DOTS theme ending in 2023
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO has announced that DOTS, the craft-based theme launched in 2020, will be concluding after the March range is released.
The following statement has been provided by LEGO:
Dear all,
After careful consideration, we have decided to exit the LEGO DOTS theme and integrate tile-based play into other themes within our portfolio.
January and March launches of LEGO DOTS novelties will go ahead but also be our last on this theme, with all current items from 2022 remaining active in the product line up until the end of the year.
LEGO DOTS was launched in March 2020 with the ambition to connect with kids through their passion for arts & crafts – looking at encouraging self-expression and to attract new builders to the LEGO brand. It was a completely new style of building which used brightly coloured tiles to ignite creativity with LEGO fans, in a fun and unique way.
Whilst seeing great appetite for this type of proposition and playing a key role in retaining kids in the LEGO brand, we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category.
We will refocus our attention on ensuring elements of tile-play live on across other areas of the business. We know there is still a huge appeal from the arts & craft community, and we want to ensure there are opportunities for kids who love the play proposition to still enjoy building in this way. We can also confirm this discontinuation will not affect our business direction on similar themes like LEGO Art and we look forward to more exciting launches in the future.
We want to thank all our LEGO DOTS fans who inspired us with their creativity!
DOTS already started to appear in the Friends range last year and it seems examples like 41711 Emma's Art School will continue, even after the theme ends.
Are you surprised by the conclusion of LEGO DOTS? Let us know in the comments.
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112 comments on this article
Never got any Dots myself, not my sort of thing.
But always seemed an interesting and different theme and good for crafty people.
Shame to see it go.
Well it had heavy discounts on Amazon, so... guess it didn't click with too many people.
This line was so fun! Shame it has to end so soon but at least it had a good run
Pass the tissues.
That's a pity, it was quite a fun idea, but it did last a fair old while I guess. I'm still waiting on a dark brown 1x1 corner tile, but maybe Dots was never going to be the theme that gave me that!
If only Lego had made a Dots bracelet large enough for an adult arm, I would have gotten right into it!
Headline: DOTS NOT HOT, LOT SHOT.
Alternatively, THE FUTURE ISN'T DURS AFTER ALL.
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Headline: DOTS NOT HOT, LOT SHOT."
I was tempted by 'DOTS: DOA', but resisted.
So it's the end of Clickits 2020. These were useful though. I got a few packs and I really enjoyed using them in and around my little town.
Not a bad theme at all, but i think it is not really a theme people will collect. But it has definitely useful tiles with and without prints. My favorite tiles are the ones with mouths or eyes on it.
The little extra tile packs with the unique prints were fantastic, I’ll be sad to see those go.
First Ken Bruce is off (sorry for non-UKers about that reference) and now DOTS is done. It's been a genuinely surprising few hours for me this morning! I've had to check it's not April 1st a couple of times.
I've got a few DOTS sets and have enjoyed them for being different to anything else that Lego currently offer. As someone who sticks rigidly to instructions and never goes free-style, it's been a great way to put some creativity in how I use sets. My 7 year old also connected with this element of the build too - I build the basics, he decorates them. Although they did crop up on discount sometimes, they always seemed like something that connected with people, especially though on the fringe of the Lego universe so just didn't see this coming at all.
Just as I thought this theme might come in handy for my daughter next Christmas ^^
It was never a theme aimed at me so this won't impact me at all, but I am surprised at LEGO's decision. It must be cost related as that is the only motivation the company has, despite its claims.
Useful parts in a spectrum of colours. I enjoyed them. Good way to lower the prices of small pieces a variety of colours on Bricklink.
Fair enough. I have a few of the dots sets, but I've always got them for the 1x1's and not for the whole accessory idea. At least the theme introduced a couple fun emoji parts!
I was really keen on buying these sets, until I realized how many extra unused parts would be leftover, and I’m not interested in creating plastic waste. It’s also why I prefer art sets like The Great Wave to mosaic sets.
