The Simpsons LEGO

peterlinddk

According to the danish business newspaper, "Børsen", LEGO is negotiating to produce Simpsons toys.

The entire, short, story is available here in danish http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2013/03/07/065215.htm

Mads Nipper from TLG confirms that they are close to making a deal, but that is about it.

Personally I think that it is several years too late. The Simpsons aren't really that hot anymore, eventhough 8year olds find Homer and his antics, funny.
But if it means that we get a fat minifig, then I'm all for it.

cloud0

I'm a huge fan of the simpsons!
This news is to die for if it comes true.

cheshirecat

A licensed theme without fleshies.

jockosjungle

Should be good, Lego men already have yellow heads!. I'd definitely buy a model of the house

Briking

^ Hope they make it substantial, like the old Creator houses. Could fit in nicely in the suburbs of a modular town.

Bustin

Wow a decade late? Was the material too inappropriate 10 years ago?

Basta

I really liked the simpsons through the 90's and early 00's, I don't think I have watched a new episode in the last 4 years though. I would also love a Simpsons house.

Sherlockbones

Bustin said:

Wow a decade late? Was the material too inappropriate 10 years ago?

Tbh I think some of the jokes now are Alot ruder then they were.

This is great news for us Simpson fans.

CCC

peterlinddk said:

Personally I think that it is several years too late. The Simpsons aren't really that hot anymore, eventhough 8year olds find Homer and his antics, funny.

Neither are old films like Back to the Future ...

Ardalis

We need MONORAIL!!

hewman

The show has been mediocre at best for the last ten years. The sets will be overpriced, glorified minifig packs. Will I still buy every set? Definitely.

There are very few episodes that are classics that would allow a unique readily identifiable set, but there is one... monorail, monorail, monorail.

Basta

hewman said:

but there is one... monorail, monorail, monorail.

Naaah, it’s not for Lego. I think it’s more of a Megggaaablocks idea :P

It would be cool, but to be authentic there has to be no brakes.

andhe

cheshirecat said:

A licensed theme without fleshies.

That depends on your definition of 'flesh'. I'm pretty sure Carl and Dr Hibbert aren't yellow... But I get what you mean.

It does seem like an odd licence if it does happen, could have been huge 10 years ago. Might turn out to be a smaller range along the lines of Spongebob etc

Colour me interested.

Sherlockbones

Just think of Marge's hair mold

CCC

It'll be interesting how they do Maggie. Minifig with legs like Bart and Lisa, or a new baby body mold? This is one thing customisers are lacking.

I guess the sheer number of characters make it difficult. 5x plus one for grandpa, you need Mr Burns and Smithers, Barney, Lenny and Carl, Millhouse, Ralph, Martin and at least Nelson from the bullies, the Flanderseseses (with or without Maude), Moe, Apu, Patty and Selma, Chief Wiggum and probably Lou, Skinner, Willie, Krusty, Comic Book Guy (would sell well amongst geeks), Frink, Reverend Lovejoy, Troy McClure, Duffman, Dr Hibbert, Dr Nick, Sideshow Bob and Sideshow Mel, Mayor Quimby, Kent Brockman and Arnie Pie ....

Kang and Kodos would be great. Itchy and Scratchy. Cletus and the other slackjaw yokels ...

The list is endless. The ones that are probably easy from CMF parts with the odd colour change.... Bumblebee man, Lou and Eddie, Disco Stu.

collect_that

Sherlockbones said:

Just think of Marge's hair mold

Well if this does go in to the prototype/development stage a 'Bride of Frankenstein' CMF has surely got to make an appearance...

jdylak

Blockoland!

Bustin

Sherlockbones said:

Tbh I think some of the jokes now are Alot ruder then they were.

This is great news for us Simpson fans.

My thought exactly. Simpsons and Lego is a shocking partnership to me.

Farmer_John

Yawn...

So many better opportunities.

mr_benn

Personally I don't see it as a hugely appealing prospect... I suspect that the key attraction of the licence would be the minifigs, but I think there would need to be a lot of new molds put forward - just printing faces onto normal minifig heads is going to look a bit rubbish, so I suspect they'd have to go down the Toy Story 3 route of new heads all round. And that could be a lot of heads. Even then the differences in character size etc is going to be an issue for them - I just don't see how the very rounded Simpsons aesthetic will translate to Lego.

Then again, I thought that the LOTR rumours were simply rumours too...

pvp3020

CCC said:

Neither are old films like Back to the Future ...

