For the first time, no LEGOIdeas projects from a review period will be turned into official LEGO sets.
Six projects reached 10,000 supporters during the second 2017 review period – between May and September 2017 – but none of the builds will become official LEGO sets. This is the first time that a review period sees no project become an official LEGO set.
The LEGOIdeas blog shared the following information, along with a video from Hasan, confirming the disappointing news:
Today we must, unfortunately, share the difficult news that, following the thorough LEGOIdeas Review, none of the 6 projects in review have been selected as the next LEGOIdeas set. We understand that the news comes as a disappointment to project creators, who put in a big effort in creating and promoting the project, but also for the many passionate fans who helped bring the projects to the 10K milestone.
The LEGO Group highlighted the factors that are considered when LEGOIdeas projects are evaluated:
Products currently available in stores Sometimes projects can overlap with, or are too similar to, existing products and it therefore doesn’t make sense to launch a competing set.
New (and confidential) products currently being developed internally Sometimes projects overlap with, or are too similar to, products our designers are already working on that may still be 1-2 years out.
Licensing possibilities and conflicts Sometimes we can’t come to an agreement with the company that owns the intellectual property rights to a model or character or they may not wish a LEGO version of the property.
Production capacity Sometimes a project that might use many of a certain element can potentially have significant impacts on our production capacity, which is planned and forecasted in advance.
Build quality Sometimes projects are not stable or solid enough to live up to the LEGO quality standards. If you’re building a model in LEGO Digital Designer, it’s always good to test the model by building a physical prototype to ensure real world stability.
Feasibility Sometimes projects contain elements critical to the build that are no longer produced, which would mean the model wouldn’t be feasible. Other factors overlap into the feasibility of a project.
Playability Sometimes playability is considered depending on the project itself and whether or not it’s critical to the build.
Expected demand Sometimes, even though a project has reached 10,000 supporters, our Review Board evaluates that there isn’t sufficient potential demand to mass produce such a set.
Brand fit Sometimes projects don’t fit the LEGO brand values. Although we do our best to moderate all submitted projects based on our Guideline for “Acceptable Project Content”, there are times when models may make it to 10,000 supporters and be deemed not to fit the LEGO brand values at this point.
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.
Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.