LEGO Ideas Backlog

Rumors say Godzilla is set for a Thanksgiving release. So Q4

Interested in Sea Serpent (most likely GWP), Build, Paint and Play (most likely GWP), X-files and potentially Godzilla. I'll wait and see for the Wallace and Grommit. I like Amsterdam Houses but since the street is a canal, I don't know where I would put it.

With everything from City, Creator, Icons and the rest, I'm glad the Idea theme does not really cater to my needs as it would just be yet more expenses. In the last 7 years or so, Lego selected about 4-5 sets that I really wanted - so I suppose my tastes do not align at all with the selection team and it's just fine.

For nostalgia, excited to see Godzilla and Power Rangers. Generally also excited to see the finished product for Ramen and Old Man and the Sea. Old Man is a definite buy if it looks near as good as the original submission.

I love the Sea Serpent, it's just a shame there was never much for it to do. Forestmen had a river fortress, and Wolfpack Tower is in water somewhere, but the Black Knights never had any serious opposition on the water. Always felt a bit out of place to me.

I need that Sea Serpent something fierce. Really hoping it will be a GWP to some new Castle/Pirate/Fantasy set, but I'm skeptical.

The only one I might be getting would be Downton Abbey. Possibly also the Amsterdam Houses from the newly revealed winners. I really haven't been buying much this year as so much is just I want but don't need so unless a fabulous deal comes around I'm resisting buying pretty much everything on my wishlist.

I thought having National Lampoon's as Q4 was a copy and past mistake but you're guessing it will be a Christmas release which would make sense. But there are so many sets in the backlog maybe it will be Q4 2027!

So many sets, and yet all the same or boring
Ideas just became nothing special and it's a snooze fest
Easy pass on the vast majority of the sets and project

ET, X-Files, Build paint play, old man and the sea, and the sea serpent are all buys if they look good as final products. I like the idea of the skyscraper lunch too, but again would depend on execution. The rest are almost certainly passes for me.

There's some cool stuff here. I'm interested to see the Godzilla and Edward Scissorhands final products.

That being said, I would love if Ideas could support smaller projects more often.

I’m crushed that the camping set was finally passed on, but I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes.

There are a number of these that I am excited to see as finished products (The Smurfs Village, Godzilla, Old Man and the Sea, etc.).

But I highly doubt I would purchase any of them, since they will all likely be well over $100 USD.

Sea Serpent and Build and Play will be GWPs, and my days of placing large orders are behind me, but if I like the final models enough, I might pick them up on the secondary market. Especially since Build and Play is likely to have a new color of Classic Spaceman.

@NoOneOfImportance173 said:"I can safely say I want none of these, except the potential spaceman in the Paint & Play one. Ideas has just become a slog of one-off overly expensive sets. I miss when they actually made more reasonable small models out of this theme. I guarantee most people are too burnt out of big sets to buy many now."

Yeah, 21314 was the last Ideas set that cost less than $40 USD. Although 21365 is $49.99, so not *every* Ideas set is a wallet-buster.

La Catrina, Downton, OMatS, Wallace & Gromit, X Files, Build, Paint & Play! , Vintage Sewing Machine, Urban Sketcher, are my favourites, the Amsterdam Houses needs some refining.

Nice things to look out for.

Nowadays, I can only think of the word "Oversaturation" when it comes to Lego Ideas

The ones that I'm really looking forward to are all competition winners... 'Wallace & Gromit', 'Build, Paint and Play!' and 'Vintage Sewing Machine'.
Of course, with the winners looking so perfect, there's always potential for the final results being a disappointment (but hopefully also some of the less interesting approvals ending up improved).

Build, Paint and Play! is the most interesting one of the bunch....but unfortunately that's gonna be a GWP....

Other than that, maybe Old Man and the Sea and Wallace & Gromit. And maybe maybe Godzilla, depending on what they are gonna do with that, as I can't imagine them just releasing the fan submission without massive changes.

