Revamped AFOL Designers Program To Give Rejected LEGO® Ideas Submissions A Second Chance At Realisation.
Over the years that the LEGO® Ideas program has been operating, there have been many models that have made the grade to become official LEGO sets, but even many more that have not. During the course of 2020, there has been a record number of submissions to the crowdsourcing platform, and more submissions have been reaching the 10,000 vote threshold for more formal consideration to become official LEGO Sets.
Just a small selection of the IDEAS submissions that might be eligible for the new Bricklink Designer Program. Designers of select rejected submissions will be approached by Bricklink in 2021.
Today, the team are excited to announce a program in conjunction with secondary market place Bricklink, giving some of the unapproved submissions to get a new lease on life:
Appearing on the LEGO Ideas Blog today, the program looks to reach out to the creators of LEGO IDEAS submissions that were ultimately rejected, with a view to developing their designs further for for the AFOL Designer Program. A Pilot of the AFOL Designer Program was run by Bricklink in 2018-2019, and resulted in 11 sets being crowdfunded by the community, and released by Bricklink, as part of the celebration of 60 years of the LEGO Brick. Unfortunately, Ideas that involve 3rd party IP, and others that will not be able to be realised will not move forward to the crowd funding stage. It is anticipated that designers be approached in January 2021 about taking part in this program.
Sesame Street debuted on American Television in November 1969. That makes it 51 years old in a couple of weeks. For people of my age, it was probably one of the first American programs that we watched as children: learning our ABC, that one of these things not being like the other, and wanting to count because ve love to count. It’s around the same age as DUPLO. give or take a couple of months.
Today we see the announcement of 21324 123 Sesame Street, the latest in the LEGO Ideas range. It is due to be released on November 1, 2020 and comes with 1367 elements. It has a recommended retail price of £109.99, €119.99, $USD119.99, $CAD149.99 and AUD $199.99. With 6 muppet based minifigures, the set has a surprising recommended age range of 18+.
In which I reminisce about childhood music lessons, and evening television, build the LEGO® Ideas Grand Piano while listening to some of my favorite piano music. Then I troubleshoot it, with some help from the fan designer.
Somewhere lost in the midsts of time, I spent my Thursday evenings going to piano lessons. My personal progress was approximately in proportion to my lack of commitment commitment to regular practice, but I enjoyed nonetheless. During the early 80’s, I found these lessons to be a little bit of a drag: Doctor Who tended to shown on the ABC from Monday to Thursday: and the final episode of any story (back then they were typically 4 episodes long) would due to screen at the same time as my lesson. No Netflix, no iTunes, no DVDs and the timer in a VCR could easily be disrupted by failing to find a blank tape before I headed off to my lesson.
A few weeks ago, LEGO Idea’s called for input from AFOLS regarding a new, history focussed book, to be written by Daniel Konstanski, and published by Unbound. The votes are in, and the book to be produced will be the Secret Life of LEGO® Bricks. The publication is now open for crowdfunding support and will continue to accept pledges into 2021, with publication expected around (northern) spring 2022.
There were three titles up for selection on LEGO Ideas: the Secret Life of LEGO® Bricks, The LEGO® Brick Museum, and LEGO® History in 100 Bricks. I suspect, ultimately, regardless of the title of the book, this was going to be about important LEGO® elements from over the years – and I am looking forward to seeing the completed book in 2022.
Unbound is excited to announce a major new initiative with AMEET, the LEGO Group’s global strategic publishing partner, to launch the first official direct-to-consumer book created in partnership with Adult Fans of LEGO®️(AFOLs).
Developed with input from a group of AFOL ambassadors and voted for via a public competition on LEGO®️ Ideas, The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks is a LEGO history like no other. Showcasing the extraordinary variety of LEGOelements, from monorail tracks and wheels to smart bricks, the Mask of Life from BIONICLE®️, and many more, The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks will feature interviews with the designers, managers and technicians who brought them to life, as well as artefacts from the LEGO Archive in Billund, Denmark.
The book will be written by Daniel Konstanski, the US Editor for Blocks Magazine and a passionate, lifelong LEGO fan. He is an ardent student of the LEGO Group, its portfolio of beloved products, and the AFOL community, having researched and written hundreds of articles covering every aspect of the hobby. Daniel is considered one of the most knowledgeable and authoritative voices in the fan community on the company and its products.
This is an exclusive, once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of LEGO history; The Secret Life of LEGO®️ Bricks will only be available through Unbound, and every fan who pre-orders will get their name printed in the back of the book. A range of additional must-have rewards from the LEGO Group include a print of the famous LEGO wooden duck dating from 1958 and retired LEGO sets retrieved exclusively from the ‘LEGObasement’, with more to be revealed.
