FLEXO is on its way
Posted by FlagsNZ,
Three weeks ago, I wrote an article on a kiwi Kickstarter campaign that was launched to raise funds for a brand new product called FLEXO.
The campaign aimed to raise NZD $120,000 (approximately USD $87,700, GBP £67,760) to start manufacturing FLEXO, and to see it enjoyed by LEGO-lovers all over the world.
At the beginning of this week the FLEXO Kickstarter target was reached, and support has continued to be pledged at a fantastic rate.
There are some people who will not mix their LEGO with any other third-party brick system, but there are others who will welcome the functionality that FLEXO will add to their models.
Read on as I describe the Kickstarter success, and reveal FLEXO and their product development plans.
FLEXO Kickstarter
The FLEXO Kickstarter reached its funding goal on the 25th of September, 25 days after the project launch. The FLEXO team utilised the services of Funded Today to generate more pledges.
The graph below shows the pledge support in the 18 days since I wrote that first article. You can clearly see when Funded Today influenced the pledge support.
Their Kickstarter support currently sits at over NZD $180,000 (approximately USD $131,640, GBP £101,640), and there are still another ten days to go.
Product development
The FLEXO bricks will initially be produced in FLEXO orange, but the team has responded to the community's calls for a more neutral coloured FLEXO brick. The goal is to have FLEXO being less intrusive when integrated into LEGO models.
When the pledge total reaches NZD $185,000, their first stretch goal will be to make FLEXO in a new brick colour. This new colour will be available from January 2017.
To make sure they pick the most relevant neutral colour, they are reaching out to the community of FLEXO backers and LEGO lovers with a survey to find out what the most useful neutral-coloured FLEXO brick would be.
The FLEXO team are interested in some feedback on future colour choices. They have developed a Google Form to conduct the survey. There are only four questions:
- What is your favourite brick colour? There is a link to the Bricklink colour guide to you help select your favourite colour name.
- Out of the following, what is the brick colour you use most often? (Black, White, Light Bluish Grey, Dark Bluish Grey)
- Out of the following, what would be your most wanted FLEXO brick colour to use in your models and creations? (Black, White, Light Bluish Grey, Dark Bluish Grey)
- Is there another neutral FLEXO brick colour option that should be added? If so what colour is it?
Product quality
I have visited the FLEXO team and their design workshop.
One of my key questions was about product quality. I am reassured that the FLEXO products will be manufactured to similar exacting tolerances as the world's best brick construction systems.
I believe that the FLEXO team will have procedures in place to monitor the production of every batch of FLEXO bricks and tendons.
Ten days remaining
In the last five days, there has been 200-400 backers per day with a pledge value of above NZD $23,000. Yesterday had a record 475 backers generating NZD $27,000 support (approximately USD $19,746, GBP £15,246).
There are only ten days to go before the Kickstarter campaign closes. There are still a few Early Bird pledges remaining. It is estimated that Early Bird backers will have their FLEXO delivered by December this year, just in time for Christmas.
There are an unlimited number of regular pledges available with an estimated delivery time of early 2017.
If you are interested in this new brick construction product, make a pledge now.
I believe the NZD $185,000 stretch goal target will be reached by 5pm BST Thursday.
Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in the FLEXO company. I am simply wanting to support a great kiwi project, and believe this product will go a long way to compliment LEGO and other brick systems.
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25 comments on this article
Without discussing FLEXO itself this whole article seems more of a SPAM/ADVertisment thing then anything else.
Hmm...this could be super useful to the whole Lego system, if they keep their quality up.
I'm not convinced that Bob does love Flexo.
What is Brickset getting for this ad?
@Ken Benjes: Brickset is writing about something they think a good number of their readers might care about. It's no more of an "ad" than any of their articles about actual LEGO.
Anyway, congrats to the makers of Flexo! They did a good job coming up with a concept that enhances LEGO without taking the place of it, and in a way that no other customizer I've seen has done. I didn't support the Kickstarter but I definitely think they camef up with a brilliant product.
