LEGO Ideas: Original Projects vs. Final Sets (2023 update)

Honestly not to bothered by it myself. It feels like LEGO treats the fan models as early concept drafts, and looking at the press kit for the Bionicle GWP stuff lately its clear that LEGO designer MOCs and early concepts look a LOT like early submissions on Ideas in terms of "anything goes." Its all just part of the process to change the model to a final product.

I still cant believe they changed the beautiful rockwork from the Lighthouse to BURP. That is just misunderstandig the original model.

For the most part, I think that the final design is an improvement on the base origional model. However, with the Jazz Quartet and the Football Table, they feel like they've lost most of the detail and design in favour of cheapness making the set. I could argue the same for the lighthouse, but the finished tower looks alot better in my opinion, but it needed taller cliffs.

As @xboxtravis7992 pointed out, it does seems like Lego treats ideas like a concept art department, and then gets their own team to rebuild popular ideas.

I was very surprised and pleased with the excellent updates and revisions Lego gave to the lighthouse.

I wasn't going to buy this anyway so I don't really care, but I find it extremely funny that the author didn't (want to?) notice the gender and race swap on the Jazz Quartet's pianist in an article specifically focusing on the differences between projects and final sets.

Probably should have just cancelled the football table.

@Arnoldos said:
"I find it extremely funny that the author didn't (want to?) notice the gender and race swap on the Jazz Quartet's pianist..."

Surely gender and race are things which shouldn't be commented upon...?

Personally, I prefer the original Ideas to the LEGO version in every set - except for The Starry Night which is great both ways.

The A-Frame changed from a ram-shackled building to a tourist building, and the table football changed from being representative of table football (albeit not stable in Lego terms) to being something not representative of table football (due to the tiny size (and odd 3-2 formation).

I am suprised there are people that think new version of Jazz QUartet looks WAY better than the original.

If there's one thing I've now come to expect lately is for LEGO to ruin whatever Ideas project we vote on.
For every set they actually improve upon there are 5 they ruin with either awful redesigns or awful colour choices. This is why I've stopped bothering voting for any Ideas projects and I've stopped buying every Ideas set that came out.

Then again, LEGO seems to be on the path of "low quality, high prices" as much as possible. I've started to answer to that appropriately by stop buying a bunch of sets every month.

To me the motorised lighthouse was a bland submission, but I did buy the updated LEGO version.

And for the jazz quartet it's the other way around: the original captivated the jazz vibe in a dark and smoky nightclub. The new version is just some nice colourful piece to put on your Billy shelf (that I didn't buy).

I’m still not over how badly they messed up the Jazz Quartet. The figures are all way more chunky, and I totally think there was a way to make them stronger without adding on so much unnecessary bulk.

I really liked the original A frame design more, when it was a hunter's shack that looked like it was falling apart. The new one is just a bunch of hipsters staying at an Air BnB, all it's missing is the solar charger for their EV

@djcbs said:
"If there's one thing I've now come to expect lately is for LEGO to ruin whatever Ideas project we vote on.
For every set they actually improve upon there are 5 they ruin with either awful redesigns or awful colour choices. This is why I've stopped bothering voting for any Ideas projects and I've stopped buying every Ideas set that came out."

With respect, there is no obligation to buy every Ideas set if you don’t like the design. I think it’s still very important to vote for submissions that you like and give the designers of the original idea support for the time and effort they made to bring their idea to life, and give them a chance for their design to be made into an actual set. It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to make their designs a widely-available product in some form. Sure, the final product won’t always be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s still an amazing platform for ordinary people who don’t work for LEGO to create an official LEGO product.

It's called LEGO Ideas, not LEGO Final Product. So of course they are using it as a source for out-of-the-box thinking, a source of inspiration, and a rough first feel for popularity, rather than a search for models that could be turned straight into sets. People seem to forget that very quickly when they vote for projects. They vote for stuff that looks awesome, which is commonly because they are unlimited in budget and structural integrity and presented well with beautiful renders. For example, did anyone really think the final A-frame cabin would use pieces that wasn't pushed all the way down on the studs like in the fan design? Come on...
Ideally they would somehow normalize the presentation of the actual "ideas" instead, but I don't know how that could be done. I just think it's really cool that there is a program like this at all. And if a submission is well thought through and uses solid building techniques as well as a realistic parts budget, they will see minimum changes if accepted and produced.

I’m hoping that the Dungeons & Dragons set is pretty faithful to the competition entry but with a red dragon, not a green one.

I’ve seen an image online with the dragon in red (presumably provided by the competition’s winner) and it’s more visually impactful and thematically iconic (yes, I know green dragons exist in D&D).

Looking at these side-by-side, I think Lego have improved every single submission. Most fan submissions are overly complex with fragile construction which is where the majority of the improvements come. Even with those improvements, 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (one of the Ideas sets I have) is still a frustratingly fragile model.
For this group, many of the changes moved them from no-way to possible purchases for me.
I do note that the lighthouse is one model where Lego have opted for darker colours than the original.

