Two New LEGO Cuusoo Projects Reach 10,000

[Hapori Tohu]

Two more projects on Cuusoo have reached the milestone of 10,000 supporters: Andy/Bugdroid the Android by Google and The Legend of Zelda Project. The two projects now move on to the review stage, so check back in a few months to see if they made it! In the meantime, you can wait for the results of the review of the Mars Curiosity Rover, UCS Sandcrawler, and Thinking with Portals!http://www.bzpower.com/story.php?ID=5952]View the full article[/url]

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Have any Cuusoo projects actually made it past the Review stage?

 

I'd be surprised if either of these make it past Review, seeing as they're both licensed products.

[Black Six]

Have any Cuusoo projects actually made it past the Review stage? I'd be surprised if either of these make it past Review, seeing as they're both licensed products.

Both Minecraft and the Back to the Future DeLorean have made it past the review stage and they're both licensed products.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Have any Cuusoo projects actually made it past the Review stage? I'd be surprised if either of these make it past Review, seeing as they're both licensed products.

Both Minecraft and the Back to the Future DeLorean have made it past the review stage and they're both licensed products.

 

Wow, didn't expect Lego to do a licensed theme. But then again, if they didn't want a licensed theme, they would have made that explicitly clear in the rules.

 

So forget what I said back there.

[PDPsi HAN]

TLoZ won't make it, for the same reason the other one didn't.

[Meiko]

Congrats to both! I don't expect Legend of Zelda to pass, since the other proposal was denied, but I would love the Android Robot, and Google is definitely the kind of company who loves creativity and to have their name out there, so I actually think it will get through review. Fingers crossed.

[Canis Lycaon]

Have any Cuusoo projects actually made it past the Review stage? I'd be surprised if either of these make it past Review, seeing as they're both licensed products.

Both Minecraft and the Back to the Future DeLorean have made it past the review stage and they're both licensed products.

 

Wow, didn't expect Lego to do a licensed theme. But then again, if they didn't want a licensed theme, they would have made that explicitly clear in the rules.

 

So forget what I said back there.

 

Before those two, there actually were two non-licensed sets. Both were based on existing IP, and were from an earlier stage of CUUSOO were you didn't need as many votes. They were a submarine and a satellite.

[Obsessionist]

The LoZ probably won't get through because they don't want to make a Link's hat part, which is absolutely necessary. But hopefully once enough LoZ ideas reach 10,000 they'll realize that making that new part is a much better investment than, say, the new pretzel.

[Lyichir]

The LoZ probably won't get through because they don't want to make a Link's hat part, which is absolutely necessary. But hopefully once enough LoZ ideas reach 10,000 they'll realize that making that new part is a much better investment than, say, the new pretzel.

The issue there is that the new pretzel can continue to be used in multiple sets and multiple themes, in order to earn back the cost of the mold. Link's hat is a different story; it's iconic and unique to the character, and due to the way Cuusoo currently operates it could really only be used in a single, limited-production set. I'd absolutely adore a Lego Zelda set or theme, but it would be hard to make such a thing happen through Cuusoo as it currently stands. The best case scenario, as I see it, is that Lego and Nintendo strengthen their working relationship through licensing talks related to Cuusoo as well as video games such as Lego City: Undercover. That could potentially get Lego that much closer to obtaining licenses for Nintendo properties.

[Obsessionist]

The issue there is that the new pretzel can continue to be used in multiple sets and multiple themes, in order to earn back the cost of the mold. Link's hat is a different story; it's iconic and unique to the character, and due to the way Cuusoo currently operates it could really only be used in a single, limited-production set. I'd absolutely adore a Lego Zelda set or theme, but it would be hard to make such a thing happen through Cuusoo as it currently stands. The best case scenario, as I see it, is that Lego and Nintendo strengthen their working relationship through licensing talks related to Cuusoo as well as video games such as Lego City: Undercover. That could potentially get Lego that much closer to obtaining licenses for Nintendo properties.

