LEGO has been making Star Wars play sets since 1999. The company is so happy with the results it actually hopes to keep the galactic partnership forever.
The LEGO Star Wars series has become a brand in its own right, LEGO Group CEO Jørgen Von Knudstorp told ToyNews. “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”, he adds.
But LEGO will always have a special place for Star Wars. There have been and will be many partnerships, but LEGO wants and hopes the Star Wars play sets wil continue to be loved by the fans. But LEGO will continue to be careful about what themed series it makes and how many of them. The company doesn’t want to be defined as a maker of toys by popular shows and movies. Instead this is just an addition and the true value are LEGO’s own developed play sets and stories.
“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”, Knudstorp says. So it is important for the company to keep coming up with its own stories and sets, which is managing to do just fine.
And sometimes intresting things happen without anyone expecting it. For example, Knudstorp says, the Ghostbuster series was thought to be for the adult fans since it is old and kids don’t know it that well. But it turned out quite a few of them loved the play sets. And as for Star Wars? It is a series loved by fans from all age groups.
