LEGO Ideas Discussion

[MAB]

21 hours ago, Blondie-Wan said:

can understand being perplexed by the selection on a brand-fit basis, as Seinfeld isn’t really a kids’ show, but in terms of pure popularity it’s one of the biggest American TV shows in history.

It isn't a kids' show but then, this won't be a kids' set. Surely by now LEGO knows these nostalgia sets are for adults.

3 hours ago, astral brick said:

Considering the brand's family-oriented choices, I wonder if Lego's marketing has noticed the lifestyle of Macaulay Culkin.

Or the racist rant of Michael Richards from the Seinfeld set.

[Kalahari134]

I'm gutted that the aquarium missed out. I can't see me buying any of these. 

[ProfSrlojohn]

2 hours ago, ArneNielsen said:

Friends, Bing Bang Theory, Seinfeld - all of them American sitcoms. Where are all the rest-of-the-World sitcoms - like Parsom said, English ones like Monty Python or 'Allo, or Fawlty Towers, or The Office (original), or... 

Lego "Keeping Up Appearances" anyone?

Seriously though, why more "adult" sitcoms anyway? Things like Home Improvement, Full House, or heck, even the Beverly Hillbillies would be nice, and would hit a wider audience in terms of age range, since they were aimed at a more general audience.

[MAB]

58 minutes ago, ProfSrlojohn said:

Lego "Keeping Up Appearances" anyone?

Seriously though, why more "adult" sitcoms anyway? Things like Home Improvement, Full House, or heck, even the Beverly Hillbillies would be nice, and would hit a wider audience in terms of age range, since they were aimed at a more general audience.

That would be good for the Onslow minifigure.

As to the others: Home Improvement - watched it because it was on, but wouldn't now. Full House - never heard of it. Beverly Hillbillies - too old for me (and I'm late 40s). 

[UberCorp]

Those choices are... lackluster. I guess people who watch Home Alone/Seinfeld but aren’t LEGO fans will make up some of those sales, but the typewriter seems like an odd choice.

G1 BIONICLE was one of the more popular themes of its time, as far as I know.  Shame that they couldn’t even give us fans this (though I’ll hold out hope a little longer for the small chance they have their own anniversary set planned)

[ProfSrlojohn]

40 minutes ago, MAB said:

That would be good for the Onslow minifigure.

As to the others: Home Improvement - watched it because it was on, but wouldn't now. Full House - never heard of it. Beverly Hillbillies - too old for me (and I'm late 40s). 

Okay then. Guess I know the popularity internationally I suppose.

Have you heard of the show Fuller House on Netflix? That's a sequel of sorts to Full house.

I mean, I'm 18 going on 19, and I watch the Beverly Hillbillies, but I can see how it wouldn't be popular internationally.

[parsom]

1 hour ago, ProfSrlojohn said:

Lego "Keeping Up Appearances" anyone?

Yes, please! My children love this!

[Legocity2713]

Lego Ideas seems like it is Lego’s way of being able to sell products to audiences who may not usually buy Lego, therefore the product choices are usually more adult/teen oriented and therefore they tap into either nostalgia or making Lego builds that are more “serious” for lack of a better word.

The former is the case for Seinfeld and Home Alone (two of the most well known pieces of media that get mentioned on social media and in real life year after year, especially by millennials). The latter is the case for the typewriter as it falls into the same category as the Maze set or the piano or even the ship in a bottle where it is Lego that is displayable and workable. It is more along the lines of Lego as a medium of art. I am not a fan of those sets but I’m sure Lego has the stats to show they sell well and sell well with a group they may be trying to target.

Bionicle was fun while it lasted but constraction themes sadly don’t seem to sell too well in the modern era of Lego; if they did we would have them. Hopeful Bionicle fans’ reasoning for it getting chosen was that Lego wouldn’t need to get a new IP (which is weird because Lego has no problem getting one for Ideas sets) and that it would test the waters for a Bionicle return. There was a Bionicle return in 2015 and it went under again, what could have changed in 5 years time?

Also, the Home Alone set is so well designed, I was very happy when it hit 10K and now when it got approved.

