Doctor Who Lego?

Redbullgivesuwind

I must admit I am surprised that since the Lego Ideas set of the Tardis we have not had any more Doctor Who sets. I felt like the Tardis sold pretty well and that there were possibly going to be a variety of other sets. Especially when it was added to Lego dimensions. Character Building clearly have lost the licence as they did not make any sets nor said they will be bringing it back. But when you look on the ideas website it is open for submission to there but with some restrictions. This suggests that lego have no interest in doing anything further unless it won ideas again. 

I was really hoping for at least a collectable series of all the doctors. The show is certainly more popular than it has been for the last few series (although I liked Capaldi). Now seems like the perfect time to capitalise on that with a few more sets.  

Bumblepants

I would guess a lack of vehicles to render in brick has a lot to do with it. Not much to appeal to kids setwise. I agree it is disappointing we didn't get more. Even a brickheadz would have been welcome.

Redbullgivesuwind

I thought that but then CB did a lot play sets which has always been Doctor Who's strength. They could had addtional moving bits or some unoffical alien ships. As I agree Multiple Tardis would not sold well to the average consumer. I was surprised they didnt do Brickheadz as well. Although, maybe Funco's licence agreements retrict competition as they seem to have a strangle hold on that area. 

CCC

Lack of vehicles, lack of locations. I got the impression that the tardis didn't sell so well and was discounted for ages.

I also thought it was blocked from Ideas now, having been introduced through Ideas originally.

CCC

And weren't most of the CB sets mainly minifigure sets rather than building sets.

Aleydita

Could do a constraction line of the docs, side-kicks and monsters. I think that would be pretty cool.

Redbullgivesuwind

@CCC no, I think that was what got the focus but they did a lot of plays sets. Such as a darlek factory, ship, alien worlds etc. But it was the doctor figures that got a lot of attention. 

I went back and checked and you are right misread that it was banned under certain circumstances. It cant be added to lego ideas. So does that mean lego is just sat on a load of unused licences? Seems dumb from the BBC as they could be making money from it actively. Although the lack of merchandise from this years Who suggests otherwise. 

CCC

^ No, it means LEGO can still do Doctor Who sets if they want, but they do not want people suggesting them again.

dannyrww

Sadly I think Dimensions may have been part of the problem. It seemed like Dimensions was a place to release minifigures that couldn't really have sets. Doctor Who played a heavy part in that game, and I am thankful for the Cybermem/Dalek battle pack (I have a small army). It sounds like a Missy Pack would have come out too. I think they should just re-release the T.A.R.D.I.S withe Jodie Whitiker and some other Doctors or Companions. 

Bumblepants

A second wave Lego Movie 2 set could be a possibility for another doctor minifigure if one cameos in the film. daleks were in Batman 2 so who knows

SumoLego

Bumblepants said:

I would guess a lack of vehicles to render in brick has a lot to do with it.

If Dr. Who had a helicopter and worked out of a lighthouse, Quinjet or hot dog stand...

Gibbo1959

I’d be more than happy to get modular Tardis interiors; given that it’s pretty much infinitely large inside, and there is source material for some internals, that would work for me but maybe not a big enough market for it. 
I’d also like a CMF series of Doctors - 12 (or 13) minifigures then surprise everyone with a mini doll! 

Shib

There is plenty of source material for various Doctor Who vehicles and playsets, but I don't think there's much of a market for them. I could see a CMF series doing OK, but not as well as Disney or Harry Potter. 

That said I'd love at least a single wave theme along the lines of:

Battle of Torchwood Tower Battle pack: 2x brick built Daleks, 2x cybermen, 1x torchwood agent and a small piece of scenery

Doctor vs Cyber King - Doctor (10), brick built oversized minifigure cyberking (possibly balloon) and Mercy Hartigan figure

Bessie with Doctor (3) and The brigadier Minifigures and probably an enemy figure/small build. 

