Are there too many Lego themes?

[OzGadget]

I am asking a general question here, being a Lego fanatic for some time, I have noticed the ever increasing lines or "themes" that Lego has come out with.

As far back as I can remember, Lego came in Duplo, City and Technic. I can remember when Space came along and then the sub-themes to City.

Looking at the variety of themes there is today, I am wondering if Lego is stretching themselves thin. It is interesting that Lego is trying to get into the female market (again) however the recent themes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Lone Ranger seem not to have been taken up as well. Previously, themes such as Dino, Soccer and Ice Hockey have not been all that receptive to Lego fans.

I am not knocking their diversity in general, I think that Lego is starting to have more misses than hits with the themes they come out with. I dare say that the rumoured Simpsons theme will be a runaway success and it probably will result in a saturation level of numerours sets to the level Star Wars has now reached. I can see almost every Simpsons character being part of a set/s. I would love to see a Lego Simpsons game though, it would be such fun!

I know that Lego has it's staple themes and I do like their ability to try new themes in the hope of increasing their fanbase and the range of sets they have, it is interesting with the Lego Cuusoo really taking off that Lego may start to listen to their fans a bit more when deciding what next to consider.

[Guest idunno101]

Personally I think that Lego has all these themes so that there is a theme for everyone (kids, older fans, movie fans, etc.). Not all of them appeal to me but that's ok because a theme I don't like could be a theme that thousands of other people like. Legois trying to make sure that everyone has a theme they like. I like the idea of Lego Cuusoo also and I hope that we get more great sets from it.

[Alcarin]

I think there are some (imo) unneeded themes but thats because of my likings...

[M.O.D.O.K.]

I don't think that there are two many, but I still dislike some.

[MartinP]

I don't think that there are too many theme for Lego, I just think that sometimes they are stretching a theme to far, and making so many remakes in the theme.

[Guest eightbrick]

Well, the Lego customer base is now so large that they need this many themes. The fact that several of you have stated that you don't know if there are too many, but you do dislike some themes is exactly why Lego has so many themes. It's like a psychic "shotgunning" before a cold read (giving out a bunch of statements that have to be true with at least one person in the group), if they pump out enough themes, then a fan is bound to have something they want. We have AFOLs, toddlers, and 9-year-old space fans and Lego has to appeal to all of them.

 

As for there being too many themes, from a business perspective, as long as each theme is selling, it is all okay. People who are overwhelmed with the number of themes aren't going to stop buying, they might just get a couple sets from each theme instead of maxing out all of them, or just pick their favorites. When Lego system started, there were very few offerings, and as the company evolved they have grown to be around 30 themes this year. The stunning returns of the company these past couple years despite the 2008/07 (when they had almost 20% less themes) collapse just show that lots of choice isn't a bad thing.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

You have to expand to get bigger and make more money. The more themes there are, the more people interested and the more people that will buy our sets later on.

[Ed Mack]

I don't mind quick, one year themes like The Lone Ranger, TMNT, or The Simpsons.  They add some interesting minifigures to the LEGO Universe and they are easy to own as an entire theme.  

[TheOrcKing]

Having so many themes gives everyone more freedom of choice. It's like video games and movies where not every single person is going to enjoy the same thing let alone repetitiously. The main problem with this sheer volume is trying to pick out the good winners from the dead ringers as an investor or having limited funds for personal collections as a collector.

I personally like having so much to choose from instead of being forced to pick from a list of limited options.

[sadowsk1]

Too many for me to afford at anyone time, but I like the variety.

[spener90]

Keep in mind, Lego is now the biggest toy company in the world.  They need a lot of themes covered for that to remain.

[chinothegeeko]

Sometimes I think there is too much since I want to much, but overall I love all the choices.

[Grolim]

There is inevitable cannibalization across themes as more are released, but I think TLG would factor this into their decision making.  Adding a theme usually pushes them into another niche or market segment that expands their overall toy market share.

[MartinP]

I was also thinking, TLG has to have a lot of themes to make the most money. Certain themes will interest certain people, so there has to be a lot of themes to reach a lot of people to buy the sets.

[LEGO HULK]

I was also thinking, TLG has to have a lot of themes to make the most money. Certain themes will interest certain people, so there has to be a lot of themes to reach a lot of people to buy the sets.

 

Isn't this a fairly general rule in business.  Make things that will attract potentional customers.  I think that is why people create 2,000,000 flavors of ice cream, there has to be at least one flavor that will attract a potential customer.

[OzGadget]

Firstly, I apologise for not replying to all the responses in a timely manner, being on the other side of the world unfortunately for me means when you are replying, I am sleeping!

Wow, I didn't think I would get such a reaction to my question.

It is interesting that some of the comments show that within this arena, there are some themes that are liked but others that are not considered very much.

I understand that as a business model, TLG needs to have a diverse range of products, ie "themes" to be able to provide interest and income. I see that sometimes spreading yourself thin and producing multiple lines of products with numerous items in each line could go the wrong way.

I sometimes wonder what made TLG choose certain themes, I know they are catering for a target audience, and in my opinion, I wonder if they connect with the audience in the way they hope or if as recent themes have shown, die a premature death due to factors external of the Lego market (ie The Lone Ranger).

I did not mean to knock the diversity of the range that Lego has produced over the years, it has been interesting to see some of the items developed and now with so many fan creations being reviewed by Lego for ideas in product range and part utilisation, it will be interesting to see how TLG moves forward when most kids spend time playing with electronic devices instead of actual toys.

[Ronda]

I don't really care of how many themes are out there, but I miss those old style sets like Bonanza or Universal, when you were given a little bit of everything plus a book with like 10 different things to build.  3 in 1 Creator?  Better then nothing I guess... Yeah, they want me to buy as many sets as possible just to get enough bricks to go with my own ideas, I understand that "business" idea.  But it doesn't make me any happier.  Plus this "cutting edges" even on packaging - wtf?  Huge box with 5 small bags inside, instruction book which is printed on some toilet paper...  Come on! 

[Doofy McGee]

Nobody is ever going to like every last LEGO theme out there.  What one person thinks is ridiculously stupid might be another person's favorite theme of all time.  If LEGO can afford to produce tons of themes, then more power to them.  The better the variety, the more happy customers they will have.  I do believe that some themes are definitely over-produced and overdone, but there are probably people out there loving this same fact.  To me, "too many themes" is when there are so many different things available, that our favorite local stores start not carrying what we want because they don't have the shelf space to accomodate them all.  I know that can already happen these days, but not to the point of being problematic.  I hope LEGO continues to expand their themes.  People like having choices.