BrickLink Designer Program Ongoing Discussion Thread

[Flyingkangaro]

I saw the presentation of the Bricklink team at fan media days on YouTube the other day and he was saying that they indeed planned to have no progress bars on the website anymore.

I was a little surprised when I saw then there at the start. he did say that Bricklink will share numbers at the end of the crowdfunding campaign on how each set has preformed. 

The only thing I would at least like to see is if a set is funded or not.

[mark1991t]

If you click on one of the designs, it says if its funded or not. Every set is funded at the moment.

[icm]

Just for fun I'm going to make a list of the Castlemax (castles and forts about the size of the LKC, ~3000-4000p) submissions in BDP9 to see how many there are (77!):

1. Alliance of Light (Griffins)

2. An Abyssal Knights World - Legends of Wreckstone (Krakens base w/Horses and Griffins too)

3. Brick Monarch's Castle (Griffin Knights)

4. Castle Evermore (Griffins and Krakens)

5. Castle in the Sky (Griffins)

6. Castle Keep at the Shore (Krakens)

7. Castle of Roses (Paradisa - built and titled like a castle but it's a modern resort?)

8. Citadel of the Snake (Snakes)

9. Cliffside Sanctuary (Griffins)

10. Cloud Kingdom (Griffins)

11. Dark Castle (Krakens, Griffins)

12. Darkspire Citadel (Frights)

13. Deep Sea Citadel (Krakens)

14. Desert Fortress (Snakes)

15. Dragon Spire (Griffins)

16. Dreadmoor (Snakes)

17. Driftwood Keep (Krakens)

18. Eyrie Castle (Griffins and Krakens)

19. Fortified city with inn and bank (Krakens)

20. Gilded Island Keep (Krakens)

21. Griffin Keep (Griffins)

22. Griffstone Castle (Griffins)

23. Hydra Shipyard (Griffins)

24. Imperial Guards Star Fortress (Imperial whitecoats)

25. Inn at the Crossroads (Griffins)

26. Japanese Castle (tourists)

27. King’s Castle (Horses)

28. King’s Mansion (Horses)

29. Knights’ Sanctuary of Valor (Horses)

30. Medieval Cathedral (Horses)

31. Medieval City Port (Griffins and Krakens)

32. Medieval Guildhall (a little smaller, faction unclear)

33. Medieval Hamlet (Griffins)

34. Medieval Town Hall (Lions)

35. Medieval Town Hall (Griffins)

36. Medieval Village (Griffins, Horses, Snakes)

37. Mistguard Castle (Griffins and Krakens)

38. Mistspire Tower (Griffins)

39. Nightstone Citadel watchtower (Snakes, Griffins, Horses)

40. Noble Knights’ Castle (Griffins)

41. Octopus Gate (Krakens, a little smaller)

42. Orc Village (Orcs)

43. Outlaw Outpost (Wild West)

44. Paladins’ Temple Fortress (Snakes)

45. Port Fenzance (Imperial tancoats)

46. Rockspire Castle (Griffins)

47. Royal Nest (Griffins)

48. Sea Haven Stronghold (Krakens)

49. Seacliff Castle (Griffins)

50. Shadow Stone Manor (Snakes)

51. Silverwood Crossing (Elves)

52. Squid Island Castle (Krakens)

53. Stonepeak Stronghold (Griffins)

54. Stormcairn Fortress (Krakens)

55. The Aerie Citadel (Griffins)

56. The Castle Gate (Horses)

57. The Corvids Nest (Griffins with Raven shields)

58. The Crooked Tower (faction unclear)

59. The Dark Village (Snakes)

60. The Emerald Abyss (Krakens)

61. The Forgotten Tower (Griffins)

62. The Fortress (Krakens)

63. The Island Castle (Griffins)

64. The Libertalia Fortress (Pirates)

65. The Northern City Gates (Griffins, Krakens, Horses)

66. The Scarlet Bastion (Griffins)

67. The Squire (Griffins)

68. The Stone Crown (Griffins and Krakens)

69. The Temple of Grail (Griffins)

70. Town Hall (Horses)

71. Town Hall and Belfry (Snakes and Horses)

72. Trade Outpost and River Barge (Griffins and Krakens)

73. Viking Shipyard (Vikings)

74. Wagon Fort (Griffins, a little smaller)

75. Watchers of the Midnight Sea (Krakens)

76. White Shark Imperials Prison (Imperial tancoats)

77. Wild West Fort (Wild West)

