ARAKN3

First and foremost, congratulations to Mahj for reaching achieving over 5,000 supporters! LEGO CUUSOO gives the opportunity for adult LEGO fans to submit product ideas. Our team loves the original Tachikoma model and the ARAKN3 variants, they're cute, detailed, and very functional.

In light of the recent clarification of our Brand Standards for appropriate LEGO products, it is clear that the IP Ghost in the Shell is not a brand fit for the LEGO Group and this project had been scheduled for removal from LEGO CUUSOO on those grounds.

Having seen the recent projects denied in the LEGO Review as well as the Brand Standards blog post, Mahj in good faith contacted us to see if anything can be done to preserve his project. Initially we did not see an issue with altering the project to not reference the Ghost in the Shell series, with the understanding that should this reach the Review stage, our team would note the nature of the first 5,000 supporters in the business case.

At first we told him he could edit the project to abandon Ghost in the Shell and keep the supporters earned. Admittedly, in this attempt to be kind to one person, we lost sight that this was in fact being unfair to others who have had their projects denied or removed without recourse due to an IP the LEGO Group deems inappropriate for our brand. While it hurts us to go back on what we told Mahj, the right thing for us to do in this situation is apologize, archive this project, and welcome him to submit his new ARAKN3 models as a new LEGO CUUSOO project.

So, Mahj, we're very sorry about the situation we caused by first telling you that you could keep your supporters, and now retracting and archiving this project. Your new ARAKN3 models present no brand-fit problems that we see, and if you still wish, you are welcome to submit them as a new project. We have learned an important lesson about fairness here, please understand that we need to also consider others and the greater good of the LEGO CUUSOO community when applying our standards.

We are learning as we grow. As we blaze new trails, as we nurture this very special community, and work on long-term improvements, we will make mistakes. We hope that all of you will bear with us through this process. Know that it truly is our desire to give you an opportunity to make your LEGO wishes come true by presenting new product concepts that connect with audiences who want them, and then turning your ideas into great LEGO products.

Congratulations on achieving over 2,000 supporters so quickly! This is a gorgeous model of a Tachikoma. You've thought out the features and the construction quite well. It's aesthetically pleasing and looks very playable and fun.

Best of luck on your journey to 10,000 supporters!