LEGO licences 'Ben 10'
Posted by Huw,Lego has signed a deal with Cartoon Network to create construction toys based on the huge-selling Ben 10 franchise, so says the UK toy trade magazine Toy News. "The range, based on the Ben 10 Alien Force adventures, is expected to launch globally in Spring 2010 and promises a new twist on the Lego building system", apparently. Read more at the Toy News site.
I can't say the news excites me, having never seen the cartoon, but having just checked out the Ben 10 website it looks like there's scope for some interesting minifigs. (Thanks Missingno!)
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117 comments on this article
Maybe that means some cool alien parts. This could be pretty cool....
Ive seen the show once. not something id watch. more in the rang for kids of age 10. obviusly. The story of action and comedy makes me grind my teeth. my friends are going to be very disipointed when they here this. however!
I am very interested in seeing how the "alians" from the show are going to look in LEGO. new pieces, maybe? becouse the alians ARE pretty cool.
it does not look that great
bad idea lego
I'm not excited about it at all.
I wish Lego wouldn't of done this...
Sev
I wish lego did not do this also! i saw the show before,there was to much slang.
I just have too say I saw this one coming... Ben 10 is very popular with the little kids.
This had better not replace Star Wars as a space line or I will puke and scream.
Man, I am kinda disappointed. Sure, it might make some cool minifigs, but is it worth it? Lego has been signing a lot of contracts recently, it seems. I think it is better if Lego thinks up their own themes. Don't get me wrong, there are some licensed themes that are great, but Ben 10? Lego needs some dignity.
most dissapointing, although room for new pieces including the new aliens is good, the theme itself isn't. I've seen both the original ben 10 ad alien force shows, and I prefer alien force. Though the question is(with aliens being created with space police)is this really necessary. If lego were making a CN license, I would like it to be about batman the brave and the bold.
This will be awesome! I've waited for something like this. And to all the people that are against it, Don't buy it. Not everyone thinks Ben 10 is the most awful show on earth (As I love it).
And I thought Lego Avatar was wierd.
EDIT: If this replaces Star Wars, Bionicle, Power Miners, or Space Police, I'd probably sue Lego.
Well, the lego license on Star Wars ends 2011 anyway...but this Ben Ten thing is strange
This wont replace anything guys...... Don't explode. If anything it will be Spongebob to go.
I think this is a strange theme, and im the target age group! I might get a small set for the aliens though. I think that Lego should of got a Transformers license, with the CN series and the movie coming soon.
Lego should not have made this deal.
LEGO is TOTALLY "going liscensed". What I mean by that is that they are coing out with FOUR liscenced themes next year. Are they that run out of ideas that they need a bunch of liscences?!?!?!?
Stuck-up collecters arn't the only ones buying this you have to remember. Lego isn't just for the older crowd, They want to draw in younger kids to be the Lego set buyers of tomorrow.
Stock up on the good stuff guys before this "new twist" takes hold
@shattered-- I hope that doesn't happen
If lego keeps up with these liscensed themes there's bound to be a problem. A MAJOR problem. And I personally think lego could've found a better show than Ben 10. It's not a terrible show but it's not great either...
@Shattered, that's a horrifying thought. Now I'm scared.
Fortunately, Ben 10: Alien Force isn't targeted to 7-year olds as much as the original Ben 10 series. Sure it sounds dokey, but think about all of the neat minifigure pieces that will be included in the sets! Plus, the car that a character from the cartoon drives is something that will look good in LEGO form.
ShatteredGnome7675: I would say "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Oh, the sight of it BURNS!!!!!!!!" if the entire theme only consists of action figures or Jack Stone-type figures.
I think any cartoon/show license is doomed to fail in a sense its usually age specific and deviates from lego's primary principles...star wars and other things are different though in a sense that they are immensly popular and use normal lego construction.
Hmmm...can anyone say "Galidor" with this new license?
All right! New sets that will be on clearance!
This will be epic failure.
I agree with The Green Brick Giant. I hate ben 10. another epic fail. I mean come on Lego.
I think instead of it bring like 2 years worth of legands like Classic space/town, technic. nija, and Rock Raiders.
I hope people see my point.
@clonepirate: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and no.
That would be another Epic Fail.
Sev
This new twist thing has me on edge
OH NOOO!!!!! They are now going to make toy story cars and BEN 10! legos?? "Too much liscened sets!! Indiana jones was the BEST theme they ever came up with!!
