I like the look of anti studs.

9 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Lego needs to pump out new piece after new piece, so they can get a protection for these pieces (for 10 years or whatever the number is) and competitor companies can not use these pieces or copy whole sets and sell in the EU/US. It happens that whole shipping containers ordered by shops/importers get stopped and the sets destroyed because the sets contain a few protected pieces. Now many of the competitor companies have minifigs that can not be attacked anymore because recent court rules provide clarity as to how a minifig has to be different from Lego's minifig. That's why protected pieces become more important. Consumers directly buying from Temu or Aliexpress are basically save though because customs is overwhelmed by a flood of parcels from China and they can only spot check few of them. At least that's what i hear here in Germany.

That is wild! Customs destroying shipping containers of knockoffs? Also had no idea individual pieces were protected. 

What happens to the destroyed knockoffs? Sounds wasteful. Donated to Toys for Tots or similar charity?

39 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

I like the look of anti studs.

That is wild! Customs destroying shipping containers of knockoffs? Also had no idea individual pieces were protected. 

What happens to the destroyed knockoffs? Sounds wasteful. Donated to Toys for Tots or similar charity?

They don't get donated to charity! I guess the sets get destroyed by private companies under supervision of customs. But i don't know how they get destroyed. Do the sets and boxes get shredded and recycled or do they burn everything in incineration together with waste in waste-to-energy facilities? I don't know.

Generally it is not something unusual. Customs destroyes stuff every day i would asume. Counterfeit clothes or shoes, luxury articles like bags and parfume,...

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Lego needs to pump out new piece after new piece, so they can get a protection for these pieces (for 10 years or whatever the number is) and competitor companies can not use these pieces or copy whole sets and sell in the EU/US.

No doubt, but I think it is more than just that for a couple of extra reasons:

1) LEGO needs to keep improving the realism and organic shapes of builds partly to make (especially 18+) designs look good and partly to keep up with what clone brands are doing.

2) LEGO needs to create new parts (and also new prints) to get us to buy more LEGO and to keep it interesting.

I have no issue with specialised parts, as they tend to be useful. So long as they continue to produce classic style bricks too, which they are doing. The only issue I really have with them is the storage as there are so many part types. I often find that I wish LEGO made a piece in a slightly different way as even a small change of 1 plate height can make a difference if you are trying to get a shape just right. And every so often they do.

7 minutes ago, MAB said:

No doubt, but I think it is more than just that for a couple of extra reasons:

1) LEGO needs to keep improving the realism and organic shapes of builds partly to make (especially 18+) designs look good and partly to keep up with what clone brands are doing.

2) LEGO needs to create new parts (and also new prints) to get us to buy more LEGO and to keep it interesting.

I have no issue with specialised parts, as they tend to be useful. So long as they continue to produce classic style bricks too, which they are doing. The only issue I really have with them is the storage as there are so many part types. I often find that I wish LEGO made a piece in a slightly different way as even a small change of 1 plate height can make a difference if you are trying to get a shape just right. And every so often they do.

Yep I prefer the more modern look compared to the blocky designs of my childhood. And there are pieces whoes existence i questioned at first, like this one:

Why not simply stack two 1x1 plates, eh?! But the hole in the center makes the new piece so much more versatile and useful. Some pieces may look useless at first but they wait for you to unlock their true potential!

On 12/2/2024 at 12:19 PM, Yperio_Bricks said:

Lego needs to pump out new piece after new piece, so they can get a protection for these pieces (for 10 years or whatever the number is) and competitor companies can not use these pieces or copy whole sets and sell in the EU/US. 

Good brick brands like Cobi and Megablocks create their own parts that Lego does not have.

I have a Megablocks set and I can tell you : there are a lot of pieces that Lego does not have.

I also heared that sometimes Lego copies themselves bricks from those companies. 

After all,  Lego started as a knock off company themselves by copying the standard 2x4 brick from Kiddiecraft. 

Edited December 7, 2024Dec 7 by DonQuixote

10 minutes ago, DonQuixote said:

Good brick brands like Cobi and Megablocks create their own parts that Lego does not have.

I have a Megablocks set and I can tell you : there area lot of pieces that Lego does not have.

I also heared that sometimes Lego copies themselves bricks from those companies. 

After all,  Lego started as a knock off company themselves by copying the the standard 2x4 brick from Kiddiecraft. 

