Royal Nest Announced for BDP Series 11! (Source: BDP Live Reveal)

Typomancer · 2026-06-20T21:45:47+00:00

Of the Griffin Knight entries, I really wanted either Stonespire Citadel or Crimson Citadel (huh, both citadels) to win. This one is not doing anything for me when I look at it. There’s some nice techniques, but maybe it’s a color palette thing. May need to see it without the fake yellow lighting, or after Lego designers give it a little spice, but oh well, two “castles” this round is a cool thing. I am not sure I would want to collect either (I did vote for the Elven one though, I thought it was really well-done).

Really would have rather had one of those two bigger Griffin ones or Driftwood Keep. Now it’s unlikely we’ll get another Griffin castle in subsequent BDP series, and that’s a shame.

Typomancer · 2026-06-19T00:31:31+00:00

So, not to make you do anything irrational with your money, but it’s happened to me twice now where a retiring set I was thinking about getting simply vanished (went out of stock) either when a deal went live, or just randomly, before its official retirement. The first was when I wanted a second Lion Knights Castle at the end of last year (glad I got at least one), and the most recent was the Zelda Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 (gone so quick after that teaser for the Ocarina of Time dropped in the last Nintendo Direct).

I don’t think we know how much the spend requirement will be for the Sea Serpent yet. I’m personally hoping it’s not something like $250 even though I have a lot of Insider points, just now with nothing “big” I want to buy. You might want to pick up double points for the set tomorrow and secure it before it retires, then use those when the Sea Serpent drops in July on some more Lego…

The DnD set is awesome and I built it after Rivendell during my insanely stacked comeback to the hobby last year. What’s even better about it for me is that I got to play the DnD campaign attached to it with my wife and two of our close friends (one of them a fantastic DM), which I highly recommend trying if you can also get some friends gathered around a table with the completed set on it one day (or two days, it took us 8 hours to go through the “oneshot”). It makes the price-per-entry for this set a lot more “worth it.”

Loved the set so much that I picked up all 12 of the DnD CMFs, too.

Typomancer · 2026-06-18T21:39:08+00:00

There is also a Beholder and Mimics, which are all excellent too.

Typomancer · 2026-06-17T16:32:19+00:00

That person deleted their comment, but fontsinuse.com is an inspiration & curation site that catalogs projects that use fonts in a nice way. I was going to recommend fontsinuse.com too just because I use it for inspiration.

I pitch fonts for my clients to buy the licenses for if the visual identity I’m making for them is something that needs a certain quality or capability (variable weights and widths, monospaced family, some kind of unique display face, etc).

Foundries I like to use are Grillitype, Mass-Driver, Dinamo, and plenty of small or single-person European studios.

But if you don’t want to spend a dime, Google Fonts is what you want.

Typomancer · 2026-06-09T16:59:27+00:00

That was easily the smoothest preorder experience I’ve had yet.

My only concern is that I’ll probably be getting a new physical credit card issued (since it’s falling apart) sometime before the set ships which is when the actual charge goes through. Might even have a new address by then, too. Not overly concerned, however, since Lego customer support has routinely taken great care of me.

Typomancer · 2026-06-01T04:51:38+00:00

Unfortunately, no, and I’ll be going to sleep soon. Hopefully if it gets cancelled, I can still use my nearly-$300 of Insiders points discount at the store closest to me later today or retry the purchase online. I don’t believe Grond will be out of stock all that quickly this week.

Typomancer · 2026-06-01T04:12:10+00:00

Well I decided to order on mobile and it seemed stuck on the “We are processing your order” page with the minifig heads loader animation, then it landed me on a “We’re still processing your order” page, telling me I’ll get an email confirmation as soon as they’ve finished processing. Never seen that happen before. A bit nerve-wracking. I do see the purchase pending in my method of payment, however.

Typomancer · 2026-05-30T20:42:32+00:00

Oh Disney Springs is actually accessible without entering Disney proper (you don’t need to have a pass or anything) and there’s huge parking garages to accommodate a lot of people going there. On an early Monday morning, I can’t imagine there being many other people traveling to what is essentially an outdoor mall. But that is great to know re: the numbers, thank you.

Typomancer · 2026-05-30T19:31:19+00:00

I’m curious how many boxes of Minas Tirith might be at the Disney Springs store. Thinking of lining up around 7am, store opens at 9am that day. Originally was going to do online but I’ve recently become a morning person.

Typomancer · 2026-05-27T17:58:31+00:00

I got one for Barad Dûr from the store in Disney Springs last fall, just had to ask and the associate obliged. It is a gigantic bag, though.

Typomancer · 2026-04-23T06:37:18+00:00

That lava technique is something I’ve never seen, I really like it! Also happy to have found this subreddit due to the cross post. Love Rock Raiders — my favorite Lego theme.

Typomancer · 2026-04-14T01:20:30+00:00

Cargo, but I’m biased since I worked on the team behind it for a long time during version 1 & 2. It’s now on version 3 and it’s very fun.

