YMMV / LEGO VIDIYO

• Audience-Alienating Premise: VIDIYO was a commercial disaster for LEGO, but not for the same reasons as other major flops like Jack Stone or Galidor, since unlike those examples, the actual aesthetic designs and builds are well-liked. Rather, the theme died due to its functional premise, where the toys were built for a supplementary app based on creating music videos and dance clips à la TikTok, with certain tiles included in the line allowing for Augmented Reality integration. This paradigm made the line even more expensive than usual for LEGO, resulting in the most common "BeatBoxes" cost $20 for around 70 pieces (a very lopsided price-to-piece ratio for LEGO standards), and most of the pieces are just 2x2 printed tiles in a build that is effectively just a glorified carrying case. When combined with the app being its own dedicated platform with no means of exporting videos (meaning one can't record and share videos on other social media sites), the line was widely dismissed as an overpriced novelty that didn't have much of a substantial draw to begin with.
• Obvious Beta: The app was extremely buggy, with many reported compatibility issues with certain phones, a very slow and clunky interface, and frequent crashes, including receiving a BSOD upon scanning an actual minifigure. Given that the minifigure AR gimmick was the whole point of the entire theme, it's not surprising that people were willing to deem the whole thing a flop on arrival as being unacceptably scuffed.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The general consensus among LEGO aficionados is that while the whole AR app integration was an unfortunate decision that left the theme doomed from the start, most of the sets themselves are well-done and minifigures first-rate, with many still fetching decent prices among the secondary market. It's been commonly argued that had LEGO strictly stuck to making a musician-themed line, not focusing on secondary gimmicks that jack up the price, VIDIYO would've had substantially stronger long-term legs, with the line's demise being a tragic waste of a charming and creative premise.

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