The Brick Drop · Coherent design · the Browse tab

The timeline, calmed & corrected

You said it got messy, noisy, and inaccurate — and shouldn't be the front door. So it stops being the homescreen and becomes Browse: a quiet, honest, month-by-month wall of 2026 drops that anyone can flick through. Here's what I have in mind.

The one idea

It's still a timeline — chronological by month — but stripped to a single calm wall of grade-stamped set cards. No lanes, no countdown hero, no four-row header, no month-jump rail. The months themselves are the only structure. And every grade is the exact same one the calculator gives — because it's the same engine.

01Two ways to read it

Same content, two densities — a toggle in the corner, the way you had a grid/list switch before. Grid leads with the imagery (on-brand, share-card DNA); List is for fast scanning when you're hunting a specific set.

Recommended default · Grid
2026 Drops · 418 sets
▦≣
AllComingAvailableRetiring
July 202614 sets
B+
Sagrada Família
21065 · Architecture
$599.99
A-Retiring
Grand Piano
21323 · Ideas
$399.99
BRetiring
The Starry Night
21333 · Ideas
$169.99
A
Jaws
21350 · Ideas
$149.99
August 20269 sets
B-Soon
Willy Wonka
21360
A-Soon
River Steamboat
21356
Home◆ BrowseProfile
Grid · image-forwardEach tile is a mini share card: photo, image-colored grade stamp, name, set #, price, and a status badge only when it matters. Tap → the full Verdict Card.
Density option · List
2026 Drops · 418 sets
▦≣
AllComingAvailableRetiring
July 202614 sets
Sagrada Família
21065 · Architecture · $599.99
B+
Grand Piano
21323 · Ideas · $399.99
Retiring
A-
The Starry Night
21333 · Ideas · $169.99
Retiring
B
Jaws
21350 · Ideas · $149.99
A
Magic of Disney
21352 · Ideas · $99.99
B
August 20269 sets
Willy Wonka
21360 · $219.99
Coming soon
B-
Home◆ BrowseProfile
List · scan-fastSame data, one row per set: thumb, name, #, theme, price, status, and the grade flush-right. For when you're comparing a lot of sets quickly.

02What I kept, and what I killed

Every choice here traces back to something you said in the teardown.

Kept / calm

  • Month spine, inline — the timeline stays chronological, but the months are just quiet dividers, not a sticky rail.
  • Share-card-DNA tiles — image-forward, grade-stamped, consistent with the whole app.
  • One simple filter — a single row: All / Coming / Available / Retiring. That's it.
  • Grid ↔ List toggle — the density switch you had, and nothing more.
  • Status badges only when they matter — Retiring / Soon; silence otherwise.

Killed / the noise

  • The 4-row sticky header — gone. Just a title + one filter row.
  • The month-jump rail — gone; months live inline.
  • Editorial discovery lanes — gone entirely.
  • The calendar countdown hero — gone.
  • Multi-select chips + sort menus — collapsed to one simple filter.
  • Being the homescreen — it's the second tab now.

03The honesty fix

One grade, everywhere

The reason the old timeline drifted is it computed grades on a different path than the calculator. Here, Browse reads the exact same Drop Score the Result screen shows — one engine, one number. A tile can never disagree with its own verdict again.

And it's yours, too

If you've set up a profile, these grades are your grades — the whole wall re-rates to your interests. Casual users see the general grade. Same screen, same accuracy, tuned to whoever's looking.

Does this match your head?

A few things to react to: (1) Grid as the default, List as the toggle — agree, or flip it? (2) Is grouping by month right, or would you rather group by theme, or by status? (3) Is one filter row enough, or do you want a theme filter too? Tell me and I'll adjust — then I'll fold this into section 04 of the main blueprint.

— The Brick Drop · the Browse tab · 2026-07-04