Everything you need to know about LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 3

As the five finalists in the third series of the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program are now revealed, here’s everything you need to know about the initiative.

The LEGO BrickLink Designer Program’s third series is well underway, with the five finalists now officially announced. The program has been running since 2021, but has gone through various changes over the last couple of years as the team finetunes and streamlines their process.

As such, here’s a breakdown of exactly what the program is, what stage we’re at right now, and how you can get involved in the fan-centric program as it continues.

What is the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program?

The LEGO BrickLink Designer Program has been an official part of the LEGO Group since 2019 and has run its Designer Program since 2021. The program is a way for fan-designed builds to come to life, in a similar way to LEGO Ideas – but with a few crucial differences. It centres around crowdfunding, with an open call for anyone to submit designs of sets they want to see built.

The BrickLink team picks five designs to become finalists and then spends nine months refining the models with the fan designers. Once the design has been finalised, all five sets are opened up to the public for crowdfunding. Up to 20,000 copies of each set will be produced and only when they reach their crowdfunding minimum of at least 3,000 people.

What changes has the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program gone through?

The process for the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program has changed over the years. In Series 1, BrickLink invited existing 10k Club projects from LEGO Ideas to compete to be crowdfunded and produced, with the plan to produce 10,000 copies of each set and requiring each set to compete against the others to become the first five to get crowdfunded. Only these most popular five would be formally produced.

In addition, BrickLink has confirmed that there will be a change to the submission guidelines for Series 4. The details will be confirmed in a webinar, scheduled for December 1 at 10:00am PT / 7:00pm CET or 6:00pm GMT.

LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 3 timeline

The five finalists for Series 3 have been announced, so the wait is now on for the designs to be finalised before the crowdfunding opens in October, 2024. However, Series 3 is not the only ongoing LEGO BrickLink Designer Program series at the moment. Series 1 finalists will be available for crowdfunding from February, 2024, while Series 2 will open its crowdfunding in June, 2024. You can remind yourself of the finalists for Series 1 and Series 2 by clicking through on the relevant links.

What’s more, BrickLink has already confirmed there will be at least six series in total, so we have a minimum of three more rounds of the Designer Program to look forward to.

LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 3 finalists

The five finalists for Series 3 are Rich_Herbert‘s Harbormaster’s Office, brickester‘s The Art of Chocolate, Krackenator‘s Forest Stronghold, Thepresident14‘s Camping Adventure, and letsgolegobrick‘s Lost City. Check out full galleries and all of the details for the five sets here.

How to get involved with LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 3

While it’s too late to submit your own design for LEGO BrickLink Designer Program Series 3, it’s worth keeping an eye on BrickLink’s social for details of when Series 4 will be open to enter, as well as reminders in February, June, and October for when the finalised sets open for crowdfunding. BrickLink is usually very communicative on Instagram in particular, so it’s well worth keeping an eye there for any major announcements.

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