LEGO Olivia Rodrigo sets announced!

To re-write the comment I tried to post last time, I do think it's interesting that these sets went with minifigures over minidolls, especially since the brick-built objects with hidden compartments seem very in line with sets released for Wicked and Wednesday.

I'm not sure whether or not I like the guitar flower - a big part of the appeal of the Botanical sets for me is seeing highly-specialised pieces used in novel ways, so it's a little weird to see one where the part's original use is the point.

With these sets in your car boot, be very very careful about your wording if pulled over for questioning.

Brutal and Bad Idea Right? were both a lot of fun.

I feel a bit of deja vu with this announcement?!

Anyway, I know who she is, and I like Bad Idea, Right?

I'll still not be buying these sets. But happy for those who want them.

Honestly, I have no idea who this person is and had to Google her. I’m old and don’t really follow the music industry anymore, Although the sets look somewhat forgettable, they are still appealing for the intended target group.

@Aquatikelfik said:
"At least, these sets will bring us a lot more new blue-violet parts."
And a new star mould! Plus the silver stars

@wizpip said:
"Given who she is these are likely aimed at the teenage girl market, so I'm not sure a bunch of us middle aged guys debating it is very productive - her music is good, the sets are attractive.

But since the middle aged guys seem to be the ones with the deepest pockets I do wonder why there isn't / if there will be other artists that are more in our era, whether that's Abba, The Prodigy, Elton John, David Bowie, Dua Lipa, etc etc."

Wake me up when we get some stuff like The Moody Blues' "In Search of the Lost Chord", Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick", or "Waterloo" by ABBA in LEGO album artwork form. (Maybe with the last one we could get a Napoleon fig in a Bluecoat uniform? It might bring in all the Napoleonic war / Pirates people.)

In all seriousness, it seems LEGO is just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks... like SMART bricks, these sets and a bunch of other recent items.

@Andrusi said:
" @GrizBe said:
" @wizpip said:
"But since the middle aged guys seem to be the ones with the deepest pockets I do wonder why there isn't / if there will be other artists that are more in our era, whether that's Abba, The Prodigy, Elton John, David Bowie, Dua Lipa, etc etc."

Heck, I know I'd be front of the queue for a line of Queen sets. "

In front of the queueen, you mean."

No.

@KyloRen0806 said:
" @Balrogofmorgoth said:
" @KyloRen0806 said:
"As a huge livie, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THESE!!!! I am going to buy all these sets when they’re released. I am just a bit sad they chose minifigures instead of minidolls, they would’ve worked better, but, nonetheless, this is really a dream coming true."
This can’t possibly be a real comment
"

Well, I am sorry to inform you that it indeed is. Having known her since 2016/2017 when she began acting on Disney Channel in Bizaardvark, I have becoming higly interested in her since she appeared on Disney+’s HSMTMTS and debuted her first album (SOUR) in 2021. I am instantly going to buy the sets, I have been waiting more than two years for this to happen."

I think being obsessed with any celebrity is weird, but to say that minidolls should be used instead of minifigures in any scenario is absurd

Is this an April 1st LEGO announcement????

I can't think of a particular band that I would have ran out as a kid to buy, but my wife jokes that I can't tell one band from another, so I am clearly not the target audience. If I wanted another singer for the 10260 Downtown Diner's recording booth, this minifigure qualifies. But that isn't a good enough reason for me. And I already have 8831-15 Rocker Girl, 71007-12 Rock Star, 71010-12 Monster Rocker and a few others to fill that roll. They make a funny line climbing the stairs to the recording booth.

If my wife likes the flowers, I would get her those.

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success (2015). She rose to prominence with her leading roles in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark (2016–2019) and the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019–2022).

I never heard of her but just be famous if she has a whole line if sets. I don't bother and I am not insulted, I just didn't know who she is.

that small red guitar build is similar to my custom one i made years ago

that small red guitar build is similar to my custom one i made years ago

I don't know who decides on the sets in the theme, but they keep repeating the same thing.

- Flower set,
- Vinyl and megaphone set.
- Vinyl player set.
- Vinyl, megaphone and guitar set.
- Guitar set.

Even with SW and Marvel they don't release every variation at the same time. You don't get Darth Vader helmet, Darth Vader bust, midi Darth Vader scale, max Dath Vader scale in one wave.

This came out of nowhere.

Maybe it's because I'm not into music, but I just don't understand the appeal of these sets. It seems like they just created a collection of generic items and slapped some famous person's name (who I've never even heard of) on them to make them sell better. I'm particularly perplexed by the vinyl (why would anyone pay that much money for a black circle?) and the flowers (which have absolutely nothing tying them to this person).

Wow, quite a number of sets too, not just one. Not a big Olivia Rodrigo fan, but I wonder if they release something like this for Radiohead or Oasis (my favourite bands), would I buy them?

If one of the set is the Radiohead bear and one is the recreation of the Be Here Now album cover, maybe.

Maybe Lego wants to expand its market to include music lovers who are spending lots of money on merch. Haha! Maybe the Beatles and also the BTS sets sold well before? Even if I’m an Olivia fan, I’m not sure I want all these. Maybe a collab comprising a Lego gift with purchase of a brand new LP will work. I’m just not interested in a fake record made of Lego. How about a set of the latest MTV with Olivia at the Palace of Versailles.

Despite being in my mid forties I do know who Olivia is, though I'll only get the flowers out of this collection.

Someone mentioned ABBA would be good band for this theme and I would really like to see what they came up with if they did.

Also tennis if would be another, there are a few players who would get behind that.

Well designed sets no doubt and some nice colours as well but " some of her most iconic on-stage moments through the years ".
She is 23.
She once sat on a moon.
Lets get ad copy back to the real world.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not having heard of something, but I do think it’s a little weird to effectively declare “I’m ignorant” as if that says anything about whatever you haven’t heard of. It just means you, personally, haven’t heard of it.

Maybe just look it up? As a couple of people have demonstrated is a perfectly viable option? It’s fun to learn things. Be one of today’s lucky ten thousand.

And her music is pretty good."

I fully agree to all of this.

Fun story:
When Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams was still a struggling artist a lot of people responded to his name like a lot of the Brickset users are currently responding to Olivia Rodrigo -- except she's already a legitimate star with millions of fans worldwide. After Adams' self-titled 1980 debut album flopped, he intended to name his second album:
'Bryan Adams Hasn't Heard Of You Either'.

Perhaps Olivia can use that idea for her next record. (Bryan Adams ultimately settled on 'You Want It You Got It', by the way)"

Evan and Jaron (year 2000 ‘Crazy for This Girl’ one hit wonders with a surprisingly weird post-hit career, as covered by Todd in the Shadows’ One Hit Wonderland series for the curious, also the only reason I’ve heard of them because they were zero hit wonders in the UK) actually did something like that in ‘98! “We’ve Never Heard of You Either.”

@Hiratha said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not having heard of something, but I do think it’s a little weird to effectively declare “I’m ignorant” as if that says anything about whatever you haven’t heard of. It just means you, personally, haven’t heard of it.

Maybe just look it up? As a couple of people have demonstrated is a perfectly viable option? It’s fun to learn things. Be one of today’s lucky ten thousand.

And her music is pretty good."

I fully agree to all of this.

Fun story:
When Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams was still a struggling artist a lot of people responded to his name like a lot of the Brickset users are currently responding to Olivia Rodrigo -- except she's already a legitimate star with millions of fans worldwide. After Adams' self-titled 1980 debut album flopped, he intended to name his second album:
'Bryan Adams Hasn't Heard Of You Either'.

Perhaps Olivia can use that idea for her next record. (Bryan Adams ultimately settled on 'You Want It You Got It', by the way)"

Evan and Jaron (year 2000 ‘Crazy for This Girl’ one hit wonders with a surprisingly weird post-hit career, as covered by Todd in the Shadows’ One Hit Wonderland series for the curious, also the only reason I’ve heard of them because they were zero hit wonders in the UK) actually did something like that in ‘98! “We’ve Never Heard of You Either.”"

I actually own the album with 'Crazy For This Girl' on it! Love that song. I think I missed it at the time, but I got to know the song because it was on Dawson's Creek. Nice album, and I'd definitely have to look into their further careers. Thanks for sharing!

@danieltheo said:
"As a 50 something slightly balding British male AFOL, I have a feeling I am not really in the target market for these sets; but then again, am I the target market for any colourful plastic toy as a 50 something slightly balding man...?"
Sure, e.g. 10497 , 10305-1 , 40912

@CCC said:
"First Sophie Ellis-Bextor x LEGO Botanicals, now this.

