LEGO teases BTS announcement!

Too bad they are on hiatus. The set won't sell as much.

No.

I am not looking forward to it and have no expectations. I had never even heard of the group until this set was announced. A wasted opportunity.

@LegoBoi69 said:
"Who?! "
No, not The Who, BTS.

Who is this group? Perhaps the set will brings some pieces in interesting colors?
They should have made a Daft Punk set, they were many ideas submission for them.
And it would have made some really cool minifigs.
Now its certainly too late...

What is BTS?

I’m glad that this set (the laziest submission ever approved by LEGO IDEAS) warranted more fanfare and an earlier release than the most-demanded theme returning with Rivendell.

@Doctor_Hugh said:
"I am not looking forward to it and have no expectations. I had never even heard of the group until this set was announced. A wasted opportunity."

You are not a target group for this, but how is basing a set on the best selling band in the world a wasted opportunity?

All I can say is that whilst I won't worry about this set too much, I hope that it pleases all the BTS fans who want it. Hopefully it has decent-looking minifigs, new recolours of parts, maybe some interesting building techniques and most importantly that it sells well, so that anyone else who wants an Ideas set of their favourite band (old or new) won't end up disappointed because the sales of this set have given Lego cold feet. I wish it the best of luck!

Why?

Straight to the 4659 with this woeful Ideas set.

From the top of my head I can easily name at least 30 bands that deserve their own lego set WAY more than this group.
But whatever, BTS fans probably love it.

Breaking news: 45-year-old man not interested in Lego set based on k-pop boy band, BTS!

This set obviously isn't for you my dudes.
I bet it'll have some nice minifigure parts though.

My expectation for this reveal is that the set will actually be better than the crappy build from the idea submission, but we shall see.

@Gnimsh said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"I am not looking forward to it and have no expectations. I had never even heard of the group until this set was announced. A wasted opportunity."

You are not a target group for this, but how is basing a set on the best selling band in the world a wasted opportunity? "

Anyone who saw the submission, and perhaps more importantly the other submissions in the same review stage, cannot fail to see how this choice was a waste compared to many of the others rejected.

@Judgeguy said:
"Breaking news: 45-year-old man not interested in Lego set based on k-pop boy band, BTS!

This set obviously isn't for you my dudes.
I bet it'll have some nice minifigure parts though."

I mean, they did ask ‘are you looking forward to it and what are your expectations?’ So…

To add insult to injury, I already hate it.

Never seen such AFOL entitlement when it comes to discussing this set. It's actually a bit sad that there's so many people who clearly think that every set should appeal to them, and anyone who dares like anything different should be banished from ever buying Lego.

The simple fact of the matter is that BTS are one of the most popular music artists ever. Hiatus or otherwise, their popularity amongst younger people, especially in certain parts of the world, is staggering. Just because you're a 53 year old builder from Manchester who has never heard of BTS doesn't mean that this set shouldn't be made, you're as far as it's possible to be from the target demographic.

And to the people criticising the set even though we've seen ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it, I don't know whether to laugh in your face or just pity you. Will I be buying this set? I have no idea yet, given we don't even know what it actually is!!

This set will sell insanely well. Heck, I'll even make a bold prediction of it being one of Lego's best selling sets ever. And who knows, the minifigures and build might even turn out be half decent for AFOLs?!

Oh no... 7 members but it's not Madness!

I'm not into BTS myself, but I'm really hoping this opens the doors to more asian-based pop culture. The number of anime submissions... rejected.... I hope some day to see anime ideas sets, even if they're from the mainstream ones (i.e. naruto, ghibli films, dragon ball especially)

Not my thing personally, but undoubtedly a massive get for TLG that'll in all likelihood sell by the bucketload if they land the size/price right with K-Pop fans that don't do LEGO often - under the 100 quid mark and it's a surefire hole in one.

Looking forward to the final build too - wasn't a big fan of the original proposal, but I've got faith in the designers working on it they'll spruce things up tenfold!

Always remember: "It's okay to not like things, but don't be a dick about the things you don't like."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

(...Is that a bit too over the line for the site, vocabulary wise? Sincere apologies if it is.)

I'm still wondering who BTS is. I mean yay! to all the folks looking forward to it, but what is BTS?

@Spritetoggle said:
"Always remember: "It's okay to not like things, but don't be a dick about the things you don't like."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

(...Is that a bit too over the line for the site, vocabulary wise? Sincere apologies if it is.)"

wow, this is great. Like I said, I'm not the biggest BTS fan, but i'm happy for those that do get this set!

This is one of those posts where Brickset will be divided between "I don't know what this is, so I hate it and it's wrong" and "Squee." Probably heavier on the former.

BTS is a very popular K-Pop group. If you're into K-Pop, this is huge (maybe). If you're not into K-Pop, it isn't. If it's not for you, leave well enough alone and go buy a Pick-a-Brick bucket. Nobody's making you get this.

My daughter is into K-Pop, but can't stand BTS. She'd be happier with a Twice set.

In this thread, people mistaking their lack of knowledge on a subject as the same thing for lack of popularity, quality, or relevancy.

Looking forward to seeing how Lego have improved on the Ideas submission, and the minifigures of the band themselves.

Not that common at all to see minifig representations of real life people from Asian backgrounds, so it’ll be good to have a bit more diversity in the minifig world.

@DB_Bricks said:
"Never seen such AFOL entitlement when it comes to discussing this set. ..."
You must be new here. You should have seen what it was like when 6373603 / 6373604 was released.

@DB_Bricks said:
"Never seen such AFOL entitlement when it comes to discussing this set."

You must be new on here!

@WemWem said:
"In this thread, people mistaking their lack of knowledge on a subject as the same thing for lack of popularity, quality, or relevancy."

Ding ding ding ding. We really need to start teaching the mind fallacy as early as kindergarten.

@DB_Bricks said:
"Never seen such AFOL entitlement when it comes to discussing this set. It's actually a bit sad that there's so many people who clearly think that every set should appeal to them, and anyone who dares like anything different should be banished from ever buying Lego."

The use of the word "entitlement" is so overused these days.

The thread explicitly asked "Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments."

That is exactly what people have done. Differing opinions is not "entitlement". Wanting something else is not "entitlement".

No idea about any of any of their music and I’m definitely not the target audience, but I have a feeling that the next update to the ‘similarity between Ideas submission and released set’ may see a new lowest score.

Whatever you think of Lego producing a BTS set (and I fully understand why they have) I think it will be interesting to see how much it resembles the original submission, as I don't think it is entitled to say that it was the worst one to ever pass.

@Doctor_Hugh said:
"The use of the word "entitlement" is so overused these days.

The thread explicitly asked "Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments."

That is exactly what people have done. Differing opinions is not "entitlement". Wanting something else is not "entitlement". "

There's a fundamental difference between replying "This isn't for me, but I hope it makes its buyers happy" and "Blargh, I hate anything I've never heard of." The latter is a joyless, emotional suck that acts as social atmospheric drain for anyone who wanted to discuss the set without negativity. It's the old saying: misery loves company.

