If you haven’t been keeping track, BrickLink is running another AFOL Designer program. This time they are going to take some of the projects from Ideas that reached 10,000 votes, but were not selected for production and try to crowd fund them. There have been a few updates to the program since it kicked off. First off, 5 of the 31 total projects have dropped out bringing us to 26 total. Secondly, BrickLink released some info on 12 May with a change to the program. Instead of one round of crowd funding, there will now be three rounds. Round one will kick off in July, round two in September, and round three in November. The info page lists how they broke the projects up. For each round, the first five projects to reach the goal will get built. So we’ll get 15 sets total versus 13 which is good. The downside is that program will take much longer to see sets.
So with that being said, let’s go through the projects in round 1. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or vote with your wallet starting 1 July 2021 on BrickLink.
The Castle in the Forest
Designer: povoq (Daniel VAN ZONNEVELD, 37 years old, France)
If I had to predict the first set to gain crowd funding support, I’d have to say it would be this one. This one is just over 1,900 pieces and is inspired by the Forestmen theme from castle. It also includes a few Black Falcon Knight minifigures too along with a few animal figures. With the following behind castle and after seeing the demand for #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith, I say this one will get made. I’m thinking it’ll be around $200.
You can see the designer video here.
Sheriff’s Safe with Combination Lock
Designer: Il_Buono (Denmark)
Here is an original idea… a safe with combination lock. The safe can actually be built with a combination to open it. It will also come with printed/stickered tiles which you can put in the brick built book to remind you of the combo. Of course, it is brick built so you can just take take the safe apart too. It also comes with a few other accessories both inside and outside. I think it’s a fun set, but it will only appeal to certain people. I’m not sure it will have the draw of some other sets. It’s at around 550 pieces so I’m guessing maybe $60? We’ll see how this one does.
LEGO Observatory Mountain View
Designer: ThomasW_BL
Here’s another original idea that fits in with the CITY theme, the projects related to space exploration, and maybe the modulars. This one has some great play features and some fun details inside. Not sure how many pieces this one is so I can’t give a cost estimate. I like this one and hope it gets picked up for crowd funding. We’ll see if everyone else likes it.
Particle Accelerator
Designer: JKBrickworks
I’ll be honest… I saw this one and was not impressed. And then I watched the video… I didn’t realize that this one had movement. You put the ball in and it keeps it going around the round track. I could see this set appealing to the GBC crowd. It’s pretty fun, but I wonder how the price will be if the motor and battery pack are included. At ~1,500 pieces right now and then throwing in a motor and battery pack. Are we talking a $200 set? Either way, JKBrickworks did an awesome job on this one.
The Legend of Bionicle
Designer: Sokoda
So I’m not the biggest fan of Bionicle… I will say that there seems to be a large fan base for Bionicle pushing for its return. While this isn’t at the top of my list, there probably is a group out there that would like to see this. While it is not in the original form of Bionicle, a System brick tribute may work. I’ll be curious to see where this one ends up during crowd funding. I’m sure LEGO will as well as it will be a good test run for them as to whether they should do something with Bionicle again.
Pursuit of Flight
Designer: JKBrickworks
Here’s another entry from JKBrickworks. This one has some mechanical movement, but is turned by hand versus a motor. You can see the video here. The set is expected to be around 500 pieces and will have three different aircraft that you can set on it. I’m hoping this comes in at $40. I think this one will appeal to a wide audience and lends itself to customization either with different aircraft, different genres (Star Wars maybe), or something completely different. I’m looking forward to seeing this one get produced.
The Great Fishing Boat
Designer: EdouardClo
The history of LEGO doesn’t have a lot of ships if you pull out the CITY versions. There are the Maersk ships, but beyond that this would be another one. This is definitely a display piece with just under 1,500 pieces, but might look great on a dock with #21310-1: Old Fishing Store. I like the ship and think there are some great details, but I’m not sure there will be a fan base for this ship. We’ll have to see what the pricing is and what the final design will be.
Kakapo
Designer: themfledge
We had a LEGO Ideas birds set a few years back and this is a come back with another detailed bird with a baby bird and a few accessories for fun. I think it’s a cool design, but I’m not really sure what I would do with a bird other than take it apart to use the pieces. That’s just me though. There might be a fan base from the New Zealand area or just bird and wildlife lovers in general. I think this one is a wild card. It could do really well… or not so much…