R2-D2 - Limited Edition Full Size Kenny Baker Artoo

People keep asking - this project is entirely Lego.  That's part of why he's two legs and Kenny Baker version, for extra support. (read the description).

I included my other Lego R2-D2, L3-G0, in the photos and video because he's fun, similar, and has a following, but L3-G0 isn't entirely Lego - he's more like LEGOLAND's models with metal bones and stronger motors. 

I'd love Lego to make parts for larger projects - stronger big beams for bones, robotics that had more powerful motors and better sound - but Ideas requires projects to be entirely Lego, which is why this Kenny Baker Artoo project is entirely Lego.

However, even though he starts as an all-Lego project, you could still buy one and add lights or other fancy features, just like lots of other Lego MOCs out there.  The lightsaber video is a bit of an extreme example :)

Several people have asked about the viability of this project, so I’d like to take this opportunity to address some of those concerns. 

Three main concerns have been raised:
• Licensing
• Repeat of a theme
• Size / Cost of the project.

The first two are the simplest to address -- Supporters, please feel free to discuss this in the comments, anything to strengthen the business case and drive excitement for this project before Lego’s review would be very helpful.

Licensing

The challenges around licensing shouldn’t be taken lightly, however to be fair, we fans have no clue what Lego’s licensing restrictions are.  Undoubtedly the licensing aspect means that we need a better case for this project.  The good news is that we do know that Lego has an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm and that they continue to release sets in that theme. 

Additionally, we know that Lego rejects projects that they are clearly unable to license.  We also know that for other themes they were able to achieve the necessary rights and produce licensed Lego Ideas.  Yes, no Star Wars themed ideas have been approved, however that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, only that we need to have a strong case and a little luck.

The bigger challenge here is that Lego is already working on Star Wars related projects and they may feel that this project won’t fit with their plans.  For example, if they are about to release a full-size BB-8, then a full-size Artoo might be too disruptive.  (Note: Lego, I have a full-size BB-8 plan if you want to discuss that )

They already did a UCS R2-D2

The fan theory is that Lego won’t do a more complex R2 build because they’ve already done a small UCS Artoo.  I have no idea where this myth came from.  Lego is a business.  If they think that the best way to make money is to do a 1:1 Artoo, there’s no rule preventing them from doing so.  It is true that we haven’t seen repeats of the UCS theme, but we do see remakes of other models like the Falcon.  Clearly Lego can decide to do a 1:1 scale R2-D2 with a good enough business case, however it would require appropriate marketing and an appropriate plan. 

Likely they wouldn’t call it “UCS” as that would tangle up the UCS brand.  But they could call it a Very Limited Special Edition or Extreme edition or something.  They could even use it to start a specialized line of very special sets aimed at the most serious builders. 

It’s Huge

Well, yea, 16,000 bricks are a lot of Lego!  It’s not unmanageable though.  I’ve built one.  My next project is closer to 20K bricks (despite that, it’ll be far simpler).  Lego is going to think out of the box here.  I’m not sure what their normal run size is, but I’ve heard that the minimum is 10K and I’ve seen something like 33K units being described as “limited”.  I don’t think I could sell Lego on a run of 33K of these, however they do have smaller runs of promotional sets and other specialties. 

What that means to us fans is that a 16K brick set at 10 cents/brick + the Lego Ideas premium + the Star Wars premium is going to be $2000 or more.  But if they can’t sell a 33K unit run, then a smaller run would have to bear the costs of the full development.  I don’t know what those costs are, but $100K would mean that they’d need to recoup $400 per set if they only ran 250.

All together then, this probably can’t be less than $2500 and it could be more like $4000.  Which, I’m sorry to say, is a lot of money, and a lot of us don’t have that to spare.  However, we know that Sideshow sells movie collectibles for thousands more, and that 16 people have paid $3500 for the UCS Falcon off ebay in the last month.  Clearly there is a small market that could support a run of 500 or 1000 units.

People ask to buy L3-G0 all the time and are willing to pay even more.  I can’t sell him because of the aforementioned licensing issues, but those asks are what inspired me to post this project here.

The trick is going to be selling Lego on that, demonstrating how it might be worth their time, and finding rewards that they can believe in.  I’ll have a further post aimed directly at Lego elaborating on how a 1:1 Lego R2-D2 is the right project for Lego.

So please don’t give up

Feel free to discuss this in the comments.  But let’s not give up just yet.  If we tell Lego that it’s not viable, well, then we fulfilled our own prophecy.  Yes, this is going to be a hard sell, but I’m confident that we can make the case for this set.  Instead, lets discuss how producing this project is the right thing.  Not just the right thing for the Lego community and the fans, but also that it’s the right thing for Lego.

Thanks for your support!  (And please don't forget to share ;-) )

Thanks for helping us off to a good start!  Please keep sharing, let's see if we can make the "popular" list :)

Some folks have expressed concern about the size, etc.  I plan to have an update discussing that and how I think it might work, so please consider following as well as sharing.

Good sharing is almost better than supporting since it can get even more supporters! 

Another video of L3-G0 - The Kenny Baker model doesn't have all of this functionality, but this is the kind of thing folks could do with a bit of creativity...