Over the past several months, the LEGO Review Board has carefully reviewed the 6 projects that reached 10,000 supporters between May and September 2017, our second review qualification period of 2017. We’re grateful for the energy and effort that each member has put into their project, as it’s certainly a big feat to get 10,000 supporters in itself. Congrats to everyone!
Today we must unfortunately share the difficult news that, following the thorough LEGO Ideas Review, none of the 6 projects in review have been selected as the next LEGO Ideas 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 Review Board needs to check off a large number of factors in their evaluation and this time around they were unfortunately, not able to set a ticket next to them all.
Factors that the Review Board evaluates projects on
Due to the confidential nature of the LEGO Review, we can’t share specifically why each project was not approved. Instead we are able to share important factors that the Review Board investigates when evaluating projects in review. These include but are not limited to the following:
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.
If you have any questions about the LEGO Ideas Review, you’re welcome to ask them in the comments below and we will try to answer the best we can. Please be aware that we can’t share information specific to each project.
Next review results coming in the Summer of 2018
The next batch of LEGO Ideas projects are already in review. We’re considering these projects that reached 10,000 supporters between September 2017 and January 2018 as possible future LEGO sets.
On a happier note, we can reveal that the LEGO Review Board has already selected one project that will become an official LEGO Ideas set. Which one it will be and whether there will be others, will first be shared in the next Third 2017 LEGO review announcement in the Summer of 2018, once the evaluation of all projects has been completed.