I'm assuming from your username that you're a Doctor Who fan; I could be wrong. If you are, imagine how you'd feel if you and a friend were discussing a Doctor Who episode, and a person jumped in and said: "Doctor Who? I don't like that show. Nobody's heard of that show. That show is stupid. It's a waste of money for the BBC to produce that show when they could be airing more sports programs instead." And, when you told them to not be so negative, they replied: "I'm just offering my opinion."

That's what these conversations do. There's a reason why Brickset comments devolve into misery pretty quickly: because too many people don't have the emotional maturity to deal with people liking something that they don't.

I am not at all the target audience here but I am very curious what has the Ideas team done with the original, rather lacking submission. If the price per part is right this might be an interesting parts pack.

l don't know what BTS is, and no one in the comments has actually said what BTS is. Though from the comments, it seems like people who know what BTS is are more occupied yelling at people for asking what BTS is rather than just explaining it. Maybe the article should be updated to say what BTS? Sounds like it's a band of some sort.

@leetshoe said:
"l don't know what BTS is, and no one in the comments has actually said what BTS is. Though from the comments, it seems like people who know what BTS is are more occupied yelling at people for asking what BTS is rather than just explaining it. Maybe the article should be updated to say what BTS? Sounds like it's a band of some sort."

I literally wrote many comments above that BTS is a K (Korean)-Pop group. From Wikipedia:

"BTS (Korean: ?????; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan; lit. Bulletproof Boy Scouts), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, who co-write and co-produce the majority of their material. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to incorporate a wide range of genres, while their lyricism has focused on subjects including mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, individualism, and the consequences of fame and recognition. Their discography and adjacent work has also referenced literature, philosophy and psychological concepts, and includes an alternate universe storyline.

BTS debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. BTS released their first Korean and Japanese-language studio albums, Dark & Wild and Wake Up respectively, in 2014. The group's second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS had crossed into the global music market and led the Korean wave into the United States, becoming the first Korean ensemble to receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop", as well as the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). In 2020, BTS became one of the few groups since the Beatles (in 1966–1968) to chart four US number-one albums in less than two years, with Love Yourself: Answer (2018) becoming the first Korean album certified Platinum by the RIAA; in the same year, they also became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite". Follow-up releases "Savage Love", "Life Goes On", "Butter", and "Permission to Dance" made them the fastest act to earn four US number-one singles since Justin Timberlake in 2006.

As of 2022, BTS is the best-selling artist in South Korean history according to the Circle Chart, having sold in excess of 30 million albums. Their studio album Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) is the best-selling album of all time in South Korea, as well as the first in the country to surpass both four and five million registered sales. They are the first non-English-speaking and Asian act to sell out concerts at Wembley Stadium and the Rose Bowl (Love Yourself World Tour, 2019), and were named the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) Global Recording Artist of the Year for both 2020 and 2021. The group's accolades include multiple American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and nominations for five Grammy Awards. Outside of music, they have addressed three sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and partnered with UNICEF in 2017 to establish the Love Myself anti-violence campaign. Featured on Time's international cover as "Next Generation Leaders" and dubbed the "Princes of Pop", BTS has also appeared on Time's lists of the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100 most influential people in the world (2019), and in 2018 became the youngest recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit for their contributions in spreading the Korean culture and language."

BTS are a Korean Pop Band who are currently on a hiatus but at the time of this song were the biggest band in the world. Simple as that.

I’m not looking forward to the set because I only know a couple of their songs, but not really a fan; mostly because I don’t know a single thing about the actual set other than it’s BTS themed and there was an Ideas submission.
When the product info gets released, I’ll check it out like I do every other new release. If the actual set interests me for whatever reason and the price is right for me, I’ll get it.
Lego is making a business decision to release this set, as I’d expect they would with every other set. Not every set appeals to me, this one may not either. Or it might. Show me the Lego and we’ll take it from there.

@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"The use of the word "entitlement" is so overused these days.

The thread explicitly asked "Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments."

That is exactly what people have done. Differing opinions is not "entitlement". Wanting something else is not "entitlement". "

There's a fundamental difference between replying "This isn't for me, but I hope it makes its buyers happy" and "Blargh, I hate anything I've never heard of." The latter is a joyless, emotional suck that acts as social atmospheric drain for anyone who wanted to discuss the set without negativity. It's the old saying: misery loves company."
Fortunately, the majority of comments are far from your latter extreme. But giving an opinion does not require anyone to also mention the opposite opinion. There are doubtless many who are excited for this set. I'm sure the majority of people here who aren't interested in it don't want it to fail due to that, they are simply giving their opinion as requested. It's only one set among hundreds released this year so will have no impact on those who wish to pass on it.

I mean, not my thing but then neither were the Office, Seinfeld or Friends Ideas sets and people were happy enough gushing over those. Other people like different things than me, big shock

How this passed and Moomins didnt is beyond me.

@leetshoe said:
"l don't know what BTS is, and no one in the comments has actually said what BTS is. Though from the comments, it seems like people who know what BTS is are more occupied yelling at people for asking what BTS is rather than just explaining it. Maybe the article should be updated to say what BTS? Sounds like it's a band of some sort."

You could Google it...

[Blank]

I am looking forward to this set…retiring.

I know it's a teen band. But for me BTS will always be Behind the Scenes.

Not for me personally, but hopefully the K-Pop fans will enjoy it!

Hopefully the band members will be released as GWPs, one by one, with a £200 threshold for each, just to keep everybody happy!

It's been almost two years since the LEGO Ideas submission reached 10k supporters. In those two years many things happened, the most important one being the band entering on hiatus. I think LEGO should consider releasing their Ideas sets faster, since this one is coming a little bit late to the party IMO.

Hopefully it makes 14 year olds around the world pleased as punch! Not for me but it could certainly bring some great new parts or recolors.

American audiences might note that BTS did a collaboration with Coldplay that was constantly on the radio last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqPKLZF_WU

I'm old enough to be their grandfather. Not for me, thank you. Hopefully it will be a nice set anyways and it might be a nice addition to a city display.

@560heliport said:
" @leetshoe said:
"l don't know what BTS is, and no one in the comments has actually said what BTS is. Though from the comments, it seems like people who know what BTS is are more occupied yelling at people for asking what BTS is rather than just explaining it. Maybe the article should be updated to say what BTS? Sounds like it's a band of some sort."

You could Google it..."

What? Never! What's that Google thing anyway? :)

@Paperdaisy said:
"I'm very curious to see what they do and how they market the set as I think all Ideas sets have been 18+ for a while. I'm not sure that age bracket really works for the BTS fan demographic?"
18+ has been meaningless since at least 21324 , and is being used to get at least a fraction of interest from clueless adults wondering *insert Ryan Reynolds "but why?" gif here*. Younger people will get it regardless of the age bracket.

I wonder how large the overlap between BTS fans and LEGO fans is.
My daughters for example. The younger one has just outgrown LEGO but does not yet know BTS. The older one does at least know BTS (but doesn't like their kind of music), but is in her teens and definitely wouldn't be seen dead playing with LEGO. So even if she was a massive BTS fan she still wouldn't want this set.

I have a slight hunch this set will sell as well as the Queer Eye one, or all those sitcom sets that are on constant deep discount.

