The LEGO Ideas theme, which started in 2008 as an offshoot of the Japanese website Cuusoo, then formally known as LEGO Cuusoo, is based around a website which allows users to submit ideas for LEGO products to be turned into potential sets available commercially. If fellow users in the LEGO Ideas community up vote the project to 10000 then LEGO Group has a committee which votes on whether to build the set and release it. If the project is approved and cleared for production, it is developed and later released as an official set under the "LEGO Ideas" banner and the original designer receives 1% of the royalties and a number of free sets. Typically, a few projects are approved a year and most are rejected due to various restrictions.
2013 LEGO Sets
2013 introduced Legends of Chima, a heavily promoted fantasy line positioned as Ninjago’s successor, complete with a companion TV series. Licensed debuts included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Lone Ranger, and new DUPLO tie-ins for Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Mickey Mouse. Collectors pursued the ultra-rare Mr. Gold minifigure from Series 10, limited to just 5,000 worldwide. This year also marked LEGO’s shift from 4-digit to 5-digit set numbering as Monster Fighters, SpongeBob SquarePants, Cars, and Dino concluded.