Second round of crowdfunding begins soon

Is this the first true modular that LEGO has produced outside of the Expert line?

There’s 4 sets I’d like, but the conversion to Aussie dollars will kill it to maybe one set to purchase

I really want that ruined house for some odd reasons. Or so I thought. Not sure I'll manage to justify that price in the end. There's a few others I like, the windmill in particular. But as others said, it's a little pricey this time around. I doubt I'll take more than one. Well maybe the science adventures, just because it's quite affordable and looks nice enough for what it is :)

I love the ruined house and windmill, but unfortunately the prices this time will keep me from buying them, nearly $500 USD will be at least $650 AUD as the USD is down at the moment, but when it comes time to actually pay, the USD may be up in the mid 70c range it normally is and it's suddenly $750 for two sets.

Hope they do well for the designers but see the prices being a bit issue for people, especially coming into the holiday season.

As per above.... wow I suppose none of us know how much they will be until the site updated but I was interested in 3 or 4 but 3 of them are now out of budget. I fear this means only the cheaper ones will be made as 3000 people wont commit to the expensive ones. Which is a shame as they are obviously more detailed sets. Are Lego taking the mic or have they realised its a lot more expensive to only make 3000/5000/10000 sets

I'm getting the Lego store and the Bowling Alley, which can be easily modified into a modular. I thought the building under construction was supposed to be in this batch as well, but good save if it doesn't have to compete with the rest of this round.

@LegoAthos said:
"It’d be nice to have gotten our first round sets to check out before being asked to drop money on the second round."

I believe still 4-6 months to go before they are ready.

Bowling Alley + Windmill + Seasons + Quest Builder.

That’s going to hurt…

Here are my predictions for the 5 sets that will be crowdfunded. Let's see if I'm right.

Retro Bowling Alley
Modular LEGO Store
Mountain Windmill
Brickwest Studios
Clockwork Aquarium

I am fairly sure about the first four. The last one is a wildcard. I would have said Ruined House but I think the price will put enough people off and there will be enough people that are ordering other sets and want an additional small filler and will choose Clockwork Aquarium. That's my guess anyway.

Little bit steeper for the Seasons calendar than I anticipated. But still love it.

I was going to pass, but then I watched the Clockwork Aquarium video. Now I'll preorder and hope it makes it through!

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"Is this the first true modular that LEGO has produced outside of the Expert line?"

These sets are not produced yet because it is a crowdfunding.

I would have loved the Bowling Alley, but those prices are ridiculous.
I got the Fishing Boat during the first round and that seemed reasonably priced.

Too big set for me this time.

I went clockwork aquarium, nice little set, cool function. I do really like windmill, will probably get that and it was going to be my vote, but would have preferred it to be a little more closed up on the back. I really liked seasons in time calendar as an idea and concept and the design of it, but just can't justify getting it at that price

Notable that the prices aren’t on that actual website now (yet?). I really don’t like how Lego has made this a competition. I fear smaller sites will be barged out of the way, and I’d really like that aquarium. My daughter would adore Science Adventures. Oh well.

clockwork aquarium for me, and that's it - bunch of the others are nice but my budget can't handle them

Where is the "None of these sets" option?

I would most like to purchase Brickwest Studios, but at around twice the price of a creator expert modular (awaiting for new one coming in Jan) hard to justify.

@DearMisterLegoBreaker said:
"Bowling Alley + Windmill + Seasons + Quest Builder.

That’s going to hurt…"

Not if they don't all get made. I don't think the Quest and Seasons will be made.

@LegoAthos said:
"It’d be nice to have gotten our first round sets to check out before being asked to drop money on the second round."

True. I'm waiting for my copy of the Castle in the Forest to see if I'll spend money in the third round (if it comes before the third round, that is). I'm not interested in any of the sets in round 2, which facilitate my decision-making.

Those prices made me loose any interest in this whole thing. Especially that I already invested in the second wave of the first batch which will be shipped God knows when.

I'd love to see the Ratatouille sets in this project!

Well for me, I really love the seasons in time calendar, the aquarium and the science adventures. Unfortunately, I fear I will not get any if not enough people want them. Surprised at those prices too. Holy cow!

The LEGO Store set appears to have stickers across multiple parts. Is that allowable in these sets? I guess I assumed that since LEGO owns Bricklink, these sets would follow standard LEGO production rules.

