LEGO Ideas: the results are in!

Well... this will be the first Ideas set I won't buy...

I called it yesterday! The new movie will probably give it a bigger spotlight.

Also never heard of it.... I guess it might still be a nice set, though.....

Man, I really thought Stargate had a shot. :( This review is just really "meh".

I'd have to wait for the final set to make up my mind: Halloween is not much of a thing in South Africa, so it would come down to the actual set more than anything else.

I’m not really surprised about this selection, as the sequel is coming and it being a popular Halloween movie. At the comic con I attended last week, met Billy Dee Williams, there was a trio of women dressed up as the Sanderson sisters from the movie.

Never heard of it, don't need to buy it - good news!!

There were eight projects I liked and would probably buy, which fortunately including this one. I'm not a great fan of the film (it's just all right, although I'm staggered at how many people say they have never heard of it - such a sheltered life) but I love that style of building.

I really thought the cube would make it. Another movie inspired set is okay but doesn't look very special to me, but let's wait for LEGO and how it turnes out. It will be over $200, I guess.

The Western stuff looked nice, would have been a nice opportunity to bring the theme back, like castle or pirates before.

Not my first choice, but I’ll definitely pick this up.

Definitely not my favorite.
I do like the cabin. Perhaps I will buy it despite the unkown theme.

I'm happy for the designer, and glad for all the folks who will enjoy it, but I thought there were several fantastic choices that I'd have bought day one - the Garden & Greenhouse, the Meeting Point, the Dojo, and the rubik's cube.

Please please BS: next time first post the video and do not spoiler the results!

Another disappointment. Once again, some cool projects I would've gotten, yet none are being made. Don't know why I get my hopes up any more...

Oh, thank goodness. With so many great (and expensive) sets coming out recently, and soon, I’m glad they didn’t pick an idea that would have tempted me. My pocketbook couldn’t handle it. Big ones on my radar:

Galaxy Explorer
New Castle
Bowser
Camero

They release the sequel this year, only 30 years later. I'm so not surprised they picked this.

They actually picked a good project?
I'm shocked.

Well...I'm not going to be very eager, though. This will certainly now be completely butchered by LEGO's designers. And considering LEGO's new motto is "make it lower quality and higher priced" I'm expecting it to be a rip-off when it comes out.

Really pleased about this and to be honest it wasn't one from the many up for consideration that I actually thought may be approved.

I don’t mind as long as it shrinks a bit as it can be repurposed. There’s still a chance for the others with the brick link designer program.

My girlfriend loves the movie and was disappointed last time it was not chosen. I guess this will be a day one buy.

How People are not aware of this movie?
Its HomeAlone but for halloween. A classic!

And yeah I am dissapointed. Nothing new

While I have heard of the movie I haven't seen it. Not the kind of story I am interested in.
The submission looks nice though. Let's wait and see what the LEGO designers turn it into.

All those ideas and they choose that... what a waste of time. Thats another round of money saved then.

Watched the movie last halloween. It ranges from bad to okay to average, so I'm glad it's not something I would have watched every year as a totally original and definitely not corporately stimulated tradition.

That said, I'm happy for the designer whose design was picked. I guess that a witch hut / museum makes a better set than some other submissions that are 'I want lego versions of my favorite character so I made some background build to pass it as a set'. Here you could still get a lot out of the building on its own.

And yeah... another day, another licensed IP.
Lego's quest to make a set out of every single IP in existence continues...

Normally I would leave it here, but I have to add that the statement by lego just rubs me the wrong way. It sounds more "this person made a nicely marketable family-friendly IP choice for the upcoming halloween with some decent design work already' instead of actually coming off like genuinely congradulating the fan designer for their effort and creativity.

Never seen it, much to the chagrin of some of my friends, but a Tudor house is a Tudor house. Might get it depending on price.

Yes! Super excited for it! Day one purchase for sure

Will likely buy.

Would look good next to a castle or the haunted tower house!

I was a kid and saw it in the theater when it came out, but it never particularly stuck with me.

