LEGO Trolls

Shib

Just saw his on Facebook - the Trolls film was a decent family film, but had (I think) Kreo merchandise.

Im assuming theyll have Fluffy hair if this does mean a Trolls theme is in the works. 

Toc13

Saw this on Twitter. Impressed by the lack of leaks on this

Lego_Lord_Mayorca

I thought this was about to be a thread about a different type of "troll", of a variety that exclusively stalk Lego fan sites and forums. Then the picture loaded up...

Alas, I lament for the incredible thread that could have been!

piratemania7

^Thought that as well. I wonder if this is new line or if perhaps something related to a Legoland?

Bumblepants

I am already excited to complain about these with everyone and maybe get some cool parts when these are clearanced cheap.

Legolis

My three year old is going to be over the moon when I show her. 

SprinkleOtter

Oh, come on, @SumoLego and @Pitfall69 aren't that bad...

Oooh, you meant thaaat kind of troll. Meh, I could leave it.

SumoLego

I wouldn't consider myself a troll.  Or a Troll.  I suppose this fills that periodic 'they're licensing what!?!?!' slot in the LEGO product lineup.

Scooby-Doo, Angry Birds, Trolls: World Tour.

TheOriginalSimonB

Well I already want that tie-dye torso.

SumoLego

TheOriginalSimonB said:

Well I already want that tie-dye torso.

Hopefully, the Trolls logo isn't part of the print.

Lyichir

SumoLego said:

TheOriginalSimonB said:

Well I already want that tie-dye torso.

Hopefully, the Trolls logo isn't part of the print.

I'm assuming not since the entire lanyard seems to be photoshopped on (note how it doesn't leave a margin near the edge like Lego prints do).

This really surprised me, since I had falsely assumed that Hasbro owned the Trolls franchise. Turns out that they lost the IP rights to it a while ago, and that their toys for the first Trolls movie were in fact licensed from DreamWorks. Either way, this marks the first franchise to make the leap from Kre-O to Lego.

CM4S

Toc13 said:

Saw this on Twitter. Impressed by the lack of leaks on this

Leaks for the next year do not show up until late July or August so don't worry, this was never going to be leaked :]

Recce

I'm surprised the trolls are not trolling this troll thread.

Recce

Expecting lots of bad hair days?

Shib

Wow, there’s a lot of hate over this on the main site. I actually quite enjoyed the first Trolls movies, it was a fun, family friendly, musical adventure, it wasn’t some great piece of cinematic art, but anyone expecting that was pretty foolish.

I think Dreamworks must have done well off the original, as the film spawned a short and a Netflix cartoon, but I think the main audience skewed a bit younger than the How to Train Your Dragon or Shrek franchises, I know a few people with young kids who absolutely loved it- in person I know had to name the falcon she was training Poppy at her daughters insistence.

I can imagine a few cool sets coming out of this, some brick built bug/creatures, almost certainly a Caterbus, probably a party of some sort, but he main thing I’m looking forward to is the potential of lots of interesting, bright coloured parts and even potentially some funky printed parts. If this is a licence aimed at the younger kids it could be a Junior/4+ theme which generally means printed parts.


Looking at the Kreo sets,I think most of them are mainly maid up with a piece of fuzzy felt scenery but there is a brick built big that is probably the pick of the bunch:

klinton

Shib said:

Wow, there’s a lot of hate over this on the main site.

Yeah, it's a bit bizarre, eh? If it's not for you, move along to something that does interest you. I don't understand the need to rant about somthing that has zero impact on one's life. I'm sure that parents will love this. 

Legolis

As is usual on here, I agree with Shib's comment. Had a quick look at the comments on the main site and I think it's just that some AFOLs forget that Lego is primarily targeted at children. There's lots of talk about the film being a flop but from my perspective it was a huge hit. All the kids in my daughters class loved Trolls when it came out and the merchandise was everywhere. Then there was the holiday special (that they play out of season - thanks Netflix) and the cartoon. Even now the film is still on heavy rotation in our house. As someone who has had to sit through some truly horrible kids films over the past few years, Trolls was actually rather good!