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Legocity2713

[ProfSrlojohn]

2 hours ago, Legocity2713 said:

Hopeful Bionicle fans’ reasoning for it getting chosen was that Lego wouldn’t need to get a new IP (which is weird because Lego has no problem getting one for Ideas sets) and that it would test the waters for a Bionicle return. There was a Bionicle return in 2015 and it went under again, what could have changed in 5 years time?

That was NOT the reasoning for the support. A few people may have believed that, but for the most part we supported it for 3 main reasons.

1: We wanted to show Lego that we are still here. That we're still willing to buy stuff related to franchise, even if it's not constraction. From what I can tell, a good 80% of the fans, while they like the figures, were more about the story. We were trying show that we would support Bionicle, regardless of physical form. Lego doesn't want to risk constraction? Fine, give us system, we'll be content with that.

2: We wanted Lego to do something for the 20th anniversary. August 10, 2021 will be the 20th anniversary of Bionicle's US release, and we wanted to try and see if Lego could be convinced to do something for the 20th anniversary. It, (along with Star Wars) Saved the company in the early 2000's, and we were hoping that Lego would be willing to help us celebrate that.

3: It was a really high-quality project for our favorite Lego IP, wouldn't you do the same?

[paul_delahaye]

I'm really disapointed about the aquarium.  It was the only one that made sense to me, but there you go.  

Instead we get a typewriter which would have been apt 40 years ago.  I just don't see who will buy it unless it's a good parts pack.  Potentially every letter of the alphabet on printed tiles might be the only good thing?

[Brick19_80]

If LEGO didn’t approve the typewriter that doesn’t mean that Bionicle would have been chosen instead. We would have been left with two approved projects instead of three. Bionicle fans have a right to be disappointed but don’t hate on the other three projects for being accepted. This happens every review period and people need to understand that not every project will be accepted. Even the ones that are the safest and most likeliest  project get snubbed. 

Many have criticized LEGO ideas for mostly approving licensed projects but bash on the typewriter for being accepted. That don’t make no sense 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Brick19_80

[Friscorays]

Bionicle, being a Lego nostalgia product, would attract zero new customers to Lego.  People that would have loved the bionicle set will likely just put the money they would have spent on that set into some other Lego set that appeals to them

The three selected submissions all share the fact that they have sizable fan bases that potentially currently have no or little interest in Lego; thus drawing new customers and money into the hobby.

[astral brick]

7 hours ago, ProfSrlojohn said:

2: We wanted Lego to do something for the 20th anniversary.

They didn't even celebrate Space 40th anniversary, how could you possibly think they would care about Bionicle?

[Exetrius]

10 hours ago, ProfSrlojohn said:That was NOT the reasoning for the support. A few people may have believed that, but for the most part we supported it for 3 main reasons.

1: We wanted to show Lego that we are still here. That we're still willing to buy stuff related to franchise, even if it's not constraction. From what I can tell, a good 80% of the fans, while they like the figures, were more about the story. We were trying show that we would support Bionicle, regardless of physical form. Lego doesn't want to risk constraction? Fine, give us system, we'll be content with that.

-snip-

3: It was a really high-quality project for our favorite Lego IP, wouldn't you do the same?

I second these points. My love for Lego was sparked by Bionicle, especially after seeing Mask of Light: the Movie. I eventually distantiated from constraction building, moving to system completely. So for me, the fact that this is a system approach has added value.

[Lego David]

4 hours ago, astral brick said:

They didn't even celebrate Space 40th anniversary, how could you possibly think they would care about Bionicle?

Because Bionicle was the theme that saved the company from almost getting bankrupt in the early 2000's. 

 

[Legocity2713]

21 hours ago, ProfSrlojohn said:

That was NOT the reasoning for the support. A few people may have believed that, but for the most part we supported it for 3 main reasons.

1: We wanted to show Lego that we are still here. That we're still willing to buy stuff related to franchise, even if it's not constraction. From what I can tell, a good 80% of the fans, while they like the figures, were more about the story. We were trying show that we would support Bionicle, regardless of physical form. Lego doesn't want to risk constraction? Fine, give us system, we'll be content with that.