Never liked that movie. That will be an easy pass. Shame, there were so many interesting ideas this time around.

A set based on show I have never heard, pass.

I’m honesty kinda glad nothing I was interested in was picked; my bank account is thanking me for this!

@MCLegoboy said:
"Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
Little soldier boy
Comes marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching home

Yet again Avatar gets squandered."

Stop it, you're gonna make me cry again!

@parsom said:
"I'm getting tired by Ideas..."
Can't say I disagree, my real IDEAS vote is with my paycheck. This thing's gonna be a behemoth of a set with a high price tag, and all far outside my range of interests. I'll save my money.

An Ideas set from an existing IP? Another licensed set?

What a shock! I never could have seen that coming.

Another easy pass as the set is likely to be large and expensive.

@monkyby87 said:
" @MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

I don’t think the system is outdated. It’s just inherently flawed because votes done automatically equate to purchases. So it’s easy for someone to vote for a set, even when they have no intention of buying it. Also, many get voted for as they look great, but in actuality would make poor sets to mass release. So the 10,000 submission isn’t the problem, and increasing the votes isn’t the solution. If you go to 25,000 votes as you suggest, you’re going to get fewer submissions that make the cut, but not any better choices when it comes to viable sets to produce. "

I agree that the system is flawed, but also outdated in the sense of the original intent of the IDEAS program. The point of having a voting system is to support and show interest in buying a set. At least that's what its original intention was. Now that IDEAS voting is much more popular, much more people are able to vote for a wide variety of sets. FWIW, I don't vote for a set that I wouldn't plan on buying. That's the point. I vote for sets specifically because I want them turned into actual products.

If you increase the required number of votes it will show EVEN more how much support and potential interest in buying a set would be, and with that increase, would be more difficult to attain the required number.

The idea, or my idea, would be the more sets reach a higher number (25K) then LEGO would be more driven to make that particular set a reality.

So maybe the rule would be, "If this IDEA reaches 25,000 (or whatever number) then LEGO will make this a set."

Obvious restrictions would apply to licensing, but that'd be the jist.

Not sure why this one got picked, it's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus! :)

Day 1 purchase for me!

[audible groan]

I get that Lego must've been negotiating the rights for some time, but to put this into production days after Bette Midler's prejudiced remarks is kind of a slap in the face

Heard of the movie, never seen it - might have a look and see what's the fuss around it. This is certainly not in my top 10 list but this is a set where the house would not be out of place in a Harry Potter display. It should also probably be a good source of dark brown bricks (I assume that Lego cannot change all that for light brown this time around - i.e. tree house).

The reason why I won't buy it is not so much the theme - as I mentioned it should fit well with HP. But rather the Lego disgustingly high price hike which prompted me to limit my buying to the strict minimum.

Very happy for the designer, persistence paid off. Hopefully sales will be good as well.

If someone told me yesterday "one and only one will pass" I'm not sure what I would have expected... but it wouldn't have been this. Oh well, this year's wish list is plenty long enough!

Well that is surprising....and disappointing. Especially to see another round go to some licensed property instead of an actual creative idea.

I have heard of the film, but it was panned at it's original release and no succes at the box office (only 38 on the 1993 box office). Disney alone made 7 more popular films just that one year, AFAIK only one of those ever got the Lego-treatment (Aladdin). I have never seen it myself, and never ever heard someone about it anymore. But considering it is considered a Halloween-staple by some (and apparently is getting a sequel) it's mostly a US thing I guess?

The original submission actually does look pretty good, but as it is it would be a rather expensive set....does this film really have enough of a following to warrant such a set? I would be curious to see how well the Home Alone set did. A similarly big and expensive set from a movie from the same era. But a much more popular movie (over 10 times the box office....) at that.

Oh well...

Congrats to Amber Veyt for winning Lego Ideas. It is the right time with the sequel in the works, although it is a shame that Bette Midler is a bigot. The question then becomes "what makes it to the Bricklink Designer Program" and you can be sure some sets will. I think we'll see Great Coral Reef, Clockwork Solar System, Rubik's Cube, Steampunk Explorers, Downtown Records, The Meeting Point, Pirate Tavern, and Sheriff's Office.

