LEGO community calls out BrickLink Designer Program choices: ‘I can’t keep buying these’

Two LEGO Castle-themed sets have reached the crowdfunding stage of Series 4 of the BrickLink Designer Program, and the community is torn – including some medieval fans…

The LEGO Group announced the five finalists in Series 4 of the BrickLink Designer Program yesterday, among which are NicolasCarlier’s Merchant Boat, Ilucky’s Wild West Train, Bricks_fan_uy’s Medieval Seaside Market, SleeplessNight’s Siege Encampment and Hanwas’s The Riverside Scholars. They bring the total number of BDP sets in the revamped program up to 20, and will be available to crowdfund from February 2025.

While SleeplessNight’s Mountain Fortress proved incredibly popular in the first series of the program – which allows fans to pre-order a limited number of copies of sets designed by other fans – the heavy focus on LEGO Castle across three of the four series is now starting to take its toll on certain sections of the community. Even some collectors of all things Castle are feeling burned out – although others still are very pleased with the LEGO Group’s choices.

Here’s a round-up of the initial reactions to the BrickLink Designer Program Series 4 results from across the web.

BrickLink has cottoned on to demand for LEGO Castle…

Every series of the BrickLink Designer Program (in its latest iteration) has now featured at least one Castle-adjacent build (with the exception of Series 2), and Series 4 includes two: Bricks_fan_uy’s Medieval Seaside Market and SleeplessNight’s Siege Encampment. (Hanwas’s The Riverside Scholars is also tangentially Castle-related, or at least fantasy-inspired.) That hasn’t escaped the notice of those with their finger on the pulse – at BrickLink or in the community.

“I think the program has simply figured out that LEGO Castle fans have been underfed (until recently), and that anything even close to Castle-themed will sell out in 12 seconds,” said redditor Sunshinexpress, referring to Series 1 build Mountain Fortress selling through its entire allocation of 30,000 sets in less than three hours.

…but some fans are burned out on big Castle sets

While Castle is clearly a big seller at the moment, the LEGO Group may be in danger of pushing past breaking point for some fans – particularly with one eye on the size of the sets in the BrickLink Designer Program. All three of the new Castle-themed or Castle-adjacent sets in Series 4 are built from more than 2,000 pieces, and it means anyone hoping to get them all will need deep pockets.

“Classic Castle fan here, honestly wish other stuff would win,” said redditor dimensiation. “I can’t keep buying these. They’re so expensive and they just keep coming.” Another added: “I just wish we got cheaper medieval-themed sets, as these big sets look so lovely, but they are all so damn expensive it turns me off entirely. It’s why I love the LEGO Space series [right now] for how it feels very well priced and has a lot of options in a solid price range.”

Castle is ‘cannibalising’ more interesting designs – but there’s a solution

If there’s one thing the community seems to agree on, it’s that the BrickLink Designer Program is proof of the demand for a new LEGO Castle theme. And for redditor GreenJavelin, bringing back the line under the regular LEGO banner would blow the selection pool for the program wide open. “If they just brought back Castle, more of these interesting designs would make it in,” they argued.

“This just shows how badly [the LEGO Group] should be doing a full Castle theme,” longhill_bricks agreed. “The people want it. The people need it. I love that we’re getting so many Castle-themed sets through the BDP, but I am sorry for those who aren’t into the theme. If the LEGO Group could just make it a regular theme, it wouldn’t end up hijacking this program as much.”

‘They’ve already found their favourites’

Beyond a trend towards LEGO Castle sets, there’s one other pattern LEGO fans have picked up on in Series 4’s finalists: the identity of the builders. Four of the five fan designers responsible for these submissions have already had designs picked in the previous three series, including SleeplessNight, Hanwas, Ilucky and NicolasCarlier.

“If I was a prospective designer, I might think twice about putting in the work knowing they’ve already found their favourites,” said Sunshinexpress. “If they continue repeating the same designers, it could come at the cost of participation and the outcomes feeling repetitive.”

TakkataMSF argued in favour of returning to the same well of builders, however: “They are good designers. Why shouldn’t they win again? Heck, they probably have an advantage after working with [the LEGO Group] to change the first model. Maybe they built this model so it requires fewer changes. This is business, they aren’t going to disqualify someone for being too good and go with second place.”

There are at least a couple of other designs that should have made the cut

Surf through any forum or thread on the BrickLink Designer Program Series 4 results, and there are two rejected models that come up again and again: Brickproject’s Sushi restaurant and ver555’s City Aquarium. Both of these designs received dozens of comments of support on BrickLink itself, and the comments left since only further highlight the desire to see them become reality.

Several users have expressed their disappointment at both potential sets being skipped over, with Maraxusofk calling BrickLink’s decision a ‘travesty’. Redditor hotcomm88 also singled out the Sushi restaurant as ‘fire’, lamenting that the BrickLink Designer Program is ‘quickly losing my interest’.

“This DEFINITELY should’ve made it through,” added Kikoman86, commenting on the Sushi restaurant’s submission page in the wake of the results announcement. “The choices they made are boring and basic. Wish I could still get THIS set….”

All that said: the die-hards are happy

Even with all that in mind, chances are good that these LEGO Castle sets will still perform pretty well when the crowdfunding period rolls around in early 2025. You only need to glance at the LEGO Castles subreddit for the evidence, where users are celebrating Bricks_fan_uy’s Medieval Seaside Market in particular making the cut.

“As soon as I saw the seaside harbour set, I knew that was going to make it as a finalist,” said longhill_bricks. “It looks amazing. It can pair so well with [10305 Lion Knights’ Castle] and will make a great addition to a castle/village/harbour scene. All in all, I’m glad that Castle-themed sets are getting the recognition they deserve. I guess the $380 castle selling 30K sets in three hours last month helped them realise it’s what the people want.”

Others are championing the community’s role in pushing the BrickLink Designer Program towards more LEGO Castle sets, meanwhile. “Portside Market has been a favourite of this sub for ages,” added BrickByBrick6086. “Good to see it get some love from [BrickLink]… what I’m taking away from this is that they’ve taken notice that their Castle sets always sell out first, so they’re leaning that way. Well done, all; we made our voice heard.”

You’ll be able to pre-order your favourite sets from Series 4 of the BrickLink Designer Program in February 2025. The next crowdfunding phase launches in June 2024 for the five Series 2 finalists.

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