Star Wars 2018

[fossilrock]

9 minutes ago, Val-E said:

There were some sales figures being thrown around on the powerpoint and we´ll get more in March when they do their 2017 annual report. Seems Technic was doing well but City and SW were down. The fact they haven´t even mentioned SH girls at the toy fair is telling too.

At this point, I think they need to go back to cutting back on what they release.  There are too many sets.  Remember when it was just two good waves per year?  They need to go back to that.  Just looking at the force friday 2 and winter wave for this year, they could have completely cut out the Transport Pod, the Assault Walker, the Bomber, the half built AT-ST, the Cantina, and the two combined microfighter packs.  While some of the minifigures in those sets are nice, they could have beefed those into other sets, or did a little stronger on the battle packs.  Right now, they need to have a less is more approach to this theme.  So many of the sets I listed above are just not that interesting and i'm not going to spend 50.00 on a set just because of 2 minifigures.

[Val-E]

Yes, there are a lot of unnecessary sets and you do wonder how communication is with Disney as they should really be focussing on the cornerstones of the movies.

I think their results are just mirroring those  the reseller market has been having since TFA and, to some extent, the Star Wars universe. Less is definitely more and one wonders how many nails the Solo film is going to stick into the franchise´s coffin. It´s ok to call it a franchise rather than a saga now, right?

[zskid00]

Disney needs to be worried about over-saturation.  With a new movie every year people are going to tire of it especially if the audience is divided about the quality of the product they are putting out there as it was with TLJ. 

From a toy perspective a lot of the TFA and TLJ vehicles, sets, and characters are bland and uninspiring.  One of the prequels few strengths was it's colorful and unique designs which carried over into the Clone Wars.  We aren't seeing that with the new trilogy.

[BrickLegacy]

1 minute ago, zskid00 said:

Disney needs to be worried about over-saturation.  With a new movie every year people are going to tire of it especially if the audience is divided about the quality of the product they are putting out there as it was with TLJ. 

From a toy perspective a lot of the TFA and TLJ vehicles, sets, and characters are bland and uninspiring.  One of the prequels few strengths was it's colorful and unique designs which carried over into the Clone Wars.  We aren't seeing that with the new trilogy.

Pretty sure the over-saturation is already there.  They are using the Marvel formula which seems to work well for them.

[fossilrock]

The oversaturation is in full swing, so I agree.  The AT-ST and the Death Trooper battle packs from Rogue One are doing well, but other than those, everything else that is "retired" is either still in stock at amazon, at RRP, or still below it.  The Force Awakens and Last Jedi themes are pretty much toxic if you want to invest in them, unless you find sets at a deep discount, and even at that it's no guarantee that your money would have better placed somewhere else.

[Captain_chaos]

1 hour ago, zskid00 said:

From a toy perspective a lot of the TFA and TLJ vehicles, sets, and characters are bland and uninspiring.  One of the prequels few strengths was it's colorful and unique designs which carried over into the Clone Wars.  We aren't seeing that with the new trilogy.

I totally agree. Disney is doing a very poor job with respect to merchandising possibilities. Almost all of the vehicles in the sequel movies are either lazy rehashes of original trilogy vehicles (e.g., TIE Fighter, X-Wing, Star Destroyer, Assault Walker) or ugly, boring, uninspired designs (FO Transporters, Resistance Transporter, Transport Pod). 

There is still time for them to remedy this in the final movie, but I bet they don't.

[feed]

7 minutes ago, Captain_chaos said:

final movie

You still think there is a final movie..  

Star wars movies, all the way down.  

[Goofball814]

1 hour ago, zskid00 said:

Disney needs to be worried about over-saturation. 

Have you seen ANYTHING Disney?

 

Oversaturation is the only thing they do.....

 

[Darth_Raichu]

45 minutes ago, Goofball814 said:

Have you seen ANYTHING Disney?

 

Oversaturation is the only thing they do.....

 

Not really, they also end the GOOD shows too early. Two examples: SW Rebels and Gargoyles

[mudcatsfan]

2 hours ago, fossilrock said:

The oversaturation is in full swing, so I agree.  The AT-ST and the Death Trooper battle packs from Rogue One are doing well, but other than those, everything else that is "retired" is either still in stock at amazon, at RRP, or still below it.  The Force Awakens and Last Jedi themes are pretty much toxic if you want to invest in them, unless you find sets at a deep discount, and even at that it's no guarantee that your money would have better placed somewhere else.

