Lego Star Wars models can be viewed at the Bricks & Figs museum in Krakow, April 15, 2023.
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If you’re a Star Wars fan, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen may have created your childhood.
He is the director of design at the Danish company Lego and has been creating Lego Star Wars sets for the last 25 years.
“I went to my boss and said, ‘Hey, you need me for this product line,'” Frederiksen told CNBC. “For me it was like a dream come true. Star Wars and Lego together, two things I love.”
Frederiksen is not the only one. Since 1999, fans have flocked to the license, snapping up everything from Darth Vader minifigure keychains to $850 Millennium Falcon sets with more than 7,500 pieces. The brand has also grown to include half a dozen video games and plenty of animated content on Disney+. It also now has its own home on the Epic Games platform the popular online gaming platform Fortnite.
The Star Wars license was the first of its kind for Lego, which had never before created an official product line associated with licensed intellectual property. In fact, the Jar Jar Binks minifigure was the first ever to operate a custom head sculpt instead of one of Lego’s iconic round faces, Frederiksen said.
Now Lego Star Wars has become a model for the company’s other brands – for example, Harry Potter, Batman and Marvel’s Avengers.
“We were creating themes, but we weren’t always connecting them to a deeper story,” said Jill Wilfert, head of global entertainment and content partners at Lego. “I think for us, seeing that unlocking and how it really allowed people to open up their imagination in a different way and express their creativity in a different way is what Star Wars has done for us.”
Wilfert, who has worked at Lego for 36 years, said that prior to the Star Wars deal, there was great concern at Lego about granting any licenses to third parties.
“When we saw how well it was translated and how people reacted to it, we really became more confident,” she said.
The Lego Star Wars collaboration began during a time of financial turmoil for Lego. In the early 2000s, the company struggled with high debt, fierce competition from digital gaming platforms, and an overly diversified portfolio. Lego was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Robust sales of Lego Star Wars, as well as Lego’s Bionicle franchise helped keep the company on the market at the same time, it restricted its product lines and closed non-core businesses. In 2005, the company released the Lego Star Wars video game.
“It has been extremely successful and continues to be a successful gaming franchise,” said Paul Southern, senior vice president of third-party commercialization and franchise development at Disney. “It created the world.”
Strength in the toy aisle
Two decades later, Lego Star Wars remains one of the best-selling Lego brands, with the company reporting robust sales even when no up-to-date theatrical releases are associated with its product.
The privately held company provides a look at its balance sheet every two years. In March, Lego said it grew sales by 2% in 2023, even as the global toy industry saw sales slip 7%– according to Circana data.
The toy maker once again cited Lego Star Wars as the driving force behind these sales. Lego Icons, Lego Technic, Lego City and Lego Harry Potter also performed well.
While this was less growth than in previous years – the company reported overall sales growth of 27% in 2021 and 17% in 2022 – Lego continues to gain market share in the toy industry. This has largely to do with the fact that brands like Lego Star Wars appeal to many demographics and generations.
Lego sells sets at a variety of price points and levels of difficulty, allowing kids to assemble smaller, less elaborate models and role-play scenes from the series, while die-hard collectors can build more detailed replicas of their favorite ships, helmets and movie moments.
A man looks pleased with his purchase of a Lego Star Wars speeder during Bricktastic 2024 at Manchester Central in Manchester, England, February 24, 2024.
Shirlaine Forrest | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
The key is the everlasting nature of the franchise. Lego can draw on nearly 50 years of content to delight consumers of all ages.
“Of course, the most essential thing for us is that it is a film for children,” Frederiksen said. “The model should be really fun, inventive and inspiring to play with, but it should also provide a great building experience.”
Therefore, Lego allows for some inventive freedom with the sets it offers. For example, the Imperial Shuttle is almost entirely white. But giving customers a pile of white bricks “would make it impossible to find the individual pieces and would not be a pleasant building experience,” he said. Therefore, Lego offers some variations in the colors and details of the bricks.
Although Frederiksen no longer designs products, he still builds everything. It is essential for him to experience how each set comes together.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lego and Star Wars partnership, as well as the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, Lego is releasing a number of special sets. There’s a TIE Interceptor model for $230, a Mos Espa Podrace diorama for $80, a Droideka model for $65, and the up-to-date BrickHeadz figures for just under $10 each.
“What we see a lot in real estate and Star Wars, maybe more than others, is something that families do together,” Wilfert said. “Often your first exposure to Star Wars is through a parent, your parents grew up loving Star Wars, and we just see that having things in our portfolio that allow for connections and allow families to connect together, we really see the importance of that.”
With up-to-date digital products like video games and Fortnite, Lego can connect with younger consumers.
“We’re trying to make sure we’re in the right places where we know kids are spending their time,” Wilfert said.
An even bigger galaxy
The Lego Star Wars brand has evolved to include more than just bricks and minifigures — it has become its own ecosystem, Southern said.
“The Lego Star Wars universe is a distinct part of our overall business and that is what makes it unique,” he said.
Southern was working at Lucasfilm when the Lego and Star Wars collaborations began. He moved to Walt Disney Company ten years ago when Lucasfilm was acquired, so he saw the development of Lego Star Wars firsthand.
Part of this growth is the humor that has become associated with the Lego Star Wars brand. This includes slapstick moments in video games and animated content.
“We’ve created an ecosystem and a tone of voice that allows us to do things that are ultimately a little sassy and a little funnier,” Southern said.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga allows players to experience the epic narrative of the Skywalker Saga told through the lens of hilarious Lego humor.
Lego | Warner Bros. Games | Lucasfilm
This humor spread to other franchises.
“You know, Star Wars allowed us to really open people’s eyes to how Lego can create humor and charm [intellectual property] something like this might not exist,” Wilfert said. “We’ve found that most IP owners are willing to let us play a little bit.”
Between video games and animated projects, Lego has worked with franchises such as Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Jurassic World and Pixar’s The Incredibles.
But it all started with Star Wars, which is constantly expanding.
“We took the passion that fans and kids have for this brand and took it to other areas” – Southern he said, noting that in addition to video games, Lego Star Wars can also be found in the publishing department and even in clothing.
The variety of products and their high sales prompted Disney and Lego to extend the contract for Star Wars until 2032.
“The relationship has become easier because there are people who have worked on both sides throughout the relationship,” Southern said. “They are like family now. It’s very candid, very open, very collaborative.”
The long licensing lead time allows Disney and Lego to collaborate on long-term projects such as video games and animations, as well as holiday decorations for major anniversaries.
“We are celebrating 25 years of working together,” Southern said. “One thing that is also very essential is that we expect to be here in another 25 years to celebrate the way we have developed our relationships and made them relevant for future generations.”