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The Weirdest LEGO Themes


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I'm gonna have to say that recent themes seem to be stretching the "weird" boundary a bit more than usual, Ninjago? Chima? other stuff like that? they're all kinda odd in just enough ways to stand out, even the monster fighters line was weird enough.

 

Oh, and Friends, for being sexist.

 

I'm gonna let the actual topic carry on now while i just sit here and laugh at this statement in particular.

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I'm gonna have to say that recent themes seem to be stretching the "weird" boundary a bit more than usual, Ninjago? Chima? other stuff like that? they're all kinda odd in just enough ways to stand out, even the monster fighters line was weird enough.

 

 

Oh, and Friends, for being sexist.

I'm gonna let the actual topic carry on now while i just sit here and laugh at this statement in particular.

Well...it kinda is.

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I'm gonna have to say that recent themes seem to be stretching the "weird" boundary a bit more than usual, Ninjago? Chima? other stuff like that? they're all kinda odd in just enough ways to stand out, even the monster fighters line was weird enough.

Woah... I vaguely remember the Moster Fighters...but that train/plane set...I never saw that before...and now I want it...LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!! lol :P 

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Oh, and Friends, for being sexist.

 

I'm going to be optimistic here and assume this is about the frustrating reality of the pink aisle, which vastly limits the choices people make for toys for girls, and the stereotypes Friends still has yet to shake off, such as a news van that solely focuses on prettying up the newswoman, instead of being something stupid like "there's not enough boys in it".

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I'm gonna have to say that recent themes seem to be stretching the "weird" boundary a bit more than usual, Ninjago? Chima? other stuff like that? they're all kinda odd in just enough ways to stand out, even the monster fighters line was weird enough.

Woah... I vaguely remember the Moster Fighters...but that train/plane set...I never saw that before...and now I want it...LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!! lol :P

 

 

The ghost train is a glorious work of art, and still very weird in the process. :u

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The ghost train is a glorious work of art, and still very weird in the process. :u

 

I'll say it is. It's very unique and I don't consider it weird for any reasons other than it definitely stands out in a crowd of lego trains. My favorite holiday is Halloween so that entire theme is awesome to me, though I never bought any of them since I prefer having constraction stuffs 

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Indeed wally you are right. I was not reffering to the low # of boys, but to the stereotypes Friends has.

 

Even Lego Mini figs break many girl stereotypes: warriors, scientists, archeologists, etc.

 

Well, Friends has also tried its hands at breaking stereotypes; they have had a martial arts studio, a science lab, a farm, and a magicians stage, albeit all in pastel colors. That's a wider variety of occupations than one usually sees in equivalent lines. (Barbie has had a wide range of jobs too, but in the end her playability solely boils down to playing dressup with the outfits.)

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Perhaps, but until it shatters the "girls=pink" thing, it will always be barbie in Lego.

LEGO Friends has just as wide a color palette as any other LEGO theme. Do you honestly think there's something harmful about pink being one of those many colors? Sorry, but a lot of girls actually LIKE pink, for perfectly legitimate reasons. Most of the time it's BOYS who associate the color pink with being weak, shallow, or delicate, and THAT'S the stereotype that I think society should be trying to break.

 

*goes to play with technicolor ponies*

Edited by Aanchir
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Its not that I have a problem with them being pink, its that Lego had a chance to do something different for a girls Lego line, what they do? Make the most girlish line they could. And p.s., most girls I know don't like pink.

On the other hand, girls who like "girlish" things are the demographic that was most under-served by the existing LEGO themes like City, Creator, Star Wars, Technic, and Minifigures. So it makes sense that the first overtly girl-oriented line in years would cater to that under-served demographic. There's no reason to assume those kinds of girls somehow don't deserve a LEGO theme that caters to their particular interests. And clearly the success of LEGO Friends has shown that girls with those sorts of interests can enjoy LEGO building just as much as any boy.

