LEGO Ideas Discussion

[BrickG]

And you can argue that Ghostbusters fits C as well.

I'm certain that Dr Who would sell big time, pending licence approval I expect it to pass.

I'm certain it would in many regions. But I'm pretty sure Lego is unsure how it would sell in certain big regions...

As popular as Doctor Who is becoming in the states it's still nowhere near the popularity in the UK. The UK toy stores have Doctor Who everywhere. Heck, the show itself has a lot more kids watching it in the UK. It's not really watched much by kids in the US at all. Kids literally don't care about Doctor Who for the most part here. You'll have incredibly trouble finding any Doctor Who toys in Toys R Us or anything that isn't a geek specific store.

To put it in perspective the best ratings Doctor Who ever got in the UK had ONE IN SIX PEOPLE watching that episode. 1/6th of the country watched Doctor Who at the same time! In the US it's more popular than every but it's best rating were ONE IN THREE HUNDRED. That is 1/300 people watching an episode at the same time. Absolutely nothing compared to the UK fanbase.

If anything holds back the franchise from Lego it's stuff like that. Kids probably won't buy Doctor Who gear here and like it or not they make up like 75% of Lego purchases (or their parents do for them :P).

That said, I'm pretty darned sure ONE set could sell very well (in the US). If Ghostbusters and Back to the Future can I bet this has the legs. I'm not sure it could ever support anything more than that in most regions. As much as I'd love a proper whole wave and custom molds for Daleks and stuff I just don't think it's going to happen unless the sales in the more minor regions are enough to offset the sales in the bigger regions which I doubt.

[m0dulo]

To put it in perspective the best ratings Doctor Who ever got in the UK had ONE IN SIX PEOPLE watching that episode. 1/6th of the country watched Doctor Who at the same time! In the US it's more popular than every but it's best rating were ONE IN THREE HUNDRED. That is 1/300 people watching an episode at the same time. Absolutely nothing compared to the UK fanbase.

...

That said, I'm pretty darned sure ONE set could sell very well (in the US).

The numbers might seem like a 50:1 ratio but it is more like 11:1 when population is considered:

1/6 of 64 million people in UK = 11 million

1/300 of 314 million people in USA = 1 million

I completely agree that it would do well. One million fans is nothing to scoff about. A Tardis set would sell out in minutes in the USA if there was a "this is limited to 10,000 units" rumor driving sales. It would probably sell a few more after the next wave of "gosh we never said it was limited" sets appear. ;)

Edited August 29, 2014 by m0dulo

[TheLegoDr]

^And you add in people like me who care zero amount about Dr Who, but if the set is done right, I will pick it up.

I didn't care for the Exo-Suit, but I still picked one up for some reason...

[ummester]

I hope the bird project gets through more than Dr Who. I like Dr Who, though agree that the bird project promises more true diversity for the future of Ideas.

[Cy_Bored1337]

i want The Big Bang Theory to pass

[SandMirror38]

i want The Big Bang Theory to pass

If that passes I will be VERY dissapointed..

[Cy_Bored1337]

If that passes I will be VERY dissapointed..

why?

they made the simpsons?

[Faefrost]

i want The Big Bang Theory to pass

That one is kind of unlikely. It is bordering on a more adult focused license (The only truly Adult specific line Lego offers is the Modulars). Further, while it is a hot show in the US, does it have any international following outside of the US and Canada? Does Europe even know what it is? Asia?

[BrickG]

Is the announcement for the next wave tomorrow? Hope so.

[Cy_Bored1337]

Some people love it in Europe

[Meiko]

Is the announcement for the next wave tomorrow? Hope so.

https://ideas.lego.c.../1-blog/post/19 - Yeah well actually it's just the deadline for the review period so maybe they'll take an extra day or so to post them but I hope not.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Meiko

[ummester]

That one is kind of unlikely. It is bordering on a more adult focused license (The only truly Adult specific line Lego offers is the Modulars). Further, while it is a hot show in the US, does it have any international following outside of the US and Canada? Does Europe even know what it is? Asia?

It's quite popular in Australia - though I do agree that it is more of an adult focused license. Simpsons was different because, although a much of the humor is adult, it still has a lot of child followers. Big Bang Theory LEGO would be like Modern Family LEGO - which I just can't see as something that would make a good toy.

If you think of all ideas projects that have been passed, excluding perhaps The Research Institute/Female Minifig Pack, they all still make good toys. Ghostbusters and Back to the Future had playable vehicles, the Exosuit had definite play elements, the NASA vehicles were playable and the Minecraft sets are build able and playable whilst relating to a children's orientated video game.