That's a lot of Castlemax builds! May the best one win.

These are the BDP9 submissions  I marked as "Like It":

1. Alliance of Light
2. Alien Discovery
3. Ancient City
4. Brick Studios
5. Canal Houseboat
6. Citadel of the Snake
7. Countryside Farmhouse
8. Darkspire Citadel
9. Dragon Spire
10. Dreadmoor
11. Edward the Friendly Pirate
12. Egyptology Expedition
13. Griffin Keep
14. Kita Castle
15. Lifeguard Tower
16. Medieval Village
17. Mistguard Castle
18. Outpost Battery
19. Packet Ship Albatross
20. Port Fenzance
21. Road Work Ahead
22. Royal Nest
23. The Corvids Nest
24. The Old Garage
25. The Royal Convoy
26. Vikings of Krakheim

These are the BDP9 submissions I marked as "Love It":

1. Golden Age Aviation
2. Japanese Castle
3. Oakwatch Tower
4. Post Office and Stagecoach

I marked everything else as "Not For Me.” I limited my “Love It” ratings to only the three smaller sets that would be instant buys if released, and only the Japanese Castle in the Castlemax category. The other Castlemax builds I liked are in the “Like It” category. I suppose I might go back and change some of them from “Like It” to “Love It” later.

Edited October 6, 2025 by icm

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, icm said:

Just for fun I'm going to make a list of the Castlemax (castles and forts about the size of the LKC, ~3000-4000p) submissions in BDP9 to see how many there are (77!):

1. ...

I marked everything else as "Not For Me.” I limited my “Love It” ratings to only the three smaller sets that would be instant buys if released, and only the Japanese Castle in the Castlemax category. The other Castlemax builds I liked are in the “Like It” category. I suppose I might go back and change some of them from “Like It” to “Love It” later.

That's quite a list. I started looking through earlier and decided to do it later, because I only want to mark sets I would definitely buy as 'Love it'. I noticed a lot of castles just in the first 50, but that list means about 25% of all submissions are castlemax. Quite incredible really. From the few that I saw, I liked that the new factions all seem to be available, giving much needed variety to the style and builds.

[icm]

My list of Castlemax projects has 77 entries, and there are 436 entries in Series 9, so that's about 18% of all submissions. If I counted Castle-themed entries in the 2000-3000p range too, that would probably come out to about 25% of all entries as medium-large or max-size castles.

[hikouki]

Looks like all 5 are funded!

The status bar is still not showing. But if you click on each item, it shows the "funded" icon.

[Artanis I]

I got up 15 minutes before preorders started, to make sure I was logged in to both sites. After the usual shenanigans with errors, redirects to the incorrect region, wrong quantity in the cart etc, it went through at 2:05am and I only took another 2 hours to get back to sleep...

At least it was quicker than usual. Just got the castle.

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Artanis I said:

I got up 15 minutes before preorders started, to make sure I was logged in to both sites. After the usual shenanigans with errors, redirects to the incorrect region, wrong quantity in the cart etc, it went through at 2:05am and I only took another 2 hours to get back to sleep...

At least it was quicker than usual. Just got the castle.

When a set provides disruption in your life for more time than it will take to build, that's a really poor experience! Hope you're not too sleepy today. 

[Murdoch17]

If I had a nickel for every time I saw a NYC Hudson-lookalike streamlined steam locomotives in BDP9, I'd have three nickels - which doesn't sound like much, but its weird it's happened thrice.