 

Oh no, your one of them...O_O

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Quiver in fear at my love of candy-colored horses! :P

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Its not that I have a problem with them being pink, its that Lego had a chance to do something different for a girls Lego line, what they do? Make the most girlish line they could. And p.s., most girls I know don't like pink.

On the other hand, girls who like "girlish" things are the demographic that was most under-served by the existing LEGO themes like City, Creator, Star Wars, Technic, and Minifigures. So it makes sense that the first overtly girl-oriented line in years would cater to that under-served demographic. There's no reason to assume those kinds of girls somehow don't deserve a LEGO theme that caters to their particular interests. And clearly the success of LEGO Friends has shown that girls with those sorts of interests can enjoy LEGO building just as much as any boy.

 

Oh no, your one of them...O_O

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Quiver in fear at my love of candy-colored horses! :P

But now lego has isolated those girls who arnt girlish!

 

I have gotten so much hate from those like you.

Edited by ToaSalvus
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I know I'm pushing this even further off topic than it was, but...

 

But now lego has isolated those girls who arnt girlish!

Well, let's look at this for a moment. 

 

Most Lego themes = not girlish

Friends = girlish 

 

1st demographic of girls = not girlish

2nd demographic of girls = girlish

 

Thus...

 

Most Lego themes = bought by 1st demographic

Friends = bought by 2nd demographic

 

Everybody goes home happy. 

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Its not that I have a problem with them being pink, its that Lego had a chance to do something different for a girls Lego line, what they do? Make the most girlish line they could. And p.s., most girls I know don't like pink.

On the other hand, girls who like "girlish" things are the demographic that was most under-served by the existing LEGO themes like City, Creator, Star Wars, Technic, and Minifigures. So it makes sense that the first overtly girl-oriented line in years would cater to that under-served demographic. There's no reason to assume those kinds of girls somehow don't deserve a LEGO theme that caters to their particular interests. And clearly the success of LEGO Friends has shown that girls with those sorts of interests can enjoy LEGO building just as much as any boy.

Oh no, your one of them...O_O

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Quiver in fear at my love of candy-colored horses! :P

 

But now lego has isolated those girls who arnt girlish!

 

I have gotten so much hate from those like you.

 

Not really? The less "girlish" girls are the ones who were already more likely to enjoy existing themes like Ninjago, City, Star Wars, Bionicle, Creator and so forth. Friends was created to curb the issue whereby many girls (and their parents) weren't even going to LOOK in the Lego aisle due to a preference for things like dolls and dollhouses, and a perception that the Lego aisle, awash in primary colors, wasn't "for them".

 

That's not to say that those other themes couldn't do more to cater to girls. But in many cases, they're already improving! Ninjago seems to be introducing a new female main character next year, and even basic themes like City and Pirates have been including more and more female figs for every male. And the directors of The Lego Movie have made a promise to include more female characters in the sequel, and better develop the ones from the first installment. Those are all small steps, but they're small steps in the right direction, and year after year they're beginning to add up.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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Its not that I have a problem with them being pink, its that Lego had a chance to do something different for a girls Lego line, what they do? Make the most girlish line they could. And p.s., most girls I know don't like pink.

On the other hand, girls who like "girlish" things are the demographic that was most under-served by the existing LEGO themes like City, Creator, Star Wars, Technic, and Minifigures. So it makes sense that the first overtly girl-oriented line in years would cater to that under-served demographic. There's no reason to assume those kinds of girls somehow don't deserve a LEGO theme that caters to their particular interests. And clearly the success of LEGO Friends has shown that girls with those sorts of interests can enjoy LEGO building just as much as any boy.

Oh no, your one of them...O_O

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Quiver in fear at my love of candy-colored horses! :P

 

But now lego has isolated those girls who arnt girlish!

 

I have gotten so much hate from those like you.

