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Lego Cuusoo: A Constraction Line for Girls


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Today, we're bringing you an idea fresh off LEGO's CUUSOO site. BZPower Member Alyska (Or Bunyip on LEGO CUUSOO) has proposed an idea for a Constraction line of sets for girls. LEGO is currently targeting a female audience with their new Friends theme, but perhaps in the future they could create a theme of build-able figures, like in Bionicle or Hero Factory, aimed towards girls. It's a very interesting idea, and you can read more about it on its <a href='http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/6801' target='offsite'>official project page</a> and then form your own opinions on it. After all, LEGO CUUSOO is about getting new ideas from the fan base, and this one is clearly connected to the Bionicle community, so give it a look.

 

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While there are a lot of projects on CUUSOO, I must say that this was possibly the first one that I truly wanted to support. It's a great idea, and the current elaborations have improved it a lot. At the risk of seeming like a pathetically gushing fanboy, I'd even venture to call it not just a great idea but even a wonderful story as itself.Also, apparently Black Six is supporting this?~ BioGio

 

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Constraction?! Don't you mean Construction? or is there something I've missed..?

Constraction is a term used to generally describe Bionicle/Hero Factory/Throwbots etc. And other lines like them. It's a combination of Construction and Action(As in Action figures)~ELM~ Edited by Element lord Of Milk.
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I was wondering where all those new votes were coming from...Thank you so much for featuring this! And a big thank you to everyone who voted, too. This has just made my week. :)Kanohi_master- Actually, the idea for this originally came from a topic I made on BZP a few years ago, speculating whether Bionicle could appeal to a gender-neutral audience if it had, say, a few tweaks to the marketing and more female characters. The response I got was an overwhelming NO, even from Greg himself. So, this is my idea of a compromise- a separate line, compatible with Bionicle parts, that can hopefully help bridge the gender divide.

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Once again, congrats on making it to the front page, Alyska. Hopefully word about this can spread around and we can get some more opinions and support.

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At first, I thought this would be something like Lego Friends, which IMO is Lego succumbing to the pink stereotype. Then looked at the project page. This is an interesting idea, but it could easily be incorporated into HF by creating more female characters and inviting girls to try it.

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I think this is a fantastic idea. It's presented really well, and has some wonderful ideas to make it workable. I'm not sure LEGO would go for it, though. CUUSO is more for individual, exclusive models as opposed to entire lines of sets, and this would be a huge committment and risk to them. I'll support it, though, because I would love to see it succeed.

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I actually think this is a good idea. If Lego were to go through w/ this I'd probably be tempted to collect all of them solely because they're constraction sets.

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Tired of broken BIONICLE sets? Support the Remolded Sockets Service Pack project by Kon1 on CUUSOO http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/17500

Want more female characters to stand with you BIONICLE or HF collection? Support Bunyip's Constraction Line for Girls project on CUUSOO http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/6801

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I support, although I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it would be nice if girls who like Lego weren't such a novelty, and I think a constraction line for them would appeal to them really well and perhaps have a minimum of cheese, because girls don't like cheese. On the other hand, I oppose gender segregation of Lego lines. It's something that Lego should at least consider, anyway.

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I seriously dont get this. not the project, but the news story. why did this get on the front page? just because it's made by a bzp member does that mean its on the front page? the minecraft one, I get. that makes sense because it was succesful, it got it's 10,000. but his? karzahni! lets make a front page story about every bzp member's cuusoo ideas!?!?!?!??!? i just think its not right to make a front page story about this, without making a news story about other bzp cuusoo ideas, like the bring back bionicle one, for mata nui's sake! like i said, I consider it fine to do a front page story about the ones that get their 10k, like the minecraft one, for instance, but making a front page story about this? it's unfair and disgraceful, in my opinion, putting THIS over all the other bzp member's ideas, when this hasn't even got its 10k! and your putting THIS over bionicle. thats just even more saddening and bone chilling then that my little pony meme

