Blondie-Wan

Well, Cartoon Network has partnered with LEGO, after all...

Well, there's still a chance of it happening. I think it's a small chance, mind you, but it's there. We do know LEGO is still considering the two Doctor Who projects from the third-to-last review batch. Both were posted (along with a bunch of other Doctor Who projects) shortly after LEGO began allowing them, and these two both wound up getting to 10,000 votes very quickly - I believe they're the second- and third-fastest projects to reach that mark in CUUSOO / Ideas history, actually (only the original Minecraft project was faster, and that was posted directly by the game's publisher, who campaigned for it on social media to all their fans). The fact that not one but two extremely similar projects based on Doctor Who both hit the vote mark in near-record time should send a clear signal to LEGO that there's a strong demand for such a set. And it would actually be a pretty simple set, build-wise, neither particularly large nor particularly complex, so I don't think there would be any "technical" obstacles to doing it. I therefore strongly suspect the only issue is licensing, and it all boils down to whether LEGO and the BBC can reach an agreement. If they can, I suspect the set would be a very strong seller, and as we know from Minecraft, a CUUSOO / Ideas release can actually launch a whole theme, if it sells well enough.

Yes, that's why all $10 Star Wars sets cost so much more than $10 City sets, and $50 Star Wars sets cost so much more than $50 City sets, and - oh, wait... :p ;)

That more likely means it was always planned from the beginning as a "one and done" theme (like Alien Conquest, Pharaoh's Quest, Galaxy Squad, etc.). I haven't seen any indication it did badly.

Sounds like her! I think you're right! It sounds like somebody found a way to bring LEGO and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic together after all, in a way...

When they announced Birds and The Big Bang Theory back in November, they said the next review results announcement would be in January, of which there are now just ten days left. We should hear something shortly about at least one of those nineteen projects currently under review.

I don't know where you saw it mentioned they'd announce a decision in January (edit: NM, I just rewatched the video in which they announced Birds and The Big Bang Theory, and they do say that, right in the video), but it's possible; however, their last announcement was only in November, so it hasn't been that long. I'd expect news on most of the stuff currently under review in February or March. That said, the Birds set and the forthcoming The Big Bang Theory set both came out of a review batch from a few batches ago! and which also sported two Doctor Who projects that are currently under review. Since we know they're being considered, and it's also safe to assume from the nature of the builds that they wouldn't be technically difficult for LEGO to do from a design standpoint, I'm going to hazard a guess that LEGO would indeed like to do them if it can, and is currently negotiating with the BBC, and that's the only remaining major obstacle. If that's the case (and of course I realize I probably shouldn't speculate on private dealings I have no knowledge of, but I can't help it ;) ), I'd guess that we could see a separate announcement about just those two projects at any time, if and when the deal goes through. If they don't come to terms, though, I'd expect LEGO to wait until it has something to announce regarding the other projects under consideration; they probably wouldn't make an announcement just to say the Doctor Who projects didn't make it. Any announcement that happens will probably come only when there's at least one project they can say will become a set.

I see the reviewer's points, but I actually find this a pretty nice set. I appreciate the review, though. One point I think I should note, since I keep seeing others bring up this set's release timing: I suspect LEGO didn't have a choice, as the release date was probably mandated by Disney. Note that this isn't just a Frozen set; it's a Disney Princess set, and "Disney Princess" is a specific franchise / brand in itself, with its own rules about what fits (look at how the "Disney Princess" logo is more prominent on the box than the Frozen logo). Right now, there are officially eleven Disney Princesses - Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida. The first eight of those (along with Tinkerbell, who was soon dropped after it was decided she didn't fit with the rest) made up the official lineup when the brand was launched in 2001. Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida, whose movies came after that, were all subsequently formally inducted into the line, with real-world coronation ceremonies and everything. Elsa and Anna haven't actually been formally inducted yet. Therefore, even though they're both Disney princesses (with a lower-case "p"), they're not actually official Disney Princesses (with a capital "P") - yet. It's widely expected that they'll both be officially added to the lineup this year, which is probably the only reason LEGO is even being allowed to sell the set right now at all. Perhaps LEGO begged Disney to let them start selling the set in January since at least it's the same year the characters will presumably be added to the line, and Disney allowed it - Disney doesn't like turning down money, after all. But Disney is also very conscious of and orderly with its branding, and has all kinds of rules in place for how its brands are used. The fact they're allowing this set to be out there under the Disney Princess label at all, despite the fact none of the characters in it are official Disney Princesses yet, is actually kind of astonishing.

