BrickG

The point is, Lego Cuusoo is still a business. You choose the things that will sell. A modular western town would probably have the LEAST sale potential out of all 4 of those projects by a long shot.

I've gotta wonder if that 1% really influences what will be picked. I mean, if I got in a review and said "yeah, gimmie that 1% I have bills." would they be like "nope, not going to pick you then. Honestly I'd want to take the 1% myself. I'm not well off enough to give to charity currently :P.

I disagree. None of those need unique stuff except maybe the portal gun. I've seen some fantastic minifigure scale (more or less) lego turrets, GLADOS, etc. The Companion Cube can literally be a Lego cube with print on it. It would be cooler to have unique pieces but for portal, it's mostly unnecessary. I think Cuusoo has been doing a major shift in their target audience. It's increasingly for everybody. Minecraft sold well at a much younger average age (and sold significantly better than the rest of the Cuusoo projects) so I see them continuing to do the same thing, aiming at lower and lower ages. I think BttF will sell decently with young people too as it's one of those trilogies that sticks around like Star Wars but to a lesser extent. Also, you can't discount the adults that think Westerns are boring. Honestly, this isn't a new thing. I'm 27 and I can safely say the vast majority of people my age (that don't live in Texas or something ;p) also don't care about Westerns. Westerns have been practically dead for a long while now. So any western set won't be aiming at adults, they'll be aiming at really, really old adults ;p.

Western Town, I don't understand why it had so many fans. Westerns are practically dead these days. The appeal is just not there. Kids do not care about "cowboys and indians" these days. I doubt it would have even pass if there wasn't a conflict with the Lone Ranger sets (which I view as a risk potentially equal to that as the mostly failed Prince of Persia sets). The Western genera is just plain on life support. I was personally hoping Zelda would win. However, I did expect the sheer amount of unique molds required to stop it from winning. Zelda has a lot more fanfare and toy appeal than EVE and ESPECIALLY a Western. Another problem is that there's no Zelda game coming out for a while. If Zelda ever gets a set it would likely happen closer to a game's release. BttF is a good set that I might buy. My second choice. It does have appeal. I don't understand the franchise haters. I buy lego FOR the franchises. Superheros and Ninja Turtles are my current favorites. The only non-franchise sets I buy are Castle which is kind of dead right now (but there's always LotR ;D). Franchises sell. They attract. But again, I cannot emphasize this enough. Whatever your opinions... Westerns are just not popular these days. The only reason they're doing a western with the Lone Ranger is because it's a franchise and if the movie does well it could spell well for them too (basically a gamble). And Portal has a HUGE chance. Probably bigger than Zelda. You don't really need a lot of new molds. You can make a good portal set with existing parts. In fact I can't think of any parts that would 100% have to be unique. Unique prints is all that's needed.

Just wait. You have to get like 40% off at ToysRus to get them for their actual price. It's not worth it people!

Darn it. I've had too many expenses lately. Dentist, new computer for my work, blablabla... I must have these... but... So little monies!

Zelda isn't obscure. It's pretty darned Mainstream. Who doesn't know of Zelda besides old people? Now I won't argue that it's toy value is questionable. And doing sets far away from a game's release when the games release one every like 5 freakin' years? Unlike other brick franchises (Megablocks) Halo and World of Warcraft Zelda doesn't have a presence that is constant. That might limit the franchise when it comes to toys. But obscure? Never. If Zelda got Lego sets I'd expect them to be limited or nearer a game's release. Skyward Sword would have made absolutely AWESOME Lego sets and it was one of the best darned games of the Generation. EDIT: Yeah, I think the only thing keeping Zelda toys from being bigger sellers is the lack of a quick release schedule on consoles. Super Mario toys currently sell pretty darned well. You see other franchises selling toys (including Zelda) but at a much lower number. This is because Mario games are coming out every year. Major releases too. While Zelda has 1-2 per console GENERATION. Then some handheld titles that don't get the same level of attention. Plus Mario is more "everybody" than Zelda. If Zelda had a release every year like Mario that appealed to large quantities of people it would be easy. Until then though a limited number of sets would be the only option (preferably near a game's release). Now Back to the Future... I would argue it's one of the most popular trilogies of all time. However toy wise it's even more limited than Zelda since the movies are so old and there are no more coming out any time soon. It's toy applications are limited. However I have little doubt a limited one set release would sell very well (there is the market for a few at most). Probably not as well as the Minecraft set though. Lego BttF would sell on nostalgia big time. Tons of adults are nostalgic about lego. They're nostalgic about those awesome movies too. There's enough sales for a cuusoo release for sure.

I'm sure I"m not the only one but I'd just never vote again if I couldn't vote for franchise stuff. This is a great way to market to people not ONLY into Lego. If you couldn't put up franchises that Lego didn't own up for vote a lot less people would care. Because lets face it, franchises attract attention and for a lot of people nostalgic and stuff for Lego just Lego alone isn't enough. Add that franchise stuff and then you get the kind of attention that gets in the news or on the first page of Reddit. Banning franchises Lego doesn't have the rights to currently would do nothing but hurt them. And lets face it, Lego Cuusoo isn't really made for existing Lego fans as much as it is a way to market to new or older and gone groups of people. At least that's what it's evolved into probably starting with that Minecraft set which I guarantee has sold more than the previous Lego Cuusoo projects combined and also garnered more attention from people and the media.

