Lego Ideas
Lego Ideas (formerly known as Lego Cuusoo) is a website started by Cuusoo and The Lego Group in 2008 which allows users to submit ideas for Lego products to be turned into potential sets available commercially, with the original designer receiving 1% of the royalties.[1]
Contents
Background[edit]
Lego Ideas was first introduced as an offshoot of the Japanese website Cuusoo, produced as a collaboration between that company and The Lego Group. Titled Lego Cuusoo, the site was labeled a beta site and remained so until the unveiling of Lego Ideas as a finished product.[2]
Process[edit]
User submission phase[edit]
Users express their idea by combining a written description of the idea and a sample Lego model that demonstrates the concept into a project page. Once the page is published it is viewable to other users. The goal of every project is to be supported by 10,000 different users, which would then make the project eligible for review. At first, projects would be kept on the Cuusoo/Ideas website for up to two years and then taken down if the project did not reach the 10,000 required votes of support. Lego Ideas later changed the threshold to include a minimum number of 1,000 votes in the first year after submission or the project would expire, followed by six months to reach 5,000 and then another six months to reach the 10,000 supported votes.
Originally, project submissions were allowed to be about anything and had no limits on the size and style of project. After sets began to be rejected with stated reasons, Lego Ideas announced restrictions on content including the use of no new part molds, banning intellectual properties owned by competing toy companies, and adult content. Lego Ideas further restricted project submissions in June 2016 by limiting the size of the project, any project replicating a life-size weapon, and any project based on an intellectual property already produced as a set by Lego Ideas/Cuusoo.[3]
All eligible projects are collectively reviewed in the order of whichever projects hit 10,000 supporters within any of the three tri-annual deadlines of May, September, or January.
Review phase[edit]
Due to the increasing number of project submissions based on ideas that the Lego Company would reject, Lego Ideas has refined its submission standards over the years.
Since its inception, a number of sets that have reached the 10,000 vote threshold have been rejected during the review for various reasons. Some rejected sets have been based on specific intellectual properties were rejected due to the content matter presented. Anything which contains alcohol, sex, drugs, religious references, post-WWII warfare or based on a first-person shooter is deemed inappropriate for younger Lego fans.[1] IPs that have been rejected for this reason have been based on Firefly[4] and Shaun of the Dead.[5]
Other projects which have been rejected include ones based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic due to the property being owned by rival toy manufacturer Hasbro,[6] certain sets based on The Legend of Zelda due to the need to create too many original molds, although Lego did not completely rule out other projects based on the franchise,[7] and a Sandcrawler set for the Ultimate Collector Series due to The Lego Group's ongoing collaboration with Lucasfilm on Lego Star Wars.[8]
In the first 2015 review, announced in October 2015, no projects were selected for the first time[9] as the many projects were rejected for various reasons. Many of these projects would not have met the revised submission standards issued in June 2016.
Production phase[edit]
If the product is cleared for production, it is developed and later released as an official set under the "Lego Ideas" banner. Users that have their projects produced receive ten copies of the final set, as well as a 1% royalty of the product's net sales.[2]
Sets[edit]
Currently fifteen sets have been produced and eighteen sets have been announced:
Set based on an original idea
Set based on an existing theme/license or intellectual property
Bold line indicates when branding changed from Cuusoo to Ideas
Cuusoo/Ideas # | Set # | Project Title | Set Name | Released | Creator | Project | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#001 | 21100 | Shinkai Expedition | Shinkai 6500 Submarine | February 17, 2011 (Japan) | At_guy | Link | Only released in Japan. |
#002 | 21101 | Asteroid Exploration Spacecraft Hayabusa | Hayabusa | March 1, 2012 (Japan) July 11, 2012 (international) |
Daisuke Okubo[10] | Link | First announced Cuusoo set to be internationally available. |
#003 | 21102 | Lego Minecraft | Minecraft Micro World | June 1, 2012 | Mojang | Link | Based on the video game Minecraft.[11] First set to be start a new Lego theme Lego Minecraft. |
