Indiana Jones theme discussion & speculations

[JCC1004]

I'm hoping it will just be put on hold for a year. I collect the theme and don't always have money for other things. The Atlanis theme is promising and I really need to catch up on SW. Izzy, that is very silly. The games promote the toys. In the Batman manual it was advertising the newest wave of Batman sets. Wouldn't you think kids would want to play with a toy that was from one of their favorite video games? I wonder about about TLG sometimes.

[Raphy]

WHAT? Guys, I heard Indiana Jones would be a five-year license. Stop whining.

[David Thomsen]

WHAT? Guys, I heard Indiana Jones would be a five-year license. Stop whining.

Where'd you hear that?

[Diamondback]

Let's put it this way, with Pirates dead Indy is now the only thing keeping me from doing what my mentor the old fighter-jock called "Pulling the Loud Handle" and sending LEGO a "Dear John" letter--a thirty-year relationship's gonna be one heck of a breakup...:eek:

----------------

Now playing: John Barry - 009 Gets The Knife And Gobinda Attacks

via FoxyTunes

[Raphy]

I don't remember, some topic on Eurobricks that showed an interview with some lego designer. They mentioned it there. :D

[David Thomsen]

Let's put it this way, with Pirates dead Indy is now the only thing keeping me from doing what my mentor the old fighter-jock called "Pulling the Loud Handle" and sending LEGO a "Dear John" letter--a thirty-year relationship's gonna be one heck of a breakup...:eek:

I feel the same way for the same reason. I used to have a huge lego collection when I was a kid, but lost interest towards the end of highschool. After university I got one or two sets just for nostalgia, and then had to get a couple more... and I started collecting the Indiana Jones sets, and the Pirates sets, and I got the Cafe Corner and the Green Grocer, and I started regularly reading Lego news websites, and I was suddenly a proper AFOL...

And just when I'm getting back into the flow again, getting excited, they pull the plug on Pirates, they appear to have lost interest in Indy and with only one modular building coming out per year, it's not enough to sustain my interest.

Things like Toy Story, Ben 10 and Prince of Persia are very small licenses that don't have enough material to go beyond a single year. That doesn't interest me in the slightest. It's like instead of making six seasons of House M.D., they made six small one-season TV shows that are only meant to run for a year.

Bah. Call me when Lego remember that some of their customers have an attention span longer than a goldfish.

[Brickus]

And I was just getting into LEGO Indiana Jones, what a shame.

[Nightshroud99]

With so many great sets that can be made from the Indy movies, Lego would be stupid to pull the plug now.

[gormadoc]

TLC could discontinue the theme if they dont think of something. I think that they could make a grail room place or they could make a big one just like they did with the idol set ; it would be nice to see indy's dad in a few more sets. They could also make that plane from the temple of doom and what about a libray set in venice. You could also have a tank scen from the last crusade. Only a few ideas but TLC need to come up with something or try and do something like they did to continue the star wars theme which was the clone wars, I just hope that Indy will carry on.

[Piranha]

Could it really be ending?

I was quite excited upon hearing the rumors about the theme. Seeing the Lego logo with the classic Indy artwork next to it.

Joining in the discussion, speculating.

Then came the preliminary pictures which were very blurry but I was quite pleased with what I saw.

Early Set reviews, cameos for Motorcycle chase on Ebay for $60 just to get it before everyone else

Admiring the Fedora,whip and handbag, seeing them used in MOCs in a plethora of ways.

Next line came out along with the 4th film. I was not a fan of the sets from the beginning.

However Jungle duel I bought for accessories.

Oh and the brilliant airplane set.

Whining about having so many Indiana Jones that were all the same. Being an ingrate because I was lucky to even have gotten an official Indiana Jones figure from LEGO.

The new sets with Indiana Jones wearing different outfits came out and I was quite pleased.

LEGO speculations that they were not making Temple of Doom sets because it was Dark

Then coming out with them anyway

We have had some great things come from Indy.

I would be happy if the line came to an end tomorrow.

However I would like to see it continue.

*Indiana Jones ending theme song*

Now about a certain adventures theme..........

