So....why no Star Trek Licensed sets?

Hanzo

With the new movies drawing new fans to the franchise, and a new TV show on the way, why isn't Lego pursuing the Star Trek license?  Does another building block toy company own the rights?  Can't say I've seen anything.  Sorry for the newbie question, this has probably been covered before but search didn't seem to bring any results.

samiam391

Last I recall, Kre-O had the Star Trek licence.

And to what I presume will be your response... yes, I'm disappointed too.

madforLEGO

I'm not sure LEGO really 'pursues' licensing, especially now. LEGO already has its hands full with the licensing it has now.

fourstud

I don't think it'd do as well as something like SW.

If they did a small 5 set wave once, then MAYBE. 

Hanzo

That is true, Trek doesn't really have any kid centric content like SW does, and I guess if you can't grab the kid demo you're destined to fail.  But there still has to be a pretty healthy market of AFOL that would jump on it.  

Russell844

Mega Bloks has the current license.

CCC

http://bricksetforum.com/search?Search="star+trek"

There are quite a few Star Trek mentions, some discussing following and licenses.

drdavewatford

Russell844 said:

Mega Bloks has the current license.

This.

theLEGOman

A UCS USS Enterprise could do well.

sid3windr

^ I'd buy that over the MF. :)

bandit778

I know I'm probably going to get shot at for this but credit where credit is due. Despite the horrible, horrible figures and (according to Jang) some parts with dodgy prints, I was actually quite impressed by the design and build of the Enterprise that was released by M.B. 

Not enough to buy it for it's retail price I hasten to add, but enough to actually look up how much it was.

**and did I mention the horrible figures????

drdavewatford

^ Can't argue with that - nice-looking model IMHO.

LostInTranslation

Rhys Knight had a cool Enterprise Lego model at Bricktastic ^

MaffyD

That's an impressive model - the saucer is a very complex combination of parts that I think look really good. I notice that the nacelle gravity issue is still hard to defeat though...

SumoLego

Fundamentally, I would categorize Star Trek in with the Firefly-type of fanbase - which skews to an older audience.  Thus, the likely market is much, much smaller.

And the smaller the market, the less likely Lego would invest the design, production and licensing costs.

We all disliked the Angry Birds line, but there is a vast market that bought those sets.  I just don't ever see Paramount releasing the licensing from MB because of all of the ancillary merchandise monopolized by Mattel and Hasbro.

JooTog

I got the MB Enterprise for $99.99 from Amazon back in March ($114.99 right now); I have not built it yet. Gave it a shot to the Spock Kubros and the building experience was far from LEGO: bricks felt weird and the clutch was not there.

Disclaimer: Star Trek are the only non-LEGO bricks I have ;-)

Hanzo

I did find this option online.

Ugh...

So I can see the problem, most kids don't know or care about Trek.  I'd still like to see them give it a go one day.  

TheFew

Right time to get the mega block instructions and re-create that beast in Lego.

bandit778

@TheFew
I would watch Jang's review first. There are a few quite specialized/substantial sized parts used in the build to keep the main dish and the nacelles in the correct position.
The parts on the nacelles you can see and if I remember correctly the part/s that hold the main dish on goes through the body of the ship and into the stand for support.

MaffyD

@JooTog - I would've loved to get the Enterprise for $100, or £150 even - but it was never easily obtainable over here, and now the Amazon prices are insane. So I'll probably never own that version. Maybe another version will be made. In the meantime, there's always this:

Yes, that's a sticker on a surface curved in two different directions. It doesn't work well.

TheFew

bandit778 said:

@TheFew
I would watch Jang's review first. There are a few quite specialized/substantial sized parts used in the build to keep the main dish and the nacelles in the correct position.
The parts on the nacelles you can see and if I remember correctly the part/s that hold the main dish on goes through the body of the ship and into the stand for support.

Thanks for the info. A quick look at the instructions show that there are some large unique pieces. Oh well. It will give the opportunity for some action "proper" building :-0

kez

Here are some Star Trek designs by Official Lego Designer - Hans Burkhard Schlömer:
http://www.brickcommander.com/BC-SpaceFrameset.htm

Ps (This is the designer of various UCS Star Wars sets including the upcoming Millennium Falcon which will be announced on the 1st September).