That's disappointing news to hear. I am surprised of this decision. I have enjoyed this theme and bought a few bracelets, a pencil holder, and the small packs.
Such a shame. I really love some of the Lisa Frank-inspired tiles and my 3x3x3 cube keychains and grabbing a pack for $3 is really easy when you're almost to a GWP.
Shame, I am looking forward to the Harry Potter ones in March so will still get those
This comes across as a niche theme that’ll have a small community talking about how cool it was for them, a decade later
I don't know if it is everywhere like this, but at InterToys here in The Netherlands I noticed that Dots usually wasn't displayed together with all of the other Lego (which generally has a VERY prominent place in the shop), but somewhere more in the back with craft toys. That doesn't necessarily help either...
On the one hand, maybe this way they reached kids (or parents) that weren't looking for anything Lego in the first place, but at the same time it's much less visible for customers.
I do feel there's a market for stuff like Dots, but you have to find out how to sell it. And that might take some time. It's just a bit different from regular Lego sets.
I have quite a few Dots sets, which usually bought when they were 60 to 70 percent off at Amazon. But I never built the sets, I just used them as dirt cheap parts packs.
I like the tiles as a means to decorate, mosaic or add letters to things but never got the point of the specialised accessories. Things like the bracelets & bag tags just seem like a perfect way to lose a lot of small Lego parts.
So I guess this announcement would line up with my thoughts.
"we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
I wish they would just speak plainly in messages likes these. Now I still don't really know why they stopped.
“we have decided to exit the LEGO DOTS theme and integrate tile-based play into other themes within our portfolio.”
This kinda makes it sound like they’re going to cancel DOTS just to bring it back with a slightly rebranded name. Coming soon: STUDS!
Aw this is a shame. There were a lot of great unique printed parts in there. They will provide a lot of detail to MOCs for years to come. But I imagine all the printing couldn’t have been cheap.
My problem is in searching through all the various unique parts to find what I want.
Expected this. Lego Dots have been populating clearance isles in Walmarts everywhere. I honestly thought it’d have been sooner. Now I gotta watch the clearance to lower ??????
Whilst the theme is ending, it appears the idea isn't. That would make sense with rumours of Disney and Harry Potter DOTS sets (they will sit inside of their own themes instead of inside the DOTS theme).
I thought they were a good idea, much better than Clikits. I will be sad to see them go. My sister that is eight loved them.
DOTS was a nice idea but probably too much repetitive in the sets proposal. After a couple of penholders, some boxes, and tons of identical bracelets it's hard to find something new. I bought something but found difficult to disassemble and change decoration, so after initial enthusiasm I easily passed
I really love Lego dots. However, the theme simply never existed in my country. I had to rely on online purchases, grabbing some dots stuff whenever I would be buying something big.
I find the thingsl ike the Pineapple and the cat legitimately useful for my desk. I store things like flash drives and brushes in the pineapple , and it is fun to decorate it. But I never really did mosaic art. Basically I just customize the Pineapple's face, it's like a fidget toy.
I wish the polybags would remain getting produced and hopefully the idea of desktop implements will remain but not limited to relying on mosaic art. I am also pretty sure I've seen dots patterns being used in a couple of modulars and friends sets already.
I got the banana pen holder as a present. It takes up a lot of space but only holds 6 pens.
It is really interesting to see how many people are disappointed to see the theme end, as when it was released I remember it was kind of panned. Actually warms my heart to see it. I am one of those people who is sad to see it go. Although I didn't get too many sets, but I did get a few and they were pretty fun and great parts packs for other building.
Hopefully the "lego art for kids" idea comes back soon.
@CCC said:
"I wonder why they need to release such a press statement though? I will probably buy a few more sets for her, but now they have said the theme is dead way in advance of it actually going, there is the clear indication that I might as well wait for large discounts. "
To drive sales. Plenty people that read this and might go and pick a couple up while they still can.
Not surprised given they seemed to be permanent shelf warmers in my local area, and the grandkid, who is arty and loves drawing, had zero interest in it.