Yeah, i know! Like the famous 1x5 plate, which Lego tried to protect years after other companies started using it

I just wanted to add to the discussion one reason why Lego keeps pumping out new pieces non stop.

 

I don't think I've ever needed a 1x5 plate. I've used them, but I cannot remember a case where it had to be a1x5. I'll probably feel the same if they or a clone do a 1x7, 1x9 or a 1x11 plate.

1 hour ago, MAB said:

I'll probably feel the same if they or a clone do a 1x7, 1x9 or a 1x11 plate.

Welcome to 7 wide train world

The 6-wide scale is cool, the 7 wide (and yes, there is more, there always is) scale, is looking so much better (as far as >I< am concerned) would surely benefit.

You don't, I do, but what the heck: So it is. We can build odd with even plates and pieces ... and we have the 1x1 and 1x3, even 2x3 plates.

Best,
Thorsten

8 hours ago, Toastie said:

Welcome to 7 wide train world

The 6-wide scale is cool, the 7 wide (and yes, there is more, there always is) scale, is looking so much better (as far as >I< am concerned) would surely benefit.

You don't, I do, but what the heck: So it is. We can build odd with even plates and pieces ... and we have the 1x1 and 1x3, even 2x3 plates.

Best,
Thorsten

I'm not saying I never build things an odd number wide, but that I never needed large odd numbers. As builds usually are not single plates high, there is usually scope to build an odd large number, from fir example a 2+3+2 or 3+1+3. Or even 1+1+1+1+1+1+1 if they are longer plates aligned side by side the other way.

Even though the parts look basic, filling in every size leads to many almost specialised parts.

On 12/8/2024 at 9:42 AM, MAB said:

I don't think I've ever needed a 1x5 plate. I've used them, but I cannot remember a case where it had to be a1x5. I'll probably feel the same if they or a clone do a 1x7, 1x9 or a 1x11 plate.

It's a niche area, but IMO 1x5 plates have opened up a bunch of possibilities with micro builds where things sometimes are only a few plates high. A single 1x5 can provide a solid base at the desired scale in situations where 2+3 is unstable and 4 or 6 are too short or too long.

1x5 plates may not be so handy for building structures or other things, however I have found it indispensable for use in vehicles and when building with Technic.

I don't entirely know if this is unpopular, or what this classifies as, but just something I'd thought of recently - a lot of people in my generation (older Gen Z/younger Millenials) talk about the era from roughly 2005-2012 as sort of a "golden age" when LEGO was more innovative and better than it is today.  While I have a lot of nostalgia for this era, because it was when I grew up, the more I think about, it this was actually LEGO playing it way, way, way safer with their ideas.  

My thinking is that, because it was when LEGO had recovered from near-bankruptcy, they were taking things much safer.  2005 is an interesting start date, because it was when City started, replacing the sort of intermediate themes between Town and City (World City, some of the more &lt;insert that tiresome argument&gt; Town/City-esque stuff, etc).  At this point, basically every original LEGO theme was based on some sort of previous theme, specifically ones that had success before.  I've gone through each year and put it the spoiler just to save space.

 

05 had City (a rehash of Town), Vikings (similar enough to Castle), and Dino Attack (an interesting new thing, if I had to guess, probably capitalizing off of the growing popularity of first person shooters, because this was as close as we ever got to some sort of modern/urban warfare setting), and then a bunch of subthemes.

The only original theme in 2006 was Exo-Force, which seemed to do well given that it lasted 3 waves, but also was basically the first time that LEGO was successful in trying to adapt Bionicle-esque sets into another setting (as seen with the non-successes of Galidor or the Knght's Kingdom constraction figures)

2007 saw Mars Mission (a rehash of Space, interesting that the most recent Space theme before this also was a Mars-based exploration one), Castle, Aqua Raiders, and the Modulars (which was the first attempt at making 18+ City sets)

08 brought Agents (essentially an Alpha Team reboot), and some new licensed themes

09 saw Space Police III (a direct successor to a Space theme), Power Miners (a Rock Raiders reboot), and our first Pirates reboot in about a decade

2010 had Atlantis (a new take on the Aquazone/Aqua Raiders themes), Hero Factory (a Bionicle replacement), Kingdoms (a new Castle subtheme), and World Racers (probably the first one where it wasn't a direct successor to something, it borrowed aspects of Racers but was also sort of an original story)

