BrickJagger Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 Sounds strange but officially yes. Or do you mean that a theme is officially dead when TLG still sells sets from this theme? I can't recall the exact words but they basically meant that they won't produce LotR custom parts as long as it is unsure what TLG does with the theme. Most people probably wouldn't buy custom Gondor helmets or Witch King helmets when there is a version from TLG on the market... What I meant was: Even though a set from the theme is still being sold, that doesn't mean the theme is still alive. Another good example would be the Kingdoms Joust. It was still being sold during Castle 2013's run, but Kingdoms itself was clearly dead because Castle had taken it's place. There is still one Lotr set being sold (Tower of Orthanc), but since Fantasy Era 2 is coming out January of next year, Lotr is dead. FE2 is taking Lotr's place as Lego's medieval fantasy theme. Also note that just because Lotr is a licensed theme, that doesn't make it immune to the natural cycle of a Lego theme. Why would Lego run two fantasy-based themes at once? They wouldn't. Quote
SheepEater Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 but since Fantasy Era 2 is coming out January of next year, Lotr is dead. FE2 is taking Lotr's place as Lego's medieval fantasy theme. Also note that just because Lotr is a licensed theme, that doesn't make it immune to the natural cycle of a Lego theme. Why would Lego run two fantasy-based themes at once? They wouldn't. That doesn't mean they can't produce _just_ one more LOTR set. Quote
atreyu2112 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Agreed. Just because FE2 is coming, it has no bearing on LotR what so ever. Unless you officially work for and speak for TLG, you're just speculating. And whatever your speculation is based on is irrelevant. NO ONE saw Dimensions or the HUGE LotR presence in it coming. No one. Anything is possible. Dimensions expansion packs ARE SETS, albeit small... they still pass mini figure and a build. There's nothing to say Lego won't release more LotR sets. Quote
BrickJagger Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Before continuing, I would like to make this clear: I am not hating, just being realistic and making connections based on patterns. Agreed. Just because FE2 is coming, it has no bearing on LotR what so ever. Unless you officially work for and speak for TLG, you're just speculating. And whatever your speculation is based on is irrelevant. NO ONE saw Dimensions or the HUGE LotR presence in it coming. No one. Anything is possible. Dimensions expansion packs ARE SETS, albeit small... they still pass mini figure and a build. There's nothing to say Lego won't release more LotR sets. You're wrong here. Since Lotr impacted Castle (See: Ending of FE1, Kingdoms, childish-looking 2013 sets), why can't Castle impact Lotr? FE2 coming does impact Lotr. It means that Lego is done with the theme. Think about this for a second: Why on Earth would Lego cannibalize its own sales just to keep Lotr? Making an in-house fantasy theme gives TLG more creative freedom as compared to making more sets from a license that had lost it's marketing relevancy and didn't sell that well. It's a fact, and Lotr being Lotr doesn't change it one bit. You cite Lotr being in Dimensions as some sort of sign that it's continuing. Do note that Chima also has a strong presence in the game, and Chima is also over. On top of that, neither the Chima nor Lotr "Fun Packs" contain any new molds or prints, while basically all of the others do. Lego knows that we want more in-house Castle products, so they are giving us more in-house Castle products. The FE1 sets sold well, and since Lotr is over, it's an obvious marketing strategy. A nice, long lasting theme that they can go anywhere they want to with. Plus, they can reintroduce some of the FE1 factions in FE2 to generate more sales and make kids who missed the first go-round happy. Who knows, maybe Lego will find a clever way to make Lotr and Castle fans happy in the new line, since that's what FE1 was all about. That's something to look forward to! It makes perfect sense. Quote
SMC Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 One: did Lord of the rings impact castle that much we had the 2013 castle sets out at the same time as LOTR, maybe it lowered the age they were aimed out but we don't know. Two: we don't know if there will be a new castle line and if there is what it will be. But I do agree people (for the most part) are not 'hating' but being realistic. I think its very unlikely we will get more sets but not as an likely as it was a few months ago. Quote
Robert_88 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 "Officially alive" doesn't mean that one should expect new products. There is a difference between officially alive and actually alive ;). But Dimensions shows that it is hard to predict the actions of TLG. Quote