 

Not really? The less "girlish" girls are the ones who were already more likely to enjoy existing themes like Ninjago, City, Star Wars, Bionicle, Creator and so forth. Friends was created to curb the issue whereby many girls (and their parents) weren't even going to LOOK in the Lego aisle due to a preference for things like dolls and dollhouses, and a perception that the Lego aisle, awash in primary colors, wasn't "for them".

 

At the stores I've been in though, the Lego Friends stuff isn't even in the same aisle as the rest of Lego's stuff; it's with the dolls and dollhouses. Is that intentional?

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I was at TRu yesterday and there was this little girl who was more interested in the new BIONICLE and city, but her mom kept trying to get her to look at the friends line.

Well, you can thank society for that. 

However just because Lego makes Friends stuff doesn't imply that they endorse parents making their daughters buy it. It means that they are trying to reach out to the demographic that enjoys playing with 'girly' stuff. 

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bZpOwEr

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Unless purple becomes associated with evil or something extremely negative and controversial, it will still be one of my favorite colors. (Second favorite, behind green since green is the color of plants and plants are cool and I would say brown is a favorite color of mine since it is earthy but it has too many negative connotations. We must remove misconceptions about colors!)

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At the stores I've been in though, the Lego Friends stuff isn't even in the same aisle as the rest of Lego's stuff; it's with the dolls and dollhouses. Is that intentional?

It's up to retailers how they shelve the sets. My local Target has the LEGO Friends in their "girl section", but directly beside the LEGO aisle. My local Toys 'R' Us has the LEGO Friends sets shelved with other LEGO sets (and other girl-oriented building toys shelved with their respective building toy brands), while dolls and dollhouses are in a separate section of the store entirely. LEGO stores shelve the girl-oriented themes next to each other, but they're not any more separated from the boy-oriented and gender-neutral themes than the boy-oriented and gender-neutral themes are from each other. I think as time goes on we're going to see more and more retailers following the lead of stores like Toys 'R' Us that classify toys by category or brand rather than strictly by gender.

 

I was at TRU yesterday and there was this little girl who was more interested in the new BIONICLE and city, but her mom kept trying to get her to look at the friends line.

And chances are if LEGO Friends didn't exist, her mother would have been steering her towards "girl toys" anyway — the difference is that in that case, that would mean steering her away from the LEGO aisle entirely. The LEGO Group isn't responsible for parents micro-managing their kids' interests.

Edited by Aanchir
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Its not that I have a problem with them being pink, its that Lego had a chance to do something different for a girls Lego line, what they do? Make the most girlish line they could. And p.s., most girls I know don't like pink.

On the other hand, girls who like "girlish" things are the demographic that was most under-served by the existing LEGO themes like City, Creator, Star Wars, Technic, and Minifigures. So it makes sense that the first overtly girl-oriented line in years would cater to that under-served demographic. There's no reason to assume those kinds of girls somehow don't deserve a LEGO theme that caters to their particular interests. And clearly the success of LEGO Friends has shown that girls with those sorts of interests can enjoy LEGO building just as much as any boy.

Oh no, your one of them...O_O

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Quiver in fear at my love of candy-colored horses! :P

 

But now lego has isolated those girls who arnt girlish!

 

I have gotten so much hate from those like you.

 

Not really? The less "girlish" girls are the ones who were already more likely to enjoy existing themes like Ninjago, City, Star Wars, Bionicle, Creator and so forth. Friends was created to curb the issue whereby many girls (and their parents) weren't even going to LOOK in the Lego aisle due to a preference for things like dolls and dollhouses, and a perception that the Lego aisle, awash in primary colors, wasn't "for them".

 

At the stores I've been in though, the Lego Friends stuff isn't even in the same aisle as the rest of Lego's stuff; it's with the dolls and dollhouses. Is that intentional?

 

I would assume so. The idea of a "pink aisle" may be outdated, but it's deeply ingrained in the culture of many toy retailers and customers. By "meeting them halfway", so to speak, the Friends sets can get a lot more attention from people who otherwise wouldn't be looking for Lego specifically.

