The LEGO Bricklink Designer Program: 2021 Invitational is now live – second chance for LEGO Ideas sets

March 18, 2021 | 6

Who doesn’t love second chances at life? LEGO today have announced the Bricklink Designer Program: 2021 Invitational – a program which will see 31 LEGO Ideas Members and their 10k Club submissions to participate in this pilot program.

With the deluge of LEGO Ideas submissions hitting the 10k mark, but getting cut at the final approval stage, it seems like a waste of talent and obvious fan interest in the designs.

LEGO will be using the Bricklink platform (we’re finally seeing the fruits of their acquisition), in what seems to be a strange hybrid of the LEGO Ideas platform, and Bricklink’s e-commerce functionality to run the Bricklink Designer Program.

How will the Bricklink Designer Program Work?

For the 2021 Invitational, 27 members have agreed to participate with 31 10K Club projects which you can see below!

13 sets from this list of 31 projects that are successfully crowdfunded will be made available for purchase in very limited quantities – only 5,000 of each set will be made.

To meet the crowdfunding qualification, a minimum of 3,000 pre-orders need to be received.

Pretty interesting move by LEGO, requiring people to put their money upfront through the crowdfunding process – I guess to give LEGO fans a sense of “ownership” through their decisions, going beyond a simple LEGO Ideas vote.

The aim is for Bricklink Designer sets to be manufactured from September of 2021 and the first batch shipped in November 2021.

Pretty interesting move from LEGO, and while in principle, I do like the idea of resurrecting discarded (non-IP) Ideas projects, I feel like these sets will be pretty expensive, but the novelty and limited number of sets will make these highly collectable.

On the Bricklink page, there’s also an FAQ section with a bit more detail about the exact logistics of this program.

How many BrickLink Designer sets will be produced?

This program will realize up to the first 13 projects that are successfully crowdfunded by the fans. Each designer set is a limited edition, and the quantity produced will be up to 5,000.

Will you modify the original LEGO Ideas design during production?

We do not intend to change the original designs that are loved by the fans, but there can be inevitable modifications due to production requirements, such as part availability and stability issues. All design revisions will be done by the original designer, and the revision history will be shared on the project’s details page. 

Will there be printed building instructions?

No, the building instructions will be available in a digital form and only the set owners will have access to those digital building instructions. BrickLink and LEGO team are working hard to deliver the most enjoyable and interactive building experience on your mobile devices.

Will the sets be suitable for children?

The official target audience is 18+ so we do not recommend these sets for children.

What is the condition of successful crowdfunding?

A minimum of 3,000 pre-orders need to be received during the crowdfunding period in order to realize a project.How many sets can I pre-order?

There is no restriction on the number of pre-orders unless products are sold out.

Will all 31 projects be listed for crowdfunding?

Designers of all the participating projects have to revise their original design to meet the program requirements and pass the test building before May 31st. Only the projects that meet the production requirements will be listed for crowdfunding.What will happen to my pre-order when the project I supported is not realized?

When a project is not realized by the end of the crowdfunding period, all pre-orders will be canceled, and you will not be charged.

Where will the sets be shipped from?

The designer sets will be manufactured in Europe and most likely to be shipped directly from Europe, too. However, we’re working to arrange another US-based distribution center for US customers. We will update the information before the crowdfunding begins.

Will you ship the BrickLink Designer sets to all countries?

Unfortunately, we cannot ship the produced designer sets to all countries. Only BrickLink members from the following 30 countries are allowed to pre-order the designer sets.

America: USA, Canada, Mexico

Europe: UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Hungary, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Ireland, Slovakia, Czechia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Estonia, Greece

Asia/Oceania: South Korea, Australia, New Zealand

How much will shipping cost?

Shipping costs are not fully determined yet, but we are preparing to offer the lowest possible shipping costs to all countries we ship to.

When will the BrickLink Designer sets be available?

The BrickLink Designer sets will be manufactured from September of 2021 and we aim to ship the first batch in November. We will be able to share a more realistic shipping schedule when the manufacturing process begins.Why are some of the unrealized LEGO Ideas projects not invited?

Considering the maximum number of sets we can produce, only 32 projects were selected among all the unrealized LEGO Ideas projects. No IP-based models are invited to the program as they cannot be produced through this program.What is the price range for these sets?

The price of the sets is not decided yet and will be announced when the crowdfunding begins.