BrickLink Designer Program Ongoing Discussion Thread

[Mikdun]

On 7/11/2024 at 7:22 PM, and_ampersand_and said:

I'm not saying they would print on-demand replacement sets, if that's what you think I'm suggesting. I'm saying that it's pretty standard practice for large companies to assume they'll need X number of products extra and to manufacturer those extra during the production run, and that Lego may or may not do this.

I was hoping that as well, but apparently dhey made exact number.

On 7/11/2024 at 8:18 PM, Wimmer said:

I rather not have the set at all, than have a completely damaged/destroyed box ?!… Part of the exclusivity is the fact that it comes in these different boxes; without that it might as well be a “Brickpicker order”

Fair enough. I prefere to have damaged box. It's still better than nothing (aka "brickpicker order" ) 

On 7/13/2024 at 10:01 PM, Nokturn said:

Got my Snack Shack yesterday, unfortunately it was missing the entire sticker sheet.

Got to check mine as well.

On 7/13/2024 at 5:31 PM, Wimmer said:

(Sometimes when you buy more than one set, they combine them into one box and then shipping damage is much more likely ?)

That's how mine are damaged. I shall orger single sets in the future. 

Edited July 15, 2024 by Mikdun

[hrdknxbrix]

For anyone who purchased the General Store and/or is planning to buy the Wild West Train in Series 4, the designer also has 3 related buildings on Ideas:

Train Station

Sheriff's Office

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith has achieved the 10k threshold and will be part of the Sept 2024 review period.  I wonder if the General Store would have sold out if people knew about the other projects.

[RichardGoring]

9 hours ago, hrdknxbrix said:

For anyone who purchased the General Store and/or is planning to buy the Wild West Train in Series 4, the designer also has 3 related buildings on Ideas:

Train Station

Sheriff's Office

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith has achieved the 10k threshold and will be part of the Sept 2024 review period.  I wonder if the General Store would have sold out if people knew about the other projects.

I would have bought it, had I known that even the train was going to get there, let alone another. I might yet buy all the pieces individually, if they're not too much. The stickers don't add a lot and are minimal. It does look good, but I didn't think I'd have a place for it as a standalone set.

[Lego Tom]

Received the two train shed sets while I was still on vacation in Alaska. Haven't even had a chance to unpack them yet and both are still in their shipping boxes. Does anyone have a recommendation on what would be a suitable locomotive to use with this set?

Edited August 7, 2024 by Lego Tom

[Artanis I]

My castle arrived this week, the unopened (very minimalist artwork) box is now sitting on top of the Lion Knight's Castle box (also yet to be opened)...

[crowe-k]

On 7/21/2024 at 9:48 AM, hrdknxbrix said:

For anyone who purchased the General Store and/or is planning to buy the Wild West Train in Series 4, the designer also has 3 related buildings on Ideas:

Train Station

Sheriff's Office

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith has achieved the 10k threshold and will be part of the Sept 2024 review period.  I wonder if the General Store would have sold out if people knew about the other projects.

If these sets do not make it to production through Ideas I would love to see them come to fruition through the BDP. The General Store is a great set IMHO. 

[mark1991t]

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2024 by mark1991t
image replaced

[RichardGoring]

The Series 5 finalists have been announced, and to me, they are very strong contenders. There were a lot of excellent submissions in this round, so I feel bad for the rejected designs, but I'm thrilled with the selection available. Nice to have the small popcorn wagon, although I think we discussed how the base adds a lot to the part count. Still likely to be $1200-$1300 for a complete series. Good job it's over a year away! I think this is the strongest collection so far, with all five being ones I'd love to get.

Colour swap the roof and ground of the antique shop, and it's a great addition to the winter village too!

[sporadic]

I am really pleased with the selections this time.  A nice variety of interesting sets.  Not all of them are for me, although I voted for most of them.  I can recognize that they're high quality despite that* and for those who like those themes, I think they'll be well received.  

* In terms of detail and wow factor.  We'll have to wait and see about build quality as they get refined. 

[Yoggington]

Wow, this is very definitely the best full set so far imho. All five are excellent.

