Dream Lego Licensed Themes

[Karalora]

33 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

 I could probably go on a whole rant about how the need to gender properties like this is detrimental for kids and everyone should be allowed to like what they want with all sorts of asides about sexism in media and how it’s bad for kids of all genders, but this isn’t really the place for that. 

I'd read it. Just saying.

[latenightguy]

41 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

The Buffalo sets are rated 10+ and the Bright ones are all between 7+ and 9+ – Wednesday is very much a teen show, so I don’t think it’s that either. 

That’s fair. My thought was that LEGO Ideas has had multiple Addams Family and Wednesday projects reach 10,000 supporters over the past few years. Given that and the fact that Wednesday is one of the bigger Netflix properties right now, making a 10+ diorama or buildable thing/creature could capitalize on that.

[Rwbricks]

15 hours ago, latenightguy said:

That’s fair. My thought was that LEGO Ideas has had multiple Addams Family and Wednesday projects reach 10,000 supporters over the past few years. Given that and the fact that Wednesday is one of the bigger Netflix properties right now, making a 10+ diorama or buildable thing/creature could capitalize on that.

Imagine one of them is a buildable Thing. That would definitely be… interesting. 
 

My first thought upon hearing that Buffalo is from Netflix was that it would be ATLA, as well. If it is ATLA, and the sets sell well, there would be enough material for them to keep the theme running for years if they want. 

[JohnTPT17]

I'll drink some copium with the rest of y'all and hope that Buffalo is ATLA, with the "girl-centric" hint meaning that one of the sets will be based on the Kyoshi Warriors (with the other set being Appa). Scatter the Gaang between both sets (something like Suki/Sokka/Zuko/Aang with Kyoshi, and Katara/Aang/Momo/Zhao with Appa) to increase sales, and boom, easy win for everyone. And the live-action actors looks pretty close to the cartoon in most cases, so it could appeal to both crowds. 

And it's not like Lego has never been behind in releasing sets for a popular IP - just look at Animal Crossing.

That being said, I could easily see them being random IPs that few of us have much care for, a-la Gabby's Dollhouse.

[zoth33]

3 hours ago, Rwbricks said:

Imagine one of them is a buildable Thing. That would definitely be… interesting. 
 

My first thought upon hearing that Buffalo is from Netflix was that it would be ATLA, as well. If it is ATLA, and the sets sell well, there would be enough material for them to keep the theme running for years if they want. 

The leakers have been saying they are both new themes and lego did do Avatar awhile ago so it's probably not ATLA.  It's also been said that both are from a movie or series.  

[Accio Lego]

2 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

That being said, I could easily see them being random IPs that few of us have much care for, a-la Gabby's Dollhouse.

That occurred to me too, but the thing is that Gabby’s Dollhouse is geared towards little kids and is a 4+ theme as a result. Whereas Buffalo is 10+ and Bright 7+ to 9+, meaning both properties are geared towards slightly older kids and probably fall under the umbrella of ‘family friendly’. In the day and age of the internet, shows like that typically have noticeable adult followings. With age ranges like those I’d be very surprised if there’s nobody on here that can say they’ve watched the shows/movies before when we finally get names. 

[zoth33]

1 minute ago, Accio Lego said:

That occurred to me too, but the thing is that Gabby’s Dollhouse is geared towards little kids and is a 4+ theme as a result. Whereas Buffalo is 10+ and Bright 7+ to 9+, meaning both properties are geared towards slightly older kids and probably fall under the umbrella of ‘family friendly’. In the day and age of the internet, shows like that typically have noticeable adult followings. With age ranges like those I’d be very surprised if there’s nobody on here that can say they’ve watched the shows/movies before when we finally get names. 