The same people bashing this movie also bash the gem that is Home Alone. These movies were my childhood, so nostalgia hits hard. I will definitely pick this up if the price is right. (and hopefully a decent minifig list, but who knows who they will include).

Saddened but not shocked by the lack of ATLA - I'm sure the new Avatar sets didn't help the decision here. I will still hold out hope for sets once the Netflix show rolls around?

Hocus Pocus is what I expected to go through, with the sequel on the way it's a no brainer. I am very much not a fan of the film, but it is undeniably popular (at least in the US), and should make a pretty nice haunted house set, so I'm definitely curiously to see it finished up.

The lack of Land Ahoy and some of the other sets is unfortunate, but for the most part I didn't experience any of these to get selected. With the sheer amount of projects getting canned, I wonder if it's time for Ideas to introduce some restrictions?

Pretty awesome stuff. Didn't expect it, but happy to see it.

I've seen the movie, known about it for years, but I don't think it warrants what's going to be a $120+ set. Is there much cultural significance for it outside of the USA?

Oh goodie another licensed set, who would have thought

I don't care at all about the movie this is based on but it is a very interesting looking build. May end up purchasing depending on the price.

Outside of 21307, I feel Lego only chooses American themes they believe will sale in the states.

On top of that, outside of a few sets, they should really just call this line "Nostalgic" or "Interest". None of the really cool and original designs ever get selected.

Sad that Ideas has become a funnel for mainly IP sets, wish they would make it original submissions only

So tired of licensed sets. There were a ton of unlicensed sets in this wave I would have happily bought.

@MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

And your solution to having too many sets unapproved is to ensure even more of them aren’t approved? Er, okay…

But are there werewolfs in it too? Or are the witches the creepy ones?

So. Just for a different perspective, I'll be buying this day one. While the solar system, land ahoy, greenhouse and others looked cool to me, I wouldn't have bought them. This appeals to my geekiness, and will take pride of place in my Halloween setup.

@8BrickMario said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
" @MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

And your solution to having too many sets unapproved is to ensure even more of them aren’t approved? Er, okay…"

The idea is that by implementing measures to shrink the pool in each review, the sets will feel like they have a fairer chance because it's now too easy for a project to qualify with so many voters and that leaves either a ton of good ideas that don't have a chance or a ton of average ideas that got by on outdated criteria. The solutions are either to make so there isn't an unreasonable amount of contenders for a review that will select only one or two, or make more selected per review as a rule, and it seems less likely that LEGO will opt to pump out more Ideas sets. "

There you go! Poetry, 8BrickMario!

@Brickodillo said:
"But are there werewolfs in it too? Or are the witches the creepy ones?"

There are no werewolves in the movie, so no. The witches are indeed the creepy ones, plus the zombie Billy Butcherson, if he ends up in the final set.

I was certain the Rubik’s cube would have been selected. And I’m disappointed about The Meeting Place losing out too.

The build looks like it would look nice next to the Blacksmith. I think it could appeal to Modular fans too, even those who don’t know what the movie is.

I've never heard of the movie, but the set isn't bad at all. very "spooky", also excellent for horror scenes.
2 concerns: price (probably more than 200€) and stickers (probably a lot)

I saw the movie a few years ago with my kids. I barely remember anything about it.
Despite not caring about the subject I really like the build.

TheAmbrinator did very well with part selection to make up the all the intricate details. I'd like to get a hold of many of the recolored parts she's put in the set. But is there any chance LEGO will produce a dual moulded Hoover? The part hasn't been used since 3788 in 1983.

I was really hoping for a Studio Ghibli, Zelda or NASA set (yes sorry I love my real space sets).

@8BrickMario said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"But are there werewolfs in it too? Or are the witches the creepy ones?"

There are no werewolves in the movie, so no. The witches are indeed the creepy ones, plus the zombie Billy Butcherson, if he ends up in the final set."
I can always put in some werewolves myself of course. And i think i’ll be watching the movie soon.

