Star Wars UCS B-Wing

brickupdate

For what it is, they did a nice job with it. But it has never been a well-known or popular ship, and it displays awkward no matter how you position it. The gray tread piece is cool, I can see military MOCers getting really into those. But $200 for this vs $180 for one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars universe, R2-D2? Sure, they will sell SOME of these, but beyond the initial excitement, I can just see this sitting there on the shelves, selling a couple a week at LEGO Stores.

That said... kudos to LEGO for focusing on a less than most popular ship. And the model does look nice. I may buy one of them down the road when there is a nice sale.

Thanks all for the conversation!
- BrickUpdate

LegoFanTexas

^ What you said...

We got a B-Wing before we got a Slave 1, AT-AT, Nebulon-B Frigate, TIE Fighter, Speeder Bike, Luke's Landspeeder, Cloud Car, etc.

Those all had a ton more screen time and actually did something in the movies... The B-Wing is cool from the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games, from 20 years ago... In the movie, the B-Wing is shown twice, for about 5 seconds, it does nothing, is never shown shooting, etc. Even the A-Wing at least brings down the SSD by ramming the bridge.

ringleheim

The conversation here speaks for itself. The B-wing is never going to be a super popular or successful Lego set.

It's in the same category as the SSD and Jedi Fighter.

As far as what a 3,000 piece sand crawler might cost--look at R2-D2! Over 2,100 pieces for $180. Not bad. So you never know.

I guess the B-wing costs what it does because it features more expensive parts and printed parts, whereas R2-D2 does not (I don't think).

I still say B wing is a strange choice for a UCS set, given what is still waiting to be built in UCS form. The A-wing, AT-AT, and Sand Crawler are 3 good examples. Another is the Speeder Bike, which would make a fantastic UCS set, particularly in a huge scale.

It's the type of vehicle which could be presented as a 2 foot long model, utterly filled with detail. If they could cook up a convincing super sized figure to ride it, all the better (made of many common parts with maybe a specialty helmet piece). Put it on a stand with a clear plastic rod supporting the bike so it looks like it's hovering and it's a slam dunk.

I agree with an earlier comment about the B-wing: given the design brief, I think the designer did a fine job. The fault with this set doesn't lie in its execution, but rather, the business decision to go ahead with the project in the first place.

ringleheim

This is somewhat off topic, but while we are discussing UCS sets generally...

Has everyone noticed that UCS AT-ST and Darth Vader's Advanced TIE are two excellent UCS sets (in my opinion!) which for some magical reason have not really appreciated in value very much? They are available NIB for quite reasonable prices.

I don't understand why you can get these 2 sets for a slight premium over their original list price, whereas other comparable UCS sets have sky rocketed in value.

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

y2josh

It's a pity there was no minifigs with this, it is so close to minifig scale.

I don't know the exact dimensions on this set, of course, but from the video, it looks to be MUCH larger than minifig scale.

ringleheim

It's a pity there was no minifigs with this, it is so close to minifig scale.

I don't know the exact dimensions on this set, of course, but from the video, it looks to be MUCH larger than minifig scale.

•Measures 26” (66cm) wide and 15” (38cm) high in flight configuration, and 17” (43cm) high when mounted on display stand

tvih

UCS Nebulon-B frigate would be awesome :) As would a minifig-scale A-Wing, I'd buy that ASAP, as it always was my favorite rebel fighter. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's ever been a Mon Calamari Cruiser ship model? Only the "Home One" interior set. Given its shape, could be quite a challenge. But I mean come on, it's the Rebel capital ship class!

monkeyhanger

Looking at some of the pics seen, the set looks 3 studs wide, which I suppose is 50% larger than minifig scale - maybe pushing the practicalities of having a pilot in it, but having a pilot on the stand is still a good idea IMO.

ringleheim

My Sandcrawler is 10,000 + parts maybe more so MB's will be the same,

And i have to laugh at people moaning at the cost of the B-Wing when they were quite happy to pay £350 for the SDD!

Not sure what you mean here. I bought the SSD and love the set. I was not "quite happy" to pay $400 for it though! Can't we complain about the price but like the set all at the same time?

I also like (but don't love) the B-wing and will likely buy one, but I still think it is way overpriced.

As has been mentioned previously, TLG knows this and I'm sure their pricing is geared around this fact. I.E., there is a market for these things no matter what their price and they can charge that extra premium as a result. They know what they are doing with price strategy.

ringleheim

UCS Nebulon-B frigate would be awesome :) As would a minifig-scale A-Wing, I'd buy that ASAP, as it always was my favorite rebel fighter. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's ever been a Mon Calamari Cruiser ship model? Only the "Home One" interior set. Given its shape, could be quite a challenge. But I mean come on, it's the Rebel capital ship class!