Robin James Pearson, Head of Publishing at the LEGO Group, said: ‘We are thrilled to be working closely with the AFOL community to identify, co-create, and publish unique books that satisfy the great thirst for knowledge of our adult fans. There have been a number of books published about the LEGO Group and the LEGO brick over the years, but this is the first time we have had the opportunity to work directly with the adult fan community to discover what titles they would like to see on their bookshelves.’
Unbound CEO Dan Kieran said: ‘Unbound is a global publishing platform where superfans can come together to fund books that are too niche for the conventional mainstream marketplace. Along with the book itself, Unbound and their partners also create exclusive merchandise, experiences or tickets to events that will not be available in any shops. We’re thrilled to be opening up Unbound to an iconic, global brand like the LEGO Group.’
AMEET Vice President and Publisher Eric Huang said: ‘This collaboration with Unbound allows AMEET to expand its publishing to a new audience, reaching adult fans for the first time. We hope this is the start of a long and successful publishing venture.’
The crowdfunding campaign will launch on Monday 17th August at 3pm BST and will be accepting pledges until early 2021. Books are expected to arrive with pledgers by spring 2022. This truly is a book for AFOLs, by AFOLs, with the full support and involvement of the LEGO Group.
More details can be found at the project page on Unbound here:
Personally, I am surprised to see this project going ahead with a crowd funded model. I would have thought the LEGO Group would have had confidence in the market to have supported this book through one of its established publishing partners, such as DK. However, the crowd funding model helps to ensure that the print run is appropriate, so that we don’t see excess copies being sold off in remainder bins for less than the cost of the paper used to print them. It also gives us, as AFOLs the opportunity to be engaged with the project – particularly with those supporting the project having their names printed in the back of the book, to say nothing of some teasing with regard to potential rewards available to backers, from hard to get sources. I’m sure we will have more information about this available from unbound.com in the coming days.
What do you think of the final choice? Was it your preference? Do you find the idea of learning more about LEGO history appealing? Why not leave your comments below, and until next time,
In this day of online this and streaming that, a lot of us still like to sit down with a good book to entertain and educate ourselves. Regular readers of the Rambling Brick might know that we have a slight nostalgic leaning towards history of LEGO bricks. As such, the latest activity from LEGO Ideas might be of interest for you:
LEGO Publishing, a division of the LEGO Group, is excited to announce a public vote on LEGO Ideas to choose the direction for a new book celebrating the rich history of the iconic LEGO brick, made in collaboration with AFOLs.
After 18 months in development, the LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano is unveiled today. Appearing on the Ideas platform in 2018, it achieved 10000 supporters in around three months. With over 3600 pieces, this set is aimed predominantly at adult builders. It will be released on August the 1st, 2020 and priced at AUD $529.99 – US $349.99 –CA $449.99 –DE €349.99 –UK £319.99 – FR €349.99– DK 2699.0DKK
The set features a removable 25-key keyboard, authentic hammer action, moving dampers and pedal, and motor. Just like a real grand piano, you can lift the lid, and see the mechanism inside. Hidden beneath the hammer-damper mechanism, there is a motor, which is controlled using the powered up app – which also becomes the source of the music played. The piano measures over 22.5cm high, 30.5cm wide and 35.5cm deep when closed.
It is now almost 31 years ago since the LEGO Pirates range was released into the world. Inspiring years of adventure, pirates holds a special place in the heart of many Lego fans from the 80’s and 90’s , as well as those who came late to the party in 2009 and the early/mid teens.
On January 30, 2016, the Rambling Brick was born. Four years ago, give or take a couple of hours. Please pardon a little indulgence as I take a quick look through some highlights of the last 12 months.
Christopher Ruge originally submitted this model of the International Space Station to the LEGO Ideas Platform back in 2017, and despite reaching 10000 supporters, it was not successful in the initial review. However,later in 2019, several submissions were opened for reconsideration, celebrating 10 years of the LEGO Ideas Platform, and the time has come for this model to take to the skies. The set is due to be released on 1st February 2020.
21321 International Space Station
Ages 16+. 864 pieces
US $69.99 – CA $99.99 – DE €69.99 – UK £64.99 – FR €59.99 – DK 549DKK
*Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.
Dinosaurs have always held a degree of fascination for me: as a child, I would spend hours looking at pictures, and wondering why I couldn’t find any realistic toys or models of these giant, extinct reptiles.
Since the advent of Jurassic Park, over 25 years ago, there has been no shortage of dinosaur toys on the shelves, and making their way in to LEGO sets over recent years.
This year we have already seen the Jurassic World T. Rex Rampage set released, at the cost of storage space. Today, we see the latest LEGO Ideas set: 21321 dinosaur Fossils. With 910 Pieces, Skeletons for: T. Rex, Stegasaurus and a Pteranadon, 2 minifigures and museum style plinths, the set goes on sale on November 1st 2019.
Recommended for ages 16+, the set will be priced around $AUD100. (read on for International Pricing and more images)
The Rambling Brick 
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