??!! Back to the Future was only 28 years ago! Now I feel *really* old ;o)

doriansdad

Personally would have preferred Peanuts or Dr Seuss....quite an odd theme for TLG to tackle.

rchadd

Maybe a replacement for the Monster Fighters Haunted House?

eg. one off set?

dragonhawk

Apparently, the Simpsons is what the kids want ? I can understand Spongebob and even Ben10, but realistically how many kids watch the Simpsons ?

princedraven

CCC said:

It'll be interesting how they do Maggie. Minifig with legs like Bart and Lisa, or a new baby body mold? This is one thing customisers are lacking.

Maggie is still a baby??? After 20 years.... wow! Oldest baby in history :-)

LegobrandonCP

Huge fan of the Simpsons. Been watching it ever since I was a child.

But I'm quite shocked to see a partnership with LEGO. They have some inappropriate subjects in the show that parents would not want their kids to see.

But I'd love a monorail, Brusty Burger, Moes, and the Simpsons home.

Poochy

hewman said:

The show has been mediocre at best for the last ten years. The sets will be overpriced, glorified minifig packs. Will I still buy every set? Definitely.

I haven't even watched any show in the last 10 years, but yes, I will be buying every set :(.

kez

There is already some lego type Simpsons called blocko, http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&q=simpsons+blocko&oq=simpsons+blo&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i24l9.1770.6026.0.8064.12.9.0.3.3.0.206.1135.0j8j1.9.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.img.hQBbJDhGclQ&biw=768&bih=928&sei=RLg4UcHUIcj6PNqngbAM
If lego do make Simpsons I'd be very happy, they could make the Simpsons house, the kwik e mart (the possibilities are endless) :-)

ColoradoBricks

Would be interesting, my Simpsons submission last month on Cuusso came back with: "Inappropriate Content - Your project doesn't meet our content standards"

Bustin

ColoradoBricks said:

Would be interesting, my Simpsons submission last month on Cuusso came back with: "Inappropriate Content - Your project doesn't meet our content standards"

Do you have that email still? I'd love to read their back spin on the turn around.

RomanticWarrior

@ColoradoBricks - very interesting. I guess they couldn't come right out and tell you that they were working on obtaining the license.

I haven't watched The Simpsons since probably Season 3 or so, but from what I remember the show was built around crudeness and 'inappropriateness.' I'd be kind of disappointed in LEGO if this is true.

ColoradoBricks

Here it is:

Your project refers to a brand or licensed property that contains content or themes that do not fit the LEGO Group's standards for appropriate content. Remember that LEGO is a toy company, so we're careful to only produce products we deem appropriate for children. For details, please see the Acceptable Project Content section of the Project Guidelines and House Rules (http://lego.cuusoo.com/guidelines).

LEGO CUUSOO will not accept a project submission based on this brand or licensed property. Decisions about how a property fits our standards are made at the sole discretion of the LEGO Group. Projects related to the below topics are not allowed. We will decide how a project fits these standards at our discretion.

* Politics and political symbols
* Religious references including symbols, buildings, or people
* Sex, drugs, or smoking
* Alcohol in any present day situation
* Swearing
* Death, killing, blood, terrorism, or torture
* First-person shooter video games
* Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation
* Racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals

You can still share your creation with the world on a photo sharing site like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) or on our own bookmarking site, ReBrick (http://rebrick.LEGO.com).

Sincerely,

LEGO® CUUSOO

Poochy

@ColoradoBricks What was your Simpsons Cuusoo submission? I'd be curious to take a look if you have it on flickr somewhere.

ColoradoBricks

@Poochy, It was nothing fancy, was looking for a sub $30 set to have on your desk.

Crazyaddict

series 10 cmf has a bald headpiece. guess that's going to be homer's new head.

Diggydoes

kez said:

There is already some lego type Simpsons called blocko, http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&q=simpsons+blocko&oq=simpsons+blo&gs_l=img.1.0.0j0i24l9.1770.6026.0.8064.12.9.0.3.3.0.206.1135.0j8j1.9.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.img.hQBbJDhGclQ&biw=768&bih=928&sei=RLg4UcHUIcj6PNqngbAM
If lego do make Simpsons I'd be very happy, they could make the Simpsons house, the kwik e mart (the possibilities are endless) :-)

Whoa,these are ugly!!!!

