Excellent interview with Bricklink! That's basically how I understood the program to operate. Beyond what you covered, I'm sure Bricklink is not free to disclose any internal discussion with LEGO about constraints or future expansions they might do (since, as he said, they're actual LEGO employees). The portfolio conflict / theme / size issue criteria blocking certain sets is why I think expanding the number of sets to allow a bit more flexibility in selection would help avoid two really good sets from blocking each other out, or feeling a theme isn't getting selected enough. So what I think would work would be a goal of one 4,000 piece set, three 2,500 piece sets, and one small piece count set with one of each theme (which is how the program currently is), and then one "wildcard" set, that would allow Bricklink to pick a particularly good set each series and maybe two two really awesome modulars, or two awesome castles each series. I also understand that Bricklink is putting out a lot of sets per year already, so maybe it isn't feasible to expand the number they release - I just think the majority of collectors focus on a few specific themes, so there wouldn't be too much "crowding out" when it comes to sales. And like he said, they want to attract and retain designers, and also it's a LEGO fan outreach program - expanding selection would help with that as well. I don't collect modulars (due to space and budget constraints), but I think this round has a ton of really well built modulars that deserve to be built (the City Aquarium, either of the theaters, the Radio Station, China Town, Adobe House, the Art Factory, Old Quay, West Side Vibes, Ben's Butcher, Glassworks, Rocketman Gas Station, and Cargo Delivery Depot). That's 13 modular sets I listed, ALL of which would fit right in with (or exceed), what LEGO is doing. There are also several really good pirate sets. This would be a great series for there to be 2 modulars selected, with one being a "wildcard" pick. As it stands, I'm 100% certain that Transylvania will fill up the "Castle" slot AND the 4,000 piece slot. So, basically it's unlikely any other Castle or 4,000 piece set will be made. Clearly a "wildcard" slot would help a lot with this (because it's not just taking up a Castle slot, but also a 4k piece slot). The only Castle set I think COULD get made beyond Transylvania might one that is closer to 2,500 pieces, or one that fills out the small piece count criteria (due to a lack of small submissions). As far as reviewing sets on your channel, I'd love seeing breakdowns by category and size on separate videos. The small and mid range sets in particular don't get as much coverage in general on TH-cam. As a fun side note, I've looked through all the selections in Series 1-4. Mountain Fortress is the only ~4,000 piece selection. In fact, I believe only 4 others have been selected that went over the 3,000 piece count (most slightly over 3,000 with one being about 3,500).
A couple of thoughts to your comment: First, one of the concerns with the program is that people will get BDP fatigue, and while that doesn't entirely seem possible right now, it only takes one cycle for people to be out-BDP'ed, if you will. The fact that people, like yourself, want MORE finalists is a good thing! Imagine if we were saying there's just too much out there. If the BDP were to oversaturate the market just because demand is hot right now, they could risk a much sooner fatigue than if they keep the status quo and sustain demand. The problem with having any subjectivity of a "wildcard" set would be that it completely goes against the spirit of the program. This program is for US as the Community! It's up to us to vote for these sets and not for the program personnel to hand pick which set they think should be a finalist. And I think that's a wonderful thing! Outside of portfolio conflicts, it's up to us as the Community to decide what we get! I don't see any wildcard type selection happening because Alex was very adamant that this program is for the fans by the fans. As far as your comment regarding Adventure in Transylvania, I brought this very fact up to Alex! And he kindly brought to my attention that this set is NOT a castle set! It's actually Sci-Fi/Fantasy! This means a Castle set would still be up for grabs! But that 4,000 part slot would obviously be filled up. Regarding reviewing additional sets on my channel, the contents you're discussing will definitely be had in the livestreams specifically for the BDP that will occur on some Saturday in the next couple of weeks! I go quite into detail on several sets and will certainly be covering the Category more now that I know the impact it can have on the selection making process. Appreciate the discourse! 💯
@@cpafolIt’s great to hear that Transylvania doesn’t take up a castle set spot because it’s almost certain that one will be chosen thanks to its huge popularity. A smaller castle set could then still be chosen, I hope a wolfpack one.
LEGO CPA covered almost everything in his reply... I just wanted to say that you have no idea how much work goes behind each of the 15 sets that are selected for crowdfunding. They also overlap and each have different "needs" in order to be finalized as an actual LEGO product! So going for more means a hell of a lot more work for both the LEGO team back in Denmark, Bricklink in California as well as the designers themselves :)
Great video! There were 2 colonial ships in series 4 that were not selected. I now assume it is because 'rumor has it' the Endurance is being released this November.
I talked to Alex for like an hour by the elevators. Dude was great to speak with. Very good representation for the Bricklink program. Also great interview.
This interview was highly informational. I love this program (I'd rather have castle sets in the main lego lines , butt his wors as well). I especially love how the 2 Castle sets ended up there. It seems there are a lot of Castles fans. Good.
I'm glad you found it informational! I very much enjoyed learning from Alex and had to share it with others because it was quite fascinating. You castle folk are certainly eating very well with your castle sets!
@@cpafol Let's hope they keep up with new factions and reimagines ... or we will have only lions and falcons and forestmen. I hope they get black knights remake soon.
@@cpafol You should have asked him why they do not include instructions for Bricklink sets, especially since they tend to be more detailed. It's just cheap not to.
@@studebricker2845 That was a question we asked in our casual conversation off-camera, and he said it was simply because of cost. He mentioned it would add up to $40 to each set if they printed instructions! I imagine it's because these unit runs are much smaller than LEGO retail sets so the cost per unit goes up much higher than when LEGO is pumping out way more units than the BDP does.
