Toy Story - One and Done?

[vynsane]

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.

Conversation split from this thread viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4785

-Dray

[cowbug]

Based on the success of the POP and the Toy Story themes, I wonder how much clout Disney actually has with Lego at this point. I really hope we see the return of Batman but a Marvel based theme could also be awesome too. With all the new Avenger based movies coming out over the next few years, now would be a good time but it seems like Marvel is currently licensed to Mega Bloks. Does anyone know when that license expires?

[vynsane]

Does anyone know when that license expires?

Probably whenever Disney decides. They might not have a lot of clout over PoP, but I don't think TS was a bust, and you can bet PotC will be huge for them.

Regardless, it's not Disney's clout with LEGO that will get Marvel out of their deal with MegaBloks... it's Disney's lawyers...

[Draykov]

Based on the success of the POP and the Toy Story themes, I wonder how much clout Disney actually has with Lego at this point.

...but I don't think TS was a bust...

I'm not sure if you guys are talking/thinking in the same direction, but I'm with Vynsane...what makes you think Toy Story has been a poor seller (if that is what you think)? Did I miss something? I was under the impression (based on casual observation) that the PoP theme tanked, largely because the movie tanked as well. But TS, I thought, had been doing well.

[cowbug]

POP is the obvious failure, I guess I just assume TS has not done so well because, it is my understanding, the theme has been discontinued and it doesn't feel like it has been around very long. I would assume if it had been successful, they would have released more sets and kept the theme going, but again, that was just an assumption. Maybe it was only intended for a short run to coincide with the movie then make room for the next Cars license since that movie is coming out this year.

[vynsane]

While TS might not have been as strong a contender as SW, I don't think it was on par with PoP. All I know is, the LEGO Store in the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island had a HUGE pile of PoP sets on clearance, but I didn't see a single TS set around.

As for why there won't be more TS offerings, I think mainly the push for Cars is the reason. Additionally, I just don't know how much more they could do with TS. Most of the sets seem pretty iconic, but there's not much more to cull from. I think it would be hard to come up with more ideas from the movies that can be condensed into a LEGO set.

[UOldPirate]

...As for why there won't be more TS offerings, I think mainly the push for Cars is the reason. Additionally, I just don't know how much more they could do with TS. Most of the sets seem pretty iconic, but there's not much more to cull from. I think it would be hard to come up with more ideas from the movies that can be condensed into a LEGO set.

I completely agree. I think the one and done nature of TS is all because of Cars. Not just from a design standpoint, but from a marketing standpoint too. Lego could have probably come up with another batch of sets for TS, but now that Toy Story 3 is out of the theaters and onto DVD, it's out of sight, out of mind.

Disney is now full on into Cars mode and since Lego has to pay for this license it makes way more sense for them to ride on Disney's marketing dollars. While Toy Story sets would still sell, Cars will be the much hotter ticket this year. I'd bet there is a pretty large overlap between the kids that will buy TS and Cars and when Cars in their face all the time, you know what sets they are going to want. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if we see this type of rollover every year based on Disney's big summer releases.

[scratches head] Is this really a Batman thread ?!?

[cowbug]

Yeah, sounds reasonable, I had not thought about that all the way thought until after my original post.

Monsters Inc. 2 is scheduled for 2012, I can't wait for those sets (assuming of course LEGO gets the license), they could be awesome, I just really hope they don't end up being like the Ben 10 theme, I would be very disappointed.

[MrCRskater]

I don't think the Toy Story line was a bust in any sense, nor was it short-lived for lack of fodder for more sets. The only factor here is marketing. It boils down to just two things: A) the greatest profit potential is when a movie is in theatres and the 3-6 months leading up to it, and 2) don't create competition for your own product (duh). Disney knows that Cars 2 and Pirates are gonna be the next big releases, and for all the money to be made on their various properties (Toy Story, Marvel, Princesses, etc.), they are smarter than to create further competition for their own product. Is Toy Story merch going away for good? Of course not. But the offering across the board (not just in LEGO) are going to be drastically reduced to allow them to capitalize on the "hot ticket."

[J30spiff]

As for why there won't be more TS offerings, I think mainly the push for Cars is the reason. Additionally, I just don't know how much more they could do with TS. Most of the sets seem pretty iconic, but there's not much more to cull from. I think it would be hard to come up with more ideas from the movies that can be condensed into a LEGO set.

The line seemed to be pretty successful to me. With TS3 being the final movie, it really doesn't make too much sense to make more sets. I agree there aren't many more sets that could have been made in this line.