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Yes, because lines like Hero Factory, Ben 10 and the new Super Hero constraction figures are boy-only lines that don't appeal to girls. We all know that girls ONLY buy products that are PINK, and quite right too. Heck, imagine if girls started to LIKE toys that boys like?! The next thing, they'll want to BE boys. DOWN WITH THAT SORT OF THING. So anyway, no. Let's not push the same sexist divisions that more other companies push, eh? Infact, theres a 7 year old girl on a video site who does a lecture in a toyshop about this to her father, and she's far more convincing than me. - Tilius

It sounds like somehow you've gotten the impression that BIONICLE and Hero Factory are gender-neutral. These are brands that have typically had advertisements showing boys (never girls) playing with the toys. They are brands where the typical themes have been stereotypically "boyish" themes like combat and competition. They are brands where female characters are overwhelmingly outnumbered by male characters in both sets and story. With LEGO City there might be some argument for it being gender-neutral, but BIONICLE and Hero Factory are primarily boy-oriented themes without a shadow of a doubt.Sure, some girls can like BIONICLE and Hero Factory, just like some boys can like Care Bears. However, just as with most LEGO themes and most action figure brands, girls are responsible for a tiny, tiny portion of BIONICLE and Hero Factory sales compared to an overwhelming majority of male buyers. There is some overlap between the things that make a franchise likable to boys and the things that make a franchise likable to girls-- in BIONICLE's case, the theme obviously had many strong merits that girls and boys alike could appreciate-- but that doesn't mean that a theme with these "shared" characteristics appeals equally to both genders.Making something appeal to girls requires more than just painting the toys pink or adding more female characters, as LEGO has learned after having minimal success trying to sell girl-oriented toys. Their anthropological research in preparing for the Friends theme showed that girls and boys play differently, with girls tending to role-play in the first person and boys tending to role-play in the third person. Additionally, they found that the aspects of beauty and harmony are indeed very important in producing toys that girls tend to be happy with.Whether the differences between boys' and girls' interests within this age range are nature or nurture doesn't matter any more to a company selling toys than it does to the kids themselves. Either way, forces outside TLG's control have created an audience of girls who want something different than the male audience TLG has already secured. Nurture is, of course, a definite factor-- girls and boys are about equal when it comes to buying Duplo products, but once boys and girls get to the age they start attending elementary school, they begin seeking to identify more strongly with their gender roles, no doubt in part due to peer influences and the marketing of other companies. But unless LEGO can produce products that a significant number of girls actually buy, they are powerless to change the gender stereotypes that have existed for decades.Meanwhile, did you even LOOK at Alyska's proposal? It doesn't say anything about just coloring the toys pink, even though pink parts would of course be present, just as they would be in boys' themes if this were a perfect world. As it is, boys typically won't buy things that are pink, thus LEGO's boy-oriented themes almost entirely avoid the color. Additionally, this theme proposal seems to be something that both boys and girls could enjoy. The main difference is that the characters are primarily female rather than primarily male, and that their personalities are geared to reflect diverse female personalities and interests rather than male ones.As for whether this proposal stands a chance, I have no idea. LEGO Friends is still trying to carve out a place for girl-oriented toys in the building toys market, and a constraction theme may depend on its success at this. The action figures market is perhaps even more gender-biased towards boys, but then again the differences between dolls and action figures are primarily in how they are marketed. Ostensibly, a franchise like this could help to blur the edge between these two entities, by creating an action figure line that girls can enjoy without feeling like they're being forced to buy plainly boy-oriented toys.I also am unsure how the Cuusoo system might work for a proposal like this, but Cuusoo is still in beta for a reason. TLG themselves are unsure how the system first implemented in Japan will be applied on an international scale. Since the intended outcome for the proposal is so nicely spelled-out, I feel no shame in giving my support and letting TLG handle the matter of making it work if it should reach the support threshold.
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I seriously dont get this. not the project, but the news story. why did this get on the front page? just because it's made by a bzp member does that mean its on the front page? the minecraft one, I get. that makes sense because it was succesful, it got it's 10,000. but his? karzahni! lets make a front page story about every bzp member's cuusoo ideas!?!?!?!??!? i just think its not right to make a front page story about this, without making a news story about other bzp cuusoo ideas, like the bring back bionicle one, for mata nui's sake! like i said, I consider it fine to do a front page story about the ones that get their 10k, like the minecraft one, for instance, but making a front page story about this? it's unfair and disgraceful, in my opinion, putting THIS over all the other bzp member's ideas, when this hasn't even got its 10k! and your putting THIS over bionicle. thats just even more saddening and bone chilling then that my little pony meme