I also think this skews slightly towards "girl" Lego, which makes me happy. Although I do know boys who like it, my nephews included. We're still a theme down with the loss of Elves, although I don't think this will target the same age bracket. I wonder if these will be juniors? I hope not. There's no way we'll get a decent Caterbus if so.

sonatine01

As a Lego forum people will comment positively or negatively depending on if they think it’s a good idea for a licence or not, it is sort of the point of a forum.

For me I had zero interest in the film but then I had zero interest in The Lone Ranger or Pirates of the Caribbean films but loved the sets and minifigures. I like the fact that there’s some themes I haven’t been expecting to be released being released, keeps Lego interesting and gives me hope for something different that I do like.

 I’m not thinking I’ll want any of the figures from this theme but as shib says maybe there’ll be some funky coloured parts we’ll just have to wait and see.

Baby_Yoda

sonatine01 said:

As a Lego forum people will comment positively or negatively depending on if they think it’s a good idea for a licence or not, it is sort of the point of a forum.

Yes, but when the basis of those comments is unfair and illogical it is only natural that others will point it out. I haven't seen the comments on Brickset, but a common criticism seems to be its childishness. "It's not for me," they grumble. You don't say?

SumoLego

LEGO is a multi-billion dollar, leading toy producer.  Despite the wave of negative comments, my guess is that theme will sell well with it's target demographic.  At this point, I trust that LEGO marketing folks know what they're doing.

If comments on an AFOL website were driving the product line, we'd probably have a classic themes line (Space, Castle, Pirates), no Friends, Ninjago or Juniors and LEGO would be bankrupt.

SumoLego

Legolis said:

...There's lots of talk about the film being a flop but from my perspective it was a huge hit...

Flop?  Trolls generated $350M at the box office, and another $80M in home video sales.  Maybe those folks don't know how math works?

Not to mention the movie soundtrack sales/downloads.  And merchandise sales, etc.

And the fact there is a sequel should be evidence enough that Dreamworks made buckets of money on the first movie.  I'm always happy to see different/diverse IP that brings new consumers into the fold.

CCC

Do Trolls smell like My Little Ponies?

SprinkleOtter

CCC said:

Do Trolls smell like My Little Ponies?

Ask @Pitfall69

Pitfall69

CCC said:

Do Trolls smell like My Little Ponies?

...and there it is. It was just a matter of time :)

SprinkleOtter

SumoLego said:

I wouldn't consider myself a troll.  Or a Troll.  I suppose this fills that periodic 'they're licensing what!?!?!' slot in the LEGO product lineup.

Scooby-Doo, Angry Birds, Trolls: World Tour.

Mountain Troll doesn't care what you think:

Pitfall69

It's only fitting that Lego is going to be producing Trolls sets. The nostalgic "Trolls" I grew up with were first produced by a Danish man who was a wood cutter who eventually started a company that made the first Trolls with the iconic hair.

daewoo

I read the comments on the main site.  Good lord some people need to get a life.  The faulty logic made my head spin.

Bumblepants

It makes me laugh seeing the comments from people who are convinced they have the pulse of Lego accounting and finances. "I don't have any actual numbers, focus group studies, or market research but I know more than they do!"

Aanchir

daewoo said:

I read the comments on the main site.  Good lord some people need to get a life.  The faulty logic made my head spin.

On a more positive note, I think this and a lot of the other comments in this thread make me feel really good about the quality of discussion here on the Brickset forums. Lots of reasonable, open-minded perspectives. :)

Legolis said:

As is usual on here, I agree with Shib's comment. Had a quick look at the comments on the main site and I think it's just that some AFOLs forget that Lego is primarily targeted at children. There's lots of talk about the film being a flop but from my perspective it was a huge hit. All the kids in my daughters class loved Trolls when it came out and the merchandise was everywhere. Then there was the holiday special (that they play out of season - thanks Netflix) and the cartoon. Even now the film is still on heavy rotation in our house. As someone who has had to sit through some truly horrible kids films over the past few years, Trolls was actually rather good!