(Naturally, I voted for all three of them, along with  a few other railroad related items, like @zephyr1934's ABS grain elevator - although out of the four, I'd take the elevator!)

Edited October 7, 2025 by Murdoch17

[RichardGoring]

5 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

If I had a nickel for every time I saw a NYC Hudson-lookalike streamlined steam locomotives in BDP9, I'd have three nickels - which doesn't sound like much, but its weird it's happened thrice.

(Naturally, I voted for all three of them, along with  a few other railroad related items, like @zephyr1934's ABS grain elevator - although out of the four, I'd take the elevator!)

Those are great. I have considered trying to MOC a streamliner for a while. It would be amazing if one of these came. I think the Hudson streamliner is my favourite, but all three have some lovely elements.

[Murdoch17]

4 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

Those are great. I have considered trying to MOC a streamliner for a while. It would be amazing if one of these came. I think the Hudson streamliner is my favourite, but all three have some lovely elements.

off topic: I wish that someone would do an Empire State Express version of the NYC streamlined Hudson and release instructions. You don't see many pictures of that one from back in the day though (so MOCing it would be hard) and for good reason: It was revealed to the public Dec. 7th 1941, and shortly thereafter taking pictures of trains became a major no-no for a number of years.

[RichardGoring]

46 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

off topic: I wish that someone would do an Empire State Express version of the NYC streamlined Hudson and release instructions. You don't see many pictures of that one from back in the day though (so MOCing it would be hard) and for good reason: It was revealed to the public Dec. 7th 1941, and shortly thereafter taking pictures of trains became a major no-no for a number of years.

That would be nice. I don't know much about trains, but the Mercury Streamliner looks great to me, so would love one of those. Maybe I should figure out Studio, and MOCs, and trains, and try it!

The lack of nice wheels feels a bit of a shame though, as that often feels like one of the more dramatic things about them.

[hikouki]

On the one hand, I really like that there are so many castles vying for a spot in the top 5 for BDP9! It is very competitive and the designs are all awesome. If all 5 spots were reserved for castles, it would not even be enough!!!

However, I also see how the castles are outnumbering other 'themes'.

I really do think BL should have a castles-only submission - a BDP release all its own once or twice each year!

[DonQuixote]

52 minutes ago, hikouki said:

On the one hand, I really like that there are so many castles vying for a spot in the top 5 for BDP9! It is very competitive and the designs are all awesome. If all 5 spots were reserved for castles, it would not even be enough!!!

However, I also see how the castles are outnumbering other 'themes'.

I really do think BL should have a castles-only submission - a BDP release all its own once or twice each year!

Yes it's very competitive. That's a good and a bad thing.Because some beautiful designs will not get chosen. Dustmark Keep was chosen last time but I don't find it the best castle entry last time. I prefered the castle of Brickadmiralty in the previous series. It did not get chosen and he did not resubmit for series 9. I really like that castle so much that  I downloaded all the pics. Maybe I will try to recreate it myself one day for myself.He also has pictures on his Instagram ( Brickadmiralty).

For series 9 I prefer Brick Mordarch's castle. 

But I am glad that we even get one castle set per series.

If it were up to Lego to create Lego castle sets,  I had to live 500 years to get the sets I want.

Because today it's allmost all about licensed themes.

Without BDP I would be 99% converted to alt brick brands.

[MAB]

5 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

If it were up to Lego to create Lego castle sets,  I had to live 500 years to get the sets I want.

Because today it's allmost all about licensed themes.

Without BDP I would be 99% converted to alt brick brands.

Maybe LEGO are being clever here. They probably know that the Castle sets are for adults and that kids are perfectly happy with the licensed sets and Ninjago. Let BDP do the work, as this almost guarantees them sales of probably 50000 copies of a £250 set twice a year. 