Sure, but it's still a much more recent film than the others that have yielded Ideas sets, which is the primary point I was addressing. I also suspect the fact this project was proposed by one of the actual filmmakers who helped bring the character to life may help the project's chances - no guarantee, of course, but it can't hurt. No, indeed not - in fact, none of them so far have been more than $49.99 in the US.

WALL*E is a much more recent movie than any of the existing movies from either the Ghostbusters or Back to the Future franchises, at least (in addition to TLG already having a cozier relationship with Disney than it did with either Sony or Universal when those projects happened).

There is indeed a rule about that, but it's simply that to qualify for the Best Animated award, a movie has to be at least 75% animated, or no more than 25% live action. The LEGO Movie easily qualified. I'd also have liked to have seen it nominated for production design and original screenplay, actually.

The Oscar nominations were just announced, and the only category in which The LEGO Movie was nominated was Best Original Song, for you-know-what by Shawn Patterson. Honestly, I though it would likely win Best Animated Movie, and be nominated in other categories. I haven't paid much attention to the Oscars in years, but this was still a disappointment.

I appreciate the response about the price increase, and it does make sense - that was a long time without a price increase. It's still too bad for us, of course, but it's understandable. I do wish they'd keep more baseplate colors available, though. Adding tan is great (and Star Wars builders alone will probably make that worthwhile for them), but replacing the previous green with a different one and ditching blue entirely just doesn't make sense to me.

Well, there may be more than one. The last batch for which any results have been announced had at least two projects make it (Birds and The Big Bang Theory), and the two Doctor Who projects currently in review are holdovers from that same batch, meaning there might be as many as three projects originally out of that one review period to become sets - that's half the total. Out of these newest nine, I could certainly see them doing both the piano and the marble labyrinth, say. Of course that would still leave a total of seventeen other projects from three different review batches...