As for myself, I am totally indifferent towards this set and couldn't care less whether it tanks or flies.
LEGO has long stopped producing sets I actually care about, so why not make this one. Can't sell much worse than Vidiyo or Hidden Sight.

I wonder if they will launch this with 40% discount already in place...

@Doctor_Hugh said:
"I am not looking forward to it and have no expectations. I had never even heard of the group until this set was announced. A wasted opportunity."

A wasted opportunity for what? It’s not like if this set hadn’t been approved, something else you wanted more would have been approved in its place; most likely, there’d just be one fewer LEGO set made, and that’d be that.

BTS may be off your radar - it was mine, until this review result was announced - but a cursory few seconds of Googling was all I needed to learn BTS is a mammothly popular pop group. If there’s not a huge degree of overlap between FOLs and the BTS fan base, that suggests a BTS set is an opportunity for TLG to sell LEGO to a whole new group of people that previously wasn’t necessarily buying a bunch of LEGO. Frankly, sets like this are probably a lot better for LEGO Ideas from LEGO’s perspective than most of Ideas proposals that amount to “more of the same kind of thing diehard LEGO nerds are already buying”.

That picture is too dark. Perhaps they could light it up… like dynamite? Ha! See what I did there? Yeah, you saw.

Am I looking forward to this set? Sure I am! I’m looking forward to see just what it is. From there I’ll decide how much I want it using a “desirability index” I devised for ranking new sets in 2023. If it scores high enough and I’ve not exceeded my yet to be determined budget for buying LEGO for the year, I might pick it up even.

One of my most sought-after LEGO sets of 2022 was 10972. Why? Was the best way for me to get a hinged mouth whale so I could do a bible/Marvel mashup and create J. Jonah Jameson and the Whale. Something I had wanted to do since ever seeing 10907.

Never know what you might like (or not like) until you see it. But for me, I buy LEGO sets sometimes to make (what I consider) improvements or for specific pieces. I’m not too worried about building anything 100% to spec, I seldom do. But again, that’s me.

@dja said:
"Is it going to be the first set with a 40% discount?"
No, that honour goes to the Table Football flop, just recently.

I might even buy the BTS set, if it has interesting pieces (probably) and gets a massive discount (likely imho).
Hell I even bought several copies of the Ideas Adventure Time set when it was sold for 60% off at the LEGO store back in the day. Sold one for twice the RRP a while later to recoup my investment, and kept the other two as free parts packs. Not the worst decision I made.

I'd rather see sets based on bands I like, of course, but also I'm very aware of the popularity of BTS. I wish that New Order or Talking Heads or LCD Soundsystem were big enough to justify a LEGO set (the rehearsal room from the Perfect Kiss video, the Stop Making Sense or Long Goodbye stages, etc), but as an student in an American high school I can say from firsthand experience that BTS are massively popular. Even if the set doesn't sell well in Europe, I imagine it'll be like the sitcom sets, where it's extremely popular in the IP's country of origin (South Korea) and also probably in North America.

@Murdoch17 said:
"This was (apparently) the most popular band in the world when set was announced. BTS isn't really a thing anymore (on hiatus), and the set is finally coming out.

I predict this will sell worse than Vyidio did, maybe even on par with Galidor. Why? Because people's memories are short and fame is fickle. People are going to forget you... Unless your currently making music, or you've got a juggernaut of a catalog / fanbase like Elvis or the Beatles, you going to be forgotten eventually because as soon as your gone, somebody else is next in line to replace you!"

I can assure you that BTS does indeed have a "juggernaut" of a fanbase. Currently, they have eleven million more monthly Spotify listeners than the Beatles, roughly equivalent to the population of Belgium.

Jun -40%
Aug -50%
Aug next year ... still at -50%

Huw, this comment thread will serve as your 2023 site visitor demographic survey.

@Murdoch17 said:
"This was (apparently) the most popular band in the world when set was announced. BTS isn't really a thing anymore (on hiatus), and the set is finally coming out.

I predict this will sell worse than Vyidio did, maybe even on par with Galidor. Why? Because people's memories are short and fame is fickle. People are going to forget you... Unless your currently making music, or you've got a juggernaut of a catalog / fanbase like Elvis or the Beatles, you going to be forgotten eventually because as soon as your gone, somebody else is next in line to replace you!"

So all of their fans have just stopped listening to their music because they're on hiatus?

@niceguytop10nwords said:
" @TheIronBadger said:
" @niceguytop10nwords said:
"I'm not into BTS myself, but I'm really hoping this opens the doors to more asian-based pop culture. The number of anime submissions... rejected.... I hope some day to see anime ideas sets, even if they're from the mainstream ones (i.e. naruto, ghibli films, dragon ball especially)"

There already was a Totoro set pitched, but sadly it didn't reach the shelves."

that makes me angry

i'm more so shocked how many times naruto or shonen anime sets get denied!!"
Small wonder it gets denied, since Qman has the official license for Naruto. I have seen several of those sets and they appear to be quite true to the source material. Haven't bought any though since that property doesn't interest me.
A lot of popular licences are with other manufacturers (Pokémon, Naruto, Masters of the Universe, Star Trek, Halo, etc.)
But I mustn't mention that here lest the fanboys get ready for the stoning. ;-)

Lego trying to expand their reach to new markets.

But AFOLs here make it sound like it is a personal insult to them. Cry cry cry.

Are adults really so angry that a set has been made that they aren't interested in?
2023 is about the time we need to stop the world as its time to get off.....

BTS...Bacon tomato sandwich? In all seriousness, I have no interest in KPop so I am not excited. I am curious to see what they do to the submission though since it looked a little lacking.

Isn't this the whole point of IDEAS...people vote for sets, the designers see what they can make and it gets made. Does it have to please everyone? No

This set may be awesome, it may be terrible. But that isn't any different from any other set LEGO puts out. Some gems, some duds. Buy it or don't buy it. This community is why I want to get out of the hobby. I have fun building and creating and seeing what LEGO can do with their pushing the limits on scale and techniques, but I don't love hearing all the whining when a set not designed for us grown adults comes out. It gets old.

I'm not the target audience for this set and therefore have no expectations for it.

Off-topic: @CapnRex101 , how is the review of the Rivendell set coming along? It is eagerly anticipated!

My main issue with this set is that it posits minifigures as collectible action figures. I know this is a huge market for Lego, see all the variations on marvel superheroes for example.

But for me personally, the appeal of Lego is creativity, or seeing the cool building techniques the designers come up with. I'm not a minifigure collector, so this set is not for me.

But there seems to be a huge fanbase for this group. Of course I hope this will do well for Lego, as I do any other set and theme (excepting Galidor)

@cody6268 said:
"In my opinion, with many bands the words "commercially successful" and "good" aren't always mutually inclusive of each other. BTS is one of those bands. I could care less about them. If LEGO was going to go into music-themed sets that are licensed, there's a LONG list of acts that could've been produced other than BTS--just look at what Funko is doing for example. And so far, I think the Beatles have been the only other act that got the LEGO treatment unless you count the fact the Muppets have had a few albums released.

Heck, K'Nex made KISS sets for crying out loud!