Here's why I posted this1: It is entirely relevant to the fans of Bionicle and Hero Factory. People complain that we don't post enough news on the old theme, so this is a way to liken back to it.2: I posted this over the popular "Bring Back Bionicle" one because this is a genuine new idea. "Bring Back Bionicle", whether it's a good or bad idea, is borderline on Cuusoo's rules. The site is about asking for new ideas, not to show support of older, discontinued lines.If you see an interesting Cuusoo idea that is Bionicle related, please report it to the BZP staff; that is how I became aware of this idea. If we think it is something that the community would like to know about, we might post it. If you have any further concerns about our methods, you could also contact the BZPower News Staff directly and let us know. Thank you.:music:
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Yes, because lines like Hero Factory, Ben 10 and the new Super Hero constraction figures are boy-only lines that don't appeal to girls. We all know that girls ONLY buy products that are PINK, and quite right too.Heck, imagine if girls started to LIKE toys that boys like?! The next thing, they'll want to BE boys. DOWN WITH THAT SORT OF THING.So anyway, no. Let's not push the same sexist divisions that more other companies push, eh? Infact, theres a 7 year old girl on a video site who does a lecture in a toyshop about this to her father, and she's far more convincing than me.- Tilius

Tilly, please take the time to look at my project before you criticise it.Out of all the characters I've drawn, there is exactly one character who has any pink on her. Complaining about pinkness when you haven't given it a proper look isn't going to make your argument very convincing. ;) People are going to think you're just stereotyping, and I know you wouldn't do that. And I agree that in a perfect world, Lego should be a truly gender neutral toy, but the way things currently are, a majority of Bionicle and Hero Factory's fanbase is male. I liked Bionicle, but I was an anomaly, and as I grew older, there were a number of things about Bionicle's gender dynamics that seriously began to bother me.At one time, I truly did believe that Bionicle could be gender neutral if there were more female characters and a different marketing style, but every time I suggested something like that, I'd get cries of "NO! Girls have got Barbie, let us keep Bionicle!" or "I don't want a pink Toa!" or " Girls should be able to like Bionicle as it is! One female character out of six is enough!" (Funny how every time I mention girls, everyone assumes I want to paint everything pink. I never even mentioned pink.)Anyway, it was made very clear to me that a girl-friendly Bionicle was never gonna happen. So, I'm changing my tactics, and a lot of people have responded positively to it. Once they actually look at the page, of course.And that little girl in the toystore? She said girls should be able to like superheroes. I agree, so I'm making some cool, female superheroes for her and other girls to enjoy.I like to think that she would approve.

I seriously dont get this. not the project, but the news story. why did this get on the front page? just because it's made by a bzp member does that mean its on the front page? the minecraft one, I get. that makes sense because it was succesful, it got it's 10,000. but his? karzahni! lets make a front page story about every bzp member's cuusoo ideas!?!?!?!??!? i just think its not right to make a front page story about this, without making a news story about other bzp cuusoo ideas, like the bring back bionicle one, for mata nui's sake! like i said, I consider it fine to do a front page story about the ones that get their 10k, like the minecraft one, for instance, but making a front page story about this? it's unfair and disgraceful, in my opinion, putting THIS over all the other bzp member's ideas, when this hasn't even got its 10k! and your putting THIS over bionicle. thats just even more saddening and bone chilling then that my little pony meme