I'll pay attention when they do some Dire Straits. :-)

"

It wouldn't be too hard to replicate the 'Money For Nothing' music video in LEGO form. But in that case I also want a minifig of Sting singing background vocals!

More celebrity tie-in sets? Every day we inch closer to the inevitable future where LEGO accidentally makes sets for the next R. Kelley or something…

Not necessarily for me, but I like the idea of getting more minifigs of musical artists, past and present.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @CCC said:
"First Sophie Ellis-Bextor x LEGO Botanicals, now this.

I'll pay attention when they do some Dire Straits. :-)

"

It wouldn't be too hard to replicate the 'Money For Nothing' music video in LEGO form. But in that case I also want a minifig of Sting singing background vocals!"

Since MTV has sadly gone the way of the dodo, I would bet kids these days wouldn't know what that is at all... and that depresses me. I want my MTV!

I don't know what an Olivia Rodrigo is, but that's a neat flower set. But I'm not sure it fits with the rest I have.

is this the first minifigure to show a tongue?

I'm not the target for these sets but I find them great and at a nice price.

Lego are like god dam vampire sucking money out of the fans!

Can sets based on bands/singers actually work? Despite how big the fanbases can be, how many fans are willing to buy sets based on their favourite artist? It works with TV shows and movies because you have specific scenes and costumes you can base the sets on but here it's just a bunch of pretty generic large objects (and a whole wave of them too...) paired with a minifig. It might still interest the bigger fans but what about everyone else?
Apparently the BTS set sold fairly well at first but lost steam quickly and is now heavily discounted on the secondary market as its value went down 25%.

@Murdoch17 said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @CCC said:
"First Sophie Ellis-Bextor x LEGO Botanicals, now this.

I'll pay attention when they do some Dire Straits. :-)

"

It wouldn't be too hard to replicate the 'Money For Nothing' music video in LEGO form. But in that case I also want a minifig of Sting singing background vocals!"

Since MTV has sadly gone the way of the dodo, I would bet kids these days wouldn't know what that is at all... and that depresses me. I want my MTV!"

You may even need to explain the concept of TV itself. :'-)

I know my girlfriend will want these. That might be the next couple of birthdays/Christmases sorted!

I don't really mind her music (her song for the last Hunger Games movie was amazing), but wake me up when we get LEGO Editions: Hans Zimmer!

@molrak said:
"I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?"

Don’t follow the sport but the trophy does seem to be selling well enough that it was on backorder the last time I saw it on Lego’s site. Evidently plenty of people want one.

@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"I know my girlfriend will want these. That might be the next couple of birthdays/Christmases sorted!

I don't really mind her music (her song for the last Hunger Games movie was amazing), but wake me up when we get LEGO Editions: Hans Zimmer!"

That would be awesome- imagine the vignettes they could do from Interstellar, Inception, Blade Runner 2049, ect. they could do!

@molrak said:
"I don't know if the BTS set was overproduced or didn't sell well on low production numbers, but it was lingering around retail shelves for ages, both in-store and online. They're the biggest group of the decade. (If memory serves, the set's timing wasn't great? Landed near / during their hiatus.) Price point no doubt played a part, and it looks like these sets should cross a fair range of RRPs.

I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?

And does anyone remember that Pharrell set (tied to his movie)? Or even the VIDIYO line?"

There were various reasons why those sets didn't connect with the intended audiences, nor LEGO audiences alike, but if I can give you one counter argument: The Beatles.

They have the same thing in common as the sitcom sets @Elrond pointed out, which is nostalgia. Many people on Brickset have described their 'LEGO Dark Ages', which usually occurs around the time when then become a teenager. Most get back into LEGO once nostalgia for their childhood kicks in. If that is reflected in LEGO sales data, it would mean that the teen market is hard for LEGO to tap into. If so, it figures to create sets based on things popular in that age bracket, like music and sports. Whether or not it works, is a different story...

The Pharrell sets are still a mystery to me, though, because his popularity peaked over a decade prior to LEGO making sets of him. Perhaps because of his association with the Minions?

After yesterday’s appetizer, I gotta say, this comment section has lived up to what I wanted it to be when it finally happened. Round of applause

@troynos said:
" @kfr said:
" @Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
"Feel like they’d be better off doing multiple artists here. They are expecting a whole lot of Olivia fans to also be afols I guess. I think they may end up competing with themselves on this one. "

Ah, no! They expect a whole lot of Olivia fans to _become_ afols after buying these sets. Which they are going to buy because they are huge Olivia fans ;)"

exactly

they do things like this to bring in new fans"

That's why I'm confused why they didn't maximize the number of artists that got sets.

@CommandrCody212 said:
"I like the idea of creating sets around real-world musicians and athletes under the Editions banner, but I think that the execution of this theme could have been better.

Producing maybe one or two sets for Olivia Rodrigo fans would have been more than adequate in my opinion, as opposed to producing an entire wave.

Meanwhile, they could focus on other musicians, artists, and athletes to create a wave that would appeal to multiple interests, as opposed to appealing only to those super fans of one musician. "

Don't worry, they are. I know that Anna Lapwood (Instagram classical organist) has been working on a collaboration with Lego.

@Crux said:
" @Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
" @Meppers said:
"is this the first minifigure to show a tongue?"

No, and not the first Light Nougat one to either. Emmet and Benny are key culprits, but if you look through CMF’s long enough, you’ll find plenty. "

Not very recent, fairly prominent: https://brickset.com/minifigs/alp005
Fairly recent, reasonably prominent: https://brickset.com/minifigs/coltlbm14
Very recent, unreasonably prominent: https://brickset.com/minifigs/fort010"

One is not like the other… in a good way.

@LD_Brickmaster said:
" @Kre_O said:
" @Crux said:
" @Balrogofmorgoth said:
" @KyloRen0806 said:
" @Balrogofmorgoth said:
" @KyloRen0806 said:
"As a huge livie, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THESE!!!! I am going to buy all these sets when they’re released. I am just a bit sad they chose minifigures instead of minidolls, they would’ve worked better, but, nonetheless, this is really a dream coming true."
This can’t possibly be a real comment
"

Well, I am sorry to inform you that it indeed is. Having known her since 2016/2017 when she began acting on Disney Channel in Bizaardvark, I have becoming higly interested in her since she appeared on Disney+’s HSMTMTS and debuted her first album (SOUR) in 2021. I am instantly going to buy the sets, I have been waiting more than two years for this to happen."

I think being obsessed with any celebrity is weird, but to say that minidolls should be used instead of minifigures in any scenario is absurd "

Come on, man. We all have our passions and obsessions, otherwise we wouldn't even be on this site. I mean, judging from your name you are a huge fan of Street Fighter-bosses, and you know what - I get it. But even if I didn't, I wouldn't fault you for it. Embrace your fandom, it's cool."

You know someone isn't a Lego fan when they want minidolls over minifigures."

...I feel like this conversation has gone SOUR."

Olivia Rodrigo decided to have minifigures over minidolls. Even she knows that minidolls aren't proper Lego.

I don't personally have any interest in these sets (or any big musician sets really, I prefer smaller synthpop and synthwave artists over radio pop) but they're very well designed, even if the display stuff is getting old.

@Meppers said:
"is this the first minifigure to show a tongue?"

No. Some above, and also Patrick and Spongebob, little devil CMF, pug CMF, the devil from Monster 4, Harley Quinn, various aliens, Slimer and slimed Venkman from Ghostbusters, the recent trash monster, Michaelangelo from the Turtles, Scooby Doo (if you allow animals as minifigures), Unikitty, and many others with tongues showing if not poking out.

Overall these look pretty solid. I do like her music and may have to pick one of them up. The large guitar looks nice and the figures are good, but I don't want to drop that much on a set. So I will have to consider the record maybe.

@lordofthedreams9 said:
"Huh, so Editions is not all about sports..."

Makes me question the point of the theme. Icons is the exact same, even having a brick built guitar before.

I have no idea what any of her music sounds like, but that's a nifty half of an Ernie Ball St. Vincent guitar

These sets look really cool! The flowers are very overpriced and I find the guitar expensive as well but the other sets are priced pretty well. The minifigures are OUTSTANDING! So detailed, and I love that new hair mold.

I think Olivia Rodrigo actually works pretty well with LEGO and her fans would find some of these sets appealing. Honestly, I'm just surprised Taylor Swift isn't the first musical artist to get this kind of LEGO release.

I really liked the music video for Good 4 U when it first dropped, so I’m really happy to see it being represented in the Secret Storage set. This’ll likely be the only time Lego produces a set where a teen girl is burning down her ex boyfriend’s house!

Phenomenal minifigures! I will definitely be getting my hands on the aforementioned Good 4 U cheerleader one. Always love to see a stylish new hairpiece as well!