No way I can buy all five though, not even two. I think for me, and I'll have to somehow decide between Tortuga and Transylvania.

[Murdoch17]

Antique shop and Popcorn Wagon are amazing. I would buy them when they are released, but the gap between purchase and pay is so long, I may not (more like probably won't) have the funds when they ship. 

So I guess I'll just look at them from afar.

[JohnTPT17]

Lotta big sets... But I think they all look good, and are worthy additions to the program! And the Mushroom Village made it, so hooray! And the castle of this wave isn't just grey, which also helps it to stand out.

I do find it a little ironic that the program now has a hard rule against having animals in "cruel" scenarios, yet the Thieves of Tortuga has a shark hanging from a hook (i have zero issues with it - I just think it's funny). 

[Artanis I]

7 or 8 castle sets I was really interested in... 0 successes. I'll be saving some money, I suppose. Quite surprised that none of the wolf ones were picked.

[hrdknxbrix]

On 8/11/2024 at 12:00 AM, crowe-k said:

If these sets do not make it to production through Ideas I would love to see them come to fruition through the BDP. The General Store is a great set IMHO. 

I would be very surprised if any get approved through Ideas as that program specifically prohibits "series" of sets.  IMO, he should have submitted the train first and then submitted a single building every 3rd BDP submission period.

[JohnTPT17]

Reviews are out for nearly all of Wave 3, if anyone is looking for them. (I didn't notice any for Camping Adventure)

Personally... I'm a bit torn after watching some of these reviews. Initially, I was thinking about getting The Art of Chocolate and Forest Stronghold... But, after those reviews, I may skip them both. Or, at least limit my self to just one of them. I feel like a lot of these reviews boil down to simply saying "these sets are nice MOCs, but they're jam-packed with a lot of smaller parts and aren't very innovative, and may have better alternatives out there." That was especially the feeling I got towards the Forest Stronghold. And, another reviewer stated that The Art of Chocolate wasn't a good build experience, and that room inside once completed was limited. And I still wish the set was just purely open-back and didn't have the opening feature, which would have cut down on the price without sacrificing too much. At least I have it pretty much settled that I'll be skipping Wave 4 (unless Seaside Market ends up being a really good deal), and I'll only be getting the Mushroom Village from Wave 5 (and maybe the popcorn cart) I dunno... I have some things to mull over for the next week. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Anywho - I'm interested to see what Wave 6 will bring, and if it will have any fresh, new ideas.

[RichardGoring]

The forest stronghold was my least favourite going into the reviews as it looks pretty simple. The staircase is nice, but otherwise, as said in the review, it's very similar to the Lion Knights Castle. And the trees don't look great to me. They're too sparse, and the flowers dotted around make it even more so. Which then gives the whole thing a sense of feeling too basic. The difficulty in accessing/using play functions lessens it's speak further. I'd prefer something more hidden and ingenious for the forestmen. The Mountain Fortress from series 1 seemed much more interesting and varied. The castle in the Forest from the Invitational series was also more interesting. As are a bunch of the MOCs for both Lion Knights Castle and the 31120 combination MOCs. To be clear, I couldn't design something half that good by myself, but those are the reasons it's not for me and I'll prioritize other things. For those that don't have the other castles or do value it, then I hope you have an amazing time with it.

In the Tiago video, he did a preview of them all, and thought that the build looked interesting with lots of different techniques. I'll have to watch the full review to see why they differ on they view point. Agreed that it's expensive and doesn't need the back, but the Ocean House from series 2 was heavily criticized by many for being open back, so you can't win. (I loved it and ordered one though). It's very pretty, delightfully themed, and I'll be getting it anyway. 

Also in Tiago's preview he was disappointed in the Lost City, mostly it seemed through theme and lack of play features. I loved that one coming into it, but if there are no play features then it might sway me away from getting it. It still looks terrific to my eyes though.

Haven't seen anything negative about the other two and I may try to get them, especially if the Lost City doesn't appeal.

[Artanis I]

Not enough forest, too much stronghold.

Won't keep me from getting up at 2am to order one. Can always add more trees and things to hide it from plain sight.

