Optimus Prime teased!

Brickset.com

LEGO has just revealed that it has licensed the intellectual property of its main toy manufacturing rival Hasbro: a model of Transformer Optimus Prime is forthcoming!

The tweet, which you can view after the break, states that 'It's LEGO Optimus Prime Time', 'Rolling out in June 2022'

We can therefore surmise that a full reveal must be imminent!

Continue reading »

© 2022 Brickset.com. Republication prohibited without prior permission.

Source: https://brickset.com/article/74870

SumoLego

I suppose we don't need to wonder why Hasbro is not the World's leading toymaker...

ReesesPieces

Very interesting...I guess Hasbro calculated the numbers and decided they'd make more money by licensing out their own toy to Lego than producing it inhouse.  

playwell

ReesesPieces said:

Very interesting...I guess Hasbro calculated the numbers and decided they'd make more money by licensing out their own toy to Lego than producing it inhouse.  

I think its more the case that Lego has such a large following now that having a Lego set of your ip can direct people to your ip and other products. Lego might pay you to effectively advertise your ip for you, which also might be why we are seeing so much of this as Lego might not be paying much for these licenses.

Aanchir

Hasbro's also been trying to position themselves as more of a general entertainment company than a toy company as of late, despite toymaking still being a way bigger part of their business than it would be for companies like Disney and Warner Bros. In that regard, I can see the logic of this sort of IP licensing with other toy companies that focus on more specific toy categories.

Even so, I wouldn't have expected anything like this to be possible if you'd asked me five years ago. I'd be interested to see if it paves the way for future licensing partnerships (in either direction).

lowlead

This is GenX nostalgia heaven.  Long live the Decepticons, Hail Megatron, gimme Soundwave!

Redbullgivesuwind

I think if this sells well I think they will likely produce some of the other main characters like Megatron and Bumblebee. 

But most of all this gives me hope that we might see other Hasbro licences such as Power Rangers. 

MaffyD

I have a feeling we won't get G1 Megatron. I'm also worried about Starscream as he is definitely an F-15 Eagle in G1. Same goes for a lot of Decepticons to be honest. Hmm...

The_Rancor

Redbullgivesuwind said:

But most of all this gives me hope that we might see other Hasbro licences such as Power Rangers. 

I mean, we already have an Ideas Megazord. Just ignore the branding on the box.

Redbullgivesuwind

The_Rancor said:

I mean, we already have an Ideas Megazord. Just ignore the branding on the box.

It is basically just made up of five lions. So it would not be to hard to made the leap to whatever they want. 

@MaffyD I don't think they would ever make a Starscream. I think a Megatron might be a later version. However the gun version might be fantasy enough to get past.

monstblitz

I haven't been this excited about a Lego set since Voltron! 

Aanchir

MaffyD said:

I have a feeling we won't get G1 Megatron. I'm also worried about Starscream as he is definitely an F-15 Eagle in G1. Same goes for a lot of Decepticons to be honest. Hmm...

The usual exception for fantasy/sci-fi in LEGO's Conflict and Weapons guidelines could potentially apply in Starscream's case, especially considering his stylized brightly-colored livery. His cluster bombs were pretty heavily stylized compared to a real F-15 Eagle's munitions in the original G1 toy, and even more so in subsequent re-issues which added a launching function.

I have much greater doubts about LEGO being able to make a G1 Megatron set — even Hasbro has had to take blatant liberties with re-issues of G1 Megatron due to various laws regulating the design of toy guns.

SumoLego

playwell said:

I think its more the case that Lego has such a large following now that having a Lego set of your ip can direct people to your ip and other products.

I'm hard-pressed to assess this as anything other than an acknowledgement of failure for Hasbro.

Anyone care to guess when LEGO licenses Friends, Ninjago or Agents to Hasbro to make action figures?  What do we call the 'day after never'...

Aanchir

SumoLego said:

playwell said:

I think its more the case that Lego has such a large following now that having a Lego set of your ip can direct people to your ip and other products.

I'm hard-pressed to assess this as anything other than an acknowledgement of failure for Hasbro.

Anyone care to guess when LEGO licenses Friends, Ninjago or Agents to Hasbro to make action figures?  What do we call the 'day after never'...

