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Star Wars UCS Sets

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  • hoyatableshoyatables Member Posts: 873
    I think this is getting a little snippy . . . .
  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    Btw all, not trying to cause a stir here.
    If true, that approach didn't last long...
    ^Whatever. I guess everybody else understood.
    Someone call up TLG and prove me wrong.
    As for citing Brickset, I can't say it holds much water either.
  • fyrmedhattfyrmedhatt Member Posts: 128
    The poster just shows the 10000 series Star Wars sets, not the UCS sets. The early UCS sets like the X-Wing and the Yoda figure are not on it if I remember correctly. The best way to determine UCS status as Lego has determined seems to be the UCS plaque, it's the one commonality between the sets.

    In the end I do agree with @bluemoose in that UCS is just three words, what really matters is what worth you put in them. If the Death Star screams UCS to you, then great. Likewise, if you think the Naboo Fighter is far too simple to be a UCS set, exclude it from your collection.
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,825
    The best way to determine UCS status as Lego has determined seems to be the UCS plaque, it's the one commonality between the sets.
    ....with the exception of Yoda and Darth Maul? :o)
  • LegoFanTexasLegoFanTexas Member Posts: 8,404
    ^ This

    However, another view is that the sets that actually say on the box art, "Ultimate Collector's Series", probably count.

    7191 X-Wing, 10030 ISD, 10143 Death Star II, etc. all say that on the box.

    10188 doesn't. Neither does 10144 or 10195

    Just more food for thought (or fuel for the fire, take your pick).
  • LegoboyLegoboy Member Posts: 8,825
    ^ I was wondering about the boxes but couldn't remember which ones had and which didn't. I wonder if R2 will?
  • LostInTranslationLostInTranslation Member Posts: 5,572
    @flump6523 - Judging by the pics on US [email protected], it doesn't...
    But the text says: "Presenting the ultimate collector series R2-D2 – the best-loved droid in the Star Wars galaxy!"
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/R2-D2-10225

    Clear as mud then :-)
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 852
    Steve Witt actually addressed this casually at FBTB way-back-when (2006):

    http://www.fbtbforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=16616&highlight=ucs

    Basically, UCS is a branding that LEGO has chosen to apply at certain times-- I think the only time it was used outside of Star Wars was the Batmobile? Anyway, there really haven't been any hard-and-fast rules for defining what is and isn't a UCS.

    DaveE
  • atkinsaratkinsar Member Posts: 4,258
    ^ Funny reading that FBTB thread, it seems to be an issue that gets people all hot under the collar for some reason. I can't understand the fuss myself.
  • YellowcastleYellowcastle Administrator, Moderator Posts: 5,234
    ^ It only bothers ultimate collectors. ;o)
  • davee123davee123 Member Posts: 852
    Definitely a personality thing. People don't want to be told that they're wrong :)

    With UCS, the truth is that nobody at LEGO really stopped and considered what the "Ultimate Collector's Series" was going to encapsulate. It was probably a term that the marketing team made in 1999 or so, when they were deciding on how to brand the upcoming X-Wing and TIE Interceptor models. Previously, complex models were branded as "Model Team", but they probably wanted to change that to appeal to adult Star Wars collectors, and that's what they came up with.

    And since then, whichever small group has been in charge of naming the following Star Wars themed adult-targeted sets has had the option of calling it UCS, without the benefit of a set of rules regarding what could and couldn't be considered UCS. So some things got called UCS, and some things didn't.

    But when someone comes along who believes there are hard-and-fast rules that conflict, they're hesitant to believe that there AREN'T any rules. And if anyone comes along that believes there's a *different* set of hard-and-fast rules, then they'll *also* wind up disagreeing with anyone who proposes those different rules.

    In the end, the use of the term "UCS" depends on what you're using it for. You might want to use it to describe:

    - All the sets that LEGO has formally NAMED "UCS". Although, that's sketchy, since the names have been different on their website, catalogs, box design, merchandiser catalogs, print advertising, etc. They're not even consistent in the names they use!

    - Sets that have been done in "UCS-scale". That's probably excluding things like the Yoda model, Imperial Star Destroyer, Millennium Falcon, and others, leaving you only models that were done at roughly the scale of the original X-Wing fighter and TIE Interceptor (a much shorter list!).

    - Sets that have a high level of building detail, and are complex builds. That may or may not exclude the Yoda and Darth Maul busts, and would probably exclude things like the Sandcrawler, Republic Dropship, etc.

    - Sets that have a little "plaque" next to them.

    - Sets that were targeted at adults (age range), which may include 1xxxx numbers. That would include things like Cloud City, Motorized AT-AT, and others.

    You can use whatever definition you want-- but just remember that as soon as you go calling someone else "wrong" about what's considered UCS, well, actually, you're the one who's wrong. Which means I've just made myself wrong :)

    DaveE
  • LegoFanTexasLegoFanTexas Member Posts: 8,404
    And with DaveE's post, I think we have a winner... :)
  • YellowcastleYellowcastle Administrator, Moderator Posts: 5,234
    ^ Can't you say that for any discussion in which DaveE participates? ;o)
  • BanditBandit Member Posts: 889
    Back before the latest redesigned SAH website (a year ago? 2 years ago?), they had an official UCS category listing for SW sets. Of course I don't remember historically what appeared in it and what didn't.

    As for Yoda and Darth Maul, they're both UCS, and they each come with a 1x2 brick with the lego logo printed on it, that is incorporated into the model. In my mind, to be UCS, a set either has that brick or has a display plaque.
  • samiam391samiam391 Member Posts: 4,484
    ^ It only bothers ultimate collectors. ;o)
    What defines an ultimate collector? ;-)
  • YellowcastleYellowcastle Administrator, Moderator Posts: 5,234
    ^ There's a poster...

    image
  • BrickDancerBrickDancer Member Posts: 3,639
    ^ROFL!!
  • samiam391samiam391 Member Posts: 4,484
    ^^Lol! Just the type of answer I was looking for.. LEGO is so on top of things.

  • woony2woony2 Member Posts: 336
    I'm not aware of any instructions for... well... ANY custom UCS stuff? Generally, in my experience, making the instructions is more difficult than building the model, so I never expect anyone to have instructions for their MOCs. Has anyone published any instructions or DAT/LDD's for any of their UCS models?

    DaveE
    These moc ucs instructions have been around for a while, they are OK, don't get me wrong doing your own instructions for big models must be a nightmare.

    http://web.archive.org/web/20071231163801/www.fbtb.net/index.asp?feature=gareth

    But found these arc-170 instructions yesterday and on first inspection look excellent

    http://www.ulozto.net/xJpALGb/arc-170-instructions-pdf

    I think the credit goes to Martin Latta aka Thire5 (apologies if I'm wrong)
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