Blakstone Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 I used to work for America Online and right after we bought Time Warner, I met with the Warner Bros VP for licensing to see if we could use Looney Tunes characters in our internal training. He explained their number one goal is to protect the brand. Does it show the characters in the proper light, is it risking over saturation? I agree that Warners Bros is not limiting the number of sets unless it is a bottle neck in their review process. But they are definately reviewing each minifigure to ensure that it represents the character properly. If there is a lot of back and forth discussion on a particular set, it make take up the time ncessary to get to other sets reviewed by the licensee. Quote
deskp Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 I used to work for America Online and right after we bought Time Warner, I met with the Warner Bros VP for licensing to see if we could use Looney Tunes characters in our internal training. He explained their number one goal is to protect the brand. Does it show the characters in the proper light, is it risking over saturation? I agree that Warners Bros is not limiting the number of sets unless it is a bottle neck in their review process. But they are definately reviewing each minifigure to ensure that it represents the character properly. If there is a lot of back and forth discussion on a particular set, it make take up the time ncessary to get to other sets reviewed by the licensee. This the case with every lisence ever. Quote
Darth Punk Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Anyone sane would want to know what they will do with it.... But if protecting what is yours makes sales worse then whats the point? I am yet to see a license holder tell someone operating with License to make less cash especially if the original license owner has in the contract that he gets % from sales too.... Its counterproductive logic for anyone... You seem to be missing the point. A license holder just doesn't have over free rein to someone just because they are being paid. And yes you protect the,long term value of your license, because a license holder has a long term stake. Poor sales or poor conditions could affect the image and value of your property. So one does not take such things lightly. Licenses like these take weeks, months and sometimes years to work out. They came be extremely complicated and depending on the parties spell out everything in great detail. A smart person, business just doesn't hand over a license because someone is waving a wad of cash in their face. That's called bad business and many entities have lost a great deal of money when not being careful. I would beg to differ. Obviously we don't have any specific sales figures, but if the battle packs sell as bad as you claim why does Lego continually churn out four of them in their waves? If they were bad sellers wouldn't Lego only offer one or two max in a wave? I never claimed they were bad sellers, I said they are a tiny part of what TLG sells. I'm sure they make money, but not a great deal. They target a certain customer who will then buy bigger sets as well. Plus you are talking about buying multiples, not one child buying one set of each, which is how they are mostly sold. AFOL buy year round, while children tend to buy around holidays thus looking what is gone around Christmas is a good reflection of what children want and buy. I used to work for America Online and right after we bought Time Warner, I met with the Warner Bros VP for licensing to see if we could use Looney Tunes characters in our internal training. He explained their number one goal is to protect the brand. Does it show the characters in the proper light, is it risking over saturation? I agree that Warners Bros is not limiting the number of sets unless it is a bottle neck in their review process. But they are definately reviewing each minifigure to ensure that it represents the character properly. If there is a lot of back and forth discussion on a particular set, it make take up the time ncessary to get to other sets reviewed by the licensee. Exactly, companies can rise and fall due to branding. There is a reason Disney stops selling movies and brings them out at a later time. License holders have a tremendous stake in their property and making sure it is well taken care of. Quote
Alcarin Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) You seem to be missing the point. A license holder just doesn't have over free rein to someone just because they are being paid. And yes you protect the,long term value of your license, because a license holder has a long term stake. Poor sales or poor conditions could affect the image and value of your property. So one does not take such things lightly. Licenses like these take weeks, months and sometimes years to work out. They came be extremely complicated and depending on the parties spell out everything in great detail. A smart person, business just doesn't hand over a license because someone is waving a wad of cash in their face. That's called bad business and many entities have lost a great deal of money when not being careful. Thing is by such LOGIC as you explain license holders would push TLG to make amazing sets because that way it would make their license look good and they would also realize that target of LOTR is not 8-12 kids but 10-16 boyswho love armies big battles, action not Gandalf Arrives. Either way we go there is a loose end let it be License holders or TLG logic....1 part does not fit which ever way we discuss it. To me atleast. As we dont know the sales figures we can only speculate but I think TLG shot in the blank with their logic or their license holders meetings and either the holders or TLG made pretty poor market research for Hobbit/LOTR. Edited February 5, 2014 by Alcarin Quote