A lot of these look like they're amazing MOCs, but not necessarily models that work as sets (too niche & too big/expensive for most people in that niche). That said, I'm sure some of these will appeal to somebody.

Agreed with all... a lot of really nice sets, but not nice enough for me to justify the price. Also, too soon after the last crowd funding. The Ruined House looks amazing and I keep going back to the Windmill, but I think I’m passing on this round.

Looking forward to Venetian Houses in the next batch, though...!

Tempted by the windmill but I have plenty of other sets at the same price point or more on my wanted so not sure if it's worth the hassle of the process (assuming something breaks / freezes as usually happens!)

Haha, yeah, ok, see you around LEGO.

Personally my favorite of the bunch would be the Quest Builder. I’m a big Tabletop game nerd, so that would be a purchase if it wasn’t so hard to get!

I appreciate the efforts that LEGO is going to for making these sets available. It takes a little bit of the sting out of an Ideas project not making it.

Though these prices make it a little hard to pull the trigger. Seems like the only way to afford these sets is to either sell some organs or decide retirement isn’t worth it. Then again, it all comes down to supply and demand. The supply of these isn’t huge, so I think LEGO only wants to make what they know people will buy.

I can't see buying any of these for the prices they are asking for them. Seems that most of the ones I found interesting enough to maybe buy are priced about $100 more than I'd even remotely consider paying.

Of COURSE the prices are high, they reflect LEGO's new initiative to support Bricklink - LEGO will source ALL the parts for these sets from Bricklink sellers

[high prices amirite guys? guys? anyone?]
[/sarcasm]
[Bricklink sellers please don't blacklist me / I also sell on Bricklink!]

@MingusDew said:
[[Of COURSE the prices are high, they reflect LEGO's new initiative to support Bricklink - LEGO will source ALL the parts for these sets from Bricklink sellers

[high prices amirite guys? guys? anyone?]
[/sarcasm]
[Bricklink sellers please don't blacklist me / I also sell on Bricklink!]]]

Parts will not be sourced from BL sellers. The FAQ section of the program (https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/support/main.page), clearly states that "The elements for the sets will all come directly from The LEGO Group."

Quest Builder seems like a neat idea. Recreating Bard's Tale.

I like the look of a few of them, but at those prices I can't justify any of them. They look like good MOCs overall though. I hope they find some happy owners (and not too many scalpers).

But coming into the holiday season as mentioned, it might be a hard swing for people considering they won't see these until end of 2022 likely.

I do like the Brickwest Studios a lot, but not $280 worth. I did think it looks better as a western set than the first Bricklink program in 2019 or 2020.

Maybe add a poll "none of the above due to price" but I don't know how that would skew the numbers. I clicked on Brickwest Studios because that is the one I'd want the most. But I won't buy it, so *shrug*

It's definitely pricey, but I think we might need to get Quest Builder. We love board games and RPGs (including making up our own), and it seems like that set would make for a lot of fun with that. The included instructions for the "expansion modules" is also very cool...hopefully the part lists for those will be easy to get.

Science Adventures is my favorite by far.

Definitely going for the Lego "Modular", as I will need more buildings to fill up my city when I get the room to display what I currently have!

The only one that is tempting is the Bowling Alley bit it is disappointing that it's not designed to connect to the modulars.

The Ruined House is cool but looks like an overly fussy MOC that would look nice on display at an event.

The Modular Lego Store looks promising but is let down by the bland front and a fairly boring interior. Also the picture of one side shows the modular connections set one stud back from the edge so, unless I'm missing something, won't work.

The rest all seem a bit 'meh' or not worth the price.

Ruined House all the way: true work of art and best model.

BTW I had ordered 3 sets from the 1st batch and I'm still waiting for them to be processed: are there any news on the matter, anyone?

On the one hand, if these had been priced like Round One then they'd be sold out very quickly.

So at least the high prices will keep all five slots from filling up right away. The fish tank and Seasons Change are my favorite but simply because of price it'll likely be Fish Tank only.

@fred157 said:
"Almost everyone is complaining about the prices. I think... I don't get it? Isn't the price per piece still on par with any other set LEGO is producing on a large scale? How is that expensive?"

True, although one difference is that here people will have a few hours to a few days (at most) to commit a large amount of money to these purchases. With official LEGO sets you have a few years.

