BrickLink Designer Program Ongoing Discussion Thread

[JohnTPT17]

3 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Oh, here it is:

That's a great setup! They really fit together. Wonder if I should add those sets to my list...

[Agent Kallus]

On 6/8/2024 at 9:12 PM, Agent Kallus said:

From this round I ordered 2 mushroom houses (1 to keep and the other as a gift) 

These arrived this week. Actually a bit of a nasty surprise when I noticed the money left my bank account a week before payday before I realised what it was! I do wish they'd just take the money when they're ordered.

 

[RichardGoring]

The BDP series 6 live stream is on now, if anyone wants to see the winners of series 6.

 

First one is The Art Factory. I do love some of Brickester's designs, and have bought his previous sets, but this one didn't excite me as much as others. It doesn't seem as detailed or interesting as other designs. Although the piece count is only 2499, which explains a lot, and it's nice that it's not another 4000 piece 'modular'. The windows look good and I like the dark green roof. He's just said on the stream that he will do some updates as a few surprises in the final model too.

[RichardGoring]

Off-road adventure is nice as a small build. At 859 pieces I worry that it will end up quite expensive for what it is. They said that it's linked to the Camping Adventure from series 3, which is neat. All the terrain looks lovely. I hope it's fun to build and doesn't feel fiddly.

Gold Mine Expedition is a lovely looking model and I love the use of red in the build, the little decorations, the detail on the trees, and the full-on scenario that really seems like it should encourage play with some cool functions. Shame that's is likely to be super expensive (3570 pieces). It's not going to be priced as a kid's toy, but I can forgive it some of the high piece count because it deliberately includes play functions. I wonder if it will feel too big though?

[JohnTPT17]

I like the idea of the livestream to reveal all of the sets - but I wish that they would announce all of them up front quickly, then follow it with a "fireside chat" and talk with each of the creators. There's some good nuggets in there, but I think most people just want to know what the five sets will be.

Edited November 18, 2024 by JohnTPT17

[RichardGoring]

Sequoia Tree Trail is an interesting choice. Another big one at 3035 pieces. 21 inches/54cm tall is interesting! The tree foliage seems too small. I wonder if it will be possible to add more to it, or if the designer will add a bit more in the finalization process. It might be that it's due to trying to mix very different scales.

Outlaw Forest Den (Wolfpack) is last. BrickHammer is a great designer, and this looks great. Not just a simple blocky castle, which is good. Might not be overly expensive at 2452 pieces.

Some nice sets chosen, but there were so many stunning designs and interesting concepts that haven't made it, which is such a shame. It was a really strong range of options this round. I hope some of them are resubmitted for the next round.

Edited November 18, 2024 by RichardGoring

[JohnTPT17]

My overall thoughts:

Art Factory: Looks pretty good overall, and it'll be on the cheaper side. Not for me, but hopefully it'll be pretty popular (though past non-modular modulars have struggled).

Offroad Adventure: I get the niche of the "vechicle on a baseplate," but at this point it's getting a little redundant. I also think that $80 for a truck is going to cause a little more hesitation from some buyers... And by that, I mean it might take slightly longer to sell out than others.

Gold Mine Expedition: Looks pretty good, but it's also the biggest and most expensive of the wave. Pretty densely detailed, though. 

Sequoia Tree Trail: I think this one is a bit of a miss. Most of it is the titular trees, but I don't think those will be very enjoyable to build, and the rest isn't very noteworthy.

Outlaw Forest Den: A cheaper castle, which I think is a good thing, but looking at it from the back, it really one has about 7 rooms. That's a set I would need to see more photos of to know one way or another.

I noticed that a lot of discussion overall has talked about story and play features, which I think is a good reaction to The Lost City. Hopefully that will also refine the any of the future entries to keep those in mind. Between all of my past purchases, though, there's nothing here that is a must-buy for me.

 

[RichardGoring]

Having pondered it a little, I think I'll for the Gold Mine Expedition and Outlaw Forest Den, assuming the final designs and prices aren't dramatically different from expectations. I like how both look, that they seem to be reasonable on the parts front given how large they are, and that they have clear play features built in (my kids play with most of the LEGO we have).

These were the only two of the five that I voted for and my mind hasn't changed since then. I wonder if they'd ever consider doing a MOC Pop-Up instructions store for the others again.

[Artanis I]

Good, that was the better castle & wolf submission. They had to make ONE of them (there were so many!), after passing on all of them last time.

[Yperio_Bricks]

I love the art factory All the years since I left my dark ages I wished we would get something like this as a modular building!

I am not into BDP and won't get it, but it's such a great set!

 

[DonQuixote]

My favorite was the Black Brick Knights castle designed by a Korean castle lover.He also has a submission at Lego Ideas : a remake of the 1992 Black Knights castle

[DonQuixote]

And weird that Bricklink sets are cheaper in Europe compared to US. Mountain Fortress was €340 in Europe and $380 and in US. 

[Black Falcon]

6 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

And weird that Bricklink sets are cheaper in Europe compared to US. Mountain Fortress was €340 in Europe and $380 and in US. 

1$ isn´t 1€, so no idea why that is surprising really. More surprising in that matter actually is that many other sets have the same price in both regions and there were some that were more expensive in Europe than in the US even. My best guess for why normal Sets tend to have the same price and Bricklink Sets don´t is that exchange rates fluctuate anyways so normal Sets are priced taking that into account and with BDP Sets they actually take into account what a currency is currently worth.

