Yoggington

I have to say I love the colour combo on the Garden Restaurant. However, I'm having trouble figuring out what the main walls pink/dark pink combination is exactly? I think (by Bricklink name), the darker one is "Dark Pink" (or possibly "Magenta"), and I'm fully lost on the lighter shade - doesn't look like "Coral" or "Bright Pink" to my eyes. Can anyone more familiar with the Friends palette help me out?

I feel like this is not the universal experience. The two times I've had to deal with Lego CS they've gone above and beyond, one time replacing a missing part and sending me extras for free, the other time allowing me keep a set they'd sent accidentally.

For those who want a bit more detail, Tiago has an interview with the designer uploaded: And PrestonBuilds has a hands-on review:

Most interesting pic (imo)

I like it a lot. Weirdly negative reaction over on Reddit, a lot of haters for reasons they've explained but I just can't see as bad things.

With all the other reveals today.. surely today is the day, right? RIGHT??

The City line have been killing it since Chris Stamp was put in charge. Last year I pined the fact that the Lego truck was just too big for my space, and hey presto a miniature version. No doubt I'll be nabbing multiple taxis over it's shelf life too. Most of the rest don't suit my layout, but my nieces and nephews will be loving life at uncle's expense. Very fond of the tractor & airport too.

The DnD series was amazing. If that can make a sequel series half as good, I'll be very interested.

Lumibrix do seem to be getting serious. Probably changing their name away from the borderline dodgy "Fun-Whole" was an important step.

Not on their site, but on Bricklink yes. So you can see the Series 5 instructions here with each model. No Art Factory (series 6) yet, as it's not yet shipped/finalised. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-5/main.page

The problems with taking leaks as gospel rears it's ugly head again. Don't believe the hype!

My wallet gives thanks to the selectors.

Not a bother. It doesn't look like the most web-reader friendly layout. If any other info is hard to find, just holler.

It's written at the top of the Series 7 Page ( https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-7/main.page ) "These designs are chosen for Crowdfunding on February 1st, 2026 at 8 AM Pacific time." Unless you mean when will the set actually be delivered? That's "approx July 2026"

I find it a bit wild that Lego hasn't at any stage (that I'm aware) followed this blueprint. Not even necessarily a castle, but it does work very well for Castle Blaustein. You sell a core set and then 20 optional expansions / DLC for that set. They gotta know what completionists so many Lego fans are. You get an AFOL to buy just one of the 20 "optionals" and you can be sure they'll be chasing every last one for years to come. Nobody ever bought just one Modular building.

Have you considered the older lattice window piece? i.e. Pane for Window 1x2x3 Lattice I'm afraid I don't have any at my current location, so I can't verify 'in the brick', but if I recall you can wedge these between the groove of a rail piece and the underside of an arch to some success. Studio mock-up: edit: I got so excited with my idea I didn't read your 1x3 width requirement. I'll leave it there for future browsers.

Checked out the price after reading here; I don't know how this can be justified outside of sheer profit-chasing greed. More complex shape? Lower production run?

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.

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/

If I was eager to compete, and if I was sticking to the medieval theme, I think a good small to mid-sized set would sell like hot cakes, and get voted for in similar numbers. Has the added benefit of not needing to compete directly with all the 4000-piece behemoths, and maybe needs a little less work on your side. If the "extra large" slot gets taken by something non-medieval (city, pirate, train?), there is a dearth of smaller and medium sets in most categories (good ones, anyway). How about a wagon train? 3-5 small medieval wagons. You have your farmer's/merchant/soldier wagons of course, but you could also be thinking of the King's Royal transport, or something for transporting prisoners, or a traveling stage. Not a full diorama - but a few small bits of "countryside" or bridge could flesh it out without breaking the piece count.

Yea, that's the plan I suppose. If no Black Friday sale I'll probably wait until at least Christmas.. if not next Black Friday..

As good a place as any to ask. Anyone have any idea of the potential for X-Mansion to become a Black Friday bargain? Any inkling of whether its selling well? The price just seems so wildly OTT, I figure it just might be selling poorly and have been holding out for a discount.

Fantastic info, thanks.

Big fan of your work @arselus. A question if you don't mind; Have you ever gotten feedback from the BDP team about this point in their rules? I ask because I've been long tinkering with a (non-denominational) medieval chapel build and I'm considering entering it into BDP one of these times.I could see both sides of how you could say these kinds of builds obviously fall foul of the rule, or they obviously don't.

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.