CUUSOO Corner

graphite

LegoFanTexas said:

Who has dibs on the first one that actually works like in the movie? I'll even take one in Pink, so long as it has power. :)

Pitbull or no go.

LegoFanTexas

graphite said:

LegoFanTexas said:

Who has dibs on the first one that actually works like in the movie? I'll even take one in Pink, so long as it has power. :)

Pitbull or no go.

Ha! Are you kidding? For a real hoverboard, I'll take it in Pink, with Fairies and pixie dust all over it.

Say, maybe that is just what it needs to fly? :)

cozy

or super space soldiers lol.what a lot of kerfuffle.

Tocko

Space Troopers! http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/5127

SpaceCake

Starship Troopers!
...Oh wait.

As an aside, I really don't see how Games Workshop's actions are cause for contempt amongst you guys. Anyone would think that the creator of the set didn't draw the entirety of his inspiration from Games Workshop (don't try and tell me it is even 1% original, because it quite genuinely is not). It's basically proposing a licensed theme and, if I'm not mistaken, licensed themes are a no-no on Cuusoo.

cheshirecat

Also, its entirely reasonable that whilst it was nothing more than a fan concept GW and Lego let it go - once it was under review by Lego neither company had a choice. Nothing wrong with that at all. And as SpaceCake says, the original idea was seemingly very much taken from the GW IP.

CCC

What was the draw with this anyway? Was it the minifigs or the vehicles?

The minifig already exists. The ships / vehicles are not that different to previous space or related themes (eg AC or even Atlantis).

Why don't they just issue it as Galaxy Patrol? They have used that name before, so presumably no IP issues.

TyoSolo

It's back up now by the way. re-posted as Space Troopers!

andhe

I don't think that it was an attempt at a licensed property in any way. It's unfortunate that he chose red, as that does draw comparisons with Games Workshops variation, but for me the similarities stop there. The GW version is visually, and aesthetically quite different (search google and see the pictures of basically barbarians in space. Skulls, flags, swords, orcs etc).
The fan community refered to the series 7 galaxy patrol figure as a space marine (a term maybe popularised by GW) and continues to do so, so I can understand why the cuusoo project ended up with that name, its just unfortunate that someone else holds the rights to that name.
Personally, this is what I'd hoped galaxy squad would be (I also think it thematically has more similarities to Starship Troopers, so Space troopers seems asking for trouble!) so would have love to see some connection to that theme eg Galaxy Marines, Galaxy Troopers, Galactic Patrol??

Reekardoo

Space marines?
How about Space commandos?

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/31711

mountebank

Just in case anyone here is interested, here are entries for some Registered Trade Marks held by Games Workshop:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=1461715

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E392886

If you scroll down, you'll be able to see the goods covered. Class 28 is the relevant one here. The rights date back to the start of the '90s.

Registered Trade Marks are monopoly rights. This means that if someone has the trade mark registered for a particular description of item, then a third party selling that item is covered. There's no requirement for the public to believe one thing or another or for the owner to prove damage.

It's also worth bearing in mind that if the owner of a Registered Trade Mark doesn't make efforts to keep others off the protected scope or licenses third parties without applying careful control over what the third parties sell or how they sell it, this can degrade the rights held. That's why deciding to license Registered Trade Marks isn't a simple "hell, why not?" decision.

This is written from a UK perspective but the principles apply to many other countries.

Unregistered trade marks is a far more complicated story.

paul_merton

Looks like the CUUSOO team is on a blitz at the moment. My Red Alert CUUSOO project just got removed, too (after being online for several months):

We are sorry to inform you that your LEGO CUUSOO project has been removed by our moderation team. Your project refers to a brand or licensed property that contains content or themes that do not fit the LEGO Group's standards for appropriate content. For details, please see the Acceptable Project Content section of the Project Guidelines and House Rules (http://lego.cuusoo.com/guidelines).

Command & Conquer: Red Alert
http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/18636

LEGO CUUSOO will not accept a project submission based on this brand or licensed property. Decisions about how a property fits our standards are made at the sole discretion of the LEGO Group.

Remember that LEGO is a toy company, so we're careful to only produce products we deem appropriate for children. Projects related to the below topics are not allowed. We will decide how a project fits these standards at our discretion.

