The "continuity" of recent action themes

[Lyichir]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, there's nothing wrong with a one-wave theme. I couldn't see Dino continuing, honestly, since on the side of the human faction most of the essentials are already covered (Base, many land and air vehicles in many sizes). Alien Conquest, too, had a good run, but I don't reckon it could last another wave (I love the unified aesthetic of the alien vehicles, but honestly another wave of flying saucers could get boring). Pharaoh's Quest is a theme I don't think should be ruled out quite yet; I wouldn't be surprised if next time LEGO does an "archaeology" theme the cast of PQ is brought back. But technically, even it had to end, at least in its current state: they couldn't exactly carry the name "Pharaoh's Quest" into a non-Egyptian theme. Monster Fighters doesn't need another wave, in my opinion. The sets they are releasing cover the entire quest, with the team assembling all of the "moon stones" and them being used in Dracula's castle. Additionally, as has been mentioned by others, Monster Fighters is somewhat seasonal compared to these other themes. It'll sell briskly around Halloween, and will continue to sell for Christmas (as all LEGO themes do), but I don't know how well it'd last in the Winter 2013 wave.

Ninjago is a special case, because unlike other action themes, it is meant as a multimedia franchise, with a TV show, books, sets, and an integrated game (the spinners). It's not meant to be just another action theme, but rather LEGO's "next BIONICLE", that being a theme with an overarching story told through various media outlets.

All in all, I think LEGO's habit of cycling through "action themes" keeps their ideas fresh and new. What's more, this business model provides us with a number of concise, self-contained themes, as opposed to themes that outstay their welcome and have their quality slip in later waves.

[squidman85]

Themes with colourful characters seem to live longer.Like Alpha Team,Exo-Force,Ninjago and Bionicle and Hero Factory.

[K-Nut]

TLG walks into these themes knowing they're one hit wonders. There wasn't much to expand to in PQ, nor is there Dino. AC we have no idea, but I think Moster Fighters shall also be a one hit wonder.

[Algernon]

I think the reasons for ending action themes after 1 wave is because TLC does not see any direction to take the story in. For example

Pharoahs Quest- The team finds all the artifacts and defeats the evil mummy and his minnions. Case Closed.

Alien Conquest- The ADU defeats the "Mother Ship" and all the specalized generals. Case Closed.

Dino- still to early to tell I guess, but I don't think any dinousaurs are well known enough to warrant more production, and I still don't fully understand the story behind that theme so the case is still open.

World Racers- The lime-green team won the race around the world! Case Closed.

To be honest, I'm a fan of the one-shot action themes because they keep the years fresh and exciting. I can't wait to see what comes after Monster Hunters, and after that, and after that.

This logic doesn't work, and NinjaGo is a great example as to why. You could easily say: The Ninjas win against the Skeleton army. Case closed.

Except it didn't. Now there's a snake army to fight, and apparently, that's a big enough plot point to go on another TWO waves. LEGO themes have nothing to do with the story. I promise, if a theme sells well enough, LEGO will be more than happy to write another chapter onto a theme that could have easily ended satisfactorily after one wave. The difference is NinjaGo has a ton of kid appeal (what kid doesn't like Ninjas and Dragons?) whereas several of the other themes mentioned just didn't do as well.

LEGO is a company. If it sells, they'll make more of it. Remember Bionicle? That went on for nearly ten years past it's prime.

[Arigomi]

TLG is the undisputed leader in the building toy market. Once you are the market leader, there is little room for growth. The best you can do make sure the competition doesn't overtake your position. TLG wanted the business to grow and the best way to do that is by expanding into new markets.

Ninjago was a calculated effort to break into the market inhabited by the Beyblade franchise. If you can successfully gain a foothold in a different market, there is tons of room for growth. TLG poured a lot of resources into making Ninjago a success and was rewarded in spades. After the failure of LEGO Universe, Ninjago has become a vital IP for the LEGO brand.

The one wave action themes are not surprising when you consider the priorities of TLG. Ignoring licensed themes, the success of Ninjago and Friends is very important to the company's future. The Dino and Monster Fighters themes help to keep the portfolio diversified. I'm sure TLG could expand upon them if they sold really well but unexpected results like that are very rare.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Arigomi

[Aanchir]

I definitely feel that some themes are planned for longer than others-- just look at Atlantis, Power Miners, and Ninjago, which were clearly planned for a full year of sets from the get-go, compared to Pharaoh's Quest, which was planned for half a year of sets. At the same time, I also feel that yes, TLG makes their decisions based on profits, and if a one-wave theme happens to be very successful they could very easily bring it back the next year (if not the next wave, since that would presumably be too soon to design and manufacture finished sets).