I think you're judging the Rogue one and Force Awakens set performances far too quickly in their 'retirement'. Give it a year (or two).

Also, do you really not like the Assault Walker? I'm an OT fan and even I love that set. It's clearly pretty popular as it's still on backorder at Lego.com at FULL price.

I still see plenty of wins remaining in the Star Wars theme. Yes, of course you have to buy on clearance because things aren't the same as 5-10 years ago, but Star Wars sets are still winners in my book.

Despite the constant threat of re-makes, similar-makes, etc, I just sold thru a stack of 75049 SnowSpeeders purchased on clearance for 19 bucks each for $65 bucks (plus shipping on fleabay), with a hold time of 2.5 years.

There are roughly 82 versions of that set, yet it still tripled it's buy-in. I still see winners. (at clearance).

[t_mafia]

I would take the over-saturation a step further and expand it to nearly all the themes. The Lego sets I enjoy the most are the sets produced from around 2003/2004 to around 2008/2009. These were the years with about 400 sets per year, but they were excellent sets. Good pieces, good themes, and the right amount of sets. I was younger then, and I remember being so excited when new sets were coming out for the Holidays or for the summer. It was a much bigger deal. In my opinion there was the perfect amount of sets per theme where a collection was hard but not impossible (not that I was advanced enough to complete any collections). The perfect difficulty. These days, there are new sets like 8 times a year. ~70 star wars sets per year. A new set isn't anything special because most of them are below average.

I think Lego is in a "recession". As we know from our current economy, there are highs and lows. Since things are trending down, people are becoming less interested, and sales decrease, Lego will have to adjust with new tactics. I hope they will realize that less is more and go back to a lower number of high quality sets per year. My hope is that this years' Harry Potter and Jurassic World sets sell well because I think these will follow that trend. Hopefully they will adjust and transition back to older ideals (less sets and longer lifespans could also keep initial costs lower). If 20 excellent Star Wars sets came out per year I would try and get them all. 75? I will shift through the garbage and find the 4-5 I actually want.

Oh, and if they realized they could do something besides remake older sets that would help too. Looking at you Red5 X-Wing #30 coming out this summer. Maybe next time go for one of the other hundreds of Star Wars ideas that have not been made yet? 

[fossilrock]

1 hour ago, mudcatsfan said:

I think you're judging the Rogue one and Force Awakens set performances far too quickly in their 'retirement'. Give it a year (or two).

Also, do you really not like the Assault Walker? I'm an OT fan and even I love that set. It's clearly pretty popular as it's still on backorder at Lego.com at FULL price.

I still see plenty of wins remaining in the Star Wars theme. Yes, of course you have to buy on clearance because things aren't the same as 5-10 years ago, but Star Wars sets are still winners in my book.

Despite the constant threat of re-makes, similar-makes, etc, I just sold thru a stack of 75049 SnowSpeeders purchased on clearance for 19 bucks each for $65 bucks (plus shipping on fleabay), with a hold time of 2.5 years.

There are roughly 82 versions of that set, yet it still tripled it's buy-in. I still see winners. (at clearance).

75049 is an OT set, so that makes sense.  I'm not stating that the Star Wars theme can't have some investment winners, because that has traditionally always been the case, but not all Star Wars sets are as good as they used to be.  The FO sets alone are pretty bad, although I will admit, I purged every FO tie fighter this christmas when they hit 98.00 on amazon.  My buy in was 35, so I got rid of my stash just because I realized it would either drop, or hang around that price for the next year and not go much higher than that. This seems to be how it's been.  Some of the other sets like the FO Transporter, and Resistance Transporter are hovering at prices barely above their RRP.  I just see it getting worse, because not many of the current sets are going to spike in value when they do retire.  Although, i'm sure many of them will be at deep discount. 

I was referring to the scout walker, not the giant ATAT clone.  That vehicle wasn't even in the movie and this is the second time Lego has done this (the first order snowspeeder being the other).  So, that's why i'd like to see them actually put out better sets at the beginning of these force friday waves that are actually in the film, and are at least interesting.  The Force Friday wave would have been better served as a 5 set wave.  Then this years winter wave, would have made more sense to combine it with the Han Solo film, yet cut back on the fluff sets like I stated above .   I truly think this would help and strengthen the overall state of the brand.

