Last month LEGO revealed the next set in the Ultimate Collector Series would be 75275 A-wing Starfighter, making it available May 1 just in time for May the Fourth celebrations. Due to the current global pandemic, LEGO’s shipping department wasn’t able to get us an early copy, but we’ve finally got our hands on the set to bring you an in-depth review. The new Rebel fighter has 1,673 pieces and is available now for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99.
LEGO is kicking off Star Wars Day celebrations early ahead of May the Fourth by launching the 75275 A-wing Starfighter. In addition to the UCS A-wing becoming available, LEGO is offering 40407 Death Star II Battle as a free gift with Star Wars purchases more than US $75 | CAN $75 | UK £75 (available through May 4th or when supplies run out).
LEGO is also offering double VIP points on all Star Wars sets (like the new helmet series) and various deals on other Star Wars sets throughout the weekend. The new Star Wars sets join several other LEGO products that have recently become available including Wonder Woman vs. Cheetah and the buildable Minions (which both have 2x VIP points for the entire month of May).
Click to get a closer look at each new LEGO Star Wars set now available for purchase
Earlier this month, LEGO revealed 75275 A-wing Starfighter as the latest Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set in advance of the set’s release for the May the Fourth celebration, and normally we’d be bringing you an in-depth review of the set about now. However, like so many other areas of our lives these days, the coronavirus shutdowns have thrown a wrench into our plans, because LEGO hasn’t been able to get us an early review copy. So in the meantime, we caught up with the set’s designer, Hans Schlömer, to learn a bit more about the set.
75275 A-wing Starfighter will be available starting May 1, and will retail for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99.
I want to note up front that I usually conduct interviews after I’ve built the set and had a hands-on experience with it, but due to current events I don’t yet have it. So my apologies if a few of these questions would be obvious after building the set. But let’s start with learning a little about you. How did you become a LEGO designer?
Hans Schlömer: 12 years ago I was hired to design 3D models for a LEGO online game. Creating LEGO models in 3D was a hobby of mine for years. Little did I know that this would also be the perfect education and training for becoming a LEGO designer!
Take a sneak-peek at the newly announced LEGO Star Wars UCS 75275 A-wing Starfighter hosted by the designer who created it, Hans Schlömer. He gives us a tour of one of the fastest ships in the Star Wars galaxy and talks about the scale of the model, color choice, and minifigure design.
The 1,673 piece set is the first LEGO Star Wars UCS model of an A-wing and features pivoting laser cannons, a new cockpit element, and a new pilot minifigure. The set will retail for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99 starting May 1st, just in time for May the Fourth celebrations.
LEGO has revealed the next Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set as the 75275 A-wing Starfighter. Originally sighted in The Return of the Jedi, the A-wing model comes with 1,673 pieces, pivoting laser cannons, and an A-wing Pilot minifigure.
The set will be available for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99 starting on May 1st, just in time for May the Fourth celebrations. LEGO will also offer a gift-with-purchase set featuring the “Death Star II Battle” with all Star Wars purchases more than $75 from May 1-4 or until supplies run out, as well as double VIP points on Star Wars sets and select Star Wars items on sale.
Take a closer look at the LEGO Star Wars UCS A-wing Starfighter
If you’re going to be holed up at home for a while, let Davdup’s awesome LEGO Viper MkII render be a reminder that you can rewatch Battlestar Galactica. It’s a great show that drops frak-bombs like it’s nothing. The censors haven’t caught on to it yet so you too can let it fly like a six-year-old at a slumber party. Frakity-frak-frak! See, doesn’t that feel great? I am just fraking enamored over rendering the complex curves achieved with curved slopes of all different sizes. The dark red stripe along the wings and tailfin are spot-on. The tank treads around the afterburners are inspired but the shaping around the nose is my favorite part.
It seems Davdup is quite keen on sci-fi pop culture. He reminds us that, in these difficult times, you can also rewatch The Fifth Element and Blade Runner. Or adversely, if you’re more of a doer than a loafer, then you can build your own fraking thing and maybe we’ll feature it.
Pretty much every time Batman gets a new movie, he gets a new Batmobile. From the 1960’s family-friendly two-seater to the 2000’s militaristic Tumbler, there’s a version for just about every taste. And if you can’t find what you want on the big screen, you can always turn to LEGO builders to give you an alternate take you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. And if that search fails you, then you can look to LEGO builders like Chris Doyle (that’s me by the way) to take things to a purely ludicrous level.
In 1999, my favorite LEGO theme by far was Rock Raiders. It was a great sci-fi take on a mining/construction theme; it had cool colors, chrome elements, interesting looking builds, and best of all, awesome rock monsters. Sure, I had some concerns about the environmental impact of mining operations. And were those rock monsters evil or just creatures defending their homes and families from overworld plunderers? No matter, there were crystals to be had. And those crystals were in transparent neon-green plastic and I needed them.
These days problems are bigger, so it’s only appropriate that the Rock Raiders have been scaled up as well. Peter Carmichael took the 4950 – Loader Dozer Rock Raiders set and made an amazing UCS version of it. Peter’s build takes on all three key elements – the Loader-Dozer itself, the monster, and the power crystal. (Or, as I like to call it, the Giant Crystal Of Crystalness.)
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LEGO has officially unveiled its newest collector’s set, 76139 1989 Batmobile, a massive 3,306-piece model based on the Caped Crusader’s vehicle from Tim Burton’s iconic Batman film. Perhaps one of LEGO’s worst-kept secrets of the past year, this set features a slide-open cockpit with a new windshield, two pop-up machine guns and a rotating display stand. The model also comes with three new minifigures: Batman, The Joker and Vicki Vale.
The 1989 Batmobile will be available from LEGO beginning on November 29 for Black Friday. The set will retail for US $249.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £219.99.
In addition to other LEGO Black Friday deals, those who purchase the 1989 Batmobile between November 29th and December 5th will receive an exclusive mini replica of the original model as a free gift-with-purchase while supplies last. The “not-so-mini” 40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition comes with 366 pieces and a rotating base as well.
The LEGO Star Wars line’s latest massive set in the Ultimate Collector Series is 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer, clocking in at a whopping 4,784 pieces and two minifigures, with a price to match the part count (US $699.99 | CAN $849.99 | UK £649.99). Depicting Darth Vader’s flagship Devastator seen at the end of Rogue One leading into the first moments of A New Hope, this is the first UCS ISD since 10030 in 2002 and the first UCS set since 75181 Y-wing Starfighter nearly 18 months ago. But is there more to this huge LEGO set than gray wedge plates? Let’s find out…
Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75252 Ultimate Collector Series Imperial Star Destroyer
Two new exclusive sets are now available for purchase to LEGO VIPs (free to join). The first is the massive Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer which comes with 4,784 pieces and two Imperial minifigures for US $699.99 | CAN $849.99 | UK £649.99. The second is the 2019 Winter Village set, 10267 Gingerbread House, which comes with 1,477 pieces and, two gingerbread minifigures for US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £84.99.
Purchases of 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer also qualify for double VIP points for a short time through the 22nd, which means you’ll accumulate a hefty amount of points for more LEGO purchases or other swag in the future. These sets will likely go out of stock quickly ahead of the holidays. (Fair warning that the newly overhauled LEGO Shop Online may need a few moments to get both sets listed and available, so make sure you are logged into your LEGO VIP account before attempting to purchase.)
LEGO senior designer Henrik Anderson is taking the covers off of the newly announced 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer… quite literally. In the designer video posted by LEGO, he shows off the Technic core and backbone of the ship and shares some interesting facts about the model.
