LEGO believes the success of LEGO Star Wars as a property in its own right means the brand will “stay with us forever”.
LEGO Group CEO Jørgen Von Knudstorp told ToyNews that Star Wars fit the firm’s remit for embracing licences that boast longevity.
“Star Wars has been with us since 1999 and we think it will stay with us forever because LEGO Star Wars has become a brand in its own right,” said Knudstorp.
“We don’t want to do everything that ends up in a movie theatre because there’s so much. I always try to look for stories that have longevity, like classic fairy tales of good versus evil. Things like The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Star Wars and Harry Potter are great opportunities for us and sometimes we take TV series like The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants or Bob the Builder.
“Other times we try something out like Prince of Persia, which didn’t really work out, or The Lone Ranger, and that has to be done from time to time because we do need to test the water a little bit.”
And with products like LEGO Back to the Future and LEGO The Big Bang Theory hitting shelves via the LEGO Ideas scheme, is the firm finally starting to launch certain licensed sets aimed at adults?
“Yes and no,” continued Knudstorp.
“A good example of it is LEGO Ghostbusters. I hadn’t spoken about Ghostbusters since my childhood but that item has been extremely strong and we’ve been surprised with how popular it is. That’s an example of where we thought we’re only doing this for the adult fans but looking at the numbers, quite a few kids are into it as well.”
Despite the success of its licensed portfolio, LEGO remains wary of overdoing it on that front.
Knudstorp said: “It’s important but it’s never defining our business. We can live without it, but are happy to bring a few IPs in.”
