Why LEGO Indiana Jones FAILED (2009-2023)
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Everyone was super excited with the return of LEGO Indiana Jones in 2023, but the theme has barely made an impact, and with only three sets released in the initial April wave, is this the end of the theme forever?
Link to rebrickable by Tyrionv - rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-1720...
Link to Pitch Meetings where I got the little jokes from - @PitchMeetings
I think its because lego deemed the whole franchise "too violent' just because its more realistic than star wars or super heroes, which is a real shame
There's a Lego Jaws set now lol.
Also there's Lego The Batman sets.
For the rest of my life, whenever Lego chooses not to make a set because it's "too violent," I can point to the fact they made The Batman sets.
I think it's mostly Disney's fault for the flop of lego indy
@@EPPicstuffThe jaws set is a standalone 18+ black box display set tbf, but I agree with you about 'The Batman' sets as they were regular box movie tie in sets, you could argue that Lego didn't know how violent the film would be as they make these sets way before these movies are finished and released, but from what I remember 'The Batman' was always marketed to be a more gritty take on Batman since the film was announced, so it definitely is a head scratcher
It's most likely a license issue, more than a LEGO issue.
The temple of Doom set being cancelled has to be one of the biggest losses ever for Lego fans.
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Looking at their work listings, May 2023 saw a new Diversity and Inclusivity officer begin working for the LEGO Group so I think we found the culprit given Indians don't find Temple of Doom to be offensive.
@@ZontarDow Not DEI bs making its into Lego now man wtf 😭
KA-LI-MA !!!!!
@@ZontarDowreally?!?! You going to blame it on that. Come on man.
Wanting to show "limited religious symbolism" while gladly showing the literal Ark of the Covenant is WILD on Lego's part
And full on statues of Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead.
@@dustyfedora Hadn't thought about that haha the entire set is littered with religious symbolism. Goes to show LEGO doesn't actually care about what religious icons they show, they exclusively care about how people will react to them.
I would kinda focus on the fact which was underlined in video that in fact Temple of Doom movie shows Kali as evil and I heard some people saying that movie itself is racist. So possible the set was skipped due to the "legacy" of the original movie.
@@igorgeneral6475the imaginary cult ripped out a guys heart and employs child slave labor? Are these the people they are defending?
And then making Notre Dame
Lego really was better back then. Glad I grew up during that time, 2000-2016
Lego policy is so inconsistent. They canceled Temple of Doom set, but they allowed set including German WW2 plane with german pilot who maybe member of nazi party (not all german soldiers were nazis). It makes no sense. Lego was always against war and war machines
Except the Germans in the movies were meant to be nazis.
They should give us a set with Hitler in it. He was in the movie.
But the Thuggee cult was portrayed in quite a racist manner. Like the actual group in history was not doing what they were doing in the movie either.
Omg the amount of misinformation is insane. It was not legos doing it was Disney's!!! Everything Temple of doom/Mola Ram related got canned in every indiana jones toy line that dropped last year
@stripedbandit5252 And? It's fiction. And either way the Thuggee Cult was still a problem in real life, even if they weren't the pulp evil you saw in the movie. So honestly comes off as a "Seriously, we're caring about an actual problem group being offended?" thing.
@@thegreatpiginthesky3904I say it's easily both being at fault. Because we know for a fact that the USA branch of LEGO has openly-avowed activists within their ranks, plus they already have a track record of doing (and attempting to do) this kind of thing. Remember, it wasn't Disney that got the Jabba's Palace set prematurely pulled from shelves, that was entirely on LEGO.
Anyone else remember the Johnny Thunder sets? They should have just kept going with that.
Heard they’re bringing him back, but it’s vehicle themed instead of adventure. Kinda lame
EXCELLENT WORK. LEGO INDIANA JONES 2023TH SETS FAILURE
Okay I think this is more of a Disney problem than a Lego problem. Case in point Hasbro had some TOD figures that leaked as prototypes for their adventure series line though they got cancelled. All the TOD stuff has been wiped off the planet. Think about it. If TOD really infringed on LEGO’s rules would it have gotten all the way down the pipeline? Maybe, but it was likely Disney urged them to cancel it. That was their statement where they said they worked with Disney to consolidate the line.
Disney has produced almost 0 merch for KOTCS and like a tiny bit of merch for TOD.
Stranger though is Lego never did anything more with the license. No sets for the fifth movie was a shocker to me. The only hope we have now is in about a year from now hearing about a new Indy D2C set like what happened with LOTR.