I may know a few of her songs but I just don't know it's her singing them. I think the sets are reasonably well made and should appeal to the fans. As for me, it is all about new parts and parts recolour - while there are a few parts recolour in there, none of them are of interest to me at the mment. There are also quite a few good minifig heads in there (might have to erase some flowers, stars and butterflies first).

I would assume that Lego will eventually run into a problem with the retailers (if it is not already the case). Retailers have finite amount of shelf space. By rapidly increasing the number of items Lego sells the retailers have to make a choice of what products to showcase as not all of them will fit on the available shelves. This, in turn, could make some lines difficult to find. This, of course, do not really apply (to a degree) to online stores.

I bet Taylor swift is the next it's just too obvious

@kfr said:
[[Will we manage to go 20 comments without somebody claiming they don't even know who this is, so how does Lego dare to make these sets? :)

[obviously, the answer is 'no' since now that I said it, somebody will post it just because...]]]

I honestly don't know who she is and why these were even made when there are so many legends out there! I guess they are trying to do more sets for the "kids" these days.

People commenting on the BTS set: That had some terribly unfortunate timing that worked against it. BTS had a few years of hiatus (Korea has mandatory military enlistment) that they're just starting to emerge/return from.

The Pharrel set was super confusing though. I couldn't have seen that one happening no matter the timing.

Her music doesn't resonate with me at all, but good for her fans I guess. I don't know how well the BTS and Pharrell sets sold, so I don't have a metric about Lego celebrity sets.

@Meppers said:
"is this the first minifigure to show a tongue?"

Nope, Barty Crouch in Moody disguise from HP did. There are probably others but he's the first I thought of.

It's giving Vidiyo vibes.. we all know how it ended up.

@JediWagon said:
"I bet Taylor swift is the next it's just too obvious "

Why? Taylor Swift is all about maximum profit, I reckon her licensing costs are too much. She even re-recorded all her old albums just to make more money from royalties.

Can't wait for the LEGO Lorna Shore sets, gonna be great.

Make a set for "Prison Of Flesh" you cowards.

@SMC said:
"5 sets for this when Indiana Jones only got 3 sets a few years ago is an evolution for sure.

I do think this should have been like the sports sets, where each set focused on a different artist."

I got you, so like one set for her, and split the other four up between, oh, Garbage, Soraia, The Cocktail Slippers, and The Love Me Nots? You know, to pick four other musical groups entirely at random.

@Meppers said:
"is this the first minifigure to show a tongue?"

Definitely not. 71017-14 is nothing but tongue. 71032-11 is just two tongues. She’s not even the first human with tongue. 71020-19 gives a little bit on her alternate “Canary Cry” face.

My dad is a big Olivia Rodrigo fan. He hates these lol.

I won't repeat my comment from yesterday, so I will just ask this: Why no minidolls? I though LEGO thinks girls love those more than minifigures.

Don't know this person, don't care.

...but I like these for one reason: We're one step closer to a LEGO ZZ Top tribute. Maybe not a full volley of 5 sets, but closer nonetheless. C'mon LEGO, bring me the Eliminator, long beards and fuzzy guitars. The minifigs would be stuff of 80s legend.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Kre_O said:
" @JediWagon said:
"I bet Taylor swift is the next it's just too obvious "

Why? Taylor Swift is all about maximum profit, I reckon her licensing costs are too much. She even re-recorded all her old albums just to make more money from royalties."

She re-recorded her music so she could actually own it. She had some sort of contractual agreement that, if the rights to her albums were ever sold, she had right of first refusal. And they were sold to someone else instead, who then refused to sell them to her. So she did him one back by making her back catalog largely worthless when she re-recorded everything. There’s probably not a Swiftie alive who will buy the original albums anymore (you know they all know the full story by now), so dude got cut off from the piggy bank. If he would have just sold the rights to her, there would have been no need to duplicate them."

The record deal that she originally signed is typical in the industry, whereby the record industry invest in the artist and in return they have lesser rights to the recordings. Her re-recording the albums was just about pure greed, and musically a bit poor to listen to the re-recordings and not the originals.

But with greed like that I'm not surprised that Lego would struggle to do a licensed theme, the costs would just be too high.

@lowlead said:
"Don't know this person, don't care.

...but I like these for one reason: We're one step closer to a LEGO ZZ Top tribute. Maybe not a full volley of 5 sets, but closer nonetheless. C'mon LEGO, bring me the Eliminator, long beards and fuzzy guitars. The minifigs would be stuff of 80s legend."

Y'know, I've been struggling to think of a band or singer I'd want to see in Lego form...
Okay, ZZ Top is one...

Yesterday, I was one of the first to react on this before the article got removed. Now seems like a few people were slightly quicker....like 8 hours or so :-)

I know who she is, know she's quite popular, have heard at least a few songs from here but can't remember any of them. But fine, I'm not the target audience anymore. That said, I am surprised to see this many sets all at once. And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me. While the flower bouquet would have some appeal outside of her fanbase, all of the other sets seem kinda specific.

Also, kinda surprised they didn't go for Taylor Swift first. Though probably just a matter of money: Taylor Swift will make her fans pay top price for whatever she does, so I guess this was just the budget option. Or maybe even initiated by het management as a way of promotion? For kids, any artis available in Lego form will obviously be alot cooler than any other artist.

And talking about other artists, ones I would love to see, no matter how unlikely:
- Iron Maiden - Every iteration of Eddie in Lego form!
- AC/DC - The Thunderstruck stage!
- Muse - Plenty of iconic stuff
- Rammstein - Obviously must include a Fire Brick!
- ZZ Top - The Eliminator indeed!
- Weird Al Yankovic - Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away.....
- Beastie Boys - Sabotage!

@Kre_O said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Kre_O said:
" @JediWagon said:
"I bet Taylor swift is the next it's just too obvious "

Why? Taylor Swift is all about maximum profit, I reckon her licensing costs are too much. She even re-recorded all her old albums just to make more money from royalties."

She re-recorded her music so she could actually own it. She had some sort of contractual agreement that, if the rights to her albums were ever sold, she had right of first refusal. And they were sold to someone else instead, who then refused to sell them to her. So she did him one back by making her back catalog largely worthless when she re-recorded everything. There’s probably not a Swiftie alive who will buy the original albums anymore (you know they all know the full story by now), so dude got cut off from the piggy bank. If he would have just sold the rights to her, there would have been no need to duplicate them."

The record deal that she originally signed is typical in the industry, whereby the record industry invest in the artist and in return they have lesser rights to the recordings. Her re-recording the albums was just about pure greed, and musically a bit poor to listen to the re-recordings and not the originals.

But with greed like that I'm not surprised that Lego would struggle to do a licensed theme, the costs would just be too high."
That's what I would have guessed. She always seemed to be purely about greed to me. Never liked her music either. Bland and boring, soulless and uncreative.
There is so much music around that is actually that no one needs T. S.
Pity that so many (young) people these days are all about pure consumption and easy listening than actually engaging content.

I'm just happy Nick Cave of the Bad Seeds already got his own minifigure.

https://brickset.com/minifigs/sh0856

Who is Olivia Rodrigo??

Given that Chris Stapleton had a Lego video for his song 'Second One To Know' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zRVuDKxhX8) I am disappointed that there isn't a set with Chris Stapleton in it... plus I like his music enough that I would probably buy it.

I do have the 'Yellow Submarine' set.

I have heard of Olivia Rodrigo - I couldn't name any of her songs - fair play to fans of her and Lego, and to anyone who's interested in these sets though.

If they turn it up to eleven, could we get Spinal Tap based sets?

@560heliport said:
" @lowlead said:
"Don't know this person, don't care.

...but I like these for one reason: We're one step closer to a LEGO ZZ Top tribute. Maybe not a full volley of 5 sets, but closer nonetheless. C'mon LEGO, bring me the Eliminator, long beards and fuzzy guitars. The minifigs would be stuff of 80s legend."

Y'know, I've been struggling to think of a band or singer I'd want to see in Lego form...
Okay, ZZ Top is one..."

I would take the 3 tenors. But they would have to create a new part to make a minifig look fat (they should do that part anyway, it would have many usages) as Pavarotti is definitely not the same shape as the other two (it might be feasible to make a decent rendition of them with existing parts). The other two I can think of are Elvis and Michael Jackson but I'm not sure if people care that much about them anymore.

While I don't care much about the music of ZZ Top, if Lego were to make a reasonably priced set based on them, I would probably get it if only for the novelty of it.

@Kre_O said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Kre_O said:
" @JediWagon said:
"I bet Taylor swift is the next it's just too obvious "

Why? Taylor Swift is all about maximum profit, I reckon her licensing costs are too much. She even re-recorded all her old albums just to make more money from royalties."

