Do you think TLG may go further with partnership with competitor brands? (Hasbro, etc)

[Dorayaki]

I've been absent from here for quite a long time, so I manage to find some topic to speak and see if I'm still able to be here.

Decades ago we never though TLG would try to get licesnese from television shows or video games, and they keep proving that. But for toy brands, it seems to be the biggest wall of all so far. As far as we know, the biggest factor preventing toy companies from partnership is competition. Especially in the case of TLG who's main product is brick toy, they'd conflict with other brick toy makers definitely.

In the case of Hasbro, originally they're known as TLG's competitor because of their own toy brand line KRE-O and Transformers even had its own line in KRE-O. Now with their tie with TLG, it feels like Hasbro has accepted the doomed fate of KRE-O and decides to go with it..... or has they?

So assume that 10302 Optimus Prime isn't an exception for one time, and it hits enough sales for the companies to go further, what else could they keep working on?

 

Transformers
I think a second robot build set can be safely considered, and maybe a BrickHeadz version of Optimus Prime. If fans are lucky enough, a minifigure-scale line tied with a new movie would be great.

G.I. Joe 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIPOTudW26E
This was the other Hasbor's own brand for the KRE-O line. G.I. Joe is definitely a big for toys, but arguable, even if TLG is able to do sets based on its film adaptions, its modern military theme might violate TLG's guideline and it's still very different from Blizzard's Overwatch which has more sci-fi in it.

Board Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ougUIANyZU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5roA9L-F9kM
Several IDEAS projects already dedicate to these boards brands, and TLG's partnership with Hasbro is definitely a good news to them. I do think a CLUEDO Mansion set with character figures has good potential.

My Little Pony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPuGLXeuDs
Is it a big brand? Yes. Does it fits in LEGO? Argualy no. Despite its cartoon provides many great ideas for buildings, it's also a nightmare for precise character model builds, and core fans would rather just go buy Hasbro's own products to collect all their pony characters.
The only exception could be Equestria Girls, which focuses on the human version of the characters and it seems to have potential for LEGO's minidoll line. Sadly that line is also discontinued.

Mr. Potato Head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRidynH3Hf4
And here is the nightmare for Toy Story fans. I don't know if TLG cares about it enough, but it would be a very big bless to have Toy Story return with actual Mr.&Mrs. Potato Head minifigures. Why not? Hasbro is already here with us.
 

 

 

Aside from Mattel, I think the biggest toy mnufacturer on earth would be BANDAI from Japan, and BANDAI is best known for their Gundam toy line. But not quite sure if Gundam is as marketable as Voltron and Transformer to the western market?

Edited May 23, 2022 by Dorayaki

[teljesnegyzet]

I think MLP is definitely a possibility.

Back in 2012 when Ideas was still Cuusoo, a My Little Pony project gained more than 7000 votes over 3 months. At that point Lego rejected the project and the main reason for that was that the property was owned by Hasbro. That project contained a great concept of legofied ponies, it's worth a look.

[Murdoch17]

I want Thomas the Tank Engine (owned by Mattel) LEGO system sets so bad... I guess it's a good sign they haven't removed the one on LEGO ideas. (fingers crossed!)

...and yes, I know they did Duplo Thomas over 15 years ago. When Mattel bought out the rights to the franchise, Duplo Thomas stopped very shortly thereafter.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Dorayaki]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:42 AM, teljesnegyzet said:

Back in 2012 when Ideas was still Cuusoo, a My Little Pony project gained more than 7000 votes over 3 months. At that point Lego rejected the project and the main reason for that was that the property was owned by Hasbro. That project contained a great concept of legofied ponies, it's worth a look.

It's not just about license requirement. As said in the topic, this is about MLP's original purpose for character collecting. 

I remember I said it somewhere, if KRE-O is still running, Hasbro can just make their own brick sets in the same scale of their small pony figure collection. But if it comes to LEGO, TLG need to do all the characters all over again, yet TLG isn't able to produce as many pony characters as Hasbro can do, Core fans of the franchise would still prefer Hasbro products in the end. Remember in the partnership, LEGO products cannot conflict with the original Hasbro products. They need to make some clear difference.

 

Perhaps let the LEGO MLP line focus on just the main characters from the latest series and start with a simple wave before they determine whether it's profitable.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Dorayaki

[MAB]

I think there is a key difference between the single set they have done so far and other ideas. The Optimus Prime set is not really a toy. It is a collector-focused model based on nostalgia rather than a play thing. People buying it are likely to be into LEGO or Transformers or both. If they are Transformers collectors, one set is not likely to stop them buying other Transformers toys, so no real risk for Hasbro.

Whereas MLP is a current toy. Sure there are still some Bronies but are enough of them going to pay multiple $100s for an adult collector model. Unlikely. And if they do smaller child aimed LEGO play sets based on MLP, then this would cut into the current MLP market so a negative for Hasbro.

 

[Takanuinuva]

I do hope we get more Lego Transformers. I'd like something more affordable than Prime.

[Wimmer]

It would be easy to come out with a Decepticon model; LEGO already uses any shade of grey in the StarWars line, so most likely all the bricks they need are already available in the right color. 
 

Megatron anyone ?…

[Surge]

i could see them making megatron or bumblebee next 

 

bumblebee would be very nice as he could be done at a lower price point