Until now, the LEGO Minecraft project has been undergoing the standard review process that all projects coming out Cuusoo will have. However, LEGO has now officially decided that the Minecraft project has what it takes to be a viable set. You can read the press release here.
The set seems to be picking up a lot of interest outside of the normal LEGO fan circles, even getting a nod in this week’s Penny Arcade comic (strong language).
Here’s the official press release from Lego:
BILLUND, Denmark – A project backed by Minecraft developer Mojang has become the first user-sponsored project to reach the 10,000 vote threshold on the new global version of LEGO® CUUSOO, opening the way for a LEGO set featuring Minecraft to become a reality.
It took the project only 48 hours to gather votes from 10,000 fans of the project from around the world.
“We’re really excited to see the fantastic enthusiasm of the Minecraft community. This is what LEGO CUUSOO is all about, connecting people’s passion to the LEGO brick,” says Paal Smith-Meyer, Head of the LEGO New Business Group. “It is still too early to say whether a Minecraft play set will become a LEGO product as it still needs to go through a review and approval process to ensure it meets our usual LEGO standards, but it is certainly a lot closer.”
A go/no-go decision should be reached within the next few weeks. Assuming it is given a “go,” then development on any new sets will begin. During this time, LEGO model designers refine the product, while packaging, instructions, and marketing are developed ready for a production run. This will take several months.
LEGO CUUSOO is an idea collection system that asks the Danish toy manufacturers’ consumers to submit and vote for their favourite ideas for new LEGO products. It can be found at http://lego.cuusoo.com . The site is currently in “open beta” and has been well received by fans and niche interest groups eager to see their ideas become official LEGO products.
CUUSOO, which means ‘imagination’ or sometimes ‘wish’ in Japanese, has been developed with CUUSOO SYSTEM, a subsidiary of Japan-based Elephant Design that has worked with open innovation and crowd sourcing for more than 10 years.
The LEGO Group has worked with CUUSOO since 2008 on a Japanese site that has attracted hundreds of ideas and seen thousands of votes cast by a 35,000-strong community. Now the time has come to test the concept internationally.The first Japanese product, the Shinkai 6500 submersible, went on sale in Japan in February 2011. The next Japanese LEGO CUUSOO model will be the Hayabusa unmanned spacecraft launched in the first quarter of next year.
It took the Shinkai 6500, 420 days to reach 1,000 votes in Japan. Hayabusa took 57 days to 1,000. With the launch of the LEGO CUUSOO worldwide site the threshold was raised to 10,000 to reflect the larger audience.
On LEGO CUUSOO, ideas that are supported by enough votes will be examined by a LEGO jury that will check that the models meet LEGO standards of safety and playability and support the LEGO brand. Consumers who have their ideas chosen for production will earn 1% of the total net sales of the product.
In the case of the Minecraft project, Mojang and the collaborators have offered the 1% CUUSOO royalty to a charity of Mojang’s choice.
I’m glad that Mike Yoder (builder42) covered and added to maxvf1‘s amazing Valkyrie/Veritech fighter as it gives me an excuse to blog both. maxvf1’s is available on LEGO Cuusoo and was mentioned by Nannan a while back. Unfortunately maxvf1 has restricted use of his pics so we’ll have to provide a link to the Gerwalk and Battloid modes.
Luckily Mike doesn’t.
And now maxvf1 doesn’t
After the LEGO Cuusoo Beta launched in English last week, I’ve been keeping an eye on the site to see what people are up to. As announced last week, winning projects have to reach 10,000 supporters, and the winning designer keeps 1% of the proceeds from the LEGO set’s sales.
Projects from several Japanese builders are also available on the English site, including one of Hidaka‘s classic, oft-imitated pianos.
Other cool projects include a Back to the Future Delorean and Macross/Robotech Valkyrie.
Of course, we here at TBB don’t want to be left out! Dan already mentioned his Protype Attack Mecha Alpha Zero design, while Nannan submitted his massive “Mirage” collaboration with Tyler:
I thought I’d go a bit smaller, with a couple of my favorite vehicles — a wildland fire engine and WW2 ambulance:
It’ll be interesting to see where all of this goes!
The LEGO Cuusoo website has been enabling Japanese LEGO fans to submit their ideas (cuusoo means “imagination” or “wish” in Japanese) and have them voted on and maybe turned into an official LEGO set. The site is now also open in English as a Beta.
For those who want to jump to the case, the link to register is here. You no longer need an invite, and are free to go and submit and vote for models. I’ve even submitted one myself. What will you make?
Here’s the press release:
Turn your model wishes into reality with LEGO® CUUSOO
LEGO consumers can now give their great ideas directly to the LEGO Group using the LEGO CUUSOO website. Ideas that collect 10,000 supporters could be selected to become part of the toy manufacturers’ product line
BILLUND, Denmark – The LEGO Group announced today that LEGO® CUUSOO, its new international web-based open innovation and crowd sourcing platform, is now available in open beta.LEGO CUUSOO is an idea collection system that asks the Danish toy manufacturers’ consumers to submit and vote for their favourite ideas for new LEGO products. It can be found at http://lego.cuusoo.com
Ideas that are supported by 10,000 votes have a chance of being selected to become part of the LEGO Group’s product portfolio and sold in LEGO Brand retail stores and the LEGO online shop. Consumers who have their ideas chosen will earn 1% of the total net sales of the product
CUUSOO, which means ‘imagination’ or sometimes ‘wish’ in Japanese, has been developed with CUUSOO SYSTEM, a subsidiary of Japan-based Elephant Design that has worked with open innovation and crowd sourcing for more than 10 years.
The LEGO Group has worked with CUUSOO since 2008 on a Japanese site that has attracted hundreds of ideas and seen thousands of votes cast by a 20,000-strong community. Now the time has come to test the concept internationally.
The first Japanese product, the Shinkai 6500 submersible, went on sale in Japan in February 2011. The next Japanese LEGO CUUSOO model will be the Hayabusa unmanned spacecraft launched in the first quarter of next year. “Our fans and consumers have proved time after time that they have great ideas that can lead to products,” said Paal Smith-Meyer, head of the LEGO New Business Group.
“We have worked with our consumers in the past and continue to do so, for example in the LEGO Architecture series, which we developed with an architect and LEGO fan. LEGO CUUSOO is an attempt to gather more great ideas while streamlining the way we innovate and become inspired.”
“We see this as an investment in the future rather than for immediate sales gain. We are moving from a local Japanese pilot to see if the model is sustainable. We were pleased with the initial results, but we need to see how it will perform on a global platform with global distribution,” he added.
So far, our auctions have raised over FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated creations, and everyone who has bid on them!
There are half a dozen auctions ending in the next twelve hours, and a few more the next day. I’ll also be adding some new stuff this weekend, so keep an eye out for more MOCs, and some LEGO Cuusoo! Here are some of the auctions ending soon:
Once again, here’s the link to all of the on-going auctions to help the Red Cross in their efforts to help the victims of the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and the Pacific Rim.