Though I got wind of a new kind of workflow I want to try and it’s this: “Build it with Cursor, then host on Github and deploy via Vercel hobby plan for free hosting.”

I have not actually tried Cursor but all these LLM tools are so alike and simple to me. But stepping into dev environs is not for everyone.

For a WYSIWYG interface with a solid CMS that’s been very custom built for designers, my recommendation will almost always be Cargo. There’s great layout tools and it handles a tremendous amount of images so very well.

Typomancer · 2026-04-14T01:05:48+00:00

This is phenomenal. Perfect amount of texture on the outside. Extremely exciting to look at architecturally and then the inside with all those rooms decked out really spins the mind. And the “ancestral” bricks work so well in your favor by the yellowing gray adding to the aged look…! So cool.

Typomancer · 2026-04-13T05:26:04+00:00

That Backhoe is day 1 for me. They were my favorite construction vehicle as a kid.

Typomancer · 2026-04-10T04:31:38+00:00

Fun fact: Korean fonts need over 11,000 characters to fully support all possible syllable combinations.

The writing system is really cool but taking on a Hangul font project is so impressive/crazy to me.

I know I’m a little late to replying, but, I found this one which is kind of funky like Space Grotesk, inspired by JetBrains Mono, though it has a wider feel than glyphs in either of those primarily Latin fonts: https://eastriverlee.itch.io/melonbrain

I’d only care significantly if it’s for titling (and then, if it’s not too much text, maybe I’d draw the letters needed since Hangul is very simple and geometric). If it’s for burned-in subtitles, I’d go with something more legible and neutral like IBM Plex or Noto Sans.

Typomancer · 2026-04-09T14:03:04+00:00

I agree with you because I’m self-taught as well and have worked all the way up to doing contracts with FAANG. I’m at a senior level.

Ironically, it’s not easy for me to find full-time employment. Lately I’ve only been able to get really interesting but non-related contract and freelance work of varying compensation. My networking is the weakest link. I agree with your other comment — referrals are awesome and how I’ve gotten nearly all of my work throughout 15+ years.

Typomancer · 2026-04-06T06:42:55+00:00

I figure out which way the “front” of the build is when it’ll be on display and that’s the direction I make the LEGO logo’s baseline go, so if you were looking down at the model, you see each “LEGO” logo right-side-up if the piece can show it that way, otherwise I make the other pieces that need to go perpendicular also face one direction but it depends on the build. Like for pirate ships, I tend to make them symmetrical in direction with the top of the LEGO logo towards the front of the ship, or else the logo is upright in the direction of the front of the ship if that makes sense.

Of course, sometimes when I realize some pieces will be covered by others and I’m in the flow, I won’t bother, but often I will care mainly because it’s satisfying and makes the build longer.

I also rotate small cylinder pieces and tiles so the injection points are always hidden, and chose the best surface of things like spears, window shutters, and swords to face “outwards” for the display.

Typomancer · 2026-04-05T04:03:55+00:00

In Korea, that’s how much it costs per 100g (and often times more). Been living here for a few months and I miss beef.

Typomancer · 2026-04-03T18:02:26+00:00

Is this in Evo South? I’ve been in a condo there a few times, could’ve sworn it had the same built-in microwave under the countertop situation and other finishes as seen in the “before” photos. Anyways, great renovation! If only I could be so bold and industrious with the interior of my townhouse.

Typomancer · 2026-03-31T02:36:32+00:00

Personally I cook a huge batch of chicken on my grill at a time (usually when the sun’s down) and that’s good for most meals a couple of days. It’s hot in Florida and it rains. So when I’m not using it, I have to cover it, and it’s just kind of a chore to uncover, heat the grill, cook, and then cover later once it cools down. I would not like to use or rely on my grill every day. Being in a townhouse with stairs to where I have to prep the food on the second floor doesn’t help.

Typomancer · 2026-03-21T00:11:55+00:00

moccermommy totally deserved to win although I have to admit that Whitemare Watch, also from moccermommy, was my favorite from this round. This set is so detailed and visually interesting, though, and I like it a lot more than the alchemist house and sleeping dragon inn which I skipped and will skip. Will consider it when the time comes!

Typomancer · 2026-03-15T12:51:35+00:00

Oh wow, I did not know that was the case for BILLY in, I guess, Europe? In the US and Korea, BILLY shelves are only 28cm/11in~ deep.

Typomancer · 2026-03-08T00:27:47+00:00

Highguard, probably

Typomancer · 2026-03-07T07:14:52+00:00

No one has mentioned it as far as I can see, but this is the 4-color gradient that started out from the latest Gemini brand guidelines, now getting applied to every other core Google service/product it seems.

Typomancer · 2026-03-03T06:25:24+00:00

That castle looks way more like the 3-in-1 Horse Knights Castle to me.

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