I genuinely hope the day Lego retires the license somebody uploads a TOD onto Lego ideas.
Either way, Disney sucks. Indy deserved a better 5th movie and a better set of toy lines for his final outing.
I was really hoping for more from the Indy line, they are some of the greatest films in the history of cinema. The sets that were released were pretty good, but we just needed more!
It sucks they only made 4 sets (1 canceled) I would’ve loved a remake of the Shanghai Chase Set and what Short Round and Willie would’ve looked like 😔
The Temple of Doom set being cancelled was such a shame. It had loads of unique figures and parts. I wish they could’ve recycled the figures for another set (maybe the bridge scene as that doesn’t have any overt religious references).
An “insider” on one of the Indiana Jones forums stated that both the Lego Temple of Doom set and the also announced Mola Ram figure from Hasbro’s 6” Indy Adventure Series range were pulled at the request of Disney due to “cultural sensitivities” Make of that what you will.
Disney is something all right. They just pull what they want to and pull from whatever prepared calling cards for when a reason is needed
I had no idea that there were so few sets. Having played both LEGO Indiana Jones video games, I was under the impression the brand was just as strong as LEGO Star Wars.
Lego does not make sense sometimes.
It's most likely a license issue, more than a LEGO issue.
They done alot of ironic things like ignoring things that fans literally demanded for and could potentially earned them more profits, such as making the FIFA world cup minifigures series instead of some cringe female football set with half a field
@@joetrump2983 Ok you can disagree without being rude about it.
yet it's very difficult with certain licences, hence the likelihood of no 2nd Looney tune minifigures :(
LEGO is allergic to money.
Nah they’re made of money, just allergic to giving us what we want
Why do people act like LEGO are complete strangers to covering more mature themes? For fs sake they literally have an 18+ collectors adults welcome section. They made the entire original lineup of sets covering all the films even TOD. And now that we know LEGO planned and intended to make a new temple of doom all evidence points to Disney interference and getting cold feet in the eleventh hour with everything related to TOD. Maybe LEGO is just concerned that Disney may continue making them cancel sets which is problematic because it’s costly for them to spend time designing and producing a set only to have it be cancelled. That’s money they’re losing for really no good reason
Such a shame one of my favourite trilogies ever had the temple of doom set when I was young but I gave all my old sets away to charity when I was 14 and was hoping I could buy an updated version
Damn sorry to hear, maybe you can get the old one still
Its sad that LEGO didn't continue the theme, but at least there's a good selection sets on the market and original sets fans or collectors could get second-hand.
As someone who was looking forward to the reboot of the Lego franchise, I didn’t buy any sets because they were all too boring. And the one set that was cool was too expensive for me.
I would love a skywalker saga treatment of indiana Jones.
I was hoping the 2023 line would be a revival. Sadly they cancelled the Temple of Doom set (which was the one I wanted most since it’s my favourite film). I was expecting Dial of Destiny sets, with a few more from Crystal Skull and the other 3 films. But instead we got nothing. Updated Indiana Jones sets and figures would be great, so it’s a shame that the theme just vanished. Lego is making a big misstep if they don’t make any more.
Doesn’t seem more complicated than the Indiana Jones hype isn’t anywhere where it was in 2008.
Honestly, the thing people have to remember is that lego is a children’s brand and its sales rely not so much on lego fans/adults but the children of everyday people who see lego as just another toy. And the truth is Indiana Jones isn’t a recognisable/favoured enough IP amongst children as it was back in the day. Children and the general public are more interested in high tech worlds which both superheroes and Star Wars fit right into. Reminds me of Toy Story when stinky Pete says that once the space age began children only became interested in space toys. It’s a similar thing in this age of smartphones and AI and tech billionaires… children and the general public just aren’t so much taken with 20th century centric adventure stories about ancient civilisations and mystical lands. Especially as we live in the age of information foreign lands/ancient civilisations are much less mystified as they were in the past. I wanted and expected the Indiana jones line to be fully revived but with hindsight and actual thought it completely makes sense why it didn’t work out. It’s a cultural phenomenon of a bygone time and the only people interested in it are fans which is not sustainable enough of a market when Lego intends to target broad demographics
Good point. Sad though.
Not really, maybe not a lot of the genreal public cares about Indiana jones but they’re still Lego jungle explorer sets, most kids don5 care about what it’s from if the set is cool.