2: We wanted Lego to do something for the 20th anniversary. August 10, 2021 will be the 20th anniversary of Bionicle's US release, and we wanted to try and see if Lego could be convinced to do something for the 20th anniversary. It, (along with Star Wars) Saved the company in the early 2000's, and we were hoping that Lego would be willing to help us celebrate that.

3: It was a really high-quality project for our favorite Lego IP, wouldn't you do the same?

Oh wow fair enough then, I actually didn’t know any that. Hopefully fans have seen design manager Samuel Johnson’s tweet on the topic and will make and support more Bionicle projects in the future and not give up hope. I can definitely see where the community is coming from now.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Legocity2713

[eldomtom2]

20 hours ago, Brick19_80 said:

If LEGO didn’t approve the typewriter that doesn’t mean that Bionicle would have been chosen instead. We would have been left with two approved projects instead of three.

 

 

 

You have no proof for this.

[Lyichir]

20 hours ago, Friscorays said:

Bionicle, being a Lego nostalgia product, would attract zero new customers to Lego.  People that would have loved the bionicle set will likely just put the money they would have spent on that set into some other Lego set that appeals to them

The three selected submissions all share the fact that they have sizable fan bases that potentially currently have no or little interest in Lego; thus drawing new customers and money into the hobby.

Bionicle wouldn't even attract new fans to Bionicle. While I appreciated the work put into that proposal and would almost certainly have bought it if it were made into a set, it targeted a hyper-specific audience of:

• G1 Bionicle fans,
• who followed the story from the beginning to the end,
• who want a Bionicle-themed display piece
• that doesn't include any Bionicle parts or offer a Bionicle-like building experience

For other customers, the project offered extremely little. There's hardly any play value beyond building the set, considering that the figures for each scene are at wildly different scales and thus would not make sense to interact with one another or rearrange. To someone unfamiliar with the Bionicle story, the three dioramas are essentially meaningless scenery—there's no context to tie them together or tell a coherent story with just the contents of the set, and the microscale builds offer very little "wow factor" that might attract non-fans despite their unfamiliarity with the source material. And to be honest, even for many Bionicle fans it might be a tough sell—fans who care more about MOCing or about the classic sets than about the story would likely not be excited by a build that does not use any Bionicle building system or offer any parts for use with that. All in all, I'm not surprised that Lego considered it a risky proposition.

I'd love to think a Bionicle project could still succeed on Ideas, but I think for that to happen it would have to be something that stood on its own without requiring external explanation to appreciate it, and something that better evoked the look and feel of the Bionicle brand outside of just reproducing background imagery.

[ProfSrlojohn]

1 hour ago, Legocity2713 said:

Oh wow fair enough then, I actually didn’t know any that. Hopefully fans have seen design manager Samuel Johnson’s tweet on the topic and will make and support more Bionicle projects in the future and not give up hope. I can definitely see where the community is coming from now.

No problem. The bionicle community can be something of a enigma to outsiders.

If you want to know something of the game plan for a good portion for the community going forward, I suggest you find the "TTV Channel" on youtube, and watch the " 'Nak and 'Jay" episode titled "Lego Ideas & Bionicle: What happened".

While obviously, they don't represent the entire community, they typically have a pretty good read on the pulse of the community.

 

[Legocity2713]

6 hours ago, ProfSrlojohn said:

No problem. The bionicle community can be something of a enigma to outsiders.

If you want to know something of the game plan for a good portion for the community going forward, I suggest you find the "TTV Channel" on youtube, and watch the " 'Nak and 'Jay" episode titled "Lego Ideas & Bionicle: What happened".

While obviously, they don't represent the entire community, they typically have a pretty good read on the pulse of the community.

 

Ah awesome, I appreciate it. Will do.

[Lego David]

11 hours ago, Lyichir said:

I'd love to think a Bionicle project could still succeed on Ideas, but I think for that to happen it would have to be something that stood on its own without requiring external explanation to appreciate it, and something that better evoked the look and feel of the Bionicle brand outside of just reproducing background imagery

In your opinion, how would the ideal Bionicle LEGO Ideas project look like? 