The Nebulon-B would be really cool, but maybe hard to display.

Another slam dunk is the Venator. A UCS set in the 1 meter or longer size area with accompanying high detail would be incredible. The dark red beautifully offsets the gray, and the engines are fantastic. That's one that I will try to MOC some day if Lego doesn't offer a set first.

mrfootball

Love the new B-wing. Hope to see it in person today at Brick Fiesta!

mrfootball

This piece will be popular with Star Wars collectors outside of the usual Lego market as it is perhaps the best looking representation of the B-wing to date - toy, model or Lego.

tvih

The Nebulon-B would be really cool, but maybe hard to display.

Well, not really hard, but one of the supports would have to be a bit too visible. I mean, having a support plate under the "main section" is a given, but then you'd of course need a secondary support for the other end.That would have to be quite visible. I guess it could be minimized by having the support built from transparent parts, but even then not so inconspicuous.

MOC:ing a Nebulon-B would be beyond my skills, but I reckon I could try the A-Wing in LDD at some point (in minifig scale) :)

bellybutton290

I would support/buy a ucs version of the A-wing, nebulon-b or the AT-AT in a heartbeat (as long as the price is more R2-D2 than B-wing).

cavegod

Another is the Speeder Bike, which would make a fantastic UCS set, particularly in a huge scale.

It's the type of vehicle which could be presented as a 2 foot long model, utterly filled with detail. If they could cook up a convincing super sized figure to ride it, all the better (made of many common parts with maybe a specialty helmet piece). Put it on a stand with a clear plastic rod supporting the bike so it looks like it's hovering and it's a slam dunk.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7082/7313728488_8c0243d72c_z.jpg

As soon as the Scout trooper is built in real bricks this will exist!

samiam391

If it was about 3,000 parts... then that'd just be about 1,300 more than #10144. In my mind, that's just a re-release and TLG wouldn't want to do it. In my honest opinion, I think enough people picked up #10144, to make a slightly larger Sandcrawler, not profitable enough in TLG's book.

Pitfall69

I would rather have a UCS Tie Fighter or Tie Bomber than a B-Wing. A UCS Landspeeder would be nice as well.

Bandit

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

I think this tells you everything you need to know *why* the B-Wing is very desirable, why it will sell well, and why it will do great on the eol aftermarket, regardless of 'lack of screen time' or anything else. It is an iconic OT ship, and one of the top 2 or 3 sets on my list left to be made -- as a star wars nerd I am ecstatic, as are I'm sure countless others.

samiam391

Personally i'd love to see a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser.... Perhaps something along the lines of:
http://www.slipperybrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/lego-mon-calamari2-450x292.jpg
Maybe? I know there are a few different versions of it.

Pitfall69

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

I think this tells you everything you need to know *why* the B-Wing is very desirable, why it will sell well, and why it will do great on the eol aftermarket, regardless of 'lack of screen time' or anything else. It is an iconic OT ship, and one of the top 2 or 3 sets on my list left to be made -- as a star wars nerd I am ecstatic, as are I'm sure countless others.

As a Star Wars "nerd" myself I am not ecstatic at all. I will probably buy this only if it goes on sale.

LegoFanTexas

I think this tells you everything you need to know *why* the B-Wing is very desirable, why it will sell well, and why it will do great on the eol aftermarket, regardless of 'lack of screen time' or anything else. It is an iconic OT ship, and one of the top 2 or 3 sets on my list left to be made -- as a star wars nerd I am ecstatic, as are I'm sure countless others.

Actually, I think the exact opposite... The AT-ST was an iconic OT vehicle, actually had real screen time, actually did something, and none of that made a difference.

The B-Wing is nice and all, and I know what it is because I'm a complete Star Wars nut, but the casual fan probably doesn't even know what it is called.

morbiczer

^ What you said...

We got a B-Wing before we got a Slave 1, AT-AT, Nebulon-B Frigate, TIE Fighter, Speeder Bike, Luke's Landspeeder, Cloud Car, etc.

Those all had a ton more screen time and actually did something in the movies... The B-Wing is cool from the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games, from 20 years ago... In the movie, the B-Wing is shown twice, for about 5 seconds, it does nothing, is never shown shooting, etc. Even the A-Wing at least brings down the SSD by ramming the bridge.

There are not many ships or vehicles left that they haven't done yet in UCS. I think most of us agree that there will do no re-releases of modells they had already done for UCS and the Star Wars license will run for 10 more years, it makes sense to save some of the potentiall star sellers (AT-AT, Slave-1) for later years.