 

Notably, not all retailers do this. Toys R Us (or at least my local franchise) shelves products by brand and product type rather than by audience, so while there's still somewhat of a "pink aisle" (the aisle devoted to dolls, which is still overwhelmingly pink and purple), the Friends sets are shelved with Lego and the other building toys. Walmart and Target, on the other hand, shelve Friends in the "pink aisle" near the My Little Pony toys (which is still pretty convenient in my case, being an MLP fan myself).

 

Essentially, it's up to retailers to decide where they think the sets will sell best and shelve them accordingly.

 

EDIT: Ninjago'd.

Edited by Lyichir

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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You all are welcome to start a separate topic about LEGO Friends and corresponding marketing discussion, but I think this topic's a little different. : P

In other words, please stay on topic?

 

(I could also do a topic split to move the Friends-related posts to a brand-new topic, if that sounds okay. Up to you!)

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Galidor is incredibly weird. Lego had pursued other action figure designs before with Bionicle and Slizers, but that was the first time a Lego "action figure" was designed with such specialized parts (Lego Dinosaurs kinda got into that territory, but they were more just giant minifigures). Bionicle still had a lot of pieces you could use in interesting ways; Galidor was just mixing limbs in a way that looked unnatural. Add the live action TV series and you've got one of the strangest themes ever.

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I guess Friends' is pretty weird. Haven't seen any actual 'weird' sets in the isles at the stores.

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The only thing weirder than those constraction sets based on the DC heroes is if they made sets based on 2005's The Producers, with an $80 set for the big production of Springtime for Hitler, with Roger DeBris as Hitler, Max, Leo, Franz Liebkind, Ulla Inga Hanson Swanson Yensen Bensen Hallen Tallen Svadon Swanson, two male Nazis and two female Nazis as minifigs, complete with a complementary DVD of the movie.

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I'm gonna have to say that recent themes seem to be stretching the "weird" boundary a bit more than usual, Ninjago? Chima? other stuff like that? they're all kinda odd in just enough ways to stand out, even the monster fighters line was weird enough.

Oh, and Friends, for being sexist.

I'm gonna let the actual topic carry on now while i just sit here and laugh at this statement in particular.

Well...it kinda is.

 

 

Remember here, Friends was mostly for younger girls to get involved with Lego, it's not being necessarily sexist, just stereotypical of what a younger girl might like. :P

Mixels, Ninjago, and Chima are all pretty weird ,TBH.

 

Mixels- Meh... they're pretty quirky but cool nonetheless. It's from a show though, so the sets are really just following the show.

 

Ninjago- That's pretty cool, I liked those sets. I mean c'mon, what kid wouldn't wanna be a ninja that could control 1 of 4 elements with 3 other ninjas controlling the others?

 

Chima- I don't have a problem with normal furries, but I do find this anthropomorphic animal thing a bit too much like a furry fanfic. Not to say I dislike it because of that. :P

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hero factorys weird

Do you even think about what you're saying before you say it? Or do you just seize any opportunity to bash post-BIONICLE themes, regardless of whether those criticisms are even consistent?

 

Frankly, weirdness is the OPPOSITE of what I usually see Hero Factory criticized for. Most people think it's too normal or generic, with the types of names you might see in a superhero comic and a simplistic premise (crime-fighting robots). In many of ways, BIONICLE was a lot weirder, and many people love it specifically BECAUSE of that weirdness. Instead of feeling like the same kind of story people have heard thousands of times, it felt strange and new and unfamiliar.

Edited by Aanchir
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I don't see how Hero Factory was weird, it was good when it started but gotten worst as years go by.

Also Aanchir, why didn't you ask him why he think Hero Factory is weird (witch I was going to ask). 

 

I don't know, Ben 10 was pretty shortcoming. Maybe if they had done it with minifigs it would've been better.

I pretty much agree, Minifigure of the Ben 10 sets would probably last a little longer then half a year. But I think they did action figure build becuase the kids wanted the aliens more

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