LEGO’s next Star Wars Ultimate Collectors Series (UCS) set has officially been announced as 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer. The ship is the Empire’s and Darth Vader’s flagship from A New Hope named the Devastator. The set will come with 4,784 pieces and two Imperial minifigures of an officer and a crewmember. The Star Destroyer will be the third-largest LEGO Star Wars UCS set of all time and will be available for US $699.99 | CAN $849.99 | UK £649.99 starting September 18th for LEGO VIP members with general availability beginning October 1st.
The Devastator was the second spaceship ever on screen in a Star Wars film, chasing after the Tantive IV above Tatooine in the opening shot of A New Hope. Just like the movie, this LEGO Imperial Star Destroyer follows the release of the not-quite-UCS 75244 Tantive IV from earlier this year.
The box is massive, reminiscent of the 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon released two years ago with a similar sleek look. It bears the words “Ultimate Collector Series,” the first time since 2018’s 75181 Y-Wing Starfighter as both the 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City and 75244 Tantive IV were labeled as Master Builder Series (MBS) instead (those sets are more playset and minifigure oriented).
The back of the box shows alternate views of the Star Destroyer, including the display stand and informational, stickered plaque. Interestingly, LEGO has released some form of the Imperial Star Destroyer pretty regularly every four to five years, with this being the second UCS-style set based on the iconic ship. (More on that later.)
In our first close up shot of the set itself, the capital ship is incredibly imposing with its classic angular wedge construction and nearly all light grey appearance. The bridge tower is suspended above the main body along with twin deflector shield generator globes.
The model is more than 14 inches tall (37 cm) by itself,–17 inches (44 cm) with the display stand–and measures a whopping 43 inches long (110 cm) and 26 inches (66 cm) wide. It comes close, but doesn’t beat the 50 inches-long 10221 UCS Super Star Destroyer released in 2011.
The back and underside view shows the seven main engine units used for propulsion (three bigger than the rest), the main hangar bay, and the navigational deflector generator.
A small version of the Rebel’s Tantive IV ship is included and brings a much needed shot of color to the overall set. It is larger than the microscale ship from 2016’s Star Wars Advent Calendar build, and is mostly similar to 75011 Tantive IV & Planet Alderaan from 2013, though this version makes use of newer parts to achieve the elongated and circular detailing.
Taking an even closer look at the Star Destroyer, we find swiveling turbolaser turrets, a tilting radar dish, and quite a bit of greebling to help break up the stark grey studded surface. It appears the set does not come with an interior of any sort, though an interior at minifigure scale would be vastly out of proportion with the scale of the set (though it has been done before–10221 UCS Super Star Destroyer had a hidden panel revealing an out-of-scale minifigure command bridge).
In terms of minifigures, the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer includes two. To begin, we have the first ever Imperial Lieutenant with a dark grey torso with two red and blue marks on his insignia. It is surprising that LEGO hasn’t released all the variants of Imperial Officers by now, though they seem to be consciously filling in the gaps with this and 2017’s Star Wars Advent Calendar unique Imperial Commander Officer. The Lieutenant comes with new dark grey dual molded legs with black boots. The second minifigure is an un-ranked crewmember in light grey which appears to be a slightly updated and more detailed version of the Imperial crewmember from 2014’s 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer playset, though this one has thicker lines and arm printing.
Taking a comparative look at the first UCS 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer from 2002, it is hard to tell the difference between that and the new offering at first glance. You’ll have to read our upcoming review for our hands-on perspective, but a close look at the photos reveals more detail, greebling, modern building techniques and newer element usage, though both have the same overall wedge shaping and light grey coloring. We doubt the new set will use magnets like the old one did to hold the sides together, so structural improvements are likely a reason for the increased piece count. That first set came with 3,096 pieces and sold at retail for $269.99 (barely anything next to the cheapest set we could find on BrickLink in new condition for $1,000 at time of publishing as it has long since been retired) resulting in a respectable price per piece ratio of 8.7 cents at the time.
