LEGO is increasing capacity for Series 5 of the BrickLink Designer Program
The LEGO Group is apparently increasing production numbers for Series 5 of the BrickLink Designer Program next week, promising to ‘make more sets available’ for crowdfunding.
A maximum of 30,000 copies of each set have been available to pre-order in previous series of the BrickLink Designer Program, but the splash page for Series 5 now features a message from the LEGO Group (which owns BrickLink) that says it’s bumped up capacity for this series following initial reaction to the five fan-designed finalists.
“The love for Series 5 has blown us away!” The message reads. “We know it’s tough when sets sell out before you can get your hands on them, so we teamed up with our manufacturing friends to make more sets available. This may not be the case for future series, so don’t miss your chance to get in on the fun.”
The individual set pages for each of the five sets in this round of the BrickLink Designer Program – The Thieves of Tortuga, Mushroom Village, Antique Shop, Adventure in Transylvania and Popcorn Wagon – still say that ‘up to 30,000’ copies of each set will be available to pre-order, so it’s not clear yet how many additional sets will be available when crowdfunding commences next week.
It’s not especially surprising to see the LEGO Group ratchet up availability of these sets, though, given how quickly previous models aligned to retro themes like Castle have sold out. The two heavy hitters in this series are very likely to be Krackenator’s The Thieves of Tortuga, which riffs on the wider LEGO Pirates line, and SleeplessNight’s Adventure in Transylvania, an alternative approach to a medieval castle.
Even then, the rest look just as promising for fans of their subject matter – so we could be looking at the first series in which all five sets sell out. Given the LEGO Group could easily have sold more copies of sets like Series 4’s Siege Encampment and Series 3’s Forest Stronghold, which were both snapped up within a matter of hours of crowdfunding going live, it makes sense that it would tap into that potential for Series 5.
If all goes well and that extra manufacturing capacity is taken up by the community, you could reasonably expect to see the same approach taken with future series – perhaps on a set by set basis (for example, anything castle-themed) – even if the LEGO Group says it ‘may not be the case’ as things stand.
Crowdfunding for Series 5 of the BrickLink Designer Program gets underway on June 10 at 8am PT / 4pm PT. Even with this increased capacity, you’ll likely still need to be on the ball when everything goes live to have the best shot of buying the sets you’re interested in. Check out the prices below and take a closer look at all five sets by heading here.
BrickLink Designer Program Series 5 sets
| BDP Series 5 set | Price | Pieces | Designer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adventure in Transylvania | £299.99 / $349.99 / €349.99 | 4,056 | SleeplessNight |
| Antique Shop | £129.99 / $149.99 / €149.99 | 1,918 | ThatOneGuySteve |
| Mushroom Village | £189.99 / $209.99 / €209.99 | 2,436 | JonasKramm |
| Popcorn Wagon | £49.99 / $59.99 / €57.99 | 594 | Mictur |
| The Thieves of Tortuga | £299.99 / $339.99 / €339.99 | 4,002 | Krackenator |
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I’m disappointed to hear that the 30,000-unit cap is no longer being honored.
This change undermines the exclusivity that made the BDP sets special.
Increasing production shifts the program away from its original collector value.
BL should reconsider how this affects long-term trust from dedicated fans. I’m skipping this series because of this.
How about letting fans actually get the sets they want at release, instead of fueling scalpers and after-sales?
Some of us like LEGO for what it is, a building toy, not as a warped extortion scheme that preys on real fans who like to build.
It makes sense to milk the program for every cent. Why only sell 30,000 units when you can sell 50,000. The collector (or reselling) angle is gone now. Lego know people mostly want to buy Castle sets, and far less want the niche Mushroom sets, so cost-wise it makes sense to pull in loads more money where they can to make up for the other sets.