DOTS launching in March
Posted by Huw,
There have been rumours of a new range of products aimed at girls called Dots for some time and at one point it was believed they'd be launched last summer.
That did not come to pass but we do now have confirmation, courtesy of the Italian 1HY2020 catalogue, that the sets will be launched in March. Quite what they are is not clear yet but the concensus among rumours is that they will be buildable jewellery.
The logo features 1x1 tiles of various shapes so I think we can assume that they will feature regular parts rather than specilaised ones, unlike LEGO's last foray into this area, Clikits.
More details should emerge in the coming weeks as we enter the toy fair season.
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Are Brickset reporting from London toy-fair this year or is it no point in going because of the restrictions?
Clikits 2: Electric Boogaloo
Don't the "jewelery" themes fail every time they try? I feel like they're wasting their time and money.
This sounds more like the original Scala from the '70s.
I'm in it for the various tiles it will offer, but I feel this will be the biggest flop since Clikits.
I'm waiting eagerly.
Lego's new CMO Julia Goldin is just as clueless as you'd expect from a former Coke and Revlon marketer. Bring back Mads
If Star, Heart and Daisy aren’t there, they can go whistle.
Looks exciting! Cant't wait to check them out in stores.
Just wait. In the year 2030 this is all huwbot will be picking for RSOtD
@Roebuck, yes we are attending but I don't think we will be able to report on much of what we see this year.
Why would LEGO not showcase the product in the image? It's just pictures of girls.
While this theme isn’t for me, interest-wise, my cousin will be pleased to have a second option to look for, outside the current Friends line. She wasn’t too happy to see Elves become discontinued.
Attack of the Cilkits or The Cilkits strikes back!
Before anyone gets the urge to sneer, let's not forget this (probably) isn't for us and deserves a chance.
I'll bet my collection that Huwbot is hyped.
Woo hoo, more gender-oriented toys!
Welcome to the 1950s...
@Huw said:
" @Roebuck, yes we are attending but I don't think we will be able to report on much of what we see this year."
A shame, at any rate this new theme looks like a great parts pack.
What? Really?
@Huw, is that really you? Or has Huwbot hacked the system?
More dots! More dots! That's a 50 dkp minus!
I see Lego embarking on a dangerous path reminiscent of the mistakes it made leading up the financial issues of the early 2000s.
1. Re-purchasing the LEGO theme parks and forays into non-brick areas (speciality items, retail store expansion, and instead of computer games being a money hole like in the 90s, I think their eco-friendly endeavors will cost more than they expect. Not against that, but I hope they’re budgeting accordingly)
2. Too many specialized molds
3. Themes like this (recalling Clikits. Surprised something in the vein of Galidor hasn’t reappeared)
LEGO has been riding a huge wave of financial success thanks to the LEGO movie franchise, but those kids are growing up, and the allure won’t have the same draw on older children as it did younger. The gains will not be as high as they were five years ago, and I hope they take that into account with their next financial moves. Now they are defecating licensed sets left and right nowadays, but that doesn’t equal immediate returns. Angry Birds, SuperHero Girls, and Dimendions sat on shelves even with hefty discounts.
@Huw why do you feel you won't be able to report on much? NDA or some other reason(s)?
You've got to wonder what is the purpose of these shows anyway. I always believed that they were there to promote and hype what's coming up. With Lego now, there are no pictures allowed and when people are permitted to see the material they can hardly talk about it. Really, what's the point? (I do understand that resellers get to see what will be available through the year, but usually decent resellers take the whole lot anyway). With the high price of these items, someone may want to start budgeting. Sigh...
If these are basically "tile packs" with some jewelry components they might be handy for MOCists and mosaic builders. Personally I'd love to make a little pixel art Peridot necklace but I don't know if these'd be big enough for it.
@alyxavior said:
" @Huw why do you feel you won't be able to report on much? NDA or some other reason(s)?"