 

But how many sets will people really buy because of the pretzel element? It's wonderful and all, but I can't help but think that a Link hat would boost sales significantly more. There are lots of other parts that I see and think, really, is this the best use of a new mold? Lots of other licenses have minifigures with two or three new molds for a single character, as well as non-licensed sets like Ninjago and Chima. Another obsure Star Wars character may excite collectors, but those who really appriciate the use of new molds are likely to use their money on Lego Star Wars anyway. Making Link's hat and maybe the Master Sword would bring in a whole new demographic and sell a lot of sets they wouldn't otherwise.

[Aanchir]

The issue there is that the new pretzel can continue to be used in multiple sets and multiple themes, in order to earn back the cost of the mold. Link's hat is a different story; it's iconic and unique to the character, and due to the way Cuusoo currently operates it could really only be used in a single, limited-production set. I'd absolutely adore a Lego Zelda set or theme, but it would be hard to make such a thing happen through Cuusoo as it currently stands. The best case scenario, as I see it, is that Lego and Nintendo strengthen their working relationship through licensing talks related to Cuusoo as well as video games such as Lego City: Undercover. That could potentially get Lego that much closer to obtaining licenses for Nintendo properties.

But how many sets will people really buy because of the pretzel element? It's wonderful and all, but I can't help but think that a Link hat would boost sales significantly more. There are lots of other parts that I see and think, really, is this the best use of a new mold? Lots of other licenses have minifigures with two or three new molds for a single character, as well as non-licensed sets like Ninjago and Chima. Another obsure Star Wars character may excite collectors, but those who really appriciate the use of new molds are likely to use their money on Lego Star Wars anyway. Making Link's hat and maybe the Master Sword would bring in a whole new demographic and sell a lot of sets they wouldn't otherwise.

 

There's another factor here besides just the usefulness of the mold in other sets or whether it gets people to buy the set: the quantity of parts that are going to be produced using the new mold. As set designer Mark Stafford (Nabii) confirmed on Brickset, "Cuusoo sets are produced in batches of 10/20,000 whereas retail LEGO sets are produced with a minimum of half a million sets each. Sales pay for the mold which is a very expensive item - until Cuusoo sets go on sale demand is considered hard to predict, so the rule of no new molds was introduced."In other words, a mold designed for a Cuusoo set, without any likelihood of using it outside said Cuusoo set, is already only likely to go to 4% as much use as a part designed for a non-Cuusoo set unless the set sells well enough to support additional production runs. And since precision steel molds are tremendously expensive (and take up valuable factory floor space that could be other parts), you don't want to create a new mold unless there's a reliable chance that it will pay off in the long run.This doesn't mean that Cuusoo projects that call for new parts are guaranteed to fail. In some cases, the same purpose the new part serves can be fulfilled with existing parts the original project submitter didn't consider, or even with new parts already in development for use in other (non-Cuusoo) themes. This is why projects can't be rejected on the basis of new molds before they've reached the review stage and been passed on to LEGO designers: only LEGO designers really have the authority to say whether new molds would be essential to a project. But frankly there is no way for the Cuusoo platform by itself to pay for the introduction of brand-new parts, and as such it's something project creators should quite rightly be wary about. The creator of this project did well in reducing the number of new molds for the project to the bare minimum; it remains to be seen whether this will be enough for it to pass review.

[Ektris]

I still find it highly unlikely that a Legend of Zelda set would pass. It's hardly been any time since the first one failed; there is not going to be any change.The Google Bugdroid model is something I think is more likely, pending licensing. I'd maybe even buy it.~|ET|~

[Lyichir]

I still find it highly unlikely that a Legend of Zelda set would pass. It's hardly been any time since the first one failed; there is not going to be any change.The Google Bugdroid model is something I think is more likely, pending licensing. I'd maybe even buy it.~|ET|~

Time is not the issue. The only known issue is whether this project's single new mold is acceptable to Lego, or if even that is too many. It's still possible that licensing would also be an issue, but if this project even gets that far then it will have already outperformed its predecessor.