Tag Archives: UCS

Like a rock? No, like a mountain.

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.)
Lego Rock Raiders - UCS Loader Dozer
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LEGO unveils massive Batmobile set based on Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, available on Black Friday [News]

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.

Click to see up-close photos and videos of the new 1989 Batmobile model and the upcoming mini gift with purchase version

LEGO Star Wars 75252 Ultimate Collector Series Imperial Star Destroyer [Review]

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

LEGO Star Wars UCS Imperial Star Destroyer and Winter Village Gingerbread House now available for VIPs [News]

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.)

Secrets of the new LEGO Star Wars UCS Imperial Star Destroyer revealed by the designer himself [Video]

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.

Click to read more and watch the video.

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series returns with 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer [News]

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.

Click to get a closer look at the new LEGO Star Wars UCS Imperial Star Destroyer

This UCS scale Resistance X-Wing is chock full of nostalgia

In 2015 the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens offered us a first glimpse of a somewhat familiar X-Wing doing unfamiliar things — skimming across water and even leaving a rooster tail in its wake. This was exciting stuff! Spine tingling, even. If the prequel movies lacked nostalgia and thus failed to rope in adult Star Wars fans, the newer set of films made up for it in spades with upgraded designs that changed things up enough to keep us interested but still stayed true to its inspiration. The trailer and later the movie had us all clamoring to buy the Resistance X-Wing LEGO set but a builder who goes by the name of Aniomylone had a different idea.

UCS Resistance X-Wing

Enter the roughly 2000-piece, UCS-scale T-70 Resistance X-Wing Fighter. One obvious difference from the classic X-wing design is the light gray and blue color scheme that has me wondering if any of the designers at Star Wars were fans of LEGO Classic Space. The streamlined intakes are captured nicely using curved windscreens and seems to be the logical progression from the old design. In closed mode the wings boast a slim, one stud wide, leading edge but in “X” mode it is made clear that the Resistance X-Wing differs from its predecessor by splitting the wing in half, rather than stacking two wings atop one another.

UCS Resistance X-Wing

If detailed UCS scale models of Star Wars craft is your thing, then I would strongly advise a perusal of the rest of this builder’s material. Go ahead, I’ll wait. See what I mean?

LEGO Star Wars returns to A New Hope with 1,700-piece 75244 Tantive IV [News]

LEGO has revealed 75244 Tantive IV, the Rebel corvette featured in the opening shot of Star Wars: A New Hope, the very first Star Wars film ever released. The set comes with 1,768 pieces and six minifigures including Bail Organa, Princess Leia, Captain Antilles, a Rebel Fleet Trooper, C-3PO and R2-D2. The Tantive IV will be available for purchase from LEGO starting May 3rd for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £179.99.

Interestingly the set is not labeled as an Ultimate Collectors Series (UCS) set nor as a Master Builder Series (MBS) playset, though the packaging is similar to both. Instead it looks more akin to an up-scaled and more detailed version of the 10198 Tantive IV released a decade ago.

In addition to this newly revealed set, don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

LEGO Architecture
LEGO Batman
LEGO City
LEGO City Space
LEGO Creator
LEGO Friends
LEGO Friends Ocean
LEGO Harry Potter
LEGO Jurassic World
LEGO Ninjago
LEGO Star Wars

Click to get a closer look at the newest Star Wars set, the Tantive IV

How well do you know your LEGO Star Wars trivia and timeline? [Feature]

Over the past two decades, LEGO Star Wars has released more than 700 sets and 1,000 minifigures. It is no surprise that the theme has racked up a significant amount of interesting milestones along the way. From the first flesh-colored faces to the first new hair piece in 20 years, LEGO has explored a lot of new territory within the Star Wars product line.

Below we have two lists, one of interesting LEGO Star Wars trivia and the other an abbreviated history of the product line. To whet your whistle, which droid has appeared the most throughout the entire LEGO Star Wars history? How many LEGO versions of the Millennium Falcon have been created? How many bricks were in the world’s largest LEGO X-Wing that was built in Times Square? Read on to find out.

Keep reading to see how well you know your LEGO Star Wars trivia and history

Rey’s speeder has never looked better than with this awesome UCS LEGO version

LEGO’s Ultimate Collector Series line of highly detailed Star Wars models has brought us amazing models such as the Y-Wing and Millennium Falcon. But there’s one thing that’s missing so far, and that’s any vehicles from the new sequel trilogy. Regardless of your feelings on the new movies, we can all agree that there are a lot of amazing ship designs in the films, and one of the coolest (and smallest) is Rey’s speeder from The Force Awakens. Builder Aniomylone wasn’t content to wait for LEGO to build a UCS version of it, so they’ve done it themselves with this stunning rendition.

Back in 2016 we featured another UCS version of Rey’s Speeder, but what’s fascinating here is how Aniomylone’s version is built with radically different techniques, yet is still incredibly accurate. I also love that there’s a custom UCS-style placard to accompany the speeder.

Massive Star Wars Resistance Bomber built from over 5,000 LEGO pieces is ready to unload on the First Order Dreadnaught

One of the best things about highlighting the best fan-built LEGO creations is the numerous occasions to watch and re-watch the most spectacular movie scenes. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi treated us to a whole bunch of fascinating battle scenes and visual effects, but I’ve totally forgotten how good the opening scene is. A great thank you to Mirko Soppelsa for giving us an unscheduled reason to enjoy the heroic deeds of Poe and Rose with this jaw-dropping model of an MG-100 StarFortress bomber. The build counts almost 5200 LEGO pieces and stands over 25 in/64 cm high. What a monster!

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See more details of this amazing LEGO Star Wars masterpiece

Imperial AT-ACT walker patrols the tropical paradise of Scarif

A warm, sunny and pleasant tropical paradise was an odd choice to place the plans for the sinister Empire’s Death Star in Rogue One: a Star Wars Story, but this very choice is what made the final act of the film so unique and memorable. While most of the action was focused on small operations and personal stories of the Rebellion, the Empire’s side was all about large plans and large machines, much like this LEGO UCS-scale AT-ACT by yoshix.

AT-ACT UCS

As can be seen by the palm tree and the bunker besides the AT-ACT, the walker is made in minifig scale. This scale is quite rewarding for Star Wars vehicles, either due to many specialized parts designed for them in the nearly two decades of the official LEGO Star Wars line or because some designs from the films simply happen to be blocky. Yoshix’s design mixes studless and studded surfaces to create fine textures and details. My favourite parts are the little splashes of white on the orange section, which give the AT-ACT a great detail of character.