LEGO Avatar theme confirmed

Something Old.... Avatar
Something New.... Avatar 2
Something borrowed....Up to you
Something Blue....Blue ball in coming April 1st round the corner ????

@JasonBall34 Yes it will be very interesting how they handle the specific weapons. Part of me feels like they would make a new rifle piece, although perhaps slightly modified to be more sci fi. Or they could use the double barrel one like you suggested.

Obviously not relevant for this theme but I'd love to see an official Lego bolt action rifle piece sort of Great War era (which would work for WW2 also). Probably something along the lines of a Mannlicher 1895 (which is similar to a Mosin Nagant, Kar98k and to a lesser extend Lee Enfield .303, so basically a 'generic' bolt action rifle).

James Cameron makes best imax movies, He knows what hes doing.. Guess most you never seen imax his. Like trying say minecraft superior death star set

Its about 14 years too late for me to have any interest in these sets anymore, and I know the grandkids aren't interested either as they didn't care for 'an ancient movie' when I tried showing it them, nore when they finally sat down and watched it.

@MrBob said:
"The mech suits in Avatar were fairly small, so I'm curious to see how they'll be scaled compared to the minifig. Could end up being a nice army builder mech if it's not part of a larger set.

The Scorpion Gunship has a nice big twin-rotor design, similar to some of the old Exo-Force craft used by the robots. Another obvious choice for a set.

Other than that, I'm hoping we'll see more focus on environmental set pieces. Avatar's true visual beauty comes from all of Pandora's unique fauna, flora and geology.

It's a long shot, but I wonder if we'll get some kind of tensegrity-based floating rock structure."

We’re apparently getting tensegrity in a Ninjago set this summer so it’s not too far fetched for a floating mountain build.

Ah yes, movie I gave up on watching halfway through. Colour me excited.

@Ridgeheart said:
"Where is my "True Lies"-set, Cameron? Where is it?!"

I'd so buy a nice Lego harrier.

Can't wait to see the blue minifigs on this theme!

fairly meh on the franchise, but if it's got na'vi minidolls i'm totally in. should have neat colors too

Meh.

I forgot all of avatar.

I also would prefer Last Airbender to this. I have no interest in this but to be fair Lego has been completely missing me for almost 2 years now.

I do kinda question this move for a few reasons. Yes, I know that there is a new movie coming up.

1.) Isn’t Avatar pretty heavily militarized? Like... that’s part of the conflict. Could this be considered too grounded, or is it good to go because it’s sci-if?

2.) Even if a sequel is coming out, do people really care about this franchise? The only conversations I’ve heard about it are that it made a ton of money once, then no one discussed it again. What’s the plot of the sequels, anyway?

On the other hand, I’m actually looking forward to seeing what these builds are! I think these could be good parts packs for terrain, and the Na’vi will fit nicely into some sci-fo MOCS as aliens. At the end of the day, I think the addition to Avatar is ultimately harmless.

Also, for people wanting pirates and castle... you have pirate and castle sets on the market. Right now. Seriously, ya’ll have it good compared to fans of other themes.

I'd like to see more on the atmospheric representation of the surroundings from Avatar's scenes in the sets, and less on the typical vehicles, helicopters, figures, machineries, etc. My reference point would be from the Avatar Idea set that was previously shown here (I think it's from one of those ideas or competition sets, can't remember now but it was 1-2 years ago). Anything less creative, I'd likely not be interested eventhough I'm a fan of the movie.

Talking of which and realistically speaking.. how would license set fits to the Values of Lego (Imagination, Fun, Creativity, Caring, Learning, Quality)?
https://www.lego.com/en-at/aboutus/lego-group/the-lego-brand

I've never seen Avatar but given what i know of the subject matter, we'll hopefully get some spaceships, some dragons/creatures, and some fantastical landscapes out of this theme. I'm tentatively excited.

I enjoyed the movie, though I do agree it was overrated. I'm also embarrassed for humanity due to the fact people were depressed and created support groups about aspects of the movie (like how amazing the planet was and the first thing humans do was destroy it with mining).

I think this theme has a ton of potential though. Not only am I excited to see what they do with the vehicles, but the terrain itself has tons of potential, such as new plants/colors, the floating miuntains, etc.

