What are the Top Five UCS Sets?

Farmer_John

There have been many UCS sets released over the years and they are generally expensive. The vast majority of the UCS sets are from the Star Wars theme. I generally pick up one from time to time, but have only had time to build one to date...the Imperial Shuttle #10212. There are two that I have not yet purchased that are either still available (or will be): the Sandcrawler and the Slave 1. Also, I have not purchased the Ewok Village (which is essentially a UCS set). I will probably grab one of the three after Christmas and am trying to make a decision on which is the best to purchase. Meanwhile, I thought it would be nice to get people's impressions of which UCS sets are the cream of the crop

Here is the UCS list (including the UCS Tumbler) in order of customer reviews (not in comparison to each other):

#10212 Imperial Shuttle
#7191 X-wing Fighter
#7181 TIE Interceptor
#10030 Imperial Star Destroyer
#10134 Y-wing Attack Starfighter
#10143 Death Star II
#10174 Imperial AT-ST
#10175 Vader's TIE Advanced
#10179 Millennium Falcon
#10186 General Grievous
#7784 The Batmobile
#10225 R2-D2
#10019 Rebel Blockade Runner
#10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter
#75059 Sandcrawler
#76023 The Tumbler
#10026 Special Edition Naboo Starfighter
#10221 Super Star Destroyer
#10129 Rebel Snowspeeder
#7194 Yoda
#10227 B-Wing Starfighter
#10215 Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter
#10018 Darth Maul

and of course the unreleased #75060 Slave I.

I was a bit surprised to see the MF #10179, the Sandcrawler #75059, and the Tumbler #76023 as low in the list as they are. I was also surprised to see #10186 General Grievous as high as it is.

Noticeably absent from the list are the Death Star #10188 and the Ewok Village #10236 because they are not considered by TLG to be UCS sets. If they were, the DS would be at the top and the EV would easily be in the top 25% based on their respective reviews.

So the question is: How do they compare to each other and which are the best of the best?

rocao

My top five, maybe even in order:
#10179 - unparalleled in size and detail
#10030 - iconic, groundbreaking size and price point
#10212 - beautiful to display
#7191 - the original
#10143 - ambitious, unique build

Honorable mentions to #10019, #10134, #75059

gold682

My top five (I own all UCS apart from the "busts") :
#10179 - Its the Falcon! It's huge!
#10019 - I love the Blockade Runner as a spaceship and as a display piece.
#7191 - Iconic.
#10227 - Well I like it. OK!
#75059 - Not built it yet, but if its as good as it looks, job done!

monkeyhanger

My top 5 are:-

10179 - I bricklinked mine, so invested a lot of time in it. It's not my favourite SW vessel, but it is my favourite SW Lego ship. It is massive and well detailed.

10212 - Beautifully done in Lego - so SNOTty it doesn't even look like it's made from Lego at a casual glance. I almost passed it up as poor value for money until I saw it in the flesh and it was twice the size I thought it would be.

10225 - R2 is happy at home anywhere you care to display him, nice size - Sat on my main PC desk.

10030 - Have seen one in the flesh, but I don't own it myself. ISD is probably my fave SW vessel.

76023 - Tumbler, my only non SW big set and it's great.

I own a few other OT sets, my least favourite being 10240, as it is built in the exact same way as the regular system X-Wings, a really boring build, but a nice looking model when done

ColoradoBricks

My top 5:

#10179 - Just got it, currently building it, impressive build, that what UCS is about

#10212 - Just beautiful on its stand with the wings down

#10221 - Size, size and size ... impressive display piece

#10225 - Fun build, iconic and detailed

#76023 - Looking forward to build it, ranked only based on pictures.

Renny

1) #10179 Milennium Falcon

An amazing Lego representation of the ship. Great exterior detail, memorable build and impressive size.

2) #10212 Imperial Shuttle

Looks stunning on display. Really like the wing mechanism...and it's not gray :)

3) #10030 Imperial Star Destroyer

Huge and nicely detailed.

4) #10134 Y-Wing

Lots of detail and I like the kind of weathered, mechanical look of the ship.

5) #10174 AT-ST

Doesn't get alot of love as a UCS but I think it looks great and is a great representation of the real thing.


Honorable, non ucs mention goes out to #10178, love watching that Walker actually move :)

monkey_roo

10179 - Nothing to say, simply the best lego model ever produced
76023 - Great rendition of the tumbler and displays so well
75059 - Another new model, but it is so well done and just great to look at it plus - Utini
75060 - Not out yet but looks great and after the falcon is my favourite ship in the SW universe so for me it is a must have
10240 - May not be everyone's favourite but it is a great rendition of an x-wing, just looks amazing

Farmer_John

rocao said:

My top five, maybe even in order:
#10179 - unparalleled in size and detail
#10030 - iconic, groundbreaking size and price point
#10212 - beautiful to display
#7191 - the original
#10143 - ambitious, unique build

Honorable mentions to #10019, #10134, #75059

Wow...you must have come out of your dark ages a millennium before I did. Some of those sets were released a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

B0SSK

10179, 10179, 10179, 10179, and 10179 !!

kempo81

1. #10179 Falcon
2. #76023 Tumbler
3. *reserved for Slave I* #75060
4. #10212 Shuttle
5. #75059 Crawler

Farmer_John

If you could only pick one from the Sandcrawler, Slave 1, or the Ewok Village sets, which would it be? I know the EV will likely be the first to go...

AdeelZubair

#10179 Millennium Falcon
#10225 R2-D2
#10221 Super Star Destroyer
#75059 Sandcrawler
#76023 The Tumbler

1. The Millennium Falcon is LEGO Star Wars' flagship set.

2. R2-R2 is a unique model as it acts as a pet to it's owner. Other LEGO Star Wars character busts didn't make sense but the R2-D2 does.

3. The length of this model makes it so special.

4. Sandcrawler has a very complex LEGO Technic frame and it's size also makes it on to the list.

5. Must have for all fans of 'The Dark Knight' Trilogy.

I don't own any of these and are judged on pictures and reviews.

Farmer_John

I still have to pickup the Ewok Village before it goes away. I'm dragging my feet until the May the 4th sale, just in case there is some form of discount. Alternatively, I could pick up a copy in about a month during the double VIP points deal from March 14-29th. Next in the queue would have to be the Sandcrawler! Who knows, depending on any discounts I may try a stretch goal and grab both during the May the 4th event...