She re-recorded her music so she could actually own it. She had some sort of contractual agreement that, if the rights to her albums were ever sold, she had right of first refusal. And they were sold to someone else instead, who then refused to sell them to her. So she did him one back by making her back catalog largely worthless when she re-recorded everything. There’s probably not a Swiftie alive who will buy the original albums anymore (you know they all know the full story by now), so dude got cut off from the piggy bank. If he would have just sold the rights to her, there would have been no need to duplicate them."

The record deal that she originally signed is typical in the industry, whereby the record industry invest in the artist and in return they have lesser rights to the recordings. Her re-recording the albums was just about pure greed, and musically a bit poor to listen to the re-recordings and not the originals.

But with greed like that I'm not surprised that Lego would struggle to do a licensed theme, the costs would just be too high."

No, man. I mean, yes, typically how it works is the songwriter gets royalties every time the song gets played on the radio (or these days, every so many plays on streaming), while the record label owns the publishing rights to everything that was produced under contract with them. But she was guaranteed right of first refusal if those publishing rights ever got sold, and the label sold them to someone else without ever telling her. That should have resulted in a breach of contract lawsuit, but even then there’s no guarantee that the courts could force the guy to sell her the rights to her own songs. You want to point fingers and claim greed, he’s your man. She’s successful enough that she can afford to buy out her entire catalog (many artists are not), but someone screwed her over. It would not surprise me if the guy who bought them bribed someone at the label to do a direct sale to him, because I don’t see how the label benefits financially from a pocket sale. I’m pretty sure she could have outbid him if it came to that.

Not bad sets, tbh.
Flower set is interesting for me.
And the minifigs look great.

Olivia who?

@WizardOfOss said:
"Yesterday, I was one of the first to react on this before the article got removed. Now seems like a few people were slightly quicker....like 8 hours or so :-)

I know who she is, know she's quite popular, have heard at least a few songs from here but can't remember any of them. But fine, I'm not the target audience anymore. That said, I am surprised to see this many sets all at once. And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me. While the flower bouquet would have some appeal outside of her fanbase, all of the other sets seem kinda specific.

Also, kinda surprised they didn't go for Taylor Swift first. Though probably just a matter of money: Taylor Swift will make her fans pay top price for whatever she does, so I guess this was just the budget option. Or maybe even initiated by het management as a way of promotion? For kids, any artis available in Lego form will obviously be alot cooler than any other artist.

And talking about other artists, ones I would love to see, no matter how unlikely:
- Iron Maiden - Every iteration of Eddie in Lego form!
- AC/DC - The Thunderstruck stage!
- Muse - Plenty of iconic stuff
- Rammstein - Obviously must include a Fire Brick!
- ZZ Top - The Eliminator indeed!
- Weird Al Yankovic - Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away.....
- Beastie Boys - Sabotage!"

I feel like Weird Al would be a perfect fit for this theme. He is loved by kids and adults alike and there’s a LOT of material to work with if there were to be a whole line of sets like with what Olivia is getting.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing a set dedicated to Prince. Or Chicago, but I know they may be a little more niche.

@BrudderandHisBricks said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Yesterday, I was one of the first to react on this before the article got removed. Now seems like a few people were slightly quicker....like 8 hours or so :-)

I know who she is, know she's quite popular, have heard at least a few songs from here but can't remember any of them. But fine, I'm not the target audience anymore. That said, I am surprised to see this many sets all at once. And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me. While the flower bouquet would have some appeal outside of her fanbase, all of the other sets seem kinda specific.

Also, kinda surprised they didn't go for Taylor Swift first. Though probably just a matter of money: Taylor Swift will make her fans pay top price for whatever she does, so I guess this was just the budget option. Or maybe even initiated by het management as a way of promotion? For kids, any artis available in Lego form will obviously be alot cooler than any other artist.

And talking about other artists, ones I would love to see, no matter how unlikely:
- Iron Maiden - Every iteration of Eddie in Lego form!
- AC/DC - The Thunderstruck stage!
- Muse - Plenty of iconic stuff
- Rammstein - Obviously must include a Fire Brick!
- ZZ Top - The Eliminator indeed!
- Weird Al Yankovic - Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away.....
- Beastie Boys - Sabotage!"

I feel like Weird Al would be a perfect fit for this theme. He is loved by kids and adults alike and there’s a LOT of material to work with if there were to be a whole line of sets like with what Olivia is getting.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing a set dedicated to Prince."

Yes! We need a His Royal Badness set!

@brigadeschick said:
"Given that Chris Stapleton had a Lego video for his song 'Second One To Know' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zRVuDKxhX8) I am disappointed that there isn't a set with Chris Stapleton in it... plus I like his music enough that I would probably buy it."

Reminds me of this one too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM

Who?

@CCC said:
"I'll pay attention when they do some Dire Straits. :-)"

I’d absolutely buy a set of the Brothers In Arms guitar.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"It wouldn't be too hard to replicate the 'Money For Nothing' music video in LEGO form. But in that case I also want a minifig of Sting singing background vocals!"

They have to edit the lyrics out three times, and not because the FCC made them. No way TLG touches that song.

@GoldenNinja3000 said:
"Honestly, I'm just surprised Taylor Swift isn't the first musical artist to get this kind of LEGO release. "

Pretty sure the Beatles were first with 21306.

@WizardOfOss said:
"And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me."

You forgot the Spice Girls…but then again, so has everyone else.

"- ZZ Top - The Eliminator indeed!"

Now that would be a great one for Speed Champions.

Who ???

@PurpleDave said:
"You forgot the Spice Girls…but then again, so has everyone else."
Yes I did. Thanks but no thanks for teminding me ;-)

Was their Lego version a success?

@WizardOfOss said:
"Yesterday, I was one of the first to react on this before the article got removed. Now seems like a few people were slightly quicker....like 8 hours or so :-)

I know who she is, know she's quite popular, have heard at least a few songs from here but can't remember any of them. But fine, I'm not the target audience anymore. That said, I am surprised to see this many sets all at once. And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me. While the flower bouquet would have some appeal outside of her fanbase, all of the other sets seem kinda specific.

Also, kinda surprised they didn't go for Taylor Swift first. Though probably just a matter of money: Taylor Swift will make her fans pay top price for whatever she does, so I guess this was just the budget option. Or maybe even initiated by het management as a way of promotion? For kids, any artis available in Lego form will obviously be alot cooler than any other artist.

And talking about other artists, ones I would love to see, no matter how unlikely:
- Iron Maiden - Every iteration of Eddie in Lego form!
- AC/DC - The Thunderstruck stage!
- Muse - Plenty of iconic stuff
- Rammstein - Obviously must include a Fire Brick!
- ZZ Top - The Eliminator indeed!
- Weird Al Yankovic - Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away.....
- Beastie Boys - Sabotage!"

Rammstein and children = not a good combo, from what I've heard

Who is Olivia Rodrigo?

@WizardOfOss said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"You forgot the Spice Girls…but then again, so has everyone else."
Yes I did. Thanks but no thanks for teminding me ;-)

Was their Lego version a success?"

Way I heard it, a single person in Billund pushed it like the best thing since sliced bread, all so they could buy a copy. So I’m guessing they sold one copy at launch, and the rest ended up languishing until they hit clearance. So infinitely more successful than I would have expected by that point in time.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @alyxavior said:
"Who?"

The Who? Nah, probably a bit old for Lego....

The Hu maybe?"

I'd go for some The Hu sets. :)

Did Taylor Swift want too much money?

This is not the way.

I hope Lego doesn't give boys equal time. If I see a set that represents the random crap on a young guy's desk (like these sets) it's going to be gross!!

@alyxavior said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @alyxavior said:
"Who?"

The Who? Nah, probably a bit old for Lego....

The Hu maybe?"

I'd go for some The Hu sets. :) "

If they don't release a set for the Hu it'd be strange, very strange.

Or you could say

Yuve yuve yu

Feels like a lot of people are once again confusing a comments section with a google search...Feels like a lot of people are once again confusing a comments section with a google search...

@Hiratha said:
"“The contract was typical for the music industry” is not an argument for “and therefore only a greedy person could object to it”. It’s an argument for “the contract was highly unfair and possibly actively malicious”. The music industry has not, historically or presently, treated many of its musicians well.

I doubt that a woman who signed her first contract at 14 was an exception, however well-off her parents are."