The wildlife biologist seems male. Indeed, the new one amounts to a complete migration from one concept to another. The project that became the Research Institute was originally presented as a Female Minifigure set, depicting women in a variety of professions - not just scientists, but a judge, a construction worker, etc. It had a whole slew of different vignettes - enough to push it well out of the (then-)CUUSOO guidelines for what makes a "set" (i.e., a single model, or a couple of closely associated models), and they advised Alatariel to pare it back a bit to just three vignettes or so. She did, and (being a scientist herself) chose three depicting various scientists, which narrowed / added to the core concept - it wasn't just professional women, but all scientists (or all female scientists, specifically). This tied them together with something other than them all just being women at work; they could all be working together (in some interdisciplinary scientific institution), letting LEGO offer it as a Research Institute. The new one appears poised as a complementary set to the first - it's the same core idea of three scientists at work, except that instead of being in the Institute's labs, these three are all out in the field. Alatariel herself notes these three aren't necessarily all female (someone inquired in the project's comments section about whether the biologist was male or female, and she responded that it was whatever one wanted), indicating a migration away from the original project's original concept of "women at work" (be they scientists or otherwise) to a new one of "scientists at work" (be they women or otherwise). ______________________________________________________________ There's no telling how likely the new one would be to pass. On the one hand, like the first, this one also got a lot of attention from outside the usual channels (and reached 10k votes much faster than the first - in fact, I think it's the fourth fastest ever, beaten only by the original Minecraft project and the two Doctor Who ones currently under review), and thus might be similarly expected to sell well. It also would indeed make an excellent companion piece to the first, and as a series of three small vignettes, it would be a quick and easy set to design and produce. On the other, it's essentially another set with the same core idea as the first (save for the scientists being outdoors rather than in the lab), and LEGO might want to mix it up a bit more with things CUUSOO / Ideas hasn't already done (there were already people complaining as far back as the DeLorean time machine and the Curiosity rover that they do too many of the same kinds of things). Moreover, Alatariel herself has not one but two projects approved already (both of which are groups of scientists, even); they might want to leave a bit more room for other people's projects. It could go either way. I will say I plan to get it myself if it makes it, though (I voted for this one myself). Meanwhile, though, there are 19 projects already in review before this one. My thoughts on each: Doctor Who and Doctor Who and Companions - Faefrost has already discussed licensing issues with these a number of times, boiling down to the BBC not being the easiest licensing partner to work with. That said, a lot of other licensees obviously manage to make it work. The show is popular - not Star Wars or Marvel levels of popularity, sure, but plenty popular - and both these projects went through incredibly quickly, faster than anything else in CUUSOO / Ideas history except Minecraft, which proved the most successful CUUSOO / Ideas thing ever. Presumably review results weren't announced for these two because LEGO and the BBC were (are) still discussing it, trying to reach an agreement. I think there's an excellent chance one of these will happen... though of course the flip side is that at least one definitely won't, since they're essentially the same thing (it's Ghostbusters again, as far as that goes). UCS All Terrain Armoured Transport and Invisible Hand - I'm afraid not. LEGO's license with Lucasfilm undoubtedly precludes these things from being produced as Ideas sets, and if that weren't the case, both are still undoubtedly larger than any actual set LEGO would do for either subject (I think the Invisible Hand is unlikely to be revisited at all, in fact - with all the new subject material from the new main trilogy, the spin off movies, and Rebels, plus the remakes of things from the other trilogies, not to mention the numerous Clone Wars vehicles that are more prominent than this and easier to do, LEGO will have more enough to do without ever getting around to this). That said, I do fully expect a UCS AT-AT to happen eventually - just not one quite this large, and not as part of LEGO Ideas. LEGO Lightsabers: Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker - Now, this is more likely. Since it's not the kind of thing they normally do in the Star Wars line, it does seem at least somewhat more likely this wouldn't be precluded by the existing license agreement, as well as less likely they'd already have it in the pipeline, not to mention it would make for a set that's actually affordable. This is likelier than not only the other two Star Wars projects under review, but virtually all other Star Wars projects ever submitted to CUUSOO / Ideas. That's not to say it's actually truly likely, mind you, only that it's likelier than all the rest. It's still somewhat unlikely, but has a chance, I think. Assault on Wayne Manor - I think this is unlikely but possible. We don't have enough of an idea the way we do with Star Wars about whether the license would permit it. One thing I do know is that a huge, expensive set, especially a huge and expensive set that falls under an already-existing licensed theme in which they already have lots of major stuff planned a year or more in advance at any given time, is a tough sell. OTOH, we do at least already know that they'll make huge, expensive Batman sets. I consider this unlikely, but possible. X-Men: X-Mansion- Everything I said about Wayne Manor applies to X-Mansion (except that while we do have an inkling they'll do big, expensive sets for Marvel in general, we don't know about X-Men specifically the way we do about DC's Batman). The X-Mansion is again unlikely but possible, I think. Avengers Helicarrier - This is a different story. It's just too big, and to whatever degree it isn't too big, it's instead too similar to a set that's more or less known to be in the pipeline already. This just won't happen as an Ideas set (but we should get a nice non-Ideas alternative soon). THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - This is a nice model of an interesting subject, and one that fits nicely with the Shinkai 6500, the Hayabusa probe and the Curiosity rover; the only obstacle is that the concept model seen is on the large side. Of course any CUUSOO / Ideas project gets redesigned for a set anyway, but they usually don't change the broad, general parameters like size and features. I don't know if size alone would keep this one from making it, but it well might; otherwise I'd say it has an excellent chance. Ghostbusters HQ - This isn't the first project to enter review for what would be a large, expensive companion piece to a previously-released licensed vehicle in the CUUSOO / Ideas line; that would be the Back to the Future "Jules Verne" train, and that didn't make it. Given that, as well as the fact this building's most interesting features would be the ones already released (the car and Ghostbusters themselves), I don't think this would make it either, alas. But you never know. WALL*E - A cute, feature-packed robot star of a much-loved movie, proposed by a LEGO ffan who's also an animator who worked on the actual movie (! - it's kind of the movie license equivalent of Perijove and the Curiosity rover, actually), from a company with whom LEGO already has a close licensing partnership but not for this movie specifically? I think this one has an excellent shot. Jurassic Park - This might be possible, if it's not too close to a set they're already planning. That's a big if, though. I'd consider this another "unlikely but possible". F7A Hornet - This one... I don't know. It seems on the one hand like it might not be sufficiently differentiated from any number of other conflict-oriented vehicles in any number of other action themes, both licensed and otherwise, while also skewing a little too "contemporary military" for LEGO's tastes... but on the other, they do like to do things like this, and the range of what licenses they'll consider seems to have been blown wide open lately with The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. Coming from what I assume a conflict-oriented video game, it probably has that strike against it, but again, you never know. I could make a better guess if I knew more about the game. The Natural History Museum - Creator Expert - Well, this is lovely. It also fits well with their modular building line, it has the "SCIENCE!" theme that characterizes so many other CUUSOO / Ideas sets, there are no licensing hassles... It's just an excellent candidate in every way except one, which it's just that it's big and expensive, the same thing that's undoubtedly sunk many other projects (remember, ther still hasn't been a single CUUSOO / Ideas set with an MSRP above $50 USD, and this would clearly be at least three times that if not four). If there's any realistic chance of an Ideas set breaking out of that price range and into the $150/$200 range (that characterizes so many dream sets fans fantasize about), then this would be one of the strongest candidates for that, but again, that's a big if. I don't have any idea whether this is more likely or unlikely. The Goonies 30th Anniversary - Here we go again! Another license, another big and expensive set. The Goonies is certainly a beloved movie for many of us, especially "of a certain age" (ahem), not unlike Back to the Future and Ghostbusters - but I don't think it's quite as popular as those two, whereas this project is much larger than the projects that passed for those two. I think it's unlikely for that reason. OTOH, this also has some Pirates crossover appeal, for whatever that's worth. I'll call this one very unlikely, but possible. Lord of the Rings Set: Minas Tirith - It's fantastic. It's also huge and expensive, it's from a current license (which brings up those uncertainties about the license terms and whether they'd even allow for a fan proposal to become a set), and on top of that the license is one that's rumored to have not really performed quite as well as hoped and is perhaps being phased out an eensy bit earlier than originally hoped (though at the same time still an active license, so those caveats are still in effect). I voted for this one myself, but I consider it extremely unlikely. Labyrinth Marble Maze - This is a clever set that illustrates a little bit of what LEGO is capable of. It's not too big, it's different and creative and clever, licensing shouldn't be an issue, it doesn't even require much in the way of specialized parts... I think this has a really good shot. Flying Dutchman - Once again, a huge and expensive project based on a licensed property - in this case, a previously-existing but currently inactive one; I don't know how that would affect things. I am pretty sure of one thing, though - they'd never do a Flying Dutchman this big, at least not as the only set in production from the theme. If it is indeed the case, as it appears to be, that the general size and feature set of a final set always reflects the project proposal even if the actual build is quite different, then this is profoundly unlikely to pass. A shame - all the creator would have to have done to give it a much better chance would be to have scaled it down a bit (though conceivably that might have affected the rate at which it accrued votes)... Piano - This is a beautiful model, depicting a kind of subject not only unrepresented in CUUSOO / Ideas to date but seldom in sets at all, and yet which would be a great decorative detail / add-on for any number of fan creations and perhaps a few official sets as well. It would also make quite a small and affordable set, and one easy to produce - likely requiring zero pieces that weren't already being produced for other things. The only drawbacks I can see are that without a minifigure it seems perhaps incomplete, and more worryingly it took an awfully long time to get 10000 votes (several times the current one-year limit; it only got away with it because when it was posted all those years ago the current limit wasn't in place), possibly indicating low interest. However, I think it also suffered from just not being one of the sorts of things people are likely to search for and so it didn't often come up; I think it's something a lot of people wouldn't think about if it's not in front of them, but if it's made into a set a lot of people would want it. I think this one has a good chance.