I would be very surprised if Big Bang gets through. Also, I think Dr Who has more chance of getting through over the bird project, because the figs and Tardis are playable, whereas the birds are more build able and would be like one of the animal creator sets - though I would still prefer the birds to make it as a kind of proof that the Ideas platform will release projects that aren't really toys.

[Blondie-Wan]

I'm certain it would in many regions. But I'm pretty sure Lego is unsure how it would sell in certain big regions...

As popular as Doctor Who is becoming in the states it's still nowhere near the popularity in the UK. The UK toy stores have Doctor Who everywhere. Heck, the show itself has a lot more kids watching it in the UK. It's not really watched much by kids in the US at all. Kids literally don't care about Doctor Who for the most part here. You'll have incredibly trouble finding any Doctor Who toys in Toys R Us or anything that isn't a geek specific store.

To put it in perspective the best ratings Doctor Who ever got in the UK had ONE IN SIX PEOPLE watching that episode. 1/6th of the country watched Doctor Who at the same time! In the US it's more popular than every but it's best rating were ONE IN THREE HUNDRED. That is 1/300 people watching an episode at the same time. Absolutely nothing compared to the UK fanbase.

If anything holds back the franchise from Lego it's stuff like that. Kids probably won't buy Doctor Who gear here and like it or not they make up like 75% of Lego purchases (or their parents do for them :P).

That said, I'm pretty darned sure ONE set could sell very well (in the US). If Ghostbusters and Back to the Future can I bet this has the legs. I'm not sure it could ever support anything more than that in most regions. As much as I'd love a proper whole wave and custom molds for Daleks and stuff I just don't think it's going to happen unless the sales in the more minor regions are enough to offset the sales in the bigger regions which I doubt.

I actually can find Doctor Who stuff in Toys 'R' Us, and I certainly think it has at least as much of an active following here (and everywhere generally) as Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, which aren't even really currently active franchises. Certainly one can find a lot more Doctor Who merchandise in any Barnes & Noble, say, than stuff for those other two (and Barnes & Noble also carries LEGO sets). Moreover, the CUUSOO / Ideas sets released to date are largely aimed at adult enthusiasts, even if they do meet LEGO's kid-friendly standards.

Most CUUSOO / Ideas sets are more limited than a lot of Doctor Who (or Back to the Future or Ghostbusters) products, anyway. I'm sure they'd have zero trouble selling more copies of any Doctor Who set than they even saw fit to produce at all of the Curiosity rover, for example. Doctor Who is no Star Wars, true, but it certainly ought to be popular enough for LEGO to do within the parameters of Ideas. Remember, not one but two Doctor Who projects both not only hit the mark, but both did so very quickly, demonstrating greater likely demand for LEGO Doctor Who than almost all of the projects they've actually done - nothing but Minecraft hit the vote mark more quickly, and that was done directly by the game's maker, which then promoted the project to all its followers.

[Faefrost]

Just a word regarding Doctor Who. Remember if They do not make a Dr. Who set there can be numerous reasons. The most likely and most basic is a failure to come to an agreement with the IP holder. There are a few things in this case that probably make this a more likely possibility than a less likely one.

- the license holder is the BBC, which is a notoriously difficult licensing partner. They tend to randomly over and under value their properties, often having a poor understanding on their actual market value. They are essentially a government agency and tend to have a bit of disconnect from market forces. In this case figure given the public support and speed of support for the project on Ideas I would not be surprised to see them aiming high.

- the BBC just had this license packaged up as a full complete long term toy line with their Character Builders license. They may be looking to sell it again in that manner. Character Builder did not do all that great with said license so Lego may not want it as more than a short run exclusive one shot. Handing it out as such would prevent the BBC from selling it as a broader license for a period of time.

- if they agree on a license, chances are the BBC would wish changes to the project to reflect their current marketing. So figure they would be wanting a Peter Capaldi set. Which is not quite what was voted for.

- there is still a lot of character builder product out there in the channel. I can't see Lego being in any rush to produce a similar set until that has a bit more time to flush out otherwise EBay and Legos CS lines will be filled with CB product.

- Lego is likely not going to want to enter into a full Dr. Who retail license. The IP is not quite widespread enough to do well on the shelves at Walmart. Character Builder just did badly with it.