2011 saw Alien Conquest (a new Space subtheme, essentially a UFO reboot), Ninjago (borrowed some elements from Ninja, but also sort of it's own thing, as evidenced by the fact that it's almost 15 years old and still going strong), and Pharaoh's Quest (basically an Adventurer's remake)

2012 saw Dino (a cross between Dino Attack/2010 and the early 2000s Dino theme), and Monster Fighters (essentially a much deeper reboot of the Studios Monster sets), in addition to Friends, which was also pretty innovative with the minidolls

Anyway, I guess my point here is that I can only really see 2-3 themes in here that aren't either direct reboots of a previous theme, very heavily influenced by a previous theme, or a subtheme that continued from a previous line.  There were obviously a lot of beloved licenses in that period as well (Batman, Spongebob, Indiana Jones, Avatar, the beginning of Disney sets, etc.), but I think people tend to talk about the original themes as innovative.

I think instead, this was an example of LEGO doing what had worked for them in the past, but now they had access to more parts, more colors, more technology for minifigure printing, etc., to where the sets were more visually appealing than some of their predecessors.  I know, I know, there's a lot that's charming about the 80s-late 90s era sets, but in terms of the actual design, this era looked more sleek and modern.

While I think there's a lot of great licensed sets out there, and some very cool unlicensed stuff, I would love if LEGO would take some of their old themes and give us some themes based off of them - I don't need a direct reboot of Aqua Raiders or World Racers, but it'd be neat to take concepts from them and see what designers can do today.  That's sort of the vibe I get from Dreamzzz, with it being somewhere between Time Cruisers, Creator, and it's own thing altogether.

Edited December 21, 2024Dec 21 by Kit Figsto

Don't you mean older Gen Z/younger Millennials? Anyway, that's just nostalgia for the era you grew up in. Every generation has it.

17 hours ago, icm said:

Don't you mean older Gen Z/younger Millennials? Anyway, that's just nostalgia for the era you grew up in. Every generation has it.

I mean Millennials is just another name from Gen Y so it's only one letter off.

On 12/19/2024 at 2:33 PM, icm said:

Don't you mean older Gen Z/younger Millennials? Anyway, that's just nostalgia for the era you grew up in. Every generation has it.

Oops, yes, I did!  

And I agree, I guess my point there was just that I'd never really realized that most of the stuff that was supposedly the most innovative (according to some) were essentially just re-hashes of older themes.  Not that it made them bad, because I do really enjoy a lot of sets from that era, but it's interesting nonetheless, at least to me.

2 hours ago, Kit Figsto said:

Oops, yes, I did!  

And I agree, I guess my point there was just that I'd never really realized that most of the stuff that was supposedly the most innovative (according to some) were essentially just re-hashes of older themes.  Not that it made them bad, because I do really enjoy a lot of sets from that era, but it's interesting nonetheless, at least to me.

That's what historical perspective and an understanding of the fuller history of Lego will do for you. I've only recently learned to appreciate Mars Mission as an innovative theme on its own and not an inferior version of Life on Mars, and similarly with a lot of other themes from 2005-12, do you want a list? 

I'm joking. But not completely.

Edited December 21, 2024Dec 21 by icm

On 12/19/2024 at 10:24 PM, Kit Figsto said:

I don't entirely know if this is unpopular, or what this classifies as, but just something I'd thought of recently - a lot of people in my generation (older Gen Z/younger Millenials) talk about the era from roughly 2005-2012 as sort of a "golden age" when LEGO was more innovative and better than it is today.  While I have a lot of nostalgia for this era, because it was when I grew up, the more I think about, it this was actually LEGO playing it way, way, way safer with their ideas.  

My thinking is that, because it was when LEGO had recovered from near-bankruptcy, they were taking things much safer.  2005 is an interesting start date, because it was when City started, replacing the sort of intermediate themes between Town and City (World City, some of the more &lt;insert that tiresome argument&gt; Town/City-esque stuff, etc).  At this point, basically every original LEGO theme was based on some sort of previous theme, specifically ones that had success before.  I've gone through each year and put it the spoiler just to save space.

  Reveal hidden contents

05 had City (a rehash of Town), Vikings (similar enough to Castle), and Dino Attack (an interesting new thing, if I had to guess, probably capitalizing off of the growing popularity of first person shooters, because this was as close as we ever got to some sort of modern/urban warfare setting), and then a bunch of subthemes.