#004 | 21103 | Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine | The DeLorean Time Machine | August 1, 2013 | m.togami and Sakuretsu | Link | Based on the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine.[12] |
#005 | 21104 | Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover | NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover | January 1, 2014 | Stephen Pakbaz (under alias Perijove) | Link | Based on the NASA Mars Curiosity Rover. |
#006 | 21108 | Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary | Ghostbusters Ecto-1 | June 1, 2014 | Brent Waller | Link | Based on the Ecto-1 from the Ghostbusters franchise. |
#007 | 21109 | Exo Suit | August 1, 2014 | Peter Reid | Link | ||
#008 | 21110 | Female Minifigure Set | Research Institute | August 1, 2014 | Ellen Kooijman (under alias Alatariel) | Link | |
#009 | 21301 | LEGO Bird Project | Birds | January 1, 2015 | DeTomaso | Link | |
#010 | 21302 | The Big Bang Theory | August 1, 2015 | Ellen Kooijman (under alias Alatariel) | Link | Based on the TV series The Big Bang Theory. | |
#012*[13] | 21303 | WALL-E | September 1, 2015 | Angus MacLane | Link | Based on the Pixar film WALL-E. *Announced as Ideas #011 but released as Ideas #012. Was released before Ideas #011 (Doctor Who set) as it was under review prior to WALL-E but took longer gain approval. |
|
#011[13] | 21304 | Doctor Who and Companions | Doctor Who | December 1, 2015[14] | Andrew Clark | Link | Based on the BBC TV series Doctor Who. |
#013[15] | 21305 | Labyrinth Marble Maze | Maze | April 1, 2016[16] | Jason Allemann (under alias JKBrickworks) | Link | |
#014[17] | 21307[18] | Caterham Super Seven | Caterham Seven 620R[18] | October 1, 2016[18] | Carl Greatrix | Link | Based on the classic British sports car. |
[17] | 21308 | Brick-built Adventure Time figures | Adventure Time | January 1, 2017[19] | aBetterMonkey | Link | Based on the animated series Adventure Time. |
#015[20] | 21306 | Beatles Yellow Submarine | The Beatles Yellow Submarine | November 1, 2016 | Kevin Szeto | Link | Based on the animated film Yellow Submarine. |
[20] | Apollo 11 Saturn V | saabfan whatsuptoday |
Link | Based on the rocket used for NASA's Apollo 11 moon mission. | |||
[21] | Old Fishing Store | Robert Bontenbal (as RobenAnne) | Link |
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Project Guidelines and House Rules". LEGO Ideas.
- ^ a b Schlagwein, Daniel; Bjørn-Andersen, Niels (2014), "Organizational Learning with Crowdsourcing: The Revelatory Case of LEGO" (PDF), Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15 (11)
- ^ "Updates to LEGO Ideas Guidelines and TOS". Lego Ideas. June 21, 2016.
- ^ "Congratulations to the Firefly Serenity playset reaching 10,000 supporters! Here's our decision on fit with the LEGO brand.". Lego Cuusoo (archived at the Internet Archive). 2012-05-07. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
- ^ "LEGO CUUSOO: The Winchester – Shaun Of The Dead Rejected". smashing-bricks.com. 2012-04-27.
- ^ Sethisto, Sethisto (2012-06-04). "Lego Cuusoo Pony Project Canned". equestriadaily.com.
- ^ Towell, Justin (December 21, 2012). "Legend of Zelda LEGO rejected at final stage". Games Radar. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Courtney, Tim (June 14, 2013). "Results of the Fall 2012 LEGO® Review". The Official LEGO CUUSOO Blog. LEGO CUUSOO. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ "First 2015 LEGO Review Results: A different kind of announcement". Lego Ideas. October 30, 2015.
- ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (2012-03-03). "LEGO launches spacecraft model chosen by fans". MSNBC.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (2012-01-24). "There Will Be Official Minecraft Lego Sets". Kotaku.
- ^ Rundle, Michael. "Lego To Make Official Back To The Future DeLorean After Fans' Vote". Huffpost Tech. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ a b "LEGO Ideas Second 2014 Review Results: Announcing LEGO Ideas #011 and #012". LEGO Ideas.
- ^ "Introducing LEGO® Ideas 21304 Doctor Who". LEGO Ideas. October 5, 2015.
- ^ "Third 2014 LEGO Review Results: Announcing LEGO Ideas #013". Lego Ideas. May 28, 2015.
- ^ "LEGO Systems Unveils Hundreds of New Building Sets to Spark Creative Play for Builders of All Ages and Interests". PR Newswire. February 11, 2016.
- ^ a b "LEGO Ideas Second 2015 Review Results". Lego Ideas. March 11, 2016.
- ^ a b c "IDEAS 21307 Caterham Seven 620R". Euro Bricks. August 22, 2016.
- ^ "What time is it? The reveal of 21308 Adventure Time!". Brickset.com. July 13, 2016.
- ^ a b "LEGO Ideas Third 2015 Review Results". Lego Ideas. June 9, 2016.
- ^ "LEGO Ideas First 2016 Review Results". Lego Ideas. October 6, 2016.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Lego Ideas Wiki, an unofficial encyclopedia about Lego Ideas