Bandit

I think this tells you everything you need to know *why* the B-Wing is very desirable, why it will sell well, and why it will do great on the eol aftermarket, regardless of 'lack of screen time' or anything else. It is an iconic OT ship, and one of the top 2 or 3 sets on my list left to be made -- as a star wars nerd I am ecstatic, as are I'm sure countless others.

Actually, I think the exact opposite... The AT-ST was an iconic OT vehicle, actually had real screen time, actually did something, and none of that made a difference.

The B-Wing is nice and all, and I know what it is because I'm a complete Star Wars nut, but the casual fan probably doesn't even know what it is called.

I know, I would have thought the at-st would be more desirable and worth more. Perhaps there is just a glut of inventory. It was marked down a ton at TRU in its day. But my point was, the OT ships sell and are desirable. I don't think the b-wing will be any different.

mressin

Well, I always thought the B-Wing was the coolest ship of them all, and found it really sad that you don't see it more in the movies (Which, by the way, is down to it being difficult to film against blue screen). I'm glad Lego did it.

If you didn't like the B-Wing as a ship to begin with, well, what are you disappointed about? We knew the B-Wing was next for such a long time now. The UCS Tie Fighter, Tie Bomber, UCS A-Wing etc. will come in time.

The model is great, especially if you consider that the B-Wing has so many fragile, yet round shapes and should therefore be difficult to build in Lego bricks. TLG has done good.
(And hey, since the designers are getting better and better at the UCS thing, how about a new, improved UCS Y-Wing with better canopy? Or X-Wing with fewer studs showing?)

I hope it sells well. It looks much more interesting than the SSD (which mainly consists of plates and greebles) and the IS (which looks great, but has too many technic elements in it for my taste). Certainly Lego will have done its homework with all their focus group testing and so on. They wouldn't release this if they had no reason to believe it would sell well.

Pitfall69

Maybe @Bandit took one of their surveys 1,000's of times under different user names. That is what a Star Wars need would do. J/k buddy ;)

Pitfall69

*nerd

richo

^ there are quite a few double negatives in that last sentence. lol

mressin

^Why, you didn't vote 1000 times for the UCS landspeeder then? ;)

Pitfall69

Ok. This is what Im going to do. Using my 6.5 year nephew, I'm going to line up most of the ships and vehicles from Episodes 4-6. Im going to tell him to put them in order from best to worst in his opinion. Then...next week I'm going to to the same thing when my good friend comes over. He is a HUGE Star Wars nerd, so much that he always answers the phone in a Yoda voice. I will tell you the results of my findings.

Pitfall69

^ there are quite a few double negatives in that last sentence. lol

Where? If there are, I won't not use no double negatives again.

Pitfall69

^Why, you didn't vote 1000 times for the UCS landspeeder then? ;)

No. I did not. After the Collectible Minifigures fiasco, I don't bother.

cavegod

MrEssin, i just wish they cgi the missing scene from jedi where the b-wings blow up a star destroyer! and put it in the film like it was to supposed to be.

Renny

In regards to why Vader's TIE or the AT-ST, or even the SSD did/are not selling well,maybe people are just tired of big gray Lego sets? I mean I love (and own) most of the UCS sets but after awhile I just crave something different other than 2000+ pieces of bluish gray.

Pitfall69

Isn't the B-wing mostly bley?

Renny

Yes it is. Will it sell less because of it's another 1000+ bley set, I have no clue. I just know I personally find eye candy sets like the IF, QAR or Emerald Night more engaging. I will buy one as a big SW OT fan but not without a steep discounted price.

Pitfall69

I missed out on both the IF and EN. I had more important things to do with my money. I Did, however, buy UCS MF for $345 + free shipping.

Bandit

Maybe @Bandit took one of their surveys 1,000's of times under different user names. That is what a Star Wars need would do. J/k buddy ;)

No, if that were the case we'd be getting an AT-AT right now... ;)

Bandit

Ok. This is what Im going to do. Using my 6.5 year nephew, I'm going to line up most of the ships and vehicles from Episodes 4-6. Im going to tell him to put them in order from best to worst in his opinion. Then...next week I'm going to to the same thing when my good friend comes over. He is a HUGE Star Wars nerd, so much that he always answers the phone in a Yoda voice. I will tell you the results of my findings.

I will be interested in hearing the results!

Bumblepants

@cavegod What?! Make changes to the Star Wars films?? Ridiculous

Pitfall69

^ I'm actually curious myself. Lord knows what my nephew will do. I might as well put his father through it too. I wanted to put my wife through it, but she couldn't pronounce millennium, so I ended it right there. Lol.

pvancil27

This is somewhat off topic, but while we are discussing UCS sets generally...

