Has Star Wars Smart Play flopped?
Posted by Huw,
I think we can guess the answer to that already, but empirical evidence now backs our theory up.
Amazon.co.uk has slowly been dropping the prices of the sets pretty much from day one, and now some of them are almost 50% off, just three months after their launch.
For example, the price of 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training has been slashed from £59.99 to £30.83, and 75420 Luke's Landspeeder from £34.99 to £20.40. These are sets that are not 'smart' at all until you've spent at least another £60 on a set that contains a smart brick and charger.
Most of the others have been reduced by 25% or so. Even at those prices, they do not look like good value to me.
What's also telling are the figures Amazon quotes for the number of copies that have been sold in the last month. 75422 Yoda's Hut and Jedi Training has sold just 200+, 75420 Luke's Landspeeder, 300+. Those numbers compare very unfavourably with, say, Creator, City or Ninjago sets, which can run into the thousands.
Still, if you're tempted to see what all the fuss is about, now's a good time to find out. Take a look at Buy listing which shows the current discounts at your local Amazon for all Star Wars Smart Play sets. The reductions are not as high in Germany and France, but are still significant, and unfortunately they've not been discounted at all in the USA, at least on Amazon. There have been some discounts at Walmart though.
I believe it was a mistake launching the system with Star Wars, when it seems a much more natural fit for, say, City, where vehicles could make noises and flash lights, and nobody would complain if the police car siren didn't sound exactly like a real one.
CapnRex101: Just to make a quick comment on this topic, I agree with Huw that SMART Play feels so much more at home in the likes of City or Creator, as well as Pokémon, than in Star Wars. However, launching the range with Star Wars arguably ensured a greater marketing impact because Star Wars inherently gets attention that many original LEGO themes do not, especially from the wider media, so I believe that was the idea behind the decision.
Having played with the Pokémon sets last week, I find the SMART Brick's integration there far better than in Star Wars, although that is perhaps in part because I am relatively unfamiliar with Pokémon, so I was not immediately conscious of issues with the sounds as I was with Star Wars. I also think the bricks are much better hidden in the Pokémon sets, often without compromising the external design. The play pattern still seems limited overall, but it is certainly better.
Have you bought Smart Play sets? What do you think? Do you feel they are good value for money?
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I think it has. Not because of the concept of smart brick, just because they chose the worst theme to start with. LEGO City was the easiest entry to this where sounds are what they are and they're not measured against iconic film sounds that exist for 50 years...
Battery life is another issue I understand, they won't solve that any time soon. I think overall the concept is fun, but too expensive and not worth it for LEGO to pursue in large volumes.
Let's see how the Pokémon theme goes...
Who is advising Lego marketing wise???
......Yes it has........like most of us said it would.....
Flopped big time
Well, nobody saw that coming. /s
I think it hasn't worked for star wars. But i'm really looking forward to seeing the pokemon smart play work
Let's see how it pans out with Pokémon, will we be seeing these discounts come christmas time.
If so I may pick up a couple for the kids
I'm not the target audience nor are they available in Canada so personally I can't make an honest judgement since I haven't had the chance to build/play with one. Most of those criticizing and are calling it a flop are adults (collectors) and not the target audience. However, given that its just a modern day take on the lights and sounds system from the late 80s I really question whether it was worth trying to revitalizing (Lego also had fibre optics and lights/sounds in the late 90s with UFO and Insectoids.). I worry about these gimmick sets (Smart Play, Vidiyo, Mario, Sonic, Pokemon) ruining Lego similar in nature to what happened in the early 2000s that almost killed the brand.
Smart Play was clearly intended for Pokemon from the get go, which is especially clear with its relation to the Mario smart figure ending the same time it hit the scene. If the sets were selling as bad in NA then they'd probably already be discounted (the Wish sets hit 40% off like... within three months) so I suspect there's better sales over here.
I *want* to see what theses sets are like, but they're still well above impulse buy prices.
@shaase said:
"I'm not the target audience nor are they available in Canada so personally I can't make an honest judgement since I haven't had the chance to build/play with one. Most of those criticizing and are calling it a flop are adults (collectors) and not the target audience. However, given that its just a modern day take on the lights and sounds system from the late 80s I really question whether it was worth trying to revitalizing (Lego also had fibre optics and lights/sounds in the late 90s with UFO and Insectoids.). I worry about these gimmick sets (Smart Play, Vidiyo, Mario, Sonic, Pokemon) ruining Lego similar in nature to what happened in the early 2000s that almost killed the brand."
Lego is in a far different place than they were in the 90s. I'm less concerned about their going concern than I am that it prices other things up when they could offer a better value by not trying things that have a high probability of failure and I assume a quite hefty development cost.
Launching with Star Wars makes sense from a media coverage, fanbase and 'hiding the cost' scenario. But unfortunately it seemed the hardest to integrate into buildings/vehicles/sounds we are already familiar with, making the result unsatisfactory. The pokemon sets seem better integrated, and the sounds are all babble anyway (to the casual observer), but the lack of smart bricks in numerous sets is still a jarring issue.
I hope (and expect) we will still see the bricks implemented in some city sets. But I doubt this 'next evolution in play' (or however they referred to it) will stick around for the long haul. Expensive to make, expensive to sell.
Not all that surprising. Not only was Star Wars probably the wrong theme to introduce it with, the way it was done surely didn't help. Mostly not all that interesting or convincing play features, and why did a set like 75423 only include one? And different from the Pokemon sets did these sets seem very much incomplete without an actual Smart Brick, all you got was a poor looking and rather pricey set with a feature you couldn't use. So with that Smart Play feature front and centre in that first wave, it should have been all about msking the actual Smart Bricks easily obtainable.
And even with the Pokemon sets, where I do think they implemented it way better, I still think it would have been wise for the sets that don't include the brick to present Smart Play just as an optional bonus feature, instead of plastering it all over the box. The easiest way to reduce disappointment is by adjusting expectations. Honestly, considering they only sell the system in a limited number of countries, they could easily have made versions of most of these sets with the Smart tags and all references to Smart Play removed, just to sell at other markets. And those would sell very well.
I don’t think marketing was the issue. This campaign got picked up everywhere. The biggest issue to me is that the play experience is locked behind a $70 price point. You want to launch a product like this then you have to take an initial loss on the tech to get people in the door.