Here, they have had to put 20% discount (combined with Insiders points and a GWP) on MTS to clear it.

Edited October 8, 2025 by MAB

[DonQuixote]

14 hours ago, MAB said:

Maybe LEGO are being clever here. They probably know that the Castle sets are for adults and that 

Here, they have had to put 20% discount (combined with Insiders points and a GWP) on MTS to clear it.

It appears that castle is a niche theme 

[RichardGoring]

I've been through all the series 9 designs and in the end voted for 37 of them. On the one hand it feels like a lot. On the other, there are loads of options. Many good ones that I passed on because I felt there were better options. I also added votes for unique subject matters or really interesting looking builds, like Anatomy of The Human Heart, Exploring Highlands, and Winter Cottage. I would buy any of the ones I voted for. I'm hoping at least a couple come through. Actually, maybe I should hope that no more than a couple come through!

There are definitely a lot of castles in there, but there is something that I think is even more prominent. Pigeons. It felt like every other model had a pigeon thrown into the mix!

[Yoggington]

I like a good castle as much as the next AFOL, but working through these is a bit ridiculous.

My "Love it"s. I tried to limit these to ones I would or probably would buy. Meaning most of those castles are a no unless they are truly spectacular. I already have two castles with nowhere to display them. One castles i would make an exception for: The Scarlet Bastion

One that I probably wouldn't buy, but of all the Kraken entries, it's the best in terms of colour palette and other design choices: Hydra Shipyard

Not a castle, and that's why I'd find room for it: The Northern City Gates

Also not a castle, but a great idea: Castle Faction Shields. Although, maybe a better fit for Lego ideas. I'd like to see a different designer clean them up a little.

 

Not Castle: 

The Viking Shipyard - this is the only one that made me say "I need it". It was already excellent the last time it was submitted. I left a little feedback then, and I can see the designer has resolved that and made lots of other QoL improvements. I see a lot of other entries that are just re-submissions of the same thing again. I will chase the designer to get the instructions if he doesn't make it.

The Grand Pavilion - Another one I thought very highly of previously, and has upped their game on the re-sub.

The Sunset Hotel - I love how complete this is, the theme pervades throughout. Maybe I'll finally have something to put beside the Downtown Diner and not look out of place.

Lifeguard tower - A very clean design. Maybe too much footprint, but built in to a larger beach, this would be great.

Winter Cottage - Do all the Castle designers know the Winter Village fans are just as rabid?

Horse-drawn Tram - The stairs alone are worthy of a "Love it".

The Amazing Brick Circus - Not the most original concept, but the most compact version of the idea I can remember.

Edited October 12, 2025 by Yoggington

[Yoggington]

Sales numbers for Series 6 have been 'discovered', by examining the source code of the page. Interesting, I guess they hid the progress bars but didn't actually take away the functionality.

The castle set unsurprisingly sold more than double the nearest, but overall this is the lowest sales number of any series. I doubt that means the program is tailing off - 100,000 unit is not to be sniffed at. IMO Series 7 is the weakest so far, so we might see that total dip again before Series 8 jumps back up. Series 8 is the first time where I personally plan to buy more than one set, - I'm even tempted by three or four of them.

Original source: https://www.stonewars.de/wissenswertes/bricklink-designer-program-in-zahlen-update-series-6/

[RichardGoring]

I was originally only interested in one, maybe two of series 6 - Outlaw Forest Den and Gold Mine Expedition. Turns out both looked good, appear to be well built, and have some cool functions.

After looking into the others and reading/watching reviews, I was really impressed with the Off-road Adventure and think there will be a level of delight to the build that doesn't really come across in the final model.

The Art Factory colour scheme really appealed, but then the thing that swung it for me was the range of play features and how it just seemed to be fun. I think my kids will really enjoy it.