@@cpafol Why wouldn't you include that question in the video??? Anyway, if his guess is accurate, that means $40 more for the largest sets, which would be barely 10% more. It's hard to know for sure, since you didn't follow up on his answer. At any rate, paper instructions should be offered as an option. I can print 100 color copies for way less than $40 on standard paper stock, so they could at least include that. It doesn't have to be high gloss with binding LOL
I'm so impressed at how responsive the Bricklink team is to their customer base. I almost feel that they're spoiling us with their endeavours to keep us happy. Keep up the great work!
They would LOVE to know this is the sentiment with fans as this is exactly for what they are aiming! I imagine they agree and feel like they get to spoil themselves as they are all true LEGO fans at heart and only want to give us the best and most diverse options that people voted for each round! Can't wait to see what the future holds with this program
I’m so glad I was recommended to this video. I have lots of brilliant projects that will fit perfectly into this program. I’m also taking all the advice and notes to make sure my project will be enjoyed by everyone. Thank you for sharing this video. 😊
I’m not surprised Castle gets most votes. Outside of licensed themes it has quite a following from the 80’s/90’s and there has been a dearth of castle from 2013-2020 so castle fans vote as a block.
It certainly has a following! Which is why they likely understand castle will always fill one slot in each series due to its high voting. Just a matter of which part size sot it gets! I used to think the BDP managers were biased towards castle, but turns out people are getting exactly for what they're voting. Which is a wonderful thing!
I am so excited about sleepless nights return in series 4 with the siege set!! And he might just do another return with what I consider the best set of series 5. the guy is incredible.
I don't know why they allow the purchase of two set at a time. It is ridiculous and will fill the market with ridiculous prices!! This of course is not positive for the program in the long term ... Also, the other problem is the limited countries to which it is shipped, which makes me try to get it in other way even if we have an official Lego store in my country.
They allow purchasing two in order for someone to be able to build one and keep the other, as they are true 18+ collectible sets. I personally don't think this will result in adverse affects for the program in the long-term. I do know that they are always looking to add more countries to ship to when they are able. I know there are various limitations, both internally and externally, that does not allow them to ship to every single country out there. Certainly raise your concern on their website if you would like them to ship to your country!
I just received my set collection from series 1 this week. The series is amazing, the set designs are fantastic - only lacking is the packaging and shipping situation (I am living in germany). It's a pity that after so much passion and work by the designers and the team, heavy funding and anticipation by us fans, that we are often receiving boxes in rather bad, even destroyed condition. I spoke to plenty of other buyers and the standards for packaging/shipping isn't doing justice to anyone involved.
That's a shame on the damaged packaging! I haven't heard of that being a pervasive problem so far. I wonder if you speak out to Bricklink/LEGO customer service and see if there's anything they can do to compensate.
Voting was better when Bricklink kept your vote visible to you after the sets were selected. Now they remove them once the 5 finalist are selected so you have to remember how you voted. I think this will make people less willing to vote in the future.
I have noticed that was the case with these series so far, but I don't know if I agree that it will cause people to not vote at all. While it would be helpful to know 100% which sets were voted for, I'm just not seeing the correlation to causing that to not vote at all. I'm wondering how many people actually go back and look at sets for which they voted.
@@cpafol I just think it was kinda fun to see how you voted on the chosen designs on the main series page, not so much how i voted on the non winning ones. Not sure which series they started removing the vote icons once the 5 finalist are chosen but i noticed it with Series 4. It is interesting to see how public opinion can change your feelings on a project you may have voted 'not for me'. Going forward i am less likely to vote on all of them now because of this. How many times have you clicked on Series 1-4 to keep up with the date schedules? Wouldn't it be nice to see your vote on those winning sets? Really not sure why they would remove that.
@@kevind1980 If you feel this strongly about it, you should make a forum post on the Bricklink forum site! They take feedback very seriously over there and if enough people agree with you, they would definitely bring it back! It would be pretty nifty to see a little "Congratulations" banner on your profile if you voted for a successful set! That could be a fun little badge of honor, but then you'd probably have people voting on every set just to get the badge I usually didn't have too much trouble remembering for whom I voted because I was very selective, usually 5-15 sets. I would encourage you to be selective as well as the voting is EVERYTHING!
@@kevind1980 GOOD NEWS! I figured out how you can look at previous Series and see which sets for which you voted! All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom and click "Designs not chosen for crowdfunding", click on filters, and choose "Voted". This will show all the sets NOT selected as finalists for which you voted. Unfortunately, you'll have to remember which winners you voted for, but at least you can get an idea of what you did vote for that didn't make it! Apologies if you already knew this feature!
@@cpafol You still can't see how you voted though which is my gripe. I want the vote icons to remain on the designs like they used to do, even if it's only for the winners. Maybe i was unclear. You know those 3 emoji icons? (Not for me, Like it, Love it)
Man, if I was in a client meeting and leaned over to my boss and said, "hey, I'm going to step out so I can buy some LEGO," that would definitely NOT fly! Well, maybe it could because they all know I love LEGO, but likely not! Consider yourself lucky if you don't have any meetings like that! But, I always simply plan my preorder days to not have anything at the time they drop!
@@cpafol My point was you step out for a bathroom break and then purchase your set. It only takes a minute. You think a boss will ask what you did in the restroom?!? I've had hundreds of customer meetings and/or managerial meetings and was never chained to the desk. The implication that a meeting keeps people from ordering their Bricklink sets is just ridiculous.
