LEGO Officially Announces 75159 Death Star

[Hapori Tohu]

Today LEGO is unveiling a set I'm sure you've never seen before. Just so we're clear, that's a joke, because 75159 Death Star has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the LEGO Star Wars line. Also, it's an updated version of the previous set 10188 Death Star that was retired earlier this year. With 4016 pieces, this $500 set is quite the beast and will take a huge bite out of your wallet. It becomes available on September 15th for VIP members and September 30th for everyone. While this isn't a set for everyone, we've got hi-res pictures, the press release, and a video covering the set, so read on to check it out! We're interested to hear what you think of it in the Talkback.

 

View the full article

[Reya]

This is the worst UCS year ever. Besides the updated minifigs (a lot of which aren't even exclusives), it is almost the exact same as 10188 and costs $100 more. I feel that they solely retired the set to get the Disney logo on the box and update the minifigures. What a wasted opportunity. I am not even sure if I am more disappointed by this or by the Assault on Hoth set. :/ I guess sales were still great for 10188. I'll only be buying this set if I see it for a 30%+ discount.

 

I used to own 10188 and sold it for a profit as I heard rumours of a new and improved Death Star coming out. I feel sorry for the guy I sold it to!

 

I really hope 2017 re-releases the UCS Falcon to make up for this year's UCS sets.

[Bonkle]

This is an even bigger disappointment than G2's cancellation.

[VahiHolder02]

Up until about three months ago, the Lego store closest to me was still trying to sell off the rest of the last Death Star released.

[Lyichir]

This is the worst UCS year ever. Besides the updated minifigs (a lot of which aren't even exclusives), it is almost the exact same as 10188 and costs $100 more. I feel that they solely retired the set to get the Disney logo on the box and update the minifigures. What a wasted opportunity. I am not even sure if I am more disappointed by this or by the Assault on Hoth set. :/ I guess sales were still great for 10188. I'll only be buying this set if I see it for a 30%+ discount.

 

I used to own 10188 and sold it for a profit as I heard rumours of a new and improved Death Star coming out. I feel sorry for the guy I sold it to!

 

I really hope 2017 re-releases the UCS Falcon to make up for this year's UCS sets.

In addition to getting the Disney logo on the box (which could've been done without discontinuing the set in the first place) and updating the minifigures (which were sorely in need of it), the set has a fair number of other minor cosmetic improvements. But another huge factor is updating the price to represent almost a decade's worth of inflation, which constitutes at least half of the price bump. Hardly any sets are ever sold continuously for that long, but when they are it's no surprise that changes need to be made to both the set itself and the price it goes for.

 

Also, considering the set has sold well enough to keep it around for that long, it's no surprise that very few changes were made. As the saying goes, "don't mess with success".

Edited August 31, 2016 by Lyichir

[Banana Gunz]

Wow, they literally changed nothing about the actual build of the set.

 

This is a bit disappointing. The original set was great, but they really could've updated it. I can imagine how annoying this might be for people who collect the figs but already have the old set.

 

And the minifigs don't justify this set to me at all. In fact I don't quite like LEGO minifigs these days. They're over elaborate and too detailed. I had a bunch of Star Wars figs from the older prequels Palpatine Duel set and at first I loved them but they're so overdone that I couldn't even play with them because I was afraid I would damage or scratch them. I vastly prefer the simpler styles of old, because minifigs are meant to be simplifications of the human form and I feel the prints should reflect that as well.

 

Some new molds are great, like the new hair piece for Han and the new heads for the imperial droid, because those aren't severely overdone and they make sense to get a better sense of the character and are more accurate (Han Solo is such an important character I feel his hair should be such that it makes him just a little more discernible from other figs, though now my carbonite piece is outdated [that piece sort of sucked anyway without a proper bottom cover]), but there are some parts made these days that just make these figs feel like things you display rather than play with, which sucks.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Banana Gunz

[Ghidora131]

Only unique parts to this set will probably just get made somewhere else, in a much cheaper set

 

Eh, it's a nice update, but jacking it up to 500 dollars is ridiculous. Also, this is one of the very few BZP reports that actually feels real. It always seems every update is way too scripted and happy; this one only feels less so because I genuinely think Black Six was upset when he wrote it.

[Black Six]

Only unique parts to this set will probably just get made somewhere else, in a much cheaper set

 

Eh, it's a nice update, but jacking it up to 500 dollars is ridiculous. Also, this is one of the very few BZP reports that actually feels real. It always seems every update is way too scripted and happy; this one only feels less so because I genuinely think Black Six was upset when he wrote it.