There has been some leaks of this.

I would like to see some sets based off the first movie, rather than just the sequel(s).

@BrickFeverNL said:
"As a LEGO reseller we visit LEGO's HQ a few times a year and I think we are allowed to say that the sets which will be released are based on the original Avatar.
We didn't see the prototypes of the sets, they only had pictures of the some movie scenes and they will make sets of those. "

@Iguanaboy said:
"I would like to see some sets based off the first movie, rather than just the sequel(s)."

The one-sentence quotation that informs this article states that the sets will be based on the original Avatar movie and also Avatar 2.

I'm guessing that the LEGO sets will be colorful and interesting. I'm also guessing that Avatar 2 will be just as terrible as the first one, which was terrible. Just terrible. I love science fiction. I love parables about our relationship to the environment. I did not love Avatar.

for those "blah blah bring back LotR" - do they even still have the license anymore? you think if they did, and the new Amazon series, they would've announced sets already . . . .

THE MOST OVERRATED MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Average sci-fi flick sold out as revolutionary due to its visuals, while the plot was extremely basic and the acting just ok. The Oscars won by it show why the award is pathetic nowadays. Cameron is heading to get another easy 3 billion due to building up hype (he delayed the sequels like 818 times) on people just like he did with the first one.

The sets might be good (well, I have to admit the ride at Disney Orlando is amazing) but this thing becoming a franchise is a mistake.

I'm not going to be surprised if this is another case of LEGO jumping onto a property nobody ends up caring about, since Avatar really feels like a flash in the pan that just doesn't have the base of loyal fans to make sequels anywhere near as big as the first film was in its time. People have also had tons of time to reflect on the film and become more critical over the years as well, so the next films would likely have to focus on the script more than the visual effects to succeed or give the franchise staying power in the face of an audience who's picked apart the older film and found it insubstantial. We'll probably get cool sets, but I can't expect it'll be one of LEGO's more auspicious licenses.

What am I looking forward to seeing? The end credits. Avatar and Polar Express are two of the Uncanny Valleyest movies I know of. I endured PE because my dad was so excited about watching it when he bought the DVD, but I haven’t had anyone threaten to drag me kicking and screaming to a free screening of Avatar yet.

I want the Valkyrie, Scorpion, and the Dragon Gunship please, and thank you.

Excited! Looking to be a good year for Lego sci-fi alongside the Horizon set, this'll be a space theme with an aesthetic Lego hasn't done before! Here's hoping for some beautiful creature sets in unusual colours.

I do remember a fair few people using the original Toy Story long legs and arms for Na'vi custom minifigs back in the day, my fingers are crossed for their return (though extremely doubtful, considering the Toy Story 4 sets)

@essel said:
"Not interested in this 'Pocahontas in space' franchise."

I thought it was "Dances with Wolves" in space?

Contrary to most (apparently), I liked the movie - seen it a few times over the last 12 years. It seems like they will make 4 sets for this theme (and a retailer above) said that they will all relate to the first movie. My guesses: (1) the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson($60), (2) The mobile operating outpost with link units ($40 or $60), (3) one animal most likely the banshee ($40) or a double set with 2 main characters and their respective banshee ($90), (4) ($140) Either a scenery with a horse(Direhorse): a) the hometree or b) the tree of souls or a large bomber: a) C-21 Dragon dropship or b) TAV-37 Valkyrie SSTO Shuttle. There is also a possibility for a mech suit fight with a Thanator.($40 or $60)

The 'bestiality' mentioned above refers to the fact that Na'vis 'connect' with every other life forms through the use of their 'neural queue' which is apparently also used by Na'vis for deeper bond connection during mating.

I would hope that Lego would use the legs of Woody from Toys Story 3 instead of developing a new part. Scenery parts would be good with lots of light parts the would 'illuminate' flora as you 'touch' it (I keep my hopes very low on this).

Yes Lego is hypocrite (once again. I have not forgot about 42113): Avatar is a war movie; in fact it is the exact same story as Terminator Salvation (played by the same actor Sam Worthington and released the same year). An infiltration agent has a change of heart and decide to turn against his former employer and side with his original target.