Does this mean Lego will reject the projects? No. They may yet reach agreement. They do have better ties with the BBC now given the Top Gear license. The BBC may see a benefit in a one shot set. Who knows? But my point is if it fails, it is not Lego ignoring fan demands or fan voting. The license has pitfalls. It just may not be possible or viable, regardless of whether they could easily sell out 10,000 pieces. At the end of the day it is a complex business arrangement between 2 businesses that we really have little influence in.

[Blondie-Wan]

Agreed, and I did mention your earlier comments of possible BBC licensing snags in previous comments as a potential obstacle. I'm just saying I don't think a lack of broader consumer interest is itself an obstacle; CUUSOO / Ideas voters have already demonstrated plenty of interest - much more than they already have for almost every other project that's gotten made, actually.

[Artanis I]

- there is still a lot of character builder product out there in the channel

What, did they just dump it over the cliffs of Dover? "We don't want this stuff any more, send it to the French..."

gotten

Try "been"

[Blondie-Wan]

Try "been"

I might have, had I been able to revisit it before you'd gotten to it, but there's little point in doing so now.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Blondie-Wan

[BirdOPrey5]

I've loved Lego Ideas when I first found it earlier this year... Now I have become cynical and jaded. It's all about marketing, not ideas, not quality. So many great sets have just a hundred or two hundred votes even months in, they'll never make it. So much time/space is wasted by complete garbage sets... Then of the ones that actually make it to 10,000 - so many get turned down and the dumbest ones get approved- quality is not the deciding factor.

I used to support so many projects- now I don't waste my time- no point in taking the time out of my day to support a project that will never make it past 500 votes. Unless the thing has 100+ votes in the first day or two, it is doomed. To hit 10,000 votes in a year you need 28 a day, every day, 7 days a week, all year long. Any day you go without at least 28 votes makes it less and less likely you'll make it.

I wish a set had to be deemed somewhat worthy by Lego first before even being put up for consideration. There also needs to be a fast track for amazing projects.

Edited September 2, 2014 by BirdOPrey5

[ummester]

Unfortunately BirdOPrey5, in a world dominated by marketing and consumption, visibility equals credibility. This holds true for LEGO ideas - the projects that become more visible get more votes and the creators have to generate the visibility by themselves.

Take this project

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/72407

I supported it early on because I thought the idea was sound, even if the presentation was lacking - it was a set idea I was working on myself. It was rolling along quite slowly, not generating too much support and then, out of nowhere, the views started rocketing and so did the support. Somehow the creator increased project visibility big time and the more visible it became, the more visible it remained.

[Artanis I]

I might have, had I been able to revisit it before you'd gotten to it, but there's little point in doing so now.

Haha

[Jan_sh]

Am I the only one to think that all those ideas made only in LDD is kind of cheating? I can understand it when it comes to the very large projects, but all those small sets shown only as drawing is laughable.

I mean you make this project and show it to the world in the hope of getting us all to vote for it - and then you are to lazy to actually build it? (Or possibly you can't build it, which is not much better.)

Personally I tend to only vote for ideas the creator has actually put together in Lego.

[BirdOPrey5]

I never care that designs are only in LDD. Not everyone can afford the bricks needed to make the ideas they have. I just want good pictures from all angles. Not a fan of the junky LDD backgriounds 99% of the time. Just use plain white or put something relevant back there.

Edited September 7, 2014 by BirdOPrey5

[BrickG]

They've been done with this review stage for days now. I want an answer! This is one of the most interesting reviews yet.

[tafkatb]

We don't know that the previous review stage is done, we just know the next review has started.

[Faefrost]

Am I the only one to think that all those ideas made only in LDD is kind of cheating? I can understand it when it comes to the very large projects, but all those small sets shown only as drawing is laughable.

I mean you make this project and show it to the world in the hope of getting us all to vote for it - and then you are to lazy to actually build it? (Or possibly you can't build it, which is not much better.)

Personally I tend to only vote for ideas the creator has actually put together in Lego.

LDD based ideas can and sometimes are fine. But it all depends on the level of presentation. Ideas is not just about designing a great MOC or set. It is about SELLING that Idea. Just dumping a default LDD screen grab up there looks awful and does not attract attention. Even worse are the ones with those truly horrific LDD backdrops. If you want to do an Ideas proposal based on a digital design, STOP, Take an extra night, and run it through a rendering application like LDD2POV. Real or digital design do not matter. Quality of presentation does. And typical LDD presentation is on par with truly lousy photography.