Usually after Christmas, my local target's lego aisle is barren, but without fail Dots would be there, no matter what. Ah well it's still sad to see it go, it was kind cute.
Some of the individual tiles were nice but I never got any of the sets/bands/table clutter.
I think if they can focus on printed tiles in normal Lego sets it might be a nice way to use 1*1 things. It will be interesting to see if they keep any of the colours and stuff or if they drop off the inventory longer term
The theme was starting to get tiled.
How many themes have died in the last year?
Darn. I was hoping they would come out with numbers to compliment the 1x1 round letter tiles, but that dream will seemingly never come true...
I never cared for it very much but it had some cool prints
@MegaBlocks said:
"Whilst the theme is ending, it appears the idea isn't. That would make sense with rumours of Disney and Harry Potter DOTS sets (they will sit inside of their own themes instead of inside the DOTS theme)."
From release "After careful consideration, we have decided to exit the LEGO DOTS theme and integrate tile-based play into other themes within our portfolio."
Makes sense...factor the licensing cost into these and probably makes them a bit more profitable...seems like they have always wanted to create sub-themes within themes.
That's a shame. I'll miss the new parts like the dual molded 1x1s and printed tiles. The only sets I was buying were the extra dots packs. The latest pack is one of the best.
This announcement really surprises me because I saw DOTS being used by all kinds of AFOLs and TFOLs while also seeing the appeal to the target audience. I bought multiples of most of the DOTS Extras sets and some of the others for the unique prints and colors. I even bought my wife the pineapple picture holders because she loves pineapple as much as I love LEGO. ;)
@BrickRandom said:
""we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
I wish they would just speak plainly in messages likes these. Now I still don't really know why they stopped."
I agree, they could have explained more with another sentence or two. Maybe the sales showed that DOTS weren't doing well as an arts & crafts line.
Not surprising. LEGO just had a way too limited vision for this. I always said that in the reviews on my blog and I stand by it. At the end of the day it really becomes a matter of how many pencil holders and such you can do and how many colors they haven't covered.
Dots I think sells pretty decent, just maybe not as well as other themes… I will miss dots, I never really got many sets but some were really awesome tile packs and the theme provided great prints along the way… People always say lego dots is a bad investment but I feel like this this theme will gain much more traction after it retires, like many lego themes
The latest message board idea probably didn't hit off as which families still use message boards and other accessories like bracelets already done several times.
I don't think toy stores or supermarkets were interested either as never saw them on the shelf next to all the City and Friends sets.
Possibly if they had larger volumes of standard colours instead of all the pastel shades AFOLs might have found other uses for them. Not the end though as square tiles and quarter circles will still be found in modular's for a long time.
@Snifflegully said:
"This comes across as a niche theme that’ll have a small community talking about how cool it was for them, a decade later"
If Lego don’t celebrate their centenary with a D2C Dots set, I’m going to lose my sh!t…
I picked up quite a few on discount. I like decorating mocs with mosaic patterns and this was a simple way to stock up on a lot of useful tiles. Oh well.
Worth it for the letter-printed tiles, at least. Shame this means we probably won't get them on square tiles, though, or in any other colours.
I copped the 2021 'Lots of Dots' set for making shop signage.
I also picked up a couple of the 'Extra Dots' bags for the printed tiles, and I've got some of the printed tiles I missed on my Bricklink watchlist.
Other than that, I wasn't really interested in Dots, but I liked the idea.
It's a shame to see them go. I don't wear jewelry but I regularly wore my DOTS bracelets around because everyone knows how into LEGO I am. Adults thought it was interesting, kids thought it was awesome and people would look when they saw it. It was fun while it lasted. Good news is that there are still a billion of them in stores and the bands aren't going anywhere.
A great theme, I would prefer this one to stick instead of the LEGO Arts that has very Little appeal to our family. But three years has already been a great run for an off-theme.
No surprise here at all.
In 10 years it'll be one of Huwbot's favorite themes
I think they were probably trying to break into a different market outside the construction toy section in stores. That's why they were placed with art and crafts sets rather than the rest of the LEGO.
