46 replies to this topic

[Aethon]

Not an in-game suggestion, of course, but it seemed to be the right place to put this.

It has been mentioned here, in passing, and I think this would really help introduce the franchise to younger minds...the ones who might want to play MWO, but are too young to know what a Battlemech is. Imagine, at the big gaming conventions, having some Lego models on a table nearby; that ALONE would bring more people to the booth, even if they never previously had interest in Battletech.

There is an interesting new way to do this; check this out: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/11619 This is not Battletech, of course, but it brings interesting possibilities.

Many say that Lego would never support a violent franchise; well, EVE Online is not a clean franchise, to say the least. The background story alone has good, hearty helpings of things children do not read about often...not to mention the actual gameplay environment...yet Lego has not voiced any concerns regarding these issues in the aforementioned link.

It may be that Lego simply has not looked beneath the surface of what one sees on the front page of their website (Internet spaceships? Sure, why not?), but Battletech is a hell of a lot cleaner than that, for the most part. Sure, the Inner Sphere can be a rough place, but it is not the hypercapitalist dystopia that is New Eden. On a rock and roll scale of Beatles to Ministry, I would say that Battletech is somewhere around Def Leppard.

Another thing to consider: most online games have a store on their website that sells t-shirts, coffee mugs, steins, etc. EVE Online has one that also sells models, and they seem to be pushing for a Lego series of their most popular frigates at the moment, which will likely be sold there as well. What if MWO had a store, to further generate income for the company, with which the game could be expanded upon?

We could have cool tshirts with prints like a Flashman wearing a trenchcoat, official-looking polo shirts embroidered with such logos as Diverse Optics or Defiance Industries, mouse pads with house/clan/famous unit logos, etc. You KNOW that stuff would sell like hotcakes. Add a Lego lineup, even if only for the most popular of mechs, and I think you would have a real winner.

If it takes pre-orders to get this off the ground, consider me interested.

TL;DR: words words words Official Lego mechs plzkthx words words words


EDIT: Please take 60 seconds to go here, sign up, and support this guy's work: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/13703

Edited by Aethon, 21 April 2012 - 04:10 AM.

[Runz]

You might be looking for something like this...

http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/13703

Done by the same guy who did the frigate linked above.

As far as I know, CCP does extremely well with its EVE merchandise; even though EVE has only a relatively small subscriber base they are dedicated fans. I would imagine MWO would have many more players due to the F2P model and with a much more established IP with some very clearly dedicated fans (not just from the Mechwarrior gaming community but also the wider Battletech universe community).

However, I don't know how that would play out with Topps because they are the overall owners of the Battletech IP.

[Ironhawk]

Aethon, on 13 April 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

Many say that Lego would never support a violent franchise; well, EVE Online is not a clean franchise, to say the least. The background story alone has good, hearty helpings of things children do not read about often...not to mention the actual gameplay environment...yet Lego has not voiced any concerns regarding these issues in the aforementioned link.

Though this was true in the past, back in the days of Lego Space, this is no longer the case, to some degree. They have agreements and made products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribeean, Harry Potter, etc. hardly little kid stuff, right?

Lego has had in the last few years an an in-house product line called Exo-Force, which they dropped. The mecha within that line would house human pilots, support all sorts of weapons, from ballistic to missile to laser and flamers and have ejectable cores... Sounds familiar? Was it non violent in nature? With BT, my guess is that could be different though, given all the possibilities, the existing lore, etc.

[Aethon]

Interesting about the Exo-Force stuff; my Legos were handed down to me by my brother; this was my first set: http://lego.wikia.co..._Supply_Station I always remembered them shying away from any violent material back then, and was always having to make my own bazookas, flame-throwers and chainguns for my Lego dudes out of TV cameras and tubey-bits, lol. Definitely good to see them offering more mature products these days.

Most of the new stuff I have purchased, I bought specifically because of some new, fancy parts they had. They never had posable joints, caterpillar treads, truly aerodynamic canopies, etc. back in the 80's, lol...so I am a little out of touch with what they have done ever since Blacktron, M-Tron, Spyrius, and G-Police.

Thanks for the heads up on that Atlas, as well...definitely supporting it.

Also, in case anyone missed it, there is always Brick Commander: http://www.brickcomm...m/warhammer.htm I almost wonder if a partnership of some sort might not benefit both the franchise AND the guys over at Brick Commander.

Edited by Aethon, 14 April 2012 - 05:57 AM.

[RotS Targe]

Aethon, on 14 April 2012 - 05:54 AM, said:

Also, in case anyone missed it, there is always Brick Commander: http://www.brickcomm...m/warhammer.htm I almost wonder if a partnership of some sort might not benefit both the franchise AND the guys over at Brick Commander.

Well, Primus (The guy behind BrickCommander) actually works for LEGO, so they wouldn't have to go far to find people.
I for one love LEGO, but they seem to have forgotten that they have an older fanbase, not just kids. Not to mention that their prices have become rather high. That said, the only way to get a LEGO 'mech is to build it from scratch, or use Brick Commander. LEGO has closed the custom set service, so now the only way to get the pieces are to use them from your collection, or get them online, which is expensive. I completed my LEGO Targe here: http://s1121.photobu...current=004.jpg and it cost me about $170. I can't imagine LEGO charging this much for a 'mech, so a real set would be preferable.
The only other thing I have against LEGO goes into their obsession with playability, again going for their younger audience, but at the cost of accuracy, and I can't stand it.

