Well the big day is finally here. I’ve been waiting quite a while for Lego to announce their version of my Cosmic Rocket Ride. In the process of working with Lego on this little project, they asked me to make a little overview and comparison video. So lets start with the comparison of my submitted fan design to the official final Lego design:
They edited it down and used it for a little Facebook post which has been well received with predominately nice comments.
The little rocket ride is already showing up on Ebay and being listed for $75 to $99 even though its just a 154 piece set.
A Bit of the Behind the Scenes:
Lego hosted a small contest on their ideas site called “Moments in Space.” One of the stipulations was that your entry could require no Lego parts in colors that have not already been made. What I learned during the process, was that they actually wanted to make the final design using only parts that were currently in their inventory (so no customs whatsoever). That tidbit right there was the prevailing reason the design’s colors were altered in so many places. I think the simplicity of my designs color scheme was possibly a benefit in it winning that contest with those particular set of rules…that and it did end up getting the most fan votes, but they had indicated at the start that they had the liberty to choose from the top 5 or so fan voted entries.
After I submitted my entry, I did make a few tweaks, particularly to the gizmo inside that makes it move. Lego made further modifications to that design. One key update they made resulted in the motion being slightly larger but also a bit asymmetrical. Lego made one of the technic pins a friction pin so that the ride could be left frozen in a “pose”. This was a good idea, it makes the motion smoother, but harder to perform. They made the design a little longer too, as you can see they added stairs, a step, and elongated the rocket by 2 studs.
The biggest concession was the handle for the crank. By the time Lego requested extra photos of my design, I had changed my crank handle from a gear to a really nice arm with rotating handle. Its smooth and a gives a nice crank. The final version was reduced to a twisty stick. It works, it has grip, but its not quite the buttery smooth crank I had. Their version does seem to be primed and ready for motorization if someone wanted.
Evolution of my design: My design went through a few stages including an initial prototype, the submitted version, and some further tweaking:
Make your own: If you weren’t lucky enough to get a free one from Lego during the promotion, here are my directions to make your own. This is my version with updated movement, but my original body and base design. If you make one, let me know in comments and share some pics! Best of Luck!
Link to the Bricklink Stud.io page which will show you part lists, the rendered version, and instructions.
Well, its a little piece of wonderful to have my little rocket ride turned into an official Lego set. It is such a high honour and I’m very pleased. I hope the little rocket ride is well received and am thrilled to have been involved!
What a fantastic little set! I rushed to the Lego store the day this became available. I bought Apollo 11 Lander set and this was the ideal gift with purchase! I’m gonna build your original design just to have both. Awesome design!
Scott, how wonderful. I’m really glad you got and liked the little rocket ride. It’s also really cool that you aim to build a model of the original design! I have been wondering if someone with the official set could build the original with only a few other parts… I’ll have to try it out someday. Thank you so much for stopping by!