From what we've seen, themes designed for a full year are far more likely to return the next year than sets designed for a single wave. But there are exceptions like Space Police III, which had a quite cohesive original summer wave and yet came back for a full year, or Agents, which had a cohesive first wave and came back for a second wave the next year.

[LEGOman273]

I definitely feel that some themes are planned for longer than others-- just look at Atlantis, Power Miners, and Ninjago, which were clearly planned for a full year of sets from the get-go, compared to Pharaoh's Quest, which was planned for half a year of sets. At the same time, I also feel that yes, TLG makes their decisions based on profits, and if a one-wave theme happens to be very successful they could very easily bring it back the next year (if not the next wave, since that would presumably be too soon to design and manufacture finished sets).

From what we've seen, themes designed for a full year are far more likely to return the next year than sets designed for a single wave. But there are exceptions like Space Police III, which had a quite cohesive original summer wave and yet came back for a full year, or Agents, which had a cohesive first wave and came back for a second wave the next year.

Agents was planned for two summer waves.

[Aanchir]

Agents was planned for two summer waves.

Was it? That's a bit of a surprise to me. Interesting to learn, though. I've never heard of a non-licensed theme being planned for two non-consecutive waves from the get-go.

[LEGOman273]

Was it? That's a bit of a surprise to me. Interesting to learn, though. I've never heard of a non-licensed theme being planned for two non-consecutive waves from the get-go.

See if you can find the original press release; it was in there.

[SirSven7]

I think over the last couple of years LEGO has realised that the majority of profit is made from the first wave of any series, as its new which is always appealing and comes with new parts which again excites. I know I often bought a couple of sets from most of the first waves (a diver here, a mummy there, a dino over there ) but I always lose interest after a bit and I would never collect all of one wave, I only do that with the Pirate or Castle sets (though I got most of Pharaoquest so I could be wrong).

I wish we had some action themes with a bit of depth though (waves 2 and 3) however it is also quite fun getting a load of new ones every so often so I am on the fence as to weather I like this trend or not.

That being said it is definatly a pattern that is forming 1 Dino, 1 Pharo, 1 Monster Fight, (hopefully 1 madmax theme I wish )

[Graysmith]

The main problem with intentionally doing just one wave though is that you don't allow a theme to flourish and perhaps have a bigger story/idea behind it. Many recent action themes seem to be the exact same thing just in different clothing, for example:

Pharaoh's Quest: collect all the treasures, defeat the mummy king.

Monster Fighters: collect all the moonstones, defeat the vampire lord.

Atlantis was the exact same as well in its first wave. You could also argue that Dino is about the same kind of "collecting X number of something" though its less obviously so and it's not story driven as far as I know.

Of course, this is mostly just playability/story stuff meant for kids and a clever way to get them to nag their parents to get all the sets and collect all the somethings.. But I think if LEGO are doing only one wave action themes intentionally they're in danger of falling into a creativity-killing rut, which will eventually start showing in the quality of the themes. They need to shelve this particular story setup and think of other kinds of storylines or make more themes that aren't driven by an ending story.

One aspect of why I love Alien Conquest and why I'm so bummed it's already ending is the fact that it wasn't driven by a particular storyline and could've easily continued since it had no conclusion. It could be whatever you wanted it to be playing with it. It could be humans kicking alien butt or the aliens taking over the planet. There were also loads more sets they could've done too, especially since all the existing sets were of some kind of craft or vehicle. There could've been a stationary ADU HQ or ADU Training Facility building, and perhaps an Alien Test Laboratory where the evil Alien Doctor performs tests on captured farmers, businessmen and ADU soldiers.

[dragunov]

For all we know the basis of pharao's quest could still exist, I mean right as we type lego designers could be producing new sets for it, not nessicarily in the desert but maybe a theme vairiation, I mean Adventurers didn't end after the first mission was complete did it?

Edited February 17, 2012 by dragunov

[surrideo]

For all we know the basis of pharao's quest could still exist, I mean right as we type lego designers could be producing new sets for it, not nessicarily in the desert but maybe a theme vairiation, I mean Adventurers didn't end after the first mission was complete did it?

I would love an Inca/Amazon Quest, though I would like fresh explorers I think

[Brickadeer]

Personally, I wondered why Lego did not yet come up with a 19th Century Sherlock Holmes like theme.

It had the potential to integrate the Pharao theme (or other monster themes); it could be semi-realistic and offer Steampunk-scenarios; with the criminal background, it has a potential for a board game.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Brickadeer