Blondie-Wan

The fourth, in fact, after Curiosity, the Apollo Saturn V, and Women of NASA. But of course the ISS is more than just NASA, as its very name indicates. Not long ago I’d have said there’s an excellent chance of a SpaceX project getting through, especially with two in this batch, but I think Elon Musk’s recent activity might diminish the chances a little (though there’s still a good chance of it).

Ah, right! I’d forgotten. Hmm, I don’t know. They might be able to use it, but I think they’d just find another option.

Disney molds? Are there any Disney-related dinosaur molds other than Rex from Toy Story? (I mean, discounting birds as dinosaurs, so excluding Donald, Daisy, etc.)

I’d be very leery of these online sites offering deals that seem too good to be true. They probably are. _____________ My latest acquisitions (one copy apiece, all yesterday): 75218 X-Wing Starfighter 75213 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 40300 Han Solo Mudtrooper 40299 Kessel Mine Worker

As to the actual topic, I think Steamboat Willie and the International Space Station are the two likeliest.

Does or does not? It doesn’t seem to work for me, and I’m the one who made it. I don’t know what the issue is...

Some of them have expired since. Toy Story might have been off-limits at the time, for example, because of the then-current Disney Minifigures series (the original Toy Story theme is from 2010, so it certainly wasn’t that), but AFAIK, nothing from that series is considered to still be active unless it has other current sets (the same would apply to Stitch, of course). I believe all the licenses that remain specific to LEGO Dimensions are now considered inactive as well (even though the game only just turned 3 a week ago, and LEGO itself still has some copies of the Starter Pack left for sale in their online store), so while The A-Team would be considered an active license a year ago, I don’t think it still is.

Huh. I’m not sure what’s going on with the poll, but it seems not to be working for me, and I’m the one who made it. Hmm.

So... what’ll it be?

You’re welcome! And I totally hear you about what has no chance. I was sure they wouldn’t do The Big Bang Theory, for example (and sure they would do the Gingerbread House from a while back). Time for the next poll!

I think they can use special molds in an Ideas set if they want to; the rules merely specify that the project can’t require them. It doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t do them on their own if they’d like to. That said, AndrewClark2 did an amazing job at designing some really good Flintstones and Rubbles minifigures using only standard, existing pieces. I think LEGO Flintstones could take the route of LEGO Minecraft and LEGO Ghostbusters - using only extant molds (but with new prints) for the Ideas set, and then if there are any followup sets (turning it into a whole theme), producing new, theme-specific molds for those. (Robert8, why didn’t you title this thread “Meet the Flintstones”? The opportunity was just sitting right there... )

I don’t see it going any higher than that, certainly. I think there’s a strong chance it’ll be one of those sets with a fairly low price per piece. It’ll still be big and expensive, though - probably the fourth Ideas set whose US price has three digits to the left of the decimal.

... though honestly, MST3K was always an extremely long shot. I’d have been utterly astonished if it had been approved (though I’d have been tickled silly as well). It and the Star Wars project were the two I always considered least likely. Then again, I thought the Treehouse wasn’t especially likely (and in particular I though Stitch was far likelier), so once again we see my abilities to predict these results are pretty darn limited. But I certainly thought The Flintstones was going to be approved; lots of us could see that one coming a mile away.

Some observations: • These will bring the total number of CUUSOO / Ideas sets releases up to 25. • This is the sixth review in which multiple projects have been approved at once. • AndrewClark2 is now the third person to have had two product ideas approved (after Alatariel of the Research Institute and The Big Bang Theory, and JK Brickworks of the Maze and the forthcoming Pop-up Book). Additionally, AndrewClark2 is now the first person to have multiple approvals as a solo submitter (since Alatariel and JK Brickworks’ second approved projects were both collaborations), as well as the first with multiple approved product ideas based on licensed properties. • Barring a future rules change, this review should close off once and for all the possibility of any sets based on extant active licenses (Star Wars, Marvel, DC, etc.), as the Acclamator Class Assault Ship was I believe the last remaining project based on such properties to make it to review - no new ones have been accepted since June 21st 2016, and all the others that were submitted before then have by now either expired before getting 10,000 supports, been declined in review, or in a couple rare instances been archived (when it was clear before reaching review that a project couldn’t be produced for some reason).

And there we are! The Flintstones and the Treehouse!

And the results are in! Congrats to everyone who picked The Flintstones, and most especially the Treehouse!