A lot of MOCs that I see get attention on social media and possibly on Ideas don't balance elegance with outcome -- they're overbuilt with too many pieces striving for too much verisimilitude. Lego's first party Coliseum or Titanic should NOT set examples, at least not for my taste and wallet. I also appreciate builders who do more with less and consider both play features and price as inherent to a great build.

Is this only available in the US?

As most have mentioned, very cool sets that are too pricey for me. I dig the Bowling Alley the most, and may have to grab that since I'm named Dave. The Ruined House is my second favorite of the batch.

I definitely plan to order the modular Lego Store, and I'm a maybe on a few others.

I love the idea of the Quest Builder (seems like it would be more fun for D&D than a 2-D grid map), but I need to see more product photos. If it looks good on Lego's website on ordering day, I'll probably get it.

I love the Bowling Alley, but think I'd probably just end up building it and then reselling it. Same with Brickwest Studios. Might be able to recoup enough money to make it worth it.

My longshot pick is the Clockwork Aquarium, because I'm intrigued by it. I could be swayed on ordering day by more product photos on Lego's website.

Like many others, I'd feel better if we got our first round purchases to assess the overall quality of this new program before investing again. But I did buy the Science Tower thru BrickLink's similar 2019 program, and I love it!

@fred157 said:
"Almost everyone is complaining about the prices. I think... I don't get it? Isn't the price per piece still on par with any other set LEGO is producing on a large scale? How is that expensive?"

I think you are (mostly) right, but there is 'price per piece' expensive and there is 'expensive in absolute terms.' Say, 300USD for ruined house probably means I'll pay anywhere between 3500-4500SEK. That's a lot of money. Granted, I get 4000 Lego pieces for it, but I'd be much happier to pay about 2500SEK and maybe only get half the number of bricks. It'd just be easier to digest...

EDIT: to add to this, there are several big sets in this round, and if you are interested in several of them, it adds up quite a bit. I am not sure whether we should complain about it, i.e., I'm not saying it's unfair. But it simply means I will most likely buy at most one of them.
But then, there are several large(r) regular sets I haven't bought yet, simply because there are just too many around right now and funds are limited.

My interest in this round was already quite low, with these prices is now zero.
There are quite a few models there that seem to be cramming a lot of parts into a relatively limited model.
There's a good reason these got rejected by Lego for sets, and the comments are reflecting that quite nicely.

@spikes said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
"Is this the first true modular that LEGO has produced outside of the Expert line?"

nope : at least, Ninjago, Chinese new year, & Marvel"

Ah, I forgot about the Daily Bugle. I didn't personally count Ninjago City, as it's a separate system.

I like the aquarium but I would think it should be closer to $40. I'll have to pass.
Still waiting on my "Pursuit of Flight" I bought in the first round.

@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @spikes said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
"Is this the first true modular that LEGO has produced outside of the Expert line?"

nope : at least, Ninjago, Chinese new year, & Marvel"

Ah, I forgot about the Daily Bugle. I didn't personally count Ninjago City, as it's a separate system."

75978 Diagon Alley also has most of the hallmarks of modular buildings, most notably the proper connector pins and dimensions. I include that set and the ones mentioned above in my list of "official modulars" because they all connect and sit nicely together in our downstairs LEGO city (although we never actually connect them with pins, because we are constantly changing the city's layout).

For the size of sets, I think the prices are reasonable, but agree it’s a shame there are so many large sets in this selection.
Think I will try for the Bowling Alley, and maybe the Brickwest Studios. Probably another 6 months until I have to actually pay!
I initially really liked the Windmill and Ruined House as well, but now the pictures of the actual brick models look a bit.. meh!
Ruined house in particular is too clean. The render had a nice toned down colour that suited it well.

One interesting observation.

10k per (doesn't mean each one will sell 10k). 3k triggers it will be made. So minimum there will be 15k sets (3k x first 5 sets). Maximum would be 50k sets produced.

There are 1200+ took the poll. It will be interesting to see all of these other people not participating in the poll and see where their purchases lie in comparison to how we voted. The numbers might sway a bit.

The Mountain Windmill and Ruined House look amazing to me, but I just can't justify $180 and 300$ respectively. That's a lot of money, especially for something that is essentially a moc and not a fully designed set. Pity, because all these designs are great!

Have these sets made it on eBay already or something? These are opportunists' eBay prices :/

Ruined house or Quest Builder for me.

That said though, I’m not keen on the prices.

For those prices, you expect a limited series of 1.
More curious about the regular new for 2022 sets.

