BrickLink designer program series 2 voting has commenced

I do really like a few of these - especially the Blacktron Mech, the Mushroom House, and the Crimson Oupost pirate one. I'm just no longer very confident that they would hold up as an enjoyable building experience, so for the price, I'd rather buy something official. Kudos to the designers though - lots of work went into some of these and it shows.

Looks like Series 2 is 190 submissions compared to 373 for Series 1. Very excited to start my browsing. Good luck to all the participants!

So many of these look so good,but I won't get these because I value my sleep

That's the most adorable thing I've seen in ages.

Adventures in the Golden Temple features a number of British Museum employees.

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/main.page?s=Modeltrainman

Here are the ones I marked as I LOVE IT: Brick Cross, Imperial Brig, Medieval Joiners, Medieval Stonemasons, Mushroom House, Ominous Isle, and Wild West Stagecoach. There were a handful of other I LIKE IT selections for me but most of these were unfortunately NOT FOR ME.

That Mushroom house looks like it came from Amphibia

I almost had an entry, but it isn't ready yet. There are some really stand-out designs in this group, especially the arcade: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/675/-The-Last-Arcade

I always love voting and browsing these sets, but I admit I'm a bit lost when it comes to actually buying them. I understand that the window for purchasing is very short and whatnot, but can someone explain the detailed hows and whens of the buying process to me? Thanks in advance!!

Parisian Urban Park Market
Aircraft Engines
Mushroom House

Caught my eye and voted for

My five picks, in no particular order of favorite or anything, would be these:

Brick Cross Train Station

The Interceptor

Exoplanet Explorer

Italian Flower Shop and Cafe

Mushroom House

Average piece count between those is 1930, which I think was below what they're looking for? Plus there's a good variety of theme and piececount.

I hope people like my entry. I have it on display next to the Great Pyramid and the Colosseum and it fits in perfectly. I made the instructions and trialed the building experience myself. It uses a lot of interesting techniques and I did try to break up the monotonous parts so they're not done in one big chunk. It's honestly quite stunning on display though that night be the honeymoon period talking.

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/820/The-Temple-of-Artemis

I prepared a rudimentary video, which you could link to in your entry but for whatever reason it doesn't show up on the entry page (maybe they were for internal use only): https://youtu.be/ahbHBztpjcU

Last time I didn't vote because there were just way too many Meh sets imho.
This time I actually did browse through all of them and gave about 30 a like it or love it vote, for what it's worth.
Will see what gets chosen in the end.

That mushroom house is a amazing... the only problem... I only have one Thrawn figure... so not so many blue heads (smurfs)

There’s some seriously neat ones this round!

@undrscor said:
"That mushroom house is a amazing... the only problem... I only have one Thrawn figure... so not so many blue heads (smurfs)"

Dreamzzz Dreamlings and the BAM blue sick head should work well for smurfs.

@undrscor said:
"That mushroom house is a amazing... the only problem... I only have one Thrawn figure... so not so many blue heads (smurfs)"

I bought a lot of the Mega Bloks Smurfs Minifigures, they are surprisingly nice, and readily available on eBay. The only Mega Bloks I own!

Done voting. Italian villa, arcade, inventor's cottage, and sub shop are my favorites. Lots of solid designs, though.

I'm glad that people generally dodn't abuse the submissions (outside of one dingleberry who submitted a bunch of models that are just 6 of the same train car)

@undrscor, @PhantomBricks, and @bbalit...Dare I suggest...Avatar (DUCKS:D)

Nice to see several train related items in the list. Put my name down for a couple of dozen of the car transporter ( https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/778/Railway-car-wagon )

The mushroom house is by far my favorite, even though the public park and the modern house are both neat as well.

@ryuryuryu said:
"Done voting. Italian villa, arcade, inventor's cottage, and sub shop are my favorites. Lots of solid designs, though.

I'm glad that people generally dodn't abuse the submissions (outside of one dingleberry who submitted a bunch of models that are just 6 of the same train car)"

Oh. Hi. Thanks, I guess?

@ryuryuryu said:
"I'm glad that people generally dodn't abuse the submissions (outside of one dingleberry who submitted a bunch of models that are just 6 of the same train car)"

It’s up to the Bricklink team to determine if the submissions count as near-identical or not.
No need to call an entrant out

My submission is the cosy Stone Grayce railway station:

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/904/Stone-Grayce-Railway-Station

Made with love and a lot of work! Had I had some more time, I would have made the front page render a bit brighter, but well, we'll see. Still happy with the design.
Suprised by the relatively small amount of entries, but there's a lot to like. I guess the mushroom house will be voted for most, it looks neat.

Good luck to all participating!

I absolutely love the Arcade, would be a no-brainer for me if that was to ever be released, either as part of the BrickLink program, or as an official modular.

The Logging Railway is easily my favorite, that just looks amazing!