Has everyone noticed that UCS AT-ST and Darth Vader's Advanced TIE are two excellent UCS sets (in my opinion!) which for some magical reason have not really appreciated in value very much? They are available NIB for quite reasonable prices.

I don't understand why you can get these 2 sets for a slight premium over their original list price, whereas other comparable UCS sets have sky rocketed in value.

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

The Vaders ties are around 250 new, so thats about 250% of its RRP, not a super deal. The AT-ST and the Gen Grievious are the two that stayed down.

I will never understand the love for the Snowspeeder, that thing looks terrible.

ringleheim

This is somewhat off topic, but while we are discussing UCS sets generally...

Has everyone noticed that UCS AT-ST and Darth Vader's Advanced TIE are two excellent UCS sets (in my opinion!) which for some magical reason have not really appreciated in value very much? They are available NIB for quite reasonable prices.

I don't understand why you can get these 2 sets for a slight premium over their original list price, whereas other comparable UCS sets have sky rocketed in value.

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

The Vaders ties are around 250 new, so thats about 250% of its RRP, not a super deal. The AT-ST and the Gen Grievious are the two that stayed down.

I will never understand the love for the Snowspeeder, that thing looks terrible.

You're about $100 high on your price for Vader's TIE. Expressed as a % increase above MSRP in the day, yah, it's still expensive. That's a misleading way to look at it though.

It is still reasonably priced and attainable for most people, and lies squarely within current Lego set costs. It's nowhere close to the "stupid expensive" prices of the other sets which cost way more than any Lego set will ever cost from Lego while still in production.

On top of this, it's a great set. That's why I'm surprised it never really took off into the stratosphere.

My point is kind of that the B-Wing will likely go down the AT-ST path in my opinion.

I see this set being available, new in box, for a reasonable surcharge above MSRP, even 2 or 3 years after it is discontinued. It's going to be "one of those" UCS sets.

Pitfall69

I would love to see a UCS Outrider. Ya know, it had just as much screen time as the B-Wing...lol

graphite

^ What scene does that show up in?

pvancil27

This is somewhat off topic, but while we are discussing UCS sets generally...

Has everyone noticed that UCS AT-ST and Darth Vader's Advanced TIE are two excellent UCS sets (in my opinion!) which for some magical reason have not really appreciated in value very much? They are available NIB for quite reasonable prices.

I don't understand why you can get these 2 sets for a slight premium over their original list price, whereas other comparable UCS sets have sky rocketed in value.

The X-wing, Y-wing, Snowspeeder type kits are way more expensive than the AT-ST and Vader's TIE, and they shouldn't be. They should all cost about the same.

The AT-ST and TIE should cost way more than they do. They represent 2 of the biggest steals currently available on the Lego aftermarket.

The Vaders ties are around 250 new, so thats about 250% of its RRP, not a super deal. The AT-ST and the Gen Grievious are the two that stayed down.

I will never understand the love for the Snowspeeder, that thing looks terrible.

You're about $100 high on your price for Vader's TIE. Expressed as a % increase above MSRP in the day, yah, it's still expensive. That's a misleading way to look at it though.

It is still reasonably priced and attainable for most people, and lies squarely within current Lego set costs. It's nowhere close to the "stupid expensive" prices of the other sets which cost way more than any Lego set will ever cost from Lego while still in production.

On top of this, it's a great set. That's why I'm surprised it never really took off into the stratosphere.

My point is kind of that the B-Wing will likely go down the AT-ST path in my opinion.

I see this set being available, new in box, for a reasonable surcharge above MSRP, even 2 or 3 years after it is discontinued. It's going to be "one of those" UCS sets.

I just went with the cheapest sealed UCS Vaders TIE on Bricklink, which is at 250. Used ones are like 150-200.

I think some of it is Those are imperial models, when you take into account the TIE Interceptor being less then the X wing, It seems to me the "good guy" stuff just seems to be more wanted then the Imperial "bad guy" stuff.

samiam391

^UCS Obi-Wan Starfighter anyone? ;-)

I think that's the only exception though.

Pitfall69

^ What scene does that show up in?

The Outrider is pictured to the left.

mrfootball

Actually got to pick up and hold the new B-Wing starfighter today at Brick Fiesta in Houston! Such an awesome model, larger than the pics look - it actually looks like a studio scale model. Very cool, I will be adding this one to my collection!

graphite

^^ do you ever actually get to see the shape of the ship or is it just flying away? The images on the SW wiki look pretty cool, like a alternate MF.

Pitfall69

Yes, you do. I thought it was great. I know alot of people aren't fans of Shadows, but i enjoyed the read and bought several offerings by Hasbro and Galoob.