LEGO Ideas Discussion

[NathanR]

@Digger of Bricks The IP list is searchable only through the first step of a project submission, so unfortunately you need an account with Lego Ideas (though I think if you have an account with the Lego shop, you should already be registered). The full list is not visible though, you have to type the first few letters then properties get suggested to you.

[Modeltrainman]

@Digger of BricksJust checked, seems you have to submit an idea to see.

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, NathanR said:

@Digger of Bricks The IP list is searchable only through the first step of a project submission, so unfortunately you need an account with Lego Ideas (though I think if you have an account with the Lego shop, you should already be registered). The full list is not visible though, you have to type the first few letters then properties get suggested to you.

Huh, alright (I have neither). 

Well, if it wouldn't be of trouble to those who'd be willing, could someone here who does have an account see if the Thomas & Friends (i.e. Thomas the Tank Engine) franchise is  eligible for Ideas? Likewise, is Disney's Gravity Falls now a prohibited license (given what we saw happen with @figura's project)?   

[Modeltrainman]

@Digger of BricksThomas IS allowed! So is Gravity Falls! Toy Story isn't...

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, Modeltrainman said:

@Digger of Bricks Thomas IS allowed! So is Gravity Falls! 

That's great to know regarding Gravity Falls, though I'm both intrigued and perplexed at the same time by TTTE's allowance. You see, Thomas & Friends as a franchise is outright OWNED by Mattel currently, thereby demoting it to nothing better than a mere toy franchise (think Hasbro's Transformers, Mattel's Masters of the Universe, My Little Pony, etc.). Hmmmm, maybe there is a loophole after all where Lego could instead license potential products based upon such after the original books rather than its TV adaptation??? 

[Modeltrainman]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

That's great to know regarding Gravity Falls, though I'm both intrigued and perplexed at the same time by TTTE's allowance. You see, Thomas & Friends as a franchise is outright OWNED by Mattel currently, thereby demoting it to nothing better than a mere toy franchise (think Hasbro's Transformers, Mattel's Masters of the Universe, My Little Pony, etc.). Hmmmm, maybe there is a loophole after all where Lego could instead license potential products based upon such after the original books rather than its TV adaptation??? 

I guess somebody'd have to try, and submit something. In my experience, however, trains and Ideas don't mix...

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, Modeltrainman said:

I guess somebody'd have to try, and submit something.

There have been a few attempts already, including this one that's still active currently...

Thomas the Tank Engine by patsamu4941

Hmmm, makes me wonder if @ScotNick now oughta try giving his own rendition a shot on Ideas... 

Flickr - LBSCR E2: Thomas the Tank Engine

 

[jonwil]

Looking at projects currently in the review process, I wonder if the Seven Dwarves house is allowed or not. Or SpaceX. Or Addams Family. Or Sesame Street. Or Thunderbirds.

And then there are IPs that have a lot of projects on the site like Zelda, are those on the list? And I wonder about cars like the Lamborghini projects out there (I own the blue police Lambo, wish I had been able to get the yellow Lambo and would LOVE another LEGO Lambo set for my collection be it Technic like the Porsche and Bugatti or Creator like the Mustang)

 

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, Modeltrainman said:

@Digger of Bricks Thomas IS allowed! So is Gravity Falls!

Oh, regarding Gravity Falls, I  guess I now have to wonder for what other reason @figura's Mystery Shack project was removed from review if the IP is still said to be acceptable for submission currently. Awhile ago, there were rumored to be two BrickHeadz dual packs based upon the show coming; so, before this revelation, I had figured that the project was removed from review due to it being based upon a property Lego will be officially representing a short time from then. 

[Modeltrainman]

Disney Princess is not allowed, Lamborghini is, Legend of Zelda doesn't flag, Dumbo does not, Volkswagen not allowed...Pokemon fails...

[toastergrl]

I strongly suspect the list is an outdated internal reference previously only available to moderators, and which was publicised on the request of some senior Ideas staff and/or serial AFOL designers. For example, both Micronauts and Power Rangers - brands currently outright owned by Hasbro, but weren't previously - are both marked as allowed.

In fact, it's likely this is every judgement call a moderator has ever made in the history of the site, cross-referenced with the list of Ideas products already released and existing licensees who are difficult to work with. It would explain why Ratchet & Clank is present twice (once in the rejected category and once in the accepted), makes sense with Battlestar and Battlestar Galactica being seperate evaluations, and dovetails nicely with the language used when you enter something that isn't in the system ("an IP that we've not evaluated before"). It doesn't account for changing rights holders at all.

If I were a moderator for Ideas, I probably would not have ben comfortable with this list being made public. As a fan and creator, though, it's downright fascinating. I mean, Homestuck is a yes? Have you SEEN Homestuck? (Sonic the Hedgehog being a yes is quite reassuring for personal reasons, though. *gestures at signature*)

Also, @Modeltrainman, check for The Legend Of Zelda; turns out it's a yes.

Edited September 13, 2019 by toastergrl

[Graupensuppe]

"Stargate" is not allowed, yet "Stargate Atlantis" is, and the much more well-known "Stargate SG-1" isn't listed at all. Weird. Well, I just resubmitted my Stargate Atlantis project, maybe they'll approve it this time...

[Legochaek]

 Futurama is allowed, Buffy isn’t *cries*, Grimm isn’t, Kingdom Hearts and Phineas and Ferb, both Disney properties, are?

And Lord of the Rings and Hobbit don’t come up? (There are several expired hobbit projects and several lord of the rings projects) 

Doctor Who isn’t allowed any more- wonder if they are making more sets. 

 

[jonwil]

Dr Who is not allowed because once they make something with Ideas any future projects that are similar or related are not allowed at all.

 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

On 9/12/2019 at 6:41 PM, MAB said:

We don't know that. There might still be production constraints that limits how may can be chosen, or based on projected demand / production run size, and so on.

I find that hard to believe that within an organisation, where economies of scale, economies of integration and other business synergies are rife, this would be a problem. 

Edited September 15, 2019 by Another Brick In The Wall

[jonwil]

LEGO has all sorts of constraints that limit how many Ideas sets they can introduce to the lineup. Things like factory capacity and the need to produce more of popular sets like Star Wars and City and stuff. (even the best selling and most popular Ideas set will never match the production numbers of most mainstream sets in themes like Star Wars or City or Friends or Super Heroes or whatever)

 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

 

11 hours ago, jonwil said:

LEGO has all sorts of constraints that limit how many Ideas sets they can introduce to the lineup. Things like factory capacity and the need to produce more of popular sets like Star Wars and City and stuff. (even the best selling and most popular Ideas set will never match the production numbers of most mainstream sets in themes like Star Wars or City or Friends or Super Heroes or whatever)

 

Even if it was true, here are three solutions to the problem of third parties leeching off LEGO IDEAS:  

(1)Review a project as soon as it reaches 10K votes, acquire the license, stagger the production and release date. Have predetermined LEGO IDEA release dates throughout the year..  

(2) Set different review selection criteria for a project depending on how quickly it acquires votes, e.g. 5,000 votes in a month,  7,500 votes 3 months, etc

(3) Remove the project from public domain  as soon as it reaches 10K votes and show it again after the review stage is complete. 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Another Brick In The Wall

[Digger of Bricks]

Congratulations @WetWired!!! 

The Brick Fan - LEGO Ideas Seinfeld 30th Anniversary Achieves 10,000 Supporters

[jonwil]

I have zero interest in The Office but if the Seinfeld set gets greenlit, YES YES very much YES.

Especially if they have nifty prints and recolored parts and stuff.

 

[MAB]

On 9/15/2019 at 8:50 AM, Another Brick In The Wall said:

I find that hard to believe that within an organisation, where economies of scale, economies of integration and other business synergies are rife, this would be a problem. 

It has been a problem in the past. Mars Rover sells out fast in the US and never comes back. Research Institute sells out fast, then comes back months later and sells quite well still. Exosuit sells out fast, comes back months later and sits on shelves even at quite heavy discounts, ending up in their "decommissioning campaign" adverts. LEGO doesn't always judge demand very well, especially for these somewhat niche sets. And if production numbers are written into contracts (which I believe was the case for Mars Rover) they cannot address it later if demand is higher than expected.

3 hours ago, Another Brick In The Wall said:

 

Even if it was true, here are three solutions to the problem of third parties leeching off LEGO IDEAS:  

(1)Review a project as soon as it reaches 10K votes, acquire the license, stagger the production and release date. Have predetermined LEGO IDEA release dates throughout the year..  

(2) Set different review selection criteria for a project depending on how quickly it acquires votes, e.g. 5,000 votes in a month,  7,500 votes 3 months, etc

(3) Remove the project from public domain  as soon as it reaches 10K votes and show it again after the review stage is complete. 

(1) What if multiple sets have a good business case, or none, but there is only one free slot? Having set release dates means having to have a set released whether one is ready or not. Also different sets can have different parts requirements - some make require new prints / colours, while others can use existing produced bricks.

(2) Why? The primary criterion (aside from licensing issues) is can LEGO make money from it. Does it matter how fast it got to 10000?

(3) Removing projects will not help. Third parties could monitor anything that reaches 5000, for example. That way, if anything is removed on reaching 10000, they already have back-ups of what LEGO removed.

 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

It has been a problem in the past. Mars Rover sells out fast in the US and never comes back. Research Institute sells out fast, then comes back months later and sells quite well still. Exosuit sells out fast, comes back months later and sits on shelves even at quite heavy discounts, ending up in their "decommissioning campaign" adverts. LEGO doesn't always judge demand very well, especially for these somewhat niche sets. And if production numbers are written into contracts (which I believe was the case for Mars Rover) they cannot address it later if demand is higher than expected.

(1) What if multiple sets have a good business case, or none, but there is only one free slot? Having set release dates means having to have a set released whether one is ready or not. Also different sets can have different parts requirements - some make require new prints / colours, while others can use existing produced bricks.

(2) Why? The primary criterion (aside from licensing issues) is can LEGO make money from it. Does it matter how fast it got to 10000?

(3) Removing projects will not help. Third parties could monitor anything that reaches 5000, for example. That way, if anything is removed on reaching 10000, they already have back-ups of what LEGO removed.

 

 

(1)  TLG losing good projects, because a third party beat them to the license because of the protracted review process is not a good business practice either. It's also doubly unfair on the designer.  

(2) It means licenses can be negotiated and acquired faster. The probability that a project that reaches  ,000 votes in a month,  not reaching 10,000, is very low.   I am happy to be proven wrong on this point. 

(3) I agree on this point.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Another Brick In The Wall

[WetWired]

23 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Congratulations @WetWired!!! 

The Brick Fan - LEGO Ideas Seinfeld 30th Anniversary Achieves 10,000 Supporters

Thanks Digger. It felt like a long time but it was just under 3 months from 0 to 10,000. That's less than half the time it took the Ectomobile and Stay Puft to reach 10k!

Coincidentally my new project was approved the same day Seinfeld reached 10k - The Dark Crystal

 

[Puresh]

1 hour ago, WetWired said:

Thanks Digger. It felt like a long time but it was just under 3 months from 0 to 10,000. That's less than half the time it took the Ectomobile and Stay Puft to reach 10k!

Coincidentally my new project was approved the same day Seinfeld reached 10k - The Dark Crystal

Really loving all these new projects you're pumping out at the moment! I'm really hoping X-Files will reach 10k too, but I still have my doubts it'll be accepted due to that one episode that was rated TV-MA 

[Another Brick In The Wall]

When will Seinfeld by reviewed? The next batch has some intriguing projects, like The Pirate Bay.

[MAB]

On 9/16/2019 at 2:02 PM, Another Brick In The Wall said:

 

(1)  TLG losing good projects, because a third party beat them to the license because of the protracted review process is not a good business practice either. It's also doubly unfair on the designer.  

 

Has that ever happened though? If a license has a chance of partnering with LEGO, I'd imagine they'd wait for the review. If a clone company approached a brand I'd imagine they would look into why the approach has been made and soon find out about LEGO ideas, even if they didn't know about the project beforehand.

15 minutes ago, Another Brick In The Wall said:

When will Seinfeld by reviewed? The next batch has some intriguing projects, like The Pirate Bay.

If chosen, I wonder if they'd change the name or go with "The Pirate Bay".