In contrast and 17 years later, the new 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer clocks in at 4,784 pieces including two minifigures for a much more expensive $699.99. This results in a hard-to-swallow ratio of 14.6 cents per piece–almost 4 cents more than the recent 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon which came with 10 sought after minifigures. (To compare to a similar sized set by part count that isn’t under the Star Wars/Disney licence, 70620 Ninjago City has 4,867 pieces for $299.99 including 19 minifigures resulting in a fantastic 6.1 cent per piece ratio.) We typically try to look beyond price per piece ratios and focus on the overall value of a set, though perhaps the included “2 blaster pistol weapons” mentioned in the very short press release from LEGO justify the increased price.
75252 Imperial Star Destroyer will be available starting September 18 for LEGO VIP members with general availability beginning October 1st. Is the set worth the price? Are you excited to have a new UCS Star Destroyer? You’ll have to read our upcoming review for our opinion, but in the meantime, leave your comments below.
75252 Imperial Star Destroyer
Ages 16+. 4784 pieces
US $699.99 – CA $849.99 – DE €699.99 – UK £649.99 – FR €699.99 – DK 5299DKK
Own the ultimate Imperial Star Destroyer!
Build and display an icon of the Galactic Empire – the Devastator. With over 4,700 LEGO pieces, this Ultimate Collector Series 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer model captures all the authentic details of the starship as it appeared in the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope, including swiveling guns, a tilting radar dish, huge engine exhausts, intricate surface detailing and of course a buildable scale version of the Rebels’ Tantive IV starship to chase down. This galactic civil war UCS set also includes a display stand with informational fact plaque and 2 Imperial minifigures, making it the perfect LEGO Star Wars collectible for discerning fans.
- Includes Imperial Officer and Imperial Crewmember minifigures.
- The Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer model features swiveling guns, a tilting radar dish, huge engine exhausts and intricate surface detailing.
- Also includes an attachable, buildable scale version Tantive IV starship for added Star Wars: A New Hope authenticity.
- With a display stand with informational fact plaque for the ultimate display piece.
- Also comes with 2 blaster pistol weapons.
- This Ultimate Collector Series set has 4,784 pieces.
- Inspire unforgettable Star Wars: A New Hope moments.
- The perfect LEGO Star Wars collectible for fans of the Star Wars saga.
- UCS model on display stand measures over 17” (44cm) high, 43” (110cm) long and 26” (66cm) wide, and over 14” (37cm) high without stand.
Available directly from LEGO Stores & shop.LEGO.com from October 1, 2019 (September 18, 2019 for LEGO VIP members).
Find the single “it’s” in this article and replace it with “its”.
When you think about buying this set or another remember the knight in the “Last Crusade” said, “He chose… poorly.” A grey triangle with 2 grey minifigures.
These large scale Star Wars sets are becoming harder and harder for me to justify. It is sadly becoming a matter of both their ridiculous pricing and the amount of space they require to display. I own the UCS Falcon and did not anticipate just how much space that would take up, however, I feel that that was a great purchase as the set looks magnificent and almost everyone recognizes it right away. This on the other hand…is a much harder sell. I know the price-to-piece count shouldn’t factor in, but it does to an extent, especially when there’s the excellent Ninjago City at more than half the price (and possibly more of an entertaining build).
For me personally, i’ll be waiting for reviews…and possibly a discount (the falcon had a discount recently on disney’s own online store!) and maybe more space before i add it to my collection.
How about a big one from the clone wars that is a collector set like these. The big white one that was this ones predecessor. I’m old so excuse me but these repeat sets are getting annoying.
When will fans realize the error of the price-to-piece strategy and start factoring in weight. A simple 4×8 plate and a round 1×1 is of course (and correctly) both individual pieces…
Yet, the price should not by any means be the same for these two, hence the 4×8 gives you 32 times as much plastic to play with, as compared to the 1×1.
…
Was hoping this set would come with lights or something to make up for the price.
How many of these sets should we buy to recreate the scene in The Rise of Skywalker?
I’m with you Philip. Would have loved to see a UCS Venator class ship. They are the Clone War era Republic ships. The designs are great, they’re colorful, and most importantly. have not already been a UCS set. I’m kind of tired of how many Star Wars designs the Lego Group keeps recycling.
Oh look another one…Easy pass.
Too many studs!
I agree with Jamie. Too many studs. The MOC builders out there are making far superior models. If I want a fantastic ISD, I’ll go get the plans that my friend Charles Anderson made.
The Imperial officer looks great with those dual molded legs…