To me every new sets is a chance for new interesting parts, potential recolours and some new interesting building techniques. As someone said already, we could very well get nice sets out of something that people seems not to care too much about - we'll see.

They did sets(2) of Avatar the Last Airbender in the past and they were dreadful. There is not much available to build in there. A few nice renditions of Appa have been posted on Ideas, I think that would be the best platform for this.

@Zrath said:
"Valkyrie aerospace shuttle for sure!
It's the big white transport that goes from orbit to ground."

That would be a good one as well a few good molds for creatures

pity, i was expecting new Indiana Jones sets, in my opinion a much better franchise than an avatar...

@CCC said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:" What’s the plot of the sequels, anyway?"

Avatar 1 was humans invading the lands of and killing blue cats, with the blue cats fighting back ... for now.

I reckon Avatar 2 will be humans versus blue cats, with humans getting defeated in some battles but striking back towards .... Avatar 3 where humans appear to be winning in the overall war against the blue cats but ... Avatar 4 where the blue cats strike back appearing to win until ... Avatar 5 where the humans and blue cats have a big final battle and it appears the humans will beat the blue cats with a plot twist that the blue cats win."

Sounds about right for Hollywood these days as they don't do original thinking anymore: It's just a major money grab for Cameron and Disney. According to Wikipedia, they've finished Avatar 2 and are almost done with Avatar 3 and starting on 4. So if this second film flops they've already sunk millions (with a capital M!) into subsequent sequels that may never be released.

I was unimpressed with the movie. I didn't see what all the hubbub was about. BUT in LEGO form, I'm sure I'll like seeing some new creatures and figures, so I'll still likely pick them up. So LEGO wins again.

And the ride at Disney is awesome (go if you haven't. I don't love giving Disney a ton of money, but the 3 hour wait was *almost* worth it)

I may not understand TLG’s choices in suitable product licenses but i accept them. Do i like Avatar? Yes. Will i be able to afford anything less than my favourite themes? Unlikely.

I also would love Castle, Town, Pirates, Space and ancient historical themes too but you know what? It’s all really going to be ok.

Instead of all the good Cameron Movies, the Theme goes to Avatar!?

WHERE IS LOTR?

Avatar was full of colour. There was a recent moc, possibly in ideas, of a coral reef, full of detail, full of colour. I'd love an avatar diorama set similar in style to that, with plants and animals and colour, colour, colour! Not interested in ships or guns personally.

Strange TLG are now excited by this theme after Pandora https://ideas.lego.com/projects/0b235cc9-d4ce-4cbc-b464-2c6961a9dc60
was declined after reaching 10k votes.

Remember Avatar from 2009? Me neither.
Let's hope this sequel doesn't suck or we'll have Lone Ranger all over again.

This is a theme with a lot of potential, but I greatly prefer the blue alien Avatar to the airbender one so I'm biased

@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"And here we are waiting for an Indiana Jones reboot."

Yuuuuuup. A series that actually has a fanbase and staying power?

I've seen a lot of comments saying that they would prefer Nickelodeon and Dave Filoni's Avatar: The Last Airbender to James Cameron's Avatar. I hate to break it to you, but the chance of Last Airbendet sets is basically gone. In 2006, LEGO released two SpongeBob SquarePants sets and two Last Airbender sets to see which would sell better. Spongebob got its own theme and Last Airbender didn't. So there's physical evidence that Last Airbender sets don't sell well.

Because Friends and F R I E N D S weren't hard enough, now we have both Avatars.

They can't do Halo because it's modern military, but almost identical aesthetics for the humans in Avatar is okay

I am going to get some sets from this theme. The movie is great I loved watching it.

Some really good points here. As well as the navi (apparently thats what the blue people are called), I'm interested to see how Lego does the human minifigs. Basically everyone is in modern military uniforms, not sci fi, modern U.S army uniforms like in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe combat trousers, army green singlets and boots are okay?

Also when people say "its sci fi" so military is okay, well Indiana Jones is entirely fictional and I don't recall Crusader knights that live for like 800 years or cups that turn people to dust or random lights from the sky that destroy everyone, or of course, aliens, being 'realistic'.