My conclusion is that I want these to happen, but not by LEGO, they are to expensive and they are obsessed with gimmicks that detract from the accuracy of the set. I know I will be hooted off of the internet for this blasphemy, but if I were to right now pick a company to make these sets, it would have to be Mega Bloks. before you start handing out pitchforks and collecting feathers, look at their Halo sets. This is what I want. They follow the geometry well, try for scale, and don't mess around with putting missiles and stuff where there never was any. Plus, their prices have remained fairly consistent, not to mention reasonable.

If there was a line like LEGO's Ultimate Collector's Series, then I would not mind LEGO doing it, but, please, there has to be something for collectors, not just kids.

[FinnMcKool]

http://mwomercs.com/...__fromsearch__1

Do it .

[Aethon]

rots-targe, on 14 April 2012 - 09:33 AM, said:

If there was a line like LEGO's Ultimate Collector's Series, then I would not mind LEGO doing it, but, please, there has to be something for collectors, not just kids.

I could not possibly agree more. The special edition Star Wars stuff they have put out is really awesome; I am really hoping for something like that, for Battletech. I am usually more of a realist than an optimist, but I hold out hope for this happening someday.

I also would not mind if MegaBlocks did the set, either; as long as the pieces are compatible with Legos, I do not care who sells them, so long as they are well made.

[Ramien]

If this were to happen, I'd rather see it as part of the technic or another 'advance' line, something closer to this: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/13519

[CeeKay Boques]

http://www.kickstart...ro-rapid-attack


This. Mobile Frame Zero...


LEGO only deals with huge franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter, Disney, etc. We're not there.

[Slade Deleportas]

The Atlas mech needs to be made. Can't believe we don't have it made already... Slackers
I went in a registered real quick, and supported it. It currently only has 50 votes and yet almost 200 people have viewed this thread. Something wrong here...

Come on we can make this happen!! Shareit on your facebook, bug your Battletech friends to support it. DO IT!!!

[A11eycat]

You know, a series of BattleTech-scale minisets with different mech models and a lego mechlab with interchangeble weapons, it would definitely be something I would buy! I also agree with rots-targe and Aethon, that Mega-Bloks could probably do it better, cheaper, and faster.
I like this thread already!

Edited by A11eycat, 19 April 2012 - 08:02 PM.

[CW Grayson]

There are some very good examples already:
http://www.brickcommander.com

it's with complete building instructions, i got my old legos out and build one myself long ago:)
But yes, franchise would be a good idea. A good coffee mug comes into mind so

[Adridos]

Too bad Exo-Force got shut down. I really liked the sets they had, mainly the tank, but it was overshadowed by Bionicle.

[A11eycat]

Agreed, and then they got rid of Bionicles a year later. Oh, and thanks Grayson for the link!

[Aethon]

The more I think about this, the more it seems easier for Lego to make this work (or Mega Blocks, or whoever). In ever lineup, they have the cheap sets that kids buy with their allowance, the really expensive sets that kids request for Christmas, and all the stuff ranging in between the two.

So...for the 5-10 dollar sets, you could have stuff like pilots, Swiftwind/Packrat scout cars, maybe a Pegasus or Centipede. Then, for the mid-range kits, you could have things like a Rommel/Patton, Bulldog, and other medium/heavy tanks, and some light mechs. Then, for the big sets, bring out the mediums and heavies, along with the more gigantic vehicles like the Demolisher, Alacorn, etc. For the dream sets that kids always end up asking for when Christmas/birthdays come around, the assault mechs could easily fill that role...maybe have a mechbay set, or something like that. And that's only the ground assets; when you consider aerospace, VTOL, blue water, etc., the options only expand.

The extreme, uber sets that cost several hundred dollars each could be special editions of iconic personal mechs, like Katana Kat, Yen Lo Wang, Legend Killer, Prometheus, Widowmaker, and Red Corsair.

There's such a massive lineup, they'd never run out of possibilities; if an odd design is simply too difficult to make it look right, they could easily choose another chassis in that weight class.

/dream

[Aethon]

Ok, this is just plain embarassing. Someone made some Angry Birds figures out of Legos, and he has twice the number of supporters the Atlas has.

Angry Birds outclassing an Atlas. What a kick in the gyro.

Come on, guys...sign up and support this guy's work; it'll only take you 60 seconds. There are tons of thread views here; that Atlas should have way more supporters than this.

[MarauderDeuce]

A meme isn't popular because it's better - it's popular because it's caught the public interest.
If you want the votes then get someone influential to start pimping it.
The Sean of the Dead lego was definitely helped by Simon Pegg promoting it via twitter and possibly other places.

[A11eycat]

You know Aethon, in 5-10$ dollar kit range you could also include mini-kits that are battletech scale, with maybe MFB containers.

[A11eycat]

Darn, this thread kicked the bucket.

[RotS Targe]

I think we need to look at the price ranges of sets are, and what that gets us. $5 from LEGO would get us less than a point of Elementals, but if it were MEGA Bloks, their $5 range is not a lot better. The $20-30 range would probably get us something like a J. Edgar Hover, or some larger Tank. $40-50 would get us into the 'mechs, though, lighter mechs would obviously cost less, and a Locust would probably go for $35ish.
Side-notes: 1) this is assuming we want this to all be Mini-fig scale. 1a) LEGO has slightly smaller figures than MEGA Bloks, so there would theoretically be a difference in size between the 2 companies, and corresponding differences in price.