Alcarin Posted May 26, 2015 Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) Before continuing, I would like to make this clear: I am not hating, just being realistic and making connections based on patterns. You're wrong here. Since Lotr impacted Castle (See: Ending of FE1, Kingdoms, childish-looking 2013 sets), why can't Castle impact Lotr? FE2 coming does impact Lotr. It means that Lego is done with the theme. Think about this for a second: Why on Earth would Lego cannibalize its own sales just to keep Lotr? Making an in-house fantasy theme gives TLG more creative freedom as compared to making more sets from a license that had lost it's marketing relevancy and didn't sell that well. It's a fact, and Lotr being Lotr doesn't change it one bit. You cite Lotr being in Dimensions as some sort of sign that it's continuing. Do note that Chima also has a strong presence in the game, and Chima is also over. On top of that, neither the Chima nor Lotr "Fun Packs" contain any new molds or prints, while basically all of the others do. Lego knows that we want more in-house Castle products, so they are giving us more in-house Castle products. The FE1 sets sold well, and since Lotr is over, it's an obvious marketing strategy. A nice, long lasting theme that they can go anywhere they want to with. Plus, they can reintroduce some of the FE1 factions in FE2 to generate more sales and make kids who missed the first go-round happy. Who knows, maybe Lego will find a clever way to make Lotr and Castle fans happy in the new line, since that's what FE1 was all about. That's something to look forward to! It makes perfect sense. LEGO knows little or shit all.......... if LEGO knew what ''we'' want, we would have Gondor Soldiers, Minas Tirith, Balrog and Mummakil.............. LEGO thinks they know what ''we'' want. And even then everyone wants something else. so i call BS on your statement. FE1 was an average theme, i can easily call out 2 better eras being Kingdoms and the old forestmen, outlaws, Black Knights etc......... Now the latter would sell like hot cakes, after 20 years+ FE2 would just be more relatively young remakes..... like Pirate boring theme. Hell I would even claim ''classic'' Ninjas had cooler sets than FE1........ the only cool factor of FE1 was MMV and Dwarf mine.... ok and dragons but now thats not cool anymore since we have Smaug. Edited May 26, 2015 by Alcarin Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 LEGO knows little or s*** all Watch the language. While this is an adult site, curse words are in the filter for a reason. Please be more mindful. FE1 was an average theme, i can easily call out 2 better eras being Kingdoms and the old forestmen, outlaws, Black Knights etc......... Now the latter would sell like hot cakes, after 20 years+ FE2 would just be more relatively young remakes..... like Pirate boring theme. Your opinion and I think you are only partly correct. I think Kingdoms was a great theme and certainly appealed to me more, but FE was also pretty dang good. I liked that is brought about non-human factions, dwarves, and orcs. Those orcs are still sweet. The poster however wasn't claiming FE1 is king, just that another FE theme would seem to compete with LotR. I agree, I do not think LEGO would do an FE theme and LotR (outside of dimensions) in parallel. if LEGO knew what ''we'' want, we would have Gondor Soldiers, Minas Tirith, Balrog and Mummakil............. LEGO thinks they know what ''we'' want. And even then everyone wants something else. so i call BS on your statement. I am all for polite discourse, but the style hear feels a bit more demeaning than encouraging discussion. Let's try to bring the "polite" part of the discourse a bit higher please. Quote
atreyu2112 Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 My question is how do some of you guys see the 4-6 LotR sets we still need as any sort of competition with any other theme? It's not generic stuff, it's the iconic easily identifiable beasts, characters & settings. The Balrog, Treebeard, Fell Beast, Oliphant, iconic character minifigs and Minas Tirith... Seriously, you see that as competition for some other generic fantasy theme? IMO, that's like saying Lego won't release a space theme while Star Wars sets are on the shelf, which to me is just ridiculous & that argument is pointless. Quote
Sammael Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 LEGO knows little or shit all.......... if LEGO knew what ''we'' want, we would have Gondor Soldiers, Minas Tirith, Balrog and Mummakil.............. LEGO thinks they know what ''we'' want. And even then everyone wants something else. so i call BS on your statement. Yup, you're right. LEGO should stop spending millions on market research and simply ask you what they should be making. Quote