Bricklink program exists for the people who want their models as they are, instead of 10000 votes, you get 10000 sets sold via crowdfunding (well 20000 in future series)

Ideas is the opposite, 10000 votes beforehand that cost nothing, and then LEGO may alter the Idea into a marketable product by their standards.

The Pirate Ship from 21322: Pirates of Barracuda Bay basicly made it into the precursor of an Icons set (like forest hideout and blacktron which are direct modern remakes of sets) , and I like it much much more compared to the original, and the fact it's still a 2-in-1 island wreck or ship+island, is genius.

I simply want to add that among the many brilliant features on this site, the LEGO Ideas comparison between original projects and final sets is one of my favourites, and, as far as I can tell, entirely unique to this site.

And, for what it's worth, I have been pleasantly surprised by the final LEGO Ideas sets over the last 12 months. The controversy regarding the Table Football notwithstanding, it seems to me that, contrary to previous years, where certain sets were downgraded from their original designs, recent LEGO Ideas sets, certainly from the Home Alone House onwards, have arguably improved upon the original submissions (e.g. expanding the Lighthouse to mini-scale, thus enhancing its playability and accessibility, and adding a back wall to the A-Frame House, allowing it to be easier incorporated alongside Modular buildings from an aesthetic POV). With any luck the forthcoming BTS "Dynamite" set will significantly build-upon and enhance the relatively bare-bones original design, perhaps adding some extra walls/additional interior features to the Disco/Music Shop facade.

LEGO after seeing an Ideas project: cool, bUt hOw cAn wE mAke iT bAD?

I liked the change to Starry Night, gave it a more finished look and the addition of the VanGough minifigure was awesome.

I love the lighthouse redesign, but the price will make me pause my purchase until (and if) it goes on sale.

The football table is a 1/10.

I've bought and assembled a few fan models from Rebrickable and often they lack a certain "mature and refined" design that you see in large scale official sets that enhance stability and playability. Nothing wrong with that, it's the experience we often buy with these sets, and Lego has their own formula goals. If the alterations still provide the basic Idea, then I have no problem with changes.

The football table to me is an abomination versus the submission, and honestly deserved to simply have not been made at all.
The fact that it is already discounted by 30% from LEGO themselves so shortly after release speaks volumes. If I was the original designer I would be totally pi**ed off.

Also, while I absolutely hate jazz as a style of music, I would have considered buying the Jazz Quartet had they kept it more close to the original submission. But especially the change of colour totally ruins the feel of the set for me.

@Trigger_ said:
"LEGO after seeing an Ideas project: cool, bUt hOw cAn wE mAke iT bAD?"

More like, how can we make it actually feasible as a mass produced set that doesn’t fall apart simply by looking at it?

Also, you should get your keyboard checked out, it’s doing something crazy with upper and lower case.

LEGO improved the Lighthouse, and I like their version of the A-frame better. I didn't like the "ramshackle" look so much.

LEGO significantly degraded the Jazz Quartet's style, which was a disappointment. They utterly destroyed the foosball table, but it was never a practical notion, and should not have been accepted into Ideas.

I continue to be very grateful to LEGO for offering the Ideas line. It's the most interesting thing in the LEGO world these days. There will be many hits, occasional misses, but overall we get many excellent sets. Keep it going!

I miss when ideas sets were often less than 100 bucks.

Hasn’t realised the table football was so controversial; can’t help but wonder if the people currently complaining about how it was changed would also have been complaining if it hadn’t and had proved too fragile to actually use as a table football set

I think that the Table Football drama will remain Lego's greatest mistake of the century,,,

For me, only The Starry Night and the Lighthouse are an improvement over the original sets. The Office is practically the same. The table should not be released at all at that scale. And the Jazz and Cabin are some obviously downgrade, because the final models lost the "soul" of the original submissions.

I think for most part the Lego designers did a good with most of these sets. I can understand why some things had to change, and I think most as a whole got better. Especially Starry Night, which looks so much better with the frame. And also the lighthouse, while the base is a step down from the original, changing it to minifig scale actually worked great here. Biggest issue has nothing to do with the design, but is the price.

The two obvious exceptions being the football table and the jazz quartet. With the football table, I feel the designers were between a rock and a hard place. It just wasn't feasible to make it as the original submission was, so I can understand the changes. And those would have been fine if they adjusted the price accordingly. Instead they opted to retain the very high price and compensated this with a lot of unnecessary fluff. Just a 5-vs-5 football table for half the price, maybe a bit more, would still have been fun. This set isn't ruined by the designers, but by marketing decisions.

And the Jazz Quartet might just be the biggest disappointment of all. I loved the original submission, it so well captured the essence of jazz by the sleek designs, the intense poses, the dark but classy stage. But instead we got some relaxed party band or so. I don't care that they changed the gender or race for the pianist. I do care that she's sitting there nonchalantly playing with one hand, I'm almost surprised they didn't put a cell phone in her other hand to check her social media while playing. And the trumpet player looks like he's from a marching band... Apparently this was all done to make the figures more sturdy....but they I wonder why? This is a pure display set, so why does it have to be earthquake proof?