[MAB]

On 6/24/2020 at 9:37 PM, paul_delahaye said:

Instead we get a typewriter which would have been apt 40 years ago.  I just don't see who will buy it unless it's a good parts pack.  Potentially every letter of the alphabet on printed tiles might be the only good thing?

The two downsides of the letters are that they are on quite large tiles and on round tiles. 2x2 letters are large compared to minifigures, so these will be near useless for any lettering except short words or initials. Then the shape, square tiles fit neatly together, round ones leave gaps. While it might look nice to have one sign using these, if MOC makers use them on multiple stores, they won't look so good. 

Maybe LEGO will shrink the design, especially if they want it to look like a real typewriter, one with a space bar, caps and punctuation keys, and so on. I don't know how the message got typed with all the missing keys! Adding a few of those will make it a very large box, so they might need to reduce the spacing between the keys or shrink them.

13 hours ago, eldomtom2 said:

You have no proof for this.

No-one outside of LEGO has proof of anything though. However, approving three projects from such a small number is reasonably out of the normal behaviour.

On 6/24/2020 at 11:04 PM, Brick19_80 said:

Many have criticized LEGO ideas for mostly approving licensed projects but bash on the typewriter for being accepted.

 

You can bash on those typewriter keys all you like, they aren't going to do anything! :-)

 

[Lyichir]

6 hours ago, Lego David said:

In your opinion, how would the ideal Bionicle LEGO Ideas project look like? 

Hard to say. Obviously the lack of many current Bionicle parts to work with would pose a challenge. I think a Voltron-esque model of the Great Spirit Robot could show more promise than this project at least in terms of being able to be attractive and appealing even to non-fans while also being evocative of Bionicle's classic aesthetic. Doubly so if they could pull it off using Technic as the primary building system instead of traditional bricks, since that would help it stand apart from other existing sets and involve the traditional type of building people expect from a Bionicle set.

A big factor is it needs to be impressive on its own, and not just comparatively so due to the lack of other Bionicle availability. That I think was a big factor in Pirates of Barracuda Bay being so impressive—it didn't just feel like a pale imitation of classic Pirates sets, but rather like an evolution and improvement upon the concept. After all, Bionicle is still rather plentiful on the aftermarket... so a new set aimed at fans would essentially be competing with everything else that's come before it. That's part of why I think something of a more impressive scale or level of detail than was available in Bionicle's heyday would be more likely to make an impact.

[Blondie-Wan]

20 hours ago, eldomtom2 said:

You have no proof for this.

I think the burden of proof ought to lie on whoever suggested the Typewriter took the place of some other project in the first place.
 

And sure, there may not be ironclad, incontestable proof, but our whole understanding of how Ideas works lends credence to the statement to which you were responding. Prior to the first time TLG selected two projects from a single review, there was a common (mis)perception that each review was essentially a contest with one “winner”, even though the Ideas team had always held out the possibility multiple things could be approved from a single review, and that if they were they’d be queued for production. Since then we’ve had several reviews in which two (or more!) things were approved at once, as well as multiple reviews in which nothing was approved. They’ve also had multiple projects held beyond their original reviews for further consideration.

All this strongly indicates - doesn’t prove, no, but strongly supports the idea - that they’re not trying to hit some specific target number of approvals each time, but are instead simply evaluating each idea on its own and whether it’s something they’re able to do and can make a business case for. Whether one particular project meets their criteria doesn’t affect whether another one does, and if they’d declined the typewriter it doesn’t mean that some other project would have been instead. There have been multiple occasions where they haven’t approved anything.

As MAB notes, approving this many projects at once (three) is pretty unusual anyway; it’s actually only the second time it’s happened. I find it extremely unlikely that if one of these three projects hadn’t existed, they’d have approved a different one in its place.

[Lego David]

8 minutes ago, Blondie-Wan said:

As MAB notes, approving this many projects at once (three) is pretty unusual anyway; it’s actually only the second time it’s happened.

With 26 projects being in the next review stage, I fully expect that will soon change.