It is possible to make IJ sets without specific nazis, they could still do military vehicles and aircraft but give them more generic uniforms, and as I've argued previously the soldiers (especially those depicted by Lego) are just regular German and Soviet soldiers. Not all Germans and Soviets were evil and in the films themselves they are literally just riding a motorcycle or driving a truck.

Here we have as Ive said modern military tech actually going to war with indigenous people using modern weapons. Rockets, gas canisters and heavy machine guns are far more likely to be recognised by kids as weapons then old revolvers.

I’m sort of in the gray zone on this, I don’t hate Avatar unlike what feels like 99% of the internet but it wasn’t the best film and I can’t see what they could make as sets. The vehicles aren’t iconic so I assume it’ll mostly be forest terrain and maybe a monster or two (they can’t do Avatar sets without the dragon thing), while TLG doesn’t seem to care about sci-fi wars the futuristic vehicles are also ubiquitously used to cause war crimes in the film so that’s also worth noting.
@ShilohCyan They can’t do Halo because of the Flood, not because of the army theme.

@Th3_3m3rald_M1n3cart said:
"I've seen a lot of comments saying that they would prefer Nickelodeon and Dave Filoni's Avatar: The Last Airbender to James Cameron's Avatar. I hate to break it to you, but the chance of Last Airbendet sets is basically gone. In 2006, LEGO released two SpongeBob SquarePants sets and two Last Airbender sets to see which would sell better. Spongebob got its own theme and Last Airbender didn't. So there's physical evidence that Last Airbender sets don't sell well."

There are Avatar: The Last Airbender toys (non-LEGO) in stores right now. So there must be some interest.

I'm as excited about these sets as I am about the new movie(s).
...and I'm as excited about the new Avatar movie(s) as I am about lunch tomorrow.

I'm not very excited.

Whenever someone mentions Avatar, my first thought is "the good one or the blue one?"

I'm kinda torn on this. Personally I never really cared for the Avatar film, felt pretty awkward and basic plotwise. However Pandora is an insanely beautiful world, so getting some sort of diorama or vignette of it would go great with recent Star Wars selections.

Personally my favorite bit from the film was that mech suit the big bad used in the final fight, but that old Exo Suit from Ideas in around 2013 already has that style covered on my shelf.

Should've been The Last Airbender. Now that was a work of art!

@Th3_3m3rald_M1n3cart said:
"I've seen a lot of comments saying that they would prefer Nickelodeon and Dave Filoni's Avatar: The Last Airbender to James Cameron's Avatar. I hate to break it to you, but the chance of Last Airbendet sets is basically gone. In 2006, LEGO released two SpongeBob SquarePants sets and two Last Airbender sets to see which would sell better. Spongebob got its own theme and Last Airbender didn't. So there's physical evidence that Last Airbender sets don't sell well."

BIONICLE sold like hotcakes in 2002, but couldn't push any product in 2015. LEGO Star Wars sold great prior to 2010 and after 2015, but really dipped in the midrun. Castle 2013 was a total flop, but the Blacksmith set from last year was a best seller. Product's popularity and interest fluctuate over time. Fact of the matter is, Airbender had a massive resurgence in popularity over the last two years, where's Cameron's Avatar hasn't been talked about in a decade.

I seriously wonder if some of these sets are made to fulfill a contract obligation. It makes no sense why LEGO pumps resources into themes that will warm shelves while ignoring beloved themes that fans (with money) are clamoring for.

@GSR_MataNui:
And Harry Potter has been doing better since 2018 than it had by the time the third movie rolled around. Many themes have received an unexpected boost when kids who grew up with early iterations become AFOLs with a strong nostalgic streak, particularly when there’s a popular IP tied to it. How many people wrote off both Ghostbusters and BttF as one-and-done Ideas themes, and in a few days you’ll be lucky if you can spot large-scale sets based on the cars sharing shelf space because they keep selling out?

@Xandez1:
With a movie IP, there’s a high likelihood of strong sales, particularly if the movie does really well. For vintage themes, they probably have a good feel for just how limited the vocally dedicated fanbase actually is, which would explain why they’ve been drip-feeding that market rather than drowning it with a full theme.

