(Written by Sarah)
One thing the CUUSOO website doesn’t feature at the top of the front page is official news or bulletins. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, it’s just a little buried at the bottom of each page. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom, you’ll see a link to the official blog and a link to the CUUSOO FaceBook page. Both are very useful tools for finding out more of what’s going on with LEGO CUUSOO.
➡ THE LEGO CUUSOO BLOG
The CUUSOO Blog isn’t updated that often, but when it is, it’s important. CUUSOO uses their blog to announce everything from changes in the rules to the current state of upcoming products. If you’ve never visited the CUUSOO Blog before, I suggest checking out the last few entries to see what you’ve missed. It also serves as a history of CUUSOO as it changes and grows.
Their newest post, as of this writing is about the Hayabusa, and the fact that it will be available outside of Japan on shop.LEGO.com sometime this spring. It will be $49/€49,00 and there will be limited quantities. CUUSOO staff indicated that when they opened the beta website, they saw how much demand there was for the two Japanese projects. It was too late to increase production of the Shinkai 6500, but it was perfect timing for Hayabusa as it had just entered production. So keep an eye on the blog for the announcement of when it will be available for purchase. (See post here: Hayabusa Available in Japan)
➡ THE LEGO CUUSOO FACEBOOK PAGE
The CUUSOO FaceBook Page is actually quite fun to check out every day and I suggest liking it to make it easier to follow. Every week, they pick a theme of projects to feature. Then every day, they choose a different project in the theme to post about. It’s been very helpful in finding projects to support that may be a little buried. They also post links to their blog-entries, which is a great reminder to check it out.
➡ FEATURED CUUSOO PROJECT BY MATTHEW COPEL
This time, I want to do something a little different then in my previous posts. I’m going to focus on Matthew Copel who has created quite a variety of high-quality LEGO creations. His LEGO projects range all over, from LEGO Heroica to mini models to space creations to more. What I really appreciate about Matthew’s LEGO projects is the quality. He exclusively builds in LDD (LEGO Digital Designer), which gives him the freedom to make his creations exactly the way he wants them. I’ve not always been a fan of LDD images, but he does a good job of showing all the angles. He’s made more projects than I can feature here, so I’ll focus on my favorites. 🙂
💡 LEGO Heroica Expansions by Matthew Copel
I first found Matthew by searching for Heroica. I love the board-game and would really like to see more expansions. Matthew has quite a few new playing-arenas, many of which are multi-level. While he hasn’t included many new rules for these maps, I think it’d be pretty easy to come up with something or just have them open to each person’s home rules.
Here are the different parts of Matthew’s Heroica-compatible projects:
- Multitier Game & Expansions
- Human Outpost
- Cobbler’s Cottage
- Besurlde’s Bridge & Treasure Tower
- Druid Temple
- Knight’s Manor
- Twisted Mansion
- Town Well
- Tower of Malevolent Focus
- Lodge of Trappings
- Goblin Hall
💡 Mini LEGO Models by Matthew Copel
I hope I’m not the only one who’s been bitten by the mini bug. Ever since building the LEGO Mini Modulars, I’ve been craving more mini buildings. The ones that Matthew has made really appeal to my castle-side. The medieval style of many of them has really captured my attention and I’d love to decorate a shelf with all of these.
Here are the different parts of Matthew’s Mini Medievals project:
💡 LEGO Dragons by Matthew Copel
I’m a huge fan of dragons and while LEGO has made a few, there is always room for more! My favorite is the Frost dragon, but the Oriental Dragon is quite impressive too!
Here are Matthew’s Dragon projects:
- Dragonology (lots of awesome dragons here!)
- Oriental Dragon (a beautiful dragon!)
💡 Other LEGO Projects by Matthew Copel
Mathew has quite a few more LEGO projects that I definitely think are worthy of note. Here’s a run-down of them with links, but you can also peruse Matthew’s Profile Page to find all of the projects with images.
- RetroSpace – see full review: Featured CUUSOO Project: RetroSpace
- Ancient Machines Theme – a very interesting idea!
- Gamma Corps – futuristic repair guys
- Procilla Beauty – amazing butterfly!
- Gulf Fritillary – second amazing butterfly!
- Spicebush Swallowtail – the most amazing butterfly!
- Peregrine – highest speed space vessel
- Gamma Corps Mark II ACT Suit – a space mech suit
- Mark IV Submersible ACT Suit -basically a personal submarine
- Space – Electric Car – little space-buggy
- Stackable Counters (ROUND 4×4 w. Gauge) – very useful little gadget!
- LCD Screen 1x6x3 – a functional TV for your minifigs!
So what do you think about Mathew’s projects? See something you like? If you do, please remember to vote! Just follow the links to the projects above. Also, what do you think about the use of LDD for making CUUSOO projects? Like it, hate it? Let me know in the comment section below. 😀
And if you would like to learn more about CUUSOO and other great fan-created LEGO projects check here:
Cool, nice creator pick!
I am totally jealous of Matthew’s abilities in LDD.
The mini creations are particularly inspiring.
I have now followed him on Cuusoo 🙂
Cheers
Inger
Yes, he is quite inspiring in the work he’s done and I hope at least one of his projects succeed, especially the mini buildings.
Sarah, thank you for your compliments and for featuring my CUUSOO projects in this expansive article! It is a joy to know that my creations are admired by LEGO aficionados. I too am interested in public opinion concerning the use of LDD as a development platform and will be following responses closely.
You’re very welcome! I really do hope your projects succeed. I know there’s a lot of opinions about LDD as a way to showcase models. I think as the program develops and people use it more, it may become more accepted. But it really needs be tools for taking snapshots of the models.
Just a minor tweak — LEGO CUUSOO is a subdomain of CUUSOO cuusoo.com where there are loads of ‘other than LEGO’ products in various stages. There are wallets, earphones, clothing, bottles, etc.
So, the platform has actually been functioning before LEGO became a project in itself.
There is a separate LEGO CUUSOO facebook page from the core CUUSOO one, as well as the other type of sites mentioned in this article: blogs, twitter, etc.
CUUSOO means “wish” in Japanese 🙂
That is very interesting! Thanks for letting us know! 🙂
I just recently found that out too. I think it’s quite interesting, the whole concept of CUUSOO and that LEGO is just a sub-domain of it. Thanks for sharing the info!
Sarah, I have released a proposal for a fantasy dueling game called Enchanters of Legamoria. The official website is at legamoria.com and it features a printable version that game lovers can try at home. It will take me months to publish the entire set of game pieces as the game is designed to be highly extensible, however it already has a miscelany of magical minions and machines ready to march into battle. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for sharing Matthew! Looks awesome and a lot of fun. I’ll be checking it out and will let you know what I think.
try and sell the mini shop series