Robert_88 Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 Yup, you're right. LEGO should stop spending millions on market research and simply ask you what they should be making. But the waves would have been better... :D Quote
Blakstone Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 There are a lot of competing interests that have to be balanced in making any line or wave. I don't see another traditional Lord of the Ring wave coming. The best case scenario would be a line of Direct to Consumer sets similar to The Simpson's. Even that is highly unlikely. But it is better than nothing. Perhaps Dimensions can throw us a bone with a witch-king with his iconic helmet or a Sauron. But new molds are very rare there with only a Portal gun, sonic screwdriver, Doc Brown / 12th Doctor hair, and hoverboard so far. Quote
ZCerberus Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 My question is how do some of you guys see the 4-6 LotR sets we still need as any sort of competition with any other theme? It's not generic stuff, it's the iconic easily identifiable beasts, characters & settings. The Balrog, Treebeard, Fell Beast, Oliphant, iconic character minifigs and Minas Tirith... Seriously, you see that as competition for some other generic fantasy theme? IMO, that's like saying Lego won't release a space theme while Star Wars sets are on the shelf, which to me is just ridiculous & that argument is pointless. And how has LEGO space been recently? Is there currently a theme? No? They had Galaxy Squad, but that fizzled- and Space Police 3 before that- also fizzled. It has gone from an evergreen theme onto a slower cycle probably due to Star Wars. How about Pirates? The reboot of pirates only lasted 1 wave and why? Because PotC came out. And castle? An evergreen theme? I seem to recall a gap when LotR was first announced. Kingdoms ended and LotR began. People only have so much money, and there is no doubt it costs LEGO more money to produce two sets than one. We did have both Castle and Hobbit for a time, but the complaint from the AFOLs was that the castle sets were too kiddy- the explanation from many seemed to be Hobbit was for older fans and Castle for younger fans- in other words, designed so they would not compete as much with each other. Therefore I think it is more than reasonable to believe a fantasy theme would not be released in parallel with LotR. Yup, you're right. LEGO should stop spending millions on market research and simply ask you what they should be making. If Alcarin should step up to the polite plate when speaking to everyone else, then everyone else should do the same for him- right? That question is rhetorical by the way. But the waves would have been better... :D I think having any fan of both give some input may have been wise. I am not sure why it feels like the quality took such a dive after the first wave- but it sure did. I think having the tie-ins with the Hobbit just got too hard. Quote
Kraby Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 I really thought the IDEAS review result would be out by now... I have close to zero hope, but still, the wait is killing me. Quote
SMC Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 The only thing I have to add about competing lines like space and star wars, LOTR and castle is that we have had agents and super heroes which really surprised me. Quote
Dr.Cogg Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) It probably would have helped TLG, to do a poll of sets consumers would have like to see, kind of like this: Which LotR scenes would you like to be made into official sets : 1. Minis Tirith 2.Balrog VS.Gandalf 3.Pelennor fields Oliphants 4.Witch King VS. Eowyn 5.Treebeard encounter 6.Watcher in the water 7.Grey Goose 8.Barad Dur 9.Lothlorian 10.Helmsdeep 11.Urauk Hai battle pack 12.Battle of the Black gate 13.Orthanc 14.Council of Elrond 15.Shelob attack 16.Gandalf's cart 17.Weather top 18.Orc Forge 19.Pirates of umbar 20.Gandalf VS Saruman 21.Mines of Moria 22.Last Alliance 23.Bilbo's birthday party 24.Destruction of the ring 25.Prancing pony 26.city of the dead 27.Dead marshes 28.Minis Morgul 29.Golden halls 30.Faramir's forbidden waters 31.Battle of osgilith 32.Battle of Amon Hen 33.Aragorn's speech 34.Minis Tirith battle pack 35.Mordor battle pack 36.Moria battle pack 37.Rivendale Battle pack 38.Frodo and Sam river escape 39.Denethor's meal 40.Gandalf's libary search P.S. I purposly added some dumb ones in this list Edited May 27, 2015 by Dr.Cogg Quote
Blakstone Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 Based on designer interviews for Castle 2009, LEGO builds sets and has kids review them to see what they like and what they don't like. It is not just set names, but the actual builds. I don't think they will ever open up their design process to allow the Internet to design a wave. AFOLs that spend this much time on the Internet are not representative of the over all fan base. Quote