I honestly don't know how Table Football earns anything above a 0/10. They're just completely separate models. As if 2 different designers took the "Table Football" prompt and developed their sets completely independently without seeing the other. The lighthouses are very different, but you can tell where the inspiration came from. The table football models just share nothing in common.

On the other hand, I think A-Frame cabin is a very acceptable and expected rendition of the fan model. I guess I understand the rating due to the fact that there are changes.

Quite often I’ll be pretty ambivalent with the choices Lego makes in picking Ideas sets - too dull colouring, too MOC-ish, no interest in the subject matter.

But then I’ll see the final produced model pics and it will sway me completely to buy.

Lego do what they do best and turn these ‘Ideas’ into marketable, buildable and usable sets for consumers.

Saying that, I think the only time I’ve been disappointed in the final product is still the Flintstones set - where’s the sign and Dino?

I can see why people are upset with the final version of the A-frame house. As was stated above it went from as cozy backwoods hunting or camping house to a bunch of hipsters pretending they can handle country life. I do like the original tress so much more. Yes the broken stairs aren't really good for the build but they could have just straightened them up.

@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
"Looking at these side-by-side, I think Lego have improved every single submission. Most fan submissions are overly complex with fragile construction which is where the majority of the improvements come. Even with those improvements, 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (one of the Ideas sets I have) is still a frustratingly fragile model.
For this group, many of the changes moved them from no-way to possible purchases for me.
I do note that the lighthouse is one model where Lego have opted for darker colours than the original."

Yeah, call me nuts, but I actually agree. I significantly prefer the new Tree House to the old, and if someone wants a more ramshackle A-Frame cabin, it looks easy enough to modify.

But by and large, I really do prefer the brighter colors and more "LEGO-ish" visage. Plus, compromises often need to be made to achieve a stable, marketable product. In some cases (*ahem* Table Football), the compromises are too extreme to adequately represent the original submission, but I think LEGO's largely been pretty good at weeding out what will and will not be unworkable product ideas in the review period.

Its weird to me that people still expect ideas sets to be identical or near-identical to the original submission when that almost never happens. That's not what Ideas is. That's not what its ever been. How do you all still not get that?

Its fine to prefer the original submission, they're almost always far better than the final set, but like... at some point you've got to stop being surprised by that, right?

While I do understand complaints about color scheme changes, I always wonder how obvious some of these changes actually are in reality when comparing submission photos with set photos. The background for the official set photos is pure white without any shadows, thus already enhancing the vibrancy of all set colors. In combination with the observation that the rendering software used for many submission images also seems to mute certain normally bright colors, I think that some 'changes' to a brighter color scheme are more perceived than real.

Also, I have built some great-looking MOCs from Rebrickable that have horrible structural integrity in reality (they sometimes break/fall apart upon the slightest touch so just moving the set often requires some rebuilding at its new location), so I generally appreciate changes that make sets more sturdy

Not really understanding the disappointment about the Jazz club. Change the floor back to brown, and swap the white background with the brown from the submission and it would look fine. Yeah, the bodies are a bit thicker, but I can't see the original ones withstanding more than a sideways look before falling apart.
Not big on the history of Jazz, so maybe I just don't understand what people mean by the submission capturing the spirit of Jazz roots and the product not. Maybe just the fact that it got made by a company that had to follow some design rules.

Also, Foosball is weird, I doubt it would have made it as a set in a proper ideas submission and review. Because it was chosen from a design contest, the decision was probably made with less time than others, and then nobody wanted to have to pull the plug on something they had said they would do.

@VaderJr316 said:
"Lego completely spit in the designers face with the a-frame cabin. They turned a beautiful rustic hermit cabin in the woods to a tourist’s camp site in the middle of the city….. appalling."

I am sure the original designers bank account won’t mind!

The comments on the Foosball set were so disheartening. I have no patience for the argument "this couldn't exist in the form I personally wanted, therefore no one should be allowed to have it!". I can understand the arguments that it would have been better simplified further and reduced in price accordingly, but why insist that it should have been canceled if it couldn't be the full 11-on-a-side? Can't we just take a step back and say "at least a few people liked this enough to purchase it, and I'm happy they got what they wanted"?.

Overall, I am a huge supporter of the Ideas concept and think that it has brought some great new, er, ideas to the Lego range. I don't like them all and some of the final sets have indeed been less good imho that the original submissions (Dinosaur Fossils springs to mind), but I have bought 17 of the 45 sets to to date (and hope to get the A-Frame AirBnB in due course). Nothing is perfect, but keep up the good work, Lego. If we don't like an aspect of the final version of a set, we can always modify it to suit our own taste - the beauty of Lego.