Are "girl" themes like Friends, Elves, etc considered "nic

[fishers64]

I keep hearing the Bionicle is a "niche" theme, meaning that it has a group of people (i.e. kids) who like it, and that group is big enough for Lego to keep producing it...but not enough to warrant large expenditures like TV shows. (As opposed to, say, Ninjago/Chima "the smash hits", or the "evergreen" themes)

 

My question is where the "girly" marketed themes fall on this categorization. I lean toward Friends as a "evergreen" theme, and possibly Disney princess as "niche", but I'd like to hear what all of you think on the subject. Elves feels harder to pin down as it's brand new, but where do you think it will go?

 

[Banana Gunz]

I kind of do feel that Friends is "niche." As great and of quality as the sets are, they are generally marketed towards girls. The way I look at it, Lego is often seen as a toy for boys, which isn't true. Friends kind of works to introduce bricks and such to girls who are generally pushed away from what's considered "boyish", so they get into Lego for the pink and stay for the other cool stuff. Friends, for all it is, is not very special on its own. I mean, it isn't particularly action based and doesn't have any real story beyond going to the mall, and it is marketed as a girls theme (but hey if you're a dude and want somma that friends I sure as heck won't judge I mean just look at those set designs and rare pieces omegosh who wouldn't want it?).

 

Disney Princesses kinda falls into the same category in my eyes. It can still be enjoyed by anyone who's into the Disney Princesses, but does seem marketed more towards girls again.

 

Elves... well... seems a lot less niche. For one, it actually has plot and adventure and cool stuff like that, and is less frilly and pink. It's still a little niche in my mind considering it still uses mini dolls which were made specifically for girls/girls themes, and is in general seemingly made for girls. Gotta say though, seems like a huge improvement.

 

As long as themes are being made with solely girls in mind, they will be kind of niche. I like to imagine that the other themes are pretty open for anyone because of their seeming neutrality, and I don't think it takes being a boy to like an action based theme either. Again, these themes are made a little more with the idea of getting girls onto the scene and then exposing them to other material.

[Aanchir]

From LEGO's perspective, nope, not at all. Friends became the LEGO Group's fourth highest selling theme in the year it launched and I believe it's now their third highest selling theme (after City and Star Wars). "Generally marketed towards girls" is pretty meaningless when you consider half of the world's population is female. You wouldn't call LEGO Ninjago or LEGO City niche just because they're "generally marketed towards boys", would you?

 

Within AFOL circles, girl-oriented themes are pretty niche, but that's changing. And themes like Ninjago are also relatively niche in many AFOL communities, so how AFOLs respond to a theme isn't really an indicator of its actual strength or importance.

It's hard to judge where LEGO Disney Princess falls. It's certainly not as lucrative as LEGO Friends, or we'd hear more about it, and there'd be a lot more sets than what we currently get. I'm sure Elves will not be as lucrative a theme as LEGO Friends, at least, not at first. It might surprise us by growing stronger, but the sets are aimed at an older age range than Friends, which could limit their potential audience somewhat. And furthermore, even as big a hit as Ninjago has been, it hasn't approached LEGO City's level of success, and I think Elves and Friends will show a similar relationship as far as sales figures are concerned.

[Smitty]

I'm not sure is any LEGO theme is nich, its just LEGO to most people, and oh look this LEGO person is tall and curvy, this one is a snake-man and this one is Batman.

[Jobber]

Those themes are really niche.

[LegoSWfan]

It's a kinda sub niche, When you consider that about half of legoers are girls, and only a percentage of them are into girly themes.

[Lyichir]

It's a kinda sub niche, When you consider that about half of legoers are girls, and only a percentage of them are into girly themes.

Less than half of Lego fans are girls, actually. But it's getting closer, which is why it's not actually that niche—Lego Friends and related themes are single-handedly responsible for a huge number of new Lego fans, with Lego Friends specifically being Lego's third most successful theme. Friends may be "niche" in online fan communities, but in terms of Lego's overall audience it's more popular than even wildly successful themes like Bionicle, Legends of Chima, and Super Heroes. And when Lego has more than 20 product lines at any one time, it's unlikely that ANY one theme will be popular among more than half of their buying audience, which means that no estimates based on that metric will be a reliable metric of overall success or prominence.

[LegoSWfan]

yes, it is a niche among the online community, but perhaps in a few years, when friends fans get to the foruming age, we will have a better idea of friends overall success. Though I personally have no intrest in it. (I'm not one for the bright and cheery colors.)

