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Is DC Super Hero Girls a failure?
Just wondering if this line has been a poor seller for Lego in view of the fact that not only the first wave from January but now also the June wave have been available at 50% off (in the UK anyway) from many retailers recently.
The fact that a line has been reduced so heavily so quickly reminds me of the last wave of Hobbit sets which were similarly discounted at an early date, and that theme died a death soon thereafter. It would seem like this line hasn't been given much of a chance though if this really is a sign of it ending.
Overall I think the Super Hero Girls sets were actually OK, had interesting parts and designs but in my opinion lacked a bit of the charm and detail of Friends, Disney and Elves. The RRPs were not that crazy either, with many sets below £30. The figures were decent too, though as with other minidoll themes there are never enough, and in general I prefer minifigures and would just rather see more female oriented minifigure sets in the DC Superheroes offerings.
What are your thoughts of the range? Do you think the line is ending? If so, why?
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I liked that set in the first wave with the dark nougat and pink building, but as you say they just aren't detailed enough yet the price was high due, presumably, to the licensing fee. So I wouldn't be surprised if the line ends. I am tempted by the black castle that was recently reviewed on Brickset though, that looked great!
I believe it has been cancelled. Toysrus staff confirmed it if I recall correctly. The first wave was discounted quite early too so it may not be over yet!
I thought the builds look good but I don't like minidolls. They look cheap.
I have all the sets for my daughter stashed away as she is getting them
Wave 1 birthday
Wave 2 Christmas
The second wave isn't as interesting to either me or my eldest daughter as most of the minidolls are just minor costume changes, so even with the heavy discount I'm still only going to get the three new ones (Flash, Mad Harriet & Eclipso)
There's plenty of core characters still to draw on- Katana being the obvious omission but I'd expect to see Beast Boy, Hawkgirl, Frost, Starfire & Cheetah given the ranges currently available from other toy companies involved.
As for minifigs versus minidolls, that argument has been hashed over so many times & usually comes down to the personal preference of the poster. The market research shows that the target demographic tends to prefer minidolls.
Wrt the cartoon, it's shifting away from short webisodes to longer format part-written by Lauren Faust so I'd expect it to become a lot more visible
The comparison to the hobbit is interesting because I think LEGO got screwed by the last minute change from 2 to 3 films as well.
I'm always cautious of using discounts as indication of sales as discounts are often the result of a store/company's purchasing and stock control. It does always seem a little suspect when multiple shops offer deep discounts at the same time, but equally we live in a time where it is incredibly easy for companies to watch their competitors prices and react accordingly.
For what it's worth I think the theme has a lot going for it. Some of the designs could have done with a bit of refinement but on the whole the sets I built I've enjoyed.
one further note on if this was a failure - WB & DC started the franchise to try to get more girls interested in their superhero franchises. With that in mind I'd imagine the companies that bought into the licence were probably given better terms than normal.
You have to remember that the companion media has to be put in production months (or years) in advance of the initial release of the toys - assuming there is a partnership to produce certain toys in conjunction with the release of the initial media. (In this case, the television show.)
Consumers want a steady stream of new content - so it wouldn't surprise me that there are other projects in the pipe that may be released well after Lego has pulled the plug on the theme. Or other projects that are cancelled mid-production and we never hear about it.
Reminds me of the last wave of Agents sets that only made it to the US market, and never materialized in Europe of elsewhere.
Interesting to hear the different views though!
I do think they're less appealing to adult builders than Elves or even Friends, they don't seem like good parts packs.
(If there ends up being no Wave 3, or the primary cartoon gets cancelled - that'll be a good indicator.)
This is a company that was going to originally cancel Ninjago at the 'natural end' of its run as a theme. But instead, I'm going to be building a beautiful boat next month and a highly anticipated movie is being released later in the year.
Then I saw the line of dolls at Target.
It was a complete let down, and I knew my daughter would feel the same. (She did.)
There is no question that the line was skewed very young. While something like Monster High (when it first came out), had dolls that looked older, and new, and slightly edgy, Super Hero girls looked like it was targted towards your average 6 year old. The size of the dolls, faces, color... all just skewed the line very young. Basically, my huge super Hero fan wanted nothing to do with the line, and I did not blame her.