They're real it looks like. They're just for some reason having the wrong weapon. Maybe someone was colorblind and thought it was Leo :P.

Hey an April figure. And for some reason there's three Raphs though they're the same one in 79102 and 79105. I don't see a reason to get 79102 unless you really want that fish guy. The Baxter set looks $30.

Meh, I don't like the points. I think it's perfectly reasonable to not do a Western Town if you have a license that's already western enough. I also don't think it diminishes LegoCuusoo at all. It makes logical sense. Heck, I'm surprised they're willing to have TWO Ninja themes next year. Ninjago and Ninja Turtles. Seems like one of those will bit into the other one. Why compete with yourself? That said, I'm pretty sure it's either LoZ or BttF at this point (rumors are it's BttF). They're the only licenses that would cause this issue (most likely) and delays. I do not expect them to announce anything until they're 100% sure that a project will be done. It would be terrible media to say "hey, we're trying to get the Legend of Zelda Lego sets!" then get everyone's hopes up only to later say "whoops we couldn't agree on a contract!"... That would be damaging.

Well if those choices or writer and director are true I'm... a bit worried. They're random people who have done a few things notable... that one guy did a lot with Lost... I was kind of hoping (unrealistically) we'd see Abrams and/or Whedon on it. Specifically the "And" part. Heck, lets throw in Nolan and Jackson too. ;) Collab!

Interesting how there's printing on the back despite the fact that it's covered by a shell piece.

no no no no no that was so terrible looking I wanted to vomit. And it would be the same here.

Look again.

Even though Star Wars and Lucas Films were huge they didn't release movies often. They didn't make as much money as Marvel or have as many potential franchises. THey're really JUST Star Wars and again, they didn't exactly release those movies commonly. So that's why Marvel sold for more.

Battle packs require an action figure deal. I don't think Lego has that for TMNT.

I highly doubt they'll make movies of games. KOTOR won't see a movie. It was a great story. The best outside of the original trilogy in terms of Star Wars. But it wouldn't be as powerful since we all know the story. Also they probably want to do other things.

The Old Republic has no chance of getting films with how well it's doing. Also Disney has said their plan is to make a new Star Wars film every 2-3 years. So I assume that means they're planning to go beyond 7 8 and 9. Even if they do this somewhat well that seems spammy. They're going to milk it until it's dry and people are sick of Star Wars. :P

I've been comparing the success of Star Wars vs the Marvel movies.. and even if they match the success of Ironman 1 and the Avengers it still pales in comparison with the legendary status of Star Wars IV, V and VI. I'm talking about movie quality mainly. Ironman 2 wasn't nearly as well liked. Thor and Captain America are mostly deemed as "decent" movies. Nowhere near Star Wars. Again, I just don't see them ever obtaining the status of the original films. I think the worst thing that could happen is Star Wars gets spammed like X-Men and other films which are yes, often good, but seriously why aim for GOOD when you've gone down in HISTORY. As good as X-Men 1 and 2 were they won't be in the history books. Star Wars will be. It's a tough act to follow. Not even Lucas could do it. The perfect storm. I have no idea how Disney could follow suit.

I'm not sure what to think. Star Wars the original trilogy are my absolute favorite movies. However like many I've not liked the prequels. I see them as average movies not obtaining the legendary status of the originals. I tried for years to like the prequels but I just can't. The same thing happened to Indiana Jones. I really did not like 4. Lucas is probably motivated because he got sad from the responses to his newer movies. Can't blame him. That's a lot of money and it will probably ensure his family lives very well (more well than they have been). I'd thank him for the original trilogy and indiana jones (first 3). I do NOT see Disney able to recreate the quality and legendary status of the original Trilogy. I can't think of anyone who is up to the task. Yes, the prequels and Clone Wars are popular enough to keep business going but the original Trilogy is much bigger. I'd be interested to see where people like JJ Abrams (and his team of writers) or Wedon or Nolan would take this but even their best stuff isn't near Star Wars. I don't see this new movie coming out in 2015 either. They just got the rights recently. I"m thinking it'll take them an extra year or two to really get settled in and make sure it doesn't suck.

They usually release the January sets in limited quantities at limited places before Christmas.

I think one set based on the old cartoon would be neat. Though.. not sure Lego would be interested. Technodrome: Several hundred $$$ :P comparable to the Death Star 4x old cartoon style Ninja Turtles 1x old style Shredder 1x old style Kraang in his robot suit 1x Bebop 1x Rocksteady 1x April O'neil 2x Footsoldiers Doesn't include stupid play things like missiles. It's just the technodrome and minifigures. The technodrome can move though.

Because they're based on movies there's almost no information about those sets yet. They'll also be coming mid-year instead of earlier. We'll probably hear more around January.

Some of the minifigures are interesting... I might get a set if I have extra $$$. I want pig and rhino people.