The Flintstones looks like a clear candidate to many folks (certainly among folks who’ve participated in the guessing game for this review). It seems everyone is in agreement there’s no hope for the Acclamator Class Assault Ship. As it represents the last chance a Star Wars project (or any other project based on a current, ongoing license like Marvel or DC) has to become an Ideas set, it will be the end of an era for CUUSOO / Ideas. It would be pretty cool if they went ahead and capped that era by actually approving it, were it not for risking giving so many fans heart attacks with the shock. I do think there’s a good chance we’ll get more than one approval. So many product ideas in this batch are strong contenders, and they have only one set from a previous batch currently awaiting release. In fact, I think that if there were ever going to be more than two projects approved at once, this would be as good / likely a time as any to do it. They actually have approved three projects from a single batch before, but it took two reviews to do it - the First 2014 Review had the LEGO Bird Project and The Big Bang Theory approved immediately while two Doctor Who projects were held for further consideration, and one of those was then approved alongside WALL•E from the Second 2014 Review.

They don’t seem to consider it a current license, though. Properties they included in LEGO Dimensions that were off-limits because of it are now allowed, and that’s more recent / current than the Disney Minifigures series. They don’t accept product ideas based on currently active licenses (e.g., Star Wars, the Wizarding World, Marvel, DC), or ones they’ve ever done in CUUSOO / Ideas before (so, no more Minecraft, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Doctor Who, etc. can ever be submitted again). But licensed properties they’ve done in the past can still be submitted, as long as they’re not currently active (Indiana Jones, Middle-Earth, Speed Racer, Avatar: The Last Airbender, etc.). I think everything in that Disney Minifigures series that isn’t part of the Disney (Princess) line, Peter Pan, The Incredibles, or Mickey Mouse & Friends is probably okay (so, Lilo & Stitch, Toy Story, and Alice in Wonderland). ______________________ Anyway, we’ll know in just under twelve hours what product idea(s) they’ve approved.

Quite possible. Lilo & Stitch was just announced as the latest in the line of Disney animated movies getting live-action remakes. This might be a good early opportunity to capitalize on the franchise.

Also, kids’ presumed lack of familiarity being shared by Scooby-Doo clearly wasn’t so bad as to prevent them from doing an entire Scooby-Doo theme, complete with five regular retail sets, a LEGO Dimensions pack, and even a whole direct-to-video special with a promo figure. I think an Ideas set for The Flintstones could well be targeted at kids as well as adults. (Though that said, it’s still certainly no guarantee we’ll get one, much less get it this year. But I do think that’s probably the single likeliest thing from this batch.) _______________________ Overlooked here in the talk of yesterday’s unexpected posting of the last 10K Club interview for the batch was another blog post yesterday, this one discussing the current Ideas exhibit at the LEGO House. It’s fun, with some great pictures of the proceedings.

Maybe not all, but the show has never exactly been gone. It’s not like most of us here saw it in anything like its original ‘60s run, yet we all know it. If nothing else, kids certainly know the characters through a couple breakfast cereals and chewable vitamins that have been around forever. There’s also a new Flintstones spinoff coming to TV next year.

Oh, agreed, and I don’t intend to sound as though I’m laying into LEGO for them. I’m just disappointed when these things don’t work out for them, both because I want my favorite toy maker to be successful (and I know they are, of course, even with the occasional stumble), and because I want to be able to enjoy these things as a fan. (I’m still looking forward to fully enjoying LEGO Dimensions once I have a console that can run it).

Also, the creator of that BMW motorcycle is only 14! He’s a much more accomplished builder than I was at that age (actually, I think I was entering my dark ages around then).

It is indeed. I don’t think they’ve ever done it the same day as an interview, but the last time around, they did it just two days later. I think we’re very, very close to the review results. Yep! Then again, they launch whole new themes and stuff in January all the time, so there’s no telling. I think it could be simply part of how Ideas is slowly growing. As it’s moved on from LEGO CUUSOO to LEGO Ideas and become what it is today, it’s grown in any number of ways - in the subject matter of sets, in the size and price range they’ll make sets in (remember how a few years ago we had folks in this very thread doubting there’d ever be an Ideas set with over a thousand pieces? And then we got two such sets back-to-back just last year...), and in the frequency with which they do them. LEGO CUUSOO kicked off in 2008, and it took until 2011 to deliver its first two sets, and the next two years after that had a single set apiece - but then in 2014 they ramped production way up and gave us four sets in that one year. Nearly every year since has done the same (while the sets got bigger and bigger on average), except for last year when they did only three, but two of them were huge. I think that as time goes on and Ideas gets bigger (and, perhaps, as LEGO’s overall factory capacity increases), they must be allocating ever more production capacity, bit by bit, to Ideas sets, and it’s allowing them to do both bigger sets and/or more of them. Of course we can’t be sure, and I wouldn’t say it’s likely given it’s now October 1st and we haven’t even seen the Pop-Up Book yet, but I do think it’s possible we’ll get five sets this year.

Whoa! So there is! I’m guessing you’re right - that they’re rushing through the final interviews because they want to announce the results soon. Could it be that they’re closer to having a final set from this round than usual, and want to still have a little space between the announcement and the release? Could they even be planning on releasing it this year (along with the Pop-Up Book), thus making 2018 the first year with five Ideas sets? Probably not, I’d guess, but you never know...