Why has lego never made an LOTR theme?

[Everybody]

Why? It's amazing. The sets could be the greatest ones ever.

[BobaFett2]

Why? It's amazing. The sets could be the greatest ones ever.

I'll give a few reasons:
First off: It costs money to buy a license. I believe that LEGO has a limit on how many licenses they buy at one time, and they don't need another license considering their sales at the moment.
Second: LOTR is more popular among adults and teens. LEGO's main lines are aimed at children-here are some examples:
* Space Police-if the line were aimed at adults, do you think they would have these lame prisoner capsules which are EXTREMELY easy to pop open? It's all about playability when you are a kid
* Power Miners-the monsters could have a lot more character, but instead they are cute little bumbling guys...that sounds more appealing to a kid than to a teen
* Star Wars-The Clone Wars-Okay, do you really think that this could appeal to adults? The old Star Wars line could, and it had decent Minifigures-but the Clone Wars....is...full of Minifigures which really don't look all that LEGO-ey, and it has a ton of not-so-great sets that they can get away with because they appeared in the TV show
Thirdly: LOTR is a castle-based theme-They already have Castle themes, and to my knowledge, they don't double up Licensed themes with themes of the same type-the main exception, being Star Wars (since it's such a long-running theme and they HAD to bring back Space at some point). Pirates is being replaced with POTC (to my horror)
Lastly: The theme behind LOTR is quite dark. Yes, Indiana Jones and Batman have a very dark theme, and I'm surprised (but glad) that they made them. LOTR has some disgusting creatures, monstrous environmental destruction, and more deadly things. It don't think LEGO could possibly make a good-looking "cartoony" version of that (as they've done with Indy and Batman) without stretching some limits and boundaries.

[Everybody]

Think about it, Minas Tirith could be enormous. Also that cities not dark, its all white. While I understand and agree with most of your points, I think that a lot of kids like LOTR (including myself). If they're discontinuing kingdoms as it seems, then they need something to replace it. Also I doubt that it would matter if the theme behind it is dark, there not going to convey that with a lego set. Plus the orcs wouldn't look that scary as minifigures.

[BobaFett2]

Think about it, Minas Tirith could be enormous. Also that cities not dark, its all white. While I understand and agree with most of your points, I think that a lot of kids like LOTR (including myself). If they're discontinuing kingdoms as it seems, then they need something to replace it. Also I doubt that it would matter if the theme behind it is dark, there not going to convey that with a lego set. Plus the orcs wouldn't look that scary as minifigures.

Yes, a lot of kids like LOTR. But it's more of a teen/adult thing at the moment. Maybe when the Hobbit ocmes out. The orcs wouldn't look as scary, but they might not look as cool either. Minas Tirith could be huge (I'm not saying dark colors, I'm talking about the underlying themes), but they don't make huge things like that.

[sadowsk1]

I think a LOTR series would have been cool, but save for bulk elves, I think a person could make a pretty fair recreation of LOTR on their own if they bought the necessary sets.

[lukeskywalker]

Maybe they will. I'm a member of the KIC at lego and a little while ago, they had a poll asking which themes lego should create. Batman and LOTR were the 2 highest.

[BobaFett2]

Maybe they will. I'm a member of the KIC at lego and a little while ago, they had a poll asking which themes lego should create. Batman and LOTR were the 2 highest.

Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that they will. They already did Batman-they hinted that more will be released, but they may/may not due to darkness of the movies.

[vynsane]

They already did Batman-they hinted that more will be released, but they may/may not due to darkness of the movies.

I'd say it's more likely not to show up due to Disney owning Marvel Comics and having a deal with LEGO including Toy Story, Prince of Persia and the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean lines than the darkness quotient. If they somehow did bring Batman back, it could always be based on "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" which is much more light-hearted fare.

As for LotR, while I agree with most of the comments above, they have had two castles at the same time this year. Obviously I am referring to King's Castle from this year's Kingdoms line, but also Prince of Persia's "Battle of Alamut" which is a perfect LEGO castle in the classic sense if I ever saw it. There were also still Indiana Jones sets on the shelves while PoP was out, which obviously overlap in certain key ways.

Mainly, the reason a LotR licensed theme probably wouldn't happen is the cost of licensing. Add to that the cost of new specialty pieces (not saying they don't make specialty pieces, but they tend to make ones that they can reuse in normal sets, which I don't see coming from LotR).

[GuaranteedUnity]

If they somehow did bring Batman back, it could always be based on "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" which is much more light-hearted fare.

Unlikely, since the show has been canceled after the current season completes.

Guess we'll know for sure in 2012 when The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters if TLC still have -- and intend to do something with -- the license, but their recent ties with Disney and the fact that Disney now own Marvel doesn't give me a whole lot of hope.

[Everybody]

Google lego minas tirith, it' amazing.

[legitimatealex]

Licensing : ) Only reason. That and money.