Info on new UCS sets

BooTheMightyHamster

?

CM4S.  I have to confess I'm not familiar with her / him.  Should I be?

hoyatables

There's enough smoke around this particular rumor that I have to think there is truth to it.

Fireheart

Anyone else noticed eBay had quite a few 10019 Blockade Runners popping up, either mint or MISB
Are we hoping for a UCS MF. When others are thinking UCS Blockade Runner?

kizkiz

Fireheart said:

Anyone else noticed eBay had quite a few 10019 Blockade Runners popping up, either mint or MISB
Are we hoping for a UCS MF. When others are thinking UCS Blockade Runner?

The lepin blockade runner was out a few weeks ago. Could be a reaction to that

Penkid11

BooTheMightyHamster said:

?

CM4S.  I have to confess I'm not familiar with her / him.  Should I be?

Yes.

He's been extremely reliable in the past. I would trust him with leaks more than any other.

Now whether or not the UCS Falcon 2017 rumor is just becoming more convoluted, or actually gaining traction, no one know but those within the rumor mill.

adiemc

Snowspeeder announcement on social media. No price as yet. 
https://www.facebook.com/LEGO/posts/10154538358293403

fourstud

Should be $199.99 

As shared by others ;)

samiam391

Wow! Incredible! 14 years later and it looks...




...almost exactly the same.



... has LEGO really become that bland that they can't come up with new UCS Star Wars sets? These blatant rehashes are getting old.

adiemc

On the front page now 

http://brickset.com/article/27198/75144-snowspeeder-press-release

LostInTranslation

^^ Seems like 14 years is quite a long gap. Probably a lot of new SW collectors in that time who would quite like a Snowspeeder to add to their display shelves. 

prevere

If only I had comparable-sized AT-AT to display by the UCS Snowspeeder.

samiam391

LostInTranslation said:

^^ Seems like 14 years is quite a long gap. Probably a lot of new SW collectors in that time who would quite like a Snowspeeder to add to their display shelves. 

As someone that has been around in LEGO for roughly that long, I'm choosing to be selfishly bitter. ;) For those of us that have been around for awhile seeing rehashes of classics when there are so many other incredible options is disheartening.

For those that haven't been around having the opportunity is great... I'll keep my disgruntled rumblings to a minimum to avoid stealing from their glory moment :)

monkeyhanger

samiam391 said:

Wow! Incredible! 14 years later and it looks...




...almost exactly the same.



... has LEGO really become that bland that they can't come up with new UCS Star Wars sets? These blatant rehashes are getting old.

Only for people that already had them. There are a few elusive OT vehicles not given the UCS treatment (AT-AT please!, but could they make one big enough to meet expectations without being ridiculously fragile?), but I doubt Lego are keen to get their fingers burnt with a PT set that may not interest the target market, is it too early to do Ep7 or Rogue One UCS sets?

I think the new Snowspeeder looks a fair bit better than the old one, it has had some work put into it. If we get nothing truly new, i'm hoping for an ISD soon!

Chubbles

skipping last years UCS makes skipping this one that much easier

BuriedinBricks

I don't get those saying it looks just like the old one. The canopies are totally different construction methods and the nose proportions are far more movie accurate. I don't think the laser batteries stick out as far as they should in front, but they still look good. I also think the mechanical features on the harpoon gun and lifting panels are pretty cool (have never built the first one, so don't know if those features were present there)

I know re-hashes are unpopular among the long-term AFOL population. However, I'd be willing to bet there are a ton of people in the hobby who were not collecting 14 years ago who are now very happy to have a chance to get a version of this iconic ship at a reasonable price.

iso3200

Given the reference material is a Snowspeeder.... it's always going to look remarkably the same isn't it? I missed out on the last one so I'll be happy to have this on my shelf. UK price sits ok with me, especially if there's a decent May 4th Event on.

I wonder if people will be so dismissive of the next big UCS, when it looks remarkably the same as it's predecessor ;o)

ecmo47

It's all the exposed studs. We have been getting spoiled with many models having a very limited amount of studs like the Imperial Shuttle and Slave 1 so we are used to the smoother surface. This model does have a bunch of improvements but all I can see is the rough texture.

graphite

iso3200 said:

Given the reference material is a Snowspeeder.... it's always going to look remarkably the same isn't it? 

