New pieces in Lego Ideas submissions

BrickBelt

So as people probably know, the recent Sesame Street set added new pieces, something new for Lego Ideas sets.

Now there was a Lego Legend of Zelda Hyrule Castle project that is sitting on the front page of Ideas at 3000+ supports. It prominently features new pieces and the user who submitted it is saying in the comments that he or she would ultimately not buy a Legend of Zelda set unless it utilized new pieces.

Is this a project that simply slipped through the cracks, or is Ideas further loosening the restrictions on new pieces? 

Personally I don't see how it could be overlooked during submission, as the new pieces are featured pretty heavily and highlighted in the project's photos. On the other hand I hope Lego Ideas keeps the restriction in place. Thoughts?

CCC

I don't care. I imagine they just don't bother to check or let it go as there are lego pieces that look similar that could be used. The rules are:

We do not accept submissions that include proposals for new LEGO element molds, new cloth or other non-brick elements. Existing LEGO elements in different colors are okay, as well as suggestions for new stickers or printed elements. Should we deem it necessary, we may introduce new LEGO element molds, new cloth or other non-brick elements in the final official LEGO Ideas set. This would be done on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the LEGO Ideas Product Development team.

So either they don't check that well or are happy internally that existing parts could be substituted, or that they can decide to make their own versions of new parts if necessary.  Or maybe they know it won't pass review but still want data on how fast people vote for the theme in case they want to do a Zelda theme later on.

If the submitter won't buy it, it doesn't matter as they give him multiple copies anyway. 

560Heliport

IMO, if the submitter wouldn't buy it if it didn't include new pieces, then they're not really much of a fan of Legend of Zelda.

madforLEGO

I also do not think much of a person's ultimatum to a corporation who has gifted them the ability to design and display a set on their site that could get made. I'm sure LEGO won't either, 10K votes or not. Sore losers are bad enough without seeing sore winners too.

mustang69

I looked at the comment the designer made. They didnt really specifically say if LEGO made their set they wouldnt buy it without the new pieces. They said if LEGO released a set that didnt use new designs they wouldnt buy it.  Here is a copy/paste of what they said:

"Thank you! First, I constructed a master sword from the available parts, making a cross-guard from soldier's shoulder straps. But then I decided that if Lego released a set in which Link would be wearing a Peter Pan hat and holding a compound sword, then I would not buy it.

Therefore, I insist on new details."

560Heliport

mustang69 said:

I looked at the comment the designer made. They didnt really specifically say if LEGO made their set they wouldnt buy it without the new pieces. They said if LEGO released a set that didnt use new designs they wouldnt buy it.  Here is a copy/paste of what they said:

"Thank you! First, I constructed a master sword from the available parts, making a cross-guard from soldier's shoulder straps. But then I decided that if Lego released a set in which Link would be wearing a Peter Pan hat and holding a compound sword, then I would not buy it.

Therefore, I insist on new details."

Sounds the same to me. Very entitled

Bobflip

Absolutely sounds pretty entitled, but if Minecraft sets hadn't been borne from Ideas and used a regular 3841 pickaxe and a 3626 head, the disapproval threads on here would be massive.

Shib

The original Minecraft ideas submission used those, but the original Minecraft Ideas set was microscale to avoid the problem. 

Lyichir

I think it's certainly fair to assume that sometimes existing molds wouldn't be sufficient. Not just for picky fans, but for the licensor themselves—they might definitely be less likely to give their approval to something that poorly resembles their IP.

That said, I think it still makes sense for Ideas projects to be designed with the assumption that new molds aren't practical and to design projects so that they can represent their subject matter well enough without them. The Minecraft Micro World and Adventure Time projects are good examples of the kind of "outside the box" thinking that can succeed when existing minifigure components just won't do. And ultimately, if a project like the Sesame Street one makes it to review, new molds can be implemented into the final project after the fact.

CCC

Lyichir said:

And ultimately, if a project like the Sesame Street one makes it to review, new molds can be implemented into the final project after the fact.

Big Bird especially needed to be done as a new mould as otherwise he would look terrible, and I think Sesame Street got lucky with both a big fan base and timing, when lego sales are at an all time high. Compared to one like The Flintstones, where the characters look dreadful to me. I didn't buy it due to the way they did the minifigures. They already showed they could do extreme shaped heads well in The Simpsons sets, but of course no new moulds in the Ideas set meant regular lego heads for Fred and co.

BrickBelt

So sorry if my original post was a bit jumbled. It was the middle of the night and I was at work.

I don't think it particularly matters whether or not the designer is interested in purchasing or owning the final project, my point was moreso that a project that requires a new mold was submitted and approved . . . and it seems the designer doesn't endorse a final product that doesn't use new molds, rather than being a case where the designer is merely suggesting new pieces and offering alternatives if new pieces are not an option. That's a stark contrast from the policy on new pieces in the past, and I'm curious if it indicates an oversight or a change in the rules. The project is still up and it is over 5,000 so I wonder if it is a change in policy.

I personally don't like the idea of allowing new pieces to be suggested as it's just a distraction from the build quality itself. Obviously there's already many different aspects that contribute to a projects success outside of the quality of the project, but in my opinion they should be trying to move towards more of a focus on the models themselves and away from factors that can be a distraction from that, especially if new molds are still going to be a rarity for the final retail Ideas models.

BrickBelt

Looks like they took it down. With how long it had been up I was thinking it might actually be a policy change on new pieces.