I am happy for the folks that want this set, and for the winner of this round.

Having said that - there were so many sets that were truly Ideas...I'm not sure main stream movies and series dominating the concept was what Lego had in mind.

Pass. Not a fan of Bette.

I personally only vote for non IP Ideas sets. I know there are many MOC builders that enjoy it, but it isn't for me.

The non-IP sets are always so much more creative, innovative and beautiful. The IP sets are just Lego depictions of something that another person came up with.

That said... I do own the Winnie the Pooh set.... Sentiment and all for childhood memories. So maybe that what Lego wants to push with these sets, adult Lego fans sentimentality? I guess I am ok with that.

It seems to me that LEGO (in it's efforts to draw people away from the addiction that is TV) by encouraging creative building with their blocks, have resorted to falling back on the very medium that is destroying creativity. If film & TV studios are churning out fantasy-based alternative universes why are LEGO doing the same? We need more individualistic creativity, not more of the same.

Might get it just for the Medieval style house. Not because I like, or have even seen, the film or anything.

@dimc said:
"Lego must have some secret information* on how well the TV and movie set sets sell, because most of them seem really boring to me.
That said, this one can be repurposed easily, assuming the license fee doesn't make it stupidly expensive. Lots of good parts for house builders here.

*yes I know they obviously have it, just saying what we see and understand doesn't really jive with what they pick in a lot of cases. "

I don’t think anyone mentioned that the movie was released by Walt Disney Studios. I think the Mouse is flexing its Lego ties.

Looking at the Idea pics it seems tgat the house could go in the neighborhood of my Medieval Blacksmith

Totally off-topic: Today marks my 10th Anniversary on Brickset.

And the site is even better today than is was 10 years ago.

Great content, unmatched database and an active and respectful community.

Would have been nice if the designer had actually bothered to build it with bricks rather than simply do it online. A lazy entry, an existing IP, unoriginal; LEGO's ears pricked up for the cash-cow it'll be. Wasteful again...

@8BrickMario said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
" @MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

And your solution to having too many sets unapproved is to ensure even more of them aren’t approved? Er, okay…"

The idea is that by implementing measures to shrink the pool in each review, the sets will feel like they have a fairer chance because it's now too easy for a project to qualify with so many voters and that leaves either a ton of good ideas that don't have a chance or a ton of average ideas that got by on outdated criteria. The solutions are either to make so there isn't an unreasonable amount of contenders for a review that will select only one or two, or make more selected per review as a rule, and it seems less likely that LEGO will opt to pump out more Ideas sets. "

Except that’s not what will happen. Lego isn’t not making certain sets because there are too many submissions. Ideas that aren’t made aren’t made for a reason. We’ve seen periods where they didn’t choose a set, and others when they’re chosen multiple. So it’s not an issue of there being too many and their judgment being muddled.

@Brikkyy13 said:
"Ideas has become an extension of the Disney theme at this point.

Projects like the solar system, Zelda and Johnny 5 have all reached 10k supporters before, these projects reaching the threshold more than once is a clear sign of demand. I get that licensing is a thing, some of these projects don’t require licenses. In Zelda’s case they more or less have the license already. But no, they have to chose the Disney property nobody outside of the USA has heard of.

I don’t even want a Zelda set but it’s become a joke. "

Where do you get the idea that they already have a license in the works for Zelda? Them making Mario sets does not equate to Zelda.

Hope some of the ones not selected get up in a future Bricklink Designer Program.

@Reg said:
"Would have been nice if the designer had actually bothered to build it with bricks rather than simply do it online. A lazy entry, an existing IP, unoriginal; LEGO's ears pricked up for the cash-cow it'll be. Wasteful again... "

Lazy?
Clearly you missed the awful BTS submission a while back. Those minifigure a didn’t even have faces!

