As you may have seen by now, LEGO CUUSOO, the website where you could submit your own ideas for future LEGO sets has been replaced by a new website called LEGO Ideas. LEGO CUUSOO was a collaboration between LEGO and the CUUSOO platform, and after their beta testing LEGO decided to bring the project in-house and make it part of the LEGO group of websites. There has been several changes and updates, so let’s take a look. 🙂
One thing I noticed right away is that the LEGO Ideas website loads so much faster than the previous LEGO CUUSOO site. The homepage is well designed and clean, with Staff Picks, Popular Projects, Projects in Review, and LEGO CUUSOO/LEGO Ideas sets that are already available for sale. There are other updates and changes, like now videos automatically get embedded into your project page (previously you could only link to videos) – videos are a great way to connect with your audience and promote your ideas, so this is a welcome improvement.
The transfer to the new website took place on April 30, when everything from the LEGO CUUSOO website got transferred over to LEGO Ideas. If you now try to reach the LEGO CUUSOO site, or any pages on the old site it will automatically redirect to LEGO Ideas. The redirect will work for six month, and will be discontinued on November 1st. So if you had projects on LEGO CUUSOO it is a good idea to update all links as soon as possible. Yes, this also means that you will need to contact all the websites, blogs and social media platforms where your project was promoted and shared to give them the new link, otherwise people won’t be able to vote on your submission, and all that promotion goes wasted.
Because the LEGO Ideas site is fully integrated into the LEGO website, your current LEGO ID that you use will work for LEGO Ideas as well. If this is the first time you are visiting the new site, it will ask for your LEGO ID, and will also ask if you would like to integrate your old CUUSOO ID with your LEGO ID. If you choose to integrate the two, you will receive a confirmation email to merge the two IDs, and all your previous projects and votes will be transferred over to the new site. If you don’t merge the accounts everything you have done under your LEGO CUUSOO account will be lost.
One big change that got implemented on the new platform is that from now on all projects submitted to LEGO Ideas will have one year to reach the required 10,000 supporters. Submissions that don’t reach 10,000 votes before the year is over will expire and will no longer be eligible to get further votes. (After improving your idea you may be able to resubmit it later, however you will start with zero supporters again.) Project that were transferred over from the LEGO CUUSOO website were able to keep their previous votes, and have until May 1st 2015 to reach the required 10,000 supporters, so they still have plenty of time.
Another important change is that submitted projects can no longer be edited. This was specifically implemented because some people were using LEGO CUUSOO to reserve ideas for themselves, although never submitted anything substantial, or submitted one thing, then later replaced it with something else. In the new system you can still add updates to your project, however you will have to think through your original submission more carefully, so just be mindful of this.
Also, although LEGO Ideas is designed specifically for older LEGO builders, they did open up the age-limit to younger teens since the launch of the new platform. So now if you are between 13-18 years old you may create and submit projects but if you reach 10,000 votes, you will need a written permission from a parent or legal guardian before your project will be considered for the review stage.
There are several other smaller changes, so if you are considering submitting a project on LEGO Ideas, I highly recommend you read them. You can quickly read though all of the major changes at the LEGO Ideas Blog page, and you can read the Project Guidelines & House Rules where everything is explained in detail. This page is very well designed so you can quickly find everything you need to know.
Few days after the new website launched, the LEGO Ideas team announced which projects qualify for the first 2014 LEGO review. They are the LEGO Bird Project, the Modular Apple Store, the BTTF – Jules Verne Train, The Big Bang Theory, and Doctor Who and Companions. (You can see all of these projects on the LEGO Ideas Discover page.) They also announced that the results for the winter review stage will be coming in the next few weeks which includes the Macross VF-1 Valkyrie, Sherlock, Legend of Zelda Iron Knuckle Encounter, Japanese Old Style Architecture, The Adventure Time Project, and the BTTF – UCS DeLorean Time Machine. The second 2014 LEGO review deadline is September 1st, and there are a number of projects that could qualify for it, if they get the required 10,000 votes. You can also check out those projects on the LEGO Ideas Discover page, and vote for your favorites (you can filter results on this page in various ways). And for currently available LEGO CUUSOO/LEGO Ideas sets submitted by LEGO fans you can visit the Online LEGO Shop.
I hope this article helps you in getting up to date about the change from LEGO CUUSOO to LEGO Ideas. I like the new website and I agree with the updates and changes as well. What about you? What do you think of the new LEGO Ideas website. And what about the new policies? Are there any other changes you noticed that you think are important to mention? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉
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Aresome! The invisible Hand project is only 100 votes away from 10000, and the Batman project passed yesterday. I never was at the Cuusoo website, nor did I have an ID, so I cannot say which is better. I have not been asked to sign in w/ my ID though when I enter the site, is it the LEGO ID or the Cuusoo ID? 😕
I gotta go, science final. 😉
Also, first comment! 😀
I’m wondering about the Invisible Hand… it is a great project with awesome details, but it took forever to make it to 10,000 votes. Plus the Malevolence, which is a similar looking ship, is not a very good seller. Sadly, I don’t think this will be choosen as a LEGO set. 😐
Oh, and as far as your ID, unless you want to interact with the site (post projects, vote, comment, etc.), I don’t think you have to be logged in. I think for me it prompted me because I’m always logged in with my LEGO ID and they just noticed that. If you never had a CUUSOO ID you can just log in with your regular LEGO ID if you want.
