Review: LEGO Bricklink Designer Program General Store (Series 1)

February 4, 2024 | 2

Ahead of pre-orders opening for Bricklink Designer Program (BDP) Series 1 on 7 February 2024, I was given the chance to review one of the upcoming Western-themed sets, the General Store!

This is quite unprecedented to get access to a set that hasn’t even gone into production yet, but the Bricklink team were gracious enough to provide these pre-production sets for selected LEGO Fan Media to review, to give the fan community a chance to get a proper look at the sets before commiting to a pre-order.

As a caveat, I’m not able to share what the digital instructions (there are no printed instructions) look like, as well as the sticker sheet and packaging. We didn’t get them in the final packaging, and the parts for the set literally came in a brown box, with the numbered bags written in sharpie, so yeah, it was a very raw build experience!

If you’re new to this, Bricklink Designer Program is run by Bricklink, and is open to anyone that submits their design in Bricklink Studio, and shortlisted designs get voted on, and shortlisted again before being successful.

After the sets are finalised, and designs are modified slightly to get as close to LEGO’s Building Standards, fans can then pre-order the sets, which are made in limited quantities (30,000 each), and if at least 3,000 pre-orders are made, these sets then go into production and will ship out a few months later.

There are currently 4 series in various phases and BDP Series 1 pre-orders open from 8am (PST), 7 February 2024! Check what time in your local time zone.

See below for regional pricing of the General Store

• General Store – US$159.99 / AU$219.99 / £119.99 / €139.99

Who is this set for? LEGO fans nostalgic for Western and Cowboy-themed sets that have a more mature and sophisticated design, and can put up with not-quite-LEGO levels of the build process

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set for this review!

BDP Series 1 General Store Set Details

Name: General Store
Set Number: TBD
Pieces: 1,906 pieces
Price: US$159.99 / AU$219.99 / £119.99 / €139.99
Exclusive to: Bricklink.com
Theme: Bricklink Designer Program
Release Date: 7 February 2024
BDP Designer: llucky

The Build Experience

Big caveat – as mentioned, the set I had to build was a pre-production version, so the instructions weren’t finalised yet, and in many instances, riddled with mistakes and graphical errors, which I was fully aware of.

But even then, because Bricklink Designer Program sets are positioned as “sets designed by LEGO fans, for experienced builders”, I could immediately tell that the build experience wasn’t as fluid, intuitive and dare I say, enjoyable as a typical LEGO set.

I build hundreds of LEGO sets in a year, you really take for granted just how much unseen work goes into each step, element placement and the flow of a build, and these are very noticeably lacking in Bricklink Designer Program sets.

Even their FAQs explains it as such:

This means the sets fans purchase will have a building experience much closer to how the fan designer originally intended it, where LEGO IDEAS sets for instance are fan ideas re-imagined by LEGO designers. For this reason, BDP sets can be more challenging as we do not apply LEGO design standards as rigorously to the design and the building instruction steps.

The build experience wasn’t bad, in fact there are some really novel techniques and clever (if a little fiddly) flourishes throughout the build, and as someone who doesn’t typically MOC, it was quite fun in some ways!

Here’s a bag by bag look at how the General Store comes together.

I mostly enjoyed the build, but it definitely didn’t flow as smoothly as a typical LEGO set, if that’s important to you. The instructions are also challenging to decipher in some steps, as they assume that you’re really experienced as a builder, and have a good sense of LEGO spatial awareness.

And here is the completed set, after about 10 bags in!

I really liked how large and expansive the General Store feels as a model. The footprint and building is huge, measuring 36.5 cm / 14.4 in wide, 30.9 cm / 12.2 in long and 19.5 cm / 7.7 in tall, and for US$159.99 / AU$219.99 / £119.99, feels like great value, not just for its size, but the element density as well.

And it just looks really good as a model, with a pleasant and believable colour palette.

I’m a big fan of LEGO Western as I grew up with the theme, and due to cultural sensitivities about how Native Americans are depicted, it’s probably quite unlikely we’ll see anything like the 1996 LEGO Western sets ever again in our lifetime, but this is a nice little peek into an alternate universe where LEGO embraced Western-themed Cowboy sets and gave it the LEGO Icons treatment.

Maybe without the Soldiers vs Native Americans vibe, we could see some sort of revival. Maybe.

The General Store itself looks great, and really gives off a rugged, Western vibe.

It’s a true 360° model and there’s plenty of great details from every angle, which adds to its display presence, but also its playability as there’s places for minifigures to interact with all sorts of items.

For example, on the left side of the general store, there’s crates with fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a rocking chair.

And on the right, there’s a fantastic brick-built cactus, a prickly bush (I didn’t know LEGO still made these!) and a wooden bench. There’s also some rocks, a random wheel that’s wedged between the rocks and wall, and a bucket and mouse.

It’s reminiscent of a LEGO Convention MOC, which are typically quite busy with lots of fun things scattered throughout the build.

The weatherboard cladding is quite possibly my favourite thing about the build. It’s in sand blue which is always an inspired choice, and it’s made possible by this simple yet effective layering technique.

But the real genius is that it’s on an angle, and the build technique here is just inspired, and works really well, with it being held by clips, and sliding and locking into a recess.

Here’s a look at the back, where there’s a back door, some more boxes, and even a large barrell.

This dead tree is also very cool.