I guess that didn't really do that well, perhaps because the price was high for the actual amount of time spent on the building/crafting. DOTS sets were cheap but compared to other craft products you didn't get that much to actually do, although obviously you can undo and rebuild as much as you want.
I hope we'll still see tile based decoration in sets aimed at kids, perhaps it'll be to create murals as in some Friends sets (and even the most recent City railway station), and maybe they will keep bringing out things like desk tidies in other ranges, either the D2C exclusives like the new little heart wreath or maybe even in Creator 3 in 1. I know that line has tended to focus on buildings, vehicles and animals but I don't see why they couldn't also bring in some of the brick based things that DOTS did like pen holders.
Well consider me disappointed.
DOTS became pretty dang helpful as a brickfilmer, I could do less of my titles/graphics/effects in post-production and do more in-camera. Building giant letters from DOTs tiles was just the start of something I had hoped to do more of in my LEGO animations. I'll still keep using them, but it's a shame the theme won't be around to make it any easier.
Sigh... this is depressing, and the fact that it'll apparently be ending on a Harry Potter themed wave (instead of anything I'd actually want to buy) adds insult to injury. At least it was mostly good while it lasted...
Dammit! I love those print 1x1 tiles!
@BrickRandom said:
""we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
I wish they would just speak plainly in messages likes these. Now I still don't really know why they stopped."
Translation: people can do exactly the same thing for 1/10th of the cost with other medium so Lego can not compete in the field of arts and crafts.
They could have also added:
In fact, Lego can not compete in any fields. The company has to rely on its glorious past when it was producing quality products that people wanted. These persons (today known as AFOLs) are suffering from diverse degrees of nostalgia and will gladly gobble up our product no matter what flaws (colour discrepancies, brittle bricks, wide tolerances) we put into our latest offerings. We do not even need to create anything new anymore, we just buy the IP licenses of the stuff that was 'in' when those 'AFOL's when kids/teens. Easy-peasy.
NB. I'm also guilty of being one of those non-discriminating AFOL that 'gobble-up' way too much Lego for my own good - and I'm a very small player.
The dead is obviously fault of a fact that as ususal, most of Lego customers are closeminded so they dont see appeal of other themes.
Dots were GREAT theme, I said this many times.
They provided us with cheap way to make amazing billboards, giving us TONS of usefull printed 1x1 tiles and unique bricks that can be used in A LOT of builds, EVEN castle or especialy space themed ones.
But most of people saw it as jewelery and "for girls".
And here is LEGO fault. Such great idea of theme should SHOW people they can use this product even more creatively. Why there was no CITY themed bracelets? Why Why they focused so much on Arts and crafts aspect while compelty ignoring their basic audience? Lego, jeez. LEGO IS ARTS AND CRAFTS already.
However I am glad I know myself some kids (both male and female) that loved the bracelet pieces and many Fols that saw the DOTS pieces potential.
I have no attachment to the theme as I just don't like attaching 1x1 sized parts too much. And beside the 'Art' theme dots is almost entirely 1x1 tiles! But I'm sad for the people who liked it.
And yeah... another unlicensed theme is going away. Although licensing has somehow crept into it as well. I don't know how they managed with a theme about literal mosaic patterns of 1x1s, but ah well.
@WizardOfOss said:
"I don't know if it is everywhere like this, but at InterToys here in The Netherlands I noticed that Dots usually wasn't displayed together with all of the other Lego (which generally has a VERY prominent place in the shop), but somewhere more in the back with craft toys. That doesn't necessarily help either...
Lego ordered us to put it there.
Sometimes (when we needed that designated place for something else) we would put the dots near the lego friends and see better sales instantly. Altho the sales numbers don't make a huge difference...
Bestsellers were the bracelets, bigger sets >25,- weren't that succesful."
I really liked the dots polybags, but the rest of the line was a bit repetitive, and there was just too much on the shelf which was the same. Even my kid got tired of it after the third bracelet/bag tag and just didn't care anymore. The penicil/picture holders are great in those PR photo TLG loves to take but have little to do with a real life kid's room.