[Banana Gunz]

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

Dude, I can't wait til we get Friends Story Line and Theories forum topics and canonization debates.

[LegoSWfan]

O_O what have I done....

[Ford]

 

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

Dude, I can't wait til we get Friends Story Line and Theories forum topics and canonization debates.

 

I can picture it now:

Friends Storyline and Theories Forum Contest

Friends-Based Creations Forum

Friends-Based Creations Contest

 

And maybe...

Friends Fan Created Media Forum

Friends Comics Forum

 

Pretty soon, we could have FZPower.

O.O

 

Jk lol, I don't mean anything by this. 

Edited March 21, 2015 by Fordianl

[Jobber]

 

 

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

Dude, I can't wait til we get Friends Story Line and Theories forum topics and canonization debates.

 

I can picture it now:

Friends Storyline and Theories Forum Contest

Friends-Based Creations Forum

Friends-Based Creations Contest

 

And maybe...

Friends Fan Created Media Forum

Friends Comics Forum

 

Pretty soon, we could have FZPower.

O.O

 

Jk lol, I don't mean anything by this. 

 

I'd honestly be into Friends if that actually happened.

[Lyichir]

Technically speaking, Friends fans are already the "foruming age"—the Friends discussions on the Lego Message Boards can be incredibly lively. But until kids who started with Friends start becoming adult fans, I don't know whether the theme will gain much more of a foothold in AFOL-centric communities than it has already. In that sense, Toa Salvus was on-point—given a few years, the Friends generation will age into adulthood and hopefully grant those themes a much greater legitimacy in the eyes of both AFOLs and the general public.

 

I doubt we'll ever see "Friends Storyline and Theories" forums, though. BZPower is really the only Lego fansite I know to put that much of an emphasis on ANY theme's media and story materials.

[Banana Gunz]

 

 

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

Dude, I can't wait til we get Friends Story Line and Theories forum topics and canonization debates.

 

I can picture it now:

Friends Storyline and Theories Forum Contest

Friends-Based Creations Forum

Friends-Based Creations Contest

 

And maybe...

Friends Fan Created Media Forum

Friends Comics Forum

 

Pretty soon, we could have FZPower.

O.O

 

Jk lol, I don't mean anything by this. 

 

 

Why hasn't this happened yet? Staff, I demand that you get working now! We'll need Friends Sector 01 to make sure we have a reliable source for canon material. Better get working on that fan art too.

[fishers64]

LOL. 

 

Actually, starting a forum for female Lego fans is an idea I've toyed with recently, as, y'know, I have website/design training that I will be finishing in the not-too-distant-future. So if any being wants Friends Storyline and Theories... (In all seriousness, though, such a proposition is at least a few years off, even for me though.)

 

Although honestly I think Elves Storyline and Theories would be a more viable subforum in actual reality.

[Ford]

Although honestly I think Elves Storyline and Theories would be a more viable subforum in actual reality.

This makes so much more sense.

 

Do this.

[Smitty]

Pretty soon, we could have FZPower.

 

I spent enough time in the friend zone when I was in high school.

[Alyska]

I'm finding the distinction a bit arbitrary, to be honest- sure, some themes have more staying power than others, but I don't think you can lump them easily into two categories.

 

Staying power is going to be a mix of external and internal factors. External is the overall social trends and changes- most obviously, something like Jurassic World is going to sell well around the time of the release, and peter out over the following year, but less obviously, things like the rise of new technologies, changes in the global economy, and competition from other brands can all affect the success of a product.

 

With regard to internal factors, we're looking at the quality of the products, type of products, and the marketing, which includes story content. I see the perception of Bionicle as "niche" as being mostly due to Lego not investing in quality, high-profile story media, both in the later half of G1 and at the start of G2. Also, it's looking like traditional minifig lines are still benefiting from the signal boost of The Lego Movie, which the CCBS/constraction lines don't get.

 

Friends is looking close to the "evergreen" end of the spectrum, as it is generic enough to be adapted to suit a range of tastes, and isn't dependent on a story arc as such. There is an animated series, but I actually don't think it really needs it. Elves looks to be arc-based- my guess is that it may end up alternating with another girl-aimed fantasy line or two- I can't imagine it running non-stop for the next five years.

[Smitty]

Elves looks to be arc-based- my guess is that it may end up alternating with another girl-aimed fantasy line or two- I can't imagine it running non-stop for the next five years.

