Last time we highlighted the awesome hardsuit designed by Peter Reid, his LEGO CUUSOO project had just over 6,500 supporters and we were rooting for it to hit 10,000 for the Fall Review Cycle starting last September 3rd. It’s taken a little while longer, but I’m overjoyed to see this highly original, truly creative project hit 10K!
This just happened today, so no official comment from LEGO yet, and based on what we’ve seen over the last several months, it’ll probably be quite a while before we learn whether we’ll all be able to buy a copy of Pete’s suit (well into the next review cycle), but congratulations to Pete for this important first step!
Nothing to get excited about, in the end it’ll just get beaten by some mediocre licensed set.
^ That is indeed my expectation, sadly.
Lego might win a trick by linking this suit with the upcoming film Pacific Rim – big mechs fighting monsters. So don’t lose heart. Best of luck to Pete, it is awesome.
I hope this one gets made, partially because I think it’s an awesome model, but also because for AFOLs to have faith in Cuusoo we need to see stuff that we like get through. I hope this has enough overlap with kids interests, and doesn’t clash with an upcoming mecha theme to make it so.
While I certainly don’t want to be prematurely optimistic about this set, I don’t think we should dismiss it out of hand simply because it isn’t licensed–though we should also not be naive in thinking that will have no affect.
One thing that the Hardsuit DOES have going for it is the size of the set: it’s not too far out of line, piece count-wise, with the CUUSOO sets that have been approved so far. What is more, it does not require the production of new parts, which was a noted problem with the Legend of Zelda submission in the most recent cycle.
By and large, it is distinct enough from other mecha that LEGO have produced (think: Exoforce) in detail and style (read: “not as child-oriented”) that it *shouldn’t* conflict with an official LEGO theme, but of course “shouldn’t” is not the same as “won’t.”
Still, I think cautious optimism is still merited at this point.
Wasn’t this model featured in Megan Rothrock’s book? I wonder if that will be seen as a boon or as a conflict of interest.
I think not being licensed is neutral. It looses points for potentially not having as big a market, but gains points for not causing LEGO a lot of headache suddenly negotiating a license.
On another note, I’d buy it.
I’d buy it too. This model, of all the hardsuit models (of which IIRC Lego doesn’t make a whole lot of, if any) is one of the nicest. It may be a bit harder to build for the younger kiddies, and doesn’t really fit anywhere (no System, it’s not really Technic…). I see a lot of reasons TLG would decide not to make it.
Don’t get me wrong…I voted for it. I LOVE this set. I love that it floated to the top amongst all the other stuff on CUUSOO. I love the color, style, imaginativeness, design, and that it can still fit a minifig.
Would would really rock is if Etadyne decided to pick it up.
There is a misperception about CUUSOO and licensed sets. I don’t think LEGO has a preference one way or another for licensed sets. It’s just that certain projects are more likely to attain the requisite 10,000 votes when supported by the large fan base of something in popular culture. When projects cross the vote threshold, they would all get equal consideration. Of the 4 CUUSOO sets that have been thus far announced, only 2 were pop culture projects (Minecraft and Back to the Future.) Though, all 4 were licensed sets as the Shinkai sub and the Hayabusa had to be licensed from the rights holders as well.
So it is arguable that most projects are “licensed,” this one being an exception. I also think it is hardly fair to call any of the CUUSOO sets mediocre. The sets so far have all been very nice sets for what they are.