LEGO 2013 and 2014 Set Rumors

TheBrickLadd

I asked for some images of these sets from one of my contacts and she said that everything is under lock and key and she cant get access to them. :( She said if she sees any she will pass onto me.

If anyone would like to see the email then let me know.

KLOKRIECHER

Groovebricks.com and Hoth Bricks have now officially confirmed that the LEGO TMNT theme will be a new theme for 2013: http://www.groovebricks.com/lego-tmnt-confirmed-2/

What do you think about this new theme?

andhe

Their source is the same as the original post here http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/6506/lego-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-keyrings-and-sets-rumoured-for-2013-and-2014#latest
so your title is misleading :S
Until TLG release an official statement nothing is 'confirmed'...

KLOKRIECHER

Oops. Sorry for posting another discussion about this... :-(

ACWWGal2011

My honest thoughts? Dumbest thing lego's ever done. TMNT is a type of thing i'd expect to see from the megabloks company. Not from a company that i used to worship the ground it walked on. TMNT is nothing more then a show that comes and goes every so often.

Chances of me buying it? About the same chance as me buying a friends set.

Legogeek

Yes, the Turtles were first born in the pages of a comic book in 1984.
2014 will be the 30 year anniversary.
New film/animations and a recent comeback to comics... since they are still around, I'd say they are quite popular.
For those that wonder "why TMNT?", I say why not. I mean, LEGO did Sponge Bob didn't they?

I'll withhold final judgement on a LEGO TMNT line until official images are shown, but until then I look forward to seeing what happens.

dougts

well, at least that's another theme I am guaranteed to buy zero of.

atkinsar

ACWWGal2011 said:

My honest thoughts? Dumbest thing lego's ever done.

It'd have to suck pretty bad to beat Galidor! Discussions have been merged.

CCC

^^^^ And no doubt you will be back at monthly intervals after it has been released saying that there is no evidence that it has been selling well, and then when Lego issue a press release saying it has sold more than they expected, you will still say it is a mistake.

Just like CMF
Just like Friends

popoy

I hope they'll re-create the old TMNT. There's so many characters and staffs. Like Ace Duck, Genghis Frog, Scumbug and may more...

popoy

I was trying to make a resin head for the TMNT. But, for now i'm doin it on clay...

Brickarmor

Can I get a COWABUNGA?!!?!

Loved TMNT as a kid. Well, not the movies, those were awful. TLG has a good chance of scoring a hit with this one if the updated relaunch is well done. We might have to get the dictionary to explain to children what an "arcade" was, though. "You see, Little Jimmy, aeons ago, video game starved children were forced to congregate in oppressively loud neon-lit rooms to feed things called quarters into a machine the size of your bathroom to make fuzzy outlines on a screen jump and shoot stuff..."

y2josh

^The 1989 TMNT arcade machine is STILL the greatest arcade game ever made.

khmellymel

I truly loved TMNT as a kid, but for some reason I can't quite reconcile the thought of them as LEGO. I'll reserve judgement until I see sets, or at least actual images of sets.

Odindusk

UCS Technodrome, please.

Huw

I haven't been keeping up with this thead and all the speculation so I suspect someone has jumped to this conclusion already:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

kempo81

I'm just gonna jump right in and say I'm strangely excited by this... Big TMNT fan and I think this could be a good theme, even if it does have a limited run and shelf life. I guess time will tell and I might totally change my mind if the minifigs are absolute hash!! I guess that's the other thing to keep in mind... As with other licensed themes it's going to be all about the minifigs and the actual "bricks" that come with the sets will be more of a backdrop and fill in for the scene it's creating!!

WeezyCupcake

I don't know why I'm not excited about this news b/c use to love the TMNT. I'd rather see more superhero sets, like maybe a Fantastic Four set with the Silver Surfer or a Colossus and Iceman minifig

y2josh

Odindusk said:

UCS Technodrome, please.

Assuming LEGO's license is with Nickelodeon, which seems likely (and assuming this TMNT license is legit to begin with), you're not likely to see a Technodrome. I don't believe Nick has any rights to the 1987 series (Fred Wolf), nor even the 2003 series (4Kids). So Bebop and Rocksteady are out, as well.

