LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 – everything you need to know

Crowdfunding for the first series of the relaunched LEGO BrickLink Designer Program kicks off next month, so here’s everything you need to know ahead of pre-orders opening.

A total of five different fan-designed LEGO sets will be available to pre-order next month, featuring a mix of original concepts and models inspired by classic LEGO themes like Castle and Western. From a closer look at the builds to how much they’ll cost, when you can order them and when they’ll arrive, here’s everything you need to know about BrickLink Designer Program Series 1.

What is the BrickLink Designer Program?

The BrickLink Designer Program has a similar ambition to LEGO Ideas: turn fan designs into sets that can be purchased by the wider community. It offers a simpler path to success, though, as submissions don’t need to rack up 10,000 votes to be in with a chance of being produced. Instead, you just need to enter your design during one of the submission windows (Series 4’s opens on January 15).

BrickLink then chooses the five finalists that progress to the crowdfunding stage, based on factors including their popularity among the community – a voting stage allows users to pick their favourites – and whether the model is feasible for mass production. The LEGO Group purchased BrickLink in 2019 (and ran a pilot version of this program in 2021), so these are technically official LEGO sets.

BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 sets

A total of five different LEGO sets have reached the crowdfunding stage of BrickLink Designer Program Series 1. Check them all out below.

Snack Shack

Coming in at 539 pieces for £39.99 / $49.99 / €49.99, DistractedBldr’s Snack Shack is the smallest and most affordable set in the first round of the relaunched program. It’s also giving perfect tropical holiday vibes.

General Store

A quick jump up to £119.99 / $159.99 / €139.99 brings us to llucky’s General Store, which will surely catch the attention of LEGO fans longing for a return to the Wild West. This one includes 1,906 pieces and five minifigures, alongside two horses.

Old Train Engine Shed

The pilot for the BrickLink Designer Program brought us 910002 Studgate Train Station, so it was no surprise to see Mind_the_Brick’s Old Train Engine Shed make the cut here. It weighs in at 2,331 pieces for £189.99 / $229.99 / €219.99.

Parisian Street

If Creator 3-in-1’s 31141 Main Street isn’t quite big and bold enough for you, check out Nicolas Carlier’s Parisian Street. This detailed and sprawling façade comes in at 3,532 pieces for £259.99 / $319.99 / €289.99.

Mountain Fortress

The biggest BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 set offers a wintery take on the aesthetic of 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle, but you’ll need to spend big to acquire it. SleeplessNight’s Mountain Fortress commands £299.99 / $379.99 / €339.99 for 3,995 pieces and nine minifigures.

BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 prices

The BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 sets range in price from £39.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 to £299.99 / $379.99 / €339.99. All but one of them require a triple-figure investment, though. Check out the full list of prices in the table below.

BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 pre-orders

Pre-orders for all five sets in the first series of the relaunched BrickLink Designer Program will begin on February 7, 2024 at 4pm GMT / 11am ET / 8am PT. A total of 30,000 copies of each set will be available to pre-order – three times the number in the pilot program – but once they’re all claimed, you’ll only be able to buy them through the secondary market months later. If you’ve got your eye on any, best to pre-order as soon as crowdfunding begins.

BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 shipping

BrickLink estimates that sets will be ready to ship ‘approximately six months’ after pre-ordering, so you can expect them to begin arriving from August. The platform notes that ‘actual dates and shipping times may vary’, though.

As in the pilot version of the program, pre-orders will take place through LEGO.com. That means only countries to which the LEGO Shop ships are eligible to pre-order sets in the BrickLink Designer Program, including: the UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Hungary, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Ireland, Slovakia, Czechia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Greece, the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.

BrickLink Designer Program Series 1 limits

The LEGO Group and BrickLink have tripled the number of sets available to pre-order, with up to 30,000 copies of each model going into production. That’s not a number set in stone, though: if the platform only receives 20,000 pre-orders for the Snack Shack, for example, then only 20,000 copies of that set will enter production.

Don’t expect to be able to hoard 10 copies of the Mountain Fortress, either, as there’s a strict limit of two copies of each set per person. Their increased production numbers may make them a less tempting investment than the original BrickLink Designer Program sets anyway.

Future BrickLink Designer Program series

The LEGO Group has announced that there will be at least six series of the BrickLink Designer Program. Crowdfunding for Series 2 begins in June, while Series 3 pre-orders will open in October. Submissions for Series 4 will open on January 15 (the palette of eligible pieces is already live, so you can start designing right away), Series 5 will kick off in May and Series 6 will begin in September.

Whether future series follow those will likely depend on the success of the first few series, so watch this space. For now, set your alarms for February 7, 2024 at 4pm GMT / 11am ET / 8am PT for Series 1 pre-orders at BrickLink.

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