[MOC] Rejected Ideas submission: Spacebabies

[jodawill]

Lego just rejected my submission to Lego Ideas. According to their canned response, it was rejected because it pertains to a "third party license" that they already produce. I'm incredibly frustrated right now because I put a lot of work into this project and I couldn't even get a chance to see people's response to it. I've thought about removing the larger ship to differentiate it more from the Galaxy Explorer and focus on the micro ships. But honestly, I'm not very motivated to do it at this point because it will probably just be rejected again.

Since I couldn't submit it there, I'm posting the pictures here to share with everyone. I hope you like it.
 

Spoiler

What Is It?

It's Classic Space, the next generation. Now in baby scale!

 

Two babynauts can continue their ongoing mission aboard the Baby Explorer. Fill the storage bay for long voyages, or detach it to increase mileage on short flights. Explore strange new worlds in the land rover, which handily stows away in the rear compartment.

 

The babies have setup camp on a remote outpost, from which they conduct their microgravity experiments. The terrain is rugged, but between their land rover and their miniature spaceship, they have no trouble patrolling the grounds.

 

Relive the excitement of Lego Classic Space in the adorable new babyscale!

 

Why Did You Build It?

I've always enjoyed building spaceships. When I first saw that the series 24 minifigures included a Classic Space baby, I was intrigued by the opportunity this opened up to build a different scale of spaceship. It was a fun challenge to make ships to fit something smaller than a minifigure.

 

Why Do You Believe This Would Make a Great Lego Set?

Spacebabies are cute. It's a fun scale to build at. And selfishly, I would like to see the Spacebaby made in more colors. I had a lot of fun building with them, and I think others will too.

 

 

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Edited February 7, 2023 by jodawill

[Fenghuang0296]

This is adorable. I love it and I might build my own version of that little single-seater jet to accomodate one of my Spacebabies.

[jodawill]

3 minutes ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

This is adorable. I love it and I might build my own version of that little single-seater jet to accomodate one of my Spacebabies.

Thanks! I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that ship. If I ever do resubmit the idea, I'll have to make that the focal point. But I doubt they're going to accept any portion of this based on the feedback they gave me.

I just realized my original Ideas submission was missing the image of the second land rover. I just added it to my original post.

[A_Forest_of_Lego]

This is so cute!

[Operacion Saturno]

My guess is... Lego is planning something with those cute figs.

[jodawill]

1 hour ago, A_Forest_of_Lego said:

This is so cute!

Thanks!

26 minutes ago, Operacion Saturno said:

My guess is... Lego is planning something with those cute figs.

I hope you're right. The main reason I submitted this was because I wanted to get them in more colors. I noted before I started creating the digital version that there are no other spacebaby ideas on the site. Maybe all of them are being rejected?

I'm really angry with Lego about it, to be honest, because I checked all of the rules before I did the work. It doesn't break any of the rules, but they rejected it anyway.

Edited February 8, 2023 by jodawill

[Brickshipyard]

Brilliant idea my fellow builder! Rejected due to 3rd party license? I can't make sense of that logic... like jodawill said, they must have something planned for these guys. Really strange though that classic space would be protected in such a manner.

[The Lanterne Rouge]

That's a huge bummer.  I (TheBrickBang on Ideas) just got a rejection from LEGO Ideas today based on something that seems a bit unfounded.  I've changed a pic, updated my title and description, and resubmitted but I doubt it'll change anything.  Your idea seems great, and I feel firsthand what's it's like to spend a bunch of time on something and not even make it out of the starting gate.

This is excerpted from Ideas own guidelines:

The only acceptable use of a LEGO logo (or other logo owned by the LEGO Group) in your product idea is if our logo is on a printed LEGO part or sticker as a part of a model. For example, suggestions to release a LEGO store or LEGO delivery truck may contain LEGO parts showing our logo, or a Classic Space inspired model can contain the Classic Space logo on a Minifigure or brick.

This certainly implies that a Classic Space inspired model is allowed.

 

I think the toughest part is not being able to contact a human to get clarification on the rejection.