@@studebricker2845 Some people have very busy days of non-stop working, and when these sets CAN sell out in ~3 hours (Mountain Fortress), it's very possible that work is the reason they miss out on a preorder. Your anecdotal experiences are not indicative of every person trying to purchase one of these sets.
@@cpafol LOL Your example is an extreme. 99% of people do not work at a job where they are unable to take a bathroom break, so my "anecdotal" example is actually more realistic than yours, but nice try.
Brilliant video and great, and very candid, responses from Bricklink. FWIW, they're making some of my favourite Lego sets right now (i.e. sets that are more appealing than many of the 'official' Lego sets), but I do agree with you about too many castles, and it was this comment that prompted me to subscribe to your channel. PS: I really hope The Art Factory happens for Series 5. I absolutely love that set.
The BDP team is AMAZING! Alex was super knowledgeable and shed so much light on how the program actually works. They're making some awesome stuff over there, and I look forward to even more! Thanks for the subscribe! Now that I know why the Castles were actually chosen, I'm a bit less bitter... Art Factory by Brickester would be an amazing choice!
@@cpafol I'm happy for the Castle fans. And those Castle models actually look amazing. They're just not for me personally (I tend to be more into modulars and sets that can be turned into modulars, for a Lego City aesthetic).
He did say they haven't seen as many higher quality Space sets as they would expect. People just don't seem to be voting for them or designers are focusing on the "hot" categories more often. I'd also be curious to see what pieces are on the part pallet and if Technic or GBC type sets are feasible with the pallet.
They need to stop with the castles for a while. I'm a huge castle fans but how many castles can we have? I would mind a medieval village or Imperia/Pirate town or more western or classic space sets for a change.
It's always up to the voters to ultimately decide which themes we get! So far, based on historical voting, it's kind of assumed that Castle and Buildings will always have one slot, but that could change depending on how people vote. I used to think that Bricklink would force a Castle set into each Series, but it's only because the people are voting for Castles!
That would go against the spirit of the program for one person to be able to purchase so many and stock pile them to sell at an outrageous price later!
is there a way the mountain castle will be out again? i only learned about this program now and i cant get the set anymore :( wll it come to lego stores?
Unfortunately the BDP is a "One-and-Done" system when it comes to ordering directly from LEGO. That being said, you will have to resort to third-party resellers, or Bricklink itself to part out the set. If you want the FULL experience, with box and everything, you will have to order it for around +/- $700 USD from places like Bricklink or eBay (price varying by country). However, as mentioned, if you just want the set itself, you can part it out on Bricklink as the building instructions are now available! I haven't priced it out myself, but I can imagine it would be around +/- $400-500 USD, which is above the retail price of $379.99. Here's a link to where it is in Bricklink so feel free to check there often as the part inventory should populate soon, if you don't want to manually part it out yourself! Make sure you stay tuned for future BDP Series releases as there will be MANY more to pre-order, as well as Castles as that sounds to be your preferred theme 😎
I'm in the process of getting the parts for Studgate Train Station. Used WeBrick and actual Lego. Some parts I have at home. Might cost me about $375 USD, not counting what I have at home. Probably had to order about 85%.
@@Badgers_9 This does shed some interesting light on the future of the LEGO portfolio, of which I was always suspect. It's interesting to think that we could look to the Bricklink Designer Program to tell us what future LEGO sets we may or may not get anytime soon!
I believe that's just a limitation of Bricklink itself. I know that have added several additional counties in Series 1, and I would imagine they are working on adding more!
Wrong to put it in groups, thats why some sets not sold out. ' thats great too because before by old rules they was sold out', yeah that was before at 10k ... not now at 30k, you was maked new rules but the result is still old, duh
Bricklink's reason to increase the limit to 30k sets was not added as a metric to determine the performance of each set, but simply as a way to allow more people to have the opportunity to purchase it. I believe his point still stands that 10k is a successful marker of units sold as without a general high demand, and high feedback, we would still be limited to 10k units and ALL of Series 1 and 2 would have sold out.
The 2021 Invitational Bricklink Designer Program had a limit of 2 units per person with a maximum amount of 10,000 total units produced. With this rendition of the BDP raising the maximum production to 30,000 units, and assuming ALL people purchase 2 units (all did not purchase 2 units, I'm one of them!), that means that at least triple the number of people will have access to this set which is a great thing! (originally up to 5,000 people could buy up 10,000 sets, but now up to 15,000 people can buy 30,000 sets!)
I don't really care what gets chosen or what doesn't, like some of these people. To me, the biggest negative with Bricklink sets is that they don't print out the instructions. I will print out my own set for whichever set I purchase, but it just seems like Lego is cheaping out, not including instructions.
Bricklink is actually saving us money when it comes to not printing instructions as it would cost us up to $40 more per set if they did! I'm not sure about you, but I would rather have sets not priced up to $40 more instead of paying that much and having instructions I looked at once. But curious to know if you would pay $40 more for each unit if it had printed instructions! The cost per unit is way higher on these limited runs for instructions than a normal LEGO retail set unfortunately...
@@cpafol I would like to know where you get that number from because I seriously doubt that it costs that much. They already produce millions of set instructions that are "only used once", so that's no excuse. Also, paper/printing cost is insignificant when they are saving a ton of money not having to create new molds, not paying licensing fees, etc... So yes, it's worth it to me to have a paper copy. Digital is not forever. You're probably not old enough to realize that fact, but apps disappear over time, formats stop being supported, etc. Also, how am I able to print out 100 color copies for a few bucks, yet Lego with their economies of scale cannot? Please.
