The Cuusoo team has posted the third and final article about the review process.
This one gives tips on how to give your project the best possible chance of passing review. Once again it's a great post and I encourage you to go and read it.
Finished? Right... now let's consider the projects that are to be reviewed soon, and also those that are in the top 6 and see how they stack up against the tips. Remember this is just my opinion: by all means disagree but let's not have a heated argument about it!
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Legend of Zelda - although the concept is kid-appropriate (so passes tip 7) it depends on new LEGO elements (so fails tip 4). Thus, Legend of Zelda will not pass review
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Modular Western Town - Kid-appropriate, no license required, no new parts (so passes 4, 7 and 8). One individual building from the town is likely to be a reasonable size and cost, so tip 3 passed. So, the Modular Western Town will pass review.
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Eve spaceship - This is a hard one to call. I would say it passes all tips except 8 in that it requires a new license. However, given LEGO was able to secure a Minecraft one, the signs are good for getting an Eve one. I would say then, that Eve will pass review.
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BTTF DeLorean - I'd say the model aligns with tips 1-7 but as it requires a new license, review success will depend on LEGO being able to secure it. Therefore, the BTTF DeLorean may pass review.
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Star Wars bucket - This won't pass review, LEGO has already said as much.
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My Little Pony - This, too, won't pass review, because of the licensing issue. Tip 8 states "some licenses can be exclusive" and Hasbro owns MLP IP and makes MLP toys so won't let LEGO make them too.
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UCS Sandcrawler - this fails tip 3 (size and cost) and also tip 5 (new ideas and new categories) and therefore I doubt that this would pass review.
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Space Marines - It pains me to say this, because I really like the project, but this will fail review too. The main reason is that it proposes a playtheme and doesn't 'think in terms of individual sets' so will fail on tip 6. There isn't sufficient focus on one particular model, and without several tanks or spacecraft the concept fails.
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Exo-Suit - I think this will pass review, but the resultant model will be nothing like the original Pete Reid creation. It's the only one so far that fails on tip 2 'Your model can actually be too good for CUUSOO'. LEGO will be able to turn the idea into something that looks similar but it won't be made of 1000 small pieces held together in borderline-illegal ways.
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Macross VF-1 Valkyrie - I'm not going to pass comment on this as I don't know enough about it...
It's also interesting to consider the models I've added to Cuusoo Corner. I would say the ones that have the best chance of success are Piano and the British birds. Neither require licensing, they are simple builds, small models, feature new ideas, are kid-appropriate and although both of them propose a series of models, the individual models are small enough that LEGO could make a kit of, say, 4 pianos or birds and still keep the cost reasonable. I reckon the modular Apple store stands a good chance, too. It's very appealing to adults but still kid-friendly, Apple is likely to be pro-LEGO (most techie companies are!) and thus might grant a license.
It will be interesting to look back on this article in a year's time and see whether, as many of you suspect, I talk a load of old rubbish, or whether much of it has come to pass :-)
Update: As Huw predicted, the My Little Pony submission has been rejected (YC 6/4/12)