Hm…I don’t log in unless I want to play a certain game that you can log in at (for example, Monster Fighters). I kinda just look on at the happenings. Although I did vote for the Force-o-meter. 🙂
At least the person who built it can still use it though. I also agree that it probably wouldn’t have sold well because it would be way to expensive.
Yes, of course. And they can also share the building instructions with others. 🙂
its bad to think that some people on YouTube make awesome creations but no instructions. maybe they don’t know how to build it back?
Seth, it is actually really tedious to put together instructions. Most people just don’t have the patience for it. I know I wouldn’t do it.
Yes, there is little chance of Lego approving it. I just read the Lego Ideas rules page (there are a lot 😮 ) and although this fits, it’s not something worthy enough, though I think it’s 99% better than that Malevolence set from 2012. Of course, that was Clone Wars, and who wants a giant cartoony ship? 😕
I like the new name 🙂
Interesting. I like the new design much better. The time limit is a good idea as well.
I like the time limit too. It will cut out the hundreds of week projects that have been cluttering CUUSOO. And I also like the new design, although didn’t have particular problems with the old one either. Except that the website often loaded so slow. Anyway, looks like LEGO Ideas is off to a good start! 🙂
AWESOME! 😎 I’m going to have to go on that website and check it out!
I like the new layout as well and the time limit is great. I think my only I guess disappointment with the whole crowdfunding scenario is that it seems like mostly sets that have a license behind it (I think there are exceptions to this) seem to get to 10,000. I haven’t seen a ton of great ordinary sets but there have been a few and they have really low vote counts with disappoints me because it’s a great idea for an ordinary set that will probably never see the light of day.
Kim, there are some CUUSOO sets that made it without a license, so there is hope. Half of the already released CUUSOO sets are science and exploration vehicles, and the upcoming Exo Suit set is not related to any licensed theme either.
However I do agree that it is a lot easier to get 10,000 votes for an idea that comes from a licensed theme that people can recognize immediately. Getting 10,000 votes and being made into a set is not the same though. LEGO has turned down several projects that made it to the required number of votes in no time, but they didn’t meet other criteria like playability, values, etc.
And licenses sets have their own set of issues; if LEGO already owns the license it is likely they already have a set in mind that is similar and will reject the projecct, and if it is a license that needs to be negotiated, it may not work out.
I guess the point is that people have to realize they have to work on every aspect of their project like a professional if they want it to be a winner. Building, promoting, marketing are all part of the process. There are many great LEGO creations, but it doesn’t mean they make a good official LEGO set. However that doesn’t have to stop us to get inspiration from CUUSOO projects and build something similar on our own. 🙂
Yeah, although I doubt Lego is thinking about re-releasing the Temple of Light or the Earth Driller in more episode-related forms. (BTW, that’s what I’m doing.)
I’m re-reading the War of the Worlds, and I’m thinking the martian pods would make a great set (I’m gonna start that later today), but I think it might go against the Ideas rule “no death, blood, killing, or torture.” That rule makes it sound like Lord of the Rings should be discontinued, since the point is to kill orcs and Sauron. The W.o.o.W. project would also call for a new head mold, which Lego Ideas forbids. 🙁 It makes my idea sound worthless. 😕
I think the no death, blood, etc. just refest to that the main subject of the theme is not about somebody being killed or tortured. I think a much bigger issue is requiring new moulds. They are very clear about not accepting projects that need new elements. Only new things they would allow is existing parts in a new color, stickers or prints.
Well, does the War of the Worlds count as the theme of death? I mean, the martians do try to destroy all humans. 😕 And the new molds, yeah, it’s a problem, I was thinking Admiral Ackbar heads for aliens… 😀
There are also octopus heads from Atlantis sets.
I think this is exciting! I especially like how they allowed teens to enter. I have a Lego I.D., but I’m not quite 13, how would they know that and prevent me from entering? By the way, does anyone have a guess on the price of exo-suit?
They would know because- they’re watching us. All the time 😈
I don’t know the piece count of the Exo-suit, so I can’t give an accurate price-per-piece, though I’d say between $20-35. 😉
Yeah, the Exo Suit set hasn’t even been revealed, so it is too early to talk about price. But I agree that the price is probably going to be around $25-$30, unless they add something extra to it.
Oh, I thought it would be about 40-50 USD…
Well, I think as long as you are 13 one year from now you should be fine. That’s how much time you have to get 10,000 votes, so they wouldn’t be reviewing the set before that anyway. 😉
OK, that is helpful. I’ll still have to wait a month or two, though. My project is a Legend Of Zelda one, based on Skyward Sword.
I have a lego id but they wouldn’t let me on because I wasn’t old enough.
I love that Back to The Future train!!! It’s AWESOME!!! Well, in fact, EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!!
Oh, haha. I’m actually starting to get just a tiny bit tired of that song. (no offense)
I’m not the biggest fan of LEGO Idea, I don’t really like the time limit. I Liked the LEGO CUUSOO better.