Not doing so tells me they weren’t very confident in the appeal of the play action.
I suspect the Pokemon sets are probably going to perform a lot better than the Star Wars ones, and may well be what "saves" SMART as a format.
They feel like an improvement over the SW sets in basically every way:
- Pokemon is just very straightforwardly more popular with children than the Star Wars original trilogy
- better pricing (there are cheaper sets available *and* the no-brick-included sets are basically priced exactly like a non-SMART set of the same piece count would be)
- the no-brick sets still look appealing and complete without a brick added, versus the SW ones which are marred by ugly open sockets and are unlikely to be desirable to somebody who isn't already committed to owning at least one SMART brick too
- the play pattern is set up such that just two SMART bricks is all that's needed for a "complete" experience - just power up whichever two Pokemon you want to battle with - versus the SW sets which can have as many as four or five different brick sockets in a single playset
But I thought Smart Bricks were the most important development since the minifigure!!!!!
I wonder if an underrated issue is general economic uncertainty. Lego has always had a premium price, and this definitely ups that, so I'm not surprised its sold a lot less than it might have 20 years ago.
Bring back proper technical functionality to play sets. I love display sets, but LEGO is primarily a toy company, not a display company. And innovating is good, but tech is bad.
Personally I did buy one at full price (to get a GWP Dark Saber) and to see what it was like. It was quite clever for a bit, but mine seemed to stop working if left for a day almost as if its always on so drains the battery when not in use. (Might be me) If i then placed on the charger it was quick to charge. Ive bought a couple of the add on sets at 35-40% off but not even bothered to build them yet. What it needs now is more Cheap add-ons for those with a brick, as someone has said Pokemon could be interesting (not that im a fan of it) And City. I think ill build the landspeeder tonight now...
yes, next question
Yes.
Amazon discounts of 49% so soon suggests these things aren't selling.
The sets haven't even released in Canada yet. I'm sometimes wondering if they'll ever be available here. Not that I want them, but I'd be curious to try nonetheless.
I would have liked to get the Cantina set since there's not been a set available since 2018, outside of the expensive UCS-style one. The range isn't being sold in Ireland though.
I’d argue launching Smart with Star Wars was the better option than City precisely because they have so many distinct and iconic sounds. You have instant recognition there, probably more so than generic siren or engine noises.
Still a bit of a half-baked idea but I can see the logic
@GusG said:
"Who is advising Lego marketing wise???"
People who never had a childhood
When they launched with Star Wars, I figured some City sets would follow close behind and maybe I’d be able to pick up a set or two to check it out without having to pay the Star Wars upcharge…but then that never happened and it was only available in those odd-looking Star Wars sets.
If the tech is good or not isn’t a question that has really been answered since Lego bungled this launch so poorly!
I have hope for non-licensed themes like City and Friends, but it was a big struggle for the poor Store employee as they tried to demo the smart bricks and it just wasn't working well.
30% discounts are about the minimum discount for sets here. Mos Eisley Cantina is the only one I want from the range and it has not yet hit the pricepoint I would go for, 56€.
Comparing salesnumbers on Amazon Smart Play sets are pretty much selling the same as the average Star Wars set, only Landspeeder and Throne Room Duel are a bit off with just 100 copies per set while the others are mostly 300 and up to 500.
I can hardly call that defeat though the Vidyo theme which was apparently the worst seller of all time has never hit a price on a single set that would have made it a sensible purchase to me, so maybe the worst sellers also suffer from not being able to be discounted too much.
"I also think the bricks are much better hidden in the Pokémon sets, often without compromising the external design."
Sorry Capn, as a Pokémon fan, I'll have to partially disagree with this - it's a mixed bag on that front. A lot of them look fine (or at least not compromised by the Smart Brick), but some of them look kind of bad. Jigglypuff or Charmander, for example. It's definitely better than Star Wars though, so your overall point stands.
I just dream of a revival of the lights and sound system, example 6783. We need better lights for our sets past the solitary light brick. This currently seems to be a half baked idea and it doesn't work well with Star Wars. Maybe Pokemon will work better?
I like the idea of reviving the lights and sound system, I had so much fun as a kid with these for the police car or roadwork. And I think SW was a nice starting point : so much iconic noises and that make sense play wise.
But the price tag just doesn't make sense : you want affordable kids sets. Here it's either too expensive for kids toys or too useless for adult collectors, I'm not surprised it doesn't sell.
I was looking forward to the Pokemon sets for my 8yo but these prices once again. I bought her 43215 The Enchanted Treehouse and it was 170€. With 2 buildings and 13 minidolls. Compare it to 72167 Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle at 120€ WTF. The ppp isn't that off but you end up with "only" 2 characters to play with... just so they're big enough to fit the smartbrick.
I understand the brick built make sense for Lego in order not to have 1 mold per Pokemon but still, it kinda clashes with the "gotta catch them all" the franchise is famous about, and that makes sense in terms of playability
Speaking for my local area of the UK, its 100% failed. Both the big chain store of Smyths and the smaller retailers who stocked it have the sets on heavy discount, and chatting to the staff, especially at the smaller retailers, they've been utter shelf warmers to the point that they're still on their original stock deliveries and aren't ordering any more of them.
As for Pokemon... Sorry, but they're not that much better implimented, and the play feature is still ultimately, a rather tinny and hugely overpriced bit of tech.
One information that I haven't been able to find and that I hope will be adressed in the Pokémon review is the compatibility of the brick between the lines. What happens when you put a SW smartbrick on a Pokémon ? Do they all have the sound banks of all the lines in their memory ? will they require an update everytime a new line is released ?
But to me, it still seems like an overengineered gimmick just to produce lights and sounds, tbh. Especially at the price they're forced to sell it to make a profit.
I mean, kids will most certainly love it (I have the fondest memories of my SP-Striker 1) but I highly doubt they would tell the difference between all the tech in that brick and a regular speaker you can find in any ambulance toy that only goes EEEyUUU EEEEyUUUU when you press the button...
If only they went the Minstorms route and gave access to the software so anyone could try their hands on programming something using all the internal sensors of the brick, that would make a huge difference.