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by The Lanterne Rouge

[jodawill]

36 minutes ago, The Lanterne Rouge said:

That's a huge bummer.  I (TheBrickBang on Ideas) just got a rejection from LEGO Ideas today based on something that seems a bit unfounded.  I've changed a pic, updated my title and description, and resubmitted but I doubt it'll change anything.  Your idea seems great, and I feel firsthand what's it's like to spend a bunch of time on something and not even make it out of the starting gate.

This is excerpted from Ideas own guidelines:

The only acceptable use of a LEGO logo (or other logo owned by the LEGO Group) in your product idea is if our logo is on a printed LEGO part or sticker as a part of a model. For example, suggestions to release a LEGO store or LEGO delivery truck may contain LEGO parts showing our logo, or a Classic Space inspired model can contain the Classic Space logo on a Minifigure or brick.

This certainly implies that a Classic Space inspired model is allowed.

 

I think the toughest part is not being able to contact a human to get clarification on the rejection.

 

Yeah, you summed it up pretty well. We get no explanation and we have no recourse. I would understand if they said they don't want any classic space ideas right now, but the website explicitly says that classic space is allowed when you fill out the submission form. I checked everything before I started the digital work.

I imagine they have an internal reason for rejecting it, and it may be a very good reason. But they ought to communicate it to people before they submit their project. If they don't want to tell us because it conflicts with an upcoming set, then they shouldn't even reject it. They should just let it go through and reject it in the event it hits 10k supporters. It's that simple.

What was the idea of yours they rejected? I wonder if they're rejecting everything related to classic space.

[The Lanterne Rouge]

16 hours ago, jodawill said:

What was the idea of yours they rejected? I wonder if they're rejecting everything related to classic space.

Completely unrelated.  Mine was a build for The Last Starfighter IP.

Got rejected because of - Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials

The IP is on the approved list and there's two existing expired ideas based on the same IP.  Not sure how alien Grig and Alex Rogan defending against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada fits into this category.  Except that perhaps Alex happens to be from 80s earth.  But if that's the reason for disqualification, then wouldn't the new Black Panther War on the Water set fall under the same category?  It's modern day.  Or what about the SHIELD Helicarrier?  Anyhow, this thread isn't about me.  Just venting.

 

[jodawill]

1 minute ago, The Lanterne Rouge said:

Completely unrelated.  Mine was a build for The Last Starfighter IP.

Got rejected because of - Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials

The IP is on the approved list and there's two existing expired ideas based on the same IP.  Not sure how alien Grig and Alex Rogan defending against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada fits into this category.  Except that perhaps Alex happens to be from 80s earth.  But if that's the reason for disqualification, then wouldn't the new Black Panther War on the Water set fall under the same category?  It's modern day.  Or what about the SHIELD Helicarrier?  Anyhow, this thread isn't about me.  Just venting.

 

It really makes me wonder about the future of Lego Ideas. Why would anyone bother to do all this work to design a submission if it's this difficult just to get your idea approved for the platform? It seems like their decisions are completely arbitrary. You follow all the rules, then they reject it just because they feel like it. It's infuriating because it's really a slap in the face to all the people who put a lot of effort into their submissions.

[DelQuinn]

8 minutes ago, The Lanterne Rouge said:

Completely unrelated.  Mine was a build for The Last Starfighter IP.

Got rejected because of - Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials

The IP is on the approved list and there's two existing expired ideas based on the same IP.  Not sure how alien Grig and Alex Rogan defending against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada fits into this category.  Except that perhaps Alex happens to be from 80s earth.  But if that's the reason for disqualification, then wouldn't the new Black Panther War on the Water set fall under the same category?  It's modern day.  Or what about the SHIELD Helicarrier?  Anyhow, this thread isn't about me.  Just venting.

 

I see that it has been approved and posted on the site. I've already supported it too 

looks like an awesome design!

[jodawill]

10 minutes ago, DelQuinn said:

I see that it has been approved and posted on the site. I've already supported it too 

looks like an awesome design!