I feel like the poll isn't representative of what might actually happen. We are only allowed to choose our single favorite, whereas in reality, we can purchase more than one set.

@DavidBrick said:
"I like the windmill but the last round had this beautiful big castle with 6 minifigures and exclusive shields for the same price. There is nothing special there."

I think the shields utilize stickers so not exactly exclusive so much as the sticker sheet will be nice to have.

@Huw, is it possible to add a "None" option to the poll. I'm not interested in the offered set, would like to express my opinion, and, most relevant would like to access the poll results, without falsifying the results. But, I think I can only access the poll results after submitting someting :-(

Thanks

I do hope the Clockwork Aquarium makes it through. I'm not a huge fan of the way they're making these sets compete against each other, but guess that's just always been part of this process. (But like they're crowdfunding and getting preorders in before they even produce, why not just let every set that gets enough buys and money get made?) I guess I'm hoping that the huge prices will keep some of the bigger projects from steamrolling ahead quickly and filling up the winning slots before the Aquarium makes it in.

Well, I like some of them, but I won't be buying any of these.
First, the prices are high, second none of them really fit into my collection.

Quest Builder should easily win this poll or at least reach top 5. Still it just gets 6 % of votes. Que pasa?

@DavidBrick said:
" @Sethro3 said:
" @DavidBrick said:
"I like the windmill but the last round had this beautiful big castle with 6 minifigures and exclusive shields for the same price. There is nothing special there."

I think the shields utilize stickers so not exactly exclusive so much as the sticker sheet will be nice to have."

Oh.

So Lego is overcharging us for sets without even a printed shield!?

No thank you."

They are using in production parts from LEGO, so no new prints for any of the sets. And no printed instructions it looks like. So while the price is on par with official sets, it does remove some of these other things that sets usually contain, so the value isn't necessarily there.

This is starting to feel like a MOC marketplace more than anything else to me. Not a bad thing in itself but I personally have very little interest. Does anyone know if the models are allowed to recolor elements or utilize parts that have fallen out of production? That would make some aspects more interesting from a parts perspective.

Maybe one of the options you want to buy should be 'none'.

@Sethro3 said:
"One interesting observation.

10k per (doesn't mean each one will sell 10k). 3k triggers it will be made. So minimum there will be 15k sets (3k x first 5 sets). Maximum would be 50k sets produced.

There are 1200+ took the poll. It will be interesting to see all of these other people not participating in the poll and see where their purchases lie in comparison to how we voted. The numbers might sway a bit."

Actually the minimum number of sets produced could be 0. There is no guarantee that any set will reach 3000, especially at the prices they are asking.

I didn’t mind paying the high price for Castle in the Forest, although I did find it outrageous. These sets however are just unjustifiable. I would love a bowling alley, but I’d expect it to be under $100. There is no need to be this detailed and to focus on the exterior so much. I suppose I could always just build one or two lanes and be happy, can’t imagine it would cost much more than $30 to do that.

I hope people can get what they want, but it wouldn’t surprise me if none of these get produced.

The comments in the thread illustrate, to me, the full impact that the LEGO Designers have on the Ideas submissions. What’s submitted, typically, aren’t products…they’re ideas or suggestions…to turn them into fully-realized products is a skill, one that people aren’t seeing reflected in the offerings, hence the hesitation over spending premium prices on what are, essentially, MOCs with parts included.

@yacoub said:
"Just bring back the Castle in the Forest for a second production run. You know that's what we want."

Bricklink supports scalpers. You’ll have better luck paying triple for the set

The Bowling Alley and Brickwest Studio look really good, and really like Quest Builder...but I'm in the same boat as a lot of folk: I wish it was Minifig-Scale...

Instead of being 'Heroica 2.0', if it was put out: one room (at a time...) w/figures (heroes and foes) w/the modularity, and RPG or at least 'board game' rules (possibly even bringing back the modular Lego die/dice)...ah, to dream:)

Are these the Final Designs or do they need to have their Lego tweeks made.
I too worry about these prices, the Castle in the Forest was $250 AUD which I thought was reasonable, but to see similar sized sets for $250 USD feels like Lego is overreaching.
I was also disappointed to realise that there is only digital instructions, that is poor form, more $ for less effort.
I also agree all finalists should have instructions made so fans of the sets can have a chance at Moc'ing them.

I like the aesthetics of the Retro Bowling Alley, but at that price it is on par with "real" modulars and should be 3-stories.