[Eilif]

I'm going to take an opposite tack here. I'd love to see more Indy sets, and there are a wealth of great subjects for LEGO sets yet unmade, but I don't see how they could do it profitably beyond 2010.

Licensed themes need a media presence and a huge fan-base. Though "classic trilogy" sets were released, The Indy line basically relied on the movie to get in kids minds. The movie has been gone from the theaters for well over a year, other Indy toy lines are going away, and asside from video games there's little to keep it in the public's conciousness. We've seen 3-4 waves of sets, and we may see another, but I wouldn't hold out for anything beyond 2010. I hope LEGO proves me wrong, but I just don't thing INDY has the fanbase or media presence to survive beyond that.

Come on TLG, prove me wrong. Please....

[The Who]

I'm going to take an opposite tack here. I'd love to see more Indy sets, and there are a wealth of great subjects for LEGO sets yet unmade, but I don't see how they could do it profitably beyond 2010.

Licensed themes need a media presence and a huge fan-base. Though "classic trilogy" sets were released, The Indy line basically relied on the movie to get in kids minds. The movie has been gone from the theaters for well over a year, other Indy toy lines are going away, and asside from video games there's little to keep it in the public's conciousness. We've seen 3-4 waves of sets, and we may see another, but I wouldn't hold out for anything beyond 2010.

As much as I hate to say it, I must agree here. The media does tend to control the life of a theme. Look at the Clone Wars, for example.

I hope LEGO proves me wrong, but I just don't thing INDY has the fanbase or media presence to survive beyond that.

Come on TLG, prove me wrong. Please....

Now I do think there could potentially be the fanbase to hold up the theme, but it could be tough, and the fans would need to spend a lot on Indy, I think.

[Tereglith]

Harrison Ford has said that he will do a fifth Indy movie provided that the script is good. If he signs on soon, it could prop up the theme, as Indy would be back in people's minds. We can only hope.

[The Who]

Harrison Ford has said that he will do a fifth Indy movie provided that the script is good. If he signs on soon, it could prop up the theme, as Indy would be back in people's minds. We can only hope.

I completely forgot about that.

We could only hope that TLG would keep the license running until the movie would come out.

[Zzz]

I completely forgot about that.

We could only hope that TLG would keep the license running until the movie would come out.

If they start with the pre-production today, it will not be in cinemas any sooner than mid 2012. More likely later. It'd be a huge movie that needs a lot of time.

[Batbrick]

If they start with the pre-production today, it will not be in cinemas any sooner than mid 2012. More likely later. It'd be a huge movie that needs a lot of time.

Yeah, I don't think a fifth movie would come soon enough for this license, and even then I'd probably rather it not be made and miss on on the theme, it's a small price to pay for not seeing all the life being sucked out of the franchise.

Batbrick Away!

[drdavewatford]

One thing that nobody seems to be factoring in is sales - how is the theme doing from a sales perspective ?

Frankly, if the Indy line is selling well then Lego have an incentive to come up with more sets and keep the theme going. If it's not selling then they'll let the licence run out and move on to other things.

Dr. D.

[pedro]

The Indiana jones theme has seen some awesome minifigs, sets and parts - it's a damn shame to lose it

With movie licensing it seems to be LEGO's way to create themes based around current trends and movies that are on the horizon now - Prince of Persia, Toy Story, Ben10, etc. - and I guess Indiana jones doesn't fall within this remit anymore. They can't possibly cover every avenue and with most bases covered from a set point of view, it seems that Indiana Jones is the theme that has to be dropped.

However, just like has been done before with many other themes, LEGO may bring it back if they feel it's viable. If new Indiana Jones movies were continued to be released then there's nothing to say it wouldn't be a consideration for them.

One thing that nobody seems to be factoring in is sales - how is the theme doing from a sales perspective ?

Looking at Eurobricks as a control group, Indiana Jones has been incredibly popular. As far as facts and figures go I have no idea.

[Svelte]

One thing that nobody seems to be factoring in is sales - how is the theme doing from a sales perspective ?

Actually, we have discussed the line's sales several times.