LEGO Star Wars is pretty much a dumpster fire already, so wedging in Smart Play was definitely not the smartest idea (no pun intended). And then of course how they did it - some shoddily designed TIE fighter and X-Wing, a bare bones Cantina and a Yoda hut. I'm willing to believe that kids can have fun with this, but if I were a parent I wouldn't by these sets at those insanely inflated prices. and I think that is kind of the problem. If you have to make a baseline investment of around 130 Euro just to get two bricks and a charger pad, then the rest is pretty much a moot discussion. Who in their right mind is going to spend that kind of money? And I don't think Pokémon will do much on that front except for wider and easier availability. Things may look different in the future when Smart Play has proliferated more, but for now it's strictly a niche product few are willing to afford.
Honestly I feel like this is more a question for TLC than for us. They're the ones who know what their actual expectations were.
The voice clips were so bad. Like, I don’t think you could make them that bad on purpose - bad.
So I guess my dream of a Smart Play UCS set will never come to pass. (For those too dense to figure it out, that was a joke.)
@yellost said:
"One information that I haven't been able to find and that I hope will be adressed in the Pokémon review is the compatibility of the brick between the lines. What happens when you put a SW smartbrick on a Pokémon ? Do they all have the sound banks of all the lines in their memory ? will they require an update everytime a new line is released ?"
If I'm understanding the tech correctly, any Smart brick should work in a Smart set from any line, since the Smart brick generates the sounds that the Smart tags tell it to. If the tag says "Generate Star Wars(-ish) sounds," that's what it does. If it says, "Generate Pokémon(-ish) sounds," it does that.
Time to buy that Millennium Falcon for modding :)
@Robot99 said:
"
"I also think the bricks are much better hidden in the Pokémon sets, often without compromising the external design."
Sorry Capn, as a Pokémon fan, I'll have to partially disagree with this - it's a mixed bag on that front. A lot of them look fine (or at least not compromised by the Smart Brick), but some of them look kind of bad. Jigglypuff or Charmander, for example. It's definitely better than Star Wars though, so your overall point stands."
You will see it when it's there (isn't that the entire point of the brick?), but you won't really notice when it isn't. No gaping holes like in the Star Wars sets. I assume that's what Cap meant.
@TheOtherMike said:
"So I guess my dream of a Smart Play UCS set will never come to pass. (For those too dense to figure it out, that was a joke.)"
Why not in a re-issue of 75098?
(damn, has it really already been 10 years since?)
@Robot99 said:
"Sorry Capn, as a Pokémon fan, I'll have to partially disagree with this - it's a mixed bag on that front. A lot of them look fine (or at least not compromised by the Smart Brick), but some of them look kind of bad. Jigglypuff or Charmander, for example. It's definitely better than Star Wars though, so your overall point stands."
Yes, I am not saying they all look good and the standardised format for smaller characters does not work for some, but others look surprisingly impressive to me with or without the brick. Charizard, most notably.
@Mylenium said:
"LEGO Star Wars is pretty much a dumpster fire already."
One of the most successful LEGO themes of all time, but alright.
The smart bricks don't really seem to be nearly as smart as they're advertised, the sound quality being as low as it is doesn't help and the functions seem way too rudimentary to offer any superiority to children just using their own imagination or making the sound themselves; so all they end up being from my viewpoint is products that are more expensive, look worse than their "non smart" counterparts and aren't really offering much more play value than a regular Lego set.
I like light and sound based gimmicks in sets, but I don't see the smart bricks system offering anything a whole lot more than what we get with regular light and sound bricks. I'm reluctant to heaviliy criticize the gimmick regardless given I'm not the target audience.
@GusG said:
"Who is advising Lego marketing wise???"
AI.
Star Wars and Lego are something of an adult market at the moment. This might have worked better for a younger target market like City or the new Pokémon, but to launch with the demographic around Star Wars was doomed to fail.
I can’t think of a franchise that has more iconic, distinct or recognisable sounds than Star Wars. They are nearly as iconic as the visuals in the films and iconic character designs. The dialogue from Star Wars equally has many examples that are truly iconic. Which means sound bricks in Star Wars have to play actual Star Wars sounds or dialogue, because anything less is noticeably not good enough and feels very cheap. These sets are aimed at young children, yes, but I don’t doubt that they can tell the difference between Star Wars sound effects and the garbled gibberish produced by the brick. And it’s insulting to their intelligence to suggest they don’t care about that. Either a kid is old enough to watch Star Wars, and then they will care, or they’re not and the set isn’t aimed at them.
Factor in the terrible integration, the lack of interesting functionality (all it does is make poor quality sounds), the fact that LEGO is best when its analogue and integrating smart technology (motorisation and power functions is a different case that I’m not against) is fundamentally opposed to what the brand should represent, and the ridiculous price hikes on SMART sets (that are surely unjustified by production costs), the fact that these sets took up a lot of release slots that would have been filled by far more appealing regular playsets, the fact that the sets look terrible with simplistic builds and gaping holes in them, and it’s no wonder SMART play in Star Wars is a complete flop. I cannot imagine who would want to buy these sets, not collectors, not children, not parents, not anyone. If they were cheaper, I’m sure some people would buy them (and I’d imagine then regret having done so), but they’re not even priced reasonably enough to encourage impulse purchase.
It’s a terrible idea in short and I really wish it would just go away and leave Star Wars alone. Ruin another theme with this, TLG.
From the moment I heard about the Smart Play concept, I knew it was going to fail. Someone in the Lego marketing department really messed up, and I can't believe the management gave their green light to this. To me this has nothing to do with the Star Wars theme. It would have failed with any other theme too. Here is the thing: people just want to build stuff with bricks. They have their own imagination to play with the sets. They are smart enough not to need smart bricks, and do not want to pay more for useless fancy technologies.
pokemon will sell
smart play will flop
@Kamiccolo said:
"The smart bricks don't really seem to be nearly as smart as they're advertised, the sound quality being as low as it is doesn't help and the functions seem way too rudimentary to offer any superiority to children just using their own imagination or making the sound themselves; so all they end up being from my viewpoint is products that are more expensive, look worse than their "non smart" counterparts and aren't really offering much more play value than a regular Lego set.
I like light and sound based gimmicks in sets, but I don't see the smart bricks system offering anything a whole lot more than what we get with regular light and sound bricks. I'm reluctant to heaviliy criticize the gimmick regardless given I'm not the target audience."