Darth Punk Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Thing is by such LOGIC as you explain license holders would push TLG to make amazing sets because that way it would make their license look good and they would also realize that target of LOTR is not 8-12 kids but 10-16 boyswho love armies big battles, action not Gandalf Arrives. Either way we go there is a loose end let it be License holders or TLG logic....1 part does not fit which ever way we discuss it. To me atleast. As we dont know the sales figures we can only speculate but I think TLG shot in the blank with their logic or their license holders meetings and either the holders or TLG made pretty poor market research for Hobbit/LOTR. That's right, there are two parties that decide. Each with their goals and that is how these things get determined. Not just one,party ordering fries and the other making them. Which was the original point. Quote
Alcarin Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 That's right, there are two parties that decide. Each with their goals and that is how these things get determined. Not just one,party ordering fries and the other making them. Which was the original point. Yeah but both parties have $$$ in their minds and ofcourse pleasing customers and FANS ..... Seems they half-failed to me atleast but i am just one guy.... who knows if we get 3rd wave to make up for it :D Quote
Blakstone Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 We are getting a third wave of Hobbit sets. It comes out in October. Quote
h22chen Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Does that mean we won't be seeing any previews anytime soon? (since it will be released in October) However, enough time to spend lots of money (bleed the wallet) on the current wave. Quote
Darth Caedus Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 As we dont know the sales figures we can only speculate but I think TLG shot in the blank with their logic or their license holders meetings and either the holders or TLG made pretty poor market research for Hobbit/LOTR. This is really Lego's issue when it comes to licensed lines that aren't as regulated as Star Wars. Their approach is very random and scattershot, with the only unity being overly simple ideas like "all 9 Fellowship in wave 1" or "all dwarves in Hobbit Wave 1." Things need to be planned out much better. THIS is how to do it: 1. Determine number of sets you're working with, and figure out what rough pricepoints corporate tells you that you have to hit. 13 bucks, 50 bucks, 100 bucks, etc. 2. Determine which type of license this is. Is this a Batman-style, where all sets are driven by one core character (Jack Sparrow is the Batman of POTC, par exemple)? Is this Star Wars style, where the vehicles are the focal point and the minifigs can be slotted in wherever without it mattering? Or is this Tolkien style, where the visual appearance of specific characters are iconic above all, and recognizable scenes are also very important? 3. Make a list of unique characters, with essentials at highest priority and cool side characters or minor characters as the second tier. 4. Make a list of non-unique characters if this applies. Not super relevant to Lone Ranger, but they made a smart choice with the Civil War battlepack. Not relevant at all to Harry Potter. Super relevant to Star Wars and Tolkien. 5. DISTRIBUTE THESE UNIQUE AND NON UNIQUE CHARACTERS ACROSS THE RANGE OF PRICEPOINTS, with at least one set that is exclusively non-uniques. Popular characters need to be obtainable too, so if you need to double up character appearances, give them different outfits. 6. FIT THE SCENES AROUND THE MINIFIG DISTRIBUTION. Not the other way 'round. Licensed material has a wide range of scenes to choose from. As long as every set isn't just some grey rocks, people are going to flock to the sets with their favorite characters. Time for examples: -Weathertop was clearly created because "this is a cool scene, let's do this." But approaching with the scene focus first is an automatic handicap, because you're locked into certain characters who MUST appear. This scene REQUIRES Frodo, Aragorn, and a Nazgul. Frodo and Aragorn are key characters and this means that they'll very likely be doubled up if you're just picking cool scenes to design your sets around, and that's a path to inefficiency and wasted slots. The Nazgul HAS to be there, but Weathertop is too big - at least from their design standpoint - to effectively let buyers get all 9. Then Merry, who's really not important to the scene, gets thrown in because they haven't selected a scene where Merry is important -they've just selected scenes without thinking about characters enough. -Goblintown - same deal. They wanted a Goblintown set, but they put concept over minifig selection and the set suffered. At $100 they had the budget to make unique, useless Goblin prints because the set is too big to have room for any other Goblintown set in the line. Looking at Goblintown, you realize everything but the throne is extraneous. Having a boatload of Goblins is *crucial* to the whole Goblintown sequence. If they plotted it out paying attention to uniques and non-uniques, they could have made a more impressive, uniques-only Goblin throne set with the King and a few key dwarves, and then made a smaller goblin-battle armybuilder with a modular bridge that could connect to the throne and be doubled up indefinitely. Obviously there are exceptions - some things are about scene and location first, like Helm's Deep and Orthanc. Even there, however, they could have benefitted from better minifig planning. If you're