The Lego Cuusoo platform, precursor to Lego Ideas, was launched in 2008.
Cuusoo began as a collaboration involving the Japanese company CUUSOO and The Lego Group. The name comes from the Japanese word kūsō, meaning an imagined idea, fantasy, or daydream. It gave fans a way to propose models that might eventually become official Lego products.
The platform worked through community support: users submitted a project, displayed a model and description, and gathered votes. A project reaching 10,000 supporters became eligible for Lego’s review, although approval was never automatic. Lego also assessed licensing, safety, cost, and whether a model could be manufactured.
A common mix-up is 2014, the year Cuusoo was rebranded as Lego Ideas and moved to a new software platform. The first product associated with the program appeared in Japan in 2011, but the platform itself dates to 2008. Approved creators receive recognition and a royalty share, commonly described as 1% of net sales.