TheBrickLadd

WeezyCupcake said:

I don't know why I'm not excited about this news b/c use to love the TMNT. I'd rather see more superhero sets, like maybe a Fantastic Four set with the Silver Surfer or a Colossus and Iceman minifig

This will come as a new film is due out in 2014.

andhe

teamladd said:

WeezyCupcake said:

I don't know why I'm not excited about this news b/c use to love the TMNT. I'd rather see more superhero sets, like maybe a Fantastic Four set with the Silver Surfer or a Colossus and Iceman minifig

This will come as a new film is due out in 2014.

Is it still with FOX though? As the current lego deal is with Marvel (Studios, Comics etc).

Huw said:

I haven't been keeping up with this thead and all the speculation so I suspect someone has jumped to this conclusion already:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

Seems crazy though, to cancel your own hugely successful line, because you've bought a license to a thematically very similar brand, that may or may not be as successful as the line you've already got going!!

Bumblepants

And do they not also have a cartoon with Ninjago? Surely the 3rd season is already well into production to have it ready for wave 3 of the toy line. Not to mention the sets should already be finalized by now too. Surely they would be losing lots of money poured into Ninjago if they canceled it for TMNT. Although I agree, it does not seem like there would be room enough on the shelves for both of them

Penkid11

Huw said:

I haven't been keeping up with this thead and all the speculation so I suspect someone has jumped to this conclusion already:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

Not exactly. It's more of a speculation as to whether that would happen although both a Ninjago wave and TMNT have been confirmed next year. Being that the latter theme is licensed, it can still be released alongside Ninjago, just how Star Wars sets were still in production while three space themes came and gone (2 of which lasted for at least two years).
Many people messaged Kevin Hinkle (if I remember correctly) who said that (paraphrasing) "You would have wished Ninjago ended sooner." I don't think he would have lied.

dougts

^ more likely, we see the final Ninajago wave in the December/January release, then the TMNT in the mid-year release cycle.

Regarding Hinkle's comment - if he was referring to TMNT I certainly don't agree with his opinion on the matter.

Renny

Loved TMNT as a kid. Read the comics, played the video games, watched every episode of the cartoon, saw the live action movies (Vanilla Ice cameo...word to your mother!) and had almost all of the toys :) I will be a very happy camper if this rumor is true. I can totally see a battle pack of Foot Clan soldiers and Mousers, Technodrome, Turtle's Party Wagon, etc. Who wouldn't want to see a Bebop and Rocksteady mini fig? Bring it on.

LegoFanTexas

Huw said:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

If so, then the powers that be at TLG have gone insane...

Ninjago is the first theme other than City to surpass Star Wars in sales. It is almost impossible to keep on store shelves. The sets in retirement are doing better than many Star Wars sets.

This is a HUGE hit they have... this could be more than 3 years if they handle it well.

TMNT comes and goes and is fine and all, but why on earth would you replace a wildly successful IP of your own creation with an unknown reboot of a 30 year old cartoon/comic that has been tried several times and never really worked except the first time?

ACWWGal2011

\

LegoFanTexas said:

Huw said:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

If so, then the powers that be at TLG have gone insane...

Ninjago is the first theme other than City to surpass Star Wars in sales. It is almost impossible to keep on store shelves. The sets in retirement are doing better than many Star Wars sets.

This is a HUGE hit they have... this could be more than 3 years if they handle it well.

TMNT comes and goes and is fine and all, but why on earth would you replace a wildly successful IP of your own creation with an unknown reboot of a 30 year old cartoon/comic that has been tried several times and never really worked except the first time?

B/c lego has and still is making REALLY bad business choices. I'm not a ninjago-maniac but i still have a great deal of love for the sets. It's the first set i remember ever seeing the brick bricks and 1x1 rounds in, the ninja costumes are non-gender specific so if i wanted to i could turn my spare jays into girls i could, and the sets are something that i know i'd love long term and not like some sets i've gotten and got bored with in no time

mressin

In Germany, the '90s TMNT had actually been renamed to TMHT (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles). No idea why. Wonder if Lego will do the same.