The only original theme in 2006 was Exo-Force, which seemed to do well given that it lasted 3 waves, but also was basically the first time that LEGO was successful in trying to adapt Bionicle-esque sets into another setting (as seen with the non-successes of Galidor or the Knght's Kingdom constraction figures)

2007 saw Mars Mission (a rehash of Space, interesting that the most recent Space theme before this also was a Mars-based exploration one), Castle, Aqua Raiders, and the Modulars (which was the first attempt at making 18+ City sets)

08 brought Agents (essentially an Alpha Team reboot), and some new licensed themes

09 saw Space Police III (a direct successor to a Space theme), Power Miners (a Rock Raiders reboot), and our first Pirates reboot in about a decade

2010 had Atlantis (a new take on the Aquazone/Aqua Raiders themes), Hero Factory (a Bionicle replacement), Kingdoms (a new Castle subtheme), and World Racers (probably the first one where it wasn't a direct successor to something, it borrowed aspects of Racers but was also sort of an original story)

2011 saw Alien Conquest (a new Space subtheme, essentially a UFO reboot), Ninjago (borrowed some elements from Ninja, but also sort of it's own thing, as evidenced by the fact that it's almost 15 years old and still going strong), and Pharaoh's Quest (basically an Adventurer's remake)

2012 saw Dino (a cross between Dino Attack/2010 and the early 2000s Dino theme), and Monster Fighters (essentially a much deeper reboot of the Studios Monster sets), in addition to Friends, which was also pretty innovative with the minidolls

Anyway, I guess my point here is that I can only really see 2-3 themes in here that aren't either direct reboots of a previous theme, very heavily influenced by a previous theme, or a subtheme that continued from a previous line.  There were obviously a lot of beloved licenses in that period as well (Batman, Spongebob, Indiana Jones, Avatar, the beginning of Disney sets, etc.), but I think people tend to talk about the original themes as innovative.

I think instead, this was an example of LEGO doing what had worked for them in the past, but now they had access to more parts, more colors, more technology for minifigure printing, etc., to where the sets were more visually appealing than some of their predecessors.  I know, I know, there's a lot that's charming about the 80s-late 90s era sets, but in terms of the actual design, this era looked more sleek and modern.

While I think there's a lot of great licensed sets out there, and some very cool unlicensed stuff, I would love if LEGO would take some of their old themes and give us some themes based off of them - I don't need a direct reboot of Aqua Raiders or World Racers, but it'd be neat to take concepts from them and see what designers can do today.  That's sort of the vibe I get from Dreamzzz, with it being somewhere between Time Cruisers, Creator, and it's own thing altogether.

I grew up with late 80s and 90s Lego and prefer the style from that period but feel that around 2010 there was another "golden age". Junior ization was gone, we had Castle, Space, City and Pirates during that period and the sets looked like real Lego sets again, which 7213 is a great example of. I can look at this objectively because I was already and adult by then and have no childhood memories/nostalgia for sets from that period. Sadly the quality of City sets have decreased during the last years and we have no other original in house themes anymore. Many of the current City sets have too many large parts, specialized parts and bright pastel colors which make them look too junior ized. But some of them are very good like 60422. I think that there is not much innovation nowadays, most themes are licensed and Ninjago, Monkie Kid and Dreamzzz are too similar to exist at the same time. These three sets (all from 2024) are from those separate themes but look very very similar in every aspect: Ninjago: 71821, Dreamzzz: 71485, Monkie Kid: 80053. It is totally irresponsible to have three such themes concurrently and they should kill off Dreamzzz and Monkie Kid immediately because having them all at the same time is like having three Pirates themes with similar ships and forts at the same time. Ninjago is the natural choice to keep because of it's popularity and success while the others just feel like bad copies of Ninjago. All three themes are some combination of  mythical history and futuristic technology. With only one such theme two other in house themes that are different from Ninjago could be released instead.

