As you probably know already, LEGO Ideas (formerly LEGO CUUSOO) is a platform where LEGO fans can submit their own ideas for future LEGO sets. If and when a project receives at least 10,000 public votes, LEGO’s own designers will look at it carefully according to their own guidelines, and if they think it is a good idea they will release it as an official LEGO set in the near future. 🙂
There are several wonderful LEGO sets that came out of the LEGO Ideas platform (you can find the currently available sets in the LEGO Ideas category of the Online LEGO Shop). We have talked about these many times before, along with LEGO Ideas projects that we thought were great and were still gathering support (see links at the end of this post).
While most LEGO fans will have one, or maybe two, project that they consider submitting to LEGO Ideas as a potential LEGO set, there are also those who have dozens of them. I call these ultra creative LEGO fans “serial submitters”. Today I would like to introduce you to one such person who goes by the name Reekardoo, with 45 projects posted on LEGO Ideas at the time of this article. He got everything: spaceships, mechs, castles, chess-sets, and a lot more. All really excellent and beautiful models.
Reekardoo’s latest project is called LEGO The Legend of Zorro. In case you are not familiar with the character, Zorro was created in 1919 by New York–based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. He has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media. Zorro (Spanish for “fox”) is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega, a nobleman living in Los Angeles during the era of Spanish rule. The character has undergone changes through the years, but the typical image of him is a dashing black-clad masked outlaw who defends the people of the land against tyrannical officials and other villains. Not only is he too cunning and fox-like for the bumbling authorities to catch, but also delights in publicly humiliating them. (If you are interested, you can read more about Zorro on Wikipedia.)
As you can see, the LEGO The Legend of Zorro model is huge. It basically features the governor’s mansion where Zorro is about to break in. The mansion is full of interesting details, especially very well designed furniture. This was designed to be a play-set with most of the walls hinged to open so you can look and play inside.
Frankly, I don’t think that LEGO will ever approve such a large set, however if a project like this does make it to 10,000 votes, LEGO will know that there is demand. They may ask the original submitter to redesign the set to a more acceptable level, and LEGO’s own designers can also help.
In general, if you consider submitting your own model to LEGO Ideas, it is best to consider all aspects of the project: design, presentation, marketing, compatibility with LEGO’s core beliefs and values, piece-count, price, and the possibility of having to acquire licensing. This way you give your project the best chance to succeed. However if you are uber-creative like Reekardoo, you may just put up all your ideas and hope that one of them will succeed. Or at least you will have a very impressive portfolio in case you’re looking for a job as a designer.
If you like the LEGO The Legend of Zorro project you can see more pictures and support it here: VOTE FOR LEGO LEGEND OF ZORRO. And you can also check out Reekardoo’s other submissions on his LEGO Ideas page – you may find something that you would really like to see as an official LEGO set. If you would like to vote for any of the project just sign in to LEGO Ideas with your regular LEGO ID (the same one you use for shopping, using the LEGO Message Board, etc.) And you can also check out the currently available LEGO Ideas sets at the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO The Legend of Zorro project? Is this something you would be interested in? Or do you like some of the other submissions better? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out some of the following related posts:
- LEGO Ideas Blue Collar Workers Collection
- LEGO Ideas Updates, New Projects & More!
- From LEGO CUUSOO to LEGO Ideas
- LEGO Ghostbusters Set Video Review & More
- LEGO Research Institute Female Set Review
- LEGO Exo Suit Video-Review & More!
- LEGO Ideas: The Little Prince in LEGO
- LEGO Batman ’66 – A LEGO Ideas Project
Pretty nice, but yeah, zero percent chance of being a set. I like the overall look of it, very clean; that gold roof is especially cool. 🙂 I also like the LotR Swan Boat and I’ve seen the Revenge on Brickset before, it’s very slick.
Also, there are new pics for 2015 sets, quite a few that I’ve been waiting for, but still no Mixels, Brainiac Attack, or Elves. http://brickset.com/sets/query-44 😉 Any thoughts on these?
I really like several of the new Creator sets. But Creator was always one of my favorites. What I’m really looking forward to is the #10246 Modular Detective Agency. I have been checking every day to see if there are at least any preliminary images. 😛
I really like the alternate builds on the toy shop but not really the main build and I love the beach house!
