6 Licensed LEGO Themes We're Not Going To Get

1st October 2022

LEGO's first licensed themes started in 1999 when they released the first Star Wars and Duplo Winnie the Pooh sets. Since then, LEGO have produced themes and one-off sets based on a wide range of franchises, and the number of these increases with every passing year. Such is the breadth of LEGO's licensed back catalogue that fans of various TV series, movies, and video games are ever hopeful that there will one day be a set or theme of their favourite franchise.

Unfortunately, there are some themes that are very unlikely to be seen in the foreseeable future. In this article we highlight six of these and explain why they won't come to pass.

Star Trek

This iconic science fiction franchise began as a TV series that debuted back in 1966. It has since expanded and encompasses a large number of movies, video games, novels, comic books, and further TV series.

The rebooted movie series, which began in 2009 with J.J Abram's Star Trek, has revived the Enterprise and its crew and has renewed interest in the franchise. The fourth movie from this renaissance period is due to come out in 2023, which will throw Star Trek into the spotlight once more.

Any fans hoping that this will inspire LEGO to launch an associated theme are going to be left disappointed. This is because a rival company BlueBrixx, have secured the licence to produce Star Trek building sets. It's likely that this is partly the result of disinterest from LEGO, as they already have a huge science-fiction licence in the form of Star Wars.

Pokemon

Pokemon is a huge media franchise that started in 1996 when Nintendo released a pair of video games called Pocket Monsters: Red and Blue for the original Gameboy. It now encompasses a string of video games, over 20 feature length films, the most successful TV show adaptation, and the bestselling trading card game of all time.

Many Pokemon creatures are pop culture icons and recognised the world over. At the time of writing, there are 920 Pokemon species in existence, which would provide endless material for a LEGO theme. Sadly though, Mattel owns the licence to produce Pokemon-themed construction toys under their Mega Construx brand, which rules out any Pokemon LEGO sets.

Halo

Halo is a video game franchise that focuses on conflict between humanity and numerous alien species in the 26th century. The instalments in the Halo series are critically acclaimed and raised the bar for first-person shooters.

The most recent game, Halo Infinite, came out in 2021, 20 years after the franchise began and was the 16th Halo game. There are several impressive vehicles and structures from the franchise that could make for some fantastic sets if they were to be recreated in LEGO brick form.

However, there are two main reasons why this won't happen. The first is that Mattel has the licence to produce a wide number of Halo toys, including construction models. Mattel's Halo Mega Construx range has been very successful so there's reason for this partnership to end any time soon. The second reason is the military nature of Halo, which would put LEGO off, as they have an ethos of not making sets that promote violence.

This is why there has never been a model depicting any military vehicles, despite weapons of all manner finding themselves into sets from nearly every LEGO theme ever released. The problem appears to be with including modern and realistic weaponry that children may recognise from the real-world and be able to associate with. Halo arguably more closely meets this criteria than LEGO's other themes.

Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is a fantasy media franchise that includes elements of magic, swordplay, and science-fiction, and was hugely popular in the 80s. It centres on the battle between He-Man and his arch enemy Skeletor from the planet Eternia, and brought some much needed excitement and derring-do to children's TV.

The franchise began as an action figure concept but later spawned an animated TV series, comics, video games, magazines, books, and two feature films. The franchise was created by LEGO rival Mattel, so it's no surprise that the licensing rights for producing MOTU toys and action figures still lie with them and will almost certainly continue to do so indefinitely.

Power Rangers

Children of the 90s will remember fervently watching the colourful spandex clad warriors who could use special powers and pilot large fighting machines called Zords to battle a range of enemies. Each Ranger had their own individual Zord, which could combine with others to create a Megazord, capable of taking on the most extreme foes.

For kids, there was everything to like: martials arts, cool weapons, and giant transforming vehicles. This would also act as the makings of a great LEGO theme, so it's a shame that Hasbro own the global Power Rangers toy licence, except for Japan and some Asian territories where Bandai is the licensee.

However, this doesn't completely rule out a LEGO Power Rangers set, as earlier this year Hasbro teamed up with LEGO to produce (10302) Optimus Prime. This was the first time the two companies have collaborated, and it could pave the way for future releases. The Collectible Minifigure Series 20 perhaps gave us a glimpse of what a Power Ranger minifigure could look like.

Games of Thrones

Game of Thrones was a record-breaking fantasy TV series that ran for eight years, before culminating in 2019. The multiple storylines of the show play out over two huge continents, with the major one revolving around the battle for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Dragons, castles, and knights are found throughout this fictional world, which are all things LEGO fans love, as can be seen in the popularity of the classic Castle theme. However, Games of Thrones contains many things on LEGO's naughty list, with violence, sex, and religion being just a few.

Mattel released a few building sets based on the franchise under their Mega Construx range, but these failed to sell well, which might be because of the bitter disappointment the show's ending left. Luckily LEGO Castle is making a comeback thanks to the Lion Knights' Castle and there are hints that more sets could follow.

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