His Lego email address can also be found on this website although I haven't built up the courage to email him regarding his upcoming designs. :-D

bandit778

MaffyD said:

It was never easily obtainable over here, and now the Amazon prices are insane.

That was also one of my major sticking points, by the time I found this existed, the ones that were available in the UK were far too expensive.
Still think it's an impressive display piece.

drdavewatford

bandit778 said:

MaffyD said:

It was never easily obtainable over here, and now the Amazon prices are insane.

That was also one of my major sticking points, by the time I found this existed, the ones that were available in the UK were far too expensive.
Still think it's an impressive display piece.

Amazon.com will send it to you in the UK for £166.91 including shipping and UK import taxes. It's apparently over 3K pieces so not outrageous.

bandit778

@drdavewatford
That's not a bad price, may have to have a think about that.
I knew it was reasonably priced in the US, but not having purchased much big box items from the stares was a bit worried I'd get stuck with heafty import taxes for such large set. Didn't realise Amazon.com included the fees in the final price. 

@MaffyD, you could get one yet. :)

rwsales

I bought this set last  summer from Zavvi (who briefly stocked the sets) - loved it (especially surprised when I have not enjoyed building sets in the past that are not Lego). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mega-Bloks-Enterprise-Collector-Construction/dp/B01ARGBBA4 

MaffyD

Oh so tempting... <muses>

Frequency

I could see an Ideas set of a Bridge or Transporter Room set. 

Aanchir

I don't think Star Trek has ever been quite the toy industry juggernaut that Star Wars, Marvel, and DC are. Also, from my understanding Star Wars has a lot more international reach.

While Star Wars and Star Trek certainly have stark differences in a narrative sense, the surface-level overlap in genre/subject matter may discourage LEGO from wanting to acquire a Star Trek license on top of the existing Star Wars license. I kind of doubt even Guardians of the Galaxy would have gotten sets if they hadn't had the option of rolling them up into the wider Super Heroes range, since genre-wise it also fits into a similar category.

RogerKirk

rwsales said:

I bought this set last  summer from Zavvi (who briefly stocked the sets) - loved it (especially surprised when I have not enjoyed building sets in the past that are not Lego). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mega-Bloks-Enterprise-Collector-Construction/dp/B01ARGBBA4 

So tempted to see how you might make a full bridge model based on this (using Lego, of course).

SumoLego

It's probably not a good sign if a thinly-veiled Star Trek parody is on network television, but an actual Star Trek series is only available on-demand through a streaming service.

Poochy

RogerKirk said:

rwsales said:

I bought this set last  summer from Zavvi (who briefly stocked the sets) - loved it (especially surprised when I have not enjoyed building sets in the past that are not Lego). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mega-Bloks-Enterprise-Collector-Construction/dp/B01ARGBBA4 

So tempted to see how you might make a full bridge model based on this (using Lego, of course).

Someone did with 3 of the MB sets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7cVWF33vnM.&nbsp;

Looks really good to me.

eiffleman

One full bridge in Lego I designed just before discovering it was not allowed on Ideas

RogerKirk

Both those full bridge sets look amazing :D

ryjay

A few years back at Bricks By the Bay a man had a MOC of the transporter room, built into box for the trick to work, but when you push the button the mini figures "actually energized" away.  It was pretty cool.   I have a vid of it somewhere...I should look for it.

Hanzo

ryjay said:

A few years back at Bricks By the Bay a man had a MOC of the transporter room, built into box for the trick to work, but when you push the button the mini figures "actually energized" away.  It was pretty cool.   I have a vid of it somewhere...I should look for it.

Yes please. 

ryjay

Here is the youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybufk4Xu_tg

77ncaachamps

ryjay said:

Here is the youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybufk4Xu_tg

I've seen it in person too, and it was well done.
You shouldn't even try to overthink it; just enjoy the build and angle he took.

KingAlanI

MB's Trek sets were TOS based, Kre O did the reboot movies. I got the MB Enterprise from Best Buy's eBay store for $79.99 and the rest on sale on Amazon.
Part quality better than I feared and the figs are a change of pace, but not as good a build experience as LEGO