@8BrickMario said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
" @MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

And your solution to having too many sets unapproved is to ensure even more of them aren’t approved? Er, okay…"

The idea is that by implementing measures to shrink the pool in each review, the sets will feel like they have a fairer chance because it's now too easy for a project to qualify with so many voters and that leaves either a ton of good ideas that don't have a chance or a ton of average ideas that got by on outdated criteria. The solutions are either to make so there isn't an unreasonable amount of contenders for a review that will select only one or two, or make more selected per review as a rule, and it seems less likely that LEGO will opt to pump out more Ideas sets. "

But that isn’t really actually approving more sets; it just means fewer get to the review phase. If people submit one thousand sets and five of them get to review, that’s not an improvement over thirty getting to review out of those thousand. A smaller pool is not an improvement.

Suppose this pool had been a fraction of the size, and the Hocus Pocus project was among those that didn’t even get to review. We’d have then had a review with no approved projects. How would that have been better?

Not surprised, just disappointed

@Reg said:
"Would have been nice if the designer had actually bothered to build it with bricks rather than simply do it online. A lazy entry, an existing IP, unoriginal; LEGO's ears pricked up for the cash-cow it'll be. Wasteful again... "

That sounds really petty. Where in the rules does it say they have to be built of bricks? Some of us don't have the space, time, or resources to make these creations IRL. Studio is all some of us have access to in order to make more complex designs. Deal with it.

Disappointing selection. Will not be buying it.

I think it will depend on implementation of the final set.
I do put up Halloween decorations, and changed my fisherman cottage to be Halloween focused. This could work for it, but as it stands now, it needs a bit more something on the outside of it. It would work well next to the fishman set, though.

@Reg said:
"Would have been nice if the designer had actually bothered to build it with bricks rather than simply do it online. A lazy entry, an existing IP, unoriginal; LEGO's ears pricked up for the cash-cow it'll be. Wasteful again... "

Quite the bold statement...did you even look at the submission? I'm not a fan of the movie and I do wish LEGO would do less IPs, but you can tell the designer put quite a bit of effort into this. Just because it's digital doesn't mean a significant amount of time wasn't put into designing it. Claiming it's a lazy entry shows how ignorant and pathetic you are.

If I'm not mistaken, LEGO is in the business of making money. This submission has hit 10k votes. Twice. Just because it doesn't fit your criteria for the perfect set doesn't mean thousands of others won't jump at the opportunity to buy it. You, "REG", are not LEGO's sole customer or demographic.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this point made many times here before: LEGO has various customers to appease across the globe, not just one group of people. Yet...there's always someone whining because LEGO is not bending to that person's every whim.

The only thing LEGO Ideas seems to be good at doing is bringing out the best and the worst in the community at the same time.

I always thought Ideas was about bringing something new to the table.
Now it's again a house and again from a tv/movie.
There were so many great ideas this time around with opportunities to do something different.
The Solar System would have been a very interesting project, and also the Land Ahoy set would have been something completely different than Lego's regular releases. Even the rubix-cube would have been great, though I assume that might have posed a IP-issue. So why, why, why pick only this relatively boring set (imho)?

Surely the producers of the sequel contribute to the production costs of the set. And there were so many beautiful sets submitted to the competition... At least five others ere stunning. I would be waiting impatiently to buy them. While the boring hocus pocus... iabsolutely not!

Looks like a pretty standard cottage design similar to the Christmas Village sets.
I was hoping for something a bit different like Meeting point train station, as original and looks fantastic with lots of interesting detailing, while not going mad on the piece count making it a realistic build. especially after the previously declined Victorian train station sold 10,000 units in 30 minutes on the Bricklink designer program round 2.

Personally, I find the Lego Ideas Competitions more interesting now as the entries push the boundaries more in originality, design and wow factor!

Baba yaga was snubbed, I loved lots of the submissions this round. But Baba Yaga reached 10,000 the quickest of any non licenced ida (iirc).

Maybe it'll come back one day like the vote we got wit h the Viking village, fish tanks and golf.

I have heard of hocus pocus but only recently, it is very niche outside of the states so it's silly for people to throw Thier toys out of the pram just because Huw said he hadn't heard of it.

Hocus pocus wouldn't be such a disappointing choice if they chose more than 36th of the entries.

