LEGO Forma Is A Crowdfunded LEGO Set With Bigger Implications

LEGO have today announced something that is equal parts interesting and confusing. It’s called LEGO Forma, and it launches today via Indiegogo. But the stuff going on behind the scenes is potentially interesting.

LEGO is launching this new product via a crowdfunding platform as a pilot program for LEGO’s Creative Play Lab. I’ll get into that more in a minute but here’s the set itself…

LEGO Forma

lego-forma-2

The LEGO Forma building set features a Technic framework and decorative skins that are applied to the outside to create a Koi model with lifelike movement. Sound a bit strange? That because it is. The idea behind the set is that the decorative elements can be swapped out to create different creatures around the same base model. There are 4 skins in total; the original koi, the colourful ‘splash’ koi, a black and white ink koi that can be decorated yourself, and finally a shark.

lego-forma-4

Unfortunately according to the Indiegogo page this project is only available for UK and US customers. That may make you wonder why I’m bothering to post this. Well it’s because this whole thing is just weird. The press release that sent out had this to say…

Rather than concealing its new innovations inside its Creative Play Lab, the LEGO Group today announced a new strategic approach that will help foster open innovation and test ideas and concept experiences through pilot projects, the first being LEGO® FORMA on Indiegogo.

A series of pilots are being planned to run in various locations and formats over the coming year to float new ideas, crowdsource others, and receive real-time feedback from consumers to evaluate whether concepts should be developed and scaled.

Over time, this more transparent approach to product development is hoped to de-risk and accelerate innovation by validating and iterating new ideas, helping to fast-track the time that new products go to market and not least to pave way for unique product launches that sit outside normal procedures and reach new audiences.

Breaking through the corporate lingo the general message seems to be that LEGO are looking at new ways to test and experiment with different ideas -ways that are more open to the general public. This could be the start of a lot of weird products being launched in weird ways. As this Indiegogo launch is just a pilot, it’s hard to tell what the response will be. I like the idea of the set and I don’t hate using something other than bricks to add to a set – in this case foil skins.

I am interested to see what comes next. If the pilot is successful will we see Forma as a new theme? Or will it forever be a limited set released in selected markets. What will the next pilot have in store for us? As I said, LEGO Forma is a product with some bigger implications behind it.

6 thoughts on “LEGO Forma Is A Crowdfunded LEGO Set With Bigger Implications

  1. Joshua Diemar Reply

    If you wanted to have 1 of each for display total price would end up being $220 US and you would end up with 3 spare (duplicate) Koi skins, seems a bit rich, but i guess it is a test/trial.

    A total of 20,000 complete units being produced by my count. Wonder if I could order using a mail forwarder.

    • CS Reply

      That doesn’t sound right – there is a complete pack for $85US that includes all four skins. They are making like 3,000 of them and when I last checked 70 had been bought. I am going to try with a freight forwarder as these look amazing!

      • Michael Post authorReply

        The pack with the 4 skins only contains the parts for one model. If you wanted to display all 4 complete models it gets expensive

  2. Aj Reply

    This is reminiscent of when Lego did a collaboration with Muji, essentially they combined Lego and paper craft using stud-sized hole punchers. I went to a huge effort to get some of those sets. I always wondered why it never took off.

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