BDP Series 1 discussion thread

[JimBaggins]

I figured there should be a thread to discuss the historic themes related BDP1 sets. 

What do you think are the best, most interesting, or most useful sets? What are your favorites? 

My favorites are Brickwood castle, which I was somewhat involved in, The Ocean House, and the Mountain Fortress. They seem of the highest quality and level of detail, along with looking amazing!

https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/26/Brickwood-Castle 

https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/166/The-Ocean-House

https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/482/Mountain-Fortress

[woodford86]

So many good medieval builds, I'm already bummed that they can't all win

My top picks: 

• Krakenator - Castle Ambush - This is my #1, I just think it'll fit my world perfectly and the forest folk need a home base. The overgrowth really makes it IMO.
• SleeplessNight - Mountain Fortress - Just love this one in general, seems like it'd be a good twin to the Lions castle. I don't have a snow area but always thought about building a mountain for the snow guardian's to live.
• letsgolegobrick - Medieval Street - We need more village stuff! Not sure how it'd scale next to the lions castle but I'll take it.
• Parts - Wizard Tower - There's beauty in its simplicity, not that its all that simple. I can see this one tucked back in the woods near the Lions castle.
• OwenHanntjes - Royal Toll Bridge - A unique idea and really well executed. It'd be great to build that into a border between the Lions and Falcons.

And very honorable mentions:

• https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-1/65/Medieval-Market
• https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/263/A-HUT-NEXT-DOOR
• https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-1/199/The-Forestmen's-old-mill
• https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-1/99/Forest-Citadel

Does anyone know what happens after the voting closes at end of the month? How long until the results are announced and we can try to buy?

Edited March 8, 2023 by woodford86

[GeoBrick]

4 hours ago, woodford86 said:

Does anyone know what happens after the voting closes at end of the month? How long until the results are announced and we can try to buy?

Have a read.

 

[Follows Closely]

11 hours ago, woodford86 said:

So many good medieval builds, I'm already bummed that they can't all win

My top picks...

Great summary. I would move https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-1/99/Forest-Citadel to the top list.

[Follows Closely]

My top 10:

#1 Brickwood Castle 

Another build from povoq. Not my favorite of his castles, see: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/a2bb5e22-b2bd-46b4-b4cd-ad8c9a6b89dd and https://ideas.lego.com/projects/a13ec681-7424-4d41-bd58-bb5e30f69c65. However this is the most production ready castle in bdp round 1.

Spoiler

#2a) Medieval Joiner's Workshop

I missed this the first time I scrolled.

Spoiler

#2b) Medieval Street

Everyday medieval life is often ignored, this starts to fix that.

Spoiler

#3) Mountain Fortress

Have we had a castle build in the winter time? The more I look at this the more I am considering this my #1.

Spoiler

#4) Forest Citadel

This looks like a great playset.

Spoiler

#5) Castle Ambush

So much going on here, another great playset. Forestmen Forestpeople!

Spoiler

#6) Lennox Castle

I have a weakness for symmetric castles that closes up. I like the addition of a court yard piece while it is opened up.

Spoiler

#7) Wizard Tower

Second thought, not sure  why I have this so high. Something about it that makes me smile.

Spoiler

#8) Royal Toll Bridge

Interesting shape and something that has not been done at this scale before.

Spoiler

#9) Old Glazier's Workshop

Colorful, maybe too colorfull.

Spoiler

#10) Imperial Outpost

This would be higher up of it was in the castle era.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Follows Closely
added a second #2

[MAB]

There are some nice MOCs, but let's face it, they are nearly all $400 designs. So many have aimed for 3800-4000 parts. I really hope they have some extra limits imposed, so that out of the five chosen there is least one small set and one medium.

It is also surprising (although not really surprising) how little variation there is. So many Castle and Modular entries. Maybe they should also only allow a maximum of one of each of those in the final five.

 

 

[Yoggington]

I think my favourite smaller set is this: https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/104/Caravan-Theatre . While not strictly 'medieval', it can certainly be made so with the slightest mods.

 

A lot of good stuff mentioned in thread already. This one has not: https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/618/Medieval-Joiner's-Workshop . The overall design is nothing groundbreaking, and could maybe use a once-over from a secondary designer, but there's a lot of very clever things going on in it the more I look. And I absolutely love the colours.

[RichardGoring]

Looking through the entries yesterday, while not trying to take anything away from any of the creators, it shows you just how good the LEGO designers are at producing models with both elegance and efficiency. 

[kill will]

So many medieval entries this time! Really happy to see the community engaging with the theme so much and expanding on the excellent official sets we got last year. I will say a fair number seem to be following a bit too closely and just look like alt builds of the Lion Knights' Castle. I suppose a level of similarity is expected when the 1x2 bley masonry brick single handedly carries the entire modern castle world though. 

