No, but there is a substantial increase of liscenced themes over the past 10 years.
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Going off of what some people have said, I’d also say that LEGO is taking a quality over quantity approach, as most of their in-house themes normally get a show. They also have way too much going on as-is, and factory space for a bunch more lines would be a bit hard to come by.
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That’s true that original Lego themes are running longer, except for Bionicle G2, Pirates, Castle. Lego still tries making new themes, but they often die out within a year or two, instead of reaching the traditional three year run. Nexo Knights is a possible exception. While Nexo Knights fulfills a new Castle sub theme, Pirates have died, though this year it might look like Pirates of the Caribbean might replace it. One other major sub theme, Space, has been extinct since Star Wars came back. Nothing original in Space since Galaxy Squad in 2013, probably because Star Wars is so much more popular, especially since new movies come out. Though there was a similar gap 2001-2007 when the Star Wars prequel movies came out.
To me at least, it looks like licensed themes may be replacing sub themes, at least temporarily if not permanent.
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Such as? Chima, Friends, Ninjago, and probably Elves and Nexo Knights all ran for more than three years.
hes talking about 1 offs such as ultra agents, galaxy squad, space police 3, pirates 2015, etc.
The run for a year and thats it, sometimes they may get a wave 3 but they arnt meant to last very long
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There is now also speculation and rumors of Nexo Knights is ending soon courtesy of a Brickset article, and there is a new topic related to said subject.
If this happens then the original story and action themes will be down to Ninjago and Elves, seeing as Lego Ideas has turned into another outlet for licensed sets. Not exactly a great outlook, especially to ten years ago, original themes nearly doubled licensed ones in number.
With each fail, in the eyes of Lego, they seem to become more discouraged and convinced that profit lies in the licensed themes.
Well to be completely honest Nexo knights wasn’t the best theme. A lot of the sets were pretty much clones of each other, so this doesn’t really surprise me. I think Lego’s problem with these non-licensed themes is that they are not very creative when it comes to sets. Except for ninjago and elves, which I believe is partially why those two themes are so popular.
You mean in terms of build or appearance?
Appearance. I mean they all have the same colors and everything.
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Then I definitely agree with you, a bit more variety would have been better.
One thing I still can’t believe is that has in three years Ninjago is ending. Aside from Bionicle, Ninjago is my favorite line that uses bricks. It has introduced me into a new detail and I nerded over that show. And with the movie coming out, I think its safe to say that Ninjago is Lego’s most recent popular line. #thankYouNinjago
Well everything has to end eventually, and ninjago has had a very good run. Three years more is still a long time though.
Was this announced by Lego? I’ve heard this ending thing, but I can’t find the source.
Ninjagos ending on 2020, I read a comment and looked it up myself
Sources?
links?
something?
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look I read a comment that mentioned Ninjago closing in 2020. I looked it up myself and I cant confirm.
A quick Google search provided me with
- A thread on the LMBs from 2015, claiming that Ninjago would end in 2019/2020
- Another thread on the LMBs, again from 2015
- Your posts in this topic
Unless you can magically provide an article where a verified source confirms that Ninjago is ending in 3 years, I’m just going to disregard your point. 
You conveniently leave out City, Friends, Technic, Creator, and (arguably) Architecture. Let’s look at the longevity for these Original IPs you provided:
- Aqua Raiders: Lasted less than one year
- Mars Mission: Lasted less than 2 years
- Exo-Force: Lasted less than 3 years
- Factory: Had 6 sets over the course of 3 years
- Bionicle: Lasted 9 years, died, came back for 2 years, died. Also a contraction line, which IMO shouldn’t be considered in the same category as other Action Lego themes.
- Racers and Castle: Both evergreen lines that have both been around in some capacity for the past two decades.
Now let’s look at Lego’s current original IPs:
- Nexo Knights: Entering its 2nd year, no signs of it stopping outside of the usual 3 year boundary.
- Elves: Entering its 3rd year, no signs of stopping any time soon
- Ninjago: Lasted 3 years, was canceled, brought back, and is now in its 5th year with no signs of stopping.
- Friends: Entering its 5th year, no signs of stopping any time soon
- City: Entering its 12th year, no signs of stopping any time soon
- Creator: Entering its 16th year, no signs of stopping any time soon.
- Technic: Entering it’s 33rd year (depending on where you view its beginnings), not even a remote sign of it stopping any time soon.
- Ideas (if you count it): Entering it’s 5th year (roughly), no signs of stopping any time soon.
- Architecture (if you count it): Entering its 9th year, no signs of stopping any time soon.
As far as longevity goes, it’s clear that Lego’s current IPs are superior to what it had in the 2000s.
If you want to talk about action themes, the answer is clear: why over-saturate the market? Ninjago is clearly one of Lego’s best-selling IPs at the moment. Why have 5 other action lines with mediocre performance when kids will buy 1 line like hotcakes?
Have licensed themes increased in the past 10 years? Absolutely. Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman are two of Lego’s best-selling IPs, and since the release of The Lego Movie in 2014, Lego has officially entered itself as a part of pop culture, and has seen a fairly large increase of licensed IPs. Does that mean that these IPs are going to kill Lego’s original IPs? I say no.
I want to read between the lines for a second and draw out the core of this discussion. By asking the question of “Are original Lego themes dying out?” the implication is that Lego, as a company, will become entirely unoriginal with their themes in the future. This, to me, seems absolutely ridiculous as a concept. Lego’s core philosophy is creativity. They are a company yes, and they do need to make money. But dropping original IPs entirely is something they will never do, not unless something massive changes in the company. Ninjago will die at some point. Nexo Knights will die at some point. Elves will die at some point. But I am certain that another original IP will take their place.
tl;dr: no
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I know this is kind of random but does anyone else think Friends is just City but more colorful and with very much simplification in the builds? Not saying that girls are stupid and they need more simplified themes (specifying girls because they are the target audience for the sets) but because I’ve used a few friends sets, they are really just generic and don’t have/do much. They just have a lot of cool pieces but even that gets boring at some point (already has for me). It really just seems like a lower version of City.
Friends is primarily location based, while City is primarily vehicle based. Friends has a ton of playsets, both large and small. City has tons of vehicles; firetrucks, police cars, planes, helicopters, boats, etc. Obviously there is overlap; Friends has some vehicles, and City has playsets. But when looking at the vast majority of the sets, it’s very clear that they are different.
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I know I’m biased on this subject because I’m a die-hard space fan, and disappointed with the lack of original Lego space themes since 2013. While I love the Star Wars movies and the whole Lego series, I would like to see something other than a new X-wing or Millennium Falcon every three years, but that’s probably not going to happen with Star Wars booming again and being crazy profitable.
At the same time Lego no longer prints picture of alternate builds in instructions for inspiration, which can be viewed as Lego caring less about promoting creativity among builders and more focused on just selling products.