Yeah It's probably something we are not familiar with.  Hell I never heard of Animal Crossing.  It's just not my thing.  Also my kids are older now 18 and 13, so they are basically into video games like Palworld, fortnite, Elden ring, Madden, Minecraft, Rocket league, etc.  Their tastes in movies and series are usually comic book stuff, fantasy, star wars or things like the walking dead, some anime, action shows and movies, godzilla and others.  So if it's some kids stuff I probably won't know what it is.  My youngest is still into Ninjago and Lego.  I don't even know what new kid shows are out there now.  

[Lion King]

Naruto, One Piece, Persona (video game) are my dream themes. I mean I love Japanese stuff, lol. But i haven’t watched the live-action One Peice tho 

girl-centered themes sound cool as lion gas it’s not minidolls. 

[Accio Lego]

1 hour ago, Lion King said:

girl-centered themes sound cool as lion gas it’s not minidolls. 

That’s the big question isn’t it. Will lego try to force minidolls on whatever these themes are or will they finally recognize that some themes will do better in minifigure format no matter what the target demographic is?
 

I mean, minidolls do have a limited number of advantages over minifigs - characters in full skirts can actually bend at the hips and sit down and the between the range of different leg molds and wigs focused on accommodating accessories minidolls are definitely superior for fashion focused themes where a bulk of the characters will be wearing skirts. Whereas the classic minifig has a wrist joint, individually moveable legs, connection points on the back of the legs, and the option for a reversible head - which makes them much more versatile for any sort of action play (not to mention their more compact proportions letting you get more bang for your buck/piece count when making buildings or vehicles). 

Going back to the age ranges for Buffalo and Bright – After looking through the Friends and Disney Princess lines those 10+ ~700pc sets in Buffalo really aren’t close to anything that’s available now. The only Disney Princess set currently available above an 8+ rating is the massive Frozen ice castle set. Similarly, Friends sets typically cap at about 9+, with only a handful of 12+ sets available - all very large and clearly geared towards tweens who have been growing up with the theme (which obviously doesn’t really apply to new properties). It’s also worth noting that both Friends and the Disney Princess lines have a pretty solid showing of 5-6+ sets, which even Bright doesn’t have. That 7-9+ range is way more similar to the Harry Potter theme’s age distribution (minus D2Cs and buildable creatures). If we’re inclined to over-analyze what we have (since, y’know, it’s all that’s available right now) that might mean that the IPs in question are a little more action-y than the current minidoll themes and by extension may be more appropriate for minifigures. 

[Portal Out]

Supposedly the new Wallace and Gromit movie is premiering on Netflix later this year, maybe that release could be big enough to warrant a couple sets? I know Lego’s pretty wary of doing IP’s that aren’t globally popular, but I think it’s a fair candidate.

This is kind of a long shot, but there’s also a Tomb Raider animated series coming this year on Netflix too. We don’t really know what angle they’re taking with it yet, so there’s a chance they could do a She-Ra thing and go after the tween girl demographic that these sets are supposedly targeting? Both of these are definitely stretching the info we have lol

[nicknack116]

What about Gilmore Girls? Ideas sets have hit 10,000 a few times now. The full show isn’t technically Netflix, but it’s heavily associated with it. And Netflix made the final season.

I just imagine LEGO would do an Icons set instead.

[BrickBob Studpants]

Whatever Buffalo is, it also gets a BrickHeadz set (40750, 239 pcs), according to @Lego_Minecraft_Goat.

Its release date is also October.

[nicknack116]

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Whatever Buffalo is, it also gets a BrickHeadz set (40750, 239 pcs)

Sounds like Buffalo’s Brickheadz will be 2 characters going off that piece count.

Apparently Pharrell Williams announced a LEGO movie “based on his life” coming out October 11th. Could that be the theme of the sets codenamed “Bright”? Were they also rumored for October?

Edited January 26, 2024 by nicknack116

[BrickBob Studpants]

1 hour ago, nicknack116 said:

Apparently Pharrell Williams announced a LEGO movie “based on his life” coming out October 11th. Could that be the theme of the sets codenamed “Bright”? We’re they also rumored for October?