Dalek Warship with Davros, a couple of Darleks and whichever Doctor they'd like to include.

Chula Warship - with medipod/crash site build, Doctor (9), Rose (Union Flag t-shirt), Captain Jack Harkness and Empty Child minifigures

And for the CMF line up

1-14 The Doctor (every regeneration inc War Doctor) 

15. Sarah Jane Smith

16. Mondasian Cyberman

17. Amelia Pond

18. Living Plastic Mannequin

19. River Song

20. Harold Saxon (The Master) justified entirely by the video below! 


https://youtu.be/ERd_EnQqtKE

Aanchir

In general I think one thing working against Doctor Who is that for all its iconic settings, there aren't nearly so many RECURRING settings. After all, it's a show built on travel through time and space, so even when it revisits a particular place, it often does so in a different time period to emphasize how much of a difference time can make.

And unlike stuff like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings where most people's primary points of reference for the series consist of a relatively small number of movies, Doctor Who is a brand that's spanned decades, meaning that it's much harder to pick an iconic scene, scenario, or even character from a particular episode and expect it to resonate with the vast majority of the fanbase.

For example, there probably aren't too many casual Star Wars fans who have never seen a movie featuring Darth Vader or casual Lord of the Rings fans who have never seen a movie featuring Saruman, but I'm sure there are a LOT of casual Doctor Who fans who have never seen an episode featuring Davros. After all, he's only appeared in about 22 episodes of a show that's had 850 episodes to date, and all but four of those episodes premiered over 30 years ago!

Thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised if both of these factors are part of why most of the location-based sets in the Super Heroes theme have been based on either New York or Gotham — two locations that a number of well-known, well-established superheroes have always called home and done a lot of their crime-fighting in — with a lot fewer depicting more far-flung locations that only serve as the main backdrop for occasional superhero comics/cartoons/movies.

HugeYellowBrick

Don't forget the Valiant

Shib

^it crossed my mind but would need to be on the scale of the Helicarrier to do it justice and hasn't appeared that much to feel such a set would be justified. 

Astrobricks

SumoLego said:

Bumblepants said:

I would guess a lack of vehicles to render in brick has a lot to do with it.

If Dr. Who had a helicopter and worked out of a lighthouse, Quinjet or hot dog stand...

The TARDIS was kind of a lighthouse. It had a blinky light on top. :)

Come to think of it, it was also kind of a helicopter.

HugeYellowBrick

Or the spaceship that crashed into Big Ben (from about 1:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqdZaRncUdo 

Kev80e

As a bit of a Dr Who can I'd be interested in a few sets.  I'm new to lego and am a bit unsure on the difference between Dimensions , Creators and ideas. Are these done to different scales ? 

Aanchir

Kev80e said:

As a bit of a Dr Who can I'd be interested in a few sets.  I'm new to lego and am a bit unsure on the difference between Dimensions , Creators and ideas. Are these done to different scales ? 

Not really, they're just released for different reasons.

• Ideas sets are fan-suggested, fan-supported products based on MOCs from https://ideas.lego.com/ that got 10,000 supporters and were selected to be redesigned as actual sets. LEGO Ideas has a rule against approving more than one project based on the same intellectual property, so no more Doctor Who sets are going to be released via that theme.
  
  
• Dimensions sets were designed to be used with the video game LEGO Dimensions. They use normal bricks and minifigures, but also come with NFC "toy tags" that you can scan using the "Toy Pad" in the LEGO Dimensions starter set to use those characters and/or builds in the game, as well as unlock new worlds and levels.
  
  The buildable models in the sets can each be built into three different designs which are unlocked one at a time in-game, and which have different in-game powers or effects. LEGO Dimensions has been retired, so there will be no new sets within that theme, though because the game does not require online updates, it is still playable if you have one of the starter sets and the corresponding game console.
  
