LEGO Ideas Discussion

[Blondie-Wan]

Today's Staff Pick is a project based on Masters of the Universe, which really surprises me. They've archived projects in the past based on toys and their tie-in shows from competing toy makers before, notably My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, though there may have been others (haven't there been projects posted and then archived based on G.I. Joe and Transformers?). Huh.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Blondie-Wan

[SMC]

"Bricksauria | Tyrannosaurus rex" achieved the 10000 supporters. I think this will be last one to reach them before the purgue

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/48453

I hope they don't think that this would be easier/better than making the JP one, because I would really love some figs and even if they think its too big I hope they make the JP one smaller so we still get more than just the dino.

[Vorkosigan]

They probably can't make any other dinosaur sets until the JP license expires.

[SMC]

^ An interesting thought, also this is an odd one as it was only posted because the JP set was effectively removed. It would have been better if we had been able to see the result of the review and if this one is even needed.

[Faefrost]

Today's Staff Pick is a project based on Masters of the Universe, which really surprises me. They've archived projects in the past based on toys and their tie-in shows from competing toy makers before, notably My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, though there may have been others (haven't there been projects posted and then archived based on G.I. Joe and Transformers?). Huh.

The review for "impossible license" happens at 1000 votes. Until then it is simply a sub 1k project that a staffer liked. The staffer likely knows nothing of licensing issues.

[SMC]

Staff Picks would be better if it was a nod from Lego that a project might have a good chance in review but as you say that's not how it works at all.

[Blondie-Wan]

I think the staffers do all have some idea; they seem to be a small group that have all been with it a while, and they must have some idea by now of what is or is not likely to fly (though it's possible they didn't realize Masters of the Universe is first and foremost a toy line rather than a TV property that became a toy line).

Individual LEGO Ideas team members have even given vote support for things that proved to be unworkable. I guess they just choose the stuff they personally like to support and to highlight as Staff Picks, the way any of us might, and try to keep those decisions separate from the ones about whether a project is a good or appropriate one to turn into a set.

[Blondie-Wan]

The Brick Fan has an interesting rumor report on the next two Ideas sets:

To make up for the downtime early this morning, we have some new information about the upcoming LEGO Ideas The Big Bang Theory and WALL•E sets. Many fans have been waiting for any kind information about them but there’s been absolutely nothing so far, until now. This information comes from the same contact who first told us that the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Shield Helicarrier (76042), LEGO The Simpsons Kwik-E-Mart (71016), and the LEGO Star Wars UCS TIE Fighter (75095) would be released this year.

For both of the new LEGO Ideas sets, the pricing was said to be at NZD 109.99 which converts to around $80 so my guess is that the sets will be between $70-$90. What this may mean is that the sets will be the most expensive LEGO Ideas sets to date and will probably be the largest in terms of piece count as well. They also told me that they will be available in New Zealand in September but we usually get the sets a little earlier so I’m thinking around the middle of summer wave sets.

Intriguing... if true, of course, which it may well not be. But I can see the next logical expansion of Ideas being a move into larger sets, after already accelerating releases from one every couple years to four in one year, as they did last year and are continuing this year.

[JGW3000]

Interesting news, Blondie-Wan. I'm sorry, but Wall-E, as submitted, does not look a $70-90 dollar set. I could see $40-50 for it. So either there is one hell of a licensing fee, the project is bigger than it looks, or it was significantly modified and enlarged by the design team.

$80 for TBBT suggests all 7 characters as mini-figs, plus lots of accessories (and maybe interchangeable torsos for Shelden?), which will be really cool.

[Blondie-Wan]

With price inequalities between the US and, well, everywhere else, I could see that NZ pricing equating to around $60 in the US, which I do think is possible for WALL*E as submitted - he looks like he has a lot of functionality, note, and the final set might have accessories like his cooler backpack or the plant; at the very least he should have his roach pal, as shown in the proposal project.

Anyway, even $60 would be new territory for Ideas, but still enough of a small step to not be outlandish - indeed, it's probably more inevitable.

[Artanis I]

September release for NZ either means that's when it hits S@H (which will be much the same worldwide) or when it finally hits retail after the long delay, assuming they get Ideas sets the same as Australia. Keeping in mind that R.I., Exo-Suit & Birds have not hit here yet, if ever. I think Ghostbusters may have hit at around that time or later last year, so whenever that set was first available online last year is probably around the mark for this year's releases. (Online and in USA/Europe)

And $110 for NZ would be around $60 for USA. Ghostbusters was $90 v $50, Exo-Suit $70 v $35. They may have won the cricket (just) but we still get slightly better Lego prices!