The Sequoia Tree Trail I ignored as it looks pretty sparse, but then I saw a very brief video and it looked so much better. I think the scale of it, and the angle of photography used don't do it justice. I ordered it, but as a separate order, in the hope that I see more of it and then can decide later. I was on the fence about the General Store, didn't order it, and later regretted it, so didn't want that to happen again.

I think there is something about the BDP sets that I really enjoy building, so I'm tending to be less cautious with them.

Series 7 has up to three appealing sets (to me).

Series 8 could be all five, but could also be none, depending on the final execution.

[Yoggington]

For me, space constraints is the biggest limiting factor. Budget as well, but yeah.

As a 90s kid with Wolfpack Tower being my biggest ever set as a 10-year old, there was no way I wasn't getting the wolfpack build. I was very interested in the Art Factory too, but I'm practically at my limit space-wise for modular-style sets, so in the end I passed on it. I can really only have either a Castle display, or a city display out at once, and right now the modular shelves are overloaded.

For Series 8, while I'm fond of both the Sushi & Alchemist shops - I wouldn't say I love the Sushi shop, and the alchemist's is a bit "cartooney" for what I like in medieval.

Meanwhile in Series 9, both the balloon & the University were 'Love It's from me long before they won, and both of the Castle and Fort are very appealing to me too. This is where the limited availability kicks in as a negative. If they lived on shop shelves, I'd likely pick up all four over the course of a couple of years. But all four at once? Nah, I'm can't justify dropping a grand on Lego in one foul swoop.

[LegoDW]

Looking at series 6, the Castle set was the top seller.  Similar for series 5, Castle and Pirate sets #1 & 2.  Hopefully TLG will continue to offer these high demand themes.  .

[crowe-k]

On 10/21/2025 at 8:42 AM, RichardGoring said:

I was originally only interested in one, maybe two of series 6 - Outlaw Forest Den and Gold Mine Expedition. Turns out both looked good, appear to be well built, and have some cool functions.

After looking into the others and reading/watching reviews, I was really impressed with the Off-road Adventure and think there will be a level of delight to the build that doesn't really come across in the final model.

The Art Factory colour scheme really appealed, but then the thing that swung it for me was the range of play features and how it just seemed to be fun. I think my kids will really enjoy it.

The Sequoia Tree Trail I ignored as it looks pretty sparse, but then I saw a very brief video and it looked so much better. I think the scale of it, and the angle of photography used don't do it justice. I ordered it, but as a separate order, in the hope that I see more of it and then can decide later. I was on the fence about the General Store, didn't order it, and later regretted it, so didn't want that to happen again.

I think there is something about the BDP sets that I really enjoy building, so I'm tending to be less cautious with them.

Series 7 has up to three appealing sets (to me).

Series 8 could be all five, but could also be none, depending on the final execution.

I really like the look of the mine set and eventually pulled the trigger on the Art Factory for the exact reasons that you noted. The playability and the little details really stood out for me. As for series 7, I am eyeing the Privateer Frigate and maybe the sushi shop although I would like to see a more detailed review of each before committing. Series 8 is a banger of a series for me with the locomotive, Dustmark Keep and the hot air balloon piquing my interest. Maybe the university would climb into the top three but I would have to take a close look at it. 

[Lyichir]

By the way, (off the subject of Series 6 and 7) is Series 5 due to be shipped soon? I don't remember the expected month but IIRC it was supposed to be this fall. I preordered the Mushroom Village set and it'll be a lovely surprise when it arrives.

[RichardGoring]

12 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

By the way, (off the subject of Series 6 and 7) is Series 5 due to be shipped soon? I don't remember the expected month but IIRC it was supposed to be this fall. I preordered the Mushroom Village set and it'll be a lovely surprise when it arrives.

Yes. There are reports on Reddit of the order being moved to In Progress, so should be shipping soon. My order (in the US) still says Backordered though.

I'm also very much looking forward to the mushroom village. I have the Creator 3 in 1 Fox to build the squirrel alt build to go with it. I've recently built the insect collection to join my mushroom house.