Fantasy LEGO League: Marvel's X-Men

Hello? Hello! This Charles Xavier communicating with you through the aid of Cerebro. I'm here to tell you're special and you are not alone...you aren't the only one who thinks there should be a line of LEGO X-Men...

You can see the "rules" of these posts here.

Must-Have Minifigures (A): Cyclops, The Beast, Jean Grey, Gambit, and the one and only Wolverine. We've almost had 50 years of mutants to potentially draw on. Imagine a minifigure Juggernaut or Magneto! Jamie Madrox alone would be an instant battle pack (the real fans know what I'm talking about)...

Propensity for Vehicles (C): I could see a UCS Blackbird or a motorcycle for Wolverine, but not much beyond that. Minifigures and playsets like The Danger Room are more likely to drive this line.

Preexisting Fan-Base (A): 50 years of comics, cartoons, and live-action movies. Nuff said.

Depth of Theme (A): You have Charles Xavier's first students, you have X-Force, X-Caliber, New Mutants. Age of the Apocalypse. If the line gets stale, you can have Grant Morrison come in and reboot the whole series with a psychedelic slant!

Kid Friendliness (A): Kids used to love the movies and cartoons, but its been awhile since I've seen Wolverine on a t-shirt adorning anyone under the age of 12. Although I haven't seen the show myself, the kids seem to like The Super Hero Squad Show on Cartoon Network. If you took it in that direction it might be more appealing.

Likelihood of License (B): Last year Disney bought Marvel to up their 'boy-cred', which is desperately needed in its endless kingdoms of fairies and princesses. This seems like it could be a good fit if the Toy Story and Prince of Persia sets are seen as financial successes.

Overall (B+): If done right, this could hit a sweet spot with both AFOLs and kids, but a balance must be struck. Too mature and parents may shy away. Too cutesy and the AFOLs will pass it by. The 'superhero' lines of the past have been a mixed bag. LEGO Batman was not financially successful until after the sets left the shelves and the video game took off. I don't know how successful the Spider-Man line turned out to be before Mega Bloks got the license in 2004. In the end a lack of vehicles may be the downfall of this idea.

Custom Options: Whenever there's a vacuum in the AFOL community, some creative individuals find ways to fill it.

Kubrick had a line of X-Men figures they sold back in 2004. Although still different from a minifigure form, it gives you a sense of what these could look like. This would be an interesting way to add a 'maxifig' scale with Sentinels.

There have also been countless custom minifigures built with the mutant gene. Fine Clonier has decals for key X-Men. BrickForge has their Savage Mask. I've seen some cool claws for Wolverine, but I've heard they are from the Mega Bloks line (Ack! Competitors!). The new claws from the Prince of Persia line just don't cut it.

It would seem that Magneto is threatening mankind once again. Away to me my X-Men! We still need to build the Blackbird before we can save the day...

Fantasy LEGO League: Tron

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to "The Fantasy LEGO League". You can see the "rules" of these posts here. Let's digitize ourselves and get down to business...

Must-Have Minifigures (A): If done right in trans-blue and red highlights, these figures could be great. Imagine mini throwing disks in the same style! The variety might be a little hindered, however.

Propensity for Vehicles (B): Light-cycles, tanks, and skiffs galore. The iconic piece would definitely be the light-cycles.

Preexisting Fan-Base (C): A cult film from the 80's? Tron was one of the iconic films from my childhood. The fan-base potential is high, however, with the new Tron Legacy film.

Depth of Theme (C): One cult film, a couple of video games, and another, untested film on the way. About average.

Kid Friendliness (B): May be more popular among adults and teens than kids. The trailers I've seen for the new film appear to cater to adults who remember the film as a kid.

Likelihood of License (A): As you can see from the poster image, its Disney's Tron Legacy. Assuming Prince of Persia doesn't poison the well, its possible.

Overall (B-): I think having the preexisting Disney license is a plus, but with the new film having a December 2010 release date, and no news so far, the window is closing. If the announcement were made today, I would pick up these sets over Prince of Persia in a heartbeat.

Custom Options: Kubrick already beat them to it...sort of. Unfortunately, Kubrick figures can be very expensive. Maybe our friends at BrickForge read this blog. Hmmm...

What do think? Ready to fight the MCP along a minifigure Flynn? Download your data now.

-End of Line-

Kubrick

With LEGO dipping its toes into the collectible figure market in June, its just recognizing the potential this type of endeavor might have. Another firm, however, has been playing in this territory for nearly 10 years...Kubrick.

Kubrick (it's name and logo an homage to director Stanley Kubrick) is a line of collectible figures produced by Japanese toy company MediCom Toy Inc. With more than a resemblance to LEGO minifigures, Kubrick was started by Tatsuhiko Akashi, founder and president of MediCom, with an unnamed former LEGO employee.

Kubrick come in three sizes (6 cm, 24 cm, and 60 cm tall) and have appeared in a variety of themes from Star Wars to Nightmare Before Christmas, and even to figures based on Andy Worhol and breakfast cereal mascots. The first Kubrick figures released in 2000 were from the popular Neon Genesis Evangelion series of manga and anime.

The majority of Kubrick 6 cm (100%) figures are sold in 'blind boxes'. The buyer has no idea regarding the contents of the package until it is bought and opened. In addition to this randomization, 'chase' figures are dropped in for additional appeal. 'Chase' figures are extremely hard to find, adding to the appeal for die-hard collectors.

So what can LEGO learn from Kubrick's experience?

News to date has suggested that the collectible minifigures to launch in June will be sold in blind polybags. The obvious concern is, "can't you just feel the polybag to determine which figure is inside?" Reports form various the various toy fairs this year, suggest that it would be very difficult to do so.

There is also a question if all 16 minifigures have an equal chance of being bought from a case. To date, there has been no mention of uncommon or rare figures to boost the collectability. The idea of 'chase' figures would also be intriguing, say a chrome variant.

I believe LEGO has also attempted offering 'figs' in various scales. Who wouldn't want a nearly 2 foot LEGO Batman or C3PO for the den! Midifigs? Maxifigs?!

Finally, there is one area that I think could be a missed opportunity for TLG regarding the collectible minifigures, controlling distribution. When I first heard about the collectible minifigure series, I was under the impression that they would be a LEGO Store or Shop at Home exclusive. All news reports I've seen so far suggest that they will be sold everywhere. That is not to say that they still won't be difficult to obtain, but it seems to diminish the collectible nature of the product. Here's hoping they will have an early launch in LEGO Stores in the same way some sets do prior to arriving at big-box retailers.

Recognize that I'm an AFOL (which according to the LEGO 2009 annual report, only accounts for 5% of TLG sales) who owns a BrickLink store specializing in selling minifigures (drop that percentage again), and is within driving distance of a LEGO store (less than 1%?). Of course I want them to be hard to get!

Regardless of my rantings, I hope you can find something to enjoy from Kubrick or other collective figure products.

(Picture from ToyStop.net)