Having seen some videos of the Pokemon release, I do think it is not a bad gimmick, but pretty neat actually especially for kids. But it still very much is a gimmick, no more, no less. And for a gimmick, it is rather pricey.
I do wonder how the general reception would have been had they launched it with those Pokemon instead, AND made it so that you either could buy a separate Smart Brick for like €10, or have like a smaller €30 set that does include a Smart Brick but not the charger.
(and have the thing chargeable by any standard USB-C brick).
@WizardOfOSS @CapnRex101
I see your points, I'll cede to them!
I suppose if it’s cheap, people will buy. People will not pay a premium for this.
"empirical evidence" - Good one!
Are they a flop or not? Undoubtedly yes, at the price they were wanting. Price plays a major role here. They are totally overpriced for what they are as they are not so interesting as play items beyond how they actually work for adults and out of the price range for children's toys. Yet reduce to a more reasonable 50% and they might start to be seen as children's toys, and then sell really well if reduced again. I think kids will want these if priced right, but they were not priced right.
In that sense they were a bit like the Unikitty! sets that Tesco had as exclusives here in the UK. They were so overpriced that nobody touched them until they went to 50%, and then sold quite well when reduced by 50% off that 50%.
If you want to use clearance data to declare this to be a failure, you need to compare to successful sets. Without that comparison, you're just starting with a conclusion and working backward to try an find facts to fit it.
Based on the logic presented, Smart Star Wars is a roaring success in the US.
I'm not saying your conclusions are wrong, but I am saying that you have not given adequate supporting evidence.
The idea of the Smart Brick isn’t bad on its own. It just seemed like an evolution of the light and sound bricks. The problem with it is the sounds they produce are so laughably bad, it has a horrible battery life, and the cheapest way to get one as intended, (not counting Bricklink) is to spend $70 on Vader’s Tie Advanced or now the new Pikachu set. It also doesn’t help that Star Wars has some of the most iconic sound effects and dialogue in any media so if something sounds slightly off, you’re going to notice it. Even kids, the target audience of the Smart Brick, will notice that. In its current state, Lego should have continued development on the Smart Brick before revealing it, or abandon the project altogether.
@Chemistry2101 said:
"I can’t think of a franchise that has more iconic, distinct or recognisable sounds than Star Wars. They are nearly as iconic as the visuals in the films and iconic character designs. The dialogue from Star Wars equally has many examples that are truly iconic. Which means sound bricks in Star Wars have to play actual Star Wars sounds or dialogue, because anything less is noticeably not good enough and feels very cheap. These sets are aimed at young children, yes, but I don’t doubt that they can tell the difference between Star Wars sound effects and the garbled gibberish produced by the brick. And it’s insulting to their intelligence to suggest they don’t care about that. Either a kid is old enough to watch Star Wars, and then they will care, or they’re not and the set isn’t aimed at them.
Factor in the terrible integration, the lack of interesting functionality (all it does is make poor quality sounds), the fact that LEGO is best when its analogue and integrating smart technology (motorisation and power functions is a different case that I’m not against) is fundamentally opposed to what the brand should represent, and the ridiculous price hikes on SMART sets (that are surely unjustified by production costs), the fact that these sets took up a lot of release slots that would have been filled by far more appealing regular playsets, the fact that the sets look terrible with simplistic builds and gaping holes in them, and it’s no wonder SMART play in Star Wars is a complete flop. I cannot imagine who would want to buy these sets, not collectors, not children, not parents, not anyone. If they were cheaper, I’m sure some people would buy them (and I’d imagine then regret having done so), but they’re not even priced reasonably enough to encourage impulse purchase.
It’s a terrible idea in short and I really wish it would just go away and leave Star Wars alone. Ruin another theme with this, TLG."
Totally agree with this. Smart Play as been a disaster from the inception of the idea.
From what I’ve observed while working at a LEGO store, the X-Wing and TIE sell decently well, especially the former.
AT-ST is the bestselling of the non-SMART sets
The throne room and cantina much less often
And the Hut and Landspeeder we rarely, if ever, sell
I’d imagine it doesn’t help that we never put the landspeeder out for demo, for whatever reason. The hut’s features I found often confused kids and adults and the “cooking” one had very little appeal
It’s not a flop.
It’s their write off.
They know what they’re doing.
Probably a brick that interfaced a bit like home automation would have been more interesting.
Not a single one of the Smart play sets are discounted here. Which I find very surprising
I hope these flop. The sets are terrible and the sound effects are just as bad. My kids even have no interest in them.
I sure hope so.
I don't usually make fun of SW prices, but the Landspeeder price, not having the actual smart brick, was a total joke. The reduction puts it where it should be. I'd actually like to pick up the X-Wing and am just waiting for a discount (which I've not seen yet). I will say I expected the major ones (like the X-Wing and TIE) to show up at Costco, like Lego Mario... and they have not. To me, that's telling.
@Kamiccolo said:
"The smart bricks don't really seem to be nearly as smart as they're advertised, the sound quality being as low as it is doesn't help and the functions seem way too rudimentary to offer any superiority to children just using their own imagination or making the sound themselves; so all they end up being from my viewpoint is products that are more expensive, look worse than their "non smart" counterparts and aren't really offering much more play value than a regular Lego set.
I like light and sound based gimmicks in sets, but I don't see the smart bricks system offering anything a whole lot more than what we get with regular light and sound bricks. I'm reluctant to heaviliy criticize the gimmick regardless given I'm not the target audience."
It was a solution to a problem that did not exist.
Personally, I think the problem is definitely with Lego and electric/electronic. Even a $0.59 motor (and you must factor that if you buy 10000 of them you will get a better price) cost $40 by the time Lego is finished encasing it in plastic. Other example, Raspberry nano: $5 - Mindstrom SmartBrick $180 - yes you have to add a $6 display and a few connectors but the markup is hard to justify. I suppose the best paid jobs at Lego is R&D for electronic because that is the only place where they could justify such a high price - besides, micro-controllers have been around for so long, you don't need 2-3 years of research just to roll out what is already well established. Want a third example? Led lights: 2 led lights, a switch and a bit of cable - total cost CAD$0.75 - Lego price: CAD$12.00. If Lego would price ALL of its electronic at 50% off, they would still make a killing and be more in tune with market prices.