* Politics and political symbols
* Religious references including symbols, buildings, or people
* Sex, drugs, or smoking
* Alcohol in any present day situation
* Swearing
* Death, killing, blood, terrorism, or torture
* First-person shooter video games
* Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation
* Racism, bullying, or cruelty to real life animals

You can still share your creation with the world on a photo sharing site like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) or on our own bookmarking site, ReBrick (http://rebrick.LEGO.com).

Sincerely,

LEGO® CUUSOO
http://LEGO.cuusoo.com/

mountebank

Just realised that above I should have written:

This means that if someone has the trade mark registered for a particular description of item, then a third party selling that item using the same trade mark is covered.

binaryeye

paul_merton said:

Looks like the CUUSOO team is on a blitz at the moment. My Red Alert CUUSOO project just got removed, too (after being online for several months):

To be fair, it does fall on the wrong side of the "warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation" guideline. That said, it should have been removed earlier or not have been allowed in the first place.

paul_merton

No, because Red Alert doesn't depict warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation. The game is fictional and set in an alternate history at the end of WW2.

The email seemed a bit confusing/contradictory, but I get the impression that it's purely a brand/licensing crackdown (particularly with the sentence "LEGO CUUSOO will not accept a project submission based on this brand or licensed property.")

paul_merton

I could be wrong, thinking about it.

CCC

^ WW2 is probably covered by modern warfare. I would imagine WW1 is too. Even in fictional scenarios, unless of course they are in licensed sets such as Indiana Jones. Of course there is blurring around the edges - so we get a Sopwith Camel, but no tanks for WW1.

CCC

Coming soon ...



Western probably touches on the toes of Lone Ranger. Space is covered by Galaxy Squad. So Back to the Future???

LegoFanTexas

The Western Town could easily be a 10xxx Exclusive set completely apart from anyting else. It is an amazingly detailed set.

But that is probably why it won't be done! :)

Yes, BTTF is the obvious choice here, but given that all the fans are old now, it should also be upgraded to a 10xxx set. I'd love a 2,000 part detailed Deloren Time Machine, that would be a lot of fun! :)

If it ends up being a 300 part kit, then I won't care.

Zelda is more of a wild card... If LEGO and Nintendo were smart, they'd do a broad licence deal including Zelda and Mario. Oh boy what could be done with Mario LEGO! :)

dougts

Rifter will get the production slot - LEGO looking to strike the same gold they got from Minecraft
BTTF will be approved for a future slot but not made now
Western will be rejected for alcohol/violence theme excuse and/or too big/part count/price/theme no single set (picking the saloon was a poor choice by designer)
Zelda will be rejected

Picopirate

Zelda - I think not likely because any set would be so similar to the Hobbit and LOTR sets. Also the K'nex partnership. However, Nintendo did develop Lego City Undercover. As much as I like Nintendo games, most nintendo licensed toys are garbage so I think the brand is weak.

Western modulars - I don't think enough people would be willing to buy them and other than a saloon, general store, and jail, what other distinct buildings are there? A one-off smaller set similar to the medieval market could work though.

Space Set - Already well covered by Star Wars, Galaxy Squad, etc.

Back To The Future - This could tie a number of existing sets together (lone ranger for western, modulars for the 1950s, and city/space for the future sets). I personally, would love to get the car and then run a string from the town hall clock tower down to a light post and park the car next to that light post.

Redbullgivesuwind

All but the evo set to be rejected in my opinion. And im not sure about that even. BTTF and Zelda will be lisence issues and the lack of a current market. There is no zelda game out and the movies lack appeal to anyone over twenty. The Western town is to close to the lone ranger theme. Plus if they were going to do it justice then it would need to be big; a scaled down version wouldnt work. EVO is the only one im unsure of. I don't think it has the appeal of minecraft. Amd to be honest just doesn't look that good. Plus how close is it to the galaxy squad and star wars to conflict. If they wont make a western town. I wouldn't expect them to make that ship either.

richo

My guesses.

Back to the Future - approved.
Western Modulars - Can't see it myself, would Disney want this to go up against the Lone Ranger bigger sets?
Evo - Again can't see them releasing a set that will simply take sales away from large Star Wars ships.
Zelda - possibly on ice until it can be released with a new nintendo title.

cheshirecat

I said it on the main page, but will say it here too - I suspect an entire range of either Zelda or BTTF - one set just wouldn't cover the investment costs of a large, complex third party (either Universal et al or Nintendo) - especially if its taken seven months. Would also explain the need for a video and advance announcement of an announcement. The rifter could go through as a single set, as could the modular but then why take so long and why make such a fuss about a fairly uninspiring announcement - don't get me wrong I'ld love the modular western and unless theres a no-western content in Disneys licence agreement can't see an issue. Coming out in 4-6 months would probably reinvigorate the lone ranger range.