This is what I was thinking.  It is a white snowspeeder so of course its going to look like the last one.  But the build appears to be significantly different.

Lobot

That's beautiful - one for my collection!

I noticed that the article states a UK cost of £169.99 which is £10 below both the UCS TIE and Slave 1.  I assume that's an error and will be corrected before it goes on sale?

bandit778

Really looking forward to this as I'm in the 'missed this' category of collectors and I actually think they have done a good job of getting the lines right for the front end.
My only wish is that the front of the canopy is printed and not stickers, not that I have anything against them normally but I do hate sticking them on transparent parts as they are a lot less forgiving than normal bricks or plates if I fudge it up and the front of that canopy is going to be really visible if I do.

bandit778

Double post, but just watched the designer video and disappointingly the front of the canopy isn't printed. 

I must admit that on a high cost set like this it seems a bit crap especially after the beautiful job they did of printing the canopy on the latest Y-Wing.  :(

prevere

I'm interested, but I will wait for some discounts, just like the TIE. 

Werewolf_poo

I missed out on the first snowspeeder so I am buzzing for this one. My £70 worth of Lego points have been getting saved for this set for nearly a year now. The amount of moaning on here tho is pretty breath taking. I love it.

All I need now is for TLG to confirm the UCS millennium falcon and I will be over the moon. 

Fauch

I like it but it's too expensive. I think the silent mary is the same price, and looks more substantial and it's still expensive.

Penkid11

When we realize that Lego is redoing older exclusive sets in order to appeal to the newfound FOLs that exploded out of the Lego Movie phenomenon.

As someone who hadn't picked up the original Snowspeeder, and is someone who is in love with that particular speeder, I'm excited that this thing is coming.

CCC

Penkid11 said:

When we realize that Lego is redoing older exclusive sets in order to appeal to the newfound FOLs that exploded out of the Lego Movie phenomenon.

It's not just the Lego movie. It is time too.  There are many AFOLs now that will buy this that were not fans of TLM or AFOLs 15 years ago, or couldn't afford the original back then.

TheFew

I hate it!

So i will only buy 2.

stlux

bandit778 said:

Double post, but just watched the designer video and disappointingly the front of the canopy isn't printed. 

I must admit that on a high cost set like this it seems a bit crap especially after the beautiful job they did of printing the canopy on the latest Y-Wing.  :(

Whilst I also prefer printed over stickers, the set designers have only a limited number of new elements they can introduce in a set. The brief to the set designer will say how many new elements can be introduced - if any at all. A UCS set might actually have a lower allocation than a mass-market one as TLG will expect to sell 10,000's of units of the new UCS Snowspeeder vs a lot more Y-wings. The new mold might not pay for itself with a low production run. Or in case of a new print on an existing element, TLG might not deem it worthwhile to allocate time on the printer in Kladno.
E.g. in a recent interview Marcos Bessa mentioned that for #71040 Disney Castle he was allocated 1 new element slot, which he used for Tinkerbell's hair.

Not that I wouldn't prefer TLG to allocate more new elements/prints to UCS models. It might just have a more significant impact on the price than we think.

CCC

stlux said:

Or in case of a new print on an existing element, TLG might not deem it worthwhile to allocate time on the printer in Kladno.

Not that I wouldn't prefer TLG to allocate more new elements/prints to UCS models. It might just have a more significant impact on the price than we think.

It would be interesting to know what the real costs of, say, having one important piece printed are, and then see whether this is true, or whether it is just LEGO penny pinching not really caring too much about the quality of their product as people will accept stickers anyway. On something this price, I'm sure many people would pay an extra quid for a printed canopy instead of having a crappy sticker that is difficult to put on exactly straight, you can see the edges and will probably peel in future.

sonsofsceva

^ I am wondering what about their block printing process might be different from, say, MBlocks, in which nearly everything is printed in my (albeit, very limited) experience. Are the blocks they make so much cheaper than LEGO blocks that they can still gain profit despite the expense of printing?