I also think this skews slightly towards "girl" Lego, which makes me happy. Although I do know boys who like it, my nephews included. We're still a theme down with the loss of Elves, although I don't think this will target the same age bracket. I wonder if these will be juniors? I hope not. There's no way we'll get a decent Caterbus if so.

Sadly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the perceived "girliness" were part of the reason for the vitriol we're seeing towards this announcement in some places…

SMC

Bumblepants said:

It makes me laugh seeing the comments from people who are convinced they have the pulse of Lego accounting and finances. "I don't have any actual numbers, focus group studies, or market research but I know more than they do!"

Yep lets close the forum, everything Lego does is right, no need for any comments.

Most of the time Lego does get it right but there is often a theme that does miss the mark. Angry birds being a great example, it seemed odd from the get go and it sat on the shelf. In that case the average joe AFOL know what the Lego big wigs didn't so dont write us off completely.

Saying this I do think Lego has got so big and produces so many different lines that we dont really need to worry about line x taking sets away from line y. It is true that there must be limits to how many lines Lego makes but surly most AFOLs can find something they like and dont need to worry about the ones they dont.

The first Troll film did well and was massive at the time with young kids so it doesn't seem a bad fit for the +4 line but its sure not the Dreamworks line most of us would have picked.

Brainslugged

My 7 year old is completely sick of Trolls due to how often my 3 year old puts it on. Some of it is actually pretty funny and it has some great songs in it. The little one is gonna love these when they come out. And the more parts in crazy bright colours the better.

Worst case scenario is that the line fails, but that just means more Lego to be scooped up at great prices.

pxchris

I think that it's great that TLG may be getting a foothold into the Dreamworks toy world! This particular theme doesn't hold any real interest for me except for possible very fun parts and colors! But it does seem like a great fit for that 4+ market. I found the movie itself to be quite enjoyable even.

dmcc0

SMC said:

Most of the time Lego does get it right but there is often a theme that does miss the mark. Angry birds being a great example, it seemed odd from the get go and it sat on the shelf. In that case the average joe AFOL know what the Lego big wigs didn't so dont write us off completely.

I've no idea if the Angry Birds theme did well or not, and without actual sales data nobody here knows for certain either.  I didn't actually see much of it on shelves in stores to be honest, but I can't say I was really looking for it.

The movie must've done alright given there's apparently a sequel on the way. I guess one indicator of how well the LEGO theme did will be if we see sets for the next movie. 

SMC

^ There are cases where we cant be sure but I think its safe to say that lines that hang around at 50% off like Angry Birds, Lone Ranger and Unikitty didnt do well.

Brainslugged

^ Plus how long it took to shift that stock even at 50% off.

Mr_Cross

I hope this will interest my little girl, who likes Trolls and who I keep trying to steer into doing LEGO with me more.
I think it should be a great new theme!

CCC

SMC said:

^ There are cases where we cant be sure but I think its safe to say that lines that hang around at 50% off like Angry Birds, Lone Ranger and Unikitty didnt do well.

Or in Unikitty's case, just overpriced to start with.

SumoLego

Bumblepants said:

It makes me laugh seeing the comments from people who are convinced they have the pulse of Lego accounting and finances. "I don't have any actual numbers, focus group studies, or market research but I know more than they do!"

I think that is the definition of the internet.

(If Avengers: Endgame just followed the Infinity Gauntlet comic books, everything would be SO much better and so much more successful.  Bah!)

SumoLego

We'd like to think we can glean some insight into how lines perform based on what sits on clearance or hangs around at our local retailer, or what is discounted on [email protected]

But what really matters is profitability.  If UniKitty doesn't perform well, but they didn't devote a disproportionate amount of resources to produce it - that still may result in the line ending up profitable.  That third (or fourth) wave of TLM sets seem to have hung around forever - but that's pure profit on every level for LEGO.  

Nonetheless, my comments apply to every line that LEGO produces - one simply cannot make a declaration as to the success or failure of any line based on anecdotal evidence from my local Target, or my notions that 'girl LEGO' is stupid.