I saw a lot of non-FOL friends sharing a video someone made about Flexo. They obviously got a lot of publicity!
It's not an ad. It's an article about a potentially interesting product and the power of crowd funding.
Again advertisment on this ? ...really ?
weak
FLEXO adds a lot of possibilities to Lego MOC:s. It´s good that @FlagsNZ wrote an article about it, since it will be useful for anyone - kids, AFOL:s, MOC:ers and perhaps even engineers will appreciate the FLEXO system.
I don't understand what this FLEXO thing is used for.
^Bridges, catapults, trampoline, etc.
I will continue to build within the limitations. If you are going to use flexo why stop there. Perhaps it is time to start cutting, breaking, gluing, melting and altering LEGO because you cannot achieve awesome when presented with limits.
Sad to see fans give up on the struggle and cheat with fakes.
NoMoreAds
@Huw I know you say these aren't ads - and I 100% believe you - but surely you must be aware that they can often come across that way - perhaps it is the manner in which they are written. Comes off less as news and more as a "wow, this thing is great!" review.
What about the regular Chowren Toys offerings? Are those ads? if not, can any reseller who wants get front page coverage too?
Brickset, by nature of it's huge audience and sterling reputation, has the power to pick winners and losers in the marketplace, whether they be crowdsourcing campaigns or third party sellers. I'm sure that isn't something you take likely, nor something you would want to damage your reputation over.
But I know you know all this, and I'm sure you consider all this before pushing these things to the front page. Clearly, some segment of the Brickset user base isn't convinced it's all on the up and up, and that is concerning whether its true or not.
As one of the fans who refuses to mix LEGO with a 3rd party system, I will not be buying this. However, it's nice to see that the goal has been accomplished and I can't wait to see what other people do with the system.
@horde prime are you actually serious? Why are they cheating? If fans want to buy it for their own creations who cares? What is this almighty struggle you speak of? Please enlighten me.
If people want to buy it they will. This is a kickstarter and it would compliment TLG's product very well for some creations.
I don't buy clone products at all, but I also don't come onto the boards complaining about them either. Tell them how you feel with your wallet. If you don't like the product DON'T buy it.
This exact comment above is why I usually skip the comment sections on most Lego sites & don't visit forums very much anymore. The complaints are ridiculous.....
/rant.
I for one enjoy seeing articles about what I consider to be supplements to Lego rather than direct competitors. Some I have bought, some I haven't, but I don't see why their mere presence on the site should be considered objectionable! If you're not interested, don't click!
I'm gonna use these to build an evil twin of Bender.
Person A: I want to try this thing with my Lego to make a Lego thing that goes bendy.
Person B: You can't mix things with Lego.
One person sounds creative and the other sounds immature. You decide which is which.
Question from a newbie. If you used something like this at, say, a convention or something in a build for contests and such, is that considered OK by the community at large? It's been tough to get a read of the pulse of the community overall on some issues.
@AddictedToStyrene Or perhaps one can be creative while working within the limitations of a certain media/product. Maybe even more creative, for having to build something to accomplish what would otherwise be solved by just buying Flexo.
@blogzilly. I think it's ok if you say from the outset "I used (whatever unusual item) in this build." It might cost you a point or two in a contest. But if all you want to do is build something cool, then build something cool.
Pretty cool article. I think they look pretty darn cool, and we should all try to stay aware of current build-brick developments, even if they're something TLG didn't think of yet. However, I do think of this commercial when I watch theirs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkCmiYBtgE8
I certainly don't view this as an ad, and genuinely like to see these sorts of things covered. But I will NEVER use FLEXO, because anything other than genuine LEGO in my bins, including Tyco bricks, Mega Blocks, or anything else is just gross.
@pale Oh man, thank you for the link! It had a suggest video of an ad for Glo-Bs, a toy I had when I was younger but totally forgot about! Blast from the path.