CCC

^ Also in the UK. It was because "ninja" was thought to be too violent for a kids TV programme.

dougts

B/c lego has and still is making REALLY bad business choices.

their 36% growth this year disagrees with you. they may certainly being making some choices that are unpopular with some fans, but it's hard to argue they have been bad for business (at least short term)

CCC

^ Remember that statement was made by a self-proclaimed ex-AFOL who is no longer an AFOL due to the existence of the Friends line. I quote from a previous post "And i can offically say i'm probably the last person on earth that hasn't falling in love with the line and that i'm proud to be an ex-affol since the friends line is a complete embarrasement in my book."

tamamahm

LegoFanTexas said:

Huw said:

Ninjago was supposed to have another year to go, vs. pirates or something, but we are now hearing that this year's might be the last.

If LEGO has secured a TMNT license they are not going to produce two ninja themes, are they, and therefore that is likely to be the cause of the cancellation of a third year of Ninjago.

If so, then the powers that be at TLG have gone insane...

I think this is more than an 'if so'.
Hasn't Lego stated that 2013 will be the last year? As has been mentioned, Hinkle has stated that "we will have wished it had ended sooner'. It seems pretty conclusive that Ninjago has a planned end.

Really, I do not believe that TMNT is the 'replacement' for Ninjago.

I do believe it may be one of the factors for Ninjago going.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Ninjago really exploded this year. I think aspects were popular last year, but it went through the roof this year. The snakes made a huge difference. The TV show this year made a big difference. My son went from no interest to a ton of interest after the snakes came aboard. My son's prek... they were all playing Ninjago pretend games at recess this spring, while there was no mention of it last year.

I don't think Lego would have gauged such an explosion to happen, and I assume TMNT, would have had to have started development, aquiring a license, etc. before this spring. Maybe I'm wrong in that. I don't know that they would be able to back out of a license agreement, and two Ninja lines at once would not make sense. I'm just wondering if for these reasons they 'had' to back out of the line.

People have also indicated that this has been a 'three bad guy line' all along. (I'm not sure how valid that is.)

I think there is also a fine line when something becomes a fad... you want to leave it at the right point, otherwise, it goes from huge hit to fast dud.

If Lego is smart, they will not completely leave the Ninjago universe, but will explore another aspect of it. Considering the popularity and short life of the dragon sets, I think they would be smart to have some sort of 'dragon' line as a sub-theme of the Lego universe. With as popular as the snakes were, I could see dragon minifigs being very popular within the age range.

I could see such a theme as something that my son would go nuts over, especially if there is a TV show connection.

I guess time will tell what happens, but if TMNT is what they were referring to, then yes, they have lost their marbles for getting out of Ninjago. I guess that is why I think it has to be something else that the reference is towards.

Bosstone100

I X

Bosstone100

I was a fan on the black and white comic from way back but not so much since they went color. I'll pass.

(Sorry about the Dino comment. Forgot which thread I was in and it wouldn't let me know change it for some reason even though it was within two minutes of posting.)

brickupdate

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that Ninjago is going away at the end of this year. There is no way that 4 turtles who live in a sewer are going to replace the popularity of Ninjago, which has become a franchise unto itself. I feel that the rumors of Ninjago's demise will not pan out.

I have seen TMNT try to be reborn again and again on toy shelves. It's like Strawberry Shortcake, they seem to reboot it every 2-3 years, but it never really takes off.

ACWWGal2011

dougts said:

B/c lego has and still is making REALLY bad business choices.

their 36% growth this year disagrees with you. they may certainly being making some choices that are unpopular with some fans, but it's hard to argue they have been bad for business (at least short term)

I didn't say REALLY bad as in aimed at just lego friends. for a side note, i am all for a girls line but not the way lego handled it. Sure have the girly girls in the city, but why not have a line of more gender neutral/tomboy type girls co-existing with the girly girls?

I'm also talking about how the price tags on items are getting really out of control for one. Like the city 2012 advent calender with around the same number of parts as previous years but it's 40 bucks this year. Or how each of the CMF series stays around for short time that it can make finding figures you're after challenging if you don't live close to a CMF source. Or, if the rumors are true, cancelling ninjago(a very popular series) in order to replace it with a line that i doubt will last long. Or even how lego is getting addicted to the licensing themes.

Note: edit was to finish post. Had post malfunction

dougts

^ and again, you can personally find fault with these things, as can most of us. Saying they are "REALLY bad business choices" is a statement that is currently not borne out by the facts, as business is absolutely booming.

y2josh

LegoFanTexas said:

TMNT comes and goes and is fine and all, but why on earth would you replace a wildly successful IP of your own creation with an unknown reboot of a 30 year old cartoon/comic that has been tried several times and never really worked except the first time?

