Bricklink's AFOL Designer Program 2019

[dennugsmello]

7 minutes ago, minicoopers11 said:

I received my castle, but the order the sets are shipping out seems to be random. I placed all my orders at same time (except Eight Studs) and others received their sets weeks before me and vice versa.

Thanks. Did your castle order happen to say backordered before it shipped. This is the piece of information that worries me as I was an early backer of tow sets.

[hockeyweasel]

It works out kind of nice not to have your credit card charged in the same billing cycle.  I'm sure that wasn't by design, but I'll take it.

[minicoopers11]

44 minutes ago, dennugsmello said:

Thanks. Did your castle order happen to say backordered before it shipped. This is the piece of information that worries me as I was an early backer of tow sets.

No, I never noticed any of my orders marked that way.

[squeakdigital00]

After a few days mine showed backorder. I was in the last remaining days. Got hot shot but no castle / mono.

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[$20 on joe vs dan]

FYI: Last day to purchase is June 30th  (3 days left)

[BricksBrotha]

Went back and forth with these since the budget being blasted by an icb w/all the clearance and personal purchases in the past 6mo.  People's confirmation of quality packaging, instuctions and builds, along with being unique sets, I Finally caved and ordered 2 HotShot, 2, LegoStory & 2 BikeTrucks.  So thank you for your reviews and comments. Fingers crossed these arrive safely.

Edited June 27, 2019 by BricksBrotha
Ace

[MusiKyle]

More listings beginning to appear on eBay.  I saw a few castles listed yesterday for $799 and $899, now there's one as low as $399 free ship.  Will be interesting to see how low it gets on the initial race to the bottom.  Estimating an average shipping charge of say $25 the breakeven via eBay seems about $260 sale price if offering free shipping.  Using the same assumptions, a $399 sale price yields about a 60% return so that's not too shabby.  I'm just waiting for mine to arrive, I'd be happy to offload mine for that.

[isawred]

21 minutes ago, MusiKyle said:

More listings beginning to appear on eBay.  I saw a few castles listed yesterday for $799 and $899, now there's one as low as $399 free ship.  Will be interesting to see how low it gets on the initial race to the bottom.  Estimating an average shipping charge of say $25 the breakeven via eBay seems about $260 sale price if offering free shipping.  Using the same assumptions, a $399 sale price yields about a 60% return so that's not too shabby.  I'm just waiting for mine to arrive, I'd be happy to offload mine for that.

i couldn't imagine $260!! i will list mine fairly high and be happy to keep if no buyers.

i am debating ordering a few more different sets but the unknown charge time frame/delivery may not allow....

Eight Studs is arriving today and i am ecstatic!!! i don't think i will list those

[isawred]

not sure when i’ll be able to build it but the seal is broken so it definitely will be!


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[MusiKyle]

Which sets have we heard zip about in terms of shipping?  I haven't heard anything about Isle of Peril, Steampunk Mini Chess, Imagine It! Build It!, or Vintage Roadster.  I didn't order any of those and I know some of those had pretty low pre-order numbers so maybe the audience discussing it is small.  I'm curious how they're prioritizing these behind the scenes.  Straight order-for-order across all sets, or picking a set at a time and packing order-for-order within a specific set.  It ultimately doesn't matter I just enjoy logistics and am curious about how they're handling this.  So far I think they're doing a great job given how big of a project this is for them.  Where are they sourcing the pieces?  Is Lego providing them all direct/new?

[Dr Jedi]

My Vintage Roadster just shipped in the last couple days.  Should be arriving this weekend.  I probably ordered in the last 1-2 weeks of pre-orders.

[isawred]

seems as if the castle is getting most of the attention, wild west a close 2nd. the sets you mentioned were ordered in pretty low numbers. most likely not by active brickpickers.

the process of this endeavor is equally interesting to me. there was a few insights/behind the scenes posts on the BL forum and I think some comments on bricklink also. from what i’ve read the project is understaffed. LEGO is providing the bricks, speculation on method (bulk, sorted, etc). Also, they wanted to protect (proprietary) the process. I can only imagine the time it takes to put each set together.

Edited June 27, 2019 by isawred

[minicoopers11]

I’ve received all of my sets. Ordered all but chess, imagine it, or isle of peril.