"

And LEGO has indeed produced sets of other acts, such as The Rolling Stones (see 31206 ) and Elvis Presley (31204 ).

But whether you think their music is good or not, the fact is BTS is *currently* a very popular band (more currently than Elvis, the Stones, or the Beatles, anyway), regardless of the enduring long-term popularity of those other acts, or whether BTS will ultimately prove similarly durable a pop-culture fixture or not. Heck, the fact this project even reached 10k supporters carries *some* significance; not every project does, after all, even in our pandemic-era Ideas renaissance. How many of the other musicians and bands that you think are more deserving have even had Ideas projects make it to review? Have you submitted any of them yourself?

There are millions of BTS fans in this world, whatever you think of them. A certain percentage of that fan base buying this set will make this set a success. No, I don’t know what that percentage must be, but presumably TLG has figured that out and is hoping to get it. Every set is a bit of a gamble, but they have as much reason to bet on this one as any other, and more so than most.

One other last thing to keep in mind with this and other ideas for licensed sets (including any other proposals for sets based on real-world popular music acts - Daft Punk, for example, which has had multiple proposals, including at least one that made it to review): ideas based on outside properties aren’t solely TLG’s decision to produce them or not. The outside IP owners have to say yes to it, and also have terms TLG finds agreeable. It may be that with the Daft Punk project that made it to review (for example), the band themselves was amenable to the project, and LEGO was as well, but the band’s agent(s) shot it down. Or their record label did. We don’t know all the particulars on a case-by-case basis, but we do know that there have been instances when LEGO itself was actually interested in doing a particular Ideas project based on outside IP, but for whatever reason the rightsholders didn’t want LEGO sets made of their property. BTS and/or their management, obviously, was apparently happy to see the group brought to the brick. That one thing alone obviously gave this project an advantage over at least a few of the other Ideas projects that have come LEGO’s way.

Thread has a strong "am I out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong" energy.

When I saw the posts, I expected the comments to be bad, but boy I didn't expect to be that bad.

It's funny because people are like 'oh I don't know BTS so that means it def won't sell.'I mean, it's not like BTS is consistently a massive seller of physical albums in the streaming era, or that they sell out stadiums in a matter of minutes, or that they sell huge amounts of merchandising, again, which gets sold out pretty quickly. No, no, since AFOLs don't know them and aren't the actual targets of the sets (would you believe it), this will of course be a flop ! Right ?

Honestly, Google is your friend, and if you use it, you'd have found that, yes, BTS is indeed one of the biggest acts of the moment and they certainly do no lack in people wanting to buy a set based on them. Just because the West is reluctant to talk about them as much as they would a western band doesn't mean their achievements aren't there. And believe me, Lego knew pertinently how this could mean high profit and I'll bet you the moment they saw the ideas project they contacted Hybe/BHM to see if they could get licensing rights.

(Speaking of, they're not in a hiatus per se, whatever the korean media said, they are focusing on solo projects right now, while they have to go to the military. And we, Army (their fandom) are going absolutely nowhere. Them being on a pause won't change how much it sells.

Re : the set itself, I'm curious to see how much they kept of the design and how well they made the minifigures' outfit accurate. I know I'll buy it anyway.

(also BTS fans aren't only teenage girls ??? It's actually a wide wide spectrum, because, paraphrasing Min Yoongi, if you try to listen to it without prejudice, you may end up liking it, as they have a versatile discography)

Just look at the engagement on the announcement tweet, the likes and the retweets/qrts, and this will give an idea of how much they are popular.

@Gnimsh said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"I am not looking forward to it and have no expectations. I had never even heard of the group until this set was announced. A wasted opportunity."

You are not a target group for this, but how is basing a set on the best selling band in the world a wasted opportunity? "

Isn't the best selling band in the world Beatles?

This set will get a LEGO set in the hands of young people who are new to the joy of putting together LEGO bricks. Why not be happy for the opportunity to share our hobby?

I love music and Lego sets but I do not want Lego sets or minifigures of current or past musicians or bands. I certainly own a number of the CMF musicians and buy sets that include musical instruments, but I honestly don’t want minifigs of Elvis, Madonna, U2, Lady Gaga, KISS, Daft Punk, Spice Girls, David Bowie, or anyone in between, regardless of how iconic their look was or their record sales.

The main reason I don’t is that Lego is first and foremost a toy for children and let’s face it, most entertainers are not good role models for children and a lot of song lyrics are too adult for children. I have heard BTS songs on the car radio and don’t recall any inappropriate lyrics but that doesn’t mean future BTS songs won’t turn out to be inappropriate like Nikki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, etc. Lego can’t control how controversial BTS (or anyone else) becomes in the future. Take singer Miley Cyrus as an example: she was a wholesome performer millions of girls (and Lego target audience) idolized but by the time she was 21 she was appearing nude in music videos and magazines. Does Lego really want to go down that road?!?

I wish not.

@Brickodillo said:
"So BTS is going to play in the Jazz Club! Are they the first musicians in lego form? "

No, the Beatles have that honor. They had a yellow submarine ideas set in 2016.

I don't know who they are and what they do (I know it's music/singing) - I remember I checked them out a bit when the set was announced but nothing more than that. While I don't know them I don't dislike them - I just not have any interest whatsoever in them. That said, the set might contain parts in new colours that might appeal to me (I'm interested in all sets for that reason alone: new parts and parts recolour). Unless you are a Classic Spaceman, I have only a passing interest in minifigs so to me the accompanying build will be key.

As far as sales go, I guess we'll have to see. Of course, Bricksetters are not representative of the whole population (it would be extremely interesting to know HOW representative Brisetters are to the population in general) but here are some numbers to play with in the meantime. Yellow submarine 21306 12238 Brickset owners; The Rolling Stones 31206 418 Brickset owners (same league of flop as Hulk Buster 76210 and Black Panther 76215 ); Spice Girl tribute 40548 1875 Brickset owners; The Beattles 31198 1409 Brickset owners; Elvis Presley the King 31204 479 Brickset owners (apparently this should appeal to the 'old fart' (45 years old) bricksetter but it is not doing well at all);

As a musician, Animal 71033-8 is doing pretty well at 4310 Brickset owners!

All these comments about how big and famous they are made me curious, so I checked out some of their songs via Spotify. I like to keep an open mind after all.
Funny thing is, after having listened to about ten of their songs, all of them sounded quite familiar - especially since most of them sounded like Eurodance/Europop from the Nineties.
Some things always have a habit of reappearing.

Funniest of all, when I listened to Dynamite I realized I had even heard it on the radio before, without ever knowing it was by BTS. To me it sounded like Justin Bieber ;-)

@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"The use of the word "entitlement" is so overused these days.

The thread explicitly asked "Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments."

That is exactly what people have done. Differing opinions is not "entitlement". Wanting something else is not "entitlement". "

There's a fundamental difference between replying "This isn't for me, but I hope it makes its buyers happy" and "Blargh, I hate anything I've never heard of." The latter is a joyless, emotional suck that acts as social atmospheric drain for anyone who wanted to discuss the set without negativity. It's the old saying: misery loves company.