 

 

[zaphoid]

45 minutes ago, southcollector13 said:

Oh, and if they realized they could do something besides remake older sets that would help too. Looking at you Red5 X-Wing #30 coming out this summer. Maybe next time go for one of the other hundreds of Star Wars ideas that have not been made yet? 

I have this vision in my head of Lego  managers sitting in a conference room every year to decide what sets are going to be made and every year someone says "hey, we should do an X-Wing", and all the managers nod their head in agreements and write it at the top of the whiteboard.

[Val-E]

1 minute ago, zaphoid said:

I have this vision in my head of Lego  managers sitting in a conference room every year to decide what sets are going to be made and every year someone says "hey, we should do an X-Wing", and all the managers nod their head in agreements and write it at the top of the whiteboard.

Porsche have been following the same strategy with the 911 for the last 40 years!

[Will 4]

5 hours ago, fossilrock said:

Anyway, can Star Wars recover?  I don't know...  i'm a bit of an old timer now with this theme, as we have a pretty solid collection but with rehashes, and sets based on movies that didn't inspire - well it will be hard pressed to want to go and buy every single set.  At this point, I no longer just collect them all.  If I had a 3 or 4 year old again, and wasn't around for the 2010-2015 era I could see myself anxiously awaiting the Sandcrawler, and X-wing, but at this point, it's hit the rehash and revision cycle and I dont know if it's enough to make me want to go out and buy those.  The future of this theme gets bleaker with each wave reveal, i'm afraid to say.

The problem is the new film content is poor other than Rogue one perhaps if they did an old republic film or another decent TV series. The biggest problem I have is that the Sequel trilogy will never top the prequels for plot which is sad really.

[mudcatsfan]

4 hours ago, Will 4 said:

The biggest problem I have is that the Sequel trilogy will never top the prequels for plot which is sad really.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2018 by gregpj
embedded meme :)

[Will 4]

17 hours ago, mudcatsfan said:

 

Aah another sad prequels hater. Just bask in this comparision young padawan

 

[Vinetu]

Aah another sad prequels hater. Just bask in this comparision young padawan

 

Well this comparison showcases the completely opposite viewpoint from the one you are trying to make. And is, incidentally, totally to the point

[Val-E]

This is what Promobricks have to say about the 2HY sets. Since they were actually at the toy fair one can assume that it is accurate info. Note that Snoke will no longer be exclusive to FOSD. X-Wing price inflation continues.

75206 Jedi and Clone Troopers Battle Pack (16,99 Euro)

Ein kleines Set mit einem Mini-Dropship, zwei Clone-Troopern sowie den Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi und Barriss Offee.

75208 Yodas Hut (29,99 Euro)

Yodas Hütte, etwa in der Größe vom Ahch-To Training 75200. Es sind Yoda, Luke aus Episode 5 und R2-D2 dabei. Luke kann Yoda auf den Rücken nehmen und diverse Übungen aus dem Film nachspielen. Die Hütte hat eine Inneneinrichtung mit Küche und Bett.

75214 Anakins Starfighter (29,99 Euro)

Einer von Anakins zahlreichen Starfightern, hier ein gelber Delta-7B Aethersprite Light Interceptor, der während der Clone-Wars verwendet wurde. Dabei sind Anakin und R2-D2. Ein ähnliches Set 7669 gab es schon mal im Jahr 2008.

75216 Snokes Throne Room (69,99 Euro)

Der Thronraum aus Episode 8. Mit drehbarem Aufzug und Thron, mit einer Funktion kann man Rey wie im Film zum Thron hinziehen. Dabei sind zwei Elite Praetorian Guards, Snoke, Rey und Kylo Ren. Etwa vergleichbar mit dem alten Throne Room Playset 75093.

75218 X-Wing (99,99 Euro)

Ein X-Wing aus den alten Filmen (analog Red-5, auch in Rot markiert) mit zwei Piloten und zwei Astromech-Droiden. Größe ähnlich wie die aktuellen X-Wings.

75220 Sandcrawler (129,99 Euro)

Ein Sandcrawler im Midi-Format mit zahlreichen Funktionen zum Öffnen und Spielen. Dabei sind zwei Jawas, Luke und drei Droiden.