going to make a Weathertop set and HD set in 1 wave, both require Aragorn, it's an essential character. So give him a distinct Helm's deep print for HD. You increase the appeal of Weathertop and HD. People who don't care about prints will still buy what they'll buy, and people who do care will have more of a reason to get both. Orthanc, as I've said time and time again, should have had Gandalf the White on Shadowfax - nobody needs a repeat Gandalf the Grey in a 200 dollar set, anyone buying (it's AFOL oriented) that has almost surely gotten GtG already. LOTR Wave 2 is a serious offender - they said, Rivendell's cool, let's do it. But they chose scene over selection without thinking - you do the Council itself, you're forced to have Gimli and Frodo and Elrond. Elrond will show up in TABA, and Frodo is overdone by that point. The proper approach is to say: Rivendell is a cool location. Let's see what minifigs haven't been done - or done enough of - and build a swag Rivendell location around that. Imagine a similar Rivendell set that had Boromir, a rarer figure, casual Aragorn, a new print, Old Bilbo, a much desired minor character, and Arwen like the set has already. You still get the awesome Rivendell trees and architecture, but you've got a minifig selection that more people can get behind, and doesn't overlap with the rest of the Wave whatsoever. Quote
egg roller Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 What in the world of Gandalf in The Lego movie! What is that screen from? Quote
deskp Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 What is that screen from? lego movie video game, gandalf is in the game not the movie. Quote
kevkipo Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) What is that screen from? Like deskp said, Gandalf is in the Lego movie and in the Lego movie game, just wanted to point it out And do you also see that Cowboy on the left glitching in the chair with his bottom? :P Edited February 6, 2014 by kevkipo Quote
h22chen Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 sweet, I hope more minifigures make a cameo, like a crazy axe-wielding Aragorn. Quote
kevkipo Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 sweet, I hope more minifigures make a cameo, like a crazy axe-wielding Aragorn. Nope, Sadly! only Gandalf! But what if they made The Hobbit all over :D But now with Lego bricks Just like The Lego movie Quote
Blakstone Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 I am sure someone will take the cut scenes from LEGO The Hobbit game. Sure not everything will be bricks but even in The LEGO Movie there are a few items that aren't brick. Quote
kevkipo Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 I am sure someone will take the cut scenes from LEGO The Hobbit game. Sure not everything will be bricks but even in The LEGO Movie there are a few items that aren't brick. Can you say one thing thats not Brick? Except Vitruvius staff? Quote
Nagyzee Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 Can you say one thing thats not Brick? Except Vitruvius staff? Krazy Glue (it's in the Lord Business' Lair set), chewing gum (Superman is shown stuck into it in one of the trailers), Band-Aid (also seen in one of the trailers / promo videos), and probably there are more. Quote
kevkipo Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 Krazy Glue (it's in the Lord Business' Lair set), chewing gum (Superman is shown stuck into it in one of the trailers), Band-Aid (also seen in one of the trailers / promo videos), and probably there are more. Yeah thats true :) where do all these things come from!? i really wanna know that Chewing gum! Superman is just there in Cloud Cuckoo stuck in Chewing gum? Whut? Quote
Risgrynsgrot Posted February 6, 2014 Posted February 6, 2014 Yeah thats true :) where do all these things come from!? i really wanna know that Chewing gum! Superman is just there in Cloud Cuckoo stuck in Chewing gum? Whut? They're "relics" from the human world.. Lord Business has a room full of them. Quote
kevkipo Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 They're "relics" from the human world.. Lord Business has a room full of them. Yeah but how did they get them? WAIT this is off topic :P Quote
h22chen Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Nope, Sadly! only Gandalf! But what if they made The Hobbit all over :D But now with Lego bricks Just like The Lego movie If they made the Hobbit like the Lego movie, I would be soo happy. Quote
BrickBob Studpants Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) 10 days to go, woohoo... The complete absence of Hobbit sets at the Nuremberg Toy Fair is somewhat disturbing (especially since those were the only sets not on display, they even had the GotG and TMNT movie ones), so my only hope lasts on the NYTF. If we don't get pictures there, we'll probably have to wait until the SDCC The videogame on the other hand is still released in April, so at least we'll know what the LEGO versions of Smaug, Bain, Alfrid and Bolg will look like by then Edit: I've just noticed that last year's NYTF was a week earlier (Feb 10th- 13th). Now that's annoying Edited February 7, 2014 by Lego-Freak Quote
Darth Punk Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) I thought I would revive the subject of hoods. There is a new hood used for Wyldstyle in the new lego movie. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=15428pb01 Any chance we would see this on elves if we get any? Someone in the Star Wars discussion posted this pic of one painted. Edited February 7, 2014 by Darth Punk Quote
Alcarin Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 looks decent.... problem remains quiver cannot be added I assume. Quote
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