No, I'm not really upset at all. I do think it's funny how much information about this set leaked in advance, all the way down to a LEGO Store building it last weekend. Someone in LEGO needs to get their act together for stuff like that.

 

As for the set itself, $500 is a lot, but so was $400. And Lyichir makes a valid point about inflation. Would I spend that much on it? Probably not. But there are definitely people out there who will, people just getting into Star Wars or who missed the original set. For the rest of us, we'll have to settle for buying the smaller sets that are a bit more palatably priced.

[Bonkle]

Wow, they literally changed nothing about the actual build of the set.

 

This is a bit disappointing. The original set was great, but they really could've updated it. I can imagine how annoying this might be for people who collect the figs but already have the old set.

 

And the minifigs don't justify this set to me at all. In fact I don't quite like LEGO minifigs these days. They're over elaborate and too detailed. I had a bunch of Star Wars figs from the older prequels Palpatine Duel set and at first I loved them but they're so overdone that I couldn't even play with them because I was afraid I would damage or scratch them. I vastly prefer the simpler styles of old, because minifigs are meant to be simplifications of the human form and I feel the prints should reflect that as well.

 

Some new molds are great, like the new hair piece for Han and the new heads for the imperial droid, because those aren't severely overdone and they make sense to get a better sense of the character and are more accurate (Han Solo is such an important character I feel his hair should be such that it makes him just a little more discernible from other figs, though now my carbonite piece is outdated [that piece sort of sucked anyway without a proper bottom cover]), but there are some parts made these days that just make these figs feel like things you display rather than play with, which sucks.

So much this! I made a topic on this last year and no one agreed with me. I'd happily take figs from the days of old if it dropped the price $5-$10 on your average set. If I wanted accurate Star Wars figures, I'd buy actual Star Wars toys.

[Aanchir]

The price increase is definitely daunting but, as Lyi said, more than half of that is just catching up on eight years of inflation. And I can see why they wouldn't want to make monumental changes to a set that sold well enough to keep around for eight years. The minifigure updates are excellent (probably the best versions of these characters to date), and there are some other nice updates to the build, like using the new smaller spring-loaded shooter instead of a giant Technic shooter and improving the accuracy of the Emperor's throne room. The Dianoga and torture droid look a lot better than they did before, too.

 

So is it worth $500? Maybe not, but that's less than 10% more than what you'd expect based on the cost of the previous version. And while it's frustrating not to get a truly "new" UCS set, this is a set that has long been out of date and in need of refreshing. I'm in no hurry to get this set, but if I were in the market for a Death Star in the first place I'd probably have bought the previous one. I guess we'll see if this one manages to stick around as long as the last one did!

 

I really hope 2017 re-releases the UCS Falcon to make up for this year's UCS sets.

So you're saying LEGO should make up for two sets that feel like repeats of stuff we've had before with… a repeat of something else we've had before? I can definitely understand being underwhelmed by two repetitive UCS sets in a row, but I don't see how a third would solve that.

 

Eh, it's a nice update, but jacking it up to 500 dollars is ridiculous. Also, this is one of the very few BZP reports that actually feels real. It always seems every update is way too scripted and happy; this one only feels less so because I genuinely think Black Six was upset when he wrote it.

A lot of us on the news team write LEGO news because, for the most part, it's something that excites us and makes us happy. Frankly, the BZPower news would feel a lot less real to me if I had to write everything with a stiff, unfeeling attitude. We're not writing about fluctuations in the cost of kitchen appliances here — we're writing about toys, games, and cartoons from a brand we enjoy.

[Ghidora131]

A lot of us on the news team write LEGO news because, for the most part, it's something that excites us and makes us happy. Frankly, the BZPower news would feel a lot less real to me if I had to write everything with a stiff, unfeeling attitude. We're not writing about fluctuations in the cost of kitchen appliances here — we're writing about toys, games, and cartoons from a brand we enjoy

It's not so much a matter of the general attitude being happy, it's more of there never being anything else. The news reports always seem exactly the same - something happened, and BZP isn't asking any questions, simply taking it with the same tone they take everything with. It's not a bad thing, but when you've heard the exact same approach for about 2 years it kinda loses its effect.

[Xaeraz]

I would kill to see a UCS set from a line other than Star Wars year after year

 

although i guess we got the Tumbler and the Helicarrier, but those don't quite feel the same for some reason

[Bonkle]

I would kill to see a UCS set from a line other than Star Wars year after year

 

although i guess we got the Tumbler and the Helicarrier, but those don't quite feel the same for some reason

Maybe because we're so used to the Star Wars style.

[Ta-metru_defender]

That Han Solo hair, though.