We'll have to disagree on that last point. Looking strictly at the numbers, during it's initial run from '87-'96 and also during the second animated iteration from '03-'09, the merchandise sold extremely well and both shows drew a larger audience than Ninjago. Does that mean that TMNT sets are a good idea? No. But to dismiss them outright is nuts. It's an insanely successful brand, though I think I'd have tested the waters before I put Ninjago out to pasture.

Side note: I just learned that Nickelodeon bought the global rights to TMNT from Mirage and 4Kids, so that means that there potentially could be sets based on the classic series. As such, I apologize for quashing any hopes of a Technodrome set.

BrickDancer

^Thank the lord, that means Bebop and Rocksteady have a chance! High hopes for Casey Jones, Usagi Yojimbo, Cajun Croc, Splinter, Krang, etc also... I must be an old geezer to remember when the Turtles were bigger than Sponge Bob, Dora and Ninjago all combined. During that era, it was Simpsons and TMNT all day long on TV, toys, videogames, tshirts, lunchboxes...

Which brings to mind the license they should have a go at next, 'The Simpsons'...

LegoFanTexas

y2josh said:

We'll have to disagree on that last point. Looking strictly at the numbers, during it's initial run from '87-'96 and also during the second animated iteration from '03-'09, the merchandise sold extremely well and both shows drew a larger audience than Ninjago.

Well, you might be correct, I didn't go and research the numbers, and to be honest I wasn't exactly paying attention 10 years ago either.

I was a huge TMNT fan in the late 80s, so I remember that craze well. But then it passed and everyone moved on.

The movie that came out a few years ago, my understanding is that it did ok, but nothing special at the box office.

Anyway, my point is that you should never pass up a sure thing, and right now Ninjago is as close to a sure thing as it gets.

vwong19

If the rumors are true, I wonder if they will make it official during NYCC next month?

y2josh

BrickDancer said:

^Thank the lord, that means Bebop and Rocksteady have a chance! High hopes for Casey Jones, Usagi Yojimbo, Cajun Croc, Splinter, Krang, etc also... I must be an old geezer to remember when the Turtles were bigger than Sponge Bob, Dora and Ninjago all combined. During that era, it was Simpsons and TMNT all day long on TV, toys, videogames, tshirts, lunchboxes...

Which brings to mind the license they should have a go at next, 'The Simpsons'...

Usagi Yojimbo isn't technically a Ninja Turtles character, so you may or may not be out of luck on him. And 'Cajun Croc'... I think you mean Leatherhead.

y2josh

@LFT - The animated TMNT movie was definitely a letdown, and I think that had a lot to do with the huge blunder of trying to 'reboot the series without rebooting the series,' which left them without Shredder. Terrible idea. The Next Mutation was also a disaster, but both animated iterations have been hugely successful. I do remain skeptical of this new series, however, but that may be largely in part to my not wanting Ninja Turtles who are 'funnier than ever.'

BrickDancer

Usagi was in plenty of episodes before getting his own show (briefly). Perhaps he was a crossover character from the comic book line (didn't read those)?

And yes you're right its Leatherhead. All I seemed to remember was that Cajun accent and not his proper name. He had a good amount of appearances.

y2josh

Usagi was created by Stan Sakai in 1987, and he did lend him over to Eastman and Laird's TMNT title from time to time (and the Turtles likewise showed up in the Usagi comics as well). Usagi is creator-owned, though, so just because you have the TMNT license, doesn't mean you can use him. Any use of Usagi would have to go through Sakai first, and I can't picture TLG being interested enough to pursue that, though I could be wrong.

CCC

ACWWGal2011 said:

I didn't say REALLY bad as in aimed at just lego friends. for a side note, i am all for a girls line but not the way lego handled it. Sure have the girly girls in the city, but why not have a line of more gender neutral/tomboy type girls co-existing with the girly girls?