I'd love to see the sales/profit numbers on Brickheadz and Star Wars.  We know SW sells, but my guess is that profit margins are low.

jnscoelho

SumoLego said:

We'd like to think we can glean some insight into how lines perform based on what sits on clearance or hangs around at our local retailer, or what is discounted on [email protected]

But what really matters is profitability.  If UniKitty doesn't perform well, but they didn't devote a disproportionate amount of resources to produce it - that still may result in the line ending up profitable.  That third (or fourth) wave of TLM sets seem to have hung around forever - but that's pure profit on every level for LEGO.  

Nonetheless, my comments apply to every line that LEGO produces - one simply cannot make a declaration as to the success or failure of any line based on anecdotal evidence from my local Target, or my notions that 'girl LEGO' is stupid.

I'd love to see the sales/profit numbers on Brickheadz and Star Wars.  We know SW sells, but my guess is that profit margins are low.

Still, BrickHeadz were often and recurrently classified as a flop around here (the forum) due to their (apparent) shelf time and discounting... And after they were gone, BrickHeadz madness!
To me, discounts can be deceitful, since nowadays it is increasingly common to see very recently released sets being discounted.

And judging by the increase of POP's I see in stores, and by the interest in BrickHeadz after their sudden retirement, I still think cancelling (or at least avoiding IPs on) the BrickHeadz was a bad decision. They either needed a higher longevity or less simultaneous releases over time - it's easy to collect 12 in a year (9.99€ x 12), pretty hard to collect 44 (with some being double, thus 14.99€ or 19.99). Or maybe even both things.

stlux

SumoLego said:

I'd love to see the sales/profit numbers on Brickheadz and Star Wars.  We know SW sells, but my guess is that profit margins are low.

Or SW sets are priced higher because TLG wants to keep the same profit margin as it does on its other product ranges, to get its 30% (gross) operating margin.

But as you said, that's all just speculation as TLG, as a privately held company, doesn't break that down in its annual report.

Aanchir

SMC said:

Bumblepants said:

It makes me laugh seeing the comments from people who are convinced they have the pulse of Lego accounting and finances. "I don't have any actual numbers, focus group studies, or market research but I know more than they do!"

Yep lets close the forum, everything Lego does is right, no need for any comments.

Most of the time Lego does get it right but there is often a theme that does miss the mark. Angry birds being a great example, it seemed odd from the get go and it sat on the shelf. In that case the average joe AFOL know what the Lego big wigs didn't so dont write us off completely.

I think when the "average joe AFOL" tends to be dismissive of stuff that's new or unfamiliar whether it ends up being a hit or a miss, it's a lot harder for LEGO to rely on them for meaningful insights. After all, how many of the AFOLs predicting the Angry Birds Movie sets would fail also wrongly predicted the movie itself would bomb, as so many movie adaptations of video games have in the past? Even a stopped clock is right twice a day…

Also, when LEGO acquires licenses for new movies, they usually aren't as far into development as when we finally end up seeing them. So what for us might sometimes seem like a fraught decision might not have been so obviously risky when they picked up the license.

For instance, the Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia films definitely were seeming like a risky prospect after we started seeing actual trailers for them and hearing how much money had already been spent making them. But earlier in those films' development, it's easy to see how Jerry Bruckheimer/Walt Disney Pictures action-adventure flicks based on well-established but largely inactive brands might've showed a lot of promise, considering his massive successes with the Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure films.

In this case, I haven't seen many people give much reason for expecting Trolls 2 to bomb other than "I didn't like the first one" or "a lot of sequels do poorly"… and those could just as easily be cited as reasons to be skeptical about practically ANY new LEGO license.

SMC

If "average joe AFOL" (brickset forum members) are stopped clocks (only right by accident) then why have a forum at all, if we are not an informed bunched what's the point? 

Aanchir

SMC said:

If "average joe AFOL" (brickset forum members) are stopped clocks (only right by accident) then why have a forum at all, if we are not an informed bunched what's the point? 

Because if we recognize the gaps in our own knowledge, we also recognize that learning from others is likely the only way we'll ever come closer to filling any of those gaps. Plus, being an "average joe" doesn't mean having nothing of value to contribute. Every one of us has SOME valuable perspective or experience that other people don't.

