In just under seven hours, the second round of Bricklink Designer Program projects have now been locked in, with the Modular LEGO Store, Mountain Windmill, last minute entrant Venetian Houses, Retro Bowling Alley and Clockwork Aquarium which squeaked in right at the end, pipping Brent Waller’s Seasons in Time: Calendar to the 5th and final slot.
These 5 projects have now successfully received at least 3,000 pre-orders, which have secured their positions, and will be shipped out by Bricklink in the 3rd quarter of 2022.
It seems that measures put in place by Bricklink to make it more equitable have largely worked, with the 1 per customer limit more or less allowing most people to get their hands on pre-ordering these sets – that said, regional limits might still apply, and if you weren’t early/fast enough, you would’ve missed out even though there are still pre-orders available.
- Mountain Windmill: https://www.lego.com/en-us/cart?product=910003
- Retro Bowling Alley: https://www.lego.com/en-us/cart?product=910013
- Modular LEGO Store: https://www.lego.com/en-us/cart?product=910009
- Clockwork Aquarium: https://www.lego.com/en-us/cart?product=910015
- Venetian Houses: https://www.lego.com/en-us/cart?product=910023
Remember, these are limited to only 10,000 sets produced, so once these pre-order slots get filled, no more will be made.
It’s really interesting that 4 out of 5 of these projects are the more expensive sets, which seems to suggest that adult LEGO fans still have very deep wallets, and of course plenty of patience.
Personally, none of these 5 excite me but I am slightly disappointed that Science Adventures didn’t make the cut, as I was looking forward to a sequel to her LEGO Ideas Research Institute set
Do note that these are pre-orders, and you’ll only be charged when these sets ship in Q3 2022, so you have loads of time to mull over the pre-orders, or let your future self worry about any financial stress that you may have inflicted on them.
Did you pre-order any of these projects today?
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I preordered the Modular LEGO Store.
I wasn’t interested in Round 1 but the Venetian Houses this time look so gorgeous, I went for it despite myself. I’ll be interested / nervous to see the reviews for the round 1 sets, to see whether they are worth the premium lego prices being charged.
I thought the Venetian Houses, Retro Bowling Alley, Mountain Windmill Seasons in Time Calendar and Ruined House would be the ones that made it; I was quite surprised at how popular the Lego modular store was (modular buildings have spectacular architecture and this build is so basic); it was quite tense half an hour in as the Clockwork Aquarium overtook my purchase, the Venetian Houses! By inspecting the raw percentages of the progress bar in the HTML I could see the aquarium was even accelerating over the houses! Fortunately 10 minutes later several hundred people purchases the Venetian Houses at once, bumping it up 6%, securing its position.
I think the Seasons in Time Calendar made a huge mistake in redesigning the product; the original design was so clever – it’s the same scene but slightly different in all 4 seasons of the year. Not only did the designer throw that brilliant idea out, they added all these unnecessary “occasion” vignettes which probably almost doubled the price
I managed to pick up the Modular LEGO Store after a few technical issues! After moving from Bricklink.com to Lego.com the basket wouldn’t register and there were 100’s of users across the globe experiencing the same problem but thankfully it was fixed within the hour, I noticed this then caused a surge and within about 15 minutes the Modular LEGO Store had pushed past the 3000 mark.
Compared to the first round (which I missed), the sets seem to take longer to reach the threshold. At the time of writing, none have sold out. The modular Lego Store has shot ahead and may sell out in a day or two.
Of the projects that unfortunately didn’t make it:
– Seasons in Time Calendar: This was over AU$300, making it tied for the second most expensive set. It seemed too expensive for what appeared to be a small model calendar.
– Ruined House: I thought this would be a winner. If I had to hazard a guess, the cost and repetition of pieces might have been a factor.
– Science Adventures: Good idea, but doomed in the competition it went up against. Lego should have picked this up as a multi-part GWP, like the 4 storybooks offered in Australia throughout October as GWPs. Spend $100, get another part of the series.
– Quest Builder: The description doesn’t say what it is and the pictures don’t show what’s in it with any detail. That probably hurt its cause.
In an ideal world, all projects that could meet the threshold would be produced. I guess there’s manufacturing constraints as it’s almost a year until things might ship. If we go beyond an ideal world to a perfect world, these events could be every couple of months – the next round of funding starts when the previous round is being manufactured.
Nonetheless, I do think this program is a really good one to give ideas a second chance. Round 3 is going to be a tough one! There’s going be a lot of good competition in it. The crowdfunding idea is a great way to produce sets to demand and I hope it continues past round 3 (though it would be good if things could be sped up a little). I guess we’ll find out the future of the program after round 3 closes.
Just FYI, you will be charged for the Pre-Orders for three days. LEGO refunds until the order does ship if not within the three day span.
Anyways, I got the Venetian Houses, Retro Bowling Ally, and the Modular LEGO Store. Looking forward to Round 3!