I hope they still have more castle, bioincle, power miners ,indy and the other themes next year! If they dont.......I will not be buying Lego anymore! I would start buying the 2009 ones and older sets!
@clonepirate: Lego ET might be kind of cool if it had new alien pieces.
@LordGalewind: God forbid this be like Galidor. That was even worse than Belville.
I don't care what all of you guys keep saying, I love the series, so I'm going to love these!
Behold, a new trial is before us. I must agree with LordGaleWind, this new license reaks of Gallidor....saddness fills the air
*darth vader style* NOOOOOOOOO...NOOOOO lego should have sighned a contract with bungie for HALO lego not with this stupid baby show
Firstly, this is for Ben 10: Alien Force. Whilst Ben 10: Protector of the Earth was aimed at the young market, Ben 10: Alien Force is aimed at tween-to-teenagers. Bricknave is the only person who seems to have actually thought about this and pointed it out.
Secondly, if you don't like it, don't buy it. Do you think Lego will lose sleep over your sanctimony? TLG is a toy company. Ben 10 sells toys to kids of many ages by the bucketload. Probably once of the reasons Ben 10 and Lego are teaming up, don't you think?
Halo, on the other hand, doesn't sell toys by the bucketload. Lego has to pick themes which are sustainable.
Ideas that 'This'll clash with Space Police' are also ill-informed. As any fule knows, Ben 10 is set primarily on Earth, so there won't be lots and lots of spaceships. There may, however, be lots of aliens in minifig form. Given how well some of the new Space Police aliens have turned out, I don't see how this is such a tragedy.
who would want to make this as a set. it could possiply lead to interesting parts though.
2010 does not look good for original lego themes, and just when they have started to make up their own ideas again!
Huw, where exactly on the site did you find Ben 10 minifig scope?
(Correct me if I said anything wrong)
@merkinized75, I'm just speculating that, given the nature of the Ben 10 characters which, correct me if I'm wrong, are aliens, it follows that the minifigs are likely to be aliens too.
I actually liked the show, but i have to hate it cause of the slang. But halo lego would be nice. (i have never played the games)New alien parts would be nice to.
not good, NOT GOOD!
I agree Space Police Fan, there is a good chance this will be some version of a LEGO toy, like Bionicle.
LEGO was really getting smart, they bought the Nickelodeon license, but hardly use it, and then bought Disney licenses, which are extremely well known, but this? What's the point? LEGO will already have like 500+ sets for release next year, it will be a very busy year.
I'm not really too sure i like how LEGO is throwing licences around. When they made Spongebob sets, those really worked out (i got two of 'em) but of course Spongebob has such a widespread appeal to anyone that it just seems to work. I'm not sure i'm liking this...hopefully Star Wars and movie themed sets like it stick around for a LONG time.
@ wedgeantilles: nop the TLC contract with lucasfilm shoul expire in the 2011
@legomarsfan: But they can always renew it.
Sev
i never watched the show but it seems kind of interesing. another thing lego is getting a cartoon network license not a ben 10 license so other shows (flapjack, chowder) could be sets in the future
It's seems that lego only begin to think on the kids...
theres an oil crisis people why the hell whould they make lego ben 10, ben 10 is subitale for mega bloks not lego
Oh gosh... please tell me I read this wrong. This is the straw that broke the camel's back. Lego, with your recent addiction to movie franchises, and now that you're doing sets based on some awful kid's show, you've officially turned me off.
LAME! I wonder if this is standard LEGO or something like Duplo.
This is not a good move at all, I enjoy Star Wars and Indiana Jones, but this is just going to far. Particularly if they get rid of the good ranges they have at the moment. @Kobacca : They will sign a new deal I'm sure, they could not get rid of their best selling theme surely!
I do watch a bit of Ben10, some of it isn't that bad. There's a character named FourArms, with believe it or not, has 4 Arms, so a minifig body that allows for more than 2 arms would be amazing!!! Unless they just draw the other two arms on the torso....
(Quote TinyHippo)--Secondly, if you don't like it, don't buy it. Do you think Lego will lose sleep over your sanctimony? TLG is a toy company. Ben 10 sells toys to kids of many ages by the bucketload. Probably once of the reasons Ben 10 and Lego are teaming up, don't you think?
I like the way they put that, If you don't like it DON'T BUY IT. No sense mindlessly moaning about something you can't stop.
Oh no... I have never seen Ben 10, but from the advertisements, I don't like it! I expect Galidor-like figures... *shudder* if that happens, end of LEGO... I already expect AFOLs discussing if it's the worst decision LEGO has made in history! I don't think these Ben 10 sets will appeal to AFOLs! It doesn't appeal even to me! Horrible...
okay, weird...I never would have thought that this would have ever happened. maybe some good figures, but I am guessing that this is for little kids.