The only stuff we know for sure from the Lego annual reports is that (a) Indy sells better than in the US than in Europe (b) Lego was a surprise success for them (so they say, but this is just PR speak and could mean anything. Aquaraiders 2007 was a similar hit, according to the annual reports).

In any case, sales data is not entirely relevant. There's a difference between 'profitable' and 'more profitable'. If Lego thinks another license will generate more sales $$$ than an already pre-existing yet profitable line, they will quite happily bump the old line in favour of the new one, even if it only runs 1 or 2 years.

As pedro says, the non-SW licenses are now focussed on a short-term basis, based around 'event' movies. This shouldn't be a surprise; this is how the majority of licensed toy sales work anyway. In fact, Indy started out this way - there's no way we would have seen a line at all if it wasn't for the KOTCS film coming out. And those sets seemed to disappear off shelves and were only re-stocked in a very limited way, for a limited period, showing stores didn't want to be clogged up with KOTCS merchandise, even though the shelf-life of most Lego lines is at least 1 year (if not longer).

Just because something is profitable one year, doesn't mean it will be profitable the next; my feeling is that they are dropping the line to concentrate on Disney and not to feature anything too similar to Prince of Persia. I expect we'll see a similar pattern to KOTCS - big launch a month or two before the movie, sets everywhere, big sales, but limited restocks.

[The Who]

...my feeling is that they are dropping the line to concentrate on Disney and not to feature anything too similar to Prince of Persia.

Are you saying that you know for a fact they are dropping Indy this year, or are you assuming like the rest of us?

[Batbrick]

While I'm sad to see the theme go I am still very happy we got atleast two years worth of it with eight sets and one exclusive the first years and seven sets the second year, ranging all four movies. That's still really good stuff if you ask me, and it looks like Prince of Persia will be able to fill in our Indy needs anyway.

Batbrick Away!

[Sajer]

Hurm. According to my local shop, Indie Jones hasn't been selling well in Singapore though, perhaps due to our apathetic nature.

But Indie Jones has seen really great sets with good designs for the vehicles and I've bought 3 sets this year which I've been rather pleased about.

It would be a pity to see the theme end, but then again, PoP is coming out next year and both themes would be quite similar if you know what I mean.

Indie Jones has served us well these few years and perhaps it is time to welcome the new themes? After all, I wonder how many similar Indie Jones minifig can one get, with every set including our dear indie.

[Big Cam]

I'm going to take an opposite tack here. I'd love to see more Indy sets, and there are a wealth of great subjects for LEGO sets yet unmade, but I don't see how they could do it profitably beyond 2010.

Licensed themes need a media presence and a huge fan-base. Though "classic trilogy" sets were released, The Indy line basically relied on the movie to get in kids minds. The movie has been gone from the theaters for well over a year, other Indy toy lines are going away, and asside from video games there's little to keep it in the public's conciousness. We've seen 3-4 waves of sets, and we may see another, but I wouldn't hold out for anything beyond 2010. I hope LEGO proves me wrong, but I just don't thing INDY has the fanbase or media presence to survive beyond that.

Come on TLG, prove me wrong. Please....

This is exactly what I was thinking except you explained it much better.

[JCC1004]

I know Indy is comming toward it's end. There are so many sets and figures to be made. TLG is overloaded with themes. There will probably not be any room for Indy. Delaying it for a year will hurt sales even more. TLG has set themselves up. It's possible it could be over. I hope TLG will be able to squeeze at least a few sets next year. It probably won't be seen in early 2010 because no prelims or rumours have been heard of. I will still get every set regaurdless. Since CW is dominating SW and Indy sets will be minimal or absent I'm not going to have much beside the Atlantis theme, which is up in the air with me now. To cut a long story short I would love to see a few more sets but the "kid" fan base is dying. I hope I see the man in the hat again...

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

It really looks like the end of the Indy line but I really wish LEGO makes a last set like in the case of Harry Potter and finally realeases the tank from Crusade. I think it is one of the most memorable sets and also it is a freaking tank! Boys love tanks! LEGO already sold its soul when making the army men BP for Toy Story, so why can´t they go with the tank, too?