Fall 2012 LEGO CUUSOO Review Results and Breakdown

LEGO CUUSOO has announced the results for the Fall 2012 LEGO Review. The sets up for selection included the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover by Perijove, the UCS Sandcrawler by mb_bricks, and the Thinking with Portals! by Brickthing and Team Jigsaw. Here is the official video.

As many of you already know the process for production is a long one taking several months to a few years depending on how fast you gain supporters. First you post an idea on the LEGO CUUSOO website. Once you get 10,000 supporters, LEGO reviews the set/idea and determines if it can be mass produced as an official LEGO set/theme. Licensing, cost of new molds, MRSP of the set, popularity of the theme the set portrays, and many other factors have an impact on a set's approval. If the set is approved then you get 1% of the net sales of the set. A video with more details on the process is below.

The Mars Rover was approved for production. The price and final production model is still pending along with a release date. (Late this year or early next year is my guess.) I think it’s a sweet model and has a good level of detail. The working suspension is a plus. I assume the lower price point of the model and the overall appeal of science/education/space sets helped this set get approval for production. NASA also had a factor in its approval since the real-life rover is designed by them and LEGO had to get a yes from them in order to produce the set. Pictures for this model are below.

The UCS Sandcrawler if produced would easily be the biggest LEGO set of all time. It is motorized and has lighting throughout the model. I wasn't surprised to hear it got turned down considering the size of the set. I did have a small ray of hope that it would get approved, but it just didn't work out. Here are some facts about the model:

Minifigure scale: 96 cm long, 100.5 cm long (lowered main ramp) (About 3.15 ft. long without the ramp lowered and 3.3 ft. long with the main ramp lowered.)
Weight: Approximately 20 kg. (44 lb.)
Part count: over 10,000 pieces.
Power functions: 4 xl motors, 5 m motors, 4 receivers, 4 battery packs, 22 Lego LED-lights.

Powered radio-controlled Functions:
- Driving: Forward and reverse.
- Steering. - Main ramp: Up and down.
- Crane: Up and down, in and out.
- Conveyer band: Forward and reverse.

Other features:
Fully interior on three floors in the front half of the model with a detailed cockpit. (Removable roof.) There is a second crane in the back of the workshop and a lighted smelter.

As you can see from the details above this set is very complex and it was ultimately turned down by Lucasfilm.

Below is a picture of the impressive model along with a video of it in action.

The Portal project is still pending while they await test results. I really don't know much about The Portal, but I found it was a popular video game that was released about 6 years ago and a sequel called Portal 2 was released 2 years ago. If anyone has more information to share about The Portal please comment below. I have to say the designs look interesting enough with the orange and light blue portals, but I wonder if there really is a good demand/market for these sets? Would younger kids like these sets or will they be more popular among teens and adults? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Some Portal pictures are below.

What do you think about LEGO’s selection of the Mars Rover, the rejection of the UCS Sandcrawler, and the pending approval of The Portal? Please let me know below and thanks for reading my article.