Top 3 4 castle entries:

• Travelling Medicus I have a soft spot for any civilian builds and this one is my favorite. Shocking amount of detail packed into an eight stud wide carriage and the little forest scene it goes with is too cute!
• Medieval Stonemasons Guild A refreshing concept with a great execution- the scaffolding and winches are lovely and could go with any other medieval construction in process. The church and stained glass are suitably detailed without being over the top, also love the miniature church model!
• Stroggilofanaro Gatehouse A smaller and more restrained build that pulls off a very eye catching and unique shape with a fraction of the piece count most others use 
• Castle Ambush It's big, unwieldly, and directly copies a large number of design elements from 10305. Despite all that, I think it manages to have a very distinct personality with the wide variety in depth and height throughout. The arched stone bridge is a classic and the zipline is so fun! Really evocative of the classic Forestmen feel 

Top 3 non-castle historical entries:

• The Lost Temple Beautifully realized Mesoamerican temple with suitably vibrant colors. Technically styled as an Adventurers setting but could easily be used in a more historical context. 
• General Store Of the small number of western builds this is by far my favorite, it absolutely nails the setting down to every minute detail. The angled siding looks fantastic as well as the vegetation and covered wagon
• Small Shinto Shrine It's a Shinto shrine, what more is there to say? I've seen a large number of Lego recreations but this one does an excellent job despite the piece restrictions for the program. The roof is especially well done!

[woodford86]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

There are some nice MOCs, but let's face it, they are nearly all $400 designs. So many have aimed for 3800-4000 parts

I kind of prefer it that way. Since this is a fan program its a chance for people to go all out in every detail. And while TLG really needs to start offering affordable sets again, thats on them. I say let BDP designers unleash their best!

That said, there's a few in there that look like they just went for big with no real plan or forsight...thats no bueno.

Edited March 8, 2023 by woodford86

[Leewan]

5 hours ago, Yoggington said:

This one has not: https://www.bricklink.com/r3/designer-program/series-1/618/Medieval-Joiner's-Workshop . The overall design is nothing groundbreaking, and could maybe use a once-over from a secondary designer, but there's a lot of very clever things going on in it the more I look. And I absolutely love the colours.

Oh thank you, but I'm gonna have to disagree about the once-over, I wouldn't change one single bit on this model. 

[Sir Dano]

That workshop is definitely one of the best in this round, I really like the stonemason too.

I WANT to like the glazier, but that roof is a bit much for my taste.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Sir Dano

[Yoggington]

1 hour ago, Leewan said:

Oh thank you, but I'm gonna have to disagree about the once-over, I wouldn't change one single bit on this model. 

Is it yours? Well done on it.

I went through the whole 400 earlier, and only gave out four "loved it"s, so you're in good company.

[Leewan]

Yep ! I think I'll create a dedicated topic to present the model in detail in the next few days. 

[kuzyabricks]

Does anybody know the rough estimation of $ what these sets usually cost compared to regular sets? I'm in college next year and with the Viking village, D&D, medieval marketplace, and Baradur I need to start saving now.....

[RichardGoring]

8 minutes ago, kuzyabricks said:

Does anybody know the rough estimation of $ what these sets usually cost compared to regular sets? I'm in college next year and with the Viking village, D&D, medieval marketplace, and Baradur I need to start saving now.....

It's going to depend a lot on the size of them. The previous BDP sets were about 10c per piece on average, so typical of many LEGO sets. But the piece counts were far higher than they would be for a standard LEGO set of the same size, due to the extra details and fiddly bits that the MOC creators add. Given that we have no idea which five sets will be chosen, we have no idea on pricing, but quite a lot were touching the 4000 piece limit, so expect at least one or two to be $400 each. Hopefully they will pick a few smaller sets too, but I'd be amazed if the average across all five finalists wasn't over $250.

[kuzyabricks]

12 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

It's going to depend a lot on the size of them. The previous BDP sets were about 10c per piece on average, so typical of many LEGO sets. But the piece counts were far higher than they would be for a standard LEGO set of the same size, due to the extra details and fiddly bits that the MOC creators add. Given that we have no idea which five sets will be chosen, we have no idea on pricing, but quite a lot were touching the 4000 piece limit, so expect at least one or two to be $400 each. Hopefully they will pick a few smaller sets too, but I'd be amazed if the average across all five finalists wasn't over $250.

 

Idk if I could stomach another $400+ set. Baradur sure but I also hope it's in the $250 price range

[Poco Lypso]

Dang, castle is getting really popular! Some really nice medieval builds this year. Luckily those sets wont come with any new civilian minifigs, so I wont be feeling like Im missing out

[Follows Closely]

On 3/17/2023 at 4:38 PM, kuzyabricks said:

Does anybody know the rough estimation of... I need to start saving now.....

I would assume $0.11 per piece. The production is a year out and LEGO prices only go up.