Because I was sick of AFOLs snearing at product lines for demographics other than themselves, I went out of my way to figure out how to use DOTS bracelets in a Lego MOC. I've spammed this before sorry/not sorry: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWmrn6ULoRO/
@BrickRandom said:
""we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
I wish they would just speak plainly in messages likes these. Now I still don't really know why they stopped."
This reads as clearly as you'd expect a privately-held business who has no obligation to inform shareholders of their doings. They are saying that DOTS did not perform as well as whatever targets they had set for breaking into a different audience segment, namely, the arts-and-crafts segment.
However, I do think they realized that DOTS-like activity appeals to their core audience. I will say my now-10yo really enjoyed them, more than they enjoyed assembling models. I assume it also led to AFOL-leaning activities like the mosaics and paint-by-studs projects.
@Riggy_Diggedy said:
"Lego ordered us to put it there.
Sometimes (when we needed that designated place for something else) we would put the dots near the lego friends and see better sales instantly."
Interesting. In the US, where the toy market is overwhelmingly (almost exclusively) dominated by general-merchandise big-box stores, I've only seen Dots in the Lego aisle, or with the Friends sets if the store puts the specifically girl-aimed Lego on a different aisle.
I really liked the extra dots bags.
@ICAbricks said:
"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Is it bad I read this in Darth Vader's voice?
Noooooo!! Time to grab a few more sets before they all go away, I suppose
i actually liked them, got few...but buying 10 or 20 nope..maybe if they added a minifigure.
Bet sold more if added 6x6 plate or something put them on.
@Kynareth said:
" @Snifflegully said:
"This comes across as a niche theme that’ll have a small community talking about how cool it was for them, a decade later"
If Lego don’t celebrate their centenary with a D2C Dots set, I’m going to lose my sh!t…"
Give it 10 years and this will be the theme that saved Lego.
LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?
@djcbs said:
"LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?"
What about Bionicle? The LEGO Group repeatedly admits the company was saved by that theme - without it we might the company would have possibly gone under or been bought out by a competitor like Mattel or Hasbro. Bionicle was vastly different and it WORKED! Sure, somethings like Viydio, Clikits, and Galidor don't work - but DOTS did last for three years, which is about the usual timespan for a theme. Chima, Nexo Knights, Adventurers (first three years, Orient Expedition was a revamp) all lasted about the same timeframe.
Times change. Things evolve. It's a dog eat dog world, and Lego has realized they either move with the times or die out like Erector, Meccano, Lionel, or Rokenbok.
@djcbs said:
"LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?"
Not as harsh a position as I might take, but I do concede that the "gear focus" (watch bands and the like) emphasis of DOTS had me a bit concerned about the theme as a whole. Flashing back to the early 2000s a bit. My favorite thing about DOTS is/was the ability to procure unique printed 1x1 tiles en masse. While most of those designs were cute, I was not often tempted to actually accumulate any of those tiles for building. But things that might double as options on a City menu board, letters, numbers, or certain logos were appealing. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98138pb151T=C&C=1
@PineRoots said:
"Noooooo!! Time to grab a few more sets before they all go away, I suppose"
I'm sure they will get a 30%-40% off soon to get rid of them, I wouldn't rush.
Ugh did no one read the statement from Lego? The key part is:
"Whilst seeing great appetite for this type of proposition and playing a key role in retaining kids in the LEGO brand, we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
Dots failed because it was trying to be something new for The Lego Company. That's why it was rarely displayed in the main Lego section. It was one of their better attempts to break Legos out of the construction toy category, but it still failed to be an arts and crafts hit. It didn't fail on its own as a new concept for Lego sets, that's why they stated they are going to continue the style of building in other themes.
This is the best outcome. Lego got to try a new style of building out and will continue using it in other themes, which means we will continue to get Dots-like sets. Lego could've just cancelled the whole thing and chalked it up as a failure as they have done before for many attempts at a spinoff theme
Hard to establish this within an arts and crafts segment, where the competition is basically consumable and non-reusable components.