CurvedRoadPlate

I wanna see Comic Book guy and the Androids Dungeon

Ypres

Personally I can't even begin to imagine how Lego would plan to tiptoe around all the inappropriate content. We're still dealing with some of the big issues Lego has flat out refused in the past, like making direct alchohol refrences. I just don't see the market for Simpsons brand Lego toys. While I acknowledge that Simpsons have a steady audience in some parts of the world, for people like me it's come down to seldom seeing the old episodes or not watching any at all. Since all the characters are still dear to my childhood memory, and the fact that I already collect Lego, I would humour the thought of purchasing a few sets.

Lego could do this theme exactly like they did SpongeBob. They would make a set and include a bunch of props so that you could recreate scenes from a bunch of different episodes.

polarscribe

The Wall Street Journal has the story in English. Completely confirmed that they're in talks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578345903226060938.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

chrisdojo

I can't believe this. The Simpsons is far from a kids show / content.

jockosjungle

Then again, things like LOTR are not exactly child friendly. Still it seems a really odd choice, about 20 years to late, its been on the air for 23 years and has long past its heyday.

Poochy

ColoradoBricks said:

@Poochy, It was nothing fancy, was looking for a sub $30 set to have on your desk.

I like your Marge hairpiece :).

jasor

With everything that Lego has DENIED in licensing...this makes no sense. I love the Simpsons. I love Lego. I do not love Lego Simpsons.

wagnerml2

This also doesn't appeal to me. I think that the Simpson's does not really appeal as much to the younger crowd as it's hey day was 10 years ago. This is a theme that would have a LARGE amount of older/AFOL buyers. That said, it there a big enough market?

If you are going to seek a simpson's license, then you are basically going to build the town of Springfield. As an AFOL who has been disappointed with the recent non-licensed offerings, could we not just sink these resources into a better, more detailed City offering? Make a restaurant/pub (instead of Moe's). Give us another quality creator-style house. Give us a good school (doesn't have to be Springfied Elementary) or a quikie mart. It doesn't have to be Simpson related. These are things that can be done in a quality fashion without the license and might appeal to a wider audience,

I guess maybe I'm getting old, but aquiring a license just for the sake of producing ANOTHER licensed line seems lazy to me. This is not a good fit and could be better served in a more detailed city line that focuses on something other than police and fire stations.

y2josh

To me, this seems a similar move to the LotR acquisition, only without the built-in AFOL audience (though that may be a misconception on my part as, reading through this thread, there seem to be plenty of people who believe the show is well past its prime but would still buy these sets). Both are subject matters largely inappropriate for children, and both are coming out about ten years too late.

Honestly, and I say this from the perspective of someone with no children and also as someone who hasn't watched The Simpsons in fifteen years or so, the sometimes crude humor of The Simpsons doesn't really hold a candle to the over-the-top über-violence of the LotR films in terms of what's inappropriate for children.

wagnerml2

^^ At least LotR had a Hobbit tie in, so it was timely. I love the Simpsons, but it's ship sailed quite some time ago.

y2josh

I actually meant to mention LotR being able to capitalize somewhat on The Hobbit, but I think I got lost in my own rant and spaced it. Ah well.

jasor

^^ my 9 yo CFOL loves the LOTR/Hobbit sets, as well as the movies. Couldnt give a green gas bubble about the Simpsons. I just dont really get it.

jockosjungle

Maybe there will be a new movie or something. Really can't see there being a Kwik e Mart or Power Plant, they'd need to be massive sets

cheshirecat

I think the Simpsons is still popular with kids - not as popular as it was, but is anything as popular as the Simpsons was? The Simpsons game is crazy popular at the moment for example.

Seems a bit of an overreaction about it not being suitable as well - anyone watched SWIII, Indiana Jones (ToD or even Crystal Skull) or most of the LotR films? I'm not saying they're not suitable for kids, but they're no more suitable than The Simpsons.

If we were expecting LEGO South Park i could understand, but the Simpsons is not South Park.

Admittedly that email from Cussoo above is interesting, could be fun.

CapnRex101

^ I completely second the above comment, if the Simpsons is unsuitable then so is half of what Lego is producing from licensed themes now.

The Simpsons is as popular as ever if you ask me (or close to it), each new generation has plenty of opportunity to watch the Simpsons as it is on TV so frequently and the early episodes (up to season six or seven I think) are still enjoyable today. It is a prime example of a timeless show.

As for marrying up the Simpsons and Lego, I just don't know how well the characters will translate into Minifigures, but we will have to wait and see I suppose...