I said the same thing about Ninjago, but girl's toy lines don't always work the same as their boy counterparts, see She-Ra as an example.

[Blueblur21]

 

Elves looks to be arc-based- my guess is that it may end up alternating with another girl-aimed fantasy line or two- I can't imagine it running non-stop for the next five years.

I said the same thing about Ninjago, but girl's toy lines don't always work the same as their boy counterparts, see She-Ra as an example.

 

I hope Elves succeeds. The story doesn't suck and Azari is so awesome and super impressive.

[Xabla]

Friends is a definite evergreen to me.

Edited April 15, 2015 by moamahrimatoro

[Noxryn]

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

There are a lot of fans of the line who are the foruming age, I'm one of them. o/

 

Well, would be more of a fan if I had more disposable income at my fingertips. But I really like the theme, it's aesthetics, the colors and characters. I can't say if the theme itself is widespread in popularity or not, but if the stats provided earlier are any indication then it's as large of a theme as any other -- sans those two outselling it. Admittedly I don't know how much money the shows like Ninjago and Chima actually bring in to the company versus the cost of having those shows produced, so I can't say whether they would continue to go that route with something like Friends (And if they did, they would need to get CN on board with it).

[Aanchir]

 

...when friends fans get to the foruming age...

 

There are a lot of fans of the line who are the foruming age, I'm one of them. o/

 

Well, would be more of a fan if I had more disposable income at my fingertips. But I really like the theme, it's aesthetics, the colors and characters. I can't say if the theme itself is widespread in popularity or not, but if the stats provided earlier are any indication then it's as large of a theme as any other -- sans those two outselling it. Admittedly I don't know how much money the shows like Ninjago and Chima actually bring in to the company versus the cost of having those shows produced, so I can't say whether they would continue to go that route with something like Friends (And if they did, they would need to get CN on board with it).

They do have a Friends series, but it's more of a miniseries like the LEGO Hero Factory one than a full series like LEGO Ninjago or LEGO Legends of Chima, and it airs on Disney Channel rather than Cartoon Network (from what I hear, Cartoon Network is not anywhere near as supportive of girl-oriented programming as Disney Channel).

 

I've only watched the first LEGO Friends TV special ("Welcome to Heartlake City"). It was okay, but I wasn't a huge fan. As with LEGO Legends of Chima, I hear it gets better, but I'm just not emotionally invested enough to find out for myself.

 

The LEGO Elves TV special, which I liked a lot more, also aired on Disney Channel. But again, it is shaping up to be a miniseries, not a full series with a new season each year.

[Noxryn]

They do have a Friends series, but it's more of a miniseries like the LEGO Hero Factory one than a full series like LEGO Ninjago or LEGO Legends of Chima, and it airs on Disney Channel rather than Cartoon Network (from what I hear, Cartoon Network is not anywhere near as supportive of girl-oriented programming as Disney Channel).

 

I've only watched the first LEGO Friends TV special ("Welcome to Heartlake City"). It was okay, but I wasn't a huge fan. As with LEGO Legends of Chima, I hear it gets better, but I'm just not emotionally invested enough to find out for myself.

 

The LEGO Elves TV special, which I liked a lot more, also aired on Disney Channel. But again, it is shaping up to be a miniseries, not a full series with a new season each year.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that! Honestly I haven't been looking it up, but with a lack of advertising for any series (unless I missed it all), I figured they weren't doing one. Either way it's nice it's getting it's own mini series, at least, even though it sounds it could be a bit better.

[Aanchir]

Oh, actually it looks the first and second of the mini-movies are actually online! I was wrong, btw, the title of the first one is "New Girl in Town", not "Welcome to Heartlake City". I must have been confusing the title for one of the books.

New Girl in Town: http://www.lego.com/en-us/friends/videos/episode-1-new-girl-in-town-2014-4171878ead9e47f8ac9f61b286276bcb
Stephanie's Surprise Party: http://www.lego.com/en-us/friends/videos/episode-2-stephanies-birthday-d7bd50949e124ab3a307ffe7c56a7559

There are also shorter webisodes that started coming out last year, but I wasn't super-impressed with the first I saw of those, either.

[fishers64]

There's actually four of the Friends episodes IIRC - one of which is the dolphin episode I did a school paper on. 
 
There's a list here (scroll). I watched up to the "Dolphin Cruise" episode, and then stopped because it wasn't really in my taste to continue.