@AgentKallus said:
"Baba yaga was snubbed, I loved lots of the submissions this round. But Baba Yaga reached 10,000 the quickest of any non licenced ida (iirc).

Maybe it'll come back one day like the vote we got wit h the Viking village, fish tanks and golf.

I have heard of hocus pocus but only recently, it is very niche outside of the states so it's silly for people to throw Thier toys out of the pram just because Huw said he hadn't heard of it.

Hocus pocus wouldn't be such a disappointing choice if they chose more than 36th of the entries. "

Baba Yaga hit 10k so fast because of the social media boost it got, particularly from a single Russian Reddit thread, I believe. That doesn't mean it's not worth producing, just something to consider, given that things "go viral" and hit millions of views in a matter of hours, 10k is a relatively small number to hit.

However, since a large portion of potential* customers are in sanctioned countries at the moment, it wouldn't be prudent for LEGO to release such a set; lucky for them, they own the rights to all Ideas submissions for two(?) years, so they could release it later on as you suggested.

*I say "potential" because Baba Yaga could also be considered a niche set, given that it's from Slavic folklore, which is geared towards roughly 260 million people in 13 countries (not to say others wouldn't find it interesting, but that would be the largest demographic of people more likely familiar with the subject matter).

I was personally hoping for Land Ahoy.

@nldarklord said:
"I always thought Ideas was about bringing something new to the table.
Now it's again a house and again from a tv/movie.
There were so many great ideas this time around with opportunities to do something different.
The Solar System would have been a very interesting project, and also the Land Ahoy set would have been something completely different than Lego's regular releases. Even the rubix-cube would have been great, though I assume that might have posed a IP-issue. So why, why, why pick only this relatively boring set (imho)?"

Probably because the movie has a lot of fans, and their market data suggests a set based on the film will sell a certain amount of LEGO to people who don’t normally buy it. That’s better than making another set that will merely give another option to those of us who already all spend as much money on LEGO as we can afford to do.

The fact that it’s “again a house and again from a tv/movie” doesn’t matter to fans of the properties to which these sets appeal. From the perspective of a LEGO fan who isn’t a fan of any of the shows and movies Ideas houses like this one or the Home Alone house are based on, it’s understandable that we’d get less excited about multiple houses when they might instead have picked something they’ve never done before. But the thing is, we’re LEGO fans already; we already spend money on LEGO anyway. It’s true we might spend more or less money on LEGO in some years or others depending on how many sets a given year we find appealing, but to a certain point we’re just spending money out of a pool of money that’s going to LEGO anyway, and we’re just deciding which sets get it. But as bizarre as it might seem to us, there are actually people walking around out there who do not normally buy LEGO - crazy, I know, but true! Yet some of these people, despite not being fans of LEGO, are fans of other things, such as certain movies and TV shows. A LEGO set based on, say, Seinfeld (for example) is naturally going to appeal most to people who are fans of both LEGO and Seinfeld, but it can also appeal to people who are fans of one but not the other. And that’s the thing - each set they do is an opportunity to appeal - and sell - not only to fans of LEGO, but to fans of whatever thing it is that is represented in the set. Sets like these help sell LEGO to people who don’t normally buy LEGO.

But why have so many, when one might do? Because each movie and TV series that gets a set is its own different thing, and if a fan of Hocus Pocus does not have the option of buying a set of the Hocus Pocus house, they are not necessarily going to want a copy of the Home Alone house just because it too is a house. One might as well suggest that a fan of (insert sports team here) who wants a shirt representing that team but finds they are currently sold out will be just as happy with a shirt from a rival team. I think most of us will recognize that as being ridiculous, and yet some folks seem to think that because LEGO has already offered a set of a house from a given licensed screen entertainment, all fans of all other screen entertainment ever made should be happy with that, even if they’ve never seen that particular screen entertainment or don’t care for it, on the basis that all houses appearing in all screen entertainment appeal equally to all of the same people. That’s… just not the case.

@Blondie_Wan said:
" @8BrickMario said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
" @MarcusDewaine said:
"Increase the voting to 25,000. Too many sets are getting submitted and thereby getting nominated and then unapproved.