[Black Six]

I would kill to see a UCS set from a line other than Star Wars year after year

 

although i guess we got the Tumbler and the Helicarrier, but those don't quite feel the same for some reason

And the Ghostbusters Firehouse and the Ninjago Temple of Airjitzu and Minecraft The Village and the Simpsons House and the Kwik-E Mart and the Disney Castle.

 

While I agree I would like to see other IPs leveraged, Star Wars has always been a big seller, so it makes sense for that to be a focus. Not all IPs don't have an audience wide enough to have enough people willing to spend $200-$500 on a huge set, let alone several of them each year.

[bionicleFanatic]

Personally, I'm glad they kept it as it is and just updated the minifigures. I never got it myself, but hey, if you did then you must be enough of a fan to have collected most of the new minifigs already. And inserting the new character designs means that people who buy it nowadays aren't left with figures that look like they come from a decade ago.

 

Also, how on earth do you suppose they would redesign this behemoth? [] It's so amazing that anything else would be a downgrade. []

[CHTrilogy]

I'm having a deja vu...

[Reya]

 

I really hope 2017 re-releases the UCS Falcon to make up for this year's UCS sets.

So you're saying LEGO should make up for two sets that feel like repeats of stuff we've had before with… a repeat of something else we've had before? I can definitely understand being underwhelmed by two repetitive UCS sets in a row, but I don't see how a third would solve that.

 

 

I do not have a problem with AoH being a combination of many of sets previously released before. My problem with AoH is that it is not worthy of the UCS label. It has a lot of design flaws. It is visually disappointing. It is not even a proper Assault. In my opinion, it is embarrassing next to Ewok Village which isn't technically a UCS set but might as well be. As for the Death Star, it was out for the last 8 years, retired about 8 months ago and then re-released. As far as I am aware, the Falcon did not come out at the peak of Star War's Lego popularity and at a time when there were far less expensive sets compared to now. Considering it came out around the time of the great recession, people didn't have $500 to blow on a UCS set and didn't sell well. It was also only available for a couple of years. So many people missed out on it (myself included) - something which is highlighted by its ridiculous secondary market value. It would sell like wildfire and Lego know it.

[Xaeraz]

 

I would kill to see a UCS set from a line other than Star Wars year after year

 

although i guess we got the Tumbler and the Helicarrier, but those don't quite feel the same for some reason

And the Ghostbusters Firehouse and the Ninjago Temple of Airjitzu and Minecraft The Village and the Simpsons House and the Kwik-E Mart and the Disney Castle.

 

While I agree I would like to see other IPs leveraged, Star Wars has always been a big seller, so it makes sense for that to be a focus. Not all IPs don't have an audience wide enough to have enough people willing to spend $200-$500 on a huge set, let alone several of them each year.

 

...were those all advertised as UCS? Somehow, I never parsed that fact.

 

well don't I look like a hen in the foxhouse now

[Reya]

 

 

I would kill to see a UCS set from a line other than Star Wars year after year

 

although i guess we got the Tumbler and the Helicarrier, but those don't quite feel the same for some reason

And the Ghostbusters Firehouse and the Ninjago Temple of Airjitzu and Minecraft The Village and the Simpsons House and the Kwik-E Mart and the Disney Castle.

 

While I agree I would like to see other IPs leveraged, Star Wars has always been a big seller, so it makes sense for that to be a focus. Not all IPs don't have an audience wide enough to have enough people willing to spend $200-$500 on a huge set, let alone several of them each year.

 

...were those all advertised as UCS? Somehow, I never parsed that fact.

 

well don't I look like a hen in the foxhouse now

 

No. But they are so detailed and awesome that they might as well be!

[Aanchir]

...were those all advertised as UCS? Somehow, I never parsed that fact.

 

well don't I look like a hen in the foxhouse now

Nothing that isn't Star Wars has ever been advertised as Ultimate Collectors' Series. There was the Ultimate Collectors' Edition Batmobile, but it wasn't really in a series with anything until The Tumbler came out last year, and that one no longer used the Ultimate Collectors' Edition moniker.

 

Nevertheless, the current definition for Ultimate Collectors' Series (and honestly, the only clear-cut definition it's ever had) is "any large Direct-to-Consumer Star Wars set". So the equivalent of UCS for other themes would certainly include sets like the Temple of Airjitzu, Haunted House, Firehouse Headquarters, Tower of Orthanc, Classic TV Series Batcave, SHIELD Helicarrier, etc.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Aanchir

[Jobber]

Reminder that if you really want this set, you can buy the old one a lot cheaper the the new one.