GlenBricker's Review: Weekly Cuusoo

Cuusoo dealing with Bugs

Many people do not realize this but there appears to be a separate Cuusoo database for their "reports" that they use on their discovery page. This will sometimes lag behind real time by a minute or two. So if you do a search for a project you might see that it has 534 support but when you go to the project you see that it has more.

Well, whatever code base they have for updating the "discovery" database has not been working for the last few days. So, the support levels are our of synch and there is not indication of new projects, except for the "right now" page.

This has had very little impact on the surge of votes for Poptropica though, as there is an external site funneling supporters directly to the project.

Update: Bug has been resolved, but for today, the "daily support" sidebar is showing all the support since the bug started, not a single day of support.

British Invasion Faltering!!!

The Spice Girls project has been deleted. There are three things that usually will terminate a project ahead of time. The project is deleted by its creator, the project is archived by Cuusoo due to an aspect fo the project, or the project is found to be plagiarized, which results in its deletion by Cuusoo.

As this project has not notice of being archived, then it can be assumed that Cuusoo did not choose to take the project down for brand fit, licensing, or similar issues. It is also unlikely that the project creator plagiarized the project as those are usually caught quite early on. It is therefore most likely that the creator has chosen to self delete, and the reasons for that are very expansive.

Also, sadly but not unexpectedly, the UCS Tardis has been archived.

Next Zelda in the Final Stretch

The next attempt at Zelda just reached 9k supporters. Not much longer for it now.

Site News: Review of City Alarm

In no way about Cuusoo but still in the vein of Lego, I have now published my first, of many, game reviews. You can find it here.

Pick of the Week

Poptropica: Dr. Hare's Lair
by PopCreators

Support Level: 670

It was a hard choice this week but in the end I decided to go with the project that looked like the most fun.

At first I was shying way from this project because of my lack of familiarity with the subject matter but I have taken a serious look and the build has quality content. The elements really nail the humorous aspect Lego often tries to bring to their builds. The figure looks great too. The giant bunny could use some work, but hey, it's a giant mecha bunny.

On top of all that, the presentation is top of the line and the subject is ideal for a successful Cuusoo project. For those unfamiliar with Poptropica, as I was prior to this project, it is apparently an MMO targeted at young people. This does make me wonder how many of the votes are legitimately from 13+ users but I assume a parent would be willing to support the project for their kids if asked.

Regardless, youths are more likely to buy into the wishful thinking aspect of Cuusoo and vote with their hearts, and spread the word about the project, unlike the projects targeted at more mature audiences where more critical fans support only project that they think are "viable."

So, fun looking build with some entertaining play features, great presentation, and a perfect subject for a viable, engaged, audience.

Honorable Mentions

Mini Creator House
by Daystar

Support Level: 103

I very nearly picked this as my project for the week. These five micro-houses are a great homage to the creator series of houses and quite charming in their own right. I especially like the solar panels and the patio on the side of the building. All in all though I find the house with dark blue roof the most appealing.

Star Wars Marble Run
by Peterj

Support Level: 75

The concept of the project is really great. Integrating the dynamic aspects of a marble run with the fun constructability of Lego and tying in the undeniable appeal of Star Wars. Unfortunately this project, as designed, does require several custom parts, but I think some creative Lego use could overcome a few of these issues. Also I do wonder about the physics of many of these tracks and would like very much to see some prototypes to confirm that a rolling ball will make it across the long, unslopped runways without running out of kinetic energy.

Regardless of any of these particulars, I think the concept is a fine one and I would love to see what Lego would do with a marble run.

Peterj has posted similar projects before without the Star Wars theme integrated for those who like the marble run concept but not the Star Wars approach.

Notables

Legend of Zelda Hylian Shield
by Phuonom

Support Level: 32

I really like the projects of Cuusoo, like the Bonsai tree, that let AFOLs express their interests though Lego, kind of an efficiency of geekery. I think this build certainly fits that build.

Hailstone - Racer
by B_corredor

Support Level: 20

This craft is very appealing with some great curvature and flow. The colors combination of white, light grey and trans blue work well together. Looks very swooshable and I really appreciate the trans-clear stand.

Tape Measure for lengths in Lego measurements
by Hidaka

Support Level: 50

If this existed I know I would eventually obtain one, likely as a gift though. I imagine the mark up would be pretty high relative to a standard tape measure and I don't mind doing the math to convert.

On top of that, Cuusoo is not really for non-Lego builds, but what does that matter really. If you like this concept go support it.

Modular library
by Thebigbrick

Support Level: 22

A nice modular but it suffers from not quite living up to the modulars it is based on. The building has some good features but it is ultimately too repetitive on the external qualities. The internals suffer the same issue where repetition is used to fill space rather than creativity.

Luke's Destiny
by Skiff1

Support Level: 14

This set has some attractive elements but ultimately it is bogged down by repetition, inefficient use of Lego, and poor framing. I would like to see less walls and more greeble.

Longer beams, for longer / bigger builds
by Theodore

Support Level: 3

I am all for longer and more varied technic pieces...of course, even with these I would still be integrating several parts together to make the "perfect" part I need, such is the case for all Lego.