75213 Adventskalender 2018 (29,99 Euro)

Beim Adventskalender habe ich mir nur die Figuren notiert, die mir aufgefallen sind. Das waren: Rose, ein Guavian Security Soldier, IG-88, noch ein Droid und ein Schneemann mit einem Rebellenhelm als Kopf. Dazu kommen wir gewohnt zahlreiche Minibuilds von Schiffen und Fahrzeugen.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Val-E

[Goofball814]

32 minutes ago, Val-E said:

 

75213 Adventskalender 2018 (29,99 Euro)

Beim Adventskalender habe ich mir nur die Figuren notiert, die mir aufgefallen sind. Das waren: Rose, ein Guavian Security Soldier, IG-88, noch ein Droid und ein Schneemann mit einem Rebellenhelm als Kopf. Dazu kommen wir gewohnt zahlreiche Minibuilds von Schiffen und Fahrzeugen.

 

The real question:  Will this year's advent calendar suck as bad as 2017?  

[Hennessy]

The issue with Star Wars was described quite well. However there is no big issue with "rehashing" the sets. I was young in 90s, I remember those castles and pirate ships, which were repeating themseves quite often, looking not the same, but really close (so you can say it was like space ships from star wars). However, what really should lego do, is to stop trying to cowing money from **** ideas.

You do not have to release "new" x-wing every year. Just do your f-ing homework, release some proper one in price range aroun 150-200USD, ith some "creator 3v1" sou you have a lot of extra pieces to rebuild it to other versions and keep it on shelves. For 2-3 years. And produce high quality low amount of sets instead of billion sets noone cares about. They just forgot their origins. Sets nowdays are quite boring and expensive.

I have high expectations from this years Harry Potter sets, I hope they do not fail me.

[giannini78]

Found this comment on Rebelscum a bit interesting: "German LEGO fan site zusammengebaut.com reports that LEGO noted that the popularity of their Star Wars theme had peaked (when?) and that sales were declining. In their live blog of the LEGO press conference, the field reporter from zusammengebaut.com noted that the mood from LEGO was glum."

http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front/LEGO_Nuremburg_Toy_Fair_Reveals_178467.asp
--------------------
Personally, I think this is an accurate assessment.  I think the Star Wars theme is tumbling towards rock bottom (and hasn't reached it yet), but it's heading there and quickly.  I don't blame this strictly on Lego, but a lot of the blame should be placed on Disney's shoulders.  It's just not Lego that is tumbling, but the Star Wars theme in general.  I recently noticed the Toys R Us in my vicinity completely scaled back the Star Wars aisle, and marvel merchandise was combined with it.  Basically the space was halved.  I also noticed two targets in my area do the same thing. 

I personally didn't like the Last Jedi movie, and I don't think my son thinks too much about that film either since he doesn't seem to want anything from it, and still hasn't built the two sets from the theme he got from Christmas.  Overall, looking at this year, I only have interest in picking up the Ach-to, Yoda's Hut, and all 4 battle packs (already picked up the Jawa version)..  The Solo film sets i'm going to have a wait and see attitude with (I did pretty much the same for the Last Jedi), but I could see definitely picking up the speeder, but i have no interest in the new falcon other than maybe bricklinking minifigs a few years from now when prices bottom out on them.   Overall, I don't see myself spending much money on Star Wars this year.  It will probably be around 130 bucks at most. Not anything like previous years.  I also feel the same way about the Marvel infinity sets (have zero interest other than bricklinking some figs).  The Jurrassic World sets is probably going to get the most dollars from me this year. 

Anyway, can Star Wars recover?  I don't know...  i'm a bit of an old timer now with this theme, as we have a pretty solid collection but with rehashes, and sets based on movies that didn't inspire - well it will be hard pressed to want to go and buy every single set.  At this point, I no longer just collect them all.  If I had a 3 or 4 year old again, and wasn't around for the 2010-2015 era I could see myself anxiously awaiting the Sandcrawler, and X-wing, but at this point, it's hit the rehash and revision cycle and I dont know if it's enough to make me want to go out and buy those.  The future of this theme gets bleaker with each wave reveal, i'm afraid to say.

Maybe sales wouldn’t be in the decline, if they could meet demand. How long has the UCS MF been out of stock for now?

[Furious_george]

MF scarcity was engineered.  If it’s hard to find, it’s more desirable.

[giannini78]

MF scarcity was engineered.  If it’s hard to find, it’s more desirable.

For a month or two maybe, but it now looks ridiculous how what 5/6 months after release it’s still out of stock.

[andyposterfan]

Got to agree. It makes no sense. Why make it seem artificially more desirable and then never take advantage of that demand. I think it's a genuine issue - they can't produce enough and are unwilling to divert resources away from other production runs