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Star Wars UCS B-Wing
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Comments
Shipping that set, in the retail box, packed in the factory shipping box which is form fitting, is just over $200. Shipping it deboxed probably can be done for around $120, but you lose the original retail box doing so.
The B-Wing will make more sense because of the smaller size of the retail box.
"The Tantive IV also appeared in 10019 Rebel Blockade Runner (as a UCS-scale model) and 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer (as a mini-scale model). This is the first time it has been released in minifigure-scale."
Which makes Falcon #7965 officially 'Minifigure-scale'. Thus it exists in scales:
Micro (#7958-22) < Mini (#4488) < Midi (#7778) < Minifig (#7965 & #4504) < Ultimate (#10179)
Besides, according to TLG itself, 10179 is minifig scale, they said so right on the box. :)
The actual Lego.com description was:
This is it - the biggest, most spectacular LEGO Star Wars model ever! Straight out of the classic Star Wars movies comes the Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon , Han Solo's famous smuggling starship. Every detail of the modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 freighter is here, all constructed to scale with LEGO minifigures. At almost 3 feet (90cm) long, it's the ultimate centerpiece to any Star Wars collection! With over 5,000 pieces, this is the biggest LEGO set ever made! Model is built completely to minifigure scale - minifigures can sit inside and man the controls!
But all you have to do is the math, compare the size of a minifig, scale it to a human (1:40th scale), then measure all the MF sets and compare the sizes.
According to Starwars Wikia, the Millennium Falcon is 34.37 meters long, so in 1:40th scale, it should be about 86 cm long. The 10179 UCS Falcon is 90cm long, so they got it really close to the proper scale (and the 1:40th is an approx anyway).
7965 is 38cm long, not even close, less than half the size of UCS Falcon.
The issue in contention here is not the correct size of the Millennium Falcon or the size of Lego sets of the MF. The issue is how Lego, as a company, chooses to define "minifigure scale".
Near as I can tell, they would consider 7195 to be a "Minifigure scale" set, in that the set is designed around minifigures, comes with minifigures, and more or less "works" with minifigures. That's what makes it "minifigure scale" in Lego's eyes.
However, as Legofantexas points out, 7195 is way too small to be properly scaled proportionately with a Lego minifigure. In that sense, the set is not "minifigure scale" but that is using a definition of "minifigure scale" that disagrees with Lego's.
Very few Lego sets are scaled correctly in that manner, as most of them are play sets for kids. And kids don't really notice or care if a given set is out of proportion to the minifigs.
Look at the Sand Crawler set. I would call that minifigure scale, even though it is way too small to be scaled proportionately to a minifigure.
Ditto for every Lego Castle set ever made, even though they are all "minifigure scale" in Lego's eyes, I'm sure.
Consider the new Helm's Deep set. I think we would all consider that a minifigure scale set. It is designed around minifigures and is more or less large enough to accommodate them into the playing. Of course, the set is massively undersized and the walls are something like twice the height of a human!
So then we must not confuse Lego's definition of "minifigure scale" with "proper, correct, mathematically proportionate minifigure scale" as those are 2 different things...
I would label them as: 1) micro 2) minifigure and 3) bigger than minifigure
Micro scale, for me, means anything that is obviously too small to be used in connection with a minifigure. The scale discrepancy is simply too big to fit a minifigure into the equation. This would include things like the "MIDI" MF, the mini modulars, or MOCS of something like a house which are much smaller than the mini modulars (which are not all that small actually; they could be smaller).
Minifigure is anything which, more or less, works with a minifigure. This depends on how much willing suspension of disbelief you can accept. This is the vast majority of all Lego sets. The "more or less" bit is what makes most Lego sets "toys for kids" and why I have little interest in most Lego sets as an adult. Look at the newest Hogwarts from the Harry Potter line. Some of the "rooms" in the towers are barely large enough to fit 2 minifigures! A child will overlook this problem and have fun playing with it. As an adult, I have to move on as I can not take something like this seriously.
Bigger than Minifigure scale would be a handful of kits like some of the UCS Star Wars sets or some of the Technic construction equipment which is not really designed to accommodate a minifigure. These sets have large, detailed seats where a person would go, but are too big for a minifigure. The sets typically don't come with minifigures and minifigures are not really part of the equation. The Unimog comes to mind here.
One of the reasons why some people dislike the SSD, in my opinion, is that they are overlooking the fact that the ship is actually very much micro scale. And a lot of Lego fans are not into micro scale due to the lack of detail that comes with it.
But the SSD is precisely the same kind of thing as the mini modulars, it's just that the actual subject being modeled in the 2 sets varies greatly in size, so one set (the SSD) is 4 feet long, while the mini modulars are tiny and cute. They both suffer from the "lack of detail" problem though, if that's how you choose to look at it.
In ths way, the SSD is almost unique among the UCS Star Wars sets. The only other one I can think of like this is the Star Destroyer. Typically, UCS sets are all about blowing up the scale to a huge size, beyond typical minfigure scale, offering tons of detail.
Despite the huge size of the SSD in Lego form, the set really goes the other way. The scale of that thing is not enlarged at all. It is tiny. It is massively smaller than anything approaching minifigure scale. So you lose a lot of detail relative to what we are used to seeing in other sets.
I own the SSD and love it! But you can argue it was also a strange choice for a UCS set (like the B-wing), given its inherent scale problems.
It is the perfect antithesis of what the speeder bike would be, if Lego made a UCS speeder bike. Given the tiny size (in comparison to the SSD) of the "real" speeder bike, a UCS set could not only be big as a Lego set, but it could be offered in a very large scale which would lend itself wonderfully to huge amouts of detail.
As I posted earlier, a 24" long (or longer!) Speeder Bike would be filled with rich detail and probably pretty mind blowing.
Without having looked at the dimensions of the "real" speeder bike or done any calculations, I will confidently say it could be presented in 1:6 scale, which would be fanastic.
'constructed to scale with LEGO minifigures'
I like the rest of it, the large sturdy weapons and wings work nicely.
I just wish it was £20 cheaper to.
The SSD is somewhat similar in various areas. It's a clever way to combine elements in a big, complicated set.
The SSD is different somewhat since it is micro-mini scale, in that's very difficult to put in alot of detail into them type of models. My favourite has to be the Imperial shuttle, set to mini fig scale and almost a SNOT model, the shuttle also benefits from some bold detailing which is similar to the B-wing to.
Don't get me wrong I will still buy the B-Wing(probably re-design the cockpit area to make it look better though), also hoping they will make an A-Wing to just to complete the set :p
The SSD is somewhat similar in various areas. It's a clever way to combine elements in a big, complicated set.
The SSD is different somewhat since it is micro-mini scale, in that's very difficult to put in alot of detail into them type of models. My favourite has to be the Imperial shuttle, set to mini fig scale and almost a SNOT model, the shuttle also benefits from some bold detailing which is similar to the B-wing to.
Don't get me wrong I will still buy the B-Wing(probably re-design the cockpit area to make it look better though), also hoping they will make an A-Wing to just to complete the set :p
I think itll look epic in the flesh
Although i still don't think that stupid black and red faced idiot should be on the front ;D
I'll most likely be waiting for amazon.it to deliver me one to the UK, but guess it may be towards Christmas or maybe into 2013, which fingers crossed might give a circa 25% discount on UK RRP.
Although seeing this picture it does better in Lego :)
It is overpriced, I must say... When it is 25% off, I'll buy it, not a minute before.
I really wished they'd have come up with a more innovative windscreen solution for the B-Wing, really. I love the set, but the windscreen is a real bummer.