I'm assuming from your username that you're a Doctor Who fan; I could be wrong. If you are, imagine how you'd feel if you and a friend were discussing a Doctor Who episode, and a person jumped in and said: "Doctor Who? I don't like that show. Nobody's heard of that show. That show is stupid. It's a waste of money for the BBC to produce that show when they could be airing more sports programs instead." And, when you told them to not be so negative, they replied: "I'm just offering my opinion."

That's what these conversations do. There's a reason why Brickset comments devolve into misery pretty quickly: because too many people don't have the emotional maturity to deal with people liking something that they don't. "

So? Who cares if someone doesn’t like X? If your enjoyment of something hinges on everyone else liking it...I feel bad for you because you can’t enjoy anything.

@Vindicare said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
" @Doctor_Hugh said:
"The use of the word "entitlement" is so overused these days.

The thread explicitly asked "Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments."

That is exactly what people have done. Differing opinions is not "entitlement". Wanting something else is not "entitlement". "

There's a fundamental difference between replying "This isn't for me, but I hope it makes its buyers happy" and "Blargh, I hate anything I've never heard of." The latter is a joyless, emotional suck that acts as social atmospheric drain for anyone who wanted to discuss the set without negativity. It's the old saying: misery loves company.

I'm assuming from your username that you're a Doctor Who fan; I could be wrong. If you are, imagine how you'd feel if you and a friend were discussing a Doctor Who episode, and a person jumped in and said: "Doctor Who? I don't like that show. Nobody's heard of that show. That show is stupid. It's a waste of money for the BBC to produce that show when they could be airing more sports programs instead." And, when you told them to not be so negative, they replied: "I'm just offering my opinion."

That's what these conversations do. There's a reason why Brickset comments devolve into misery pretty quickly: because too many people don't have the emotional maturity to deal with people liking something that they don't. "

So? Who cares if someone doesn’t like X? If your enjoyment of something hinges on everyone else liking it...I feel bad for you because you can’t enjoy anything. "

Go read my comments again. I really don't care if he doesn't like BTS or any other project. The massive suck comes from being annoyed that anyone else likes a project when the commenter specifically doesn't like it himself.

@Judgeguy said:
"Breaking news: 45-year-old man not interested in Lego set based on k-pop boy band, BTS!

This set obviously isn't for you my dudes.
I bet it'll have some nice minifigure parts though."

Speak for yourself, at 47 I'm psyched! And even if you're not -- surely you have someone in your life who loves BTS? Maybe someone who would appreciate your love of Lego crossed over with something they care about as well?

Again, not only teenage girls (do you really think teenage girls are selling out stadiums and massive amount of merchandising in minutes/hours ?). Again, can we please stop with the pre-conceived notion of them being bubblegum pop boyband and not real artists (because yes that's why some people are insinuating) ???

And finally, again, brickset peeps not liking or knowing bangtan doesn't mean the set is going to flop. Your interest != accurate sale predictions.

Lmao, people will just hate anything that teen girls like.

You don't see me whining whenever a new city set that I have 0 interest in drops, so why is this announcement met with so many childish reactions?

@VaderJr316 said:
"People either mad that the set is becoming a thing, or mad at the people mad that the set is becoming a thing. They specifically said, “ Are you looking forward to this set and what are your expectations for it? Let us know in the comments.”

They wanted to know what we think. So either we are mad they wasted a good opportunity, or we are excited to buy a set based on a k-pop band. That’s all I can say lol

Here’s what this comment section is right now:

“this is dumb. I will not buy a set based on a k-pop band that half the world doesn’t even know. What even is k-pop?”

“Reply- HOW DARE YOU!!! YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON!”

“reply to reply - “so you like this set then?”

*no reply*

What is wrong with you guys XD XD"

There is a difference between 'not knowing/not liking/not being interested in the set' and this kind of comment, which, funny thing, was written by you :

"It will end up in the clearance section almost as fast as the queer eye set."

You don't know BTS, you don't like BTS, and you're not interested, that's more than fine. No one is forcing you to like it or buy it. And you can say those things as loud as you want.

But pretending it's a wasted opportunity/will be a flop because it doesn't specifically cater to what *you* like, that's utter nonsense. I can't wait for the day AFOLs actually understand that not every set has to cater to *their* interest else it's bad/a flop. I don't specifically go onto ideas posts that I know won't interest me and go 'wow why lego is doing this set that I won't buy. it is a bad idea'. I just don't.

I am not a fan of K-Pop, but I do know LEGO wasn't ignorant on this decision making. As much loathing the AFOL community has shown and currently showing since the teaser dropped, this set will make $$$ for the company. My youngest daughter loves the group so I know she will we be wanting this set for her a b-day gift. At the end of the day, its business and LEGO will follow the path that leads to the money. Can't forget, we're a drop in a bucket in terms of fan base compared to the BTS fan base

April Fools falls early this year.

@PastaDish said:
"Lmao, people will just hate anything that teen girls like.

You don't see me whining whenever a new city set that I have 0 interest in drops, so why is this announcement met with so many childish reactions? "

Just guessing here, but I feel a lot of the animosity about this set is stemming from the fact many other submissions were submitted and not picked, but in their eyes, the idea looks "half-way" completed, but yet gets picked up.

In short, someone who busts their butt off trying to get a promotion, but gets passed over for another individual who barely did anything.

@Dwelve said:
" @PastaDish said:
"Lmao, people will just hate anything that teen girls like.

You don't see me whining whenever a new city set that I have 0 interest in drops, so why is this announcement met with so many childish reactions? "

Just guessing here, but I feel a lot of the animosity about this set is stemming from the fact many other submissions were submitted and not picked, but in their eyes, the idea looks "half-way" completed, but yet gets picked up.

In short, someone who busts their butt off trying to get a promotion, but gets passed over for another individual who barely did anything. "
I would agree there will be more than an element of that, and not without good reason. It isn't just "in their eyes", any objective comparison between the BTS submission and every other in the reviews for some years now shows it to be significantly lacking. The early years of Ideas was very much having an idea and letting LEGO develop it but that hasn't been the case for many years now. Many of the modulars voted into every review now are considered by many to be better than the official modulars released, yet none are ever chosen. The voters have become increasingly bitter due to the excellent models rejected, as well as the sheer amount of rejections (many argue the more ideas in a review, the more you choose). To then have a submission like this be chosen perhaps felt like a slap in the face.

Where's the dislike button?

@Doctor_Hugh said:
" @Dwelve said:
" @PastaDish said:
"Lmao, people will just hate anything that teen girls like.

You don't see me whining whenever a new city set that I have 0 interest in drops, so why is this announcement met with so many childish reactions? "

Just guessing here, but I feel a lot of the animosity about this set is stemming from the fact many other submissions were submitted and not picked, but in their eyes, the idea looks "half-way" completed, but yet gets picked up.

In short, someone who busts their butt off trying to get a promotion, but gets passed over for another individual who barely did anything. "
I would agree there will be more than an element of that, and not without good reason. It isn't just "in their eyes", any objective comparison between the BTS submission and every other in the reviews for some years now shows it to be significantly lacking. The early years of Ideas was very much having an idea and letting LEGO develop it but that hasn't been the case for many years now. Many of the modulars voted into every review now are considered by many to be better than the official modulars released, yet none are ever chosen. The voters have become increasingly bitter due to the excellent models rejected, as well as the sheer amount of rejections (many argue the more ideas in a review, the more you choose). To then have a submission like this be chosen perhaps felt like a slap in the face."

