Second Cuusoo model launched today

 

  • Second Cuusoo model launched today

    Posted by Huw, 02 Mar 2012 11:35. Filed under New sets.

    21101: Hayabusa
    Cuusoo, 2012
    More details...
    ©2012 LEGO Group

    The spacecraft has been officially launched (pun intended) today. Here's the press release:

    BILLUND, Denmark – The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, the second LEGO® CUUSOO release, has gone on sale in Japan, while a limited number of Hayabusa sets will also be available exclusively online via shop.LEGO.com later in the year. No release date has been set yet.

    The original Hayabusa model on LEGO CUUSOO was built by Daisuke Okubo and achieved 1,000 supporters on the Japanese-only version of LEGO CUUSOO in the spring of 2011. LEGO model designer Melody Louise Caddick designed the final model, refining earlier concept models based on Daisuke’s original project.

    The model is priced at  ? 4,118 in Japan, USD49, EUR49

    LEGO CUUSOO is a website where LEGO fans can submit their ideas for new LEGO products and collect votes to make their ideas become a reality. They can also vote for other users’ ideas. It can be found at http://lego.cuusoo.com

    LEGO CUUSOO began in 2008 with a Japanese site that attracted hundreds of ideas and saw thousands of votes cast by a 35,000-strong community. It was launched globally in October.

    The first Japanese product, the Shinkai 6500 submersible, went on sale in Japan in February 2011. A project backed by Minecraft developer Mojang became the first user-sponsored project to be approved on the global version of LEGO CUUSOO.

    Ideas supported by 10,000 votes are examined by a LEGO jury to check 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.’

    Hayabusa (“falcon” in English) is an unmanned spacecraft built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), designed to travel to a small near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa and return sample material to Earth. Hayabusa’s mission began in 2003 and ended successfully in 2010.
     

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    I've highlighted the interesting points: It looks as if there'll be no need to try and import one from Japan, and nice one Mel!


    18 comments, latest one posted 15 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by legoninja0701 in United States, 02 Mar 2012 12:29

sweet!

Posted by KillDeer in Canada, 02 Mar 2012 12:35

I really miss the angled look of the original.

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 02 Mar 2012 13:12

A North American release would be a great idea. I had previously emailed Lego.com asking if there was a possibility of purchasing one through their branch in Japan... as one might have expected though, I got no reply.

Anywhere around $50 is a no brainer for me, so long as it is an extremely limited release. Thanks for the update!

Posted by goldfish in United Kingdom, 02 Mar 2012 14:01

My boss knows I like Lego, and her brother lives in Japan. She has offered to get me one sent over to the UK. Should I do it?! hmm

Posted by MarcelMaster in Germany, 02 Mar 2012 14:47

When can i buy it in Germany?

Posted by IndianaJones597 in United States, 02 Mar 2012 14:53

Pricey but interesting

Posted by Gandalf1 in United States, 02 Mar 2012 15:27

The picture looks like a computer image. The part that gives it away is the grey satellite dish near the top. If it is, I wonder why they didn't use a real photo.

Posted by Graysmith in Sweden, 02 Mar 2012 18:02

It's a bit unfair that the Japanese only need 1,000 votes to get their flying hunk of cheese made.

Posted by Zackula in United States, 02 Mar 2012 18:58

@Graysmith
That was only in beta. Everyone needs 10000 votes now. I think they set a low threshold so they could actually get some models made.

Posted by LEGOSLUG in New Zealand, 02 Mar 2012 21:44

@Zackula : You bet. Set a low level threshold for votes to get things rolling, then increase that level by 10X!

Posted by AlexWeston in United Kingdom, 03 Mar 2012 04:42

Had email from Japanese shop yesterday to say it was in the post and should be here in a couple of weeks - can't believe it will now be on sale at lego.com. hope it stays in limited numbers - like the exclusivity and " Japan only"

Posted by hjaeger in Japan, 03 Mar 2012 07:57

Cuusoo has changed from being a Japan only concept to being global, since the Hayabusa was chosen to be an official model - getting 10,000 votes globally for the new Cuusoo models is easier than it was getting a thousand votes in Japan only

Also, the RRP is ¥6,615, but Amazon is currently selling them at 38% off (=¥4,118)

Posted by comandercody654 in United States, 03 Mar 2012 18:04

Hmmm, a quite interesting model.

Posted by Moreira in Brazil, 04 Mar 2012 02:57

What about the original details? I know they "adapt" the original model to fit market, budget etc, but when we vote, we vote for the original, not for a "light edition" of it. Geez...

Posted by krklint in United States, 04 Mar 2012 08:12

anyone have a link to the original "concept," so we could see what people voted on against what is being offered?

Posted by sharky in United States, 05 Mar 2012 09:38

To be perfectly honest, I think it's kind of a bland idea for a Lego model. Aesthetically, it's not even a very interesting looking satellite as far as satellites go. It's just not my cup of tea I guess.

Posted by yvo in France, 05 Mar 2012 11:56

@ hjaeger : "getting 10,000 votes globally for the new Cuusoo models is easier " Not that easy seeing that the modular Western model supported by AFOL's community can't reach those 10k ...

Posted by hjaeger in Japan, 09 Mar 2012 19:19

@ Moreira
What details are you missing? I personally prefer the offical model, and I don't really see any details missing

@ krklint
See this (http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/439) for the original idea on Cuusoo

@ yvo
If you read the whole sentence, you will see that I am comparing the feat of getting 1,000 votes in a single country like Japan with getting 10,000 votes globally. The point of Cuusoo is not that it should be easy to achieve the required number of votes

Regarding the Modular Western model - could it be that there just aren't 10,000 people on Cuusoo that are interested in this model? I think it is a nice model, but I wouldn't be interested in it, and therefore would not vote for it

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