There were (technically still are, but effectively no longer, or not for much longer) multiple promotions this month, indeed. There's the Creator Flower Cart, free with any purchase of $75 or more, a Friends polybag (Emma playing mini-golf) that's free with *any* Friends purchase (no minimum dollar amount!), and a Star Wars polybag (a mini AT-PT) that's similarly free with *any* Star Wars purchase (again, no minimum dollar amount). These do stack, so one could get $75 worth of stuff that included a single Friends keychain and a single Star Wars keychain, and get all three polybags, *in addition to* the free LEGO Store Employee minifigure that one gets with the coupon from the calendar, for a maximum possible total of four freebies from a single $75 purchase. Unfortunately, stock didn't last long. The promos were for January, but most stores are out of at least one or two of the polybags. Here in the Atlanta area (you're in this area too, right?), as of a couple days ago the Lawrenceville store was out of the Creator and Star Wars polybags, while the Alpharetta one was out of the Friends and Star Wars ones, within a week of the promo periods' beginnings. That was a couple days ago, too; for all I know, both stores could be out of all three polybags by now (I suspect both do at least have good numbers of the Store Employee minifigure, but I'm not sure of that). I know lots of the other stores ran out quickly of one or more polybags; even Shop at Home was out of the two non-Friends ones within a few days. Reportedly, the stores have been moving a lot of Friends and Star Wars keychains this month. :p Re: the minifigure coupon(s) in the calendar, I think the OP meant about ours having three in total (the LEGO Store Employee this month, Han Solo in his Hoth outfit next month and a single free BAM minifigure in March). We do just have one free minifigure voucher for each month, but they're there for three different months. I think the non-US calendars have only one, for January.