I won't argue that the original Dynamite project was lacking, because well, it *was* lacking. It's plain to see that Lego saw an opportunity to do something that would sell well and they jumped on the occasion, not because of the project itself but because of the brand. That was loud and clear.

However, that doesn't mean they would have picked another project instead, as at least one time before they chose only one project out of a whole review. In the same vein, more projects in a review doesn't mean squat to Lego because, and I hope people understand that, Lego has a finite production capacity, and probably only allows 1-3 slots depending on what's in the review. They will never pull out the number of projects people expect because they simply don't have the production capacity without encroaching on other themes. They can't and won't select 10 ideas, even if there are a 100 projects in the review.

But honestly, Ideas definitely needs a revamp. It's more about displaying your MOCs skills (however good they can be) than actually presenting an idea that would be viable for a marketable set, and so people are obviously disappointed when that MOC they really like wasn't chosen, even though it could be seen before that it wouldn't ? (not talking about anything in particular, just in general)

It's also become more about who's better at selling their projects on social media, and honestly, 10k supporters means little now, and certainly *not* 10k potential buyers, too many people clicking the button because they think it looks cool, with no intention whatsoever of buying. (It doesn't mean that if you don't reach 10k, your project is bad, probably just that you weren't able to sell it.) I mean, speaking of the BTS project, it's no wonder it was able to reach 10k even with being so simple, because a simple post on social media and wham bam, here we are.

And that was way longer than expected, uh.

There was a time when my teenage son was into BTS and we heard their songs played over and over at our house. Our family quite enjoyed listening to their songs and watching their performances. For sentimental reasons, I am very excited about this and can't wait to buy this set.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS

As much as I'm clearly not the target demographic for this, I was irritated that the original submission was so lazy, when so much effort had gone into many of the others. In some ways that makes it the perfect ideas set - it's literally just an idea, and TLG can do pretty much whatever with it. The set might be interesting, but I very much doubt I'll be buying it, I've got no interest in BTS at all. Money saved I guess!

@danishbricklayer said:
"As much as I'm clearly not the target demographic for this, I was irritated that the original submission was so lazy, when so much effort had gone into many of the others. In some ways that makes it the perfect ideas set - it's literally just an idea, and TLG can do pretty much whatever with it. The set might be interesting, but I very much doubt I'll be buying it, I've got no interest in BTS at all. Money saved I guess!"

i completely agree with the first part of your comment, but I think this set could be a very good one. I mean lots of new colors, minifig parts etc etc.
let's hope Lego sees more in it, and not just a "money tree" because of the bands popularity.

I have no issue with a BTS Lego set and judging by the popularity of the bad you would think this will sell well. But in terms of the lego ideas submission itself, it is disappointing. When compared to the hundreds of outstanding fan submissions, the submission itself is quite bland and uninteresting by comparison - not to take away from their effort. I'm sure the final release by lego will be significantly spruced up but I cant help but feel sorry for others that have submitted genuinely creative or technical sets. I suppose thats the name of the game though...

@VintageDude said:
"Making music like. cars on a production line, how can that even be called music/
be defined as music?

Music is about creativity and talent,
not playback/singback and looks.
"

And this is when I know you NOTHING about BTS but you feel so confident you do and you have to share your wisdom with the world.

BTS does write and compose their own songs, in which they talk about serious subjects. They don't lip-sync and they sing live. They're actually not part of the K-pop machine because they came from a poor company that they literally built through their own talents, and in spite of the K-pop machine wanting them to fail because they didn't play by their rules.

But sure you know better.

Try to listen to their music, and their lyrics before trying to judge someone when you know nothing about them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS <= this is a good place to start.

Old man yells at cloud.

To put it into perspective for those of you saying "who?", or "why?"...

The official week-old reveal tweet for the new Lego Lord of the Rings Rivendell set has:
337 comments, 2,988 retweets, 10.6K likes, 1.3 million views

The teaser for the BTS Lego set (which hasn't even been on Twitter for more than 24 hours) has:
5,255 comments, 95,5K retweets, 279.3K likes, 8.6 million views

What this says is that BTS is very big, and this set is without a doubt going to sell out. If you think the fandom doesn't cross over with Lego, you are terribly mistaken, as the fan base will buy anything BTS related, especially if it is from a premium toy brand.

@curtydc said:
"To put it into perspective for those of you saying "who?", or "why?"...

The official week-old reveal tweet for the new Lego Lord of the Rings Rivendell set has:
337 comments, 2,988 retweets, 10.6K likes, 1.3 million views

The teaser for the BTS Lego set (which hasn't even been on Twitter for more than 24 hours) has:
5,255 comments, 95,5K retweets, 279.3K likes, 8.6 million views

What this says is that BTS is very big, and this set is without a doubt going to sell out. If you think the fandom doesn't cross over with Lego, you are terribly mistaken, as the fan base will buy anything BTS related, especially if it is from a premium toy brand."

Of course! Teenage girls love having in their room little plastic dolls of their favorite happy fantasies... (looks around room), oh, wait a minute. ;)

@PurpleTrooper said:
"I know this is probably bait and I shouldn't bother but still

Tell me which of these is bubblegum pop ?

and technically dynamite isn't even bubblegum pop, it's disco/funk.

and that not even 10 songs out of a 200+ discography but sure bubblegum pop.

(Also there's nothing wrong with bubblegum pop but Bangtan is far from being limited to one genre or whatever pre-conceived idea you have of them.)"

5 dudes dancing without instruments is literally the definition of boy band. All boy bands are bubblegum pop.

Sure as hell ain't no phunk. If you think that's phunk, you need a trip on the muthership to straighten out yo hip.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleTrooper said:
"I know this is probably bait and I shouldn't bother but still

Tell me which of these is bubblegum pop ?

and technically dynamite isn't even bubblegum pop, it's disco/funk.

and that not even 10 songs out of a 200+ discography but sure bubblegum pop.

(Also there's nothing wrong with bubblegum pop but Bangtan is far from being limited to one genre or whatever pre-conceived idea you have of them.)"

5 dudes dancing without instruments is literally the definition of boy band. All boy bands are bubblegum pop.

Sure as hell ain't no phunk. If you think that's phunk, you need a trip on the muthership to straighten out yo hip."

Is this a competition of who can be the most obtuse or what ? Is it that hard to admit that maybe you got it wrong ? Maybe you have no idea what you're talking about ? I don't understand why it's that hard ? Like the obsession with the dancing and the teenage girls quips ? Is this a pride thing ? You would rather be confidently incorrect than admit that yes, that group which you didn't know about, may be different from what you thought ?

And no, boybands are not necessarily bubblegum pop, what. And none, absolutely NONE of the songs above are bubblegum pop (seriously what), because, guess what, BTS started as hip-hop group, which you'd know, if you opened that wiki link instead of being so confidently wrong.