There's an audio clip of Little Richard discussing how little he actually made off of his own records. The industry was definitely set up to make the artist famous and the label wealthy. And if you don't have a good manager, you'll walk out at the end with nothing but some metal records to hang on your wall, and enough appeal to do the state/county fair circuit. It's the reason so many successful artists have gone on to start their own labels, so they can make a clean break from the big studio system. It gives them full control over what gets released, and control over who gets the money.

"There are certainly other reasons one might describe Taylor Swift as greedy — no album needs more than one bonus edition — but re-recording her songs so a git couldn’t profit off her work, to which he had contributed nothing to the creation thereof, as much as he expected to isn’t one of them."

So, these bonus editions...were they based on the original albums, or the re-recorded albums? If the former, did she have control over their release, or did whoever held the publishing rights just decide to release them? Elvis has been dead for decades, but someone who was in control of his publishing rights kept cranking out album after album after album, even though there really wasn't anything new to work with. Can't blame any of that on Elvis.

@PurpleDave

Oh, no, this was a recent thing, the album before last, not to do with the re-recorded albums or her original (music industry standard horrible) contract, well after the point where she had established a better amount of control over her career.

The Tortured Poets Department had a ridiculous number of released variants. Something like nineteen separate physical releases at first, five of which had bonus tracks on that were all unique to their particular release, and then a few months later there was another one with even more bonus tracks.

Generally speaking I’m a more-the-merrier sort of person when it comes to merch and special editions and so on but that was all a bit much! I think when you have completionist fans you do have a bit of responsibility not to be too obvious about exploiting their enthusiasm.

(I’m still a bit on the fence over calling it greedy, personally, and I go back and forth over whether I think it, but unlike with regard to the re-recording I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable to do so, and it seemed fair to acknowledge that there’s at least a bit of smoke there.)

(Although I also think it’s worth mentioning that she’s done some pretty good work at pressuring streaming companies etc to pay *all* of their artists better, not just her, and she didn’t need to do that nor benefitted financially from doing so.)

ETA: (And if only most of those artists that went on to start their own labels didn’t immediately start exploiting their own signed artists, sigh. Psy-of-Gangnam-Style-fame being the only notable exception I’m aware of.)

@molrak said:
"I don't know if the BTS set was overproduced or didn't sell well on low production numbers, but it was lingering around retail shelves for ages, both in-store and online. They're the biggest group of the decade. (If memory serves, the set's timing wasn't great? Landed near / during their hiatus.) Price point no doubt played a part, and it looks like these sets should cross a fair range of RRPs.

I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?

And does anyone remember that Pharrell set (tied to his movie)? Or even the VIDIYO line?"

In my opinion if something is popular, then you should see this information in the prices and in the availability.

Personally I think this timing thing also isn’t a big factor, because we are talking about fans. And fans just don’t care, they buy everything what they like.

@vzarmo said:
" @molrak said:
"I don't know if the BTS set was overproduced or didn't sell well on low production numbers, but it was lingering around retail shelves for ages, both in-store and online. They're the biggest group of the decade. (If memory serves, the set's timing wasn't great? Landed near / during their hiatus.) Price point no doubt played a part, and it looks like these sets should cross a fair range of RRPs.

I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?

And does anyone remember that Pharrell set (tied to his movie)? Or even the VIDIYO line?"

In my opinion if something is popular, then you should see this information in the prices and in the availability.

Personally I think this timing thing also isn’t a big factor, because we are talking about fans. And fans just don’t care, they buy everything what they like. "

I mean, in fairness, most people buy what they like. I for one, vowed never to use my credit-card in anger.

@GBP_Chris said:
" @alyxavior said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @alyxavior said:
"Who?"

The Who? Nah, probably a bit old for Lego....

The Hu maybe?"

I'd go for some The Hu sets. :) "

If they don't release a set for the Hu it'd be strange, very strange.

Or you could say

Yuve yuve yu"

Haha, nice one!

A Lego set from that music video would be awesome........and likely by far the biggest Lego set ever! :-)

But more realistically, their Morin Khuur in Lego form could actually work very well in Lego form, and would be amazing!

@Crux said:
" @vzarmo said:
" @molrak said:
"I don't know if the BTS set was overproduced or didn't sell well on low production numbers, but it was lingering around retail shelves for ages, both in-store and online. They're the biggest group of the decade. (If memory serves, the set's timing wasn't great? Landed near / during their hiatus.) Price point no doubt played a part, and it looks like these sets should cross a fair range of RRPs.

I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?

And does anyone remember that Pharrell set (tied to his movie)? Or even the VIDIYO line?"

In my opinion if something is popular, then you should see this information in the prices and in the availability.

Personally I think this timing thing also isn’t a big factor, because we are talking about fans. And fans just don’t care, they buy everything what they like. "

I mean, in fairness, most people buy what they like. I for one, vowed never to use my credit-card in anger."

and your point is?

@Crux said:
" @vzarmo said:
" @Crux said:
" @vzarmo said:
" @molrak said:
"I don't know if the BTS set was overproduced or didn't sell well on low production numbers, but it was lingering around retail shelves for ages, both in-store and online. They're the biggest group of the decade. (If memory serves, the set's timing wasn't great? Landed near / during their hiatus.) Price point no doubt played a part, and it looks like these sets should cross a fair range of RRPs.

I know the football(/soccer) sets are getting a World Cup bounce, but I wonder how successful they'll prove. Some of the players were obvious, but some are not as universally applauded. Do that many people care to have a LEGO World Cup Trophy on their shelf?

And does anyone remember that Pharrell set (tied to his movie)? Or even the VIDIYO line?"

In my opinion if something is popular, then you should see this information in the prices and in the availability.

Personally I think this timing thing also isn’t a big factor, because we are talking about fans. And fans just don’t care, they buy everything what they like. "

I mean, in fairness, most people buy what they like. I for one, vowed never to use my credit-card in anger."

and your point is? "

Floating gently over your head."

hard to miss something that had no point to begin with.

@Zordboy said:
" @kfr said:
"Will we manage to go 20 comments without somebody claiming they don't even know who this is, so how does Lego dare to make these sets?"

Well I'm not upset about the sets, but I still don't have the slightest idea who Olivia Rodrigo is.

I just think, at some point, as you grow older, you lose touch with pop culture. It's easier to follow that stuff in your 20s and 30s, but then you hit middle-age and become a grizzly, cynical, jaded adult.

"

I’ve liked Olivia Rodrigo’s songs and music videos since her first award-winning song Drivers License.
She’s very pretty, and exceedingly talented - and very famous among non-grizzled people!

My only comment is about the marketing guff:
“every era of her astounding career.”

She’s 23 years old!
She doesn’t have more than 1 era yet!

All these sets look/feel a little bit the same. Coukd have been a 5-in-1 set if you ask me

@lemish34 said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @kfr said:
"Will we manage to go 20 comments without somebody claiming they don't even know who this is, so how does Lego dare to make these sets?"

Well I'm not upset about the sets, but I still don't have the slightest idea who Olivia Rodrigo is.

I just think, at some point, as you grow older, you lose touch with pop culture. It's easier to follow that stuff in your 20s and 30s, but then you hit middle-age and become a grizzly, cynical, jaded adult.

"

I’ve liked Olivia Rodrigo’s songs and music videos since her first award-winning song Drivers License.
She’s very pretty, and exceedingly talented - and very famous among non-grizzled people!

My only comment is about the marketing guff:
“every era of her astounding career.”

She’s 23 years old!
She doesn’t have more than 1 era yet!"

I think we’re using “era” to mean “album” now. So she’s got three! On that basis!

I have mixed feelings about this but none of them are strong enough to fight about it.

I just want to say: 173 comments already WOW.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"It wouldn't be too hard to replicate the 'Money For Nothing' music video in LEGO form. But in that case I also want a minifig of Sting singing background vocals!"

They have to edit the lyrics out three times, and not because the FCC made them. No way TLG touches that song."

You're right... Those lyrics aged like milk. Other than that, they're also not a very exciting 'brand'. Great tunes, and Knopfler is one of the best guitarists around, but I can't imagine the world clamouring for a Dire Straits LEGO set. Maybe if you're over 50, but even then there are much more interesting groups and artists from that era, at least visually.

@PurpleDave said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"And considering how the (admittedly terrible) BTS and Pharrell Williams sets apparently could only be sold with massive discounts, this move kinda surprises me."

You forgot the Spice Girls…but then again, so has everyone else."

I haven't. I actually just referenced them right here on Brickset this week, and yesterday I heard someone else reference them in conversation. There also has been a bunch of media coverage lately regarding the 30th anniversary of their debut single, 'Wannabe', and the way they shattered through the glass ceiling of the largely male-dominated music market of the mid-90s. Then again, I also realize they weren't as big over in the US as they were in Europe and certain other parts of the world.