@@studebricker2845 I got the amount directly from him! And I would imagine he's an expert on that, because he himself is a huge LEGO fan and I'm certain would love having physical instructions. That being said, I can only imagine that the level of quality of your "100 color copies for a few bucks" is not up to the quality of LEGO standards, ergo, having a much higher price. Feel free to create a forum post on the Bricklink site an ask him yourself! I also think you're confused by what I mean by "used only once," the answer is in your point there, that they are printing millions of copies, instead of
@@cpafol Your Lego "standards" answer is bogus. Not everything they print is heavy glossy paper with binding. That is probably what he was referring to. Paper instructions don't need to be that high level, especially when the alternative is nothing. Anyway, his answer was a guess. Printing costs can be negotiated. Especially when you are a huge company that purchases a lot of paper. You didn't follow up, so my educated guess is as good as yours. And again, you're too young. Hang around a while and you'll see what I mean when it comes to digital.
@@studebricker2845 From one AFOL to another AFOL, if you do create a post on the Bricklink forum, I would encourage you to be more meek and less haughty in your approach. I'm sure it would go a long way as I imagine the Bricklink professionals do not have time to "argue" with people on their forums!
if you follow a set for an entire year and cant block out a timeslot of 10 minutes to secure what you want....you dont deserve it. Say you have to use the toilet, order it, done. Just lazy people (who lie)
I agree, but stuff can happen, unexpected trips/meeting/inaccess to internet. However, thankfully for Series 2, only two sets sold out within ~8 hours so most people would have had immediate access to the sets. With the Mountain Fortress selling out in 3 hours and the LEGO site freezing up for the first 45 minutes, some people definitely missed out on that! We'll see how the future Series go! I'm excited for them
Open it up, lets SEE what was voted for and against and what was blocked, I am just not at all convinced with this gentlemen. I have seen so many great designs not done, so many modular style city buildings and yet NOT ONE WAS VOTED FOR ENOUGH?...REALLY???, even though city style modular buildings sell REALLY well? Series 3 was two Castle/Medieval, series 4 was three Castle/Medieval, not the two he states. I can see where this is going, just change the name from BDP to Bricklink CASTLE/MEDIEVAL Designers Programme, or show us the voting and what you blocked.
Not sure I agree with this. Series 3 has one medieval set. Series 4 does have two but he explained what happened. If too many highly voted ones are blocked you can end up with this as they only want to go down the voting rankings so far. Also I agree it’s frustrating lots of good Modulars get blocked, but given Lego basically has a modular building line that is massively successful , it’s no real surprise they block anything they think they might make. We can take it they are not making a train station, and maybe something very specific like the series 5 skull restaurant will be allowed to get through.
Badgers hit it on the head with the other reply to your comment! I'm wondering if you watched the entire interview . Besides the fact that Series 3 only had one castle, and Series 4 had two castles themed sets, Portfolio Conflicts are clear and above the main reason that a set doesn't get chosen IF it was highly voted. I would go out on a limb and say that all the buildings you see may not be as highly voted as you think. There are a ton of buildings which skews the ability for BL to create them, and possibly stops as many from being highly voted. People LOVE castles, so it's not surprise that there will be at least one castle in every theme, and very often one building. We'll see what Series 5 results bring mid-August.
Yeah , make castles great again! The Mountain Fortress is fantastic! Finished mine today. BDP is for us castle fans the only way. There is a lot of Starwars, Harry Potter and modulars in the official line allready. This is what the majority of Lego fans vote for : more castles! That's democracy.
@@PedroRenardo The BDP will never get IP sets, but because the program only allows 1 set per category per Series, we're almost certainly guaranteed to get one Castle per Series! And likely 1 building as well because people love those!
@@cpafol I do get what OP was saying on the numbers The Riverside Scholars set feels very at home in castle theme and the atlantis temple could maybe be seen in a similar light. It's not clear to me on the page what category they should be (sci-fi/fantasy?)
@legocpa I was just joking. That makes me think though do you know if the people that get their sets chosen for a series get compensated by Lego at all?
@@dubsdiditup No worries 😅, but boy do I have the video for you! In short they certainly do get paid, but check it out: th-cam.com/video/zjzUVOFdyXg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=pNSMLtdmLdhv3nSS
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Excellent interview with Bricklink! That's basically how I understood the program to operate. Beyond what you covered, I'm sure Bricklink is not free to disclose any internal discussion with LEGO about constraints or future expansions they might do (since, as he said, they're actual LEGO employees).
The portfolio conflict / theme / size issue criteria blocking certain sets is why I think expanding the number of sets to allow a bit more flexibility in selection would help avoid two really good sets from blocking each other out, or feeling a theme isn't getting selected enough. So what I think would work would be a goal of one 4,000 piece set, three 2,500 piece sets, and one small piece count set with one of each theme (which is how the program currently is), and then one "wildcard" set, that would allow Bricklink to pick a particularly good set each series and maybe two two really awesome modulars, or two awesome castles each series.
I also understand that Bricklink is putting out a lot of sets per year already, so maybe it isn't feasible to expand the number they release - I just think the majority of collectors focus on a few specific themes, so there wouldn't be too much "crowding out" when it comes to sales. And like he said, they want to attract and retain designers, and also it's a LEGO fan outreach program - expanding selection would help with that as well.
I don't collect modulars (due to space and budget constraints), but I think this round has a ton of really well built modulars that deserve to be built (the City Aquarium, either of the theaters, the Radio Station, China Town, Adobe House, the Art Factory, Old Quay, West Side Vibes, Ben's Butcher, Glassworks, Rocketman Gas Station, and Cargo Delivery Depot). That's 13 modular sets I listed, ALL of which would fit right in with (or exceed), what LEGO is doing. There are also several really good pirate sets. This would be a great series for there to be 2 modulars selected, with one being a "wildcard" pick.