Done well BTTF might interest me, rifter and zelda not at all.

richo

not fussed on the Western set now we have the Lone Ranger (check out the detail on the mine, it's quite detailed rather than the big one pieces we sometimes get).
Would buy all the BTTF range.

bea

The western town is the only thing that interests me of the past, current or even the well supported future cuusoo proposals. Unfortunately, it is probably too big as is, and releasing just one building loses most of the appeal. I'm still crossing my fingers for this one though. Hopefully the nice dovetail into the Lone Ranger theme will give it a boost.

Back to the Future doesn't seem particularly relevant to kids today.

I don't know what EVE is but I gather it fits a similar fan niche as Minecraft. Its a small set too, so I can see it being made.

Zelda seems to involve new pieces. I don't know that Lego will be up for that as part of cuusoo.

LegoFanTexas

The train in the new Lone Ranger set looks a lot like the train from BTTF 3!

Ok, now we SO need a Deloran, make one the scale of the train and give it train wheels! :)

I would be all over that one! :)

Of course, need Doc Brown, Marty and Claire minifigs to go with it! :)

graphite

^ dont forget a Mad DogTannen fig.

LegobrandonCP

I've been waiting for this day for so long! Can't wait to learn the results. I'm most excited about the Western Town.

Dread_Pirate

OK here is my take on what may be.

The Zelda Theme may be a tough one to get through and may not pass because of the difficulty of making playable sets. Link lives in a Tree/forest (could be a cool set but would need to be kinda bigish) and most of all the rest of the action takes place in a Castle, which would be a large set and also interfere with the castle theme to be released in 2013.

BTTF. Great theme and could have alot of playablilty (3 versions of the Delorian and a Time Train.) plus sets that could "transform" from 1950's to 80's(or today) and then a future. The sets could have optional pieces to make them fit each time but be the same basic set. Lots of playability and set possibilities including a villan (Biff) and many sets/times that could be modeled. Great to release in 2014/2015 to celebrate the 30th anaversary.

Western Theme. Great sets that would easily fit into the next wave of sets comming out to fit in with the Lone Ranger theme. A Saloon may not fit with Lego's business model exactly but maybe it would as they in the past they have done Pirates which are notorious for being slop drunk.

EVE Online Rifter. This is my personal favorite as I play Eve as a Minmatar (the race that builds the Rifter) and the Rifter is one of my all time favorite ships (along with the T2 variants). Eve is a HUGE online sandbox type game that has everything from mining to warfare to industrialists and inventions. The model is built really close to actual scale with a minifig and with a little modification (and a custom piece) a pod could be built to fit in the ship and also hold a minifig so the model models the ships in the game even closer. Minifig or no it is a good model of a great entry level ship in a really fun game. I say go for this one

This is the same thing I posted on the home page, but figured I would post here too as this seems to get a little more traffic.

piratemania7

This should be exciting! I am anxiously waiting out the next half hour or so until the video comes up; fingers crossed for Western, but they are all good ideas and proposals!

CCC

Cuusoo thread is here...
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/4344/cuusoo-corner#latest

piratemania7

Oh thanks!!

tom4086

Back to the Future Time Machine!!!!

drdavewatford

Yep - BTTF is go, the others are no go.

Basta

Nice will be getting this one for sure.

Also excited to see if the UCS Sand Crawler will win the next review :)

cheshirecat

Nice that they're donating the 1% to charity. Can't believe they've failed the modular western because of some two bit disney trash licence. (even though the models look quite nice ;) )

I'll grab the BTTF if it looks decent and has the minifigs, the prototype looked dog ugly from the side in the video (imo).

Bumblepants

Not surprised the EVE ship didn't pass. Between Star Wars and Galaxy Squad they have more than enough space ships for sale.