@WizardOfOss said:
"Build, Paint and Play! is the most interesting one of the bunch....but unfortunately that's gonna be a GWP....."
I fear that it’ll be locked behind an impossibly high paywall. If the set(s) it’s locked behind aren’t homages to early era Classic Space or the parts from the set are never made available on PAB, I may have to reconsider LEGO as a hobby. After nearly 35 years of being an AFOL, I’m tired of being taken for granted by LEGO.

@Zander said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Build, Paint and Play! is the most interesting one of the bunch....but unfortunately that's gonna be a GWP....."
I fear that it’ll be locked behind an impossibly high paywall. If the set(s) it’s locked behind aren’t homages to early era Classic Space or the parts from the set are never made available on PAB, I may have to reconsider LEGO as a hobby. After nearly 35 years of being an AFOL, I’m tired of being taken for granted by LEGO.
"

I'm in a similar situation, and have recently found a lot of joy in non-LEGO building-brick sets.

"The Old Man and the Sea" Ideas model uses some interesting parts use.

Eagerly awaiting the X-Files.

How did I completely miss La Catrina? This article is the first I've heard of it, it looks awesome

Wallace & Gromit is the best set-design I've seen in ages, absolute day one purchase along with X-Files, otherwise not interested.

@merman said:
"Rumors say Godzilla is set for a Thanksgiving release. So Q4"

Oh man, Godzilla is the one ive been waiting for the most, and i just needed him to be big enough for maybe his shoulders to poke out over the average modular, big enough to be a threat to 21311 and 76105 or the upcoming Megazord, but if hes the black friday release now im worried about the opposite and i hope hes not $500 and big enough to knock down Avengers Tower...

Of the official Ideas sets on the list not a single one interests me in the slightest.

Of the competition winners I am looking forward to Wallace & Gromit and the Paint, Build and Play set, depending on how much the official designers are going to ruin them for me, like they usually do.

Most of the Ideas proposals I had been rooting for over the years have been rejected from the get-go. And of the ones that did pass review, most were changed beyond recognition by the official LEGO designers, so that the end result was not what I had voted for (and been looking forward to). So I hardly bought any, particularly in recent years when most of them got obscenely large and expensive.

@bobaphat107 said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Again, this selection leads me to ask just who is picking these and how are they making their minds up about them? The only one of these I'm interested in is the X-Files set, and that only because I pretty much grew up watching the series. "

Hi,
Your last sentence expresses exactly how and why they pick the projects they do... They release many different products (and IP's) so that there's always a product someone is attracted to. You're not interested in most of the 20 ideas, but still choose X-Files because of nostalgia. And the other person chooses E.T. And yet another Downton Abbey. Of course there's also a rights issue, but it seems that's not much of an issue lately, but all the different IP's."

Very true. And that X-Files set will also sell to fans of the X-Files that are not really into buying LEGO sets, so the set opens up new consumers buying LEGO. And if they only buy that one set, it might as well be as big as possible so LEGO sells as much generic brick to that person as they can, at a price point that they can take. And repeat with every licensed IP they do. It is obviously a good business model as it can be repeated time and time again.

@CCC said:
" @bobaphat107 said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Again, this selection leads me to ask just who is picking these and how are they making their minds up about them? The only one of these I'm interested in is the X-Files set, and that only because I pretty much grew up watching the series. "

Hi,
Your last sentence expresses exactly how and why they pick the projects they do... They release many different products (and IP's) so that there's always a product someone is attracted to. You're not interested in most of the 20 ideas, but still choose X-Files because of nostalgia. And the other person chooses E.T. And yet another Downton Abbey. Of course there's also a rights issue, but it seems that's not much of an issue lately, but all the different IP's."

Very true. And that X-Files set will also sell to fans of the X-Files that are not really into buying LEGO sets, so the set opens up new consumers buying LEGO. And if they only buy that one set, it might as well be as big as possible so LEGO sells as much generic brick to that person as they can, at a price point that they can take. And repeat with every licensed IP they do. It is obviously a good business model as it can be repeated time and time again.

"

I guess I badly explained myself originally as that wasn't really the point I was making. I completely get the nostalgia vibe and wanting to get something to reconnect with your youth etc.

