Why did Lego cancel [Batman] theme?

[Marty]

If I'm breaking any rules, cancel the thread, otherwise, it would be really nice to know once and for all, why did Lego cancel the Batman theme after a really short run?
It's a very simple question, and I would rather hear from someone who works for Lego than anyone else, so please leave this one for Steve, alright.
This was a really popular theme, and a lot of characters out there are taking advantage of this fact, commanding unbelievable prices from people who would like the chance to get some of the characters.
I don't expect a business to understand just how much the disappointment It caused when they did this, but a lot of people including myself where left short-changed and hurt, when before the sets had time to reach the shelves they where cancelled. Is this fair?
I don't pretend to understand the inner workings of what goes through the head of these people who say yay or nay, but at the end of the day I know what sells, and the fact is, these did!
So please Steve if you can talk some sense into these people, as there are a lot of us out there who would really like to know, regards Marty

[Morgan19]

I would rather hear from someone who works for Lego than anyone else, so please leave this one for Steve, alright.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4777

m19

[Marty]

Sorry, I didn't know Steve, no-longer works for them, I hope it works out for him.

As for my original question, it still stands, and if Lego's representative wants to answer this, it would go a long way to mending the bridges broke when they did this.
Otherwise, what's the point of collecting Lego themes if their going to do something like this?

[Robzula]

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Batman line actually wasn't doing too hot, and it wasn't until they pulled it and everyone was all "Oh no I waited too long!" that the prices skyrocketed.

[Mofo Jones]

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Batman line actually wasn't doing too hot, and it wasn't until they pulled it and everyone was all "Oh no I waited too long!" that the prices skyrocketed.

This has been my experience. All of the Batman LEGO I bought (at various times) was on clearance. Way back when, I got the Batwing for like $15 from Amazon (even posted it on the old version of FBTB) and it's the only set I have from the theme that's still built, because it's an amazingly awesome design.

[Marty]

Well.. The last guy said Batman didn't sell that well and most was on clearance?
Truth be known, in Australia, most of the sets, we didn't set, at least not all in one store, and the one's we did, where always on full price.
Example:
Arkum was $150 AUD (Toys R Us)
BatCave $200. (Toys R Us)
Dragster ($30)
Car with two-face $50
Batboat $40~50 depending where you went?
penguin sub $40
Freezes buggy $20 I think?

Never saw the rest, but kept asking when more was coming as they sold out pretty quick, and one store manager ever told me for a fact, Lego didn't provide enough stock, so by the time they cease production, the shops couldn't get anymore?

[onions]

a slight correction to robzula's post, it wasn't until the video game came out that people were demanding sets. but that being said, the run was criminally short, esp wave ii.

[mrfootball]

Lego probably still has the license. I just saw a new Lego Batman t-shirt at Target the other day.

[cowbug]

Pure speculation but I am really hoping, and would not be too surprised, to see new Batman sets show up sometime around the release of The Dark Knight Rises, currently scheduled for a 2012 release according to IMDB. Kind of like Pirates of the Caribbean sets coming out in a few months and the Indiana Jones and POP sets previously. And for what its worth (which may not be much) the Lego Batman page on Wikipedia seems to think the theme may be coming back. Fingers crossed.

[Draykov]

I've always said, anything is possible. A cease in production of a particular theme doesn't mean it's gone forever. We as fans tend to know very little about the specifics of license agreements between TLG and holders of whatever IP is in question. If HP can make an impromptu comeback, so can the Bat.

[Draykov]

In order to effectively keep this thread on topic without stifling the budding tangent conversation, I had to quote what would be the last post in this thread and also move it to the new thread...

The state of the licensed IPs that LEGO holds is very confusing due to two huge factors: Warner Bros. and Disney. For those of you who don't know, Warner Bros. has owned DC Comics for longer than I can remember, and recently Disney acquired Marvel Comics. Disney is obviously interested in licensing their IP to LEGO, as is evident with Toy Story, Cars, Prince of Persia and Pirates of the Caribbean. In the past, Warner Bros. has dabbled in licensing Batman - but wait, there's more... they are still currently licensing another WB property - Harry Potter. Add to this the fact that MegaBloks has been producing Marvel-related sets in conjunction with the Iron Man movies as well as Spider-man sets in the past, even though LEGO held a Spider-man license before that and it gets really confusing.

Don't even start thinking about the fact that Disney's competing theme park, Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, has a Marvel themed island as well as the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter! That will just give you migraines.

Basically, I'm willing to bet that we'll see Marvel related themes come back to LEGO before we see Batman or other DC related themes... but that's just a hunch based on how aggressive Disney's been with their LEGO offerings in relation to how WB did things.