventure that just came out 45 years later. If it was in a theatrical film format it would have been rated PG (US ratings) back then and now PG-13, since they split it following a couple films that were still alright for older kids, a little intense, but not intense enough to get an R.

And don’t forget the other Spielberg adventures Lego caught - Jurassic park and Indiana Jones

Generally wholesome, a little scary, perfectly good for older kids.

[Whovastron]

5 minutes ago, SpiderSpaceman said:

The same intensity was widely considered acceptable for older kids in the 1980s. ET Goonies and Gremlins each have a Lego product and they’re exactly what stranger things tries to recapture. The creators basically thought “they don’t make them like they used to” and did something about it - stranger things is a 1980s kids adventure that just came out 45 years later. If it was in a theatrical film format it would have been rated PG (US ratings) back then and now PG-13, since they split it following a couple films that were still alright for older kids, a little intense, but not intense enough to get an R.

And don’t forget the other Spielberg adventures Lego caught - Jurassic park and Indiana Jones

Generally wholesome, a little scary, perfectly good for older kids.

Stranger things is way too gory and scary to be PG-13/12a. The home video releases have all been rather 15 in the UK, and R in America I believe. It recaptures goonies etc., but also implements Stephen king horror  elements. The title font is even a replica of the font used for some of his books

[Ultron]

Plot twist: this set is microscale with no real figs, only microfigs. 

Can you imagine if that were the case 

[Vonsek]

6 minutes ago, Ultron said:

Plot twist: this set is microscale with no real figs, only microfigs. 

Can you imagine if that were the case 

yeah...... no.

[Whovastron]

35 minutes ago, Ultron said:

Plot twist: this set is microscale with no real figs, only microfigs. 

Can you imagine if that were the case 

People keep saying this about everything. As with Jurassic Park, this is not an iconic big building/vehicle. It will be system scale

[Ultron]

16 minutes ago, Whovastron said:

People keep saying this about everything. As with Jurassic Park, this is not an iconic big building/vehicle. It will be system scale

It was just a joke. 

[Whovastron]

27 minutes ago, Ultron said:

It was just a joke. 

Sorry my tone is a bit off in my reply, sounded a bit too serious. I got that it was a joke, but an alarming amount of people do think that Lego are going the micro scale route for everything after only 3 sets in 5 years

[strangely]

5 hours ago, Whovastron said:

Stranger things is way too gory and scary to be PG-13/12a. The home video releases have all been rather 15 in the UK, and R in America I believe. It recaptures goonies etc., but also implements Stephen king horror  elements. The title font is even a replica of the font used for some of his books

In America it's TV-14, same as the Big Bang Theory. Honestly, even by movie standards it's basically a TV version of the movie Super 8. I'll admit season 2 got a little more gory, but it basically just tips into Jurassic Park territory.

[Whovastron]

27 minutes ago, strangely said:

In America it's TV-14, same as the Big Bang Theory. Honestly, even by movie standards it's basically a TV version of the movie Super 8. I'll admit season 2 got a little more gory, but it basically just tips into Jurassic Park territory.

Huh, interesting. I didn’t think it was as scary as people had said when this rumour broke. But rewatching season 1 more recently, it’s more 15 (r) than 12 (pg-13) in my opinion.

[Puresh]

30 minutes ago, strangely said:

In America it's TV-14, same as the Big Bang Theory. Honestly, even by movie standards it's basically a TV version of the movie Super 8. I'll admit season 2 got a little more gory, but it basically just tips into Jurassic Park territory.

Jurassic Park isn't gory at all, the only scene with actual gore is the death of Ray Arnold.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 OF STRANGER THINGS:  Stranger Things, however, shows a man with a bloody bullet wound on his head, the decayed body of a child and at least 7 soldiers with exploded brains, blood all over the floor - and that's only three examples

TV-14 is completely different to PG-13. Look at other shows like Lost, Gotham, Supernatural or even some episodes of Breaking Bad - all of these are also rated TV-14. Especially in terms of language and gore, the rating allows for much, much more than anything even close to PG-13.

[Portal Out]

12 minutes ago, Puresh said:

Jurassic Park isn't gory at all, the only scene with actual gore is the death of Ray Arnold.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 OF STRANGER THINGS:  Stranger Things, however, shows a man with a bloody bullet wound on his head, the decayed body of a child and at least 7 soldiers with exploded brains, blood all over the floor - and that's only three examples

Well, we got sets for Indiana Jones, which features far more graphic depictions of violence and dead bodies than Stranger Things.  Not to mention the fact that we got a few sets (including a d2c) based on the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy.  Also don’t forget that we now have a  full Lego theme based on a first person shooter video game.  I think we all need to remember that Lego is still a business, and it will bend its rules slightly if it sees a potential new market.

[strangely]

I just get tired of all of this pearl clutching about this or that being 'too adult' for Lego.

Indiana Jones routinely involves villains melting, disintegrating, and being eaten alive by ants, plus there's that temple where people have their hearts ripped out in ritual sacrifice while children are used for slave labor and people are hypnotized by the forced ingestion of blood. Revenge of the Sith features countless people being murdered in cold blood, including children and to top it off we get to see a man burnt alive and then his wife dies in childbirth. Lone Ranger features a ton of gun violence, a guy getting his head crushed by a crate, and quite a few prostitutes not to mention a heart devouring cannibal. The Crimes of Grindelwald features literal baby murder, as well as baby drowning. Batman V. Superman features Batman mowing people down in the Batmobile and sending people through walls. Then there's the terrorist actions of Zod in Man of Steel (I mean the destruction of Metropolis invokes 9/11 imagery), then the subsequent neck snap. Jurassic World features a guy being chomped by the Indominus and it rains blood from above and then you have Claire's secretary who gets brutally killed, to say nothing of the countless times people get torn apart or eaten in any other Jurassic Park movie.