And quit it with the teenage girls quips, 1) nope the fandom is older than that, 2) does dunking on teenage girls make you feel superior or something ?

I don't understand the need to demean bands simply because they're not your cup of tea.

(and yes, it is funk.)

I don't care about the fact that they made a BTS Ideas set, obviously there's some demand and I'm happy for fans.

What I am however upset about is the project they chose. Pretty much the worst fan submission ever to be turned into a set. Incredibly lazy and uninspired. Couldn't even bother to give the figures faces!

Massive slap in the face for the people who actually put some effort into their designs.

Also all of y'all who are saying "who?" and "never heard of them" are just dunking on yourselves and showing how out of touch you are. I'm not overly familiar with them myself, I couldn't pick them out of a line up of K-pop bands, but I have heard of them because I don't live in a hole in the ground (as much as I would love to).

Perhaps everybody should wait until the set is actually revealed before passing judgment.
I mean I don't give a toss about the band, and having now listened to quite a selection of their music I can truly say I don't see a lot of talent, but the set we haven't seen yet.
It might be great, it might be crap. Fact is we don't know yet. All we know is that the submission was more than lacking, but there's no way LEGO would release an actual set that barebones and ugly, so let's just wait and see.

I'm not excited about the reveal, but at least curious what they made of the crappy submission to turn it into something marketable.

*opens Brickset on computer*
"Oh, look, there is a teaser for a Lego Ideas set coming out soon. I wonder which one it is?"
*opens article*
That's... interesting. Never heard of this group. I'll research it on Wikipedia to better understand it"
*2 hours later*
"Man, Wikipedia can be such a deep rabbit hole of unrelated side-trips... I never knew Julian Lennon had his own singing career back in the '80's, but I can't recall where I started this trip from!
*stares at computer for a second trying to remember*
Oh well, it must have not been important. I wonder if Brickset has any new info on upcoming LEGO sets."
*opens Brickset website*
"Oh, look, there is a teaser for a Lego Ideas set coming out soon..."

(rinse and repeat until sun burns out)

@PurpleTrooper said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleTrooper said:
"I know this is probably bait and I shouldn't bother but still

Tell me which of these is bubblegum pop ?

and technically dynamite isn't even bubblegum pop, it's disco/funk.

and that not even 10 songs out of a 200+ discography but sure bubblegum pop.

(Also there's nothing wrong with bubblegum pop but Bangtan is far from being limited to one genre or whatever pre-conceived idea you have of them.)"

5 dudes dancing without instruments is literally the definition of boy band. All boy bands are bubblegum pop.

Sure as hell ain't no phunk. If you think that's phunk, you need a trip on the muthership to straighten out yo hip."

Is this a competition of who can be the most obtuse or what ? Is it that hard to admit that maybe you got it wrong ? Maybe you have no idea what you're talking about ? I don't understand why it's that hard ? Like the obsession with the dancing and the teenage girls quips ? Is this a pride thing ? You would rather be confidently incorrect than admit that yes, that group which you didn't know about, may be different from what you thought ?

And no, boybands are not necessarily bubblegum pop, what. And none, absolutely NONE of the songs above are bubblegum pop (seriously what), because, guess what, BTS started as hip-hop group, which you'd know, if you opened that wiki link instead of being so confidently wrong.

And quit it with the teenage girls quips, 1) nope the fandom is older than that, 2) does dunking on teenage girls make you feel superior or something ?

I don't understand the need to demean bands simply because they're not your cup of tea.

(and yes, it is funk.)

"

Nope. Not funk or phunk. Please, please, please don't try to say BTS is hip-hop. Stick with your original idea that it's nouveau-disco. That's the closest to the truth.

Yes, the fandom is largely teenage girls. That's true of EVERY boy band. Yes, I do know a lot about this band, K-pop, and Korean culture in general.

Not a competition. Don't care. I do find it incredibly amusing that you're on this site trying to convince AFOLs that BTS has singular musical relevance. They don't, and no one here really cares.

Good luck trying to storm the castle or till at windmills or whatever it is that you imagine you're doing.

I'm just going to chew a big wad of blueberry bubblegum and listen to some BTS BS. So, how do you dance to it anyway? Do you just jump up n down screaming, or do you try to copy their sweet, sweet boy band moves?!

EDIT: You might notice that I never said I disliked them (concert videos aside). I just think it's very funny to try to make them into something they are clearly NOT. Just enjoy your sweets. Nuthin' wrong with that. Just don't try to call it meat- 'cause it's just sweet.

@Zordboy said:
"BTS?

Backstreet or bust, Lego. "

Because...you want it that way?

In a way it’s nice to see grumpy old AFOLs hate something more than BIONICLE

@Brickchap said:
"This is going to be a BS set. No one here will be interested in it, nor do I believe many in the general populace. Sure, there are BTS fans, but of those how many will enter a Lego store and buy this? How many even know this exists?"

Enough that LEGO’s tweet teasing the following day’s announcement - not the formal final reveal, just the tweet teasing that reveal - has already accrued over 10 million views and over 300k likes, the most of any tweet of LEGO’s, and done it in under 24 hours?

BTS fans know a LEGO set is coming. As long as they like the set, they’ll get it. Don’t worry about it.

I'm in the 'never heard of them' camp (my initial thought was that BTS was some kind of digestive complaint). But if it yields interesting minifigs or parts I might be buying. Otherwise, I can carry on being delighted that Lego produces a wide range of sets aimed at a wide range of interests and audiences. If I wanted everything they made I'd be even poorer than I am now.

To all the people saying this is a bad idea and won’t sell: the tweet teasing the reveal is literally the most liked tweet LEGO has ever made, becoming so after just 8 hours. Right there is a measurable data point to suggest this is going to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular set ever.

@Starik20X7 said:
"To all the people saying this is a bad idea and won’t sell: the tweet teasing the reveal is literally the most liked tweet LEGO has ever made, becoming so after just 8 hours. Right there is a measurable data point to suggest this is going to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular set ever."

Yes, but it will only have a significant positive outcome for TLG if and when those likes turn into purchases.

@darkstonegrey said:
" @Starik20X7 said:
"To all the people saying this is a bad idea and won’t sell: the tweet teasing the reveal is literally the most liked tweet LEGO has ever made, becoming so after just 8 hours. Right there is a measurable data point to suggest this is going to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular set ever."

Yes, but it will only have a significant positive outcome for TLG if and when those likes turn into purchases."
This.

I mean, why would teenage girls, who let's face it make up about 99% of every boy band that has ever been, be interested in buying a LEGO set?
Wouldn't they rather buy t-shirts or other apparel, or posters, or mobile phone accessories, or anything they can display while out and about?
Perhaps LEGO should make BTS minifig keychains instead.

If this set turns out to be a huge seller, I expect all the naysayers who thought this would be a huge markdown or failure to come back here and apologize.

@Majkl said:
"Huh, this was actually pretty interesting thread. I learned, that BTS is some current popular band, with huge audiance, with limited overlap with AFOL group. That is why the set is so primitive - it is aimed at new builders with little to no experiance, and it is intended as a gateway set to get more people hooked on Lego. Definitely not for me. "

Wait? You've seen the set? Please do share.