Its more why are some of these projects picked up over others when theres limited appeal to them? We constantly see sets from IP's with wider appeal get through review then nothing happening with them... so why would say... The Amsterdam houses get picked over literally any of the Studio Ghibli ideas?

@GrizBe said:
" @CCC said:
" @bobaphat107 said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Again, this selection leads me to ask just who is picking these and how are they making their minds up about them? The only one of these I'm interested in is the X-Files set, and that only because I pretty much grew up watching the series. "

Hi,
Your last sentence expresses exactly how and why they pick the projects they do... They release many different products (and IP's) so that there's always a product someone is attracted to. You're not interested in most of the 20 ideas, but still choose X-Files because of nostalgia. And the other person chooses E.T. And yet another Downton Abbey. Of course there's also a rights issue, but it seems that's not much of an issue lately, but all the different IP's."

Very true. And that X-Files set will also sell to fans of the X-Files that are not really into buying LEGO sets, so the set opens up new consumers buying LEGO. And if they only buy that one set, it might as well be as big as possible so LEGO sells as much generic brick to that person as they can, at a price point that they can take. And repeat with every licensed IP they do. It is obviously a good business model as it can be repeated time and time again.

"

I guess I badly explained myself originally as that wasn't really the point I was making. I completely get the nostalgia vibe and wanting to get something to reconnect with your youth etc.

Its more why are some of these projects picked up over others when theres limited appeal to them? We constantly see sets from IP's with wider appeal get through review then nothing happening with them... so why would say... The Amsterdam houses get picked over literally any of the Studio Ghibli ideas? "

IIRC Ghibli is really restrictive on licensing and purposely limits merchandise sales to very low quantities. Only way Lego might be able to make sets is MAYBE a GWP.

Honestly I think a lot of the IP sets probably don’t get through either because the companies aren’t willing license the IP to LEGO or because LEGO doesn’t want to pay a very high licensing price (especially since many of the IP sets are one-offs).

@CCC said:
" @NoOneOfImportance173 said:
"I can safely say I want none of these, except the potential spaceman in the Paint & Play one. Ideas has just become a slog of one-off overly expensive sets. I miss when they actually made more reasonable small models out of this theme. I guarantee most people are too burnt out of big sets to buy many now."

The whole point of IDEAS is that the sets are one-off. Back in the cuusoo days, they weren't all expensive but they did tend to be aimed at adult interests rather than kids, and now adult sets are a thing and tend to be large, IDEAS sets tend to follow that pattern. And the LEGO buying consumer profile has changed, it is not a small group of die hard AFOLs. It makes sense, especially with the licensed IDEAS sets, as if LEGO are going to market a set then they might as well go big to be the best it can at a high price point to extract as much money from the fan of that licence in one set while still appealing to them.

LEGO don't make these large expensive sets with the intention that AFOLs buy them all, they make them with the intention that consumers buy one of them or maybe a few. The days of AFOLs buying three of every set (one to build, one to keep sealed and one to sell) are well gone."

Oh I completely understand that these aren't meant for multiples and are one-offs. I'm mainly saying that Ideas is consistently ignoring small sets that are submitted and hit 10k that would do well (like the Appa ATLA set, for example) and instead largely choosing the giant $250+ models). And you can rightly argue that some of that is LEGO profit desires - let's get the most money out of each license - But I guarantee that a lot more people would buy a $80 Appa set with the main cast (for example) than a $300 Edward Scissorhands model.

With stuff like Wonka obviously not doing well considering constant sales and 4x points for a while on LEGO's site in the US, I feel like we may be past the COVID era where LEGO should be making every one-off a giant niche set.

@NoOneOfImportance173 said:
"Oh I completely understand that these aren't meant for multiples and are one-offs. I'm mainly saying that Ideas is consistently ignoring small sets that are submitted and hit 10k that would do well (like the Appa ATLA set, for example) and instead largely choosing the giant $250+ models). And you can rightly argue that some of that is LEGO profit desires - let's get the most money out of each license - But I guarantee that a lot more people would buy a $80 Appa set with the main cast (for example) than a $300 Edward Scissorhands model.