Many other nice ones, though also a few I wonder why someone thought it was a good idea to submit it.
(though the bar is still not as low as with many Ideas submissions.....)

Wow lots of imagination and creativity across a wide scope:
I am glad to see 'Brick Cross Train Station' have another chance after Lego Ideas, as would help break up a terraced modular street. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/728/Brick-Cross-Train-Station

My favorite extraordinary detailed modular at the moment is 'jioufen old street' as would fit in well with Ninjago or Monkey Kid. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/813/jioufen-old-street

My most fun for kids to play with would be 'Modular School with Playground'.
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/671/Modular-School-with-Playground

My most humorous mantel piece talking point would be 'Kraken from the Deep'.
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/863/Kraken-from-the-Deep

Stretching the Technical boundaries of what can be done with Lego using less than 1000 pieces would be my own biased submission 'Suspended Lego Aerial Monorail (SLAM)' https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/736/Suspended-Lego-Aerial-Monorail-(SLAM)

Hadn't seen it before, but it's crazy that the Mushroom House wasn't made into an Ideas set. Still, on the up-side, hopefully there's less chance of its charm being diluted if it's selected as a BrickLink set.

@arselus said:
"I've got two in this competition:

Medieval Stonemasons Guild: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/833/Medieval-Stonemasons-Guild

And

Imperial Brig: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/834/Imperial-Brig

Enjoy! "

Both of those made my Love list, so I wish you all the best that at least one is selected.

The blacktron mech is one of the coolest mechs I've ever seen and if that would become an actual set I'd buy it in a heartbeat

I think I'm rooting for Camping Adventure most of all; it's a nice small one that would actually be affordable as a set, yet still has a very coherent scene and comfortable setting. Definitely the sort of thing I could see myself going for if it's made.
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/731/Camping-Adventure

I also really like Hidden Oasis; I've a soft spot for all things Ancient Egyptian related, and that one has such a clean, appealing build that really captures that aesthetic and its often-accompanying air of mystery. Might be a little more out of my price range, but is still one I'd like to see become real.
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/657/Hidden-Oasis

Otherwise... there were several cool ones, more in this round that I personally liked than there were in the last; but I just don't buy huge sets so I kinda limited my votes to things I could actually see myself purchasing. Still, great work on the part of all the designers, though!

Although significantly less than last time, 190 still feels like too many. However, if they reduced it further I imagine there would be less medieval and modular buildings, which account for 12 of the 16 I gave a "Love" to, so perhaps it's for the best.

I either Liked or Loved 23% of the entries which was more than I expected. The "Love" fall into 6 modulars/buildings, 6 medieval and 4 pirates (of which 2 are ships). The Mushroom House is included in the 28 I "Liked" so I rather hope that is one of the five chosen, seeing how adored it is by so many here.

As a good LEGO-world citizen, I have cast my votes. May the best designs win!

FWIW, I thought the lunar footprint is a nice depiction of an iconic image that would make for a beautiful display piece. My only suggestion would be to orient the image vertically, which is how it is often viewed. However, such a modification would probably be easy to do.

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/760/Moon-Walk

@AD324B21 said:
"I always love voting and browsing these sets, but I admit I'm a bit lost when it comes to actually buying them. I understand that the window for purchasing is very short and whatnot, but can someone explain the detailed hows and whens of the buying process to me? Thanks in advance!!"

There is the timeline for this round on https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/main.page also - just scroll to the right and you see:

Crowdfunding in June 2024
Production and Shipping in November 2024

Vote for my submission, Hardware Store and Apartment Renovation, if you like it. Fully detailed modular! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/656/Hardware-Store-and-Apartment-Renovation

@rherbert said:
"Vote for my submission, Hardware Store and Apartment Renovation, if you like it. Fully detailed modular! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/656/Hardware-Store-and-Apartment-Renovation"

That is an exceptionally nice building! My vote it has.

@Wrecknbuild said:
" @rherbert said:
"Vote for my submission, Hardware Store and Apartment Renovation, if you like it. Fully detailed modular! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/656/Hardware-Store-and-Apartment-Renovation"

That is an exceptionally nice building! My vote it has."

Thank you so much!!

@OneIsLit:
Doing a search for "moon footprint", there are a few that are vertical, there are a few that are horizontal, and there are many more that are diagonal.

Lots of great submissions to vote for!

I submitted a small city park and a mountain forest landscape this time. Feel free to take a look!

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/804/Modular-Pocket-Park

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/741/Alpine-Adventures

@rherbert said:
"Vote for my submission, Hardware Store and Apartment Renovation, if you like it. Fully detailed modular! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/656/Hardware-Store-and-Apartment-Renovation"
I've looked at every single submission at this point and yours is, by far, my very favorite. And that's really saying something, because I'm of the belief that these submissions are generally bloated with too many modulars and high part-count models! Despite that, yours is just brilliant. I left a pretty detailed comment gushing over it, but to be brief, the storytelling and humor are on point, and the details (signage, mini builds) are super fun.