You want gender neutral girls. Lego making a line of gender neutral girls would be a REALLY BAD business decision. How many children would they appeal to? They wouldn't really appeal to boys, and wouldn't appeal to most girls either. Lego's research highlighted non-Lego fan girls wanted girly figures, different to what currently exists. This is also in line with the sales - Friends is selling much better than Lego expected it would. Just because you want gender neutral girls, that isn't what most other people want, especially kids. If you do want tomboy girls, you only need to look at the CMF line: there are already a number of tomboy-ish figures in there. And since you want gender neutral, just replace some of the boys heads with girls, and you have a tomboy. Doing research then making products that fit with this research is a good business decision. In this cased it has proved to be a good decision.

ACWWGal2011 said:

I'm also talking about how the price tags on items are getting really out of control for one. Like the city 2012 advent calender with around the same number of parts as previous years but it's 40 bucks this year.

If they still sell for more money, then it is a good business decision. They nearly always sell above RRP on ebay in the run-up to Christmas. This shows that lego can sell them for more money direct to the people (or through retailers) that want them, rather than cheaper to ebay resellers who buy in bulk, who then sell them on for profit in a very quick turn-around. This is a good business decision.

ACWWGal2011 said:

Or how each of the CMF series stays around for short time that it can make finding figures you're after challenging if you don't live close to a CMF source.

This is a good decision. People want CMFs. If they limit the run to one series per year, they are cutting down their profits - both through lack of sales and through brand loyalty. These are targetted at kids, and they want kids to keep collecting. If they issue them, then leave a years gap, then the kids forget about collecting them. If they keep them coming, the kids keep buying them. Why should they care if you personally don't live near to a CMF source. There is this thing called the internet, so everyone can purchase direct from lego or from major retailers. Again, good business decision.

ACWWGal2011 said:

Or, if the rumors are true, cancelling ninjago(a very popular series) in order to replace it with a line that i doubt will last long. Or even how lego is getting addicted to the licensing themes.

Rumours are rumours. Rumours are that lego always planned ninjago to be a three year run. Will it be? Who knows. Maybe they will take a break, do TMNT, then revive ninjago. Maybe they will keep TMNT and ninjago running in parallel. Who knows? Probably lego. They continue to make good decisions based on their research, so I trust they will make another good one here.

I cannot see one bad business decision where you say that they have made loads. I can see many decisions they have made that don't fit in with what you want. Do they care? I doubt it. You have stated that you are a proud ex-afol. You are clearly not their target market.

mirandir

TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo-TMNT-did-not-kill-NinjaGo!!

If the themes has had any effect on each other it's more likely the other way around: NinjaGo postponing the release of TMNT.

NinjaGo gets canned because Lego planned it that way and there is a big theme ready to take it's place. I think the new theme has a potential to fill the shoes, but only time will tell.

andhe

mirandir said:

NinjaGo gets canned because Lego planned it that way and there is a big theme ready to take it's place. I think the new theme has a potential to fill the shoes, but only time will tell.

Man, they're really hyping this new theme... Let's hope it lives up to it!

ACWWGal2011

This is a good decision. People want CMFs. If they limit the run to one series per year, they are cutting down their profits - both through lack of sales and through brand loyalty. These are targetted at kids, and they want kids to keep collecting. If they issue them, then leave a years gap, then the kids forget about collecting them. If they keep them coming, the kids keep buying them. Why should they care if you personally don't live near to a CMF source. There is this thing called the internet, so everyone can purchase direct from lego or from major retailers. Again, good business decision.

I'm not talking about 1 series a year, i'm talking about maxing out at maybe 3 a year and letting the previous series stay in stores alongside the other series for a short time. I made the mistake of not getting a second interglatic space girl when i had the chance, buy the time we went to target, series 6 was LONG gone and all i could find was 7. Only exception was ONE pack(i am not joking) at a walmart but it was a bandit guy

Like this year, including the UK exclusives(big demand in the states also from what i've seen), there was 4 seperate series(6,7,8, and UK).

Furrysaurus

ACWWGal2011 said:

buy the time we went to target, series 6 was LONG gone and all i could find was 7. Only exception was ONE pack(i am not joking) at a walmart but it was a bandit guy

Like this year, including the UK exclusives(big demand in the states also from what i've seen), there was 4 seperate series(6,7,8, and UK).

that's not lego's fault though. shoot, the walmarts near my house still had series 5 the other day - lego isn't going to decide how many to ship out - it's up to the store to tell lego how many they want. as for 3 a year, with the exception of this year due to the olympics, that's all they've ever done - so you should be happy. turn that frown upside down!