The chance to pre-order and get the project of your choice in the Bricklink Designer Program, formerly known as the AFOL Designer Program, starts tomorrow on 1st July 8:00 am Pacific / 5:00pm CET. There are 7 projects to choose from in the first round of crowdfunding. Fans can pre-order their favorite project (or projects) between July 1st and August 10th, 2021.
Last month, fans of LEGO were invited to vote on one of three titles for the next book the company will publish. The votes are in, and “The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks” took the top spot. The book is targeted at Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs) and will be published by the LEGO Group’s publishing partners Unbound and AMEET. The book will be crowdfunded starting today with expected availability in Spring 2022.
“The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks” will feature interviews with the designers, managers and technicians who brought them to life. The book will be written by Daniel Konstanski, the US Editor for Blocks Magazine. Of note, the press release also mentions rewards for crowdfunding backers including a print of the original LEGO wooden duck and several retired LEGO sets with specifics to be revealed soon.
LEGO FORMA is the company’s first foray into crowdfunding. It is described as an “experience designed for adults looking for a fun and engaging way to reconnect with their creative side”. The LEGO FORMA crowdfunding exercise began in late September 2018, and finally shipped in January to UK supporters, with shipments to US supporters following up in mid-February after a brief delay from shipping issues.
During the campaign, the base setup cost $85 USD in the US Market and $88 USD in the UK Market, and included the box set 81000 with the default Koi Skin Pack, and 3 additional separately packaged skins. Fans could also take the less costly option of just getting the base pack (single Koi Skin Model) for $45 USD (US) $46 USD (UK) and additional skins at $15 USD (US) / $16 USD (UK) each. Now that the crowdfunding is completed, if you’re looking to pick one up, the only way currently is to turn to the secondary market such as Bricklink or eBay where they’re already commanding a premium. Let’s do a quick dive into the details of this unique experience from LEGO.
In September, LEGO launched the AFOL Designer Program in cooperation with BrickLink to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the brick and to help bring fan designs to life. Out of the 443 submissions received, 16 designs were selected as finalists coming from fans from nine different countries. Today, pricing of those designs has been revealed, and they are now available for pre-order as the crowdfunding part of the program begins.
Designs will only be produced and shipped by BrickLink if they hit their target funding levels before April 15th. (That is the same day orders will be processed and charged.) If a project successfully crowdfunds enough orders, it will ship in May. Bricklink is also offering free domestic and international shipping for sets ordered during the pre-sale period.
Click to see each AFOL Designer Program finalist, price, and pre-order information
The second half of AFOL Designer Program finalists have been revealed, bringing the total and final number of designs to 16. (Take a look at the first eight finalists here.) The initiative was launched by LEGO in cooperation with BrickLink to bring fan designs to life.
Crowdfunding for finalists will begin on February 1st, and if a set reaches its pre-sales goal, it will then be produced and shipped by BrickLink. Voting will take place on BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program homepage, which also features more photos of each of these finalists.
Back in September, LEGO launched a new initiative in cooperation with BrickLink called the AFOL Designer Program where fans could submit custom designs with the possibility of being produced and sold by BrickLink. Out of the 443 submissions received, 16 were selected as finalists and the first half of those have now been revealed.
The digital submissions were test-built for stability and reviewed by both BrickLink and LEGO designers to determine the finalists. Crowdfunding for each of the finalists will begin on February 1st, and if a set reaches its pre-sales goal, it will then be produced and shipped by BrickLink.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the first eight finalists.
Today is the last day to support LEGO Forma, the new experimental product line featuring kinetic sculptures of fish. The only remaining set available for pre-order on Indiegogo (at the time of publishing) is the UK-only base pack featuring a koi fish. The sets should ship at the beginning of next year.
LEGO Forma was announced as a limited short-batch pilot program designed to target LEGO early adopters and determine if there is a market for unique products that don’t lend themselves to other product lines. While it appears the LEGO Forma launch was successful with many perks selling out, the initial amounts of available perks appear to have been reduced in order to show them being “sold out” by the end of the crowdfunding period. It remains to be seen if LEGO considers the effort a success or if the Forma product line will see a general release.
The Brothers Brick will bring you a review of LEGO Forma when it ships, but until then, check out this reverse-engineered version by Jason Allemann (aka JK Brickworks) built completely out of LEGO bricks rather than using metallic skins.
LEGO has revealed a new experimental product line designed for adults called LEGO Forma. The first wave of small-batch sets produced under the LEGO Forma line will be kinetic sculptures of fish, created with a moving Technic core and wrapped with four “skins” made of foil to represent three types of Koi and one shark.
The core set, 81000 Koi Model, contains 294 pieces including the Technic base and a single life-like koi skin. The model measures 10 inches high (27.9 cm) and 11 inches long (12.7 cm). The initial wave of LEGO Forma sets are available for pre-order on Indiegogo as “backer perks” from now until November 6th or whenever product runs out. The base set sells for $45 USD and is only available in the United States and United Kingdom for the time being. If the project meets its funding goals, the sets will ship in early 2019.