[$20 on joe vs dan]

I've received Jack Squat...and Jack left town a week ago

I ordered midway for Castle, "monorail", and Wildwest saloon

[brickvoyeur]

Quote

We have come to the final days of the sales period for the AFOL Designer Program by June 30th. After the program is over, AFOL Designer sets will be added to BrickLink catalog and will be considered as limited-edition sets. As a trusted seller on BrickLink, we wanted to share with you a business-to-business opportunity to sell AFOL Designer Sets to your customers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please visit the wholesale store and place orders by June 30th.

The minimum buy is $3,000 USD and all lots will be listed with at least 10x bulk quantity. Please feel free to reply to me if you have any questions or concerns.

Opportunity for established sellers

[LegoMan1212]

1 hour ago, brickvoyeur said:

Opportunity for established sellers

I got the email... went hmmmm... no thanks. If they can't sell them, why would I try.

[minicoopers11]

2 hours ago, brickvoyeur said:

Opportunity for established sellers

Shipping is free for $5k orders. Negotiated for orders less than $5k. 

Thought about it. I'm passing. You can see quantities of the sets left in the store. There may be serious money to be made here, but I don't want to tie up that much capital.

[Al Legorical]

8 hours ago, minicoopers11 said:

Shipping is free for $5k orders. Negotiated for orders less than $5k. 

Thought about it. I'm passing. You can see quantities of the sets left in the store. There may be serious money to be made here, but I don't want to tie up that much capital.

Do you have the link to the wholesale store?

[Mathew]

I’m tempted to put a waitlist order in for the castle. Is it worth it? Something tells me that if there’s a waitlist then BL will end up fulfilling those orders eventually.  It’s for personal build. I haven’t seen too many reviews. Is it a good build?

[$20 on joe vs dan]

1 minute ago, Mathew said:

I’m tempted to put a waitlist order in for the castle. Is it worth it? Something tells me that if there’s a waitlist then BL will end up fulfilling those orders eventually.  It’s for personal build. I haven’t seen too many reviews. Is it a good build?

I think it's more akin to a Waitlist for a club you have no chance of getting in...the line outside to show how popular a venue is.

technically I think a waitlist gets one if a previous order gets cancelled...which a this time seems like a no chance in hell 

[KShine]

I just received my last order/pieces that I needed for the Castle expansion set (just in time for the weekend).

[hockeyweasel]

15 hours ago, LegoMan1212 said:

I got the email... went hmmmm... no thanks. If they can't sell them, why would I try.

Yeah, I figure this is them trying to transfer the risk from them to us. Their buddies. Their pals. 

Does it suggest that they are obligated through the terms of their agreement with TLG to actually make 2500 of the approved sets?

[Mathew]

28 minutes ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

I think it's more akin to a Waitlist for a club you have no chance of getting in...the line outside to show how popular a venue is.

technically I think a waitlist gets one if a previous order gets cancelled...which a this time seems like a no chance in hell 

Yeah but why leave money on the table?  I’m thinking if the demand is there that they’ll do another run. It just might be a few months.  

[LegoMan1212]

9 minutes ago, hockeyweasel said:

Yeah, I figure this is them trying to transfer the risk from them to us. Their buddies. Their pals. 

Does it suggest that they are obligated through the terms of their agreement with TLG to actually make 2500 of the approved sets?

The only thing I thought about was if any of these make decent parting out, which I just don't see the risk/reward there either.  I think I'll take a snap-shot and watch the prices drop and next time they do this, maybe they should think about what makes it to the "winning" circle a little more.

[$20 on joe vs dan]

29 minutes ago, Mathew said:

Yeah but why leave money on the table?  I’m thinking if the demand is there that they’ll do another run. It just might be a few months.  

If BL renegs on their promises, the loss of trust will be much worse than the short-term gains....we're talking about a very informed Afol market (not the masses of soccer moms)

Also I doubt it's just a few more months...can't just send a highly specialized high volume order to LEGO and expect them to put their other manufacturing schedule on hold...I would presume these things are planned at least 6 months to a year in advance...its taken them an extra few MONTHS just to pack and ship their existing obligations....how many Waitlists folks are gonna wait another 6 months to a year or more...its marketing suicide to even attempt it.