The selections for the second round of the 2023 Bricklink Designer Program were released yesterday (23 August). My top pick will get made! I’m super excited! You can see my top 5 selections here. In case you missed it, you can see all of the Round 2 information on Bricklink here. Congrats to all the builders who were selected!

Let’s dig into the results…

Logging Railway by Bricklink user ties25. This set contains 2,706 pieces. This train is crossing a bridge which is all brick built. The track is not the standard LEGO track, but instead is tiles on their side. The bridge is a fun design, but not functional for LEGO track. You’ll have to do some modifications if you want to include the track in a LEGO train set up, but the train will run on normal LEGO gage rails.. I personally could do without the bridge, but I like the train. I assume it will be priced between $250 and $300.

The Ocean House by Bricklink user Hanwas. This set contains 2,157 pieces. It reminds me a lot of #21310-1: Old Fishing Store. It has some fun details and colors, but I’m personally not really excited about it. I would expect pricing between $190 and $230 based on the listed piece count.

Mushroom House by Bricklink user JonasKramm. This set contains 943 pieces. I like the fantasy type theme with all the plants and berries. The rideable snail is a nice touch too. With any luck, this set will be priced under $100.

Ominous Isle by Bricklink user jazlecraz. This is not his first set. Jared Le Cres designed set #BL19003: Skyline Express from the 2018-2019 Designer Program. This set contains 2,773 pieces and will help anyone looking to grow their pirate empire. .It is modular so you can change it up as desired and there are a bunch of moveable features as well. I suspect this set will be popular when it’s released. Let’s hope the price stays under $300.

Brick Cross Train Station by Bricklink user Brickester. This set contains 3,034 pieces. This one was the one I really wanted to get picked.. I think it would look great in a city with #910002-1: Studgate Train Station. Two very different designs, but more than just the platforms that you get in the standard CITY Lego set. There is a bunch of detail in this set and I like the architectural design. I can’t wait for this one.

Crowd funding for these sets is in June 2024 and shipping won’t happen until November 2024 so you’ll have to wait some on these.

Happy building!

In case you’ve missed it, the 2023 Bricklink Designer Program or Series 1 as they are calling it is open for selections. You can find the program details and submissions here. They are open for voting through the end of March 2023. The program has some big changes this time. Unlike previous rounds where they crowd funded designs and the sets with the highest number of pre-orders get made, this one gives you three voting options. For each submission, you can select an emoji. There is one for “not for me,” one for “like it,” and one for “love it.” You can vote on as many sets as you’d like (only one vote per submission) and the vote tallies are secret so there are no popularity contests.

Overall there are some great submissions in the program. There are a lot of castle, pirate, and classic space themed sets which would be great for fans hoping for more parts and minifigures. There are a ton of buildings of which many fit into the modular line.

One complaint I have of the program is that when I go to vote on a set and then go back to the submissions, it re-arranges the order of the submissions. This was annoying as I had to search around to find the ones that I wanted to vote on after voting on a submission.

I don’t know how many they will end up producing, but I voted on five as being “love it” sets for me. So here were my picks:

#5 - Florentine Palazzo by fan user name paupadros - This modular compatible building contains 3,511 pieces and I think it looks awesome. The different floors can be removed for access and there is plenty of detailing on the inside. The yellow color with the white looks really good and then the flowers help to make the set stand out. This would be a great set to go along with #910023-1: Venetian Houses from a previous Designer Program round. At over 3,000 pieces, this one would not be cheap in the end, So we’ll have to weigh the amazing details and lot of pieces against the potential cost.

#4 - Black Biplane by fan user name EmanueLego This set contains 2,408 pieces.and I think it looks stunning. Some of the commenters weren’t pleased that it was all black, but there could be a possibility to make it interchangeable with different colored parts. I think the designer captured a lot of great details on this one and I like the addition of the stand. I have a copy of #10226-1: Sopwith Camel .in my collection and I think it would be great to have another biplane to add to the mix.

#3 - Parisian Street by fan user name CARLIERTI1 - This set contains 3,465 parts and would look amazing in a city scene. It’s not fully modular compatible as it is just the front half of the buildings, but that could be remedied based on how you set it up in your city. This one has a ton of great details, but does have a sticker sheet so we’ll see if that’s an issue or not. . This would look great next to #10243-1: Parisian Restaurant.

#2 - P-51D Mustang “Red Tail” by fan user name brick_squadron. This set would contain 743 pieces and I think it would be another awesome addition to the limited number of aircraft models outside of the CITY line. This one is technically a weapon system so I’m not sure LEGO would produce it, but it is historical and we don’t seem to have a problem making weapons for Castle, Pirates, or even the new Lord of the Rings set. This set is a little smaller, but still has some great details and would be a great tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen.

#1 - Coral Reef Diorama by fan user name Falkorich. This set would contain 1,707 pieces and is jam packed with details. I’ve seen a few fans create their own coral reefs and I think it would be great to have one as a set. The minifigure divers and whale are an awesome addition to the set and if you look at the write up on Bricklink, it is modular as well so you can take it apart and re-assemble as desired. I also think this one is something completely out of the ordinary that LEGO hasn’t done before so let’s broaden out the set themes away from some of the standard themes we see all the time.

Happy voting!

My Top Pick Will Become a Set!!! 2023 Bricklink Designer Program - Round 2

My Top Five 2023 Bricklink Designer Program Picks