Yea I think that the figures will be galidor style too and I still think that Lego should have made a contract with bungie for Halo not CN for this stupid baby show
@Batmaniam: Umm, Ben 10 is for (I think) young teens!
This seems like some ok news, but I'm going to like the figures. Hey Huw, haven't been here in a while. Good to see the site has progressed. Good job.
One word: Ugh.
Sadly megablocks have the Halo license. I'm sure they'll make a right mess of it...
This is depressing, the news is depressing, the idea is depressing and the Cartoon looks really depressing. My viewpoints.
@Comm.-Cody: Thank heavens for that! But what worries me is the "new twist on the LEGO building system"! What will be new? I hope we will have real LEGO pieces, for a start...
why lego!? this sounds like mars mission AND mega bloks! They"ll get rid of better themes for the licsenced ones. We all know it is going to lead to more parts with no uses and MORE sticksers! yes more!
Of all the things to license (like halo) why this!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????
Can we just agree that this is going to suck and no more lisensed themes like this should be made!
Come on people, there are so many things that you are missing here.
1: This is Ben 10: >>ALIEN FORCE >10 >10<< and they just figured out how to make cooler aliens than before(better than droid type aliens) and want to try it out more.
5: They could also be doing this to expand thier horizens by getting a tv channel that has some funny shows that could hit the target auidence.
Read this over and go look up what the aliens look like in Ben 10: alien force (not the origanal show) and then see what you think.
@Commander-Cody: I hope this doesn't replace Space Police III, because there pretty much the same. As you said, Ben 10 will have vehicals and aliens, and that's pretty much what Space Police is, just that it's policeman catching alien criminals.
If Lego replace Space Police III with this Ben 10 thing... I won't even think about it.
Sev
I've seen Ben 10:Alien Force once.Lego shouldn't have done this.But I think the aliens Ben turns into will make cool mini figs.
I watched an episode once. And yes, it was of Alien force, not the other one. It combined a sporadic plot with horrible animation, settings too large to be successfully rendered in LEGO sets costing under a hundred dollars, and ugly alien characters that looked like ready-made M*** B**** (censored) figs. I foresee a fail so epic that it will make Clikits look like the best theme LEGO ever did. And the sad thing is, all the little cartoon addicted KABOB's will run out and buy them.
*sigh*. Only a TFOL for seven months, and already I fell slighted by TLC. Sad, in'it?
All I know about 'Ben 10' is that I see a lot of other licensed toys from it in TRU, and that my 6 year old nephew (already a big LEGO & Ben 10 fan) almost had a spasm when I told him about this :-)
I long ago accepted that LEGO would do sets, and entire themes, that I would have absolutely no interest in. I'm cool with that, so intrinsically have no problem with a 'Ben 10' license, or 'Dexters Laboratory' or 'Powerpuff Girls' or 'Kim Possible' or whatever.
For me it's an issue of LEGO seemingly going completely overboard with the number of licensed themes this year & next; we already had at least three other licensed themes coming this year or next, before the Ben 10 license was announced. To me it looks like LEGO are over-extending themselves again, and last time that happened they almost went bust. Lets hope they've got things better under control this time ...
I have no interest in this, the show sounds wierd. I am- however- hoping for a Stargate license.
I am just hoping they make a new castle theme after castle 2008-2009 ends this year!
Well I hope the alien figs look good.If they do,I'll buy Ben 10.Lego should also make a Star Trek license based on the movie.
At least I will have a lot of money to spend on 2009 sets if I don't buy any of these licsensed sets...
Ben 10... Wimpy and weird. The minifigs and some of the parts will be good, but I don't think I'll keep the set in one piece.
There are so many much better themes. Where on earth did this come from. Lego seems clueless in termbs of good themes.
LEGO Star Trek would be cool. So would LEGO Marvel for like Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, etc. Also they should continue LEGO Harry Potter. What about LEGO Justice League? Plenty of cool minifigs.
I support anything Lego does like this. I means growth and that's a good thing. I have no idea what Ben 10 is nor do I care. It most certainly means new figs, and very possibly new parts/colors/etc.
Frankly I rarely even build the sets any more. I buy for parts towards other projects. Sometimes just for collection purposes.