[Robert8]

According to the TheBrickFan the release date of Doctor Who will be october/november... I don't recall any LEGO Ideas set taking so much time to be produced and released.... It's almost a whole year

[tafkatb]

A little over nine months from announcement to release, same as the Exo-Suit.

[SMC]

^ Yeah I was going to say the exo suit took a very long time and it didn't need licensing.

[Dorayaki]

I think the staffers do all have some idea; they seem to be a small group that have all been with it a while, and they must have some idea by now of what is or is not likely to fly (though it's possible they didn't realize Masters of the Universe is first and foremost a toy line rather than a TV property that became a toy line).

Individual LEGO Ideas team members have even given vote support for things that proved to be unworkable. I guess they just choose the stuff they personally like to support and to highlight as Staff Picks, the way any of us might, and try to keep those decisions separate from the ones about whether a project is a good or appropriate one to turn into a set.

I've menthioned that whether current LoTR appearing in the Staff Picks could conflict with the license LEGO was still working on (of course, now it almost ends so no conflicts ).

Doctor Who was a classic example of an unfair game, but does other licenses that appeared in the Staff Picks are as powerful as those mentioned by the blog posts or the achieved projects? Also, meanwhile, I don't think Staff Picks really help increasing the amount of projects of a certain license, although Doctor Who is truly popular enough to get more projects than the others.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Dorayaki

[Robert8]

I hope they don't think that this would be easier/better than making the JP one, because I would really love some figs and even if they think its too big I hope they make the JP one smaller so we still get more than just the dino.

If the JP gets approved, I doubt they would make the gates. The set will be just the dino and the car, IMO. If that happens, this set will be rejected.

[SMC]

^ I would be happy with the dino, car and figs.

[ummester]

The dino in that build looks really nice and would be an interesting and complicated build.

However, isn't TLG releasing a JP line to coincide with the JP4 movie? The ideas set reminds me of the situation that the big Sand crawler and Avengers Heli-carrier found themselves in - TLG already had designs in the pipes, just more toy like and simpler builds.

[Robert8]

I think the "Brick-built Adventure Time figures" just made a record of getting almost the 10000 supporters in less than 2 months

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/93648

[Blondie-Wan]

I think the "Brick-built Adventure Time figures" just made a record of getting almost the 10000 supporters in less than 2 months

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/93648

It's doing very well, but hasn't gotten the full 10,000 votes yet. It surely will easily hit the mark with several months to spare, but it will probably take over two months to finish, unless there's some last-minute rush in voting.

As far as setting a record goes, at least four other projects have it beat, including Alatariel's Science Adventures which hit in less than two months (less than a month and a half, actually), AndrewClark2's Doctor Who and Companions, which took slightly less time than that, GlenBricker's Doctor Who, which took about two weeks, and mojang's LEGO Minecraft, which took just 48 hours.

But that said, yes, that Adventure Time project is still doing enviably well. I'm glad, as I'd like to see it become a set.

[Robert8]

Oh... I didn't know about those. The Minecraft got the 10k in just 2 days? That's crazy

Sadly, among all those only Science Adventures isn't a licensed set.

[Blondie-Wan]

Oh... I didn't know about those. The Minecraft got the 10k in just 2 days? That's crazy

Yep. According to LEGO's official comments on the project, it not only got there in just 48 hours, it also caused three server outages in the process. Combined with the fact the set kept selling out incredibly quickly, getting new runs, selling out again, etc., and ultimately led to a whole entire theme, it's apparent there was (and continues to be) strong demand for official Minecraft LEGO sets.

Sadly, among all those only Science Adventures isn't a licensed set.

Licensed projects do have an advantage in getting votes, since they'll appeal not only to fans of LEGO but also to fans of whatever movies and franchises they're from. OTOH, that's probably offset by their being less likely to get approved than non-licensed projects, since licensing adds an additional layer of complexity and possible obstacles. More licensed projects than non-licensed ones get to 10,000 votes, but then a larger percentage of those get declined. Thus, at the moment, the current mix of licensed and non-licensed projects that have been approved is exactly 50/50 - there are six of each out of the total of twelve CUUSOO/ Ideas projects approved to date (including the three that have been announced for this year but not yet released).

[jonwil]

It seems to me like the Exo-Suit is the only Ideas set to date that isn't based on something that already exists (either something from the real world or something from a movie/TV show)

[ummester]

It seems to me like the Exo-Suit is the only Ideas set to date that isn't based on something that already exists (either something from the real world or something from a movie/TV show)

Does this mean that our species, in general, lacks imagination? :)

[Robert8]

Does this mean that our species, in general, lacks imagination? :)

More like lacking supporters because there are plenty of projects like the Exo-Suit but they don't get the 10000 votes