These sequels have been delayed and delayed so will be interesting to see what releases first, the sets or the films they are meant to be based on.

Treehouses, colourful creatures, VTOL aircraft and mechs... I can see why lego would get onboard.

Love the film love LEGO and can't wait for this. The colours will be awesome. Looking forward to finally being able to do a Pandora MOC. Was never gonna work without proper minifigures.

Yessss!!!! I’ve been waiting so long for this!

@craigster10:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=11602pb08

I'm on the excited side of this news (I've MOC'd parts of this movie), and I see opportunities for:

* Pandoran jungle vegetation made with NPU (stacked fluted cupcakes, maybe?) remolded in new colors, including glow in the dark. Precedents: One scene from TLM2, the undersea-trolls from Trolls 2, Elves.
* Brick-built creatures. Precedents: Creator, Elves, Chima Legend Beasts; less successfully IMHO, Eternals.
* New kind of lighting elements, distinct from the venerable light-brick.

The four sequels, from what little we know, focus on the children of Jake and Neytiri as they explore other biomes of Pandora, so there's opportunity for novel fauna, possibly as designed for the "Flight of Passage" attraction at Walt Disney World (among them a six-limbed whale).

Avatar (2009) is a divisive movie, to be sure, and this isn't the venue for my practiced arguments against common and simplistic mis-characterizations. As an attempted entertainment franchise, it's weirdly slow. In this discussion I see predispositions to expect the worst of TLG's choice of set-topics, apart from the inevitable "opportunity cost" sour-grapes ("why is TLG expending effort on this instead of something I personally want?").

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
" @Trigger_ said:
" @ShilohCyan They can’t do Halo because of the Flood, not because of the army theme."

Actually, i’m pretty reasonably sure it’s because their arch-nemeses Mega Construx have the licence, not because of Lovecraftian space parasite zombies. After all, they’ve made zombie minifigs in the past, so they obviously don’t have any kind of aversion to the living dead."

The strange thing is that John Deere and Caterpillar both have been introduced to LEGO in the past year or so, and Mega has done both Deere and CAT licensed sets.

Oh look! Another license!

For another PG-13 movie!

That was made years before kids were born!

I wouldn't trade my childhood with open-ended play themes for anything. A closet of Castle, Pirate, Town, and Space sets turned into a tale of a kingdom of explorers from their feudal days through their position at the center of an interplanetary alliance of spacefaring civilizations, and all the friends, bad guys, and empires they encountered along the way.

No crummy movie ever would have made that happen. When you lock yourself into someone else's story, you impoverish your own imagination.

For the youngsters, here's a taste of what Lego was before Hollywood took over, from the box flap of 6285:

"Sometime during the 18th century, a peaceful colony of settlers enjoying the island treasures they discovered, suddenly had their serenity interrupted. The invaders were those who called themselves the LEGOLAND Pirates of the Sea! For years, the Pirates had been searching for the same buried treasure that the settlers were now claiming as their own. This, of course, disturbed the Pirates as they knew the doubloons (Spanish gold coins) the settlers found had belonged to their ancestors.

The first to hear the news that the settlers had discovered treasure was Captain Redbeard, captain of the Pirate ship Black Seas Barracuda. The Captain decided to gather his men, load his cannons and set sail to reclaim the Pirate treasures from the Eldorado Fortress. High winds, turbulent waters and tornado-like storms would have overwhelmed most, but not the Pirates, for they knew what fortunes lay ahead.

Just then, looming off in the horizon the Captain noticed the outline of an object. "What could it be?", he thought to himself, "Perhaps the trip will not be as easy as I thought..."

Use your imagination to continue The Adventures of the LEGOLAND Pirates of the Sea! "

But most sets just had a picture. And a booklet inside with bigger pictures. Who were those people? What were they up to? You decide.

@cody6268:
Who has the license today is not the same as who had the license
In years past. I think two other companies had Batman before 2006. They had the Spiderman movie license, lost that when someone else got the Marvel license, and then picked up the Marvel license a few years later. They weren’t the first with a LotR license, but they lost SpongeBob with extreme prejudice.