These didn't seem to sell AT ALL where I live, even when they were heavily discounted. 75% and still no one bought 'em.
So good riddance, they were just taking up precious shelf space.
All good themes must come to an end. Most themes only have a 2-3 year run:
Mixels: 3 yrs
Nexo knights: 3 yrs
Hidden side: 2 yrs
Dimensions: 2 yrs
Monkie kid: 3 yrs
Ninjago: Originally planned for 3 years
Dots: 3 yrs
I always thought dots would be an evergreen theme. I only got 2 copies of 41935 and it has been useful, but themes should not keep on going for too long so that they can make room for new ones.
Bit surprised by this - my impression is was doing pretty decently. Dots aren't down my alley, but I felt like they had their own place, much better than Vidiyo and Hidden Side.
Makes me wonder how high the bar is to become a permanent theme. I feel it could have lived on as a very small theme.
@CCC said:
"If they wanted them to sell well, they should have done letters on square tiles, like in the old business card set. At the time those also did not sell well and got heavily discounted, but there is now huge demand for letter tiles for MOCs. I bought ten sets of those on clearance years ago and now some individual letters sell for more than I paid for the complete set. If they had done complete alphabets on a number of different coloured tiles the consumers buying them would probably be different to the expected audience.
The round letter tiles are nice enough on bracelets but not so good for shops and vehicles."
Depends on what type of signage you wish to accomplish. Round tiles work much better for arched signage, or where you want to skew the letters a bit in certain circumstances.
A theme I never purchased, but I’ve always liked the idea. Kind of a shame to see it go.
I only bought one DOTS set, 30557, as a Mother's Day present for my mom. (And then I later got another copy as a GWP. But the holiday had already passed by then.) I do also have 11021 with its DOTS homage, but that's the sum total of my experience with the line. Nevertheless, I'll be sorry to see it go. I'm a little surprised they didn't do any crossovers with Friends or something.
I bought a few sets after not thinking too much of the idea when they originally released it. Definitely mostly shelf warmers where I live so most of what I've bought has been on clearance after the initial run. I do like the Series 8 packs so I'll need to pick up a few more of those. My biggest issue with them was the overabundant usage of pastel colors rather than Primary & more vivid ones and way too many of the 1/4 round wedges instead of more squares. At least they will be of use in regular sets going forward.
I’ve grabbed a few packs for my daughter every so often and she enjoys the bracelets. But I don’t think it’s a theme with unlimited potential for collecting so I’m not super surprised it’s phasing out. I’ll grab some more for her before they are gone. They’ve always had a very fun variety of tiles.
@djcbs said:
"LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?"
Trying new things is the only way anything good is made… in fact that’s how the core system was made as well.
What a shame. DOTS was one of the best candies I’ve ever eaten!
@karrit said:
"I bought a few sets after not thinking too much of the idea when they originally released it. Definitely mostly shelf warmers where I live so most of what I've bought has been on clearance after the initial run. I do like the Series 8 packs so I'll need to pick up a few more of those. My biggest issue with them was the overabundant usage of pastel colors rather than Primary & more vivid ones and way too many of the 1/4 round wedges instead of more squares. At least they will be of use in regular sets going forward."
I do wish they had leaned more into 1x1 tiles. The latest extra dots is a fantastic example. They have a wonderful pallet in it, but it's all quarter circles(except for the printed tiles and special 1x1s). I would have preferred to see a split between quarter circles and square tiles like what they did for one or two of the early packs.
Hopefully we get a new non-licensed theme soon. With Vidyo ending early, then this, we just have Monkey Kid left for short term themes.
DOTs will be more sucessful if had sets with numbers, letters, icons, smilies etc on tiles. And normal colors, not just neon/brite ones. For me mostly useless sets with huge potential never exploited by TLG.
"Smithers! Is it feasible to create a £500, DTC set in the Dots theme?"
"No, sir."
"Cancel it."
Luckily we still have Masters Of The Universe Origins. What...?