Honestly I’m surprised it came back at all. Hard to believe even back then, they made Nazi minifigures. Indiana Jones is literally everything Lego stays away from in a single theme. Still glad we got them though.
The original sets came out with a lot of perfect factors. Kids of the time likely had Gen X parents who were fond of the originals and encouraged their kids who were an appropriate age to watch them leading up to the new one, and the new one had Shia LaBeouf, who younger audiences were very familiar with and fond of from his work on Disney films and Transformers. With something to draw in new younger audiences and parents who are also fond of the franchise, this is a slam dunk for lego. Many parents probably thought the sets were just as cool as the kids did and maybe even built them together. The new sets were kind of doomed from the start though. The kids that played with those sets are certainly older now and nostalgic for them, but many young millennials/ older gen z arent haven't kids right now because of the economy, and the new film has nothing for new audiences. It is pretty clearly marketed as nostalgia bait for older audiences. So now the new sets just have a niche audience of nostalgic 20somethings.
I'm honestly just tired of all the Licensing. There's no wonder, joy or creativity in these sets.
Bring back Adventures theme and make sets that tell a neat little story throughout.
What baffles me the most is that they brought it back for Dial of Destiny but then didn’t even make any sets for the movie.
Exactly! You would've thought they'd make sets to actually tie in with the movie!
That's the only good thing, because Dial of Destiny is as horrible as Star Wars sequels.
Say what you will about KOTCS, but as a kid, the hype for both the film and Indiana Jones was incredible. I was a massive fan of the movies long before the 4th entry was even announced, so getting that fourth film so early into my life where others had to wait nearly two decades was absolutely exciting. The action figures, Legos, video games, and merchandise was top notch. My friends and I all had so fun during that time, the summer of 2008 was incredible, as were the few months after. This go around for Indiana Jones was incredibly underwhelming in every department. Obviously I'm very well into my adult years, but the atmosphere and hype for Kingdom was so much more palpable than Destiny.
Curiously, the numbering of the Indiana Jones sets is 77, which is the same numbering of the Animal Crossing sets and according to rumors also the supposed Fortnite sets, also being its predecessor number 76 where the set with the number closest to 77 is the horizon tallneck set placing this relaunch of the indy sets in the middle of the lego gaming line, this makes me theorize that perhaps lego wanted to use bethesda's indiana jones game as another sales driver for the sets in addition to the dial of destiny🤔
7:10 “least problematic 3 featuring limited war and religious symbolism” 1 of the 3 being a nazi fighter plane
TBF I think the reason they got away with it is it wasn't a real type of nazi plane.
Tragic it was one of my favorite themes. I had most of the sets. Loved the plane and Cutting machine thing? Either way its sad the more mature licensed themes all did so poorly.
It's a damn shame that we're not getting more sets as this was my favorite line if sets back in the day and missed out on a lot of them and was hoping to get remakes of the sets that I missed out on that have modern building techniques and pieces and updated minifigures
I know master skywalker, this is outrageous, it’s unfair
They should have made more sets. Especially since they didn't even make sets for the movie they were supposed to promote.
Real shame. I loved Lego Indiana Jones sets and the two video games when I was a kid.
I'm honestly shocked that Lego made Indiana Jones sets in the modern era. I remember arguing with a Redditor a few years beforehand that those movies had become too brand unfriendly by modern standards and Lego would never touch it. I wish they did more sets, but having an official Lego German WWII pilot is pretty amazing. If only they had done a set for the book-burning scene.
It seems that tying a Ryan George reference into this video was super easy, barely an inconvenience
I think what happened is that most of those sets were produced and disney pulled the plug at last moment thus lego deemed it unprofitable to make anymore sets
Maybe it failed because I didn’t see a single set in stores I would have got em all
Say what you will about Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny. Kinda disappointed we didn’t get any sets for those movies in the newest wave of sets.
Ohh wow, I remember seeing the 《Ambush In Cairo》 set in stores in 2009-2010. I wanted it because of the one minifigure with the black head wrap so I could make Lego ninja and terrorist minifigures.
I managed to buy the New Golden Idol Set brand new from Kmart for $140 AUD a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked that such a high quality set was being sold at such a steep discount.
They killed Apu and now this…
Not totally killed, they brought him back but this time voiced by an Indian actor, because that way it’s not offensive 🤦♂️. Simpsons went woke, not surprised since they’re owned by Disney now.
downloaded that rebrickable instructions! Thank you, looks awesome.
It's a pity that the tank from "The Last Crusade" only exists as MOCs...