I also really like the Beach Trip Lego juniors set as well.
Funny, that’s a set that caught my eyes too! 😛
It’s pretty cool. It seems aimed at girls, but not as overtly so as prior Juniors attempts have been.
I also like that there will be more pinkish and purplish Friends colors in basic “Classic” sets…
I agree on both points. However, this is the Juniors set that interested me: http://brickset.com/sets/10680-1/Refuse-Truck . The box art just looks… odd. 😕 And of course the truck itself seems a little off.
Hm… it does look odd. Probably because they are putting the truck on the same base as the other Juniors vehicles and it just throws the whole thing out of proportion. I really like dumpster trucks though. I always did. Real or LEGO. 🙄
Ha. That set didn’t catch my eye until I looked at it and saw the dumpster too. Now it’s on my wanted list.
Seems to contain a lot of special parts…
Still better than this mostly forgotten theme…
http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Jack-Stone
Hmm… I wonder why it’s mostly forgotten. 😉
Yes, the Creator sets this year are great, way better than the last two years’ sets. I particularly like Red Creatures, Future Flyer, and Beach House. 🙂 Also, I originally thought the Technic this year wasn’t that great, but now the more I look at them, the more I like ’em. The Arctic Loader and Formula Off-roader stood out among them. It seems that Lego is putting a bit more into their own themes this year than the licensed themes (excepting Speed Champions), which I think is good.
Next week my post on the new Mixels will be up.
Awesome MOCs, but I never understood why people list projects that they know won’t be approved. And this guy has so many of them! I just don’t see the point. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on one, two, or maybe three projects, make them such that LEGO could actually consider them, and then advertise them on LEGO forums, social media? Note that none of his projects have very many votes. He is spreading himself too thin in my opinion. Or maybe he is just using the platform as a way to share his MOCs, but there are better venues for that. Plus they will be deleted after a while won’t they?
Yeah, those are all good questions and observations. I’m really not sure why some people manage their projects this way. Perhaps they are testing the market, perhaps they caught the creative bug and just can’t stop building, perhaps they are building up a portfolio for themselves. And yes, projects that don’t make it to 10,000 votes, or they do but fail the approval process will eventually get deleted.
I finally ordered my iPhone case from Silly Brick Pics. I’m so excited for it to come! =D
Oh, you did! Nice! Let us know how you like it. 🙂
I know it will never become a set, but I wish it did, and if it did I would have enough money to buy it 🙂 .
Zorro, yeah, apart from the sheer size, I think the sets would lose appeal on the character not being as popular as some decades ago. (I think the height of popularity for the character in the US was about the 50’s-60’s or earlier.)
BrickForge is giving away free splat packs with orders of $15 or more. I just got 2 more scooters and some animals this time and a bunch of stuff from the 30 cents or less section. =D
I”m gonna have to start a scooter gang. And I think I”ve lost count of how many scooters I have LOL!
LOL! I thought of that; you have way too many scooters! I decided that in my Modular town cars will be banned and only scooters, bikes and skateboards can be used. This is mostly because my Modulars are on top of a cube organizer and it is just a couple of inches wider than the Modulars. But it is a good excuse to get more scooters! 😛
It sounds like a good idea even IRL. Cars are big and take up too much space and resources, they’re hardly needed for an urban lifestyle…
Yeah, I know. I envy you Europeans with your bikes only cities and stuff. Americans LOVE their big cars. But to our defense, many of us have to travel huge distances often on a daily basis, and our public transportation is minimal (except in the large older cities). In Chicago, where my family is, I never had a need for a car. I just used the train, bus or my bike. Since we moved to the South though a car is a must. There is only so far I can get with my bike. Because we live in a smaller city I know lots of people locally who drive 3-4 hours a day back and forth for work. And when we lived in Arizona there was no question of not having a car. After 8 AM the sun was so deadly you could die on the side of the road just going grocery shopping. I don’t remember every seeing a person just walking around there. Except in the mall; walking from one airconditioned nearby place to the other. Gosh, how I hated that place! The Grand Canyon is nice though… for a visit. 😐
Yeah, they’re still needed in rural environments. I can see that. Hopefully electricals, hybrids and other more fuel-efficient cars will come on a bigger scale for the next decades…