Tower of Orthanc or UCS x-wing

MrMonsieurGreen

It looks as if these are going to go out of stock at any time now and I have 200 only and I am debating which one to get. I have enough space for one or the other and I have no preference over one or the other. Is one a must get over the other one?

SumoLego

I'm lackluster on both sets, but aestically I think the Orthanc Tower is much better.

There's also a higher likelihood of there being another iteration of the X-Wing in the future.  (Lego missed the boat by not including two or so exclusive minifigures to help drive sales on that set.)

Once the Orthanc and Hobbit sets are gone, I wouldn't expect them to ever return.

yys4u

My vote goes for Tower. Star wars isn't going away any time soon, for all we know there could be a new and improved X-wing in 5 years. But LotR stuff. once gone, probably wont ever be back

Fauch

they already released a 2nd UCS X-wing, they may not want to make a 3rd one before some time.

just a matter of taste, I picked orthanc recently, but I'm not attracted by the x-wing. price point seems worse too. x-wing is 1600 bricks, 2.3 kg, orthanc is 2300 bricks, 3 kg.

MrMonsieurGreen

Thank you all! I feel as if there is a lean to the Tower instead. 

msanders

The X wing is impressive but for me it's the Tower all the way - great display and great play features.

SumoLego

The picture of Radagast immediately sold the set for me.

ryjay

X-wing.

MrMonsieurGreen

ryjay said:

X-wing.

Any particular reason why?

novicebuilder101

Are you going to be buying the ucs tie fighter before it retires? If so, you should get the xwing to pair with it.

mathew

Which ever one you think you'll enjoy more.  They are two totally different sets.  One is a space ship that probably has a lot of technic bits.  The other is a tower with a lot of small black pieces.  I own Orthanc so I am biased.  But I do think the X-Wing is underrated.  I'm just done with Star Wars.  

ryjay

MrMonsieurGreen said:

ryjay said:

X-wing.

Any particular reason why?

Well, for starters...it is what I like. Second, when it comes to displaying, I think it displays better.   I also think most people will somehow identify with it so there would be greater conversation about it, and not just Lego.  If I displayed the Tower, I bet I'd get a lot of "what is that?" or no comments at all.  

monkey_roo

To me it is an odd comparison to make. The tower is a minifig scaled playset and the Red 5 a pure display piece. Both are great models, the tower looks great when it is built, all black and shiny and menacing over smaller LoTR's sets . The Red 5 is a fantastic model, the detail and scale are something else, and if you are a SW fan and have some of the other UCS (Tie-Fighter, Slave 1, B-Wing etc.) to go next to it then the overall display is truly great.

Ultimatly it comes down to how you want to spend your money, are you a die hard SW fan or a LoTR's fan? Which do you think will put the biggest smile on your face, for me it is the Red 5, but that's just me.

JELJ1S

I bought the ToO because I figured the X-Wing would be around a while longer for me to decide to buy it.  I also own the previous UCS X-Wing and im not sure i really want/need another.  I like the model but Im pretty tired of the rehashing of ships in the SW line. 

BrickDancer

^I think it's the other way around, that the X-wing is effectively 'Sold Out' and just waiting for status to be changed officially. It's been 'out of stock' on [email protected] for over 2-3 months now. I haven't seen them in stores for months and last month for May 4th I called all around Southern California and all Lego B&Ms were out of stock and not expecting any more. Even though I don't like the model itself, I'm a completist so needed it for my UCS collection either way so ended up paying $18 for shipping from the Arrowhead, Arizona Lego Store. That's how far I had to go to get one, not sure how it looks for everyone else around the country.

The one thing about the UCS X-wing long term is the fact that there is precedence established for it. And if you recall before the 'Red Five' rehash came around, the original UCS X-wing only hit a high around $500 with used one's in the $350 range. So it didn't exactly hit a high note considering it was EOL for nearly a decade. Especially in comparison to other models like the Y-wing and even Naboo Fighter.

MrMonsieurGreen

Well, it seems pretty even. I ended up going with the Tower. I do hope however that the wing will stick around for a bit longer. I was never able to get the first one.

It makes me wonder why they would not keep the X-Wing in stock until the movie comes out due to it being one of the signature ships in the star wars trilogy.

vadang

I'd say Tower of Orthanc.  The X-wing is cool, but to normal folks they wont know the difference between the UCS x-wing and the normal one (say 9493).  The tower, to me is also a display piece.  It is tall and menacing.  I've gotten more compliments on my tower than any other piece from guests and this includes SSD, DS, modulars, Tumbler, X-wing, TB, etc.  

monkey_roo

I think the Red 5 hasn't sold too well so is running end of life (others might know better). But also with a newer UCS out (Sandcrawler and Slave 1) and coming out (Hoth Base) Lego will want to rotate their stock anyway.

Then add in the fact the new X-Wings (as seen in the trailor) are blue and look quite distinctive i can't see Disney wanting too much older stuff knocking about that will detract from cross-sell  merchandising and promotion related to the new films, i also susspect we will be seeing a new system scale x-wing very soon so again, out with the old, in with the new.