With stuff like Wonka obviously not doing well considering constant sales and 4x points for a while on LEGO's site in the US, I feel like we may be past the COVID era where LEGO should be making every one-off a giant niche set. "

They’re also not prescient. When Home Alone came out, I was worried they’d sell out on day of release, and we wouldn’t be able to get a copy bought and built in time for when Detroit Symphony Orchestra did their Home Alone concert/movie. When I got to the store after work, they still had at least a couple copies, but the manager explained to me that with SW UCS releases, they _KNOW_ they’re going to sell tons. When it’s any one-off IP, it’s a crap shoot. Something new could either be a smash hit, or a complete dud, and they don’t want to overproduce for the latter if it means shorting popular sets. They also don’t want to approve Ideas sets only to find out nobody wants to buy them. That’s what happened with the Spice Girls Brickheadz, from what I heard. One person in Billund pitched them up a storm to get that project approved, only so they could buy a copy for themself. And they don’t know which side of the line a new IP is going to fall on.

Downton Abbey and Edward Scissorhands are the only ones of interest to me, depending upon the changes made by LEGO before it's released. I loved the submitted model of The Orient Express but the final version was so different I simply didn't buy it, particularly at the price they were charging.

@PurpleDave said:
"Another reason is IP sets still need to be licensed. I’ve seen several comments claiming Studio Ghibli is notoriously strict about how many licensing deals they’ll sign, and that TLG is probably too big a fish to get approved. Weird to consider, but if that’s Studio Ghibli’s policy, there’s really no way to get around it without inviting well-deserve lawsuits."
Plus, as most LEGO purists apparently don't know, Studio Ghibli already has granted a license to a smaller alternative manufacturer and sets have been available for years from said manufacturer. From the reviews I have seen they seem to be of high quality too.

And funnily enough, I just noticed that of the Ramen Shop there's even a Playmobil set!

https://www.amazon.de/Playmobil-Shippuden-70668-K%C3%B6stliche-Erlebnisse/dp/B0BKQQ847S

@NoOneOfImportance173 said:
" @CCC said:
" @NoOneOfImportance173 said:
"I can safely say I want none of these, except the potential spaceman in the Paint & Play one. Ideas has just become a slog of one-off overly expensive sets. I miss when they actually made more reasonable small models out of this theme. I guarantee most people are too burnt out of big sets to buy many now."

The whole point of IDEAS is that the sets are one-off. Back in the cuusoo days, they weren't all expensive but they did tend to be aimed at adult interests rather than kids, and now adult sets are a thing and tend to be large, IDEAS sets tend to follow that pattern. And the LEGO buying consumer profile has changed, it is not a small group of die hard AFOLs. It makes sense, especially with the licensed IDEAS sets, as if LEGO are going to market a set then they might as well go big to be the best it can at a high price point to extract as much money from the fan of that licence in one set while still appealing to them.

LEGO don't make these large expensive sets with the intention that AFOLs buy them all, they make them with the intention that consumers buy one of them or maybe a few. The days of AFOLs buying three of every set (one to build, one to keep sealed and one to sell) are well gone."

Oh I completely understand that these aren't meant for multiples and are one-offs. I'm mainly saying that Ideas is consistently ignoring small sets that are submitted and hit 10k that would do well (like the Appa ATLA set, for example) and instead largely choosing the giant $250+ models). And you can rightly argue that some of that is LEGO profit desires - let's get the most money out of each license - But I guarantee that a lot more people would buy a $80 Appa set with the main cast (for example) than a $300 Edward Scissorhands model.

With stuff like Wonka obviously not doing well considering constant sales and 4x points for a while on LEGO's site in the US, I feel like we may be past the COVID era where LEGO should be making every one-off a giant niche set. "

Would 4 or 5 times as many people buy it though? Smaller sets need a larger sales volume.

Can’t wait to get ahold of La Catrina and X-Files.