  
• Creator sets currently include two separate categories: Creator 3-in-1 sets, the main category, are non-licensed sets with instructions to construct three different models, usually related in some way (for example, three different vehicles or three different animals). Some are minifigure-scale, and others are at larger or smaller scales.
  
  Creator Expert sets (which I'm assuming you're referring to) are licensed or non-licensed sets of LEGO exclusive/direct-to-consumer sets ranging from large-ish to very large, designed primarily for teen and adult builders (though some of the sets, particularly in the Winter Village subtheme, include secondary models at an easier building level so that kids and parents can build together). Again, some are minifigure scale and others are at larger or smaller scales.
  
  That said, an exclusive/D2C Doctor Who set like this would probably be released as part of its own theme, not as a Creator Expert set. Much like how the direct-to-consumer Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters, Disney Castle, and Harry Potter Hogwarts sets were released as Ghostbusters, Disney, and Harry Potter sets, respectively, not as Creator Expert sets.
  

Kev80e

@Aanchir thanks very much for taking the time to explain this. I didn't realize that 2 different creator groups existed so it's very helpful. 
I really need a clear direction to go in as at the minute I'm just getting mainly vehicles , creature expert, that I like. A theme would be much better I think. 

Kev80e

And city I assume are all the same scale to enable the building of a town or city. 

Aanchir

Kev80e said:

And city I assume are all the same scale to enable the building of a town or city. 

They're designed to all be "minifigure scale", but that can still vary a lot. For example, LEGO City cars, trucks, and trains can all be six studs wide, even though in real life a train would be much wider than a car or a truck. A lot of early LEGO City construction vehicles were also way more exaggerated in size than today's.

City also notably has a really huge emphasis on vehicle sets for  action play, with buildings mostly relegated to the larger price points. It's also focused on action-packed/physical careers like firefighting, policing, construction, mining, search and rescue, exploration, etc. In some other themes like Creator and Friends you get more emphasis on "everyday" sorts of buildings/scenery for slice-of-life play, like restaurants, shops, houses, hotels, and schools.

MrKettle

Shib said:

There is plenty of source material for various Doctor Who vehicles and playsets, but I don't think there's much of a market for them. I could see a CMF series doing OK, but not as well as Disney or Harry Potter. 

That said I'd love at least a single wave theme along the lines of:

Battle of Torchwood Tower Battle pack: 2x brick built Daleks, 2x cybermen, 1x torchwood agent and a small piece of scenery

Doctor vs Cyber King - Doctor (10), brick built oversized minifigure cyberking (possibly balloon) and Mercy Hartigan figure

Bessie with Doctor (3) and The brigadier Minifigures and probably an enemy figure/small build. 

Dalek Warship with Davros, a couple of Darleks and whichever Doctor they'd like to include.

Chula Warship - with medipod/crash site build, Doctor (9), Rose (Union Flag t-shirt), Captain Jack Harkness and Empty Child minifigures

And for the CMF line up

1-14 The Doctor (every regeneration inc War Doctor) 

15. Sarah Jane Smith

16. Mondasian Cyberman

17. Amelia Pond

18. Living Plastic Mannequin

19. River Song

20. Harold Saxon (The Master) justified entirely by the video below! 


https://youtu.be/ERd_EnQqtKE

What No Ace? No Leela? Wilfred, Susan, Mel, Peri? 

Seconds series for sure. 

Baby_Yoda

^ That certainly demonstrates the point that there's too much source material and none of it has a wide enough audience. There's no way they could squeeze every "iconic" character into even a 24 figure series. I like the idea of Bessie or the Cyberking as a set, though, as they have a relatively wide appeal given their size.

Brickchap

I would love to see DW sets especially Bessie!! (I love old cars). While I highly disagree that DW does not have enough vehicles/locations/builds I do think the main argument against is, as has been noted, the huge range of DW material which is inconsistent in the knowledge of fans.

