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Comments
For the ones released, Wall-E was cool, but had a f'd up neck (c'mon billion dollar company, how'd that happen?). The Maze is good for 5-6 minutes of fun. Ecto was one of the best. I still can't get over how bad the DeLorean looks. Birds spent so long in the process, I didn't really care when it came out. Curiosity was phenomenal because it linked a cool model with something that actually matters. Research Institute was nothing more than a cash grab for me personally. The Exo Suit was cool, but holy delicate Batman.
I know I'm critical and maybe a bit harsh with things I don't give a crap about: Adventure Time, yawn; Dr. Who, a complex, thought-provoking show I'm just not into; and Big Bang Theory is one of those things that if we ever meet intelligent aliens, I'd be embarrassed for humanity if they ever saw it. But honestly, Ideas is something that has devolved into just another line. The biggest difference is that with normal themes, you don't generally see the golden concepts that end up in the trash. Instead, this theme gets you all jacked for multiple potential sets that are awesome, then end up shoving mediocre crap in your face.
The Beatles set will have a wide appeal outside the FOL community so I can see it would make financial sense for Lego to choose it.
I've seen a lot of disappointment about the Victorian Christmas project, but honestly I can see why it failed review. Though the designer mentioned ways to cut its size down, like reducing the floors and buildings, even with those adjustments it'd be a massive project. Unlike the Saturn V, its size doesn't appear to be balanced with such huge amounts of repetition to keep the price in check. Also, it being a Christmas set means the window of interest for it might be narrower than with a less seasonal project. And while Christmas in Victorian London is iconic in large part due to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and its many adaptations, it still might not resonate as universally as a Christmas set less tied to a specific time and place. None of this is to say it was a bad MOC, but it would have a lot of factors holding it back as a set.
I was really excited about dimensions but the reality massively disappointed. By contrast I didn't expect much from ideas but they're now some of my most anticipated releases (wall-e, caterham,Saturn v) or become must haves when seeing in the flesh (maze).
One of the best things about Ideas is that it helps identify products that might be a little more niche than your typical summer blockbuster tie-in or general LEGO set, but still have the potential to become popular products in their own right. Sure, this can mean disappointment for people outside each new product's specific audience. But if LEGO Ideas were just churning out "safe" products like police stations, fire engines, and iconic Star Wars spaceships, then there wouldn't be much of a point to it, would there?
As for the things that get rejected, that's kind of unavoidable when you have people out there proposing the sets of their wildest dreams. Not everything that gets to 10,000 supporters is a certifiable hit, especially since the people proposing them might have no idea of some of the obstacles they'll face during review. But even if not every Ideas set has interested me personally, I think generally LEGO tends to make some pretty good calls.
I personally don't get the Beatles set (especially as a clone has already done it) but I'd like some of the non-licensed sets to come to fruition, as (locally) TRU still has plenty of the Doctor Who sets and the Entertainer in Birmingham is shifting BBT sets like a clothing merchant selling caveman attire.
I also think they could do a little more to weed out stuff that is currently under licence with competing brands, they do a little of this but some stuff still gets left that probably shouldn't.
More transparency would be great, but I realise that LEGO love their secrecy so that's unlikely to change.
I wonder if it's as much about other stuff they're trying to make/sell/stock at the time - there must be times when they can commit their machines to another run of an Ideas set that flies off the shelves, and other times when it's non-negotiable because they're going to need them for a new Star Wars range, or that Christmas's load of Creator sets...
And Yellow Sub is probably the last remaining IP plus vignette/vehicle plus cool minifigs Ideas set I can stomach.
Unless there's a Vic Reeves Big Night Out set.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/147876
It would seem a bit strange to me if they did a historical set like this with real named minifigures but left out most of the key players due to their gender.
I'm going to say a lot of people really love the set for showing diverse women who made important strides at NASA, thereby presenting girls with positive scientific role models. I guess others might call that political correctness, but that doesn't make supporters' love for the concept any less genuine.
I didn't support it, but I don't think it's a bad project, per se. I just have no interest in it personally.
I think the biggest limiting factor on this set's production is that it would need the permission of all the people featured in it, or in the case of those who are deceased, their next of kin. Which may be more complicated than a simple licensing agreement.
My Italiajapano-DuScotFranc-GerIrWelgish son isn't old enough to claim the prize.
I'm happy to go gender and race blind once this goal is accomplished. At that point, I think everyone else will just look poor to me.
@TheLoneTensor - whadda got against Penguin-Hybrids? I hear they make popular minfigures for animal suit collectors...
My daughters can only manage AlgTun(Fra)-Eng... ;-)
(Particularly to narrow-minded folk that have the mentality to 'stick to your own kind'.)
Perhaps instead of having "women of X, men of Y", and all the rest of the identity politics stuff we could get to the more inclusive and enlightened period of time where we can just say "People of Z"
all of which underlines my main point - a kids toy is a very poor forum to use in trying to drive education and cultural advances
Reminds me of the Star Trek MegaBloks set. Five dudes on a bridge is just as not inspiring...
Also, I thought Ideas based on previous IPs or Ideas were no longer allowed? NASA has been done and women scientists as well so it seems like it should have struck out on both counts to me.
http://brickset.com/article/23536/21307-caterham-seven-620r-revealed
Stay on target. Stay on target...
Bricks Magazine
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIC33wAmPR4
Fan Designer Interview: http://caterham.republic66media.com