Honestly, it's unlikely that anyone in the world has what it takes to reliably predict any new product's chances of success before it launches, with just a single promotional teaser to judge it by. If they were, all the top manufacturers in the world would be banging on their door trying to hire them. But the reality is there are too many variables that no one person can account for. And as such, doom-and-gloom predictions about a theme none of us had heard of before this week don't contribute any more to the conversation than if the same people were predicting that LEGO Trolls would be the next LEGO Star Wars.

That said, by pooling our knowledge to try and figure out the answers instead of just relying on our own intuition, we can collectively become better informed about a lot of things. Very little of what I know about the LEGO Group's history or internal workings or limitations is stuff that I could have possibly learned without getting involved with the community and hearing what other people with more firsthand knowledge on these subjects have to say.

And even then, I know I'm nowhere close to being the leading expert on ANY of these things, and end up spending a lot of time reading through people's posts to find answers to questions I feel uncertain about. It helps that over the years, actual LEGO designers who have insights that "average joe" AFOLs like us could only dream of have been in close contact with our community, either through online or print interviews, or posts on forums like this one!

But none of that matters if we all just make predictions and judgments based on our gut instincts about what LEGO should or shouldn't be doing, and dismiss anybody who questions those gut instincts as obsequious fanboys/fangirls who never disagree with LEGO about anything.

SumoLego

SMC said:

If "average joe AFOL" (brickset forum members) are stopped clocks (only right by accident) then why have a forum at all, if we are not an informed bunched what's the point? 

Well, not all of us make declarations that a particular theme or set won't be successful, or is a waste of time or will put the company in bankruptcy.

I get the general sentiment on the main page is that these won't do well.  And all of that is just rampant, uninformed conclusory speculation.

CapnRex101

I would suggest that the success of a theme is generally dictated by the quality of the sets. There are exceptions at both ends of the scale, of course, but better sets tend to sell more readily than weaker products.

Trolls will probably not carry the same weight of appeal as themes such as Star Wars or Harry Potter, across the entire spectrum of LEGO fans, but if the sets are nicely designed for their target audience then I see no reason why they would not be successful.

Having said that, I was quite surprised by the announcement yesterday!

SumoLego

I thought the Scooby-Doo sets were designed very well, appeared to be popular and sold well - but there was only one wave.

One ought to think that would result in another wave, or similar IP, but perhaps LEGO was happy with the the theme's performance and they moved onto the next theme...

Aanchir

CapnRex101 said:

I would suggest that the success of a theme is generally dictated by the quality of the sets. There are exceptions at both ends of the scale, of course, but better sets tend to sell more readily than weaker products.

Trolls will probably not carry the same weight of appeal as themes such as Star Wars or Harry Potter, across the entire spectrum of LEGO fans, but if the sets are nicely designed for their target audience then I see no reason why they would not be successful.

Having said that, I was quite surprised by the announcement yesterday!

I was surprised as well, but mostly because like @Lyichir above I mistakenly thought it was a Hasbro-owned IP.

I suspect the main reason LEGO is opting for this license where they've ignored previous DreamWorks licenses is that next year there are no new LEGO movies coming out, and the only Pixar movies are entirely unproven new IPs.

LEGO usually seems to prefers launching new movie licensed themes for sequels/prequels/reboots as opposed to brand-new franchises… I imagine they would rather not bet on a new Pixar property being the next Toy Story or Cars if it might just as easily be the next The Good Dinosaur.

bookmum

These have got to have proper hair like the Megablocks purple evil minion. 

SMC

Aanchir said:

Because if we recognize the gaps in our own knowledge, we also recognize that learning from others is likely the only way we'll ever come closer to filling any of those gaps. 

That's a great way to think.

Aanchir said:

Honestly, it's unlikely that anyone in the world has what it takes to reliably predict any new product's chances of success

Hang on never mind, there's no point.

oldtodd33

I have only two things to say, I'm not interested in them but I'm not 5 and, like my wife said, if they don't do the hair right they won't sell well.