I was so excited for the new Lego Indiana Jones line and it just being... three sets, one of which I couldn't really afford? Disappointing beyond measure.
I was 6 when kingdom came out. Was obsessed with the movie and the sets. I was ecstatic when Lego released those three sets last year. I’ve been slowly purchasing the old sets brand new from eBay. Can’t wait to have a full collection of them! The Shanghai chase was my first set I remember getting
Love the cars in the Shanghai Chase! I somehow managed to get the Willie figure from a friend but all the gold printing has faded :(
I bought all the sets that came out recently and they were awesome. Sad to see the theme go.
You missed the chase from the raiders of the lost ark which was my personal favorite hahaha
Where did you find those sets for 50% off? Amazing!
Found them at Kmart in Australia! Weirdly enough the Lost tomb set is now back up to full price though.
@@LegoManCam nice! Thanks for the tip
Also I get dial of destiny wasn’t perfect but it’s crazy they made no sets for it
They cancelled the one set that would’ve been most popular due to “violence” and essentially shot down all hopes of longevity for the line. Of course it failed
I love the 2023 fighter plane chase, I gotta snap up the rest of the sets before they are gone. It seems like they sold well, at least on Amazon...they were all fairly priced. They sold out fairly fast at a small local retailer near me as well. I was in a Target a few months ago that had a ton of the sets languishing on shelves, so maybe the big box stores couldn't move them.
Just buy a WW2 German plane set from Cobi, it actually looks the part.
@WitchHunterSiegfried I'm a big fan of Indy in general, and have the Fighter Plane chase set already. My son and I actually built a small force of Afrika Korps guys with the old torsos, but new custom hats and brickarms weapons to go up against Indy. Cobi seems neat but it's not an itch I feel like scratching.
@@shaunw9092 The sets are nicer, but the minifigs suck, I prefer Mega's figures to LEGOs so it's not about me being some LEGO brand loyalist or anything there lol
“It was a pretty good punch” 😂
You should do one on Lego club and how are used to be a Lego mania magazines in the mid90s to how it is now Lego life and how the app is kind of abandon. on my channel I gathered every mention of Lego club on Legos, RUclips channel I wanted to make the video on the topic but I’m really busy. Ps The Lego club channel pre-existed Legos on RUclips, I found similar facts like this, if you’re interested in it, that I found.
There were rumored sets about the dial of destiny idk what happened
Personally I believe it’s due to the constant reference to Nazis and the third reich. It didn’t stop them in the 2000’s with them even making iron cross stickers, because everyone was a bit more tolerant then, but just like the slave Leia upset, it’s not something they can get away with now. I theorise that a higher up saw the fighter pilot, did some research, and extremely late into the theme’s production vetoed it completely, as the minifig from the last crusade set is an EXTREMELY ACCURATE depiction of a arid/desert lands Nazi Air Force jumpsuit. Prior to this their German and USSR minifigs were rather vague depictions of each antagonist faction.
Let us remember they made the LITERAL ARK OF THE COVENANT from Jewish and Christian religious texts - TWICE. it’s gotta be the cornerstone of the Old Testament, since it held the tablets which had the Ten Commandments inscribed upon them. Lego is okay with that, but not the temple of doom? I doubt religion is the purpose.
I don't get why the Coluseum and Titanic are okay but an Osprey or Indiana Jones are frowned upon.
Not like Titanic is famous for taking the lives of 1500 people or like prisoners and slaves were executed in the collosuem.
the many missed opportunities with the toys based on Indy. it happened with Kenner's line, the 1st wave of Lego sets ( many kids would have seen the films, and parents would have bought them anyway, as Lego is for EVERYONE) just think ( and you CAN make these sets using former ones) ok, the submarine, boat the ark opening ceremony on the island from Raiders. Temple of doom.... BRIDGE SCENE ( there's been many suspension bridge sets released over the years, one from Jungle adventures, use that), Club obi Wan, Lao Che's plane ( use the plane set from Lego adventures 2000) and add the yellow boat for the raft) The full temple ( can be made from numerous pieces), Pancot palace. the WHOLE MINE CART CHASE. all these can be made with what you have, or buy the right sets and get CREATIVE. now from Last crusade, the Utah caves, the train, the castle with the fireplace ( use stuff from Harry Potter sets), the catacombs with Sir Richard, the tank chase, the canyon of the cresent moon and the temple with the 3 challenges, grail choice. so, get IMAGINATIVE Lego lovers
I think that as entire subtheme Lego Indy is done, but there will probably be Lego Icons/18+ sets made for the series. I would love a proper fighter plane attack remake or Jaqs Plane to get an updated set.
