Indiana Jones LEGO

I was hoping that rumors weren't true, I've been saddened. I could explain everything I'm not happy about, but Badger did it pretty dang well.

-Devin

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( < wakka wakka wakka wakka

Proud brother of a United States Marine

Thought you'd never ask. Indiana Jones 4: The Search for the Perfect Frozen Yogurt, The Crusade of Incontinence, or Raiders of the Lost Car Keys.

On a more serious note, I never really looked at it that way Badge. I was pretty disappointed in the Batman lines as you were, as well as a bit confused as to the point? Maybe all the same, some good accessories will come out of it. I have to disagree with the premise that this will eat in to new more classic Lego lines. The new sets already debuted, particularly the Castle line, shows TLG making real progress in their design elements. Keep hope alive.

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~MCN Moderator of the Minifig MOCs Forum~

I have to disagree with the premise that this will eat in to new more classic Lego lines. The new sets already debuted, particularly the Castle line, shows TLG making real progress in their design elements. Keep hope alive.

Ah, but on the other hand: LEGO has already proven that when they concentrate on a license, especially a number of licenses at once, their overall support for in-house themes is lower. The new Castle line is out - but IJ -isn't-. What we should consider, speculatively at least, is what kind of support the great new Castle line will get once IJ is out. Will there be less sets -- will they come out later than they otherwise would? Will there even be a new series of Castle sets after the first lineup?

When LEGO first really started concentrating on Star Wars -- notice that all their in-house themes took a downward spiral. Notice also that when they vamped it up and were putting out Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Spider-Man, they were also putting out complete trash for in-house themes, when they bothered at all.

TLG just does not have the kind of resources that they seem to -think- they have. These licenses cost them a lot of money to aquire, which in turn means less money goes into developing in house themes. LEGO has proven this already with Star Wars. And they lost the Spider-Man license most likely because they could not afford it (Marvel has been excessively greedy lately -- that's certainly heavily publicized).


I agree with Badg here (obviously). Taking on yet another license is irresponsible of TLG. Especially a license like Indiana Jones which, let's face it, is NOT going to have as wide an appeal to LEGO's target audience as Spider-Man did, nor as much as Star Wars or Harry Potter (not even -close-!). So they're looking at a huge payout to aquire the license, royalties for selling the sets, and will thus make less revenue than from in-house themes (for which they do not have to pay licensing or royalties). And of course, when TLG suffers financially, as they've shown before, it is their in-house themes that take the first hit.

Honestly, I think TLG was bullied into this decision. Market Research over the past 5 years (according to Jesse Falcon of ToyBiz) has shown that any toy, especially aimed at a young male audience, is something like 60% more successful if it has media backing. Basically, the research says that if it isn't a movie, it shouldn't be a toy because you won't make any money on it. So. . . as one can assume, retailers like Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us are far more reluctant to even carry products without media tie-ins. This puts TLG in a very awkward position --- as a company that historically never used media tie-ins to sell their product (indeed, it seems largely to not go so well for them).

So, TLG is almost assuredly being told by retailers that their products will be reduced in shelf-space because 'Market Research' says they won't sell without the media-backing, and thus TLG has to get more licenses to fill out the shelves and keep the name of 'LEGO' in the minds of the consumer. Conversely, their licenses (aside from Star Wars) don't sell as well as Market Research dictates that they should, and thus retailers like Wal-mart begin dropping TLG off even more shelf-space because it 'isn't selling.'

This has happened to a surprising number of companies already. Market Research's skewed viewpoints are influencing retailers to force toy companies into making financially disasterous decisions. And it all ends with a few companies going belly-up, and a few others barely staying in the black. S'too bad. But I digress. . .


If LEGO producing the oft-rumored/requested "mythology" line meant no Jones, I'd make that trade in a flaming heartbeat. If anything, this announcement makes me pine for the return Johnny Lightning.

Johnny Thunder, you mean. And that was a GREAT line. Probably one of the big L's best in its entire history. Inventive, imaginitive, and with just enough spice. And no royalties! Johnny Thunder should definitely make a come-back instead of this Indiana Jones license garbage. Let LEGO do what it does best - inspire creativity and originality. We don't need licensed toys to make Indiana Jones -- we already had Johnny Thunder. And he was better. I mean, he had a mustache and didn't run around with that nancy-girl whip. What does that guy think this is - Castlevania?

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

Yessss.... The rumors are true! I can't wait. Oh man, FLEASHIES? Ewwwww..

I do agree with Damien, Jonney Thunder was really great. I had the old orginal sets, like the jungle and desert. Johnny Thunder was my first LEGO set. (sigh)

I'll probably not use most of the minifigs. EJ's Custom Lego on Bricklink has a neat Indy Fig. Check it out.

llama lord 

Am I the only intrested person in these new LEGO sets?

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Wedge: "Sithspit! What's that?"
Wes: "That's the sun, Wedge. It's after dawn."
Wedge: "Well, it offends me. Turn it off."
— Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson

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