As it stands, I'm 100% certain that Transylvania will fill up the "Castle" slot AND the 4,000 piece slot. So, basically it's unlikely any other Castle or 4,000 piece set will be made. Clearly a "wildcard" slot would help a lot with this (because it's not just taking up a Castle slot, but also a 4k piece slot). The only Castle set I think COULD get made beyond Transylvania might one that is closer to 2,500 pieces, or one that fills out the small piece count criteria (due to a lack of small submissions).
As far as reviewing sets on your channel, I'd love seeing breakdowns by category and size on separate videos. The small and mid range sets in particular don't get as much coverage in general on TH-cam.
As a fun side note, I've looked through all the selections in Series 1-4. Mountain Fortress is the only ~4,000 piece selection. In fact, I believe only 4 others have been selected that went over the 3,000 piece count (most slightly over 3,000 with one being about 3,500).
A couple of thoughts to your comment:
First, one of the concerns with the program is that people will get BDP fatigue, and while that doesn't entirely seem possible right now, it only takes one cycle for people to be out-BDP'ed, if you will. The fact that people, like yourself, want MORE finalists is a good thing! Imagine if we were saying there's just too much out there. If the BDP were to oversaturate the market just because demand is hot right now, they could risk a much sooner fatigue than if they keep the status quo and sustain demand.
The problem with having any subjectivity of a "wildcard" set would be that it completely goes against the spirit of the program. This program is for US as the Community! It's up to us to vote for these sets and not for the program personnel to hand pick which set they think should be a finalist. And I think that's a wonderful thing! Outside of portfolio conflicts, it's up to us as the Community to decide what we get! I don't see any wildcard type selection happening because Alex was very adamant that this program is for the fans by the fans.
As far as your comment regarding Adventure in Transylvania, I brought this very fact up to Alex! And he kindly brought to my attention that this set is NOT a castle set! It's actually Sci-Fi/Fantasy! This means a Castle set would still be up for grabs! But that 4,000 part slot would obviously be filled up.
Regarding reviewing additional sets on my channel, the contents you're discussing will definitely be had in the livestreams specifically for the BDP that will occur on some Saturday in the next couple of weeks! I go quite into detail on several sets and will certainly be covering the Category more now that I know the impact it can have on the selection making process.
Appreciate the discourse! 💯
@@cpafolIt’s great to hear that Transylvania doesn’t take up a castle set spot because it’s almost certain that one will be chosen thanks to its huge popularity. A smaller castle set could then still be chosen, I hope a wolfpack one.
LEGO CPA covered almost everything in his reply... I just wanted to say that you have no idea how much work goes behind each of the 15 sets that are selected for crowdfunding. They also overlap and each have different "needs" in order to be finalized as an actual LEGO product! So going for more means a hell of a lot more work for both the LEGO team back in Denmark, Bricklink in California as well as the designers themselves :)
Talking to Alex at the convention was way more informative than I expected tbh
Dude was super chill and all around so awesome and informative. Looking forward to talking to him again!
Great video! There were 2 colonial ships in series 4 that were not selected. I now assume it is because 'rumor has it' the Endurance is being released this November.
Portfolio Conflicts confirmed!
Thank you for the kind words!
So awesome that you got to keep one of these
I talked to Alex for like an hour by the elevators. Dude was great to speak with. Very good representation for the Bricklink program. Also great interview.
Right?? Such a cool guy and so knowledgeable about the program and the desire for them to truly execute this program for the Community!
This interview was highly informational. I love this program (I'd rather have castle sets in the main lego lines , butt his wors as well).
I especially love how the 2 Castle sets ended up there. It seems there are a lot of Castles fans. Good.
I'm glad you found it informational! I very much enjoyed learning from Alex and had to share it with others because it was quite fascinating.
You castle folk are certainly eating very well with your castle sets!
@@cpafol Let's hope they keep up with new factions and reimagines ... or we will have only lions and falcons and forestmen. I hope they get black knights remake soon.
Loved the video man, crazy to find out some of these details that totally make sense now! Can't wait to see where the BDP heads in the next ages
If they keep up their openness and willingness to take feedback, it can truly only get better and better!
Nice interview I’m glad it cleared up some confusion about the program
It certainly did! Was a pleasure to speak with him a handful of times over the weekend!
Dude such a great interview! Very awesome information. So cool you got to do this interview!
It was an awesome experience! Going to the presentation and hearing how it ACTUALLY works was a major highlight of my weekend!
@@cpafol You should have asked him why they do not include instructions for Bricklink sets, especially since they tend to be more detailed. It's just cheap not to.
@@studebricker2845 That was a question we asked in our casual conversation off-camera, and he said it was simply because of cost. He mentioned it would add up to $40 to each set if they printed instructions! I imagine it's because these unit runs are much smaller than LEGO retail sets so the cost per unit goes up much higher than when LEGO is pumping out way more units than the BDP does.
@@cpafol Why wouldn't you include that question in the video??? Anyway, if his guess is accurate, that means $40 more for the largest sets, which would be barely 10% more. It's hard to know for sure, since you didn't follow up on his answer.
At any rate, paper instructions should be offered as an option. I can print 100 color copies for way less than $40 on standard paper stock, so they could at least include that. It doesn't have to be high gloss with binding LOL
I'm so impressed at how responsive the Bricklink team is to their customer base. I almost feel that they're spoiling us with their endeavours to keep us happy. Keep up the great work!