To be honest within the new Louis and the fact other temple of doom stuff buy Disney got canceled it was Disney that pulled the plug and people think Lego got annoyed and not wanting Disney to think they have enough control to cancel a set so late in production they stopped the theme to basically go you cant do that so late without consequences also I’m one of the few people with a pair of voodoo dolls from the cancelled temple of doom
Great video!
Oh, random Pitch Meeting clips are... *TIGHT!*
yeah yeah yeah!
That minifig looks cursed
I dont even know why
It just does
I love this theme and I’m glad I got all three of the sets it’s just so sad that this theme can’t fit with modern lego
As a kid, the LEGO Indiana Jones sets seemed like the coolest, most realistic sets out there. We were never going to get any war related sets so getting war adjacent vehicles was such a cool opportunity. The newer sets dropped the ball and added nothing new to the series while simultaneously making the sets more brand friendly
I only had one set but they’re all sooo nostalgic because of the games
Lego probably had some people with above room temperature that saw the 95% chance of new Indy movie failing hard with all the info that was available about movie
Part of the issue is if I want a brick built WW2 German plane, I'd buy a Cobi one as it actually looks like what it's supposed to be, and that's the other issue this theme has IMO, the vehicles look WEIRD due to LEGOs standards.
The plane looks different from real German planes because the plane in the film wasn’t a German plane, it was a Pilatus P2.
the lego video game on the DS was my first video game and introduction to the series
Think they could’ve gotten away with an 18+ TOD?
Probably not. The 18+ on the box is really just marketing to “appeal to adults” and with bigger sets with a higher price count, the age recommendation usually goes up as it’s more difficult to build in many cases
All lego old sets looks better than now
the old indiana jones ones do look amazing
So unbelievably bummed. Those three new sets got me more excited than anything LEGO in a long time. If the canceled Temple of Doom set came out, I wouldn't be that heartbroken. But as is, it just leaves such a hole.
I don’t think it’s all legos decision. Take Hasbro’s Indiana jones adventure series of six inch action figures. It was also similarly short lived (3 waves in ~6 months) and avoided possibly controversial characters like Molar Ram and characters from Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. I think it speaks to Disneys approach to marketing the Indiana Jones brand. It feels like the whole promotion and roll out of merch was only designed to last a few months around the release of the new movie. It’s strange that the first 4 films only made it to Disney+ in the run up to Dial of Destiny despite Disney owning the IP since their acquisition of Lucasfilm.
its barrelly the first year back im sure they will make more sets and better sets overall
I wish they would but the sets are about to retire and it’s been a year since the last new sets. On top of that, DoD flopped, so it’s unlikely that any new sets will show up in the near future
@@AspiringAsparagus fair point but I still could see them making more sets because Indiana Jones still has a huge fandom so Lego could try to explore with making more sets to reach out to a bigger audince
@@donekeyboards9 Hasbro made Indiana Jones action figures and that line died in about a year so they didnt sell enough. I suspect same goes with Lego so i wouldnt be suprised if its dead already
@@AspiringAsparagus can't believe they didn't do DOD sets I mean I hated it but still
@@notobi-wan8344 fair point lol
Indiana Jones Legos started in 08
I think this theme was definitely a step forward for Lego, as they included the first military and army figures like the German and Russian soldiers.
I wanted the Jungle
Cutter to take it out again...
I wanted to buy these sets mostly the Temple of the golden idol but the lack of Natives annoys me no BATTLE PACK or set with Jock 😤😤😤.
The Fighter Plane Chase is still on my radar but I've still never got around to them i was HYPED for it's revival and thought theyd make sets on the 4 films and the 5th one too, possibly hinting at the next LEGO game being Indiana Jones The Complete adventures+ Young Indy DLC.
The temple of doom cancellation is RIDICULOUS I'm sure it would have been the best selling plus two battle packs of Thugee Guards and Indian British Soldiers would have been siiiiiiick.
At least I bought all the sets, kid me would be happy.
Lego always pisses me off when they say they want to stick to family content uhhhh 🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮
To me its strange that they didnt make sets based on dial of destiny. But i think this theme failed because lego fans often ask for themes to return like bionicle, indiana jones and then they sell poorly because the sets are designed as playsets for children instead of solid display sets for the nostalgic fans. And those sets that are for display targeted at adults are too expensive and too big for most fans. I also think lego harry potter theme is more popular because the films are more modern and relatively new, so a lot of young fans of harry potter can still enjoy the lego toys. But i imagine there are fewer children that are into indiana jones these days.