Why is Stranger Things suddenly the straw that broke the camels back? I mean, what does it feature that we haven't seen in any of those other franchises Lego chose to adapt into sets? At the end of the day, standards change. Lego is constantly moving the line for what's acceptable and what's not. It's getting ridiculous that they can have a Die Hard minifigure featured in a Lego movie, but not in a physical set. These rules are just arbitrary at this point.

[Vorkosigan]

2 hours ago, strangely said:

I just get tired of all of this pearl clutching about this or that being 'too adult' for Lego.

I agree, it is very much about subjective perception of a license and not about specific content. Do most people think Harry Potter, Star Wars, or the Avengers is "too adult" for kids? Of course not, they have tons of kid oriented products for these properties, despite the many dark and violent instances in the films. Stranger Things is in the same boat, I don't think you're going to find a large percentage of people who'd say "I'd never let me kids watch that," of course specific appropriate age being debatable. On the other hand, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead very much have a perception of being adult oriented and not kid friendly. That is why we won't see those properties in LEGO form. 

[Chiaroscuro]

13 hours ago, Whovastron said:

Stranger things is way too gory and scary to be PG-13/12a. The home video releases have all been rather 15 in the UK, and R in America I believe. It recaptures goonies etc., but also implements Stephen king horror  elements. The title font is even a replica of the font used for some of his books

 

This. It is 16+ here. Yes it tries to capture the nostalgia for goonies, gremlins, etc, but for the adult that grew watching those movies, adding a further level of gore. It is not like those kids adventure movies from the 80s that while having a level of violence/suspense/terror that is not acceptable for kids today, mostly those themes were handled in a comical way. There is nothing comical on ST, it is straight King’s stuff.

 

Lego may justify the release of the set on the nostalgia and light elements of the 80s movies but at the same time they are ignoring the modern elementar added the the series (or more precisely, to removal of the comical side of such movies). The limits have being stretched further yes (and I am happy with that).

Edited April 28, 2019 by Chiaroscuro

[saysonder]

7 hours ago, strangely said:

I just get tired of all of this pearl clutching about this or that being 'too adult' for Lego.

Indiana Jones routinely involves villains melting, disintegrating, and being eaten alive by ants, plus there's that temple where people have their hearts ripped out in ritual sacrifice while children are used for slave labor and people are hypnotized by the forced ingestion of blood. Revenge of the Sith features countless people being murdered in cold blood, including children and to top it off we get to see a man burnt alive and then his wife dies in childbirth. Lone Ranger features a ton of gun violence, a guy getting his head crushed by a crate, and quite a few prostitutes not to mention a heart devouring cannibal. The Crimes of Grindelwald features literal baby murder, as well as baby drowning. Batman V. Superman features Batman mowing people down in the Batmobile and sending people through walls. Then there's the terrorist actions of Zod in Man of Steel (I mean the destruction of Metropolis invokes 9/11 imagery), then the subsequent neck snap. Jurassic World features a guy being chomped by the Indominus and it rains blood from above and then you have Claire's secretary who gets brutally killed, to say nothing of the countless times people get torn apart or eaten in any other Jurassic Park movie.

Why is Stranger Things suddenly the straw that broke the camels back? I mean, what does it feature that we haven't seen in any of those other franchises Lego chose to adapt into sets? At the end of the day, standards change. Lego is constantly moving the line for what's acceptable and what's not. It's getting ridiculous that they can have a Die Hard minifigure featured in a Lego movie, but not in a physical set. These rules are just arbitrary at this point.

Beautifully said. It’s been a while since I’ve seen season 1, but the most gruesome display I can recall is Bard frantically climbing up a pool latter only to be pulled down by an off screen monster. Not exactly worse than anything we’ve seen from the average Marvel film or the fate of Cedric from Harry Potter. As long as the sets don’t include a blood splatter piece, I don’t see why why these franchises shouldn’t exist in Lego form. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

I’ve seen the first two seasons a while ago and I can‘t recall anything particularly gory happening, apart from

Barb‘s mangled corpse being discovered by Eleven, that guy at the diner being shot in the head, Eleven going on a killing spree with her powers, Dustin‘s cat getting eaten by Dart and Bob‘s death.

Nothing too excessive in my book 

I for one can't wait to see the set and its minifigs  What makes me curious the most is the minifig choices, how they design the Demogorgon (if it's included) and how they're going to incorporate the Upside Down into the build, if they do so. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by Lego-Freak

[Foxes Productionz]

40 minutes ago, Lego-Freak said:

I’ve seen the first two seasons a while ago and I can‘t recall anything particularly gory happening, apart from

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Barb‘s mangled corpse being discovered by Eleven, that guy at the diner being shot in the head, Eleven going on a killing spree with her powers, Dustin‘s cat getting eaten by Dart and Bob‘s death.

 

Nothing too excessive in my book 

I for one can‘t wait to see the set and its minifigs  What makes me curious the most is the minifig choices, how they design the Demogorgon (if it‘s included) and how they‘re going to incorporate the Upside Down into the build, if they do so. 

 

I agree, there’s a number of ways LEGO could get really creative when incorporating the upside down into the build. 

So it would seem that this set has an almost identical number of pieces and is priced the same as 2017’s Silent Mary https://shop.lego.com/en-AU/product/Silent-Mary-71042 . If that gives us any indication of what expect we could be looking at 8 new figures, 2 new pieces, a few new prints, multiple fabric pieces if necessary and some recolours. 

[Ultron]

Is it really necessary to use spoiler tags? The first season has been out for like 3 years now and I don't think anyone clicking on this thread wouldn't be a fan.