The submission is primitive yes. But I expect the actual set will be at least Office/seinfield/FRIENDS/QueerEye level of development.

@AustinPowers said:
" @darkstonegrey said:
" @Starik20X7 said:
"To all the people saying this is a bad idea and won’t sell: the tweet teasing the reveal is literally the most liked tweet LEGO has ever made, becoming so after just 8 hours. Right there is a measurable data point to suggest this is going to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular set ever."

Yes, but it will only have a significant positive outcome for TLG if and when those likes turn into purchases."
This.

I mean, why would teenage girls, who let's face it make up about 99% of every boy band that has ever been, be interested in buying a LEGO set?
Wouldn't they rather buy t-shirts or other apparel, or posters, or mobile phone accessories, or anything they can display while out and about?
Perhaps LEGO should make BTS minifig keychains instead. "

What kind of question is that? What on Earth makes you think teenage girls are less interested in buying LEGO sets than, say, teenage boys? Or adults of either sex?

Especially LEGO sets of other interests of theirs. That’s like asking in 1998 “why would Star Wars fans be interested in buying LEGO sets? Wouldn’t they rather be interested in buying Star Wars action figures and video games?”

And re: minifigure keychains, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them happen, if the licensing permits. After all, lots of other LEGO sets and themes *do also* yield LEGO minifigure keychains, *including* multiple Ideas sets, such as Friends, Sesame Street, etc.

@DB_Bricks said:
"Never seen such AFOL entitlement when it comes to discussing this set. It's actually a bit sad that there's so many people who clearly think that every set should appeal to them, and anyone who dares like anything different should be banished from ever buying Lego.

The simple fact of the matter is that BTS are one of the most popular music artists ever. Hiatus or otherwise, their popularity amongst younger people, especially in certain parts of the world, is staggering. Just because you're a 53 year old builder from Manchester who has never heard of BTS doesn't mean that this set shouldn't be made, you're as far as it's possible to be from the target demographic.

And to the people criticising the set even though we've seen ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it, I don't know whether to laugh in your face or just pity you. Will I be buying this set? I have no idea yet, given we don't even know what it actually is!!

This set will sell insanely well. Heck, I'll even make a bold prediction of it being one of Lego's best selling sets ever. And who knows, the minifigures and build might even turn out be half decent for AFOLs?!"

Agreed. I was surprised that the comments section was so negative. Sure, the original submission was a bit lazy and a tad too bland for many people's liking. But the original The Office submission was literally a giant minifigure "battle pack" stuck on a gray baseplate with scenery. I didn't see too many people hating on that.

I think it all comes down to source material. According to https://brickset.com/article/86548/who-visited-brickset-this-year-and-what-did-they-look-at , most Bricksetters are from Western countries, so they reasonably wouldn't have interest in K-Pop.

So many comments here talking about how no one knows who BTS is? I find it stupid. As other comments have mentioned, Google is a good friend. Plus, not every single LEGO set has to appeal to you. These Bricksetters probably don't understand how popular this will be among Asian FOLs (like myself), and have incorrectly predicted this set's sales in Asia.

@PurpleTrooper said:
" But honestly, Ideas definitely needs a revamp. It's more about displaying your MOCs skills (however good they can be) than actually presenting an idea that would be viable for a marketable set, and so people are obviously disappointed when that MOC they really like wasn't chosen, even though it could be seen before that it wouldn't ? (not talking about anything in particular, just in general) "
I'm surprised this doesn't get discussed more, because any of the Ideas submissions I've seen get traction are insanely overbuilt and are, to put it bluntly, using Lego bricks as a 3D printer. Nice sculptures, not commercially viable sets or even clever uses of Lego.

Ideas is really just cheap viral marketing for Lego.

@AustinPowers said:
"And when I go to a LEGO store or any toy store's LEGO isles, who is there buying stuff? On the one hand it's kids pestering their parents/grandparents for sets, on the other hand for a few years now it's us AFOLs, a market that in the past simply didn't exist at all, save perhaps for the tiniest of tiny outliers. When I was a kid, no adult I ever knew had any LEGO. Almost everybody had a model railway, but no LEGO. That was for kids, exemplified also by the product lineup. There simply weren't any sets like all the adult oriented stuff we have nowadays. There also was only LEGO. Not dozens of other manufacturers who specifically cater for the adult brick builder market.

As for teenagers, never once in all the years I have been frequenting toy stores or LEGO brand stores have I ever, repeat EVER, seen a teenager anywhere near one.
Perhaps it's different over at your end, but over here I noticed that teenagers would rather be dead than seen playing with "kids' toys". "

Unfortunately for your point here (and many of the points you tend to make on Brickset), anecdotal evidence is not considered strong evidence in argumentation, because it cherry-picks overly specific examples and then assumes they are broadly representative.

In this particular case, your anecdotal experience is misleading you - tons of teenagers do, in fact, still buy LEGO. All the time. It's a significant portion of their audience.

@AustinPowers said:
I often buy second hand sets, and more often than not the reason I get from sellers is "my kid has turned 13/14/15/whatever and wants to get rid of their toys to make some money for [insert currently popular expensive gadget of choice]."

And when I go to a LEGO store or any toy store's LEGO isles, who is there buying stuff? On the one hand it's kids pestering their parents/grandparents for sets, on the other hand for a few years now it's us AFOLs, a market that in the past simply didn't exist at all, save perhaps for the tiniest of tiny outliers. When I was a kid, no adult I ever knew had any LEGO. Almost everybody had a model railway, but no LEGO.

As for teenagers, never once in all the years I have been frequenting toy stores or LEGO brand stores have I ever, repeat EVER, seen a teenager anywhere near one.
Perhaps it's different over at your end, but over here I noticed that teenagers would rather be dead than seen playing with "kids' toys". ]]

I agree. Although I personally was a TFOL and am now an AFOL, you are absolutely correct. You NEVER see teenagers anywhere near Lego. In Australia it's even worse. The moment a kid is like 8 years old their Millennial parents are demanding they give up Lego 'which is for kids' and do something else (like I don't know, bashing up other kids on the footy field for the sake of a ball that's not even round and some disturbed understanding of Australian masculinity). Ever since I've been like 10 I've had to constantly try and explain that I design Lego, I don't 'play' with Lego. Eg I'll design some vintage car on LDD then if possible build it and sit it in my city where it doesn't move for the next 3 years. I don't go pushing it around making engine noises.

You've summed it up well so I'll just again agree with you it's rather silly Lego going after a teen market who will never set foot in a Lego store anyway. Some would argue 'oh but if there's stuff they are interested in they'll go.' Nope, because they wouldn't know it even exists unless they are a TFOL already and even if they liked such and such a set, as you said they wouldn't want to have to cop flak for buying a 'kids toy.'

Woah so much hate... I'm actually looking forward to this set... :D Yass! Any army out here with me?!

@Brickchap
"You NEVER see teenagers anywhere near Lego. In Australia it's even worse."

Simply not true. I often see teenagers shopping for Lego in the various Certified Stores I visit. Along with adults, children…really they have cultured a wide spread of builders young and old.

@Modeltrainman said:
"What does BTS mean? I've only heard that this group exists."

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