I loved the old Indiana Jones Lego sets, I had a few of them.
I prefer Johnny Thunder personally
He could have a sidekick named Boris Tundra. 😀 😀
I have all the originals. Rather than buying the new ones, I’d rather put money into updating and adding more detail to the OGs
The fact that they just re-did older sets is just lazy
I loved all three sets (purchased them as well). I blame Disney for botching (as they love to do to things) this release.
This was literally my favorite Lego series. I was like 9 then.
I love how the pilot in the fighter scene set is historical accurate to a german n@zi pilot from ww2
I think Lego should have an 18+ store. Just like how grown ups cannot get into LegoLand without a kid, kids cannot get in without a grown up. This could be a place where they can make and sell more "sensitive" sets and products without having to worry about it affecting their primary child focused marketing.
I bought all the new sets because I thought they were all great. Really wish they would have released the temple of doom.
I probably have no obligation to say this since I got back into LEGO this year after previously having fallen off of it for years, but WHO THE F*CK KEEPS BRICKHEADZ GOING WHILE THIS GETS CANCELLED? WHO???
I'm finding that any sets based on a current movie tie-ins are doing horribly, and even worse if the movie is poorly received.
Indiana Jones is tied with Star Wars for me as my all time favorite franchise. That includes the two Lego themes.
maybe not the big picture reason, but for me i was all about adventurers. Still am. I already had Johnny thunder and I guess in my mind I didn't need Indy. Maybe others felt the same way, but I think I'm in the minority on that one.
Lego Indiana Jones failed in 2023 because Indiana Jones itself failed as a popular franchishe.
No one cares about Indy, it's just not a hot property anymore. It became underused and put on ice for so long that it was deemed a "dead franchise" by modern culture.
When they finally resurrected him, too much time had passed. The world outgrew Indy as a hero character.
I feel like if Lego was concerned about religious depiction then why didnt they cancel stuff like Agatha Harkness minifigure or Scarlet Witch . theyre both witches and depict similar themes to Salem Witch trials especially with Agatha, and the whole thing with witchcraft. I mean all of this stuff is fictional storytelling i dont see a reason for lego to cancel a set like the temple of doom.
because it wasn't Lego who cancelled the Temple of Doom set, it was confirmed Disney. They camein last minute to stop both Lego and Hasbro from making any Temple of Doom toys.
LEGO is kinda hypocritical with the whole "too adult" thing considering they literally have a set for Dune, which I would argue is more violent for kids
I will never forgive Lego for this
I think people weren’t in the mood for jones at the moment
My dad showed me Indian Jones and my one regret is being born after lego released the sets
I love Indiana Jones movies, but I think Lego Adventurers was better. Still the reasons to cancel the sets were very dumb!
Because kids today didn’t grow up with Indiana Jones. Not to mention the sets they put out were pricey.
I dont think it was Lego's call but rather Disney/Lucasfilm. Why do I say this? Because rhe same thing happened with Hasbro's Adventure series. Mola Ram was in rhe pipeline but got canceled. With Lego I can maybe understand it with Lego appealing to kids.
However with the adventure series despite the box saying 4+? These 6" figures are undoubtedly aimed at older collector's.
I get that marketing toys of nazi villains is a tough sell. But I feel they should let the parents be parents. As far as Mola Ram and Temple of Doom? I think a lot of controversy around that film is overblown. Even Indian actor Amish Puri found the controversy to be silly. And he was labeled anti nationalist just for playing the part.
There are ways they could have done german soldiers. They gave us Toht afterall but didn't put the swastika on his lapel. They even made an alternate melting face headsculpt. The german soldiers wouldnt have been too difficult. With Vogel they could have given him a red arm band sans swastika. I dont think collector's would have been upset if it meant getting a figure and not.
But even putting that aside? The adventure series had so many gaps. There was nothing from crystal skull. No Lao Che, No willie Scott, etc. Heck they could have done a last crusade Salah.
At the end of day regardless of it being Lego or Hasbro figures? Indy is an old IP with an aging fanbase. It hasnt had the kind of franchise care Star Wars had through the years where you were constantly getting new stuff here and there. Whether it was books, toys, etc.
The irony is that both Hasbro and Lego left money on the table. More people would have bought Mola Ram than DoD figures.