They would LOVE to know this is the sentiment with fans as this is exactly for what they are aiming! I imagine they agree and feel like they get to spoil themselves as they are all true LEGO fans at heart and only want to give us the best and most diverse options that people voted for each round!
Can't wait to see what the future holds with this program
Great Video! It was great to meet you at Brickworld Chicago!
Brickworld Chicago always has new surprises each year!
Great to hear BDPs whole process, bummed I missed their presentations at BW tho
I'm sad you missed it! Actually, without you reminding on Thursday, I may not have gone over there myself! So for that I have you to thank!
I’m so glad I was recommended to this video. I have lots of brilliant projects that will fit perfectly into this program. I’m also taking all the advice and notes to make sure my project will be enjoyed by everyone. Thank you for sharing this video. 😊
This is a very interesting video with a lot of information about the bricklink designer program!
I thought so as well! Alex is a fount of information and he helped dispel a lot of my own misconceptions about the program!
Awesome vid, good interview on both sides. Thank you ; ) Can't wait for my series 1 sets!
Thank you! Which sets are shipping soon for you??
I’m not surprised Castle gets most votes. Outside of licensed themes it has quite a following from the 80’s/90’s and there has been a dearth of castle from 2013-2020 so castle fans vote as a block.
It certainly has a following! Which is why they likely understand castle will always fill one slot in each series due to its high voting. Just a matter of which part size sot it gets! I used to think the BDP managers were biased towards castle, but turns out people are getting exactly for what they're voting. Which is a wonderful thing!
Brilliant exclusive interview from the STAR of the show! Well done friend! Love Alex so soooo much! I owe him A LOT!
I was able to pass your messages along to him that weekend and he expressed his appreciation for your contributions as well!
I had the pleasure of chatting to Alex in Melbourne and building some of the designs. It was so good to learn more about the program.
That's awesome! I was able to learn so much chatting with him and building. Which sets did you receive the honor of building?
@@cpafol the Mountain Fortress and Parisian street.
I am so excited about sleepless nights return in series 4 with the siege set!!
And he might just do another return with what I consider the best set of series 5.
the guy is incredible.
You're definitely not alone in thinking that's the best of Series 5! 😎 Don't even have to tell me which one it is! I already know
I don't know why they allow the purchase of two set at a time. It is ridiculous and will fill the market with ridiculous prices!! This of course is not positive for the program in the long term ... Also, the other problem is the limited countries to which it is shipped, which makes me try to get it in other way even if we have an official Lego store in my country.
They allow purchasing two in order for someone to be able to build one and keep the other, as they are true 18+ collectible sets. I personally don't think this will result in adverse affects for the program in the long-term.
I do know that they are always looking to add more countries to ship to when they are able. I know there are various limitations, both internally and externally, that does not allow them to ship to every single country out there. Certainly raise your concern on their website if you would like them to ship to your country!
I just received my set collection from series 1 this week. The series is amazing, the set designs are fantastic - only lacking is the packaging and shipping situation (I am living in germany). It's a pity that after so much passion and work by the designers and the team, heavy funding and anticipation by us fans, that we are often receiving boxes in rather bad, even destroyed condition. I spoke to plenty of other buyers and the standards for packaging/shipping isn't doing justice to anyone involved.
That's a shame on the damaged packaging! I haven't heard of that being a pervasive problem so far. I wonder if you speak out to Bricklink/LEGO customer service and see if there's anything they can do to compensate.
Voting was better when Bricklink kept your vote visible to you after the sets were selected. Now they remove them once the 5 finalist are selected so you have to remember how you voted. I think this will make people less willing to vote in the future.
I have noticed that was the case with these series so far, but I don't know if I agree that it will cause people to not vote at all. While it would be helpful to know 100% which sets were voted for, I'm just not seeing the correlation to causing that to not vote at all.
I'm wondering how many people actually go back and look at sets for which they voted.
@@cpafol I just think it was kinda fun to see how you voted on the chosen designs on the main series page, not so much how i voted on the non winning ones. Not sure which series they started removing the vote icons once the 5 finalist are chosen but i noticed it with Series 4. It is interesting to see how public opinion can change your feelings on a project you may have voted 'not for me'. Going forward i am less likely to vote on all of them now because of this.
How many times have you clicked on Series 1-4 to keep up with the date schedules? Wouldn't it be nice to see your vote on those winning sets? Really not sure why they would remove that.
@@kevind1980 If you feel this strongly about it, you should make a forum post on the Bricklink forum site! They take feedback very seriously over there and if enough people agree with you, they would definitely bring it back! It would be pretty nifty to see a little "Congratulations" banner on your profile if you voted for a successful set! That could be a fun little badge of honor, but then you'd probably have people voting on every set just to get the badge
I usually didn't have too much trouble remembering for whom I voted because I was very selective, usually 5-15 sets. I would encourage you to be selective as well as the voting is EVERYTHING!
@@kevind1980 GOOD NEWS! I figured out how you can look at previous Series and see which sets for which you voted! All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom and click "Designs not chosen for crowdfunding", click on filters, and choose "Voted". This will show all the sets NOT selected as finalists for which you voted. Unfortunately, you'll have to remember which winners you voted for, but at least you can get an idea of what you did vote for that didn't make it!
Apologies if you already knew this feature!
@@cpafol You still can't see how you voted though which is my gripe. I want the vote icons to remain on the designs like they used to do, even if it's only for the winners. Maybe i was unclear. You know those 3 emoji icons? (Not for me, Like it, Love it)
9:22 Funny, i've never been to one of these meetings where I was not allowed to take a 5 minute bathroom break or order Lego online LOL
Man, if I was in a client meeting and leaned over to my boss and said, "hey, I'm going to step out so I can buy some LEGO," that would definitely NOT fly! Well, maybe it could because they all know I love LEGO, but likely not!
