Lego Doctor Who?
Wednesday, 26 February 2014 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
Many fans of Doctor Who and the Lego building toy sets have long wished for Doctor Who Lego toys. Now, a post on Lego's Cuusoo crowdsourcing design site suggests that Doctor Who Lego sets may be coming soon.
Lego Cuusoo is a crowdsourcing platform where people can submit and vote on designs for Lego toy sets. If a project receives 10,000 votes of support, it is considered by a Lego review board, which decides whether the project is suitable to be produced commercially. Previous sets which have made it through this process include sets based on the Mars Curiosity rover, Back to the Future, and Ghostbusters (available this summer).
In the past, Lego Cuusoo proposals based on Doctor Who have been rejected due to conflict with Character Building's license to produce Doctor Who toys. Character has produced Lego-compatible Doctor Who building toys since 2011. It is not known whether Character's license has changed or expired, but today Lego posted the following on the Lego Cuusoo website:
This does not mean that Lego is definitely going to license and produce Doctor Who toys, but it does mean that they no longer consider it impossible.
Image: a fan-created Eleventh Doctor minifigure. Source: Brickimedia. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Lego Cuusoo is a crowdsourcing platform where people can submit and vote on designs for Lego toy sets. If a project receives 10,000 votes of support, it is considered by a Lego review board, which decides whether the project is suitable to be produced commercially. Previous sets which have made it through this process include sets based on the Mars Curiosity rover, Back to the Future, and Ghostbusters (available this summer).
In the past, Lego Cuusoo proposals based on Doctor Who have been rejected due to conflict with Character Building's license to produce Doctor Who toys. Character has produced Lego-compatible Doctor Who building toys since 2011. It is not known whether Character's license has changed or expired, but today Lego posted the following on the Lego Cuusoo website:
Sometimes we have to turn down project submissions that refer to specific brands or licensed properties. We do this to avoid getting your hopes up for something we know we aren't able to make. In these cases, we already know the LEGO Group can't secure licensing rights to produce construction toys based on a particular brand or property, due to a conflicting interest with a third party.
If such a conflict goes away, we'll then be able to accept projects based on a particular brand or license.
...
Resolved Past Licensing Conflicts
We now welcome projects based on the following licenses that used to have conflicts:
If such a conflict goes away, we'll then be able to accept projects based on a particular brand or license.
...
Resolved Past Licensing Conflicts
We now welcome projects based on the following licenses that used to have conflicts:
- Doctor Who - February 2014
This does not mean that Lego is definitely going to license and produce Doctor Who toys, but it does mean that they no longer consider it impossible.
Image: a fan-created Eleventh Doctor minifigure. Source: Brickimedia. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
(with thanks to Andrew Barnick)