Yes, NDA. CapnRex101 is going.
I’m excited to see what the public thinks of these. The bracelets are neat and I’m excited specifically for the 1x1 emoji tile pack
If it's all LEGO parts and tiles/flowers etc , those could be nice.
Old printed Scala 2x2 tiles were amazing back in the day even while they were simple patterns or numbers.
Original Scala wasn't a "meme" like the later sets or clickits.
Nowadays a lot of patterns could fit into a 2x2 space with all those smaller rounded/hearts/corner tiles.
I just hope this uses system-compatible parts, instead of just putting LEGO brand on some random beads/necklace/bracelet jewelry.
I expect detailed and thorough reviews from Huwbot especially given his abject failure as regards the clikits Advent Calendar review !!
^^^^^^^ The usual geriatric crap from the not-for-me-I-dont-like-it-will-not-sell-Lego-should-be-run-by-me bunch of ignorants.
This doesn't seem too far out of left-field given the success of lines such as Friends and Elves. Heck, I think it's good that LEGO is trying another swing at something that failed in the past. The main issue last go round with Clickits was that it felt too much like a different toy. Sure, it loosely fit the idea of putting things together, but it felt so limited because of how specialized the parts are. Hopefully they learned their lessons from the past because I do see potential in this.
Of course, I'm not the target audience, so we'll probably have to wait and see if it actually catches the eyes of kids when it releases. Kinda interesting that they apparently delayed the theme to March, though. Maybe they needed to do some quality assurance tests or something?
@Sandinista
I'm not exactly worried about the company full-on being on the verge of bankruptcy anytime soon. Even when they venture into other territories, I feel like they do try their best to give it their all most of the time. I am concerned they are kinda treating themselves like a "premium product" too much. This may be cynical, but a 100+ dollar wooden minifigure you can't even build on along with the 800 dollar LEGO Star Wars sets kinda make me feel... strange? That's not even getting into the discussion of normal set prices.
Well, jewellery made of Lego has not been a hit with my kids. They got some rings and the accompanying parts with at least three sets during the last few years and after one day all of those were left unused and unplayed in some box. Never saw them again. These plastic rings are just not appealing. Sad but true.
Good to see the negativity trotted out tenfold when we haven’t even seen product images yet...
Very much looking forward to this theme. A part of me thinks we may have already seen some of the parts "from" this theme—the 1x1 rainbow and unicorn tiles from the Trafalgar Square set don't represent any specific artworks so I suspect they may have been intended to be reused from some of these sets, but ended up debuting earlier than them when the Dots theme got delayed.
If those are indicative of what else the theme might offer I'm looking forward to more similarly useful prints (including ones that tessellate or connect together) as well as possibly other small detail elements like the many that have been introduced over the course of the past decade.
Making jewellery is massively popular among the young girls that I know (and I am sure a few boys but it's mostly a girl thing). However (in the UK anyway) you can buy massive piles of beads, sparkly things, those loom band thingys, charms with unicorns on etc very very cheaply. Poundland alone is keeping a bead making factory very busy.
Dots is going to have to be the amazing thing Lego have ever made to get parents to agree to buy a set vs buying a £1 bag of beads.
This really feels like a disaster.
What am I seeing in the center right image from the teaser ad? Could that be some of the part selection (looks like beads, bars and puffs)?
Looks exciting. I really want some. Cool.
That was sarcastic.
Maybe it'd mosaics?
I wonder why so many people think that clikits was a failure. They were produced for four years in a row (longer than some themes that we would consider to be popular).
The end is near.
This is clearly Huwbot's doing.
Clickits 2: Cruise Control,
The Huwbot jumped over the moon,
The little consumer groaned to see such dung
And logic ran away far too soon...