I dunno about action figures, but I could potentially see them licensing out some of their properties out to Hasbro for board games, since that's a very distinct category from most of what LEGO currently makes (and one where Hasbro has had much more reliable success). It's not as though LEGO is a stranger to those sorts of licensing agreements — back in the 90s and 2000s, Rose-Art produced a whole bunch of different board games and floor puzzles under license from LEGO, a partnership that only ended when they were bought out by Mega Brands in 2005.

SumoLego

^ I think you just proved my point.  LEGO wouldn't consider licensing products to a direct competitor.  Even if they happen to be in a niche market.

Let alone a competing company in the same toy category.

CCC

Does Hasbro see it as undermining their sales though? They have made numerous fairly large Transformers recently, so presumably have sold products to the nostalgia based market. Maybe they think they have pushed Optimus Prime to the limits for now, and having a single set made from LEGO will get more sales for the IP without damaging their own collector aimed models, which are a very different product.

Ayliffe

I'd say the idea of Hasbro licensing out their IPs to other companies is less the unusual aspect (the many TF Funko Pops and that one self-transforming Optimus come to mind) and moreso the TLG side of things - they've always felt a bit separate and different to the rest of the toy industry, so to see em breaking down those barriers (even with just a single set) is a bit of a mindblower all-in-all.

SumoLego said:

Anyone care to guess when LEGO licenses Friends, Ninjago or Agents to Hasbro to make action figures?  What do we call the 'day after never'...

You kid, but I think I'd adore TLG doing a straight swap with Hasbro for a single product each - Tahu as a full-on Autobot please and thankyou!

ReesesPieces

I assumed that Kree-o was Habro's brick construction line to compete against Lego but it looks like they just licensed out their IPs.  I wonder if Kree-o's license with Hasbro has expired or if it is a nonexclusive license.  I do agree that it is a smart move by Hasbro to have Lego make Optimus Prime.  Every time Lego makes one of these "pop-culture"  sets, various non-Lego sites seem to cover them.

SumoLego

I don't doubt the mutual benefit for both companies, but I am sure it is a feather in LEGO's cap to produce a product based on a competitor's IP.

LEGO doesn't venture too far away from their core brick business, but Hasbro literally has their hands in every aspect of the toy industry.  For them not to have basic competency in a multi-billion dollar market sector (building bricks) is noticeable.  They are a $5.5 billion dollar (revenue) entity that can't figure out how to produce some bricks?

CCC

https://tformers.com/transformers-toy-fair-2011-official-looks-at-kre-o-transformers/15147/news.html

I guess they decided that kre-o versions weren't worth doing (again), and they now try the premium brand.

playwell

^ Now I want a mini figure version.

ReesesPieces

They do look pretty cute.

binaryeye

I had the Constructicons and Optimus Prime as a kid. This set's release spurred me to look up pictures of the latter to see if my memory of it was correct. In doing so, I learned I also had a couple other toys that I didn't even know were Transformers: Jetfire (technically not a Transformer, apparently) and Topspin.

monkeyhanger

I once saw a non branded version of Shockwave in a shop in York as a kid (shockwave was bever released in the UK by Hasbro as a kid, neither were the Constructicons or Jetfire). We were there 2 days  and my parents made excuses not to let me get it with some birthday money on day one. "We'll get it tomorrow" - the shop was shut the next day. Never saw one anywhere else.

My G1 Megatron was probably my favourite Transformers toy. Those metal feet were so heavy, it would probably hurt more being pistol whipped with Megatron than a real Walther P38.

SumoLego

Why am I suddenly picturing Tom Hardy pistol-whipping some ornery thugs with a Megatron...

SumoLego

I wouldn't mind an Autobot/Decepticons insignia art set.  

FireFox31

Years ago, I imagined that a Lego Optimus Prime which transformed would be an Ideas set so innovative that it would surely get produced.  Forgot all about it until now.  Amazing to finally see it.

SumoLego

^ By some people's standards, you could claim credit for the idea.  And others would applaud you for your insights.

CCC

That is proof that LEGO are data mining people's dreams.

SumoLego

CCC said:

That is proof that LEGO are data mining people's dreams.

I recently learned that dreams are just glimpses into other versions of yourself in the multiverse.  So now I have to worry about the Dark Dimension or the Paint Universe monitoring my purchases for marketing purposes!?!?!?

I do like to bargain for a mid-range Sherwin Williams semi-gloss...