Huh. Nexo Knight was only around for 3 years? It felt way longer.
@Doctor_Hugh said:
"It was never a theme aimed at me so this won't impact me at all, but I am surprised at LEGO's decision. It must be cost related as that is the only motivation the company has, despite its claims."
What a silly, useless comment. What are you even saying? Lego doesn’t cancel themes that perform well, so clearly this wasn’t performing well. How do you mangle that into some kind of greed analogy? “How dare this company stop making products that don’t sell well, the greedy bastards.” By your rule, it’s also greedy for them to not just light money on fire.
A shame, I got a few packs but I want to see to see better packs for other themes to make details.
@djcbs said:
"LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?"
You’re right, they should go back to their REAL purpose: wooden toys. All this other modern faff is just a waste of time. It’s so silly to try and do anything new
@fakespacesquid said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"It was never a theme aimed at me so this won't impact me at all, but I am surprised at LEGO's decision. It must be cost related as that is the only motivation the company has, despite its claims."
What a silly, useless comment. What are you even saying? Lego doesn’t cancel themes that perform well, so clearly this wasn’t performing well. How do you mangle that into some kind of greed analogy? “How dare this company stop making products that don’t sell well, the greedy bastards.” By your rule, it’s also greedy for them to not just light money on fire."
Wow, that's a lot of anger for two sentences. And it's clearly not useless as at least 13 people have "liked" it. I didn't mention a rule, you are just making things up to get angry about.
@ha21 said:
"Ugh did no one read the statement from Lego? The key part is:
"Whilst seeing great appetite for this type of proposition and playing a key role in retaining kids in the LEGO brand, we also recognise the challenges of establishing LEGO DOTS as a long-term brand in the arts & crafts category."
Dots failed because it was trying to be something new for The Lego Company. That's why it was rarely displayed in the main Lego section. It was one of their better attempts to break Legos out of the construction toy category, but it still failed to be an arts and crafts hit. It didn't fail on its own as a new concept for Lego sets, that's why they stated they are going to continue the style of building in other themes.
This is the best outcome. Lego got to try a new style of building out and will continue using it in other themes, which means we will continue to get Dots-like sets. Lego could've just cancelled the whole thing and chalked it up as a failure as they have done before for many attempts at a spinoff theme"
I agree, the customisable detailing is already appearing in some themes (I can’t recall which set I bought last year that had a wall or roof that was basically a free build, and the Art sets are already a direct extension of this.
The idea that the ‘confetti’ bags might start being theme specific would be really exciting for greebling- anything with the CS logo on it would fly off the shelves!
@SaggyCloud said:
"Hopefully we get a new non-licensed theme soon. With Vidyo ending early, then this, we just have Monkey Kid left for short term themes. "
There is leaked info on a new non-licensed theme called Dreamzzz(I think that's the right number of Z's) releasing this summer. They have a nice range of prices, but it's hard to tell what the theme will look like with the name.
@ozbrickcreator said:
"All good themes must come to an end. Most themes only have a 2-3 year run:
Mixels: 3 yrs
Nexo knights: 3 yrs
Hidden side: 2 yrs
Dimensions: 2 yrs
Monkie kid: 3 yrs
Ninjago: Originally planned for 3 years
Dots: 3 yrs
I always thought dots would be an evergreen theme. I only got 2 copies of 41935 and it has been useful, but themes should not keep on going for too long so that they can make room for new ones."
Agreed, DOTS went a bit repeat mode, and I like the concept of those Lots of DOTS , message boards, pencil holders and jewel boxes etc.
However, I think it went a bit silly with the bag tags and patches , clearly products to use outside, and the idea of losing lego when outside seems bad, at least for AFOL. And that includes those ADIDAS shoes with studs on them (not the buildable shoe) , I don't see those sold anymore in 2023.
@CCC said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"It was never a theme aimed at me so this won't impact me at all, but I am surprised at LEGO's decision. It must be cost related as that is the only motivation the company has, despite its claims."