It is disappointing seeing LEGO increasing the divide between “boy” and “girl” themes? Wasn’t LEGO started as a toy everyone can enjoy?! It’s not like girls can’t enjoy Star Wars or City but all they’re going to receive on Christmas or at Birthday Parties are Friends or Dots because that is what parents will assume that they like. Frankly frustrating witnessing LEGO gearing their products do far towards one gender or the other.
The beginning of "The Rise of Huwbot".
I knew the Saga wouldn´t end so easily.
I'm excited to see what this will look like :)
One thing that makes this different from previous constructable jewellery themes is that they've really carved out a niche with Friends - they've got children and parents looking to TLG for toys specifically aimed at girls. I do find this unfortunate in some ways (that other Lego themes are assumed to default to being "for boys"; that it's assumed certain interests will only appeal to girls), but in terms of financial success I could see this working better than Clickits just because they've done the marketing legwork already...
So, let me go out on a limb and sum up the reaction of the community to a product we really don't know anything about other than a name: "WYAH!!! IT SUCKS!!! TLG IS GOING TO GO BANKRUPT!!!"
Lets wait until we see it before we start panicking. If it comes out and it sucks, sure, we can say that. But it might not. Lets wait before we say it, lets see it first.
I'm optimistic.
@TheRightP_art said:
"Frankly frustrating witnessing LEGO gearing their products do far towards one gender or the other."
Why? Like any smart business, LEGO segments its market. It has sets aimed at younger demographics (Duplo) and older ones (Architecture). What is so wrong with the company targeting a gender?
There are safety reasons why giving some sets to very young kids may not be a good idea, but apart from that, any demographic can have any set (as @CCC suggests above). No-one is forced to follow any particular target audience LEGO has in mind. If everyone did, there would be no AFOLs and no Brickset as we know it because once-upon-a-time adults were not one of LEGO's segments.
I had found the name for this theme about a year and a half early (at one point JediJacPenguin had this on his “upcoming set rumor list” for 2019). I initially thought that “DOTS” was just a promotional name.
I don’t mean to get political or anything, but I’m worried that the same kind of people who got triggered by the LEGO Friends line being “LEGO for girls” are gonna start up something similar when they find out about this.
Im always amazed when jewellery is announced. Why? well having worked on a few of the licensed Lego books as a Fan Builder, the Lego project team have always been very Loud and Clear that wearable items and Jewellery are a no go as they are considered unsafe. A child could injure themselves if they trip or fall onto the creation etc.... I never liked clickits, but without them we would not have Pete Reid's iconic turtle with translucent headband.... so it will be interesting to see what people make with them and how fast they get snapped up when they are on clearance.
@Zander said:
" @TheRightP_art said:
"Frankly frustrating witnessing LEGO gearing their products do far towards one gender or the other."
Why? Like any smart business, LEGO segments its market. It has sets aimed at younger demographics (Duplo) and older ones (Architecture). What is so wrong with the company targeting a gender?
There are safety reasons why giving some sets to very young kids may not be a good idea, but apart from that, any demographic can have any set (as @CCC suggests above). No-one is forced to follow any particular target audience LEGO has in mind. If everyone did, there would be no AFOLs and no Brickset as we know it because once-upon-a-time adults were not one of LEGO's segments. "
My 4 year old daughter loves Lego as girly as it gets. I didn't tell her to be that way, but it gets her building and sharing the family Brick Love. So I say "Bring on the Pinky Purply Foofoo stuff." When Lenora the pink space girl came out, she totally embraced classic space. That became awesome daddy daughter time. If that's not the point of Lego, than I don't know what is.
What are these things?
If it's indeed system-based (tiles/studs/flowers etc.) I'm still eager to see what it brings.
I personally hope for something like tile-packs that can be used for regular building as well.
I know this is early speculating, mostly based on the DOTS logo and the parts used in 2018 Friends Friendship rings.
https://brickset.com/article/38454/review-5005237-friendship-rings
Small tiles are often useful for details, especially getting more corner-round and half-round ones, no doubt Heart Tiles would be used as well.