@Greyface
You got some nice,bright ideas and I agree with you bringing Iron man,X-men,Spider man,Hulk,and DC.But I really wish Lego Star Trek would be made.I mean Ben 10 wouldn't be a bad theme wouldn't be a good theme so I'm half and half.
my eyes...w-w-what's happening to my eyes?!
@Greyface - yes I've long speculated Lego Justice League as well, I don't see why Lego would choose Ben *vomits* 10 *falls limply on the floor* over JLA...at least there are AFOLs who've followed Superman, Green Lantern etc over the years, (plus with a Lantern movie coming out) whereas Ben 10 is a stupid, probably short-lived kids fad in my view...just my view, no offence to Ben 10 fans out there
@Dentarthurdent: Which there doesn't seem to be many Ben 10 fans out there...
Sev
Why can't we have some original Lego sets? You know, like in the old days when people used their imagination rather than just looking up the next Hollywood film or kids TV series. It'll be Tellytubbies Lego the way things are going.
You do know that there are already spiderman legos in existence, right??? Besides, if Marvel stoped the spider-man lego flow and went to Mega-Blocks, why would they go back and try again?
NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I'm getting Galidor vibes.
@StormSworder:If there are going to be Tellytubbies Lego, I would probably die. That would be to terrible to bear witness to.
@StormSworder: That would be DUPLO Telletubbies. Would be childish if they make it in standard bricks.
No! Bad lego bad!
why have they done this?!! They havent got a chance of selling these!!! Another experiance of exoforce. From all the comments of how bad they will be(I agree) Noone will probly buy them!! Your losing money lego, why dont they do More city or other themes. I will not be quing up too buy one of the sets!! Stick to city!!!
Fewer licensed properties = win. Stick to Star Wars, guys. Even the Indiana Jones stuff is a reach IMO.
Hey I think Lego and Nintendo should get together... not something lame like "Ben 10." I doubt that show has any actual fans anyway.
I've got to agree with everyone: Ben 10 is for Mega Blocks! LEGO has made the fatal mistake of getting too many licenses! I fear even non-licensed themes will dissapear in the end... I'm already losing interest in next year's sets! Really! I'm a die-hard LEGO fan, but this damages my interest! This will be a big dent in LEGO's reputation!
@Alemas: I agree with you, if Lego does too many licenses, and drops there non-licensed themes, I won't be buying Lego anymore.
I'm really sad to say it...
Sev
I'm not sure Lego will do that. I mean, without made up and non licensed themes Lego would suck.
Guys let's just hope Ben 10 ends quickly and then Lego makes a new theme to replace it.Like for an example they did Lego Avatar:The Last Air bender and that theme only had 2 sets and then ended.Hopefully Ben 10 just ends and the Prince of Persia sets and Toy Story sets get more attention.
@Lego-Dude
Yeah.It's coming out with Toy Story legos in 2010 and(I hope)will be way better than the Ben 10 theme.
Details of the Prince of Persia, Cars & Toy Story 3 licenses here -
http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=245
@Sev: Oh well, that's true... but I can't help thinking that in the end I'm going to stop being a LEGO collector earlier than expected! I just hope and pray that LEGO will make two sets (like Avatar), and then forget about it! If that happens, I'll return to my LEGO-fanatic ways! 2010 promises to be a controversial year for LEGO!
Some alien parts would be useful, but other than that, meh.
I too am losing interest in the 2010 sets, and I am a die hard Lego freak. If all of Lego's customers respond to Ben 10 like this, Lego could go bankrupt. Moral: STOP LISCENSING THEMES LEGO!!!!!!!
@ET: But, some liscensed things are good, like Indiana Jones and Star Wars.
Sev
Uh...I don't know what to say. Ben 10 was a great show but alien force is lame. As for the liscenses, Lego could have teamed up with Marvel ar DC to make Justice League or even teamed upwith Bungie for Halo Wars sets because it is a T rated game. The depth of these sets seems lacking and is bound for another Avatar downfall. We will just have to wait and see how big of a mistake Lego makes.
First Disney now THIS? I am a fan of the series but not Alien Force! Well I like the Disney thing (WOODY!!!!) but maybe a LEGO 4-arms will be kinda cool BUT NOT AWSOME.
Holy moly you guys are negative. :-O
I'm not a big fan of this either, but this is NOT the apocalypse, so let's just wait and see what the sets actually look like before you start throwing all of your LEGO things away.