Yes, both themes are scheduled for October. But sets based on a biopic, even a heavily fictionalised one? How?  The only thing I can see coming out of that would be a polybag  

And wasn‘t it said that both themes are geared towards a female audience?

Edited January 26, 2024 by BrickBob Studpants

[nicknack116]

5 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

But sets biased on a biopic, even a heavily fictionalised one? How?  

All we have is a teaser poster so far, but TandNBricks posted on Instagram that this movie is “more than a movie.”

I imagine because it’s Pharrell Williams it’ll be less of a biopic in the traditional sense and more of a musical/concert film. And from a marketing perspective, that film genre is definitely more female-centered.

Since it’s an official collaboration with LEGO, I think it would be more odd if there weren’t sets.

[Accio Lego]

4 hours ago, nicknack116 said:

I imagine because it’s Pharrell Williams it’ll be less of a biopic in the traditional sense and more of a musical/concert film. And from a marketing perspective, that film genre is definitely more female-centered.

Since when are entire film genres gender coded? That’s like saying all action movie are automatically male-targeted, so Charlie’s Angels is meant for dudes. Singer/songwriter biopics target audiences are determined by the artist or artists’ audience and Pharrell Williams audience is not particularly women dominated like Taylor Swift or BTS so there’s no reason anyone who knows anything about marketing would call lego sets based off the upcoming feature as ‘for girls’ – and that’s not even getting into the fact of the known age ranges for Buffalo and Bright. 7-10 year olds are typically not in a specific artist unless they’re the latest teen pop sensation being pushed by Disney or Nick. I’d expect any sets based off the upcoming film to be teen rated at least or even 18+ simply because they’ll be aimed at fans wanting a display piece rather then a playset. 

[nicknack116]

Just offering some wild speculation for fun based on the rumors/teases being that the film and the codename “Bright” line of sets both arrive in October. I didn’t mean to imply that “entire film genres” are gender-coded, just that, in my marketing experience working in the film industry, music-based films do tend to be more female-centered. Mostly that was just me squinting/speculating to see if there’s a way this movie news from today fit the rumored sets. Apologies.

Edited January 26, 2024 by nicknack116
formatting

[BrickBob Studpants]

As @Ashnflash points out, there is also a set codenamed "Music" in the Icons theme, which may be a more fitting candidate

[nicknack116]

That does make more sense as far as speculation goes! :) I hadn't seen any of the Icons information.

[RedHoodPug]

14 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

Since when are entire film genres gender coded?

Westerns were very much aimed at boys and men, and romantic comedies have always had a much much stronger female target audience than male, as just two long-standing cinematic genres. Horror appeals to men more, and conversely musicals appeal more to women. I'm guessing that's what you're going for with coded? I mean it's nothing new or surprising, it's been a thing since the golden age of cinema.

[zoth33]

5 hours ago, RedHoodPug said:

Westerns were very much aimed at boys and men, and romantic comedies have always had a much much stronger female target audience than male, as just two long-standing cinematic genres. Horror appeals to men more, and conversely musicals appeal more to women. I'm guessing that's what you're going for with coded? I mean it's nothing new or surprising, it's been a thing since the golden age of cinema.

Exactly I don't think Nicknack116 was trying to offend or troll anyone.  He was speaking in generalizations.  Just like more men buy comic books and buy collectibles.  

 

20 hours ago, Accio Lego said:

Since when are entire film genres gender coded? That’s like saying all action movie are automatically male-targeted, so Charlie’s Angels is meant for dudes. Singer/songwriter biopics target audiences are determined by the artist or artists’ audience and Pharrell Williams audience is not particularly women dominated like Taylor Swift or BTS so there’s no reason anyone who knows anything about marketing would call lego sets based off the upcoming feature as ‘for girls’ – and that’s not even getting into the fact of the known age ranges for Buffalo and Bright. 7-10 year olds are typically not in a specific artist unless they’re the latest teen pop sensation being pushed by Disney or Nick. I’d expect any sets based off the upcoming film to be teen rated at least or even 18+ simply because they’ll be aimed at fans wanting a display piece rather then a playset. 

My boys when they were younger and still are into heavy metal, My oldest is into hip hop too.  But kids like the music they like and are sometimes influenced by their peers.  And yes girls tend to like more pop and hip hop music.  Boys don't tend to like musicals.  That being said we have no idea what these themes will be but it is interesting to see what people think they will be.  When the posts first came out people were all on western for Buffalo and they obviously didn't read the posts because it said that they were new themes and based on tv/movies.  The Elves theme had some great sets and some nice dragons and nice new pieces so I hope one of them is something along those lines.  

[Accio Lego]

6 hours ago, RedHoodPug said:

Westerns were very much aimed at boys and men, and romantic comedies have always had a much much stronger female target audience than male, as just two long-standing cinematic genres. Horror appeals to men more, and conversely musicals appeal more to women. I'm guessing that's what you're going for with coded? I mean it's nothing new or surprising, it's been a thing since the golden age of cinema.

I won’t deny that statistically many genres get more movies geared toward a certain gender, but I also have an example in the very next sentence of a women focused franchise in a typically male geared genre. There will always be plenty of statical outliers wherever you may go, which is why it’s important to look at whatever specific piece of media you’re trying to analyze instead of making automatic assumptions based on the genre you think it is. 
 

And I suppose I should apologize for how my writing tone might have come off. I wasn’t particularly offended in my first post, merely incredibly flummoxed that someone could look at the Pharrell Williams promo and speculate that sets based on the upcoming movie could be described as ‘for girls’ when everything about the image suggests a male - and not importantly adult – audience. That music icons set is just a much better candidate for this property. 
 

And so the question of what IPs Buffalo and Bright could be remains unanswered. The thing is, I can think of several female-led Netflix shows that would work rather well with Lego, but doing merchandise for them now would be rather late to the party. Carmen Sandiego, Kipo, She-Ra, and even Hilda could all do amazingly as lego sets, but while all of them seem to be set to remain popular on Netflix for quite a while, none of them are expecting to see the kind of new content that you’d expect to go alongside a merchandising push like a new Lego theme would entail. 

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 1/26/2024 at 3:55 AM, Portal Out said:

This is kind of a long shot, but there’s also a Tomb Raider animated series coming this year on Netflix too. We don’t really know what angle they’re taking with it yet, so there’s a chance they could do a She-Ra thing and go after the tween girl demographic that these sets are supposedly targeting? Both of these are definitely stretching the info we have lol

It would be great to get Tomb Raider sets, but if the "targeted at girls" thing is true, I hope that LEGO will not use Minidolls! 
 

On 1/26/2024 at 11:25 AM, BrickBob Studpants said:

Whatever Buffalo is, it also gets a BrickHeadz set (40750, 239 pcs), according to @Lego_Minecraft_Goat.

Its release date is also October.

Interesting. 🤔
This seems to definitively rule out ATLA, since a five-pack of Team Avatar plus Zuko would be an obvious choice. 
 

Edited January 27, 2024 by Classic_Spaceman

[fantasticfootno]

While I would have liked it to be a different netflix show, (Seriously, Lego has their prior partnership with them, it would be nice to get more collabs with popular shows) I think Buffalo is Wednesday. Quite a few Wednesday and Addams family projects have hit 10k on ideas, the Brickheadz would prob be wednesday and her roommate. And I could see the argument for the show being aimed at girls. 

[JohnTPT17]

7 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

Interesting. 🤔
This seems to definitively rule out ATLA, since a five-pack of Team Avatar plus Zuko would be an obvious choice. 

Nah - I think it could easily be a two-pack of Aang and Katara (or maybe Zuko). A five-pack at this point doesn't make sense, since Toph won't be around until next season (unless I missed something). 

Still, my brain is telling me that it probably won't be ATLA... Even though my heart really wants it to be!