An Analysis of LEGO® Themes

Browsing through the LEGO® Shop at Home website on a regular basis will reveal many different play themes. Some stay around for years while some are online for only one year. At BRICKCREATOR, we have devised several categories in which themes fit.

Original Themes: These are themes that are based on The LEGO® Group's own trademarks and properties. There is no licensing involved with any of these themes. They are some of The LEGO Group's best selling themes.

Licensed Themes: Themes in this category require licenses from third party providers and are generally based around movies. They are some of The LEGO Group's best sellers and receive a fair amount of press coverage.

Themes can further be divided into these categories:

One Wave Themes: These are themes that only have one wave of sets and generally receive little marketing. While they usually contain some interesting sets, they are not the most popular of LEGO® themes.

Major Muli-Wave Themes: These are original themes that receive a moderate amount of press coverage and marketing. They generally go on for several years before they are discontinued. Themes can become Core themes after spending time in this section for a while.

Core Themes: These themes have been around for years and we know they will be around for years to come. These are some of the top selling themes and are loved by fans around the world.

Back Again Themes: These themes are usually licensed themes that are either released periodically with gaps in between releases or are absent for several years before reappearing.

If around long enough, themes may end up being in several categories.

Original Themes
·         One Wave	Monster Fighters
	Pharaoh’s Quest
	Dino
·         Major Muli-Wave	Ninjago
	Chima
	Kingdoms
	Galaxy Squad
·         Core	Architecture
	City
	Collectable Minifigures
	Creator
	Duplo
	Friends
	Hero Factory
	Games
	Mindstorms
	Technic

 

Licensed Themes
·         One Wave	Prince of Persia
·         Major Muli-Wave	Cars
	Hobbit
	Indiana Jones
	Lord of the Rings
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
	Toy Story
·         Core	Star Wars
·         Back Again	Harry Potter
	DC Super Heroes
	Marvel Super Heroes
	SpongeBob Squarepants

LEGO® Modular Apple Store

Throught the LEGO® project site, CUUSOO, gotoandbuild created this awesome representation of an official Apple store. It includes awesome details like a trash can, (my favorite), an iPhone, an iMac, and an iPad. There is even a Steve Jobs minifigure. The set includes about 800 pieces and is in a modular building style. The project must reach 10,000 supporters before it becomes an official set. The count currently stands at 4,856. If you want this set to become a reality, all you have to do is vote! Click here to support. Lets help this idea become the 5th LEGO® CUUSOO set. Come over and show your support!

Is This a Good Deal?

Have you ever thought that some themes are more expensive than others? Well, you're correct. The price of an adverage set is usually determined by taking the number of pieces in a set and multiplying them by $0.10. This being said, you want to make sure the set you are purchasing meets this criteria. Some sets are better than others. In the City theme, bricks are usually around $0.10. This is also true for the Star Wars theme. However, when you get to Architecture, the bricks get up to the range of $0.35 per brick. This is why Architecture is a theme designed for adults. I have done a little prospecting and found that there are some sets currently on the market that are under priced, and some that are overpriced. Here are my finds:


The 4208 4x4 Fire truck is priced at $19.99. It contains 243 pieces. This means the price per piece is about $0.08. This means you save about $0.02 per piece. This is a great deal! Image courtesy Brickipedia.


The 4440 Forest Police Station is priced at $79.99. It has 633 pieces. This puts the price per piece at about $0.125. You are losing $0.02 here. This is a worse deal than the set above. Image courtesy Brickipedia.



The 21000 Sears Tower is $19.99. It only has 69 pieces. This puts the price per piece at a stagering $0.29 per piece. This is $0.20 more than a City or Star Wars set. This is not a good buy for pieces. Image courtesy Brickipedia.



The 6177 Basic Bricks Deluxe costs $29.99. It comes with 650 pieces. This put the price per piece at about $0.045 per piece. An astounding deal if you want pieces. Image courtesy Brickipedia.


So, there are some good and bad sets. All you have to do to know which is which is do the math.

*All images in this post are property of Brickipedia.*