Nice set, but when the designer held up that giant sheet of stickers, I cringed. Especially the fact plates. Those will not get worn from play, so I really don't get the giant sticker. They even got it slightly crooked in the video!

binaryeye

I don't understand the white. What's the point of designing the model to so closely resemble the movie prop and then using the wrong color?

datsunrobbie

If everybody who was disappointed with stickers actually refused to buy the set, Lego might decide to only use printed parts. Instead, people complain and buy at least one copy, if not several copies, of the set, effectively telling Lego that, while there is room for improvement, stickers are actually not a deal-breaker.

BooTheMightyHamster

Righteous AFOL refuses to buy Snowspeeder because of stickers instead of printed parts.
Lego still sells a truckload.
Righteous AFOL sticks to their principles and stakes claim on moral high ground.
Set goes EOL.
AFOL ends up paying over the odds for MISB set.
Lego don't even notice.

Rinse and repeat.

blogzilly

I really love it, however I will likely modify it with just a few tiles to SNOT it up a little. Not completely because I dig a little mix, but I think it has a few too many exposed studs.

But am very excited to get it. But then again I am pretty easy to please...

Legoboy

What i find laughable about the video is that LEGO now appear to be promoting stickers.  Or at least the sticker guy!?

"Look, here is the guy that designs the stickers because I can't bring the detail into the build design and my boss refuses to print them"

Good job LEGO.

datsunrobbie

^"Look, here's the guy that designs the stickers to add details that would otherwise have been entirely absent, since printing for those parts would have increased the retail price by 50%*."

*No, I don't have any source for that markup, but I have not seen anything from TLG to suggest it is not correct.

bandit778

@stlux
I honestly do appreciate that the cost on a new part to be printed might be above what  TLG wanted to include in the set. I just really hate sticking stickers on transparent parts. Being an old git I have to be grumpy about something. Today the stickers were it. ;)

Fauch

is 200€ now the minimum price for an UCS? if #10215 obi wan's jedi starfighter were released now, it would cost 200€ too?

GIR3691

It's still the wrong color.

xwingpilot

I'm torn...

On the one hand it's an amazing looking set - movie accurate and a worthy successor to #10129. On the other hand I can't help thinking that it's quite a small vehicle in-universe, and doesn't really warrant a set at this scale. It's also not a starfighter.

I just can't decide right now...

Mynatt

I think that the set looks great and most certainly will be picking one up. I have always been a fan of the snow speeder and never had ended up getting the first one. The only upset to me is all of the stickers.

If there was one thing that I wish could be changed for all UCS sets was that if they could have the large tile with all the information to be printed with it rather than have it be a sticker. 

MaffyD

Not a spaceship, not bothered :-) It does look good though, despite the sticker thing.

Fauch

taking a quick look at the various UCS, it even looks like one of the best looking ones, actually. though probably still less than the imperial shuttle.

stlux

Review from The Brick Fan: http://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-star-wars-ultimate-collectors-series-snowspeeder-75144-review/

lfty888

Oh well...... still will be lining up to getting one when April 28 rolls along (VIP)...... :)

Addicted2Oxygen

The snowspeeder looks great. My concern with it is the use of rubber bands.

How vital are they to the final build? I.e. When they perish and there are no suitable replacements what happens to the model? What bit falls down?

Had this issue with my droideka whose structural integrity relies on bands. Luckily the spares were still ok, but once this set perishes I will no longer be able to display it and use it. So I am rather paranoid about Lego sets that use bands. 

xwingpilot

^ My concern exactly. I can't believe there wasn't a better way to achieve that angle on a non-moving part.

CapnRex101

@Addicted2Oxygen - The rubber bands are used to angle the armour on the underside of the model, albeit only slightly. They support very little weight so I think the risk of degradation is reasonably low. However, if they did fail then it would make no difference to the structural integrity of the model and the visible change would be very subtle.

The Brickset review is coming up on Sunday.

datsunrobbie

Luckily, replacement rubber bands are cheap, and easy to find in the "hair care" section at Walgreens.

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/super-stretch-rubber-bands/ID=prod6031149-product?skuId=sku6029707

Even better are the cloth-covered ones, they seem to hold up forever.

monkeyhanger

If the bands are covered then they'll last a very long time. It is usually UV exposure that knacks elastic bands. Maybe someone will find a brick based alternative, someone usually finds a way to improve TLG's work (like the improved UCS X-Wing nose).