On the other hand, you guys get sets that we don't. There's that...

Well... I don't know that I'd consider it likely, but FWIW, The Goonies is now officially under consideration...

The Ideas team has posted an update: Avengers Helicarrier Labyrinth Marble Maze F7A Hornet The Goonies 30th Anniversary - The Inferno The Natural History Museum - Creator Expert Lord of the Rings Set: Minas Tirith Jurassic Park Piano Flying Dutchman With the eight projects from the previous batch plus the two Doctor Who ones from the otherwise-finalized batch before that, there are now 19 projects officially under review. Start your speculation!

The Indiana Jones theme was wonderful, but barely tapped its potential. In particular, it's almost heartbreaking that despite four waves of sets covering all four movies, they never released a single minifigure of either Dr. Marcus Brody or Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir, despite both of those characters appearing in not one but two of the movies each. It's also vexing that they never released any of Professor Harold Oxley or George "Mac" MacHale, even though they were well-suited for several of the released sets. I also dearly wish there had been some sets based upon the TV series, though I do understand why there weren't any.

I don't think we get a pack of them in March, either - just a single minifigure, a third of a pack (still nice, of course, and yes, we're definitely spoiled here in the US).

I haven't been able to buy much LEGO lately, but the other day I finally picked up a copy of 75031, the TIE Interceptor Microfighter.

70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! :D Oh, and a bunch of non-LEGO stuff, but never mind all that.

My awesome fiancée just gave me this set for Christmas, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Huzzah! I'm really looking forward to this one. :)

I thought they started making new molds for D2C sets when they created the cockpit canopy for the original UCS X-Wing Fighter back in 2000, and then did it again with the one from the current UCS X-Wing Fighter (the canopies are similar but not identical), which was reused a couple years later with Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!!