Now... as to how it is doing... the line did win an action figure award.
http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2017/02/22/mattel-wins-action-figure-toy-of-the-year-award-for-dc-super-hero-girls
Looking at the Mattel Q1/Q2 earning transcripts, though, there is really no mention of the line at all. The good part is that it is not doing as bad as other lines like Monster High, AG or Mega. Of course, not being mentioned means it is also not flying off the shelves.
I do not know I would say it is a failure, but I do feel it is the weakest of the lines targeted towards girls, and I do feel it is better to get out of this and move into a better franchise. I did finally buy one set, but only because the high school was marked to $30. I have no plans of buying more.
I bought all the sets at half price, would never have paid much more than that for them.
TRU does not have a buy-back arrangement with Lego. That's why some of the sets (Chima!) stay on the shelves for years after retirement.
I also don't understand why people haven't been talking about this sooner. My local Lego Store has had these sets on 20% markdown permanently for more than 4 months!
she was so excited when the series was announced...
But we haven't bought a single DC girl set. Even at half price and a pocket full of birthday money, she still doesn't want them.
She can't explain why they are so unappealing.
There's something about Harley Quinn that everyone loves!
i think the first wave of Lego sets are discounted to clear way for the new stuff, nothing more. The second wave has some nice looking bits in it, the castle is lovely and the little Harley dorm that clips onto the high school from the first wave is fun.
more books to come, a Lego specific film, more animated films etc. etc. I can see a third wave of Lego sets for next year, certainly hope so.
I wonder why Lego didn't do a SDCC mini doll raffle to get some buzz? It probably wouldn't have helped since they did Bionicles and Hobbit and those lines died within a year.
I can't say I did much to stop the theme dying - I bought a few sets on heavy discount, although none of the larger ones - but it still feels like a bit of a shame these vehicles never got made. On the other hand, at least the film means they can be reverse engineered, if anyone cares enough.
The theme is still going & quite well from what I can see but for some reason Lego don't appear to be involved (despite doing multiple films)
Our issue, was never about Lego, but the theme as a whole.
Marvel has a similar new animated series/comic coming out called Marvel Rising that has a line of dolls/action figures produced by Hasbro. While DC Super Hero Girls' disappointing results for Lego may well ensure we don't get similar sets for this new Marvel series, I like to hope that at the very least, great characters featured in the show like Squirrel Girl or America Chavez might find their way into other Super Heroes sets thanks to the more prominent spotlight.
They prefer minidolls. Not sure why. There were only a couple in the house when they started playing with Lego & vastly outnumbered by minifigs. Now they're probably about 40-50%. They're quite happy to mix the two.
They have, however commented on the lack of male minidolls. I think we currently have 3 (although a couple more are on their way)
Forces of Destiny- they've not seen any of the animation but do have several of the dolls. Mostly because they've picked up on my love of Star Wars & have been introduced to the films at an early age (& had lightsaber fights from the age of 2)
DCSHG - They like watching the cartoon & have a couple of the films. They also have some of the dolls. They like playing with the High School & the vehicles.
Probably the biggest thing to come from it has been their introduction to Superheroes generally & it has kindled a big interest in that (& not just the characters from DCSHG).
It has also led to arguments with some of their female friends who are still of the opinion that superheroes are for boys (Given my older two were wearing a Captain America & a Spiderman t-shirt at the time, I think the argument was fairly short-lived)
I've been keeping an eye out for the Marvel Rising stuff- saw issue #1 in a local comic shop yesterday. I'm a bit torn as I'm not a fan of Squirrel Girl but Captain Marvel is up there as one of my favourites
I haven't seen the cartoon or comics so can't comment on those, but I've noticed that superhero stuff done well will appeal to kids regardless of gender - obviously I was once such a kid, but re: the present generation I'm thinking particularly of my friend's 7-year-old who I'd always thought of as quite traditional in her interests (and not due to any insistence by her parents), but who has recently got really into superheroes thanks to watching Teen Titans Go. She's also starting to be super into Lego, after previously being lukewarm, so that warms my heart and she may get some DC SHG sets for her upcoming birthday...
But the fact that they actually created a Friends version of Super Hero females would be a "win" in my book.