TomKraut Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 As has been stated a couple of times in this thread already, the problem is not that most of the supporting characters would need new molds and are thus expensive to produce (although that's true), but that the Disney Princess license doesn't include them! Lego is not allowed to make the seven dwarfs. I'm sure they aren't even allowed to make the Tea Cups from Beauty and the Beast. That's the main reason why there is no Sebastian in the Arielle sets. I might be wrong about this, as there is a Pascal in Rapunzel's Tower and Merida's Brothers are in her set, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lego had to negotiate separate deals for these figures. The villains however are for sure part of the respective movie licenses, which I'm sure are too expensive just to create one or two sets. Frozen is a different story though, because it's an extremely popular, recent movie, but there would have to be a whole wave of just Frozen sets for it to be lucrative for Lego. 41060 - Aurora's Bedroom 41061 - Jasmine's Exotic Adventure 41062 - Elsa's Glittering Ice Palace 41063 - Ariel's Underwater Castle Source? I would love for this to be true... AND: I just checked the Ice Palace Lego Ideas page again: Official Lego comment added on Aug 26th: Remember that Disney is an active license with the LEGO Group, and while we don’t want to discourage you, please keep in mind that a project based on an existing LEGO license has a smaller chance of passing the LEGO Review than other projects. Which might translate to: "Sorry, but there is already an official set in the pipeline, so we will cancel this Ideas project when we go public with it." Fingers crossed! Quote
ghostmind Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Yes - the source is: http://shop.swisstoy...5_255&&page=all Quote
TomKraut Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Wow! Thanks ghostmind, that is an amazing find! You should post that link in the General Forum, I don't think most users are very interested in this thread and this source has information on everything! Quote
CptPJs Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Yesss. Excellent find thank you! Based on last year's leaks we can assume a release around new year for the new sets? Quote
Dorayaki Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) As has been stated a couple of times in this thread already, the problem is not that most of the supporting characters would need new molds and are thus expensive to produce (although that's true), but that the Disney Princess license doesn't include them! Lego is not allowed to make the seven dwarfs. I'm sure they aren't even allowed to make the Tea Cups from Beauty and the Beast. That's the main reason why there is no Sebastian in the Arielle sets. I might be wrong about this, as there is a Pascal in Rapunzel's Tower and Merida's Brothers are in her set, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lego had to negotiate separate deals for these figures. The villains however are for sure part of the respective movie licenses, which I'm sure are too expensive just to create one or two sets. Villains and supporting characters are simpler to deal with than mascots since some of them are still human or human-like, like Prince Eric or Charming, if they don't need new molds, they can be easily created. The problem of the human is that, if TLG still stick to minidolls under this license, they have to create several new body parts such as shorter legs for dwarves or Ursula's octopus body. Of course, there have been exclusive body parts for many licensed minifigures, but not for minidolls yet. For Merryweather, who made an appearance in Duplo, used a whole new head mold just like any other Duplo figure, but it's hard to imagine her look as a minifigure(minidoll). It's not difficult to create seven Snow White dwarves if TLG can create the lower bodies. They were able to create Hobbits dwarves with exclusive beards, so it's not diffult for SW ones. The other way to deal with is distributing dwarves in different sets, though I think there were not too many useful scenes in Snow White. Edited August 28, 2014 by Dorayaki Quote
TomKraut Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Again: the question is not how DIFFICULT it would be to create dwarves, but if Lego is ALLOWED to create (and sell) them. They hold the Disney Princess license, not the Snow White license. I don't think the Seven Dwarves are part of the Princess license, so Lego can't make a set with them. Then again, I have not (and never will) seen the contract between Disney and TLG, nor do I really know what is and what isn't part of which license. Quote
Dorayaki Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 Again: the question is not how DIFFICULT it would be to create dwarves, but if Lego is ALLOWED to create (and sell) them. They hold the Disney Princess license, not the Snow White license. I don't think the Seven Dwarves are part of the Princess license, so Lego can't make a set with them. Then again, I have not (and never will) seen the contract between Disney and TLG, nor do I really know what is and what isn't part of which license. I think Merryweather is the answer to prove that most supporting characters are available choices in LEGO sets. I don't think there are characters "not allowed" to be used. The major issue is whether minidolls can be apt to any kind of licensed character or TLG is willnig to switch to minifigures, so that's the difficulty of designs. Quote
TomKraut Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 You might be right about this. Merryweather appearing in a set under the Disney Princess license is pretty contradictory to my theory... And to be honest, I don't really care anymore because we will be getting new sets, no matter what I feared! Couldn't be happier about this! So let's head to the new 2015 rumors thread and drool a little about getting Jasmine, Elsa and Aurora! Quote
8BrickMario Posted August 28, 2014 Posted August 28, 2014 That sounds great. I'd love a new over-the-shoulder braid piece for Elsa. It would be best in the tan/Brick Yellow color, since it's more platinum blonde. The license means no Marshmallow, but I would expect Anna and Olaf to be a part of it for sure. They just won't stop making sets with Ariel, will they? Quote
KittyKatta Posted August 29, 2014 Posted August 29, 2014 That sounds great. I'd love a new over-the-shoulder braid piece for Elsa. It would be best in the tan/Brick Yellow color, since it's more platinum blonde. The license means no Marshmallow, but I would expect Anna and Olaf to be a part of it for sure. Something to consider: Elsa’s Sparkling Ice Castle (41062) – $34.99 Rapunzels $40 "Tower" was barely at tower at all. So at $35 (likely 250-300 pcs) then can we really expect much of a "castle" or 3 figures? They just won't stop making sets with Ariel, will they? Ariel’s Undersea Palace (41063) – $79.99 Seriously, (outside of the ahem... shape... controversy) was Ariels Palace "iconic" in any way? So why does she get the flagship set? I love Ariel and all, but this is her third set and there's so many more Disney characters and palaces that deserve a bigger representation so why her again? (I know... its the mold. But still I will shake my fist full of cash and grumble). Quote
CorneliusMurdock Posted August 29, 2014 Posted August 29, 2014 There is now a pinned 2015 discussion thread. Please discuss the new sets there now. It makes no sense to talk about the same thing in two different threads. Quote
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