Star Wars was the first LEGO license – 25 years later, it’s stronger than ever | Parami News

If you’re a Star Wars fan, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen probably shaped your childhood.

As Design Director at the Danish company LEGO, he has been creating LEGO Star Wars sets for the past 25 years.

“I went to my boss and said, ‘Hey, you need me to run this product line,'” Fredrickson told CNBC. “For me, it’s like a dream come true. Star Wars and Lego together, those are two things I love.”

Frederiksen is not alone. Since 1999, fans have rallied around the license, snapping up merchandise ranging from Darth Vader minifigure keychains to an $850 Millennium Falcon set that includes more than 7,500 pieces. The brand has also continued to grow, launching six video games and a slew of animated content on Disney+.Now it also has its own home on Epic Games Popular online gaming platform Fortnite.

The Star Wars license is the first of its kind for Lego, which has never before created an official product line tied to the licensed intellectual property. In fact, the Jar Jar Binks minifigure is the first ever to feature a custom head sculpt rather than Lego’s signature round face, Frederiksen said.

Now, Lego Star Wars has become a blueprint for the company’s other brand deals – think Harry Potter, Batman and Marvel’s Avengers.

“We’re creating themes but not always connecting those themes to deeper stories,” said Jill Wilfert, LEGO’s head of global entertainment partnerships and content. “I think for us Say, really seeing that and how it really allows people to open their imaginations in different ways and express their creativity in different ways, I think that’s what Star Wars did for us.

Wilfert, who has worked at Lego for 36 years, said that before the Star Wars deal, Lego was very uncomfortable with any kind of third-party licensing.

“When we saw how well it translated and people responded, it really gave us more confidence,” she said.

The Lego Star Wars collaboration comes at a time when Lego is in financial turmoil. In the early 2000s, the company faced problems such as high debt, fierce competition from digital gaming platforms, and an overly diversified investment portfolio. Lego was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Strong sales of Lego Star Wars and Lego-owned Bionicle series Helping companies stay afloat At the same time, product lines are reduced and non-core businesses are closed. In 2005, the company launched the Lego Star Wars video game.

“As a gaming franchise, it’s been hugely successful and continues to be successful,” said Paul Southern, Disney’s senior vice president of third-party commercialization and franchise development. “It’s created worlds. ”

Twenty years later, LEGO Star Wars is still one of the best-selling products LEGO’s best-selling brand The company has been able to achieve strong sales even without new theatrical releases tied to its products.

The privately held company provides a balance sheet overview every two years.In March, Lego reported Sales growth in 2023: 2%even as the global toy industry sees Sales fell 7%according to Circana data.

The toymaker once again cited Lego Star Wars as a driving force behind sales. LEGO Icons, LEGO Technic, LEGO City and LEGO Harry Potter also performed well.

Although the growth is smaller than in previous years – the company’s overall sales increased 27% in 2021 and 17% in 2022 – LEGO continues to grab market share in the toy industry. A lot of this has to do with the fact that brands like LEGO Star Wars appeal to multiple demographics and generations.

LEGO sells sets at a variety of price points and difficulty levels, allowing kids to assemble smaller, simpler models and act out scenes from the series, while hardcore collectors can build more detailed versions of their favorite ships, helmets and movie moments. replica.

The evergreen nature of the franchise is key. LEGO can draw on nearly 50 years of content to satisfy consumers of all ages.

“Of course, the most important thing to us is that this is for kids,” Fredrickson said. “The model should be fun, creative, and inspiring, but it should also be a great building experience.”

That’s why LEGO has a certain amount of creative freedom in the sets it offers. For example, the Imperial space shuttle is almost entirely white. However, giving customers a pile of white bricks would result in “an inability to find the pieces and not make for an interesting architectural experience,” he said. Therefore, LEGO offers some variations in brick colors and details.

Although Frederiksen no longer designs products, he still builds everything. It was important to him to experience how each set fit together.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of LEGO’s partnership with Star Wars and the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, LEGO has released a number of special sets. The TIE Interceptor model retails for $230, the Mos Espa Podrace diorama retails for $80, the Droideka model retails for $65, and the new BrickHeadz characters cost less than $10 each.

“A lot of the stuff we see in real estate and Star Wars, maybe more than anything else, is that it’s something that families do together,” Wilfert said. “Typically, you’re first introduced to Star Wars through your parents, who grew up loving Star Wars, and we just found that adding something to our portfolio allowed those connections to Keeping families connected, we really see the correlation.

With video games and new digital products such as “Fortress Heroes”, Lego can attract younger consumers.

“We’re trying to make sure we’re in a relevant place where we know kids are spending their time,” Wilfert said.

Nan said the LEGO Star Wars brand has grown to include more than just bricks and minifigures, it has become its own ecosystem.

“The LEGO Star Wars universe is a separate identity within our overall business, which makes it very unique,” he said.

South was working at Lucasfilm when the partnership with Lego and Star Wars was launched.He has transformed walt disney company He watched Lego Star Wars grow firsthand when Lucasfilm was acquired a decade ago.

Part of this growth is due to the humor associated with the LEGO Star Wars brand. This includes slapstick moments in video games and animated content.

“We’ve built an ecosystem and a tone that allows us to do things that are, ultimately, a little cheekier and more fun,” Southern said.

This sense of humor extends to other series as well.

“You know, Star Wars allowed us to really open people’s eyes to how LEGO can create humor and charm for (intellectual property rights) that might not exist,” Wilfert said. “We’ve found that most IP owners are very willing to let us play a little bit.”

Between video games and animation projects, LEGO has worked with Harry Potter, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Jurassic World ” and cooperated with Pixar’s “The Incredibles” and other series of products.

But it all started with Star Wars and continues to evolve.

“We’ve taken the passion that fans and kids have for the brand and brought it into other areas,” Southern And pointed out that in addition to video games, LEGO Star Wars can also be found in the publishing field and even in the clothing field.

The variety of products and their strong sales prompted Disney and Lego to extend the Star Wars contract until 2032.

“The relationship is made easier because there are people who have been working on both sides throughout the entire relationship,” Southern said. “They are like family now. Very honest, very open, very cooperative.”

The longer licensing cycle allows Disney and LEGO to collaborate on long-term projects like video games and animation, as well as celebratory sets for major anniversary milestones.

“We’re celebrating 25 years together,” Southern said. “One thing that is also very important is that we expect to still be here in the next 25 years, celebrating the way our relationship has developed and making it relevant for generations to come.”