I don't quite know why my project got featured over so many others (I wasn't the one who submitted the news story), but I do know why the Bionicle one wasn't featured. The Cuusoo service is for original product ideas, whereas the BBB one is little more than petition and therefore, technically, an abuse of the system. I'm actually surprised that it hasn't been deleted yet.Aaand, it's been a slow news week. They had to put something up, right? :PMaybe if other people start recommending their favourite Cuusoo projects, they will be featured too. They could have a "Cuusoo idea of the week" or something.

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A LEGO Magical Girl theme would be epic. I haven't seen too many American toys based off of this theme, so it would be great for LEGO take a step into this unfamiliar (at least for non-anime fans) territory. Who knows, they might start a trend. And I entirely agree that the pieces would be extremely useful.

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You have my support! It's a great idea. If Lego did this it would probably mean more purple... just saying.To get some different.style pieces would be nice

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This is a great idea. I hope it gets to the 10,000+ required votes so it can be reveiwed. I may just buy some sets if these come out.

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Alyska, I support your idea 100%.Time for me to make a cuusoo account and vote for it.

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Tired of broken BIONICLE sets? Support the Remolded Sockets Service Pack project by Kon1 on CUUSOO http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/17500

Want more female characters to stand with you BIONICLE or HF collection? Support Bunyip's Constraction Line for Girls project on CUUSOO http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/6801

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I honestly have no idea what to think of this. On one hand, I think the idea has potential, and I'm quite impressed by the thought that you've put into it. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine the sets actually looking like your drawings (or for that matter, look like girls at all), without essentially being "Galidor for girls." TLC would really have to think hard about how to adapt the constraction system to a more girl-oriented theme without sacrificing the creative core of Lego. Galidor was a horrible failure for many reasons, but among the worst is that the pieces were so specialized that they were almost useless outside of their intented sets. If your theme or any similarly-styled theme was to be made, I as a passionate lego fan would expect it to promote the ability to create new characters in addition to playing with the old ones, in the same way that Hero Factory has promoted the diversity of its building system through the Create-A-Hero program. Otherwise, I can't say I'd support it, or at least recognize it as anything actually related to the core essence of Lego.

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I honestly have no idea what to think of this. On one hand, I think the idea has potential, and I'm quite impressed by the thought that you've put into it. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine the sets actually looking like your drawings (or for that matter, look like girls at all), without essentially being "Galidor for girls." TLC would really have to think hard about how to adapt the constraction system to a more girl-oriented theme without sacrificing the creative core of Lego. Galidor was a horrible failure for many reasons, but among the worst is that the pieces were so specialized that they were almost useless outside of their intented sets. If your theme or any similarly-styled theme was to be made, I as a passionate lego fan would expect it to promote the ability to create new characters in addition to playing with the old ones, in the same way that Hero Factory has promoted the diversity of its building system through the Create-A-Hero program. Otherwise, I can't say I'd support it, or at least recognize it as anything actually related to the core essence of Lego.

I think Lego is far beyond that now. If the line were made, it would likely be made out of standard HF limb base with different, more feminine-looking cladding pieces. I could imagine a slight alteration to the torso piece to adjust to feminine proportions, but nothing completely out of left field. Problem solved.
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Yeah, the main idea of this is for the parts to blend in as seamlessly with Bionicle and HF parts as possible, while maintaining the feminine look, and, hopefully introducing some nice, streamlined new pieces. Because the characters are wearing virtually full suits of armour except for the faces, they would be closer to the Superhero sets than the Galidor line.

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I personally think that this is a good Idea, and believe every one should have a chance to play with the awesomeness that is Constarction.However, I must agree with Bulik about the front-page status. Why? There are a dozen bionicle, hero factory, and constarction ideas are that good, and it seems unfair to just post one. Really Unfair. Once again, I think it's a good idea, but still...

