If you’ve missed it, we’re on round 2 of the 2023 Bricklink Designer Program. You can see my posts on round 1 here and here. Also on Bricklink here. Round 2 voting is now open and the process is the same as the last round so I won’t explain it again. Details are at the Bricklink site here. You have until 30 June 2023 to vote. The team will assess the designs in July and August and then Bricklink will announce the selected designs on 23 August. Crowd funding won’t be until June 2024.
Round 2 has 190 designs. I recommend viewing on a PC or laptop for ease of use on the site. It was hard to view on my phone. Maybe a tablet would be okay? I also found that if I clicked on a design, Bricklink re-arranged the order of designs when I returned to the list so I always selected “open in new tab” so I wouldn’t lose my place of where I was in reviewing the designs.
Overall, this round is much like last time. Lots of buildings/modulars, pirates, castle, space, and then a few one off designs. I selected five designs I liked, but I’ll be honest and say that there weren’t a ton of designs that just jumped off the screen at me as really amazing. There are definitely some talented builders out there… don’t get me wrong. Just the designs didn’t appeal to me as much as I thought/hoped they would. I’m hoping you all think I’m wrong… onto my picks (that I selected the happy emoji for).
What are your thoughts on this round? Happy voting!
#1: Brick Cross Train Station
Designed by username: brickester
Contains: 3.034 pieces
After building #910002-1: Studgate Train Station, I think it would be great to have another detailed train station not from the CITY line. This one is definitely packed with a lot of details and would look great in a train layout on the other end of Studgate. I like how it’s an older styled building with some modern touches to it. No train included, but some track and a bunch of minifigs.
#2: Jioufen Old Street
Designed by username: baeseonghwan
Contains 3,023 pieces
I’m a fan of the Chinese Festival Themed sets and this one seems to fit with that theme only it goes to the next level in detail and design. This one seems to pack a lot of details in and capture some of the cultural architecture styles as well.
#3: The Grocery Store
Designed by username: Sp_PirateKnight
Contains 3,996 pieces
I like modular buildings and LEGO won’t ever go for one in the Ideas line so why not try here. I think this one would fit in well to any modular city. I like the logo on the front and the front façade and roof design are unique which helps to make it stand out from a LEGO designed product.
#4: Stone Grayce Trailway Station
Designed by username: legokopen
Contains 1,694 pieces
This one is a smaller train station with fewer details, but also less pieces which should help to keep the cost down from the other sets I selected. It’s small and simple, but still captures something you’d expect to see on a railway line. This could fit well if you’re looking to put a station into a rural/country scene of a CITY type layout.
#5: Fairview Park
Designed by username: thepresident14
Contains 2,285 pieces
I tried to pick something different for #5 and decided on this little park scene. There is a bunch in here with a fountain, pond with bridge, kids play area, and various plants around the layout. While it’s still in the CITY theme, it isn’t something we’ve had in a set before and it packs a lot of fun details and options which you could expand into a larger scene.