Dr.Cogg Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Thats true, but LotR isn't the most kid friendly theme, I more think this theme was to throw a bone to us afol's. Edited May 27, 2015 by Dr.Cogg Quote
MAB Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 My question is how do some of you guys see the 4-6 LotR sets we still need as any sort of competition with any other theme? It's not generic stuff, it's the iconic easily identifiable beasts, characters & settings. The Balrog, Treebeard, Fell Beast, Oliphant, iconic character minifigs and Minas Tirith... Seriously, you see that as competition for some other generic fantasy theme? IMO, that's like saying Lego won't release a space theme while Star Wars sets are on the shelf, which to me is just ridiculous & that argument is pointless. Huge overlap with castle / fantasy. Why? Because they wouldn't do just the things we want / need. They would probably repeat the entire Fellowship as it has been awhile since wave 1 and they would be aiming at new buyers as well as old. So the whole wave would be competition with anything fantasy. It probably would have helped TLG, to do a poll of sets consumers would have like to see, kind of like this: Which LotR scenes would you like to be made into official sets : 1. Minis Tirith 2.Balrog VS.Gandalf 3.Pelennor fields Oliphants 4.Witch King VS. Eowyn 5.Treebeard encounter 6.Watcher in the water 7.Grey Goose 8.Barad Dur 9.Lothlorian 10.Helmsdeep 11.Urauk Hai battle pack 12.Battle of the Black gate 13.Orthanc 14.Council of Elrond 15.Shelob attack 16.Gandalf's cart 17.Weather top 18.Orc Forge 19.Pirates of umbar 20.Gandalf VS Saruman 21.Mines of Moria 22.Last Alliance 23.Bilbo's birthday party 24.Destruction of the ring 25.Prancing pony 26.city of the dead 27.Dead marshes 28.Minis Morgul 29.Golden halls 30.Faramir's forbidden waters 31.Battle of osgilith 32.Battle of Amon Hen 33.Aragorn's speech 34.Minis Tirith battle pack 35.Mordor battle pack 36.Moria battle pack 37.Rivendale Battle pack 38.Frodo and Sam river escape 39.Denethor's meal 40.Gandalf's libary search P.S. I purposly added some dumb ones in this list Some of those may sound good, but would be awful when you consider some have to be £12 / $15 sets. Quote
Deathleech Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 FE2 coming does impact Lotr. It means that Lego is done with the theme. Except we don't know for sure what Lego is doing for their next Castle theme. There have been a few rumors it's a Fantasy Era reboot, but no hard evidence. Heck, we don't even know for sure when it will be released. At this point it's all speculation based on some vague, second hand info. Making an in-house fantasy theme gives TLG more creative freedom as compared to making more sets from a license that had lost it's marketing relevancy and didn't sell that well. It's a fact, and Lotr being Lotr doesn't change it one bit. Again this is not a fact, this is your own assumption. We have no idea exactly how well LotR sold. The fact they are doing several Dimensions sets based on it makes me think it did better than some might have originally thought. And while it's true an in-house theme gives Lego more creative freedom, a license gives them broader appeal and free marketing. LotR is a huge hit movie trilogy and one of the most popular fantasy novels ever written. I and many others came out of our dark ages specifically because Lego was doing a LotR theme. I didn't come out for Fantasy Era despite being aware of it. You cite Lotr being in Dimensions as some sort of sign that it's continuing. Do note that Chima also has a strong presence in the game, and Chima is also over. On top of that, neither the Chima nor Lotr "Fun Packs" contain any new molds or prints, while basically all of the others do. Yes but Chima has fewer Dimension sets, snd LotR has a minifigure in the core game bundle on top of that. Also Ninjago, Simpsons(?), and a few other live and well themes don't seem to have any new prints or molds either so I don't think that really means much at this point. We will have to wait and see what we all get. Quote
Chookdude Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 Well minas tirith didn't pass that really sucks Quote
KristofBD Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 Shame. Rather predictable winner, but good lord, when will they finally produce an ideas set that I am willing to buy? Let's hope Big Bang is ok, that's the only one I am considering to buy so far. I guess I am really unrepresentative... Quote
Blakstone Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 I didn't expect it to win. But the UCS Tumblr, UCS Sandcrawler, and the giant helicarrier did not win either but we received very similar sets. Quote
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