Edited December 21, 2024Dec 21 by SpacePolice89

3 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I grew up with late 80s and 90s Lego and prefer the style from that period but feel that around 2010 there was another "golden age". Junior ization was gone, we had Castle, Space, City and Pirates during that period and the sets looked like real Lego sets again, which 7213 is a great example of. I can look at this objectively because I was already and adult by then and have no childhood memories/nostalgia for sets from that period. Sadly the quality of City sets have decreased during the last years and we have no other original in house themes anymore. Many of the current City sets have too many large parts, specialized parts and bright pastel colors which make them look too junior ized. But some of them are very good like 60422. I think that there is not much innovation nowadays, most themes are licensed and Ninjago, Monkie Kid and Dreamzzz are too similar to exist at the same time. These three sets (all from 2024) are from those separate themes but look very very similar in every aspect: Ninjago: 71821, Dreamzzz: 71485, Monkie Kid: 80053. It is totally irresponsible to have three such themes concurrently and they should kill off Dreamzzz and Monkie Kid immediately because having them all at the same time is like having three Pirates themes with similar ships and forts at the same time. Ninjago is the natural choice to keep because of it's popularity and success while the others just feel like bad copies of Ninjago. All three themes are some combination of  mythical history and futuristic technology. With only one such theme two other in house themes that are different from Ninjago could be released instead.

Yeah, I agree here. I don't think LEGO's simple enough to have a designated golden age that it's been all downhill from. I think there's peaks and valleys as certain aesthetics fade in and out of use and that the late 2000s to early 2010s was our last peak for the fans of LEGO's original themes

21 minutes ago, Renny The Spaceman said:

Yeah, I agree here. I don't think LEGO's simple enough to have a designated golden age that it's been all downhill from. I think there's peaks and valleys as certain aesthetics fade in and out of use and that the late 2000s to early 2010s was our last peak for the fans of LEGO's original themes

Golden age of castle and pirates was for me was eighties and early nineties 

2 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

Golden age of castle and pirates was for me was eighties and early nineties 

For me the golden age in general was from 1979 to 1996 (maybe up until 1998 or 1999) and I especially like sets from the mid 80s to mid 90s. My first sets as a very young kid were from the late 80s (Space, Town, Castle and Pirates) and I really liked those sets. I also admired older sets from catalogs. I was really excited for all new factions up until the late 90s. Around the year 2000 I remember being really disappointed with the direction of Lego sets and themes and concentrated mostly on my existing sets and trying to buy sets or bulk bricks from kids my age that didn't want their Lego anymore. In 2001 I discovered Bricklink, Brickshelf and LUGNET and started to order old sets online from the golden age. 

Edited December 21, 2024Dec 21 by SpacePolice89

20 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

It is totally irresponsible to have three such themes concurrently and they should kill off Dreamzzz and Monkie Kid immediately because having them all at the same time is like having three Pirates themes with similar ships and forts at the same time. Ninjago is the natural choice to keep because of it's popularity and success while the others just feel like bad copies of Ninjago. All three themes are some combination of  mythical history and futuristic technology. With only one such theme two other in house themes that are different from Ninjago could be released instead.

Isn't that like saying that they should not have Vikings and Castle on shelves at the same time (as in 2005)  as they are both historic with a touch of fantasy. To me, Dreamzzz and Ninjago are more different that Castle and Vikings. Or (2011) they should not do Castle, Pharaoh's Quest, Atlantis together as these all had pseudo-historic vibes and could even add in HP and PotC there too.

Evergreen themes have changed so much in how they have grown. Ninjago encompasses pretty much everything and has covered ancient, modern and futuristic arcitecture and vehicles, both realstic and fantasy, that it could forever keep all three classic themes off the shelves if too similar elements block them being done.

16 minutes ago, MAB said:

Isn't that like saying that they should not have Vikings and Castle on shelves at the same time (as in 2005)  as they are both historic with a touch of fantasy. To me, Dreamzzz and Ninjago are more different that Castle and Vikings. Or (2011) they should not do Castle, Pharaoh's Quest, Atlantis together as these all had pseudo-historic vibes and could even add in HP and PotC there too.

Evergreen themes have changed so much in how they have grown. Ninjago encompasses pretty much everything and has covered ancient, modern and futuristic arcitecture and vehicles, both realstic and fantasy, that it could forever keep all three classic themes off the shelves if too similar elements block them being done.

While Ninjago has a large variety of sets it is still too different from the classic themes to be able to replace them in any way or form. I get your point with Castle and Vikings in 2005 but on the other hand Castle had only 7 regular sets in 2005 and Vikings 5.