Admittedly, I did buy the Spice Girls Brickheads set at a massive 50% discount, but I mostly got it for the gimmick of there even being such a thing like a Spice Girls LEGO set. I'm not the biggest fan of the Brickheads format, so I'd much rather seen minifigs of them in a set resembling a stage or the stairs from the 'Wannabe' music video.

I think any future LEGO set of a music artist should have minifigs of the artists in question.

Not my sort of sets but I'll happily get the minifigs

@Hiratha said:
" @PurpleDave

Oh, no, this was a recent thing, the album before last, not to do with the re-recorded albums or her original (music industry standard horrible) contract, well after the point where she had established a better amount of control over her career.

The Tortured Poets Department had a ridiculous number of released variants. Something like nineteen separate physical releases at first, five of which had bonus tracks on that were all unique to their particular release, and then a few months later there was another one with even more bonus tracks."

I don’t have a lot of experience with bonus tracks. Garbage did one album that came with a second bonus album depending on which version you bought. The Cranberries had one where I think the difference was the packaging (fancy book vs regular release). And the Cocktail Slippers had a bonus track on one album that you could only get if you ordered the vinyl/CD bundle. However, I know Garbage has released a metric crapton of singles (especially in Japan) where the songs are either fully unreleased, or remixes of tracks on the studio albums. There’s a guy on YouTube named the Garbage Collector who once had all those singles and remixes uploaded, and I think there were more of those tracks than there are on the studio releases. I’ve only been able to get my hands on two or three of the CD singles, back when Sam Goody/Musicland was going out of business. Those things were expensive for what you got, partly because they were all imports.

"(Although I also think it’s worth mentioning that she’s done some pretty good work at pressuring streaming companies etc to pay *all* of their artists better, not just her, and she didn’t need to do that nor benefitted financially from doing so.)"

Concert ticket prices were another big issue, at least in the US. Ticketmaster had a stranglehold on ticket prices, having secured exclusive rights to sell advance tickets for most of the major concert venues (even the venues weren’t allowed to sell their own tickets until right before the event). And with that exclusivity, they were able to set the prices however they wanted, and it was some of the more successful artists who finally pushed back on that.

"ETA: (And if only most of those artists that went on to start their own labels didn’t immediately start exploiting their own signed artists, sigh. Psy-of-Gangnam-Style-fame being the only notable exception I’m aware of.)"

The only labels I really know of are Wicked Cool Records (Little Steven from Springsteen’s E-Street band), Blackheart Records (Joan Jett), and whatever Garbage named their label. The first two seem to have mostly signed acts that don’t get a lot of airplay, even in the US. With WCR, I know Steven gets pretty involved, suggesting titles for songs, names for bands, changes to songs, and even sometimes writing songs for specific bands. I almost never hear WCR bands on the radio, except on Little Steven’s Underground Garage (and presumably on his XM station of the same name and. I’ve never heard anything but praise from WCR bands. All I know of Blackheart Records is the Blackheart Christmas album, and I don’t know if Garbage has any other bands signed to their label (they only started it because Shirley had an entire solo album recorded and her studio declined to release it, from what I understand).

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"You're right... Those lyrics aged like milk."

From what I’ve heard, that was all based on something he overheard once, but context is no longer allowed as a defense…unless you’re Quentin Tarantino.

"Other than that, they're also not a very exciting 'brand'. Great tunes, and Knopfler is one of the best guitarists around, but I can't imagine the world clamouring for a Dire Straits LEGO set. Maybe if you're over 50, but even then there are much more interesting groups and artists from that era, at least visually."

I’m sure the sweatbands didn’t help. But one of the main reasons they ended up being as successful as they were was that Knopfler was one to the few artists who had made sure their studio masters were high enough quality that they could shine when the CD format was introduced. So ironically, they sold a lot of albums (particularly Brothers In Arms) less on what you did hear and more on what you didn’t (which was tape hiss). Knopfler does still release solo albums, but I don’t think those got noticed by anyone but the most diehard fans.

"There also has been a bunch of media coverage lately regarding the 30th anniversary of their debut single, 'Wannabe', and the way they shattered through the glass ceiling of the largely male-dominated music market of the mid-90s."

That’s…perhaps a bit exaggerated. If a group drops off the face of the Earth, and didn’t directly inspire anyone, then it’s more flash in the pan than glass-shattering, I’d think. I know they had a handful of hits in the US. Very popular for a brief period of time, but not enough to sustain a career. Plus, they probably didn’t write their own music, did they? Did they even play their own instruments? If you’re all just there to sing and dance, and nobody is really making the music in any sense of the word, then all you are is a cast list with a marketing budget.

The lyrics for Money For Nothing were controversial when it came out in 1985, too. It isn’t new.

Spice Girls were absolutely massive in the UK. Biggest act in the country for a bit. Still the biggest selling girl group of all time worldwide. Huge band. Huuuuuge.

Suspect the problem, assuming there even was a problem because those multipacks get heavy discounts quite often, was more that Brickheadz are not particularly widely available, with not much publicity likely to catch Spice Girls fans who aren’t already into Lego, and also… well, not everyone likes Brickheadz.

@PurpleDave

I don’t think you need to be up on the ins and outs of bonus tracks to think buying an album five or six times to get all the songs is a bit much.

I'm wondering what, if any, mechanisms 43029 has.

@Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
"They are expecting a whole lot of Olivia fans to also be afols I guess."

Did you see the age ratings on the sets? Since when are kids aged 9-14 "adult" fans of... anything?

@GotMeBrickedUp said:" @Natethegreat101 said:"but I miss the days of actual playsets that fueled creativity. Things like castles, houses, conflict in a box- things that encourage creativity and storytelling."

Whenever this complaint comes up, it largely ignores the playsets available in literally every other theme. "

Well, not *literally* every theme (I'm not seeing a whole bunch of Botanical playsets), but yeah, I had a similar thought.

@Hiratha said:"Maybe just look it up? As a couple of people have demonstrated is a perfectly viable option? It’s fun to learn things. Be one of today’s lucky ten thousand."

For anyone who doesn't get the reference: https://xkcd.com/1053/

@Kre_O said:"You know someone isn't a Lego fan when they want minidolls over minifigures."

You know someone isn't willing to accept that Lego makes things that they don't like when they say things like that.

@morvit said:"Wow, quite a number of sets too, not just one. Not a big Olivia Rodrigo fan, but I wonder if they release something like this for Radiohead ..."

"I think I finally get Radiohead!" "Bro, you should check out Elliott Smith."

@Hiratha:
I’ve done worse, but purely of my own choice (don’t ask me how many copies of The Princess Bride I own; your mind couldn’t handle the answer). So I do understand where the backlash comes from, and I definitely wouldn’t point at my proclivities as proof that fans should be expected to buy every copy. I am curious, though, if the bonus tracks were ever made available through other means, as well as what the timing was.

Love the guitar, marketing people missed an opportunity for large sales if included a Prince mini-fig, and a clip of the Purple rain video on the box.

@PurpleDave

I'm sure Knopfler had no ill-intent with the lyric, but 'I meant well' isn't always a great argument.

'Brothers In Arms' by Dire Straits was the first million-seller on CD. That album helped get the Compact Disc into households. 'Sailing To Philadelphia' was a really nice solo album by Knopfler. I have a few later ones. Still fine, but pleasant at best -- unless you're a die-hard fan indeed.

Again, it might be because the Spice Girls weren't as big in the US as pretty much everywhere else, and perhaps because of a case of 'male gaze', but they were pretty influential in their own right. At least, to an entire generation of female singers, like Adele, Dua Lipa, and Little Mix.

The Spice Girls only released three albums within a 4-year timespan, but within those few years they were just about the biggest thing on the planet. They might've dropped off the radar in the US after that, but each one of them had long-running solo careers. Not necessarily as singers, but in different fields, from fashion to philanthropy. I'm sure if they'd do reunion shows again, they will sell out in a heartbeat (Victoria Beckham is holding out, unfortunately).

It's true that female artists are hardly ever cited as influences by male musicians or music journalists, but that's because female artists are inherently differently treated than male artists. In fact, you're doing the same thing, by saying that 'just singing and dancing' aren't equal to playing an instrument. Both require talent and years of training, so why is one better than the other?

So no, they didn't play any instruments, but neither did Madonna, Janet Jackson, TLC, Amy Winehouse, nor Whitney Houston. Would you dare to say they weren't massively influential? Very generally speaking, men seem to care more about being able to play an instrument than women do, at least when it comes to credibility. Well, you try to perform a dance routine and sing at the same time rocking the kind of platform shoes the Spice Girls were wearing at the time, and tell me that isn't a talent. :-)

As for their music: they co-wrote every song they released. That's part of what made them so special in the first place. Up until that point, it wasn't super common for female singers, let alone girl groups, to record self-written material, but a record label would rather opt to have a bunch of 40-year old male producers write songs for them. The Spice Girls demanded they'd co-write their own songs, or at least their own lyrics. That's why their message rung true to so many young audiences. They also made a truckload of money doing so.

Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual.

@TheOtherMike

I checked when I wrote the comment that the relevant comic would turn up if the keywords were searched for, because it seemed in the spirit of things to leave it as an object of curiosity and an opportunity to stretch the looking-things-up muscle at the time. Not a bad thing for it to be linked to directly later on for anyone who didn’t think to check, though, so thanks.

@CapnRex101: FYI, set links are missing in the story body.

@Hiratha said:
"Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual."

Absolutely! And because they were doing quite well on their own, especially Geri Halliwell and Melanie C. In fact, most of their early solo albums did alright, with the exception being Victoria Beckham's, which was a genuine flop. I think that's part of why she's not eager to get back into music, along with some of the interpersonal conflicts you mentioned. But she's doing absolutely fine, regardless of any of that.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual."

Absolutely! And because they were doing quite well on their own, especially Geri Halliwell and Melanie C. In fact, most of their early solo albums did alright, with the exception being Victoria Beckham's, which was a genuine flop. I think that's part of why she's not eager to get back into music, along with some of the interpersonal conflicts you mentioned. But she's doing absolutely fine, regardless of any of that."

The fashion stuff does seem to be a genuine passion for her, too.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual."

Absolutely! And because they were doing quite well on their own, especially Geri Halliwell and Melanie C. In fact, most of their early solo albums did alright, with the exception being Victoria Beckham's, which was a genuine flop. I think that's part of why she's not eager to get back into music, along with some of the interpersonal conflicts you mentioned. But she's doing absolutely fine, regardless of any of that."

I never cared one bit for their music (to say it mildly...), but I do still know their nicknames to this day.....that's kinda telling how inescapable they used to be....

@Hiratha said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual."

Absolutely! And because they were doing quite well on their own, especially Geri Halliwell and Melanie C. In fact, most of their early solo albums did alright, with the exception being Victoria Beckham's, which was a genuine flop. I think that's part of why she's not eager to get back into music, along with some of the interpersonal conflicts you mentioned. But she's doing absolutely fine, regardless of any of that."

The fashion stuff does seem to be a genuine passion for her, too."

It absolutely is. She's always been vocal about having a passion for fashion. In the end, I think they all set out to do what is important to them. I think that is what really determines success, for anybody. Do the things you love most and be happy.

The Spice Girls were kind of a juggernaut in their day, and I agree that they did inspire not just a whole slew of copycats, but a fair number of actually talented singer-songwriters as well. "Girl Power" was a real thing, and I'd like to think it still is.

That said, I don't need to see Geri Halliwell draped in a flag again until she dies in battle.

These look fun, but five sets seems pretty ambitious. Sure, someone who's a major fan of both Rodrigo and LEGO (and has the money on hand) might get them all, but that seems like it can't be toooo big a demographic. Can't imagine a big fan of Rodrigo who isn't too into LEGO or a LEGO fan who isn't too into Rodrigo would buy more than one.

@Crux said:
"The Spice Girls were kind of a juggernaut in their day, and I agree that they did inspire not just a whole slew of copycats, but a fair number of actually talented singer-songwriters as well. "Girl Power" was a real thing, and I'd like to think it still is.

That said, I don't need to see Geri Halliwell draped in a flag again until she dies in battle."

There weren't even that many copycats, come to think of it. At least, not many that were actually successful in their own right. The closest copies I can think of were Dutch: WOW! and Close II You. But apart from trying to be visually similar, they both were much more of a traditional producer-led girl group with little to no artistic input.

Internationally, the only true copycat I can think of right now is Girl Thing, who also employed the same songwriters and producers who worked on the first two Spice Girls albums. And while All Saints was often compared to and pitted against the Spice Girls, they already formed before 'Wannabe' was released.

Eternal also pre-dated the Spice Girls, and actually influenced them quite a bit. They were also the best-selling UK girl group prior to the Spice Girls arriving. Atomic Kitten was somewhat similar in music and energy, but they lacked the element of female empowerment and diversity that became the Spice Girls' signature. Girls Aloud did have some of those key elements in place, but their sound was quite a bit edgier, although the group members had little creative input in the songs themselves.

Then you had Steps, S Club 7 (also same producers as the Spice Girls), and a whole bunch of similar mixed boy-girl groups, but most of them weren't involved in the actual songwriting.

Oh, and I wish Ginger a long and happy life, wearing as much Union Jacks as she possibly can.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Hiratha said:
"Also, the Spice Girls didn’t stop being the Spice Girls because they didn’t have enough hits (which, yes, they co-wrote) to sustain a career, because they absolutely did have enough hits (and influence) for that, they stopped because they broke up for miscellaneous interpersonal conflict reasons. Which is not unusual."

Absolutely! And because they were doing quite well on their own, especially Geri Halliwell and Melanie C. In fact, most of their early solo albums did alright, with the exception being Victoria Beckham's, which was a genuine flop. I think that's part of why she's not eager to get back into music, along with some of the interpersonal conflicts you mentioned. But she's doing absolutely fine, regardless of any of that."

I never cared one bit for their music (to say it mildly...), but I do still know their nicknames to this day.....that's kinda telling how inescapable they used to be...."

They didn't even invent those nicknames. A music magazine did, and just kind of embraced it. Most of them are pretty spot on, but I have no idea what's supposed to be scary about Scary Spice.

@srekket48 said:
"Who?"

Olivia Rodrigo

I suppose I should declare my bias and mention that, along with a gaggle of my 7-10 year old Brownie peers, I went to see Spice World at the cinema and we all had a really great time. I honestly doubt there are many women around my age who went into any form of pop music and wouldn’t have the Spice Girls somewhere on the influence list.

There was a bit of an explosion of girl groups in the wake of the onset of Spice Mania but I don’t know if I’d call them copycats exactly. Seems a bit unfair just because the basic format was similar.

I put some thought into what musicians/groups/bands would make really good minifigs and once I topped thirty something options it seemed too long to share, but there were two who definitely, absolutely, no question needed to come with a vehicle: ZZ Top and the Eliminator car, and the Spice Girls with the Spice World bus. Hm, maybe Meatloaf and the Bat Out of Hell bike… but I’m not so sure he’d make as good a minifig.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"It's true that female artists are hardly ever cited as influences by male musicians or music journalists, but that's because female artists are inherently differently treated than male artists. In fact, you're doing the same thing, by saying that 'just singing and dancing' aren't equal to playing an instrument. Both require talent and years of training, so why is one better than the other?"

Hold up, there. You haven’t seen my music collection, which includes Garbage, Soraia, the Cocktail Slippers, The Love Me Nots, the Launderettes, The Noisettes, Of Monsters & Men, The Cranberries, Flogging Molly, Hell on Heels, Amy Winehouse, and P!nk. Every single one of those includes (or did, before they passed away or the groups broke up) at least one woman who has songwriting and/or instrumental credits on their albums. And while P!nk may go on stage and perform as a “song and dance routine”, she can do it with an adult standing on her chest. And she writes the songs.

If the Spice Girls co-wrote their songs, I never heard of it before. However, this isn’t an issue that’s gender-specific. I’d argue it’s worse with males. Boy bands are a thing, too. And typically there’s auditions (i.e. a casting call) run by someone who maybe manages the band, but is never _in_ the band. They’re picked for their ability to sing and dance (or sometimes for their ability to dance and look pretty, and they’ll autotune the singing until they sound like a robot), but they don’t write any of the songs, and they don’t play any instruments. The Monkees, a band that was made up for one episode of The Brady Bunch, is more a real band than boy bands.

There used to be a time when musical performers never wrote their own songs (this is tied into the reason songwriters get royalties for airplay, but performers don’t). That all changed around the time a band called The Beatles hit the scene. Broadway is full of shows with lots of people who sing and dance, but we don’t call them bands. We call them cast members.

"So no, they didn't play any instruments, but neither did Madonna, Janet Jackson, TLC, Amy Winehouse, nor Whitney Houston. Would you dare to say they weren't massively influential?"

Even though I own Winehouse’s first album, I’d argue she had more potential than practical influence, simply due to how quickly she died. Otherwise, I’d have to respond with a question: How many of them wrote their own songs?

"Very generally speaking, men seem to care more about being able to play an instrument than women do, at least when it comes to credibility."

It’s playing an instrument _or_ writing the songs. Either one shows you’re bringing more to the table than a cast member from your average Disney show.