As for these 'bricks'. Lego has a License agreement with Disney/Star Wars, why can't they just record the real voices on the chip . You can get 16MB of storage for next to nothing - you can put a lot of small .wav files on 16MB. (I suppose it gets complicated if they have to pay the actors for the usage of their voice - not sure, so that might be the reason).
I am not the target of this product (I was the target for the MIndstorm brick) but my nephew really likes the Mario stuff (and he is a young adult) and he wants the smart brick in all of his Pokemons - no switching around non-sense. For this to happen, the smart brick would have to cost less than CAD$10 - by the time this happens, it will be because Lego has dropped the project.
I think peak Lego electric was 'Power Functions'. I miss it dearly. The Control + brick would be reasonably good if it had 6-8 connectors - and again those connectors are a real limiting factor compared to Power Functions where you could stack them and power multiple items all at once.
And Lego that spend tons of money coming up with new stuff when what they had was perfectly fine.
surprisedpikachu.png
If you release with limited availability (countries and retailers), you’re either super confident and hope for a hype, OR the retailers were not that interested. Long before we hear the first rumors, retail gets asked what amount they want to order. You will only ever buy something through a retailer, that the purchase department found worthy to take the space. It might just be here, that they didn’t see the potential. And they were probably correct to avoid this theme.
So now it's OK to state smart play is a bad idea?
This is what you get for trying to sell 20y old tech as NEW and price it 20$
Oh, that smarts!
The most LEGO stay away from digital world, the better their "things" will go. Every parent I know see LEGO as antidote for their Kids display/digital over exposition, so they DON'T want LEGO became digital
@Chemistry2101 said:
"I can’t think of a franchise that has more iconic, distinct or recognisable sounds than Star Wars. They are nearly as iconic as the visuals in the films and iconic character designs. The dialogue from Star Wars equally has many examples that are truly iconic. Which means sound bricks in Star Wars have to play actual Star Wars sounds or dialogue, because anything less is noticeably not good enough and feels very cheap. These sets are aimed at young children, yes, but I don’t doubt that they can tell the difference between Star Wars sound effects and the garbled gibberish produced by the brick. And it’s insulting to their intelligence to suggest they don’t care about that. Either a kid is old enough to watch Star Wars, and then they will care, or they’re not and the set isn’t aimed at them.
Factor in the terrible integration, the lack of interesting functionality (all it does is make poor quality sounds), the fact that LEGO is best when its analogue and integrating smart technology (motorisation and power functions is a different case that I’m not against) is fundamentally opposed to what the brand should represent, and the ridiculous price hikes on SMART sets (that are surely unjustified by production costs), the fact that these sets took up a lot of release slots that would have been filled by far more appealing regular playsets, the fact that the sets look terrible with simplistic builds and gaping holes in them, and it’s no wonder SMART play in Star Wars is a complete flop. I cannot imagine who would want to buy these sets, not collectors, not children, not parents, not anyone. If they were cheaper, I’m sure some people would buy them (and I’d imagine then regret having done so), but they’re not even priced reasonably enough to encourage impulse purchase.
It’s a terrible idea in short and I really wish it would just go away and leave Star Wars alone. Ruin another theme with this, TLG."
No, ruin nothing with this! I want this to flop entirely for the good of all LEGO themes. At the least, there should never be such a thing as a smart minifigure. I'd personally be fairly indifferent if potentially unique and desirable minifigures were never at risk of being ruined by the electronics.
@lost_scotsman said:
"Time to buy that Millennium Falcon for modding :)
"
As I noted in it's review, if you're looking for a smaller play-scale Falcon, you could do worse.
@Chemistry2101 said:"I can’t think of a franchise that has more iconic, distinct or recognisable sounds than Star Wars."
As someone whose phone ringtone is the Star Trek: TOS communicator chirp, I want to argue with that, but I really can't.
"Either a kid is old enough to watch Star Wars, and then they will care, or they’re not and the set isn’t aimed at them."
Merchandise based on a movie or TV show isn't *necessarily* aimed only at those who've seen the movie or show in question, but yeah.
Another data point for Smart Play (broader than just Star Wars): I plan on getting the $15-$40ish Pokemon sets for my kids and none of the ones with the smart brick.
I think the problem with Smart Play is it’s not only highly expensive at a time when everyone is struggling financially, but the sets are poorer builds as a result of it.
Gimmicks that are non-intrusive are fine as extras, but it feels like Lego are going against their core market by making things harder to build with (the minifigs can’t be fully taken apart, for example)
I realise we’re not the target demographic, but the Lego sets themselves really are poorer builds as a result of it. It feels like Lego is either sacrificing or forgetting their core market here, and I feel they need to get back to basics more.
I never really got the point of the Smart Bricks in the first place.
What, kids now need to use a microchip to make a "whoosh" noise when they're playing with a Lego spaceship? I know it's a different world to when we were all kids ... but really?
These smart bricks seemed like a novelty, a fun gimmick but certainly not an essential one ... and then, true-to-form, Lego tried to sell them for ridiculous prices. Maybe they were fun, but it's the parents who are buying these things for their kids. If the SW line is mostly aimed at adults, then the same problem. Things like rent and bills and groceries are going to be a higher priority than whatever this was.
I don't know. Lego keeps devoting time and money into trying to fix something that isn't broken. They're Lego bricks. They don't need microchips and apps to maximise their play value. They're Lego bricks.
So Smart Play is going the same way as Vidiyo? When's the next digital play revolution going to get here? And how much more money are they going to waste on *that*?
As a kid, I was perfectly happy making "whoosh" noises on my own.
@HOBBES said:
"I think peak Lego electric was 'Power Functions'. I miss it dearly. The Control + brick would be reasonably good if it had 6-8 connectors - and again those connectors are a real limiting factor compared to Power Functions where you could stack them and power multiple items all at once.
And Lego that spend tons of money coming up with new stuff when what they had was perfectly fine."
At first I thought the Smart Play could be a really good substitute for the Mindstorms and Power Functions line up, where you would be able to customize and create unique play experiences with the toys. It could be less driven towards robots like Mindstorms as a marketing strategy.
I was a heavy Mindstorms fan. I miss it dearly. For me LEGO and movement are too connected things that make the whole experience wonderful. Today we are left with display sets that you build once and don't play with them anymore. I still like them but not as much as Mindstorms.
over the last decade or so, LEGO has tried 3-4 different ways to pair or embed technology with/into LEGO sets. the consumer continues to reject these attempts over and over and over.|
Maybe people don't want this.
Speak for yourself, none of them are discounted on Amazon in the States
I mean, if they let Star Wars be the test wave for these things and perfect them in Pokemon, that's not a terrible situation.
I hope I can get some of the Pokemon to play around with, they interest me. But the Star Wars ones do not at all. I wouldn't write off the smart bricks just yet, but I do think the SW stuff felt rushed and unfinished.
No way of knowing since LEGO in all their wisdom has yet to bestow the right to purchase these for most of the world including me and at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they just bury this whole concept as an embarrassment before it reaches us.
It's a shame because I'm very into collecting weird half-forgotten LEGO gimmicks.
@SpaghettiDish said:
"No way of knowing since LEGO in all their wisdom has yet to bestow the right to purchase these for most of the world including me and at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they just bury this whole concept as an embarrassment before it reaches us.
It's a shame because I'm very into collecting weird half-forgotten LEGO gimmicks. "
Not for me but I like that: Collecting Lego that is so out, it's in! (A bit like Galidor!)
@SpaghettiDish said: "It's a shame because I'm very into collecting weird half-forgotten LEGO gimmicks. "
I really enjoyed the actual physical brick parts of Vidiyo.
I thought some of the sets were rather lovely. I loved the candy castle, I loved the pirate ship. And I thought the minifigures were amazing. A lot of really interesting and fun designs.
It's just that Lego, in their infinite wisdom, put all their eggs into the basket of an app that didn't work and that nobody liked. The whole thing was such a waste of a great idea. You'd think that's something a multi-national billion-dollar-company would've thought about, a bit harder than they did.
I realy hope that lego planned the failure to kick star wars out slowly.. Because the target audience might be kids but! The parent is the one who buys and informs himself about a set his kid wants. So he goes to the internet and finds out its way too expensive for what it is. Battery-life is too short etc. A kid doesnt necessarly understand that but the argument of the parent would be: Better take the bigger ship for the same price and probably the kid will see, there is more figures, more parts and it looks better. Even if the target audience is kids, probably close to zero percent will buy it for themselfes as kids, the parents or grandparents are resposible for smart play and bought lego in general. So it is doomed to fail!
I belive that the shortage of the smart brick itself in the smart play sets is a big problem for the pokemon theme as well. I realy hope it will flop and disappear.. since i dont agree with almost all licensed themes lego has to offer. Many are simply overdone in legoform.
Dumb play for the win.
“Has Star Wars Smart Play flopped?”
Was it a flop? A crunch? A swoosh? …we probably need listen a few more times to be certain.
@Zordboy said:
" @SpaghettiDish said: "It's a shame because I'm very into collecting weird half-forgotten LEGO gimmicks. "
I really enjoyed the actual physical brick parts of Vidiyo.
I thought some of the sets were rather lovely. I loved the candy castle, I loved the pirate ship. And I thought the minifigures were amazing. A lot of really interesting and fun designs."
Pretty much everybody agrees that whatever you think of Vidiyo overall, it had some amazing minifigures.
I think that when it finally arrives worldwide, no one will want it anymore...
The SW sets were just remakes of existing sets with Smart Bricks shoved in. The Pokemon sets are original sets (but alas with Nintendo's demand for cuboid sets).
It should not have launched for SW first.
Just another swing and a miss with tech.
Had they kept it to sound bricks with *accurate* SW audio clips I would have dropped some serious cash. Soundwave 10358 is a case in point - a near perfect set in my opinion.
Lego will have planned for Smart Play to run for three years then move on and debut another line of sets.
The terminally online Lego commentariat, which is generally 20+ years older than the target demographic, will call it a failure (like it did for Dreamzz and Dimensions and Hidden Side and Mixels and Nexo Knights and Vidiyo) without realising that Smart Play did indeed have a planned shelf life.
This "controversy" is a waste of energy.
@Zordboy said:
" @SpaghettiDish said: "It's a shame because I'm very into collecting weird half-forgotten LEGO gimmicks. "
I really enjoyed the actual physical brick parts of Vidiyo.
I thought some of the sets were rather lovely. I loved the candy castle, I loved the pirate ship. And I thought the minifigures were amazing. A lot of really interesting and fun designs."
Some were fantastic. A few were phenomenal, even.
Some would disappear forever in the Bin of Shame.
And then there was Samurapper, whose terrible design only survived because HATING IT GIVES ME ENERGY.
@Rare_White_Ape said:
"Lego will have planned for Smart Play to run for three years then move on and debut another line of sets.
The terminally online Lego commentariat, which is generally 20+ years older than the target demographic, will call it a failure (like it did for Dreamzz and Dimensions and Hidden Side and Mixels and Nexo Knights and Vidiyo) without realising that Smart Play did indeed have a planned shelf life.
This "controversy" is a waste of energy."
A lot of the marketing was aimed at the online Lego commentariat, lots of special media events etc. They are sort of the target audience, in that they are expected to be buying the sets for their children.
Lego's marketing around Smart Play is to get the adults interested to buy for their children.
If the target audience is a child, why is the launch subject matter based on a 50-year-old IP, and why is the follow-up based on a 30-year-old IP? Either there is a third wave of sets to be launched which dazzles and amazes and proves all the critics wrong, or this has indeed probably already faded into obscurity.
@Rare_White_Ape said:
"Lego will have planned for Smart Play to run for three years then move on and debut another line of sets.
The terminally online Lego commentariat, which is generally 20+ years older than the target demographic, will call it a failure (like it did for Dreamzz and Dimensions and Hidden Side and Mixels and Nexo Knights and Vidiyo) without realising that Smart Play did indeed have a planned shelf life.
This "controversy" is a waste of energy."
Any more insider info you can share, or are you perhaps just making stuff up?
@jsutton said:
"If the target audience is a child, why is the launch subject matter based on a 50-year-old IP, and why is the follow-up based on a 30-year-old IP? Either there is a third wave of sets to be launched which dazzles and amazes and proves all the critics wrong, or this has indeed probably already faded into obscurity."
