FIRST STRONGHOLD: Blue Alliance

With only five days left, it is pretty safe to say that we will not be making it to the next milestone of 5,000 supports. We are very proud of how far we have gone. It has been amazing to see all of the support and we would like to thank every supporter. We still feel very strongly about a LEGO set designed around FIRST. Please check out, support, and help spread the word of our other FIRST LEGO set concept: FIRST STEAMWORKS: Half Field Model.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/15dc3172-fca0-4300-9b82-24f80cd87833

We would like to thank each and every individual who has helped lift this project up beyond 2000 supporters! We’re coming up on our 3rd week of being featured in the front row of LEGO Idea’s Popular This Week section! Our gratitude cannot be put into words, let alone a single update. Perhaps, in the words of Frank Merrick, FIRST Robotics Competition Director, we should say, “An official LEGO set for FIRST STRONGHOLD? SQUEEE!!!”

We’re especially thankful to Frank, Jamee Luce, and all those dedicated folks at FIRST, who have graciously supported this project. Without their devotion and hard work, the milestones LEGO STRONGHOLD has reached would still be far out of sight. We are honored, especially, at the time and care taken to write blog posts for the project; the FIRST of which (no pun intended) can be found here: http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/blog/official-LEGO-set-stronghold.

We want to take this moment of jubilation to, also, remind everyone that we still plan on recommending to LEGO Ideas that the top 6 teams that support this project get their standards included in the set. Please share this project with everyone you know (team members, friends, family, etc.), and have them comment with your team number. We have over 2000 supporters, as we post this update. If each current supporter got just 4 people they knew to support as well, we’d reach our goal that easily!

As part of the work we’ve been continuing to keep LEGO STRONGHOLD thriving, we decided to make high resolution renders of the two different setups of the field (Blue and Red), as well as of the defenses and mock robots. These renders were featured in the FIRST Robotics Competition Blog! A few people have commented with suggestions on modifications that can be made to the set, and we are currently looking into them. One comment in particular asked for a model of Dozer to be added. Our set design revolved around the game release video, but, of course, we would be interested in including it! Please keep sharing your ideas for how to improve this set. We appreciate all the constructive feedback we are receiving, because we understand they are testament to our supporters’ cares and considerations!

FIRST and many supporters have been doing substantial social media promotion of the project. Consider taking a moment to share this project on social media, as well! Every post to platforms, like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Chief Delphi, and beyond, helps the set gain notoriety! #LEGOSTRONGHOLD #FIRSTSTRONGHOLD #omgrobots

Once again, thank you for the support. Let’s work together to make this set concept a reality!

We’d like to thank everyone who has supported this proposal and everyone who will in the future! We are so grateful to see support being garnered across the FIRST community and here on LEGO Ideas. If you like the idea of LEGO STRONGHOLD, we’d appreciate if you could share the project’s link. We believe that together we can get this set approved!

Originally, we wanted to propose two stand-alone sets: Blue Alliance and Red Alliance. However, plans change, and we are now proposing that this set include a few extra pieces that will allow it to be converted into the Red Alliance side of the field. This could be achieved in a similar way as to how the LEGO set for the Back to the Future Delorean includes parts to make the car unique to each of the 3 movies.

This set will now additionally include: the remaining 3 mock robots from the game reveal video, 9 more boulders, a minifigure of FIRST co-founder Woodie Flowers, and all of the field pieces, which are currently blue, such as standards, in red. If someone would like to build a full field of play, they’d be able to purchase two of the sets, an investment we believe many would be willing to make.

On one of the many social media platforms we’ve been frequenting, a supporter reached out to us with a concern about how we plan to market this set to the greater LEGO community. They asked, “Why would a non-FIRST customer want to buy LEGO STRONGHOLD? Could any 6-10 year old kid be interested in it?” We appreciate all questions and concerns, and we encourage every viewer to please let us know if they have any of their own.

Our response to this previous supporter’s question can be read below:

“Hi, on LEGO Ideas, I’m the Brick Engineer. I was an FRC student through high school and currently mentor the team I was on, when I’m not volunteering in the FLL. I’ve also been a member on LEGO Cuusoo and have spent a long time trying to think of an idea that meets LEGO’s target audiences.

I chose LEGO STRONGHOLD to bring both current FIRST students and mentors to and, in many cases, back to LEGO, where there is already a strong partnership with FIRST. This should make 3rd party protected information less of a barrier in the set’s distribution.

My collaborative partner on this set, RoboEmmy, and I believe that, in this case, it’s okay that the set targets people who already know FRC.When you take a look at other successful LEGO sets, many of the themes are based on movies and TV shows, such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, the Simpsons, the Big Bang Theory, and Back to the Future, which would only appeal to their respective, established fans. Some of these very sets were created through the Cuusoo or LEGO Ideas programs.

While the previously mentioned pop culture themes may have larger current audiences than FIRST, I don't think the set is niche, especially for children aged 6-10. Both FIRST and LEGO foster creativity. Kids will love LEGO STRONGHOLD, because it will allow them not only to build the set and model robots but, also, to use their own pieces and imaginations to build a LEGO robot, one better than those provided.

These kids, while exercising their own potentials and creativities, would have exposure to FIRST and could then actively seek teams and competitions, starting with FLL and moving up. This will inspire.

FIRST and its fans are the perfect pathway to the set’s immediate market and to advertise the set to a more general audience, and, in return, LEGO is the perfect pathway for spreading the excitement and positivity of FIRST. RoboEmmy and I believe LEGO STRONGHOLD could be, in this way, prime in its mutual beneficence of FIRST and LEGO, as huge general audience potential is not far from reach.”

Thanks for reading. We’d like to end this update by thanking all of those supporting and spreading LEGO STRONGHOLD one more time. Additionally, we’d like to wish any FIRST teams currently competing, no matter the competition, good luck! Stay tuned for more updates.