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star-wars
Every day, hobbyists unbound by price or popularity proudly share mindblowing “MOCs” (“My Own Creations”) that at times outshine the officially produced sets. Since 2008, Lego has offered a way for these creators to have their designs turned into official Lego products and receive a royalty for their efforts, but thus far only four projects, including a Minecraft Microworld and a Back to the Future time machine, have gathered the 10,000 fan votes and passed the stringent commercialization review which are required to make a kit official.
Many projects fail because they break the guidelines set forth by the committee overseeing the project, Cuusoo, such as designing kits around existing brands or creating overly large, complex, or expensive designs. Even more, however, never make it to market because of obscurity.
Earlier this month, Lego unveiled over 250 of its own new kits, hitting shelves throughout 2013 and 2014. While these new products were carefully designed to fit snugly onto retail planograms, hit aggressive price targets, and incorporate coveted brand licenses like Star Wars, most lacked Lego's trademark innovation.
The 10 following Cuusoo proposals may never hit toy store shelves (although we wish they would), but they show how the versatile Lego platform can be paired with passionate designers leveraging crowdsourcing technology, and outshine even the official sets.
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