"Well, you try to perform a dance routine and sing at the same time rocking the kind of platform shoes the Spice Girls were wearing at the time, and tell me that isn't a talent. :-)"

Talent alone doesn’t make you a proper band. Even the most autotuned member of the boy-iest 90’s boy band had more talent than Milli Vanilli, but they still weren’t really a proper band.

"Up until that point, it wasn't super common for female singers, let alone girl groups, to record self-written material, but a record label would rather opt to have a bunch of 40-year old male producers write songs for them."

The key here is knowing who created the group. If four people (male or female) get together and decide to be a band, they already start out with a degree of agency. If they answer a casting call because their manager decided to form a group out of the ether, the group really belongs to the manager more than the members. It’s possible to press for some agency (the Monkees did it), but usually those types of groups get told what to sing, where to perform, and how to dance.

@Hiratha said:
"I suppose I should declare my bias and mention that, along with a gaggle of my 7-10 year old Brownie peers, I went to see Spice World at the cinema and we all had a really great time. I honestly doubt there are many women around my age who went into any form of pop music and wouldn’t have the Spice Girls somewhere on the influence list."

If you were a teenage girl in the mid-to-late 90s, you were either into the Spice Girls or into the Backstreet Boys. Possibly both. The Spice World movie was fun, even if it was ridiculous and barely qualifies as a movie. Meat Loaf as a bus driver was a highlight indeed.

@Hiratha said:
"There was a bit of an explosion of girl groups in the wake of the onset of Spice Mania but I don’t know if I’d call them copycats exactly. Seems a bit unfair just because the basic format was similar."

Agreed. I also pointed that out above few threads above, and listed quite a few. But this is another case of 'male gaze': when girls get together in a group they're being accused of copying the Spice Girls, Destiniy's Child, Fifth Harmony, or whoever's popular at the time, but when Oasis was overtly ripping of The Beatles they were dubbed the greatest band in the world by the UK press, partially for their 'Lennon-inspired songs'. I mean, they were definitely good, but two measures, man. Cool Britannia was awesome, though.

@Hiratha said:
"I put some thought into what musicians/groups/bands would make really good minifigs and once I topped thirty something options it seemed too long to share, but there were two who definitely, absolutely, no question needed to come with a vehicle: ZZ Top and the Eliminator car, and the Spice Girls with the Spice World bus. Hm, maybe Meatloaf and the Bat Out of Hell bike… but I’m not so sure he’d make as good a minifig."

The Eliminator would be great in the Speed Champions line. The robot from Queen's News Of The World album cover would be equally awesome. ABBA would be a no-brainer, or so it would seem. I think a LEGO album cover series would be a good way to get the attention of the music market that TLG is trying tap in to. Get a deal with the three big record labels, and off ya go....

Voice is an instrument. Singers are just as much musicians as keyboardists, drummers, guitarists etc are. It isn’t a less authentic skill just because it doesn’t involve a separate object.

The Spice Girls co-wrote their songs and designed their own image(s). The songwriting credits are very easy to confirm: Wikipedia has them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannabe

They’d also left their original management before they were even signed. They were not short of agency.

@ToysFromTheAttic

I thought about a Speed Champions Eliminator. I don’t think they’ve ever put three minifigs with one car, though, and they’d need appropriate accessories too, so I wasn’t sure it’d be a perfect fit. But: The recent Batmobiles show that Lego are fine using the same scale&style in other themes, not to mention the Olivia Rodrigo Botanicals set, so an Editions set with a Speed Champions adjacent aesthetic would work perfectly.

Not just teens in the 90s: us seven to tweens were fully on the Spice bandwagon. (I mostly found boybands tedious, on account of a still-extant antipathy towards 99% of ballads, but as an adult I can grudgingly acknowledge that Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is pretty fun, at least when attached to the music video. Also, the Universal Monster Alter Egos of the Backstreet Boys would be great minifigs.)

@Hiratha said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic

I thought about a Speed Champions Eliminator. I don’t think they’ve ever put three minifigs with one car, though, and they’d need appropriate accessories too, so I wasn’t sure it’d be a perfect fit. But: The recent Batmobiles show that Lego are fine using the same scale&style in other themes, not to mention the Olivia Rodrigo Botanicals set, so an Editions set with a Speed Champions adjacent aesthetic would work perfectly.

Not just teens in the 90s: us seven to tweens were fully on the Spice bandwagon. (I mostly found boybands tedious, on account of a still-extant antipathy towards 99% of ballads, but as an adult I can grudgingly acknowledge that Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is pretty fun, at least when attached to the music video. Also, the Universal Monster Alter Egos of the Backstreet Boys would be great minifigs.)"

So what you're saying is - you want a Spice Girls Bandwagon in the Speed Champions-line.

Yeah, okay. I'm kind of here for it.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"ABBA would be a no-brainer, or so it would seem."
I doubt Lego would ever do such crimes against humanity.

@Crux said:
" @Hiratha said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic

I thought about a Speed Champions Eliminator. I don’t think they’ve ever put three minifigs with one car, though, and they’d need appropriate accessories too, so I wasn’t sure it’d be a perfect fit. But: The recent Batmobiles show that Lego are fine using the same scale&style in other themes, not to mention the Olivia Rodrigo Botanicals set, so an Editions set with a Speed Champions adjacent aesthetic would work perfectly.

Not just teens in the 90s: us seven to tweens were fully on the Spice bandwagon. (I mostly found boybands tedious, on account of a still-extant antipathy towards 99% of ballads, but as an adult I can grudgingly acknowledge that Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is pretty fun, at least when attached to the music video. Also, the Universal Monster Alter Egos of the Backstreet Boys would be great minifigs.)"

So what you're saying is - you want a Spice Girls Bandwagon in the Speed Champions-line.

Yeah, okay. I'm kind of here for it."

Well, no, I was talking about a ZZ Top bandwagon in the Editions line (that looks a lot like a Speed Champions kit), because I haven’t entirely worked out what scale my ideal Spice Bus would be yet (maybe… BIGGER? maybe not? the main thing is it needs to be big enough to hide a bomb) and thus haven’t committed. But I also wouldn’t *object* to a Speed Champions scale Editions Spice Bus (with all five Spice Girls minifigs plus Meat Loaf driver and maybe Clifford. and a bomb.). So I guess you’re more or less correct in spirit.

@Hiratha said:
" @Crux said:
" @Hiratha said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic

I thought about a Speed Champions Eliminator. I don’t think they’ve ever put three minifigs with one car, though, and they’d need appropriate accessories too, so I wasn’t sure it’d be a perfect fit. But: The recent Batmobiles show that Lego are fine using the same scale&style in other themes, not to mention the Olivia Rodrigo Botanicals set, so an Editions set with a Speed Champions adjacent aesthetic would work perfectly.

Not just teens in the 90s: us seven to tweens were fully on the Spice bandwagon. (I mostly found boybands tedious, on account of a still-extant antipathy towards 99% of ballads, but as an adult I can grudgingly acknowledge that Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is pretty fun, at least when attached to the music video. Also, the Universal Monster Alter Egos of the Backstreet Boys would be great minifigs.)"

So what you're saying is - you want a Spice Girls Bandwagon in the Speed Champions-line.

Yeah, okay. I'm kind of here for it."

Well, no, I was talking about a ZZ Top bandwagon in the Editions line (that looks a lot like a Speed Champions kit), because I haven’t entirely worked out what scale my ideal Spice Bus would be yet (maybe… BIGGER? maybe not? the main thing is it needs to be big enough to hide a bomb) and thus haven’t committed. But I also wouldn’t *object* to a Speed Champions scale Editions Spice Bus (with all five Spice Girls minifigs plus Meat Loaf driver and maybe Clifford. and a bomb.). So I guess you’re more or less correct in spirit."

Honestly - this really isn't the worst idea. Just a series of big old tour-buses for the bands/singers of your choice. TLG, get on this. Maybe Vidiyo limped so this idea might walk.

@PurpleDave said:"They’re picked for their ability to sing and dance (or sometimes for their ability to dance and look pretty, and they’ll autotune the singing until they sound like a robot), but they don’t write any of the songs, and they don’t play any instruments."

"Girl, I'm a sexually attractive man. That makes me a good artist." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijr4rwb2WbE

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:"They’re picked for their ability to sing and dance (or sometimes for their ability to dance and look pretty, and they’ll autotune the singing until they sound like a robot), but they don’t write any of the songs, and they don’t play any instruments."

"Girl, I'm a sexually attractive man. That makes me a good artist." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijr4rwb2WbE"

This song might be worth learning Dutch for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYOpegSqTgw