LEGO Ideas Discussion

[MAB]

7 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Personally I can't help but hope for the garbage truck. Don't think a set that small has been approved through Ideas in quite some time, but the functionality is just so clever. The smaller size and lack of licensing could potentially make it easier than others to slot in between other releases, as well.
 

The functionality is clever, but surely it falls down on how many people want to display a small City-looking garbage truck in their living room. When the vast majority of IDEAS sets are display (or display+play) rather than play, I don't see how that one fits in.

 

I can see it fitting in with a City display, but that is not what IDEAS is for. In that sense, it is a bit like submitting a better version of a Star Wars ship that LEGO did five years ago. Or a LOTR Hobbit Hole that LEGO already did.

Edited January 4, 2021 by MAB

[Robert8]

I don't think any of these will be approved honestly

 

[Just_a_brick]

I don’t know but that Third 2020 review might be one in which we get nothing approved. Most things have something going against it but I’m still holding on hope for Avatar film Project.

[CopperTablet]

Lego is under pressure to approve something because clone brands have been licensing and producing rejected Ideas sets with the consent of their creators.

It's not about finances, it's about not letting the other guys get a foothold and establish a consumer base to expand outwards.

Edited January 4, 2021 by CopperTablet

[lego_guyon02]

2 minutes ago, CopperTablet said:

Lego is under pressure to approve something because clone brands have been licensing and producing rejected Ideas sets with the consent of their creators.

It's not about finances, it's about not letting the other guys get a foothold and establish a consumer base to expand outwards.

I'm pretty sure that's against Ideas' rules. After submitting a project to Ideas you can release instructions for free but you're not allowed to sell anything related to your product. 

[CopperTablet]

Anyway, here's my predictions:

737- could get made, is a unique build, Lego airplanes are often criticized for being Playmobil-esque and this is an alternative

Colosseum- rejected, we already have a Colosseum

Gravity Falls - I'm not familiar with this IP, but the build needs work in terms of color selection.   If the IP is a good fit for Lego (not too adult), it could get made

Police Station- rejected, we already have a Police Station

Bag End- rejected, Lego already made a set of this (and it was great), the book is a waste of parts

Red Dwarf Starbug- could get made, the show has a devoted fanbase, build needs work and likely a Medieval Blacksmith-style complete makeover

Airbender- the IP is definitely a good fit, but I don't really like the model concept.   Needs revision for a future round

Classic Castle- is too generic as-is but Barracuda Bay was a good idea so this could also get approved with a little more stylization

Open MRI- Lego will say NOE to this

Motorized Lighthouse- Lego has rejected better lighthouses in the past.

James Cameron's Avatar- the film is really special and Lego could be the right medium for it.   Not sure if minifigs capture the height and litheness of the aliens well.

Spirited Away- good choice of IP, is popular enough, set may be too big and bulky.

Jumanji- another good IP but this model sucks

The Little Venice- see you on Rebrickable

Auto Union- maybe, but it might work better as one or more minifig scale cars

Automated Garbage- this is a City set, not an Ideas set

TX Master Games- wut

Milwaukee- might be a better fit for Architecture but it's a good design and a building worthy of a set.

Car Wash- also see you on Rebrickable

Wallace & Gromit- very strong concept and build, would not be surprised if this was approved

Among Us- this doesn't actually look like The Skeld and the game's popularity has already fallen off

Roman Warship-  Lego could make something Roman but I don't know if a ship is the right choice

Addams Family- we already have a Haunted House and this one is worse, but maybe the IP works for a different set

GMC- good MOC but not nearly enough appeal

Viking Village- great concept, neat build,  but the Danes at Lego may be pissed at the incorrect portrayal of their ancestors with horned helmets.  I think it has a good chance of getting approved.

Edited January 4, 2021 by CopperTablet

[RichardGoring]

I love the car wash. It looks beautiful and goes so well with the Diner. But having spent the last six months re-mocing it, it feels a bit too small to be a modular, especially the top two floors. My daughter loves playing with it though, so maybe it's OK for small children. Plus, it's a modular, and it would be a big break to suddenly choose one. Especially with an anniversary set due next year, when these would likely come out.

The Brick Town Police Station has so many incredible similarities with the official police station. The obvious donut shop, but also the rough shape, colouring, use of animal heads at the top, the vine running the height of the building. Not suggesting there was any copying, just nice to see those features, as I really liked them in the Ideas submission.

The Addams Family looks like a perfect LEGO set. It should be great to build, excellent to display, but also works really well as a play set. It would be a shame if IP got in the way of them doing it. Although it's large, so another expensive one that they may want to avoid.

Castle, Viking Village, and Bag End all also look great.

But I agree that there's a decent chance that none of these will be accepted. What that means is that when they reveal the results, if any of them are, I will be pleasantly surprised, rather than slightly disappointed as has happened before.

Edited January 13, 2021 by RichardGoring

[jonwil]

4 hours ago, Guyon2002 said:

- The sets made in 2012 - 2015 sold poorly because of the horrible way in which they approached the franchise. They skipped most of the franchise's iconic scenes in favor of sets like Shelob's Lair, an Orc Forge, a Corsair ship etc. Not to mention that they didn't even release a single battlepack while the franchise is incredibly well known for it's massive battles, which include some of the best battle sequences in the entire history of film. 

The lack of battle packs has to do with the licensing (almost certainly to do with the mob that makes the middle-earth themed tabletop game) and was therefore out of LEGO's control.

 

[MAB]

1 hour ago, CopperTablet said:

Lego is under pressure to approve something because clone brands have been licensing and producing rejected Ideas sets with the consent of their creators.

It's not about finances, it's about not letting the other guys get a foothold and establish a consumer base to expand outwards.

This wouldn't work. If they have 20 in a round and accept 1 or 2, then 18 or 19 still fail. So cloners get their pick from 18 or 19 instead of 20. Making 1 does little to combat it.

1 hour ago, CopperTablet said:

Open MRI- Lego will say NOE to this

:-) good one!

1 hour ago, CopperTablet said:

 

Viking Village- great concept, neat build,  but the Danes at Lego may be pissed at the incorrect portrayal of their ancestors with horned helmets.  I think it has a good chance of getting approved.

Lego has produced the horned viking helmet both in the original viking theme and in the CMF. Only recently did they do the spanenhelm.

[Modal]

Do we have a date for the January Ideas group announcement?

[MatthewRC]

Just now, Modal said:

Do we have a date for the January Ideas group announcement?

I'm personally hoping for the Naruto and/or Avatar: The Last Airbender product ideas to be approved. I know the LEGO Ideas tri-annual review results can be unpredictable, but what do you think are the odds of the former (Naruto) passing the review?

[Just_a_brick]

2 hours ago, Modal said:

Do we have a date for the January Ideas group announcement?

They still have thirteen interviews that they still have to publish. Since they usually publish two a week that means we won’t get any news until Feb.

[Roebuck]

13 hours ago, Black-Brick said:

I'm actually kind of hoping for the garbage truck. The last city garbage truck came out in 2016, so there's not that much overlap with existing City sets and the mechanism is quite clever.

13 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Personally I can't help but hope for the garbage truck. Don't think a set that small has been approved through Ideas in quite some time, but the functionality is just so clever. The smaller size and lack of licensing could potentially make it easier than others to slot in between other releases, as well.

Would not be surprised if that makes it. How often has small 20$ city sets made it to review, can not remember any on top of my head. It would be quick and easy to make without any licensing issues. I do not think many of the sets will make it this time either. I have no big favourites this round, but I am really hoping this makes it next time:

 

[Lego David]

The last review stage had 35 projects qualify, this one only has 25. I expected the number of projects that reach 10k supporters to continue growing, but it seems like I was wrong. 

Anyway, LEGO Ideas is getting more and more hard to predict. I agree with some of the other people here that this might be one of the rare occasions where they may not choose anything to produce into sets. 

[adwind]

10 active "Jaws" projects, seriously, what have I missed? :)

[LettuceBrick]

1 hour ago, Lego David said:

this might be one of the rare occasions where they may not choose anything to produce into sets. 

Has that ever happened before?

[JintaiZ]

14 minutes ago, LettuceBrick said:

Has that ever happened before?

Yes, 2 times

[LettuceBrick]

2 hours ago, JintaiZ said:

Yes, 2 times

Ah, ok thanks for the info!

[Gorilla94]

The hobbit book is just gorgeous. It hurts, that it most likely won´t be chosen.

[JintaiZ]

Among Us: The Skeld Detailed Map reaches 10k supporters! I believe it will have a good chance to become a set since Among Us is a popular game and the accuracy of the build is amazing.

[MAB]

7 hours ago, adwind said:

10 active "Jaws" projects, seriously, what have I missed? :)

They hinted that they may well have the licence to do Jaws by including it in a poll for a  new Brickheadz set.

Edited January 5, 2021 by MAB

[adwind]

Just now, MAB said:

They hinted that they may well have the licence to do Jaws by including it in a poll for a  new Brickheadz set.

So they are literally saying "we're thinking of making Jaws ourselves". I wouldn't bet on these ideas in that case.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

3 hours ago, MAB said:

They hinted that they may well have the licence to do Jaws by including it in a poll for a  new Brickheadz set.

Aren't they likely to have access to any license belonging to either Universal, Disney, or WB? They seem to have good relationships with all of them. I don't know much of how licenses work, but it seems to me that they can pretty much produce anything from any of those studios that they set their minds to.

[jonwil]

They may have a good relationship with Disney and WB and stuff and that will certainly make it easier to get a license but that doesn't mean its going to be simple every time (especially if there might be other rights involved, existing toy license holders etc)

 

[Alegrispa]

Honestly guys? If Community doesn't get approved and the Avatar one does (because the ATLA project in the third 2020 review is far superior) I'm frickin' done with Ideas. So much disappointment lately. I try to be positive when it comes to all things LEGO, after all it's a toy, but Ideas was supposed to be us telling them what we want! So why won't they listen to us?

I mean, Home Alone? A Globe?! The way the Blacksmith set turned out? The second Discworld project not being approved? And I'm not a big The Office US fan, but geez, the fourth version of it just got approved, people obviously want it and it's not one of the IPs LEGO deems too adult (The Big Bang Theory is both inappropriate and incredibly offensive, so they've got no excuse), so why won't they just make it?!

I just wish they were more transparent in their process. Like, do they not choose projects simply because no one on the team is a fan of the IP? Or is there a person who can veto sets they don't like? Who thought it would be a good Idea to try something more niche and then go with Flintstones of all things? What was with that weird Brickheadz contest (and who thought the Frigate and the Bomber stood a chance against the Gunship)?

Maybe Ideas just needs a big overhaul. A team change. Swap some people around over there.