What a silly, useless comment. What are you even saying? Lego doesn’t cancel themes that perform well, so clearly this wasn’t performing well. How do you mangle that into some kind of greed analogy? “How dare this company stop making products that don’t sell well, the greedy bastards.” By your rule, it’s also greedy for them to not just light money on fire."
Are they cancelling DOTS though, or just not extending it any further than planned?
This is where I don't see the point of press releases like this. What purpose do they actually serve. If they aren't going to produce them in future years why not just not produce them and let the buying public find that out naturally, rather than doing a press release almost a year before the sets are due to remain.
"
I'd guess the reason for the press release is to forestall a lot of phone calls and emails from people wondering why there's no mention of the next wave of DOTS (whenever that would have been).
I think DOTS didn't so much fail, as fail to be popular enough to be continued.
" @fakespacesquid said:
You’re right, they should go back to their REAL purpose: wooden toys. All this other modern faff is just a waste of time. It’s so silly to try and do anything new"
It's silly when TLG take a perfectly functional and creative system such as Power Functions and replace it with CONTROL+ (or CON+TROLL as we call it in the Technic community).
@TheIronBadger said:
@fakespacesquid said:
You’re right, they should go back to their REAL purpose: wooden toys. All this other modern faff is just a waste of time. It’s so silly to try and do anything new
It's silly when TLG take a perfectly functional and creative system such as Power Functions and replace it with CONTROL+ (or CON+TROLL as we call it in the Technic community).]]
I certainly won’t disagree that control+ is a massive downgrade, GBC is well aware of that. But the stance that “Lego shouldn’t try new things” is very flawed.
" @fakespacesquid said:
I certainly won’t disagree that control+ is a massive downgrade, GBC is well aware of that. But the stance that “Lego shouldn’t try new things” is very flawed. "
True, considering that PF was a "new thing" once. Maybe there needs to be a better distinction between "new thing" and "gimmick", and even that latter definition would be subjective.
I've picked up a few boxes and packs here and there of these things purely because different shapes of 1x1 tiles in different colours and with unusual prints on is super useful for adding a little style to your builds. Real shame they're cancelling the line. I hope they continue making and selling tilesets some other way.
I think the purpose of the press release was to stir FOMO for those on the fence. It will spur some people to go out & buy up whatever they can find in hopes of turning a huge profit somewhere down the line. But I don't see that actually happening. I"m still seeing lots of the Llama Vidiyo Beat box near me but I'm still not buying that one @ $11. I mean I'll maybe buy some of the latest Dots sets when they go on clearance for parts packs but there are very few I felt the need to buy when they were released. Still hoping for the Mickey Mouse one to get a little cheaper but I may just go ahead & grab one at the currently reduced price at Target or Walmart. The rest other than the Harry Potter ones will wait for super deals if they happen because I don't need any of them except for a few more of the Series 8 packs. They kind of lost me at the Bag Tags & Patches.
@B_Space_Man said:
" @djcbs said:
"LEGO keeps coming up with these ridiculous "themes" that deviate from their core system based themes. Be it these fashion stuff, the app-based stuff...it ALWAYS flops.
Yet they keep insisting. I mean...how dumb are the people running LEGO to not have got the message yet?"
Trying new things is the only way anything good is made… in fact that’s how the core system was made as well. "
Except this isn't "trying new things".
This is constantly betting on the same failed concepts. LEGO wearables isn't a new concept. They never succeeded before. I'm sure you've heard already the definition of insanity.
Good riddance Dots.
This was a theme I was always indifferent to but I liked the pieces it made available, so probably in a similar category to Vidiyo and Nexo Knights for me.
@AddictedToStyrene said:
"If only Lego had made a Dots bracelet large enough for an adult arm, I would have gotten right into it!"
100% This! They barely fit me on the largest setting, heck, most larger kids probably couldn't wear one. It's almost like they never even tested them on anyone over 13.
@560heliport said:
"I think DOTS didn't so much fail, as fail to be popular enough to be continued. "
Difference being? That's exactly what "fail" means in the context of a for-profit company.