@Carbohydrates said:
" @rherbert said:
"Vote for my submission, Hardware Store and Apartment Renovation, if you like it. Fully detailed modular! https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/656/Hardware-Store-and-Apartment-Renovation"
I've looked at every single submission at this point and yours is, by far, my very favorite. And that's really saying something, because I'm of the belief that these submissions are generally bloated with too many modulars and high part-count models! Despite that, yours is just brilliant. I left a pretty detailed comment gushing over it, but to be brief, the storytelling and humor are on point, and the details (signage, mini builds) are super fun."

Thank you so much! I'm really flattered, your comments and vote are very much appreciated. And it's really cool to hear from someone who picked up and appreciated the details. Thank you again!!

@Modeltrainman said:
" @ryuryuryu said:
"Done voting. Italian villa, arcade, inventor's cottage, and sub shop are my favorites. Lots of solid designs, though.

I'm glad that people generally dodn't abuse the submissions (outside of one dingleberry who submitted a bunch of models that are just 6 of the same train car)"

Oh. Hi. Thanks, I guess?"

I'll counter the nay-sayer... I actually voted for the train battle packs. I think it's a neat idea for, well, increasing your train army. :D

@JonasKramm said:
"Thanks for featuring my Mushroom House on Brickset and all the lovely comments! It was more work than it might seem on first sight to turn it from the Ideas submission into the final BDP version, so I'm glad it gets appreciated.

While I'm a bit surprised the number of entries dropped in series 2, there are still many creative models with details worth having a closer look at. Best of luck to all builders!"

Best of luck to you! It's a fabulous model and shows so much imagination.

@Sutures said:
" @Modeltrainman said:
" @ryuryuryu said:
"Done voting. Italian villa, arcade, inventor's cottage, and sub shop are my favorites. Lots of solid designs, though.

I'm glad that people generally dodn't abuse the submissions (outside of one dingleberry who submitted a bunch of models that are just 6 of the same train car)"

Oh. Hi. Thanks, I guess?"

I'll counter the nay-sayer... I actually voted for the train battle packs. I think it's a neat idea for, well, increasing your train army. :D"

Thank you! I'll try not to do 'samey' models next time, but considering years ago it was $20 for one car in the My Own Train theme...

I know this is the step before they announce which sets will be made, BUT I really dislike this entire limited crowdfunding process. Limiting this to a quantity of 3k really does LEGO and the community a disservice.

Kickstarter campaigns have it right: A project is open for a specific time frame, you back a project (and pay ahead) during that time, the project closes, they make the sets according to the number of paid backers. Done.

Why is this not the way?

@JasonBricksHD said:
"I know this is the step before they announce which sets will be made, BUT I really dislike this entire limited crowdfunding process. Limiting this to a quantity of 3k really does LEGO and the community a disservice.

Kickstarter campaigns have it right: A project is open for a specific time frame, you back a project (and pay ahead) during that time, the project closes, they make the sets according to the number of paid backers. Done.

Why is this not the way?

"

It's not limited to 3k. For each of the five selected sets, a minimum of 3k pre-orders is required to make it to production. The maximum number that will be produced is then 20k, which seems enough to at least serve the people who really want it and who order in time, imho.

" which was criminally rejected "
wow, good to see your feelings leaking through there, Huw. You're right and it's a very cute set. :)

@arselus said:
"I've got two in this competition:

Medieval Stonemasons Guild: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/833/Medieval-Stonemasons-Guild

And

Imperial Brig: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/834/Imperial-Brig

Enjoy! "

The Medieval Stonemason's Guild is my favorite of the whole lot. Such a clever set for the Castle-niche. I was looking forward to it getting-in on Series 1. Seeing it again brings me hope it will get through now. Congrats!

@Wrecknbuild said:
" @JasonBricksHD said:
"I know this is the step before they announce which sets will be made, BUT I really dislike this entire limited crowdfunding process. Limiting this to a quantity of 3k really does LEGO and the community a disservice.

Kickstarter campaigns have it right: A project is open for a specific time frame, you back a project (and pay ahead) during that time, the project closes, they make the sets according to the number of paid backers. Done.

Why is this not the way?

"

It's not limited to 3k. For each of the five selected sets, a minimum of 3k pre-orders is required to make it to production. The maximum number that will be produced is then 20k, which seems enough to at least serve the people who really want it and who order in time, imho."

Well I stand corrected, However, they always sell out before i can order. so maybe it's just bad luck on my end.

I was very surprised that the Mushroom House was not selected for LEGO ideas. That's a wonderfully perfect LEGO Ideas set.

I really hope that Forest Citadel will not be rejected again.