Consider yourself lucky if you don't have any meetings like that! But, I always simply plan my preorder days to not have anything at the time they drop!
@@cpafol My point was you step out for a bathroom break and then purchase your set. It only takes a minute. You think a boss will ask what you did in the restroom?!?
I've had hundreds of customer meetings and/or managerial meetings and was never chained to the desk. The implication that a meeting keeps people from ordering their Bricklink sets is just ridiculous.
@@studebricker2845 Some people have very busy days of non-stop working, and when these sets CAN sell out in ~3 hours (Mountain Fortress), it's very possible that work is the reason they miss out on a preorder. Your anecdotal experiences are not indicative of every person trying to purchase one of these sets.
@@cpafol LOL Your example is an extreme. 99% of people do not work at a job where they are unable to take a bathroom break, so my "anecdotal" example is actually more realistic than yours, but nice try.
Brilliant video and great, and very candid, responses from Bricklink. FWIW, they're making some of my favourite Lego sets right now (i.e. sets that are more appealing than many of the 'official' Lego sets), but I do agree with you about too many castles, and it was this comment that prompted me to subscribe to your channel.
PS: I really hope The Art Factory happens for Series 5. I absolutely love that set.
The BDP team is AMAZING! Alex was super knowledgeable and shed so much light on how the program actually works. They're making some awesome stuff over there, and I look forward to even more!
Thanks for the subscribe! Now that I know why the Castles were actually chosen, I'm a bit less bitter... Art Factory by Brickester would be an amazing choice!
@@cpafol I'm happy for the Castle fans. And those Castle models actually look amazing. They're just not for me personally (I tend to be more into modulars and sets that can be turned into modulars, for a Lego City aesthetic).
@@GregOrCreg Agreed! In all accounts. I'm confident that all the future Series will definitely have something for us (and everyone honestly)
So far only a big classic space set is missing or some out of the box Technic set like a GBC module.
He did say they haven't seen as many higher quality Space sets as they would expect. People just don't seem to be voting for them or designers are focusing on the "hot" categories more often. I'd also be curious to see what pieces are on the part pallet and if Technic or GBC type sets are feasible with the pallet.
They need to stop with the castles for a while. I'm a huge castle fans but how many castles can we have? I would mind a medieval village or Imperia/Pirate town or more western or classic space sets for a change.
It's always up to the voters to ultimately decide which themes we get! So far, based on historical voting, it's kind of assumed that Castle and Buildings will always have one slot, but that could change depending on how people vote.
I used to think that Bricklink would force a Castle set into each Series, but it's only because the people are voting for Castles!
At least they limited the number of units you can buy, 2 instead of 5.
That would go against the spirit of the program for one person to be able to purchase so many and stock pile them to sell at an outrageous price later!
is there a way the mountain castle will be out again? i only learned about this program now and i cant get the set anymore :( wll it come to lego stores?
Unfortunately the BDP is a "One-and-Done" system when it comes to ordering directly from LEGO. That being said, you will have to resort to third-party resellers, or Bricklink itself to part out the set.
If you want the FULL experience, with box and everything, you will have to order it for around +/- $700 USD from places like Bricklink or eBay (price varying by country). However, as mentioned, if you just want the set itself, you can part it out on Bricklink as the building instructions are now available! I haven't priced it out myself, but I can imagine it would be around +/- $400-500 USD, which is above the retail price of $379.99. Here's a link to where it is in Bricklink so feel free to check there often as the part inventory should populate soon, if you don't want to manually part it out yourself!
Make sure you stay tuned for future BDP Series releases as there will be MANY more to pre-order, as well as Castles as that sounds to be your preferred theme 😎
I'm in the process of getting the parts for Studgate Train Station. Used WeBrick and actual Lego. Some parts I have at home. Might cost me about $375 USD, not counting what I have at home. Probably had to order about 85%.
@@heygord Studgate is an absolute beast! But honestly $375 isn't the end of the world if you were planning on building it anyway!
Very interesting.
Also the fact there was the Black Falcons and now the Forestmen castle got selected tells us there are not any new Lego castles on the horizon.
@@Badgers_9 This does shed some interesting light on the future of the LEGO portfolio, of which I was always suspect. It's interesting to think that we could look to the Bricklink Designer Program to tell us what future LEGO sets we may or may not get anytime soon!
why its limited to few countray ?
I believe that's just a limitation of Bricklink itself. I know that have added several additional counties in Series 1, and I would imagine they are working on adding more!
Wrong to put it in groups, thats why some sets not sold out. ' thats great too because before by old rules they was sold out', yeah that was before at 10k ... not now at 30k, you was maked new rules but the result is still old, duh
Bricklink's reason to increase the limit to 30k sets was not added as a metric to determine the performance of each set, but simply as a way to allow more people to have the opportunity to purchase it.
I believe his point still stands that 10k is a successful marker of units sold as without a general high demand, and high feedback, we would still be limited to 10k units and ALL of Series 1 and 2 would have sold out.
More than double to have access to these sets is a lie. Since they raised the treshhold to (2) per person of the same set.
The 2021 Invitational Bricklink Designer Program had a limit of 2 units per person with a maximum amount of 10,000 total units produced. With this rendition of the BDP raising the maximum production to 30,000 units, and assuming ALL people purchase 2 units (all did not purchase 2 units, I'm one of them!), that means that at least triple the number of people will have access to this set which is a great thing! (originally up to 5,000 people could buy up 10,000 sets, but now up to 15,000 people can buy 30,000 sets!)