@NatureBricks:
Generally speaking, they are in these cases. They even reassured people that a competing Marvel license wouldn’t affect their Sony Spiderman movie license, and yet there were zero Spiderman III sets. Because these are “construction toys”, there’s only room for one, while Playmobil falls outside the scope and can have BttF and Ghostbusters toys even though the LEGO licenses were never reported as having expired.

Where this could get interesting is with LotR. The Tolkien estate hated what New Line did with the Hobbit films, so WB is cut off from any material not covered under the original license, which allowed Amazon to pick up the rights to the Silmarillion. Since the toy license is with WB for LotR/Hobbit, it’s entirely possible they could revive that theme, only to see another company sell competing Amazon Silmarillion sets. I have seen a line of LotR action figures based on the books running concurrently with a line based on WB’s movie franchise, and the situation is similar right now with Middle Earth film rights split down the middle.

@NatureBricks:
Yup, still do. I mentioned them in there. And I just saw a Playmobil BttF DeLorean on a store shelf on Saturday. But Playmobil isn’t really a construction toy. It’s more action figures/playsets that feel like construction toys due to their distinctive styling.

Remember when they thought Avatar 2 would be out in like 2012 or 2013? lol

@Autoboty said:
"Shoulda been an Avatar: The Last Airbender theme instead. But that just might be me, since I think the blue alien movie is the most overrated thing ever."

I don't have much hope, but my fingers are crossed that maybe we can at least get some sets for the Netflix show when that comes out. Probably a long shot, but Stranger Things sets a precedent. Ideas sets have gotten rejected several times, so with some wishful thinking that might indicate something is in development.

Will the theme focuse more on war and death machines, or on a peaceful and colorful fantasy world ? I hope for the second choice. And I am curious and impatient to see the minifigs and lego renditions of the beautiful forests and animals.

Gosh, a second Avatar movie?! How about we get the end-credits as a Lego set... Don't really want to re-live any of the scenes from the first movie.

Another brand owned by disney gets lego sets? Shocking.

Seriously, Avatar though? I guess there could be some cool sets depending on which way the theme goes between either the planet or the space military vehicles but I doubt these will
be big sellers.

Another theme I don't have any interest in, thus I won't have to spend any money! I'm honestly fine with that.

Avatar is the sort of film that made a ton of money because the 3D thing was a novelty.
But I don't know A SINGLE PERSON who has actually liked the film OR even remembers the name of any character. Heck, I can't name them either. And all I remember from the extremely boring and cliché plot was that it was basically Pocahontas with blue aliens.

I'm definitely not bothering watching any sequel and I'll pass on the sets too.

@djcbs:
Heh. Again, never seen it (the CGI looked too creepy for me to get excited by it), but I know
I’ve read the Pocahontas comparison several years ago, so I’m guessing it hews about as close to that as The Lion King does to Hamlet. Anyways, there’s also the fact that, at the time, James Cameron’s name was on the rise. Sure, this film was responsible for a lot of that, but prior to this, he’d done nine films. Five of those were bonafide blockbusters, one was kinda middling with impressive SFX, and the final two were Disney documentaries (one historical, one nature) with very high production values. That reputation is why he got to make Avatar in the first place, since it was basically a live-action cartoon with a $237 million budget. That’s just the production budget, excluding any marketing, at a time when half a billion at the box office could still land you a Top Ten spot for the year. Estimates on how much money was really spent on the film go as high as $310 million for production, and about half that for marketing, which is almost as much as tenth place The Hangover grossed that year.

Why now? And why anyways?

That movie is over 10 years old! Sometimes i realy like to know who is deciding what to bring next. I really do not get this at all.
I truly have enough of that licensed crap. Go to hell Hollywood! I am pretty sure that LEGO doesnt need licensed sets anymore. Since the Pandemic, thousands of people came back from their dark ages and i am pretty convinced that most of them like to see a classic theme like Pirates, Knights or Space to come again! I am one of those.
The other day someone on ebay asked to buy Knights of me because her son wishes Knights for his birthday. So even young people want that good old stuff back in the shelfs! I had to tell his mother that the amount of money she was eager to pay is way to less because of the aftermarkets value of those. I feel sorry...