[DonQuixote]

On 12/7/2024 at 11:49 PM, Black Falcon said:

1$ isn´t 1€, so no idea why that is surprising really. More surprising in that matter actually is that many other sets have the same price in both regions and there were some that were more expensive in Europe than in the US even. My best guess for why normal Sets tend to have the same price and Bricklink Sets don´t is that exchange rates fluctuate anyways so normal Sets are priced taking that into account and with BDP Sets they actually take into account what a currency is currently worth.

Ok. That must be it. Mostly Lego prices are the same in €  and$. But yes there are some exceptions. 

Edited December 9, 2024 by DonQuixote

[hrdknxbrix]

On 12/7/2024 at 10:59 AM, DonQuixote said:

And weird that Bricklink sets are cheaper in Europe compared to US. Mountain Fortress was €340 in Europe and $380 and in US. 

Compound that with the fact that the Euro price includes VAT which means that Lego is only netting €280-290 on those sets versus the full $380 in the U.S.

[DonQuixote]

Lego Ideas piece count raised to 5000.

So why not BDP? 

Who would like to see a raise to 5000?

I would. That would mean bigger and detailed castles.

[RichardGoring]

23 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

Lego Ideas piece count raised to 5000.

So why not BDP? 

Who would like to see a raise to 5000?

I would. That would mean bigger and detailed castles.

To be honest, I hope they don't. There is an elegance in building with smaller piece counts, which is often lacking in the BDP. And you just know that everyone will pile in with extra pieces, meaning each round will have four $500 sets instead of four $250-$350 sets.

If any of the designers were able to create a 2 in 1 set, where buying a second copy allowed you to build something else, that might be a nice gimmick for those that want larger builds, but I suspect Bricklink would say no.

[Flyingkangaro]

The final versions of Bricklink series 4 and pricing are now online.

[RichardGoring]

I'm not feeling the castle sets, to be honest. The Seaside Market just feels a bit too similar to the Lion Knight's Castle in terms of the build style, but looks simpler. Although the modularity is cool. The Siege Encampment all looks great, but it costs quite a lot and I feel like you could get away with half the amount of stuff and still feel satisfied with it.

Series 4 has been the weakest for me (and series 5 and 6 are ahead of it too). The train is expensive, but looks great, so I may have to get it, depending on the stability and ability to motorize. I really like the Riverside Scholars design and might have to get it to match the others. And I thoroughly enjoyed building NicolasCarlier's caravan theatre from the MOC Pop-up store, so I'm tempted by the Merchant Boat, although there is a lot of similarity in the overall style, so it may not be as fun 'second time around'.

[Black Falcon]

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

I'm not feeling the castle sets, to be honest. The Seaside Market just feels a bit too similar to the Lion Knight's Castle in terms of the build style, but looks simpler. Although the modularity is cool. The Siege Encampment all looks great, but it costs quite a lot and I feel like you could get away with half the amount of stuff and still feel satisfied with it.

There is a lot included in that Set, especially if there are 18 Minifigs included, and I really like it - though not sure if I will get it, since there are already enough quite expensive sets out there anyways. I do like the little things that are included, but agree that a I would rather prefer it to be a little less and more affordable - though I wouldn´t actually take much of the little builds, but rather decrease the size of the siege weapons instead. I mean they included pictures of the Siege tower with the Lion Knights caste, and a smaller tower would actually work better I think.

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

Series 4 has been the weakest for me (and series 5 and 6 are ahead of it too). The train is expensive, but looks great, so I may have to get it, depending on the stability and ability to motorize. I really like the Riverside Scholars design and might have to get it to match the others. And I thoroughly enjoyed building NicolasCarlier's caravan theatre from the MOC Pop-up store, so I'm tempted by the Merchant Boat, although there is a lot of similarity in the overall style, so it may not be as fun 'second time around'.

To me it actually seems more like the strongest series we got so far, would especially think the Seaside Market, Siege Encampment and the Train to do well. But we will see.

[JohnTPT17]

I got several sets from last wave, and I need to keep some saved for Mushroom Village - I think I'll need to pass on these. Though I am tempted by the Seaside Market - I might be swayed by reviews.

[crowe-k]

I think I will pick up the train and then save my money for round five. Looking at you Thieves of Tortuga and Adventure in Transylvania!

[Artanis I]

I was going to get 2 of the siege set, but $350 AUD is a lot considering how much of it isn't my thing. 9 falcon knights in 1 set is a lot, I definitely don't want double that on top of what I already have.

The seaside castle I was going to get 1 and rebrand it for a different faction that doesn't have a castle, but the modularity made the number 2 look fairly appealing. Until I realised that there are 6 minifigs I don't particularly want 2 of. 3 lion soldiers isn't bad, 6 would be better, since I only have the ones in the lion castle. Will make a decision later.

 

The other stuff aren't Castle or Space and therefore I don't give a rat's brick.

[Lyichir]

None of these ones are jumping out at me the way the Mushroom House did, but my dad might be interested in the train.

[vizzitor]

I was interested in getting the western train to go with the General Store for a bit of an old west scene but the price has me questioning it now. I'm leaning towards not getting any sets this time. I'll probably keep the money to put toward a couple of sets in the next round, especially the Mushroom Village.