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Well, the early bird definitely got the juiciest worm when series 1 opened for pre-orders. As of the time I wrote this article, both the ‘Mountain Fortress', the ‘Snack Shack’, and the ‘Old Train Engine Shed’ were sold out! You needed to be ordering in the first few hours to nab the Fortress (which was early morning here in Sydney, Australia), and many people missed out on this medieval set (including myself) because they didn’t realise it would sell out so fast. I did manage to keep my bank balance safe for another month or so though, and we have all learnt a valuable lesson in knowing how quick we will need to be if we want to purchase a BrickLink set that we truely desire. I was questioning wether these sets were worth what was being asked for them, but when compared to any regular LEGO set these days they seem to fit similar price-per-piece costings.
For those of you who missed out on the pre-order, but are still interested in the ‘Mountain Fortress’ construction, head to https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/design.page?idModel=423032 and click on the ‘view 3D model’ to get a closer look at the design… perhaps you can yet build one for yourself (or try to get you hands on either a spare someone scored, or the digital instructions once the set is released).
Anyway, better jump online quick to see if the set you are wanting is still available, as I’d say they will sell out before the time runs out.
Now to series 4, voting is open for another round of crowd support. There are some familiar designs again… as well as some familiar designers, with all new designs!
Let’s start with the smallest design with just 400 total parts, ‘Brickstralia', by clicklever. This is a cute map of Australia with separate state builds, and small iconic features.
Next we have 2 similar designs of viking longships, ‘Viking Longship’ by JonasKramm, and ‘Viking Dragon Ship’ by LegoBrickHammer. They are quite similar as they can both can have sail down or folded up, and both have 2 minifigures, but I prefer JonasKramm’s version simply because its slightly longer and has more items onboard (note: JonasKramm designed the ‘Mushroom House’, a series 2 finalist).
If historical is your theme of choice, there are plenty of medieval and wild west builds yet again. Some notable medieval designs I could suggest looking at would be: ‘Medieval Bakery at the Wall’ by giorgioChronas, a nice addition to any castle you might currently own; ‘A Lions tournament’ by evilMedieval, a repeat entry I believe I have previously brought to your attention in a post; ‘Town Manor’ by SylvainLS, a cool looking building with a courtyard;
but my personal favourite, which I would have added to my must-have list if I’d managed to score myself his ‘Mountain Fortress’ that just sold out from series 1, is ‘Advanced Encampment’ by SleeplessNight… though it would be a very nice set to add to any castle set you already have, as it brings much more to the display and play options through its wonderfully designed military base and siege weapons.
The wild west options also include a previous finalist with llucky submitting both ‘Post Office - Wild West’ and ‘Wild West Train’ this round, both showing his prowess as a designer which has his ‘General Store’ as a funded design in the current pre-order of series 1 (jump on that if you want to start a collection of this designer’s builds). I do think this series 4 train is a great build though.
Competition in the wild west category comes via IL_CERUTTI_GINO’s ‘The Old West: welcome to JOROCK’; it isn’t a complete 360 degree display build such as llucky has designed, but it is still impressive with plenty of detail. This design scrapes into the piece limit with 3,999 total parts.
BrickPerfection has 2 submissions of awesome looking ships, ‘Imperial Frigate Concordia’ and ‘Imperial Frigate Minerva’ (the latter probably my preference of the two). The Minerva is 81cm in length, and uses the full 4,000 parts. Each design has removable upper deck platforms that reveal the lower compartments. I wonder at the structural integrity of the design, though from the photos provided it seems it has been constructed quite soundly. The designer has stated, “Although the design is ambitious, I have paid close attention to making it as buildable as possible. What I can definitely guarantee is that you’ll come across plenty of interesting techniques as well as those sweet moments where sections come together and fit just perfectly…”
More modern themes continue to bring us brilliant designs, with more modulars, buildings, vehicles, robots and space themes… but I’ll just mention a few that grabbed my attention and leave the remainder for you to peruse through at your own leisure.
‘Coconut Cafe’ by Daytona. drew my attention because of the coconut trees and old ute.
‘Highland Holiday Home’ by brick_engineer seems to encapsulate an ideal getaway house in the forest beside a stream (well, my ideal at least), with wildlife, a canoe, and NPU (nice part usage) with croissants… and a good chance I’d move into the house if I ever turn into a LEGO minifigure.
And, if I ever were a minifigure, I’ll for sure be visiting this neat ’Sushi restaurant (寿司屋)’ by Brickproject. I’ve noticed the idea of modular style separation of sets creeping into the BrickLink Design program, specifically to rearrange them and add variety to a single set… but this restaurant splits in half using this technique (rather than the usual methods of either open back or hinge access). A lot of detail seems to have gone into this build, with features such as an aquarium, upstairs bedroom with a bonsai, traditional fire pit, the power pole/lines outside, and the interesting downpipes.
Another building I’d recommend looking at is ‘The Sculptor’s Workshop’ by BrickyBricks82. This would slide easily into your modular city at the end of a row of apartments. The designer notes, “An architectural complex with character where hours are spent building small details with angles and pushing certain techniques to the limit.” The inclusion of a crane truck to lift sculptures in and out of the workshop is a very nice idea and brings amazing playability to this set.
The designer of the ‘Parisian Street’ (which is still available for pre-order in series 1 as of writing this) has brought us ‘Elven Castle’ this time. I’ll just put here what another Aussie (blakearius) wrote in the comment section, “This isn't for me, But this has way more going on for it than all the other generic castle builds. and the way it opens up is particularly novel, functions a bit like the old Disney sleeping beauty castle.”
One set which I personally don’t think is the greatest design in the collection, but I do think is a brilliant idea, is ‘Inhabited Pot Plant’ by made.of.brix. With the botanical themed LEGO being quite popular, this brings a twist to the theme with a treehouse in a pot plant… and added playability which you don’t get with the other flowers and plants on offer. It stands over 52cm high, for those wondering if it would fit on their shelf with the other Lego plants they have.
The final one I’ll bring to your attention is ‘The Hug Island’, which I only now am realising is designed by the same person who submitted ‘The Sculptor’s Workshop’. BrickyBricks82 brings us a serious pirate play set, which kids will love… I was going to overlook this set in my article, but remembered that LEGO was actually originally designed for kids and thought that, hey, maybe BrickLink sets can be for more than the adult collector (insert laughter and slapping of forehead). This island has long skeleton arms which reach out and hug passing ships into its shore, and its skull, where they are trapped and susceptible to the pirates who inhabit the rocky caves.
Happy hunting for your favourites, and remember to login and click like/love on the sets that you would like to see become available for purchase!
[All images sourced from BrickLink.com]
omg the western sets are gorgeous, I need them all haha.
I also love 'The Trail To The West diorama by Waschbaer too.