Redbullgivesuwind

I must admit I was a bit surprised that BTTF passed the review. I am guessing that they must have looked at the press it got and thought it was worth it. I would be interested to see if there is a whole line or whether it was due to a lot of license problems and nego.

cheshirecat

Its also quite interesting that they haven't held any back as they said they might. The fall review has two likely (imo) candidates - thinking with portals (which should surely win) and the mars rover (good but too late now let alone in 6 months time). But then the winter review is surely a mess from TLG's point. Purdee Pete (i may be ignorant but) surely has very limited interest and space marines troopers which is surely too close to their existing lines if the modular western is (unless Dinsey had a very strict no-western clause in the licence agreement).

I can't see either one coming through so perhaps no winning set then? If they'd kept modular western as a back up it could have slotted in nicely once the Lone ranger set was coming to an end, or its just too big for a cuusoo set and they used the Lone ranger as an excuse. It did strike me as a single paragraph, two sentances, about the western modular failing being a bit disrespectful.

bricksan

So happy, the world must be ending a LEGO BTTF set is EPIC

Firox5000

Very pleased the delorean from BTTF passed and is definately going on my wish list. It's a great shame about the Western town though as it had potential ad was ruined by the release of the Lone Ranger.

mathew

I think if you want a shot at winning the CUUSOO you have to think small. Not so much in creativity, but in size. Lego isn't going to take a huge risk on something like a 5,000 piece Western Town where sales would be incredibly small. They're also not going to produce a bunch of new molds on something like Zelda where they would have to make a whole line of sets to make it worth it. BTW, I think Zelda would make a great Lego license, but I think general popularity of the series on the wane.

I think BTTF won because it's a small set and can be sold for under $40 and that they were able to work a good licensing agreement.

cheshirecat

Comparing the prototype model shown in the video and the cuusoo project images, theres a big difference in the design, noticeable on the bonet in particular. Might just be availability of pieces though.

Sherlockbones

I'm pretty annoyed the Western town lost out, I would of been alot happier for that to come out instead of the Lone Ranger, yes we get a western theme, but it's licensed :/

Legogeek

Overall, I tend to agree with mathew.

While I would have loved to see the Western Town pass, I did not expect it too. As is, it is too massive for CUUSOO. Maybe it could have been done as a mini modular, but I doubt it would have sold well.

In the back of my head I was expecting BTTF to win. It is the right size and fits the bill for playable and is probably within a more realistic price point factor.

CUUSOO works, but not very good. If TLG could speed up the selection process, it would be better for the entire project. Factors such as licensing and conflicting themes could be addressed long before projects reach the final vote.

No matter the outcome, all the designers are to be commended on their projects.

I look forward to seeing BTTF being made, and I will probably be getting one for myself when it reaches market.

LegoFanTexas

Clearly Thinking With Portals will win the next review.

UCS Sandcrawler is nice, and it might get done at some point, but the truth is, LEGO probably already has the next 3 UCS sets planned out already and doesn't need to do this one, much less pay 1% to the designer.

So... Thinking with Portals, it is obvious, it is a big game with 10 times as many sales as Minecraft, I'll just go ahead and call it now. :)

Sherlockbones

Legogeek said:

Overall, I tend to agree with mathew.

While I would have loved to see the Western Town pass, I did not expect it too. As is, it is too massive for CUUSOO. Maybe it could have been done as a mini modular, but I doubt it would have sold well.

In the back of my head I was expecting BTTF to win. It is the right size and fits the bill for playable and is probably within a more realistic price point factor.

CUUSOO works, but not very good. If TLG could speed up the selection process, it would be better for the entire project. Factors such as licensing and conflicting themes could be addressed long before projects reach the final vote.

No matter the outcome, all the designers are to be commended on their projects.

I look forward to seeing BTTF being made, and I will probably be getting one for myself when it reaches market.

Does this mean that the sandcrawler won't happen then, thats very big isn't?

madforLEGO

All the resellers are salivating at the BTTF set to try to horde now..lol
Wonder if this means that people will actually be able to get a Minecraft set for RRP without them selling out in 5 minutes, good luck trying to get a BTTF though.

UCS Sandcrawler is interesting if they did not already have a sandcrawler that apparently did not sell like they expected it to.

I would love to see another Sandcrawler (heck, anything with Jawas to be honest) but I just do not see it happening

cheshirecat

Id be amazed if the sandcrawler gets through. If Lego want one they'll already have one in the works. Theres just no need to do it via Cuusoo. As LFT said above, Portal will win that. The bigger issue is the winter review, can't see either doing well.