If you read yesterday’s article on W.A.L.T. and learned about my shipping mishaps, you’ll know I accidentally received the Antique Collection by Fuma Terai (@terauma) instead. You didn’t think I’d pass up the opportunity to double dip, did you?

Yesterday, I broke down a bit of the history of the various BrickLink Designer Programs over the years, but there’s one aspect I didn’t dive into: the types of sets being selected.

Minifig Domination

The original AFOL Designer Program and the later Designer Program (10K Club) featured a healthy mix of build styles. In the AFOL Designer Program, 6 of the 13 sets were not minifigure-scale. In the 10K Club edition, 4 of the 15 sets stepped outside that format.

Compare that to the current BrickLink Designer Program: 43 of the 45 past and announced sets are minifigure-scale. That’s… a lot of minifigs.

I was lucky to (eventually) receive both W.A.L.T. and the Antique Collection—the only two non-minifigure-based BDP sets since the 2021 10K Club program (even though the Antique Collection technically includes mono-figs). And while I love minifigures as much as the next AFOL, I do think we’re missing out on some incredible concepts by defaulting so heavily to that scale.

Especially considering one of the core constraints of the BrickLink Designer Program: designers can only use elements from the current assortment. That means (stickers aside) there are no new molds and no exclusive new minifigure prints to collect. So if the figs aren’t unique, what’s the real draw and what has been lost in the minifigure craze?

Over time, the winner selection process has trained both designers and voters. When nearly every successful project features minifigures, it subtly reinforces the idea that minifigure-scale is the safest path to approval. If you look ahead at the next few announced series, the minifig trend doesn’t appear to be shifting. The majority of finalists remain minifigure-based castles, dioramas, buildings, or scenes. That doesn’t make them bad builds. Many are excellent, but they are familiar.

The BrickLink Designer Program was born out of the AFOL community. It was pitched as a space for creativity, for niche concepts, for projects that might not fit into LEGO’s main retail strategy. It was supposed to feel different from LEGO Ideas… a little more experimental, a little more daring.

Yet, as the program primarily rewards projects that resemble traditional minifigure-based sets, it feels more and more like a secondary retail channel rather than a creative showcase. Of course, sales matter. Crowdfunding is literally built into the model. But if financial safety becomes the dominant metric, we risk filtering out the very builds that make the AFOL community so inventive.

What about large-scale sculptures? Stunning art? Abstract builds? Character models? Micro worlds? Display pieces? Mechanical experiments? Anything space-related? If the BrickLink Designer Program remains a minifigure machine, it narrows the definition of what “successful” projects looks like. And that’s a loss because one of the most exciting things about the AFOL world is its unpredictability. The builders who surprise us. The sets that don’t look like anything else on the shelf. The projects that feel a little risky.

Isn’t that exactly what a program like the BDP should be for? It requires leadership and vision to prioritize projects with creative impact instead of just voluminous sales projections. W.A.L.T. and the Antique Collection remind us that there’s room for more non-minifigure-based sets, and I hope they’re not the last to push in that creative direction.

Frogs and Furniture

But enough about program politics — there are frogs to build! The Antique Collection is a relatively quick build with some clever techniques. Having just built W.A.L.T. (and given my predisposition for wobots), I have to admit that the pure “fun factor” trophy still goes to the robot.

That said, the Antique Collection has FROGS (brown and olive)! That alone earns some points.

There are also some lovely unprinted elements in new color combinations that haven’t been widely available. Our friends at New Elementary have done a proper deep dive on those parts if you are curious.

As mentioned earlier, this is not minifigure scale. The chair is closer to what I can only describe as Galidor scale. Lacking a Galidor figure, I had to use what I always have on hand: Light Bluish Gray bricks… or frogs!

Though again, New Elementary is here to save the day!

The Curios Case

The chair is a bit delicate, but it was the cabinets that really interested me. Many years ago, Guy Himber built the Cabinet of Curiosity, inviting builders to contribute tiny “curios” to populate its shelves.

While this specific request by Mr. Himber in 2009 was uncommon at the time, it has now become common for builders to collect random curios at conventions, more commonly called tokens.

At conventions, builders trade tiny builds, often called tokens, as keepsakes. We’ve discussed tokens here on BrickNerd before, from highly specific “Gugicks” (originating with Brickworld master Arthur Gugick) to more general tokens of appreciation that builders create to represent themselves or their yearly builds.

But as a quick recap, tokens are tiny little builds that represent the giver, whether related to their current build or representative of them. There’s quite an art to trying to get a super representative build into that tiny format, using as few pieces as possible. NPU (Nice Part Usage) becomes essential when you’re trying to communicate personality in a such a tiny token. Small enough to fit in…

The Antique Collection cabinet!

While this set may not offer the same play features or photobomb potential as W.A.L.T., it’s an elegant, display-forward build that functions beautifully as a micro-collection showcase. In my case, it now houses some of the tiny treasures I’ve collected over the years.

And yes, it will live proudly on my shelf.

Enter T.E.A.L.Y.

When I was first mistakenly sent the Antique Collection, the ever-helpful editors here at BrickNerd immediately suggested I build an “Antique Robot.” But it would have meant dismantling my newly built Curios Case. And I wasn’t ready to sacrifice my newly created shelf space!

What I did have, however, was an abundance of teal… and I do like my Teal. The chair included several beautiful teal elements which were too compelling not to experiment with. Rather than tear apart the cabinet, I repurposed some parts and began sketching a more compact robot. Let me introduce you to T.E.A.L.Y. (Tiny Exploring And Little Y-Bot).

I will confess I used a few pieces from my own collection, but this build would not have been possible without the curved corners from the Antique Collection set.

While I’ve built many types of robots, drones, and mechs, for this one, I was inspired by W.A.L.T. and B.L.E.Y. and used a similar design language to Victor Pruvost (@Leewan), just in a tighter package.

I’m also happy to announce that with the reduction in size, T.E.A.L.Y. can now comfortably fit in the regular pocket of my Uniqlo cargo pants, perfect for traveling!

Of course, every robot deserves a family photo.

Builds That Inspire Building

What started as a shipping mistake ended up reinforcing the exact point I was trying to make. The Antique Collection may not scream for attention the way a minifigure-packed set would, but it quietly invites creativity. It became a cabinet for my tokens. It sparked another robot. It expanded a design language. That’s the kind of ripple effect the BrickLink Designer Program should celebrate—builds that inspire more building.

If W.A.L.T., B.L.E.Y., and now T.E.A.L.Y. prove anything, it’s that there’s plenty of room in this program for ideas that don’t rely on minifigures to carry the story. That kind of creative work is what makes this community special. Hopefully, it’s also a direction the BDP continues to explore.

BDP Series 7 preorders open February 16 at 8 AM Pacific Time and close February 23rd, so be sure to secure yours before they sell out. The Antique Collection will be available for around $130 US.

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by BrickLink. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

What would you put in your Antique Cabinet? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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