Are you unaware of the fact that they are still making shows and games for both of those things? There was a Star Wars movie released less than a month ago.
Star Wars as an IP under Disney is evidently not in a good place right now, which is clearly bleeding through to the LEGO iteration. So maybe using the franchise to push a new technology line wasn't the best idea from a business perspective, particularly as the sets are frankly overpriced, the design of the vehicles is compromised and not all sets include the necessary SMART Brick. As I stated previously I just hope LEGO will recoup the time, research and money spent on development by licensing out the patents.
Lego's integration with tech failed with original lines such as Vidiyo and Hidden Side), it made sense attaching it to an existing IP. Mario has had success (but I don't think it's related to the tech), the same will be true of Pokemon as they aren't really producing playable sets away from Smart bricks.
Pokemon will be a better fit, on the basis that the games still stick to GameBoy sounds instead of new sounds, so Smart Brick will fit.
@jsutton said:
"If the target audience is a child, why is the launch subject matter based on a 50-year-old IP, and why is the follow-up based on a 30-year-old IP? Either there is a third wave of sets to be launched which dazzles and amazes and proves all the critics wrong, or this has indeed probably already faded into obscurity."
Do you know anything at all about Pokemon other than the age of the franchise?
@Chemistry2101 said:
"I can’t think of a franchise that has more iconic, distinct or recognisable sounds than Star Wars. They are nearly as iconic as the visuals in the films and iconic character designs. The dialogue from Star Wars equally has many examples that are truly iconic. Which means sound bricks in Star Wars have to play actual Star Wars sounds or dialogue, because anything less is noticeably not good enough and feels very cheap. These sets are aimed at young children, yes, but I don’t doubt that they can tell the difference between Star Wars sound effects and the garbled gibberish produced by the brick. And it’s insulting to their intelligence to suggest they don’t care about that. Either a kid is old enough to watch Star Wars, and then they will care, or they’re not and the set isn’t aimed at them.
Factor in the terrible integration, the lack of interesting functionality (all it does is make poor quality sounds), the fact that LEGO is best when its analogue and integrating smart technology (motorisation and power functions is a different case that I’m not against) is fundamentally opposed to what the brand should represent, and the ridiculous price hikes on SMART sets (that are surely unjustified by production costs), the fact that these sets took up a lot of release slots that would have been filled by far more appealing regular playsets, the fact that the sets look terrible with simplistic builds and gaping holes in them, and it’s no wonder SMART play in Star Wars is a complete flop. I cannot imagine who would want to buy these sets, not collectors, not children, not parents, not anyone. If they were cheaper, I’m sure some people would buy them (and I’d imagine then regret having done so), but they’re not even priced reasonably enough to encourage impulse purchase.
It’s a terrible idea in short and I really wish it would just go away and leave Star Wars alone. Ruin another theme with this, TLG."
I remember my primary school teacher playing the Star Wars main theme for the class as a treat from a cassette. It was some knock off orchestra and I was so incensed, lol. 8 year old kids that are into Star Wars REALLY care about these things.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that the Star Wars Smart Brick looks to be a "Coke vs New Coke" type situation. As the Coca Cola CEO himself said of the aftermath and whether the New Coke was released only to revitalize the original formula... "We weren't that stupid... we weren't that smart either"
In the end, I doubt the expected the Star Wars Smart Brick sets to be this much of a loss leader... but you couldn't buy better advertising and awareness of the product. EVERYBODY now knows about Smart Bricks. Hopefully the follow-up sets in Pokemon or the eventual City / Friends releases better showcase what the darn things can actually do well.
I think that the idea to use Star Wars for the launch was due to the need to create a greater value for the set.
The Smart Brick is expensive and eavily engrave on the set's price. So choose an overpriced theme, sometimes desirable for something different for the value of the set (a good minifigure, a preferred scene of the movies...) could push up the sales making buyers forget the poor buildings for the reference price tags, that is the real weakness of Smart Play sets.
What's the solution? Maybe a 10$ smart brick. Possible? I don't know.
@smurfybloke said:
"“Has Star Wars Smart Play flopped?”
Was it a flop? A crunch? A swoosh? …we probably need listen a few more times to be certain.
"
*garbled gargling noises* With that said, I hoped the Smart Brick would be smart, say, stuff it in a train, let the train whistle, ring bells, etc. That's all *I* wanted, anyway.
If they made the smart brick available as a standalone, and packs of "accessory" bricks that could be integrated into standard sets, at a reasonable price, I think they would sell. Probably won't happen, because it would conflict with selling the sets they are trying to sell now. I'm not the target audience, but the main reason I did not buy any was the builds looked terrible compared to other releases of the Star Wars ships.
Smart Play or The Smart? Brick specifically would have been far, far better served by launching with a LEGO theme like CITY or even Ninjago, Pokémon or other licenses may see mixed success or become a runaway hit but to start with Star Wars was almost product suicide.
Disney Star Wars reputation is in the gutter, the modern audience never existed, if they did, they didn't go to the theatre or sign up for Disney+. Older fans of the original and prequel trilogies have had a lifetime of toys and other licensed products that had authentic lights and sounds. LEGO and Star Wars fans were never going to be satisfied with a limited synthesizer.
Parents and more so Fans choose when to pay the Disney and Star Wars tax for LEGO Star Wars sets, and we received a sub premium experience. The Smart Brick may have been for kids however; kids can't afford LEGO Star Wars and parents see poor models and packaging that caused confusion (Does it have a Smart Brick or not?) Never mind parents having isles of other toy product options to choose from.
The LEGO marketing campaign was poorly executed, confusing and even limited country availability. How do you NOT even launch your shiny new thing within your company’s home country? The Smart Brick and Tags should have also been sold separately like Power Functions and may need to be in the end. Is The Smart Brick specifically in LEGO Star Wars a flop? Yes.
So the smart brick, interesting as my family was part of the Beta test in the UK during the summer of 2024, and it's interesting to see this product eventually launch. The wireless charging matt is very different to the original design, but the brick remains very similar.
What is interesting, all our feedback at the time, revolved around poor battery life, my sons interest in playing with the animals, and our concerns around the seperate sets if the smart brick was highly priced. Outside of building the specific sets, and using the smart tiles with the models, it did not add much in the way of play value if you were free building.