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I would love to see a constraction line for girls! The whole reason I became a Bionicle fan in the first place was because I thought the story was interesting and unique. Gali became my favorite because she was a strong female character in my eyes. She's still my favorite, even after seeing the classic superheros in their movies.So Lego, if you're reading this, go for it!

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I've never supported gender-exclusive LEGO lines and likely never will; it isn't even that this isn't a solid idea (which in fact it is, with a complex story that is uncommon in stuff marketed at girls). However, I doubt that, even with a highly-executed story and all sorts of complex sets, it would succeed.Why? It all hinges on LEGO bringing in an entirely new market, because the old one (7-13 year old males) would have at least a significant portion alienated. You basically have to bring in enough new fans to A) make up for any loss in market (which would be significant) with an influx of new customers and http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/cool.png keep the new fans hooked for a period of time to recoup losses from production and marketing, which would also be significant.As opposed to a typical 'new LEGO line', which can appeal to both the market of the previous line and a new market, any girls line assumes enough female fans will come in to make up for the loss of the male ones. Unless LEGO makes it low-budget and uses little to no promotion, even if the line does pick up sales, it might have to run for a few years in the red before it can make a profit. I'm not an expert, but I'd guess that that would be why most girls-oriented LEGO lines flopped - they either couldn't bring in enough new fans or couldn't make a profit even why they did.Don't get me wrong, this is a nice idea. I just doubt it would work given the marketing aspects and precedent.-Toa Nidhiki05

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What is and isn't a gender specific toyline is difficult to define. I know I've pitched this as being "for girls", but I actually think it has the potential to appeal to both genders- especially in terms of the story. After all, most of my supporters so far have been male.I would actually say that Bionicle was a gender-specific toyline. It was deliberately aimed at boys, making absolutely no effort to interest girls, as you can probably see in the small number of female characters, and the overall marketing style. It had a story that could probably interest both genders, but that story was not communicated much in the advertising. I know I wouldn't have given Bionicle a second glance if I had not been looking over my brother's shoulder as he was playing MNOG. So, is it a bad thing that Bionicle was designed only to appeal to boys? Maybe, maybe not. There are both advantages and disadvatages to appealing to a narrow audience as opposed to a wide one, and I guess we just have to assume that Lego knows what they're doing most of the time. I actually think that if my project idea was done well, the number of males in its fanbase could definitely outnumber the number of females in the Bionicle fandom (not that that is much of an acheivement, but still...).As for the marketing... hey, Lego Friends is getting a $40 million advertising campaign. Lego wants to appeal to girls, and they are prepared to put time, money and effort into it. Hopefully, they will have succeeded in developing something of a female fanbase by the time my project gets through to the set designers (if it ever does, that is...). And if they dont succeed in getting female fans this year, doesn't that mean they should keep trying until they do? Lego in general is doing quite well at the moment, so now is a time when they can afford to take risks and try new things.

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This actually sounds very, very cool (A mythology-themed urban fantasy setting! Hooray!), and I would certainly follow the storyline. But I doubt this line would be a success. 1) The build of the sets would almost certainly be a feminine-ized repackaging of the disgustingly artificial-looking DC Superheroes constraction figures. 2) More importantly, it combines two elements which are essentially incompatible in a line with a target audience as young as LEGO's typical one. People are forgetting one thing when looking at this line: we geeks at BZPower are far less discriminate about our interests than most small children. The people who will be considering buying the products the most are little girls and little boys. Little girls are likely to be scared off by the fantasy/superhero setting and construction aspect; little boys (as the notoriously sexist brats that they usually are) will almost certainly be scared off by the predominantly female cast. While I and, I'm sure, many folks here at BZPower would love to see this line released, I doubt it would stay for long. LEGO probably won't even consider it. That said, I love the idea and the detail with which the characters are described. If LEGO doesn't accept this, maybe another company (possibly an animation studio?) will accept the storyline, at least. Keep going with this! :)

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