I don't really care what gets chosen or what doesn't, like some of these people. To me, the biggest negative with Bricklink sets is that they don't print out the instructions. I will print out my own set for whichever set I purchase, but it just seems like Lego is cheaping out, not including instructions.
Bricklink is actually saving us money when it comes to not printing instructions as it would cost us up to $40 more per set if they did! I'm not sure about you, but I would rather have sets not priced up to $40 more instead of paying that much and having instructions I looked at once. But curious to know if you would pay $40 more for each unit if it had printed instructions!
The cost per unit is way higher on these limited runs for instructions than a normal LEGO retail set unfortunately...
@@cpafol I would like to know where you get that number from because I seriously doubt that it costs that much. They already produce millions of set instructions that are "only used once", so that's no excuse. Also, paper/printing cost is insignificant when they are saving a ton of money not having to create new molds, not paying licensing fees, etc...
So yes, it's worth it to me to have a paper copy. Digital is not forever. You're probably not old enough to realize that fact, but apps disappear over time, formats stop being supported, etc. Also, how am I able to print out 100 color copies for a few bucks, yet Lego with their economies of scale cannot? Please.
@@studebricker2845 I got the amount directly from him! And I would imagine he's an expert on that, because he himself is a huge LEGO fan and I'm certain would love having physical instructions. That being said, I can only imagine that the level of quality of your "100 color copies for a few bucks" is not up to the quality of LEGO standards, ergo, having a much higher price. Feel free to create a forum post on the Bricklink site an ask him yourself! I also think you're confused by what I mean by "used only once," the answer is in your point there, that they are printing millions of copies, instead of
@@cpafol Your Lego "standards" answer is bogus. Not everything they print is heavy glossy paper with binding. That is probably what he was referring to. Paper instructions don't need to be that high level, especially when the alternative is nothing.
Anyway, his answer was a guess. Printing costs can be negotiated. Especially when you are a huge company that purchases a lot of paper. You didn't follow up, so my educated guess is as good as yours.
And again, you're too young. Hang around a while and you'll see what I mean when it comes to digital.
@@studebricker2845 From one AFOL to another AFOL, if you do create a post on the Bricklink forum, I would encourage you to be more meek and less haughty in your approach. I'm sure it would go a long way as I imagine the Bricklink professionals do not have time to "argue" with people on their forums!
if you follow a set for an entire year and cant block out a timeslot of 10 minutes to secure what you want....you dont deserve it. Say you have to use the toilet, order it, done. Just lazy people (who lie)
I agree, but stuff can happen, unexpected trips/meeting/inaccess to internet. However, thankfully for Series 2, only two sets sold out within ~8 hours so most people would have had immediate access to the sets. With the Mountain Fortress selling out in 3 hours and the LEGO site freezing up for the first 45 minutes, some people definitely missed out on that!
We'll see how the future Series go! I'm excited for them
Open it up, lets SEE what was voted for and against and what was blocked, I am just not at all convinced with this gentlemen. I have seen so many great designs not done, so many modular style city buildings and yet NOT ONE WAS VOTED FOR ENOUGH?...REALLY???, even though city style modular buildings sell REALLY well? Series 3 was two Castle/Medieval, series 4 was three Castle/Medieval, not the two he states. I can see where this is going, just change the name from BDP to Bricklink CASTLE/MEDIEVAL Designers Programme, or show us the voting and what you blocked.
Not sure I agree with this. Series 3 has one medieval set. Series 4 does have two but he explained what happened. If too many highly voted ones are blocked you can end up with this as they only want to go down the voting rankings so far. Also I agree it’s frustrating lots of good Modulars get blocked, but given Lego basically has a modular building line that is massively successful , it’s no real surprise they block anything they think they might make. We can take it they are not making a train station, and maybe something very specific like the series 5 skull restaurant will be allowed to get through.
Badgers hit it on the head with the other reply to your comment! I'm wondering if you watched the entire interview . Besides the fact that Series 3 only had one castle, and Series 4 had two castles themed sets, Portfolio Conflicts are clear and above the main reason that a set doesn't get chosen IF it was highly voted.
I would go out on a limb and say that all the buildings you see may not be as highly voted as you think. There are a ton of buildings which skews the ability for BL to create them, and possibly stops as many from being highly voted.
People LOVE castles, so it's not surprise that there will be at least one castle in every theme, and very often one building. We'll see what Series 5 results bring mid-August.
Yeah , make castles great again! The Mountain Fortress is fantastic! Finished mine today. BDP is for us castle fans the only way. There is a lot of Starwars, Harry Potter and modulars in the official line allready. This is what the majority of Lego fans vote for : more castles! That's democracy.
@@PedroRenardo The BDP will never get IP sets, but because the program only allows 1 set per category per Series, we're almost certainly guaranteed to get one Castle per Series! And likely 1 building as well because people love those!
@@cpafol I do get what OP was saying on the numbers The Riverside Scholars set feels very at home in castle theme and the atlantis temple could maybe be seen in a similar light. It's not clear to me on the page what category they should be (sci-fi/fantasy?)
free labor baby
Curious how this is free labor!
@legocpa I was just joking. That makes me think though do you know if the people that get their sets chosen for a series get compensated by Lego at all?
@@dubsdiditup No worries 😅, but boy do I have the video for you! In short they certainly do get paid, but check it out:
th-cam.com/video/zjzUVOFdyXg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=pNSMLtdmLdhv3nSS
@legocpa awesome thanks ill be sure to check it out soon