And here’s a look at the roof. The patchwork of tiles is quite nice visually, and there’s some nice storytelling elements here. There’s some hay on the roof, as well as some wooden barrels hidden behind the sign.

Are they filled with gunpowder, moonshine, gold? It’s up to you to determine that, and that’s a really fun aspect about this build that I did not expect.

And yes, you can if you want, set up a siege or defence of the General Store should you please, whether its from bandits, the sheriff or anything else that’s a threat in the Wild West.

Oh and this chimney that emerges from the walls is also a nice touch.

Here’s a look at the signboard. These stickers are pre-production prototypes so they aren’t made with the same material as regular stickers, so the final product will look slightly different.

This brick-built vulture is also very fun.

To encourage playability and taking a leaf out of modular buildings, the roof of the general store can easily be removed to revealed a very busy and well-stocked outback store!

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the inside, which you can tell, is very busy! It’s simply brimming with supplies and all sorts of items that you’d need to survive and thrive in the Wild West.

There’s a big shelf with utensils, a blunderbuss, and even bottles of umm.. juice?

A really fun build was this pot belly stove – the fact that it connects to the chimney outside is a really nice touch!

And last but not least, plenty of supplies and tools for prospectors, and those eager to join the gold rush! Yes, including sticks of dynamite!

Here’s a look at the 5 minifigures included. There are no exclusive minifigures here, and they mostly look okay and fit the General Store.

There’s a suss looking Wagon-Driver, a merchant, the Storekeeper, a traveller and a customer, complete with a shopping list.

They minifigures are probably the weakest part of the set as they’re just not very exciting as they have very civilian-type roles and appearances. A nod to the Blue uniforms from the LEGO Western theme would’ve been welcome, and maybe a bandit or two, but maybe LEGO doesn’t quite want that type of conflict in a set like this.

The last thing you build in the set is this Wagon, which is entirely brick-built and a very enjoyable way to conclude the set. Two horses are included which are quite nice as these are relatively expensive to buy on your own.

And in more story-telling fun, the wagon opens up to reveal a whole wagonload of these mystery barrels we see on the roof! As well as what I think are sacks of gold.

Is this gunpowder and is he on a suicide mission? Is he a willing accomplice of the General Store owner? Is he part of a bootleg moonshine smuggling ring? The storytelling possibilities are endless!

And to close off – my own nod to 1996’s LEGO Western theme!

Looks like there are some visitors to the General Store, and they don’t look like they’re here to shop!

What I liked:

• A glimpse into what a LEGO Icons Western set could look like
• A well-sized model that’s also great value
• Plenty of fun little details and storytelling prompts
• At a scale that’s begging to be expanded

What I didn’t like: 

• Build flow was quite uneven and there’s a lack of LEGO polish
• Some very fiddly bits throughout the build
• Uninspiring minifigures

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I quite enjoyed building the Bricklink Designer Program Series 1 General Store. In spite of the less-than-idea build experience that sorely lacks the LEGO stamp of quality that we’re all too familiar with, the end result is a visually interesting model that will delight fans of LEGO Western.

The General Store is quite large, and packs plenty of fun details both inside and out, and I was very surprised by the level of storytelling that’s weaved into the set, with breadcrumbs of story-starters sprinkled throughout that also makes this a fun model to play and interact with.

Design-wise, the General Store is aided by its size, but also by the colour scheme and realistic yet tranquil take on the Wild West. While there are hints of potential conflict, the General Store also provides a peek into a mundane slice of life in the untamed expanses of the Wild West.

The minifigures are quite uninspired and boring, so if you have any old Western minifigures, they’re almost begging to be inserted into the set, or you can create your very own minifigures and characters to setup different scenes and storylines in the set.

If you enjoy LEGO Western sets and have a nostalgic yearning for cowboys and the Wild West, this is an easy set to recommend, although I need to warn you that the build experience and overall package does not really feel fully like a LEGO set, and more like a custom build that you buy instructions from to build – which isn’t a bad thing, but don’t expect the high levels of polish that you’d find in a typical LEGO set.

Price-wise, there’s a lot to like with the General Store, and while there’s a lot of cool models in Series 1, I’d say that this is my second favourite of the bunch, after the Mountain Fortress.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★☆

Build [3] – Interesting build that lacks LEGO finesse, but also takes you places where LEGO wouldn’t usually lead you to
Real Value [4] – Priced really well for the amount of bricks, colour palette and also size of the model
Innovation [4] – Great to see LEGO take a crack at Western, even if its through Bricklink Designer Program
Coolness [4] – A lovely homage to LEGO Western that’s sorely lacking from LEGO’s modern portfolio
Keepability [4] – Makes for a great display piece, and can integrate well with your other Western sets

Thanks so much for reading my review of the Bricklink Designer Program Series 1 General Store!

The General Store, along with 4 other models will be able to be pre-ordered from 8am (PST), 7 February 2024! Check what time in your local time zone.

To see more Bricklink Designer Program reviews, be sure to check out:

• Brickset (General Store)
• Tips & Bricks (Mountain Fortress)
• Racing Brick (Old Train Engine Shed)
• Racing Brick (Mountain Fortress)
• Tiago Catarino (Parisian Street)
• Brothers Brick (Snack Shack)

What do you think of the General Store? Would you like to see LEGO revisit Western?

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