The system is outdated."

And your solution to having too many sets unapproved is to ensure even more of them aren’t approved? Er, okay…"

The idea is that by implementing measures to shrink the pool in each review, the sets will feel like they have a fairer chance because it's now too easy for a project to qualify with so many voters and that leaves either a ton of good ideas that don't have a chance or a ton of average ideas that got by on outdated criteria. The solutions are either to make so there isn't an unreasonable amount of contenders for a review that will select only one or two, or make more selected per review as a rule, and it seems less likely that LEGO will opt to pump out more Ideas sets. "

But that isn’t really actually approving more sets; it just means fewer get to the review phase. If people submit one thousand sets and five of them get to review, that’s not an improvement over thirty getting to review out of those thousand. A smaller pool is not an improvement.

Suppose this pool had been a fraction of the size, and the Hocus Pocus project was among those that didn’t even get to review. We’d have then had a review with no approved projects. How would that have been better?"

The theory of shrinking the pool is not "I want LEGO to make less sets". I just don't think they're going to increase the volume of Ideas sets and am accounting for that. It's the means by which the pool is shrunk that matters--by increasing the number of votes to qualify a project. Today, 10k votes is not as high of a threshold as it used to be now that Ideas is more widely used, so the projects that get through aren't as *exceptionally* popular as they used to be. To raise the vote threshold would balance things by accounting for a larger userbase of voters, and reduce the pool by demonstrating what's truly the most popular and top-tier in the larger group. What I think we have now is a broader group and huge pool of broadly-popular projects that all get through to review without a chance of being produced because LEGO selects so few projects and/or the projects that got into review are not worthy because the vote threshold is now too easy to surpass. Entering the review stage no longer feels as merit-based as it was before, and again, I don't think LEGO will choose to expedite Ideas review and production to make more sets, so making the review pool smaller with that higher threshold of merit would feel fairer.

Another way LEGO could improve the system is to restrict cetain projects as no-gos without letting them hopelessly enter the review stage. Every review, there are modulars, sets based on current licenses, and properties LEGO has indicated through repeated rejection they will not select, so getting those out of the review pool would make the process feel more fair and exciting. The basic problem with Ideas is the way it feels like we're teased with a bunch of great projects that won't get made. So if there are fewer projects that make it to review, the contenders feel more worthy and there's less we feel we missed out on after the selection. A huge range of projects leaves a huge range of people disappointed--look how many of the losing projects have been mourned in this comments section. The same would go for removing outright unviable projects from review qualification so nobody gets false hope about a project that fundamentally goes against LEGO's unspoken selection criteria.

And yeah, sometimes LEGO doesn't think any of the fan submissions are viable, but that could theoretically be possible in a pool of any size.

@Huw said:
"Never heard of it..."

Before my time (although I’ve heard of it) and after yours? Truly is cursed…

@CCC said:
" @LegoDonJuan said:
"I am happy for the folks that want this set, and for the winner of this round.

Having said that - there were so many sets that were truly Ideas...I'm not sure main stream movies and series dominating the concept was what Lego had in mind."

I don't think movies and TV dominates, as there is a balance between non-IP and IP sets. I think this is exactly what LEGO wants. IDEAS sets tend to be display objects and movies/TV with the occasional large building set. If they didn't want movies/TV, they can stop producing them as IDEAS sets. The number of submissions would soon drop. Or just ban them from being submitted.
"

@CCC - I had a look at the past few years of Ideas sets, and you are right. It's balanced. I stand corrected.

@8BrickMario said:
"Another way LEGO could improve the system is to restrict cetain projects as no-gos without letting them hopelessly enter the review stage. Every review, there are modulars, sets based on current licenses, and properties LEGO has indicated through repeated rejection they will not select, so getting those out of the review pool would make the process feel more fair and exciting. The basic problem with Ideas is the way it feels like we're teased with a bunch of great projects that won't get made. So if there are fewer projects that make it to review, the contenders feel more worthy and there's less we feel we missed out on after the selection. A huge range of projects leaves a huge range of people disappointed--look how many of the losing projects have been mourned in this comments section. The same would go for removing outright unviable projects from review qualification so nobody gets false hope about a project that fundamentally goes against LEGO's unspoken selection criteria."