On 12/21/2024 at 5:47 AM, SpacePolice89 said:

I think that there is not much innovation nowadays, most themes are licensed and Ninjago, Monkie Kid and Dreamzzz are too similar to exist at the same time. These three sets (all from 2024) are from those separate themes but look very very similar in every aspect: Ninjago: 71821, Dreamzzz: 71485, Monkie Kid: 80053. It is totally irresponsible to have three such themes concurrently and they should kill off Dreamzzz and Monkie Kid immediately because having them all at the same time is like having three Pirates themes with similar ships and forts at the same time. Ninjago is the natural choice to keep because of its popularity and success while the others just feel like bad copies of Ninjago. All three themes are some combination of  mythical history and futuristic technology. With only one such theme two other in house themes that are different from Ninjago could be released instead.

Glad I’m not the only one who’s been thinking this. While I do think Dreamzzz is a bit distinct form the other two, but Monkey Kid and Ninjago feel so stale now. Hot take, but I think Ninjago needs to retire yesterday. While it has been super successful, I think its success has limited Lego to always playing it safe with future themes and now if there is a new concept for an original theme, its either just merged into the next Ninjago wave, or it gets the full “Ninjago treatment” with a host of expensive tie-in network tv shows, interactive apps, etc with the hopes that it would match the success of Ninjago. It just doesn’t seem like an original theme could be released on its own anymore (I.e. just sets and maybe a low budget web series or something) at the frequency we were getting 10-20 years ago. It is kind of understandable though as times have definitely changed and it’s probably way safer to just sell large licensed DTC sets to adults like we have now then spend resources developing in house themes for kids.
 

If it’s not broken why fix it?  
 

Also… totally nostalgia talking, but if Lego was to cancel monkey kid / Ninjago and replace them with yet another Asian/sci fi/ fantasy inspired theme, I would be 100% on board for an Exo-Force reboot. 

On 12/21/2024 at 7:47 AM, SpacePolice89 said:

I grew up with late 80s and 90s Lego and prefer the style from that period but feel that around 2010 there was another "golden age". Junior ization was gone, we had Castle, Space, City and Pirates during that period and the sets looked like real Lego sets again, which 7213 is a great example of. I can look at this objectively because I was already and adult by then and have no childhood memories/nostalgia for sets from that period. Sadly the quality of City sets have decreased during the last years and we have no other original in house themes anymore. Many of the current City sets have too many large parts, specialized parts and bright pastel colors which make them look too junior ized. But some of them are very good like 60422. I think that there is not much innovation nowadays, most themes are licensed and Ninjago, Monkie Kid and Dreamzzz are too similar to exist at the same time. These three sets (all from 2024) are from those separate themes but look very very similar in every aspect: Ninjago: 71821, Dreamzzz: 71485, Monkie Kid: 80053. It is totally irresponsible to have three such themes concurrently and they should kill off Dreamzzz and Monkie Kid immediately because having them all at the same time is like having three Pirates themes with similar ships and forts at the same time. Ninjago is the natural choice to keep because of it's popularity and success while the others just feel like bad copies of Ninjago. All three themes are some combination of  mythical history and futuristic technology. With only one such theme two other in house themes that are different from Ninjago could be released instead.

I'm going to argue against this both selfishly (because I love all three themes) but also because when you look at the themes beyond just the basic category of "has mechs" they're substantially different. Dreamzzz's bright, bubbly aesthetic is quite different from Ninjago's Asian-inspired sci-fi—the two mechs you shared are an example of the difference on their own (you'd rarely see such cartoony curves in a Ninjago vehicle), but it becomes even moreso when you move away from Mateo's comic/slime inspired sets and to a character like Izzie, whose colorful animal/plushie-inspired sets couldn't be confused for anything in Ninjago or most other themes for that matter. And while Monkie Kid is more similar to Ninjago, it's also a smaller theme and isn't "taking away shelf space" from anything in most of the world—except in China, where it actually is sold in stores and is quite successful.

Frankly if "similarity" were the only factor in which themes deserved to exist then it wouldn't make sense to have both Marvel and DC themes. But in that case, the reason for both existing is obvious—they are both popular and appeal to different but overlapping groups of fans. The same applies to "action themes" like Ninjago, Monkie Kid, and Dreamzzz.

57 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

And while Monkie Kid is more similar to Ninjago, it's also a smaller theme and isn't "taking away shelf space" from anything in most of the world—except in China, where it actually is sold in stores and is quite successful.

And is probably only available worldwide because if it wasn't, some people would be complaining about regional based exclusives.