I sadly agree that this will succeed, judging by all the already target age kids who like ben ten, so they'll all go out and buy it. I fear for legos licenses, however, based on the fact that almost none have been a huge hit. Spongebob seemed to do the best, seeing as they're still made, but take sets like Avatar. I believe Lego took it up because it had a wide ranging fan base(7-40, I know plenty of adults who like it), but most of that fan base was NOT interested in Lego. I was, and have two fire ships and an air temple, but more to the point, Lego learned from that and spongebob that the fan-base of a cartoon should al be the target age range of the level of difficulty. I'll probably buy the cheapest set however, as I need some hair like Ben has.
Just a gentle reminder - Brickset is **not** a discussion forum. Checkout the notes at the bottom of this page.
Don't make us have to delete a load of posts. Again.
Ian
@bluemoose: Sorry, we were carried away with this... Sorry...
@bluemoose: I agree with Alemas, sorry about that.
Sev
I'm not a fan of the series, but I have to admit that this license will be very helpful to Lego. It is a very popular theme worldwide among kids (and kids are the most important consumers for Lego, they are at least who give more money for them). I don't know about the new parts...They might be interesting, but I don't think that most of them will be useful for other Lego themes.
I see no info on the Ben 10 website.
@Gus263 - Kids like Ben 10, but only if they're 5-8 year old boys. BIG demographics (not.) Plus, though kids are still the major consumers, they're veering away from LEGOs because of the terrible economy in most/some countries and the prices of the new, big sets that I love.
@jonbuddy - The poster simply meant that he had not seen the show, and that he saw opportunities for cool minifigs in the character bios section.
I agree with everyone that they have made a huge mistake. LEGO DC COMICS!!!
@Greyface: Yes, with the economy going in those ways, it is hard to know if that will be or not helpful to Lego. But anyways, I think that this license will give Lego some money, but just if they do good sets, (I don't imagine any Ben 10 playsets...) if not, it'll not be the name of the license that will grant this theme sucess.
It's STUPID, period. The Paint Saint and I both agree that this is a bad mistake on LEGO's part.
This will be interesting. I'm not surprised this news was so badly taken on this site; its targeted at an age not common here. But you guys should really lighten up. It may mean new, and possibly very cool, minifigures and pieces. We should at least wait to see some prototype pictures before we pass judgement.
Quote from the Toy News site: "...and promises a new twist on the Lego building system."
I am actually looking forward to LEGO's new sets. I recently purchased a Space Police III set and am impressed by their newest designs.
You know, when us teen and adult Lego fans were younger, I am sure there were many seemingly corney TV shows on at the time that we would have loved to see made into a series like this. I am not saying whether the theme will be good or bad, but one has to look at it from the perspective of the many kids who are fans of this show. Don't diss the theme until you see the high quality preliminary photos, it could turn out to be a very high-selling and interesting line, you never know until it comes out. For example: Power miners got dissed on Brickset initially, but it turned out to be pretty neat. Just give this line a chance, we haven't even seen the set designs yet!
I seriously doubt Lego will try another Galidor style on us, the marketing people at Lego would be far too smart for that! (But even Galidor brought us the balle and socket joint parts used in some robotic arms and many Technique sets!) Let's just see how the sets look, and then we can make a more well-informed judgement of the series, it could be an epic fail, or a runaway hit that lasts for a few years, you just never know until it hits the shelves.
It will be LEGO with a twist, I doubt it will be standard lego, or use normal minifigure scale or style, but is more likely to be duplo or bionicle style sets.
I think we could see another lego "offshoot"
NOOOOOO!!! WHYWHYWHYWHY!?!? sigggghhhhh.
@Brickmeister1138: Okay I know about the Power Miners thing and I still don't like it but at least it is a "lego" theme. If you see what lisensed kiddy themes did in the past then I think you can see what will happen. For example spongebob is a huge hit with kids and has lasted pretty long with legos but it seems that there is little interest in the theme anymore and avatar was big and failed epically. I am just saying that kiddy themes haven't done very well and that too many lisensed themes are not good for LEGO. As for the twist, I think you will see the same thing you are seeing in the space police theme.
@Alemas: If you know this is not a discussion forum, then don't write that.
And all you have to do is read all the comments before this, and you will see that 99% hate it.
Sev
Alemas - No. Not appropriate. Go ask the question on a proper discussion forum like Tabletown.
@Smallsam99: The kiddie ones do terribly. The only major licensed deals that actually earned them some money that I can think of are Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter. All the other themes (Castle, Agents, CITY, Power Miners, Space Police, even Creator) are doing well.
@greyface: Yes I know, I was refering to the tv audiance when saying it was big, not the legos.