I very much agree!

I think it is a good thing Ideas is basically open for everyone and anything. And sure, I have more than once rolled my eyes at submissions that look like they're the first ever creation of a small kid (and it probably is), but that still get quite a number of votes and always positive reactions. But they shouldn't discourage anyone from submitting Ideas, that's part of the concept.

But at some point there should be some kind of moderation. For every project that makes it to, say, 1000 votes, look if it complies with the basic rules (and make those very clear), and if not, end of story. And let people know why that is. And maybe a second pre-review phase later on, to weed out any sets that would never make it more complex reasons, like licensing, subject matter or just because it just isn't an original idea. All to end up with a selection of submissions that would actually have a chance.

But instead ever so often you see staff picks of which it is so obvious it will never ever happen.... why, just why?

SR-71 :-(

Bogus!! I liked the pirate tavern and the hidden scholars ones but I can see why the hocus pocus would get the popular vote; votes made by people who don't build

@parsom said:
"I'm getting tired by Ideas..."

I'm not, its still one of my favourite themes. But then I don't need to buy every set, just the ones I like.

Never understood the "It doesn't appeal to me, therefore bad." I don't have the Friends or Seinfeld sets, I think they are awful, but they are super popular and a lot of people love them.

That's why ideas is awesome, its eclectic. It has a typewriter (not something I particularly like), a piano, (something I do), a rocket, (love that), Jazz band, (not for me), etc etc.

Some sets will have IP and throwback to movies, some won't. The range is broad and diverse and doesn't always fit the Brickset members ideas of what should and should not be a set, but there are many more buyers than just us out in the wild consumer world!

TL/DR - Love the Ideas theme, as I get to choose which sets I want from an eclectic range.

For this set, never heard of the move, so will wait to see if the final product interests me!

As an American, I can confirm Hocus Pocus is extremely popular over here. As an American, I can confirm it is one of the most overrated movies over here, which is saying a good bit.

Granted, I am a little biased and bitter, as one of the stars, Bette Midler, insulted the entire area I'm from. https://nypost.com/2021/12/21/bette-midler-slammed-for-calling-west-virginia-poor-illiterate-and-strung-out/

Easy pass for me.

Considering Lego's interaction with Disney and the sequal coming out in Spetember, it's not surprising to see a Disney themed set to be selected as the new Ideas set. Not that the design is bad, but to me it's just another modular with bland colors. I wish we had a bookend by now. I've seen many of them hitting 10.000 mark but dumped later on.

I was hoping Land Ahoy would make it through.

Lame.

Disney is out of ideas, and has taken to merely insulting people who have the temerity to point it out.

Won’t buy, and will actively tell others not to.

They passed on the blackbird AGAIN ugh

@Zedthefed said:
"They passed on the blackbird AGAIN ugh"

It won't ever be made, and you should know by now, why.

I will 100% be buying this but I'm really disapointed none of the others snuck past too. I really liked the Union Pacific Big Boy!

@monkyby87 said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Does anyone else find the recurring "never heard of this movie" comments frustrating? (Google is a thing, and you'll quickly discover that the film is a cult classic and a Halloween staple for a lot of people. It's not *my* cup of tea, but apparently there's enough demand that it justifies a set.)"
I try not to get too annoyed by it, but it does get old. Also, it’s kind of disappointing to see that reaction from one of the staff of Brickset here, @Huw.
"

Well, huw lives under a rock so it makes sense, really

Alas no Asterix in LEGO form...

But it would be great as a CMF series ;-)

I didn’t vote for this one, and I certainly wouldn’t buy it. I can’t believe something like this made it when other sets which were much more desirable didn’t,

And yet another IP-based set, designed to grab more money from an upcoming movie. As someone said above, just make 2 sets of ideas: IP-based and "ht rest". Yet another greedy move from LEGO