I myself have only ever watched the 'modern' era of DW (David Tennant, the doctor who wore a leather jacket and was in the empty child, the young doctor everyone likes for some reason who had a bow tie, Capaldi and Whittaker) I have also seen 2 episodes from the series 1 (1963 or whenever it was) and thoroughly enjoyed An Adventure in Space and Time. Theoretically there would be enough material in that amount of DW episodes for lego sets however that would of course be ignoring all other episodes and doctors (especially 'scarf doctor') and thus loosing (perhaps) lots of potential AFOL /older DW fans.

In saying that, the same argument applies to Scooby Doo yet Lego was able to create sets of those (I think Scooby Doo is lot more inconsistent with settings then DW) and also chose to base them off the original episodes as opposed to more modern ones or movies (which would have probably been better for the target age group)

There are lots of things they could do which would appeal as sets to quite a number of people, not just DW fans if they did things such as Bessie, the Victorian 'Zulu' soldiers {the episode on Mars God Save the Queen and all that}, plenty of WW1 and WW2 characters such as the officer in the episode with the glass people, river song in 1930s Berlin with motorbike, and that army officer who was friends with the doctor in one of the 1980s series {the same series as Bessie} Victorian people and a small market in that episode on the frozen Thames, Shakespeare {a Lego Globe theater would be pretty cool even with alien witches}, Charles Dickens, Rosa Parks with bus, King James with carriage and tree, Elizabeth I, even the Tardis itself for someone wishing to have an ordinary 1940s 1950s town (sadly even if they did choose to do a space Titanic it would have to be miniscale} Orient Express (the mummy episode) would be awesome. (these are all historic things since I really only watch DW for the history stuff)

One more set idea would be the Torchwood Observatory Battle (Queen Victoria would make a popular minifig)

Shib

Baby_Yoda said:

^ That certainly demonstrates the point that there's too much source material and none of it has a wide enough audience. There's no way they could squeeze every "iconic" character into even a 24 figure series. I like the idea of Bessie or the Cyberking as a set, though, as they have a relatively wide appeal given their size.

Indeed, my thoughts were focused mainly on the modern series as its almost certainly where the more marketable content is, but still room for nods to the original. 

I actually think that the biggest problem with a Doctor Who CMF line is that if only one series was garuntee then naturally over half the slots would be taken up by the Doctor with no real room for many companions or villains. 

Redbullgivesuwind

@CCC so if Lego arent likely to make sets from a licence they have currently, which was secured through ideas. That means the Lego are just sat on licence until it expires. That seems like Lego is now just trying to squash any potential rivals. 

@shib that would be a excellent collectable minifig series. Lego produced Simpson minifigs about 15 years too late when it wasnt as popular and had as wide appeal as it used to. So I am still hoping they would take a risk on just one series. 

@dannyrww I agree dimensions seems like it was planned to be a place for a lot of wanted mini figures but limited sets. Like @Aanchir says there are so many locations but they aren't known to anyone outside of dedicated fans. So the sets would be a hard sell. It would likely be the doctors that sold so dimensions would have been perfect.

Redbullgivesuwind

@Shib to be fair the collectable minifig line that CB produced was almost entirely doctors and that seemed to sell well (for a smaller company). I think they are the main draw for most casual fans. Most people would recognise them over say Adric or Vicky. 

Shib

True, but I should think most people would want at least a companion and villain to their favourite Doctor which would be impossible unless this series was much bigger than any others.

Its not to say the line couldn’t sell, just adds to the notion that the biggest weakness with the theme would be it’s vast amount of sorce material.

Redbullgivesuwind

I definitely see what you mean. It does have such a wide source material that it would struggle to have anything super memorable. I think the best selling ones would be a Tardis, tardis interior, Skaro and maybe a Cyberking. But that isn’t enough to flesh out a toy line. I would not complain if it was a massive CMF line.

Baby_Yoda

If a CMF line were to accompany a Doctor Who theme, and every set included a different doctor, that could help diversify the range. They don't need to include especially unpopular doctors like the Eighth either, in the same way they didn't include every on-screen variant of Batman in his CMF line.

A rereleased TARDIS + interior would be a necessity, since new consumers would want one of their own. They could include Tennant and Whittaker as the figures to appeal to owners of the original set, and they could even include a Broadchurch alt-build...

I stand by my point that Bessie and the Cyberking would be good choices as even though they don't have mass appeal across the fanbase, they are still very well-known and they would only need battle-pack price points. To increase sales, figures could be less specific to the subject of the set, e.g. Daleks with the former and generic Cybermen with the latter.

I quite like @Brickchap's point about historical settings that are already well-known. Lego would never include real people like Rosa Parks or Winston Churchill, but they could have a generic Medieval set with knights and robots, an Egyptian set with pharoahs and aliens, a spaceship with dinosaurs etc. These would definitely appeal to kids IMO. There's a great deal of wiggle room in this line of thinking, and I'd expect to see diversity in theme similar to that of The Lego Movie.

However, Doctor Who seems to be on a popularity decline. It's unfortunate, but unless Lego have something in the pipeline now, we won't see a full-fledged theme in the near future. Both the Doctor and the Brick have stood the test of time, though, so perhaps in a few decades, when we're all grey and barely able to adjust 1x1s accurately without needing a magnifying glass...

Redbullgivesuwind

A historic series would sell very well. I am still holding out just for ancient history sets. 

But inserting the Doctor in there would make it a day one must buy for me.

It has declined in viewing figures since the highs of the Tennant era. But it is still very popular world wide. Obviously, Lego has decided that isnt popular enough to warrent more sets.

CCC

If they were going to do a Globe Theatre, I'd prefer they did a Globe Theatre than a Doctor Who Globe Theatre. Same with any historical setting 

TheOriginalSimonB

Of course the best way to get a good companion for each doctor would be double figures in each bag... Might make fondling bags more tricky.

klinton

Redbullgivesuwind said:

A historic series would sell very well. I am still holding out just for ancient history sets. 

But inserting the Doctor in there would make it a day one must buy for me.

This seems the most plausible solution. They could randomly include various Doctors, companions, and adversaries as extras in larger unrelated sets. Much like how the Wizard of Oz characters are popping up in two different theme sets (TLBM, and now TLM2). 

That way, they serve as a purchase incentive to Doctor Who fans while not requiring a commitment to a larger, devoted theme. The trickle would be a little slower than a massive Doctor Who CMF line, but it would be a safer bet on Lego's part while still getting the product in the hands of the fans. 

Lyichir

klinton said:

Redbullgivesuwind said:

A historic series would sell very well. I am still holding out just for ancient history sets. 

But inserting the Doctor in there would make it a day one must buy for me.

This seems the most plausible solution. They could randomly include various Doctors, companions, and adversaries as extras in larger unrelated sets. Much like how the Wizard of Oz characters are popping up in two different theme sets (TLBM, and now TLM2). 

That way, they serve as a purchase incentive to Doctor Who fans while not requiring a commitment to a larger, devoted theme. The trickle would be a little slower than a massive Doctor Who CMF line, but it would be a safer bet on Lego's part while still getting the product in the hands of the fans. 

I don't think that'd be as easy for Doctor Who. The Wizard of Oz characters showing up in The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Movie 2 sets probably has a great deal to do with both of those movies being co-produced by Warner Bros. (and as a result, technically making both of those themes licensed from them, despite Lego playing a much greater role in the design and execution of both the sets and the movies themselves than for your typical licensed theme). For Doctor Who to get shoehorned in the same way would require the characters to appear in a set or CMF series that itself already involved BBC licensing—probably unlikely, given that Doctor Who probably already has the most international appeal and recognition of any BBC IPs.

gmonkey76

I think the Wizard of Oz, and any other characters showing up in unrelated sets is do to dimensions being cancelled early. 
 
Employee: we just finished making the xx fun pack for dimensions.
Boss: Dimensions is cancelled.
Employee: we could put the figure in the next LEGO Movie.
Boss: good idea, I'm glad I thought of it.

Or something along those lines.

SumoLego

Boss:  Ha ha, you said 'do to'.

Redbullgivesuwind

It does seem likely that the wizzard of oz stuff is turning up partly because they already had the figures designed at least. Plus the relationship with WB. Although, my understanding is that the WoO dimensions set sold really poorly. 

I would think if they did a historical theme that Lego would tie it into time travel some how. I am not sure if they would make just an ancient Rome set as just a stand alone. Unless it comes from lego ideas. To me inserting the Doctor would make more sense than just random people. 

daewoo

I would love a CMF series or two but I do not think that they are likely.  With the most current season being complete anti-western European male garbage, I've lost interest and will no longer watch the show.

dragon114

I just want the current doctor

Brickchap

@daewoo completely agree.

Its like every episode was a feminist/PC rant but regardless of that the plots just arent as good and Jodie Whittakers doctor (again regardless of gender, although a female doctor was a terrible idea since a black or Irish male doctor would have be awesome) again is just not as good and as I said previously a few times even seems to be an exact copy of Tennants doctor. And no Daleks??? But the Peting was sooo scary and creative.... (sarcasm)

Brickchap

I remember that oxygen episode which had a obvious message/moral about capitalism but it was a good message that didnt completely overshadow the main plot nor did it feel like a communist/feminist rant set in space, unlike these new episodes...

klinton

For the Doctor himself, why don't you guys cobble together your own? Just looking at the Wizarding World minifigs, there are all sorts of ideal prints, faces, and hair parts for several incarations. 

I get that 'official' releases hold a certain cachet, but this is Lego, after all. If it doesn't exist, build your own! :D

Umandraug

klinton said:

For the Doctor himself, why don't you guys cobble together your own? Just looking at the Wizarding World minifigs, there are all sorts of ideal prints, faces, and hair parts for several incarations. 

I get that 'official' releases hold a certain cachet, but this is Lego, after all. If it doesn't exist, build your own! :D

Or buy a highly priced custom fig.

Didn’t Kre-o have the license for a collectible fig line?

MegtheCat

I made all the Doctors (1 thru 12, including the War Doctor) using existing parts a couple years back. Some were inspired/copied from images I found online, but I was overall pretty happy with how they turned out. This was before the Lego Ideas set came out.

Redbullgivesuwind

Umandraug said:

klinton said:

For the Doctor himself, why don't you guys cobble together your own? Just looking at the Wizarding World minifigs, there are all sorts of ideal prints, faces, and hair parts for several incarations. 

I get that 'official' releases hold a certain cachet, but this is Lego, after all. If it doesn't exist, build your own! :D

Or buy a highly priced custom fig.

Didn’t Kre-o have the license for a collectible fig line?

It was CB and although they are alright they looked a bit odd. To be fair @MinifigsMe make excellent customs so could get them to make some. 

But as Klinton says there is something about having offical lego that makes it special. 

Aanchir

daewoo said:

I would love a CMF series or two but I do not think that they are likely.  With the most current season being complete anti-western European male garbage, I've lost interest and will no longer watch the show.

Nonsensical anti-"political correctness" ranting driven by a ludicrous persecution complex? I wish I could say I was surprised to read this kind of stuff here on Brickset…

Brickchap

@Aanchir

I think you'll find its political correctness thats nonsensical ranting driven by a ludicrous persecution complex.

Besides, at least daewoo was actually talking about DW instead of the usual fully random comments or stupid/inappropriate jokes that (sadly) are always on Brickset Forum.

CCC

Is it male garbage that is anti western European or garbage that is anti western European males?