Today I thought to write a bit of an update on various LEGO Ideas projects. As you probably know already, LEGO Ideas is a platform where LEGO fans can submit their own ideas for future products, and if 10,000 people vote for them, LEGO will consider them for production. 🙂
For LEGO fans it is worth checking out LEGO Ideas from time to time, even if you don’t come up with anything else to submit your own. You may find that someone else has a project that you really like and would love LEGO to produce it. You can help make that happen by voting for the project and also sharing it with friends and family with social-media platforms, websites, forums and blogs. (Like for example the LEGO Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary set by nicktierce pictured above, or the LEGO Age of Empires II set by artizan seen below.)
The LEGO Ideas website (formerly LEGO CUUSOO) is very simple to navigate and search. If you click on the Discover tab on top of the page (or the link will take you right there), you can then sort results by Most Supported, Most Comments, Most Recent, Most Followed, Ending Soon (there is a limit of 365 days from the time of submission to get the required number of votes), and Relevance. You can also filter by tags, but I didn’t find this particularly useful as some people use tags improperly, or don’t use them at all.
As a blogger, I like to sort by most supported projects. This gives me all the submissions that already achieved 10,000 votes and are either available for sale, in queue for review, under review, or has been rejected. This list is closely followed by projects that are almost there as far as the required number of votes. I usually update our readers about these submissions and they just need a little bit of boost to make it to the next review period. If you have the time to discover some gems, you can sort results by most recently uploaded. These are the newest projects that will need all the help possible to get the required number of votes. You can be the first to learn about them, and begin supporting them with your votes and by spreading the word.
Currently there are a number of projects that are under review, we have discussed these before (see links at the end of this post), but I thought to add them here for your reference: the LEGO Bird Project by DeTomaso, the LEGO Modular Apple Store by gotoandbuild, two different LEGO Doctor Who projects (one by AndrewClark2 and the other by GlenBricker), the LEGO Big Bang Theory set by Alatariel (who also designed the recently released #21110 LEGO Ideas Research Institute), and the LEGO BTTF Jules Verne Train by m.togami. We should be hearing from LEGO sometimes soon to see which of these projects gets approved, if any. I’m looking forward to the announcement as there are a number of projects I really like from this review-period and I see the potential of them becoming official LEGO sets.
Then there is the list of LEGO Ideas projects that are ready for review in the next period: the LEGO Star Wars Invisible Hand by LDiEgo, an adorable LEGO WALL-E by MacLane, the LEGO Ghostbusters HQ project by Sergio512, two dollhouse-like LEGO mansions by DarthKy (one for X-Men and the other for Batman), Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker’s life-size LEGO Lightsabers set by scott34567, and the massive Ultimate Collector Series LEGO Star Wars AT-AT by Cavegod. To be honest I don’t see any of the Star Wars sets making it through the review period, but the other ones might have some potential as official LEGO sets.
Next are the project that haven’t reached 10,000 votes yet, but they are quite close: the LEGO Labyrinth Marble Maze by JKBrickworks and the LEGO Hubble Space Telescope by GRusso were originally listed on LEGO CUUSOO two years ago and have been slowly gaining support. There are also a couple of massive LEGO sailing-ships – one by Sebeus and the other by Lyonsblood – that are past the halfway mark as far as votes. Then there is another LEGO Legends of Zelda project – I don’t know how long LEGO is going to keep rejecting these… this is like the third or fourth one that is going to make it to 10,000 votes, isn’t it? I’m sure that the LEGO Avengers Helicarrier will get the required votes, however I think it is beyond the size LEGO is willing to make. And this is a problem with several of the submissions; it is not just about the votes, it is about seeing if the project fits with LEGO’s business-model and makes sense to produce en masse. If someone goes through all that trouble to submit and promote an idea, they might as well also make it easy for LEGO to say “yes” to it. 🙄
There are also some cute projects that are getting momentum: the LEGO Little Prince by Colin 23, the LEGO Store by RayC, Elsa’s Ice Palace (from the movie “Frozen”) by Fohzen, and a minifigure size LEGO Piano by Hidaka. There are many more upcoming projects that are getting strong support and worth checking out and voting for to push them forward. It is up to you, and me, and the LEGO fan community to make them happen. So support the ones that you like! And to check out the currently available LEGO Ideas sets, visit the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? Which one is your favorite LEGO Ideas set that has been released so far? And which upcoming projects are you voting for? Are you looking forward to the next LEGO Ideas announcement? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
This is the first time I saw the Marry Poppins set. I went to check it out on the Ideas site. It looks fantastic! But then I watched the video from the set’s creator. I was immediately turned off by the guy’s smugness and ideas of what is and is not a ‘myth’. Watch the video for yourself to see what I mean.
Also, as a general rule of thumb, I only vote for Ideas that are built with actual bricks. I don’t vote for virtual projects created with the Lego Design software. I may be in the minority here, but I think only those that make the effort to actually build their Idea should be rewarded with a ‘support’.
Before I built a set with Lego Digital Designer I would’ve agreed with you about the appeal of built sets over virtual ones, and I still agree to a certain degree, though I think this largely the fault of the software which renders out so ugly. The amount of work an LDD project takes though is the same as a built set. You have to build it brick by brick. I think LDD should be regarded as an initial sketch of the idea, if something interesting is there it’s worth supporting to see where it goes! I built an Empire State bust and King Kong of you’re interested: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/76617
James, I haven’t seen the video, but I will check it out. I tend to vote for ideas where I see the creator really put into it serious thought and effort. From the visual perspective I think a combination of real brick-built ideas, along with LDD to show off various angles better, plus a video is most ideal. However not everyone has the skills or the necessary equipment/lego parts to make all of that happen.
The issue with brick-built projects only is that it can cost some serious money to put it together, having to source parts from various sellers, etc. – something not everyone has the funds for or access to (i.e. teens can’t shop on BrickLink, but they may still have a great idea). If you only use your own available collection and have to use alternate colors/parts everyone’s attention will be hung up on that and the project won’t get enough votes. I have seen it happen…
I love Age of Empires. It is one of my favorite games if not my number 1. I really hope this comes in stores 😀
My favorite set that’s been released is definitely the Exo Suit. 😀 I still need to get it. 😛 😛 😛 And I’m a huge fan of PotC, so I’d love for that Flying Dutchman set to be made. 😀
I’m not a particular Mary Poppins fan but I really like that one. It’ll definitely get my support.
Hahaha, real shame they decided not to make the Macross valkyrie. Not surprising though. Macross is just too niche outside of Japan. Im amazed it even got the 10k votes required. The Japanese Macross community must have pitched in.
But hot damn, I would love that Frozen Ice Palace. Minidolls or not I think I would actually buy one for display. I would encourage you all to at least give it a closer look.
I’m drooling over that Age of Empires II set right now. I want it so bad!
Never underestimate the fervor of niche fans!
Very interesting sets!
I also like LEGO Ideas sets from LOTR series, especially this one:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/85110