That's interesting. I went ahead and resubmitted mine after seeing this. I removed the word "explorer" from the description and I removed the box style banner from the main artwork. I wonder if it will be approved this time.

[DelQuinn]

57 minutes ago, jodawill said:

That's interesting. I went ahead and resubmitted mine after seeing this. I removed the word "explorer" from the description and I removed the box style banner from the main artwork. I wonder if it will be approved this time.

Good luck fingers crossed.

I wonder if those were a factor in the rejection, the rules on acceptable images are hard to understand sometimes, especially when there are numerous examples where they are allowed when they are not supposed to be.

From their guidelines:

• DO NOT CREATE MOCKUPS OF LEGO PRODUCT BOXES (“BOX ART”) OR MARKETING MATERIALS IN YOUR IMAGES.

• Product ideas including box art or anything that attempts to mock up product marketing materials will not be accepted. Mocked-up box art confuses people into thinking your idea is something they can buy right now.
• If your product idea reaches 10,000 supporters and is approved for production, our designers will create the final packaging designs for the set.

[jodawill]

1 hour ago, DelQuinn said:

Good luck fingers crossed.

I wonder if those were a factor in the rejection, the rules on acceptable images are hard to understand sometimes, especially when there are numerous examples where they are allowed when they are not supposed to be.

From their guidelines:

• DO NOT CREATE MOCKUPS OF LEGO PRODUCT BOXES (“BOX ART”) OR MARKETING MATERIALS IN YOUR IMAGES.

• Product ideas including box art or anything that attempts to mock up product marketing materials will not be accepted. Mocked-up box art confuses people into thinking your idea is something they can buy right now.
• If your product idea reaches 10,000 supporters and is approved for production, our designers will create the final packaging designs for the set.

I wondered about that before I submitted it. I wasn't sure whether what I did counts as box art. It doesn't show the number of pieces, a set number, the Lego logo, or anything like that. But it's kind of borderline. But that's not the reason they gave when they rejected it. But to me, it's the only thing about my project that seems questionable by their rules, so I just removed it and resubmitted.

[A_Forest_of_Lego]

8 hours ago, The Lanterne Rouge said:

Completely unrelated.  Mine was a build for The Last Starfighter IP.

Got rejected because of - Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials

The IP is on the approved list and there's two existing expired ideas based on the same IP.  Not sure how alien Grig and Alex Rogan defending against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada fits into this category.  Except that perhaps Alex happens to be from 80s earth.  But if that's the reason for disqualification, then wouldn't the new Black Panther War on the Water set fall under the same category?  It's modern day.  Or what about the SHIELD Helicarrier?  Anyhow, this thread isn't about me.  Just venting.

 

Looks like it has been approved now, I supported it! Did you have to change anything in your submission to get it approved?

[Brickshipyard]

You guys have touched on an important issue that Lego wishes would stay ambiguous so they can make convient decisions, in this instance rejection of Lego Ideas due to war like material. And yet... like Lanterne Rouge accurately pointed out, there are so many sets across multiple lines that have war machines for the benefit of Lego marketing. Marvel may be the biggest recent offender, followed by the fantasy themes like Star Wars.

Don't get me wrong, I FREAKIN love Lego Star Wars since I was a teenager 24 years ago when it started (really shows my age lol)! However, I have a problem with any organization pretending something  is anything else than what it is. Lego needs to come clean on allowing war themes and admit they in fact take advantage of these exact themes. Lego's old school values of the 20th century are not embraced by the company in the 21st century, even though Lego sincerely wants to make you, the consumer, believe so.

Just wait until the new Indiana Jones sets come out this summer or fall. Literally Jones fighting historical armies with war vehicles. Com on!

[danth]

Corporations aren't going to, like, pay someone to check submissions. It's all done by algorithms and AI. They make some random megablocks decision based on the name and we humans are left to wonder what went wrong. Don't worry, there's not going to be any logic to it.

I think you guys have figured it out though: edit and re-submit until approved.