@JasonBricksHD said:
" @Wrecknbuild said:
" @JasonBricksHD said:
"I know this is the step before they announce which sets will be made, BUT I really dislike this entire limited crowdfunding process. Limiting this to a quantity of 3k really does LEGO and the community a disservice.

Kickstarter campaigns have it right: A project is open for a specific time frame, you back a project (and pay ahead) during that time, the project closes, they make the sets according to the number of paid backers. Done.

Why is this not the way?

"

It's not limited to 3k. For each of the five selected sets, a minimum of 3k pre-orders is required to make it to production. The maximum number that will be produced is then 20k, which seems enough to at least serve the people who really want it and who order in time, imho."

Well I stand corrected, However, they always sell out before i can order. so maybe it's just bad luck on my end. "
No one so far has ever missed out on the 20k limit as it’s brand new. The limit was previously 5k then 10k. The new limit should theoretically give everyone a shot.

@JonasKramm said:
"Thanks for featuring my Mushroom House on Brickset and all the lovely comments! It was more work than it might seem on first sight to turn it from the Ideas submission into the final BDP version, so I'm glad it gets appreciated.

While I'm a bit surprised the number of entries dropped in series 2, there are still many creative models with details worth having a closer look at. Best of luck to all builders!"

got link it? or i misss it above somwhere

@yellowcastle:
I would never assume that 20k is going to be enough until we see how things go. The last round of these, even the inflated limit was small enough that many people complained that the sets had sold out before they even heard they'd gone on sale. We've seen similar results with some early Cuusoo sets, where each new shipment would still sell out in a flash, and there was never enough stock to actually spend any time on the shelves. I know they even did a double run of the Exo-Suit, and I don't recall that lasting very long regardless.

In contrast to this, they screwed up with Forma, and were actually reducing the limits as the window to order closed. I had paid careful attention to what the original limits were, and when I went to see about ordering a few extras of certain packs, they had sold out of nearly everything. However, I then noticed that most of the limits were reduced below 50% of their original levels. So, either someone got nervous and wanted to make the project look like it had been more successful than it was, or someone determined in advance that they should reallocate production time to other sets. Either way, a lot of people who weren't able to order right away had saved up enough money to buy in, only to find out the door had been slammed in their faces.

Two of the best models not chosen last round are back - BrickCross and the Medieval Stonemason's Guild. Very pleased to see it.

How much does our vote actually matter? Is it worth wading through 200+ sets, some of which are repeats which failed last time?

@FireFox31 said:
"How much does our vote actually matter? Is it worth wading through 200+ sets, some of which are repeats which failed last time?"

I voted for everything, but you don't have to do that, vote for what you actually care for.
I was very heavy-handed with my votes. If it wasn't something I was interested in buying, it got a "not for me", regardless of how cool or well-designed it was. These were the majority of my votes.

I gave out very few "like it" votes because again, I consider this something I probably wouldn't buy.

I gave out less than 10 "Love it" votes. The quality of the build had to be on par with the best of official Lego sets, and of course, the themes had to be something I cared about. There is only 1 I would buy without question of price, and that is the Mushroom House.

@SaulMan said:
" @arselus said:
"I've got two in this competition:

Medieval Stonemasons Guild: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/833/Medieval-Stonemasons-Guild

And

Imperial Brig: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-2/834/Imperial-Brig

Enjoy! "

The Medieval Stonemason's Guild is my favorite of the whole lot. Such a clever set for the Castle-niche. I was looking forward to it getting-in on Series 1. Seeing it again brings me hope it will get through now. Congrats!"

Thank you so much!! I hope many folks like it. I'd love feedback on the bricklink page if you have suggestions for improvements.

Most of these were mildly interesting MOCs at best. There were less than a handful I'd want to actually spend money on. I saw none that got me so excited that I'd want to order bricks and make it myself if it's not selected.

I'm a harsh critic, I know. I mean no disrespect to people that have put in countless hours on these creations. They're just not for me.

So many sets that inflate the piece count way too much by including too many tiles. Why are so many models tiled surfaces everywhere? Embrace the stud, unless the tile is adding to the model! And a whole bunch of surfaces built up with plates instead of bricks for much of the way... Sure, it might look nice, but it makes it an unreasonable model to want to buy/build.

As for voting method:
Set filter to "unvoted", set to 96 per page. And "not for me" the ones that obviously are not. Skip the ones you're not sure about (don't zoom in on any yet!). That brought me down to about 40 left actually to consider further.

And any "love it" would be ones I'd be quite likely to buy, being aware of the price: not just that I love the model/design, but that it's an amount of pieces that it might actually be able to be purchased. Otherwise, it's just a "like".

My top picks are the two by "jazlecraz", Adventures Golden Temple, and Camping Adventure.

The mushroom house and the Glass studio are hands down my favourites.