It seemed such an odd decision to launch with Star Wars when the beta test was based around a City explorer theme. Quite surpricing they launched with Star Wars instead.
For me the real disappointment and I'm sure some of the reason of poor sales uptake (other than price) has been down to the product demonstration with LEGO shops and LEGOland windsor. Having visited Southampton store 1 week after launch, and twice to Stratford in the last 2 months and 3 times at LEGOland windsor, not once has the large display table for Smart play being open for potential customers to see the new technology. Only a load of smart bricks on charge could be seen each time. I'm sure this does not help.
@Andrusi said:" @jsutton said:"If the target audience is a child, why is the launch subject matter based on a 50-year-old IP, and why is the follow-up based on a 30-year-old IP? Either there is a third wave of sets to be launched which dazzles and amazes and proves all the critics wrong, or this has indeed probably already faded into obscurity."
Do you know anything at all about Pokemon other than the age of the franchise?"
Head to your local Walmart and go into the toy department. There'll be a whole section of nothing but Pokémon toys. And that's not even getting into the Pokémon centers, which are stores that sell nothing but Pokémon merch.
@Modeltrainman said:
" @smurfybloke said:
"“Has Star Wars Smart Play flopped?”
Was it a flop? A crunch? A swoosh? …we probably need listen a few more times to be certain.
"
*garbled gargling noises* With that said, I hoped the Smart Brick would be smart, say, stuff it in a train, let the train whistle, ring bells, etc. That's all *I* wanted, anyway."
I would go for that. Put the RFID tile on the tracks near a crossing and when the engine rolls over the tile, the train whistle a few times. As with most of these things, the concept is hardly ever bad, it's the implementation that suffers the most.
I dont know whether this is because of it being a flop but a lot of stores here in the UK are reducing them so for instance John Lewis, Smyths, Sainsbury's and Tesco etc.
John Lewis for example have slashed Luke's speeder down to £25 and Yoda's Hut is now £39.99 in Asda and it's not just the smart play stuff Plo koons microfighter is now £9.60 and the Mandalorian Walker has been reduced to £32
So it might be just that the star wars theme in general is not selling as well,
But most of them I'd still buy for Parts and figs.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"Sorry Capn, as a Pokémon fan, I'll have to partially disagree with this - it's a mixed bag on that front. A lot of them look fine (or at least not compromised by the Smart Brick), but some of them look kind of bad. Jigglypuff or Charmander, for example. It's definitely better than Star Wars though, so your overall point stands."
Yes, I am not saying they all look good and the standardised format for smaller characters does not work for some, but others look surprisingly impressive to me with or without the brick. Charizard, most notably.
@Mylenium said:
"LEGO Star Wars is pretty much a dumpster fire already."
One of the most successful LEGO themes of all time, but alright."
C'mon, are we completely disregarding all the issues that have arisen with Lego SW in the last 5 years or more?!!
The head of the theme doesn't know a Vader from an Emporer or a Clone from a Stormtrooper. His admited passion is for airplane models. This has had a knock-on effect in almost every area.
A dumpster fire would be nice. Might keep my hands warm.
Yes, next question.
@Brickalili said:
"I’d argue launching Smart with Star Wars was the better option than City precisely because they have so many distinct and iconic sounds. You have instant recognition there, probably more so than generic siren or engine noises.
Still a bit of a half-baked idea but I can see the logic "
Star Wars definitely has iconic sounds, and dialogue, but that also means you have to get it right. Star Wars fans don't want "that kinda sounds like R2"; they want it to be unmistakable. If this was introduced with City sets, "good enough" would be fine. There isn't one specific police siren or construction noise; As long as it was recognizable, that would work. If a Smart minifig bus driver says something like 'Next stop: Main Street!", it doesn't have to sound exactly like anything to get the point across.
But if you swoosh a TIE fighter and the brick makes a noise, it better sound like a TIE fighter from the movies. Or a lightsaber extending. If Smart minifig Han says, "Never tell me the odds!", it better sound like Harrison Ford. The speaker on the Smart brick simply isn't there, and when it's trying to replicate iconic audio, it has to get it right. If Smart minifig Luke says, "I am a Jedi, like my father before me" and the lightsaber sound plays, it needs to sound like the movie. Compared to, say, a generic City cop minifig saying, "We're in hot pursuit!" and playing a siren sound.
I sure hope so. For the sake of the hobby and for imagination in general tbh.
@GusG said:
"Who is advising Lego marketing wise???"
Well, their current CEO is a former McKinsey consultant exec. These types of companies are known for making money, not their ethical or logical decisions. Video essay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiOUojVd6xQ (content warning: language)
I always have regretted never having had a Sounds and Light set, so I bought a pair of Smart Lego SW sets (one with a Smart Brick, one with just tags) when they first came out. I will admit I still don't know what the fuss is all about, because I haven't even unpacked the boxes they came in. They may scratch an itch for me, but obviously not a very itchy itch....
However, I think Smart Bricks could still be a long-term success. They don't rely on phones or screens, and placing a variety of commands inside the tags rather than the bricks gives the system a lot more flexibility than many of the earlier attempts at mixing technology with Lego. It seems to build on the modest success of the Mario system, but with the ability to be used in many different themes, depending on how the tags are implemented. I commend TLG for continuing to try and find ways to combine tech and analog brick-building; today's parents may be keen to give their children non-tech toys as alternatives to endless screen time, but will tomorrow's parents feel the same way? TLG must be very worried if the future continues to inflate children's time online at the expense of IRL-amusements like Lego. Clearly TLG hasn't completely perfected the system, but it seems to me to offer plenty of potential.
Isn’t part of the whole playing to make the sounds all yourself ?!
I could get behind triggering some background-ambient-zones in Lego City when passing by certain building to enhance the own play-sounds.
But imo too much is lost in bringing too much digital stuff and sound in the mix.
Make cooler light bricks. Make a light system. Hell give me street lights and make interior-light-decoration sets with a little pattern or color-station. Little squeaky noises out of macro-speakers just don’t cut it and if anything makes it feel even more cheap. Loved the old 9V rails where you could attach lights 6481 / 6480
They even not available in Japan. With such limited global release.
Ugly chibi kiddy models which doesnt appeal to me. if it was "normal" scale / screen accurate enough models i might have bought it.