[MAB]

7 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

I feel like a lot of these reviews boil down to simply saying "these sets are nice MOCs, but they're jam-packed with a lot of smaller parts and aren't very innovative, ..."

This pretty much sums up BDP and IDEAS for me. But these sets sell, so they'll keep pumping them out. 

[RichardGoring]

5 hours ago, MAB said:

This pretty much sums up BDP and IDEAS for me. But these sets sell, so they'll keep pumping them out. 

To be honest, it's one of the appeals of the program to me. I love the MOCs that people create on Rebrickable (or other places), but sometimes the convenient ones - reworks of other sets - can feel very limited by that specific set of elements and the palette they offer. It can sometimes feel too similar to the original. Other unique MOCs can be wonderful, but sourcing pieces can be tricky/expensive/time consuming. Or, as I've done in the past, you go through and rework the MOC to incorporate different elements that aren't rare or obscure.

The Bricklink Designer Program (and the MOC Pop-up store last year) all pulling from in-production elements means you get access to some great MOCs at a reasonable price, very easily. Even if they do more of the MOC Pop-up store instructions, being able to get the parts easily through PAB was extremely useful.

[Yoggington]

Harbourmaster's office is gone up in my opinion - it's more appealing 'in the brick' than in the still photos.

I still think it'll be just the Art of Chocolate for me.

[Wimmer]

I got the Mountain Fortress in round one, as the “opposite side” to the Lion Castle. 
Because of that I will skip all the next round of Castle themed sets. I’m eyeing the Art of Chocolate as well; but am worried that it’s just too much money maybe ?

But that set would look really good in any Winter Village setup, and I really am fond of that kind of integration. It also was the reason that a few years ago I got the Alpine Chalet. That one is still gorgeous and makes me want to go home on vacation every time I see it. 

[JohnTPT17]

1 hour ago, Yoggington said:

Harbourmaster's office is gone up in my opinion - it's more appealing 'in the brick' than in the still photos.

The reviews I've seen for that set make it look extremely cool, and it seems well-designed across the board. The price is also quite reasonable. The only downside is that it just doesn't work with anything that I already have - but I think anyone who gets it will be extremely happy with it.

2 minutes ago, Wimmer said:

I got the Mountain Fortress in round one, as the “opposite side” to the Lion Castle. 
Because of that I will skip all the next round of Castle themed sets. I’m eyeing the Art of Chocolate as well; but am worried that it’s just too much money maybe ?

But that set would look really good in any Winter Village setup, and I really am fond of that kind of integration. It also was the reason that a few years ago I got the Alpine Chalet. That one is still gorgeous and makes me want to go home on vacation every time I see it. 

I think that's about where I'm at with it as well... The Forestman Stronghold does look nice, but I don't even have the Lion Knight's Castle yet, and I feel like that would be a better buy. If the Forestmen has a slightly different vibe and looked more Ewok Village-esque, I might like it more... But I don't know if I need a third castle for them. Now, just to stave off fomo...

I'm still up in the air about Art of Chocolate as well. If it was a little closer to $200 (and even if that meant getting rid of the closing back), I think it might feel like a better deal. Like, just compare it to something like Wave 5's Mushroom Village, which I feel like is far more innovative, creative, and bigger - and it has nearly 300 less pieces. I dunno... I think I may still get one, since it does seem pretty unique... We'll see.

[Vlado_sk]

Well,

 

When the sets revealed for the first time I had hard time to decide what I really want. Personally I liked Art of chocolate, Forestmen stronghold and Harbourmaster's office. After some time, when the desings came out from refining stage I threw out Art of chocolate from my list. I was really hyped for Forestmen, because I love that theme. I wasnt even born on that time but from old pics and reviews I love that fraction from castle theme.

 

After video review, Im dissapointed. It looks so simple by build and using many techniques as Lion´s knight castle (Which I was looking for 1 and half year and then got it as present ). So Thiago decided for me that I will be taking only Harbourmaster´s office, especially when Im collecting mostly the city stuff.

[Wimmer]

When will the next round ship ? Do we have any idea about that ?

I’m looking forward to getting my Station !… 😁 

Edited October 6, 2024 by Wimmer

[Artanis I]

Around 6 months after you order it