75098 - UCS: Assault on Hoth

[cubfan78]

I actually kind of like this set, although I may be alone. I don't own any Star Wars UCS sets at the moment. I am planning on buying the Ewok Village and perhaps AoH during the May the 4th promotion. I like the "play" aspects of both of these sets and I would not be surprised if TLG released a new set next year continuing with what appears to be a UCS sub theme.

 

[Mos_Eisley]

31 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

 

 

Not sure if the "CEO eye certification" is official. This type of investing strategy is prob still in alpha testing.

I'd say that most of the best performing sets the last couple years would not pass this new test that is all the rage.  But I fully support everyone focusing on it.  

[fossilrock]

33 minutes ago, cubfan78 said:

I actually kind of like this set, although I may be alone. I don't own any Star Wars UCS sets at the moment. I am planning on buying the Ewok Village and perhaps AoH during the May the 4th promotion. I like the "play" aspects of both of these sets and I would not be surprised if TLG released a new set next year continuing with what appears to be a UCS sub theme.

 

You're not alone. 

[cubfan78]

1 hour ago, fossilrock said:

You're not alone. 

Good to know!

Looking back through previous Lego USC releases, they seem to be all over the place with their sets. The Millennium Falcom seems to have set the bar really high when it comes to true UCS sets. I am trying to figure out where some of these newer sets like the Slave I and Sandcrawler fit into the UCS line. I would like to buy and build some of these UCS sets but I don't want to litter my house with just random UCS sets. Will there be UCS sets like the Falcom in the future? I like the idea of a large scale challenging build with 5000+ pieces as true UCS display pieces. 

I should have probably posted this on the UCS thread but I still think it is relevant to the topic. 

[Bold-Arrow]

3 minutes ago, cubfan78 said:

Good to know!

Looking back through previous Lego USC releases, they seem to be all over the place with their sets. The Millennium Falcom seems to have set the bar really high when it comes to true UCS sets. I am trying to figure out where some of these newer sets like the Slave I and Sandcrawler fit into the UCS line. I would like to buy and build some of these UCS sets but I don't want to litter my house with just random UCS sets. Will there be UCS sets like the Falcom in the future? I like the idea of a large scale challenging build with 5000+ pieces as true UCS display pieces. 

I should have probably posted this on the UCS thread but I still think it is relevant to the topic. 

I would say the Slave I is a display piece, too heavy to play with.... SandCrawler is a playset, it def can be displayed but i would think that takes away a lot for the set. 

[Dr. Brick]

I agree with that this set should not bear the UCS label. However, since it does and nobody likes it, hopefully nobody will buy it, it'll have a short lifespan and will be the worst investment ever. So please don't buy this set ....

[terrymc4677]

I agree with that this set should not bear the UCS label. However, since it does and nobody likes it, hopefully nobody will buy it, it'll have a short lifespan and will be the worst investment ever. So please don't buy this set ....

Ok, I won't.

[fossilrock]

2 hours ago, cubfan78 said:

Good to know!

Looking back through previous Lego USC releases, they seem to be all over the place with their sets. The Millennium Falcom seems to have set the bar really high when it comes to true UCS sets. I am trying to figure out where some of these newer sets like the Slave I and Sandcrawler fit into the UCS line. I would like to buy and build some of these UCS sets but I don't want to litter my house with just random UCS sets. Will there be UCS sets like the Falcom in the future? I like the idea of a large scale challenging build with 5000+ pieces as true UCS display pieces. 

I should have probably posted this on the UCS thread but I still think it is relevant to the topic. 

Those bust sets like Yoda and Maul are ucs sets and i just have no interest in them.  R2D2  was another set i passed on. 

I do think Slave 1, SSD, b-wing, and Red 5 are on the upper scsle of ucs sets.  They are awesome sets. Personally since i have a five year old and get the most enjoyment building with him and watching him have the fun and excitement i did as a kid playing with the Star Wars universe, i prefer the ultimate playset sets.  This Hoth set will be a great project for my son and he will get enjoyment out of it.   Sets like Slave 1 are for older kids.  Ill also say the Sandcrawler is more for older kids too.  The hull to that set is fragile and doesnt meet the young kid test.  I would toss that into the upper echelon boat too.

 

sets like ewok village, the death star and this hoth set are perfect for kids with afol  star wars fans.  If you dont have kids i can see why its not your type of set.

[cubfan78]

2 hours ago, fossilrock said:

Those bust sets like Yoda and Maul are ucs sets and i just have no interest in them.  R2D2  was another set i passed on. 

I do think Slave 1, SSD, b-wing, and Red 5 are on the upper scsle of ucs sets.  They are awesome sets. Personally since i have a five year old and get the most enjoyment building with him and watching him have the fun and excitement i did as a kid playing with the Star Wars universe, i prefer the ultimate playset sets.  This Hoth set will be a great project for my son and he will get enjoyment out of it.   Sets like Slave 1 are for older kids.  Ill also say the Sandcrawler is more for older kids too.  The hull to that set is fragile and doesnt meet the young kid test.  I would toss that into the upper echelon boat too.

 

sets like ewok village, the death star and this hoth set are perfect for kids with afol  star wars fans.  If you dont have kids i can see why its not your type of set.

That's what my thought process is too. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. The 3 year old is really started with Duplo and really is starting to like Lego but not ready to put some of regular Lego sets together but would love the playability of the Ewok Village and Hoth. I remember playing with the original Ewok Village as a child and being able to recreate that memory with my daughter would be awesome!

I will have to take another look at the Slave 1. I want some display sets but would really like a set similar to the Millennium Falcon. 

 

[citymorgue]

14 hours ago, jaisonline said:

Not sure if the "CEO eye certification" is official. This type of investing strategy is prob still in alpha testing.

I sort of get this idea of 'CEO pass/fail' thing, but it just doesn't seem to hold water for me.  I say this because in general, the CEO pool is extremely tiny compared to the general middle class/upper middle class populace that are going to be the biggest consumers.  Sure you might have the occasional CEO 'discover' Lego and buy a set or two, but never will it be in numbers to actually make any significant dent in the secondary market.  They are probably more likely to just buy a single set and be done with it.

But the middle class people and such are going to be the biggest consumers, mainly because there are just a lot more of them with disposable income than your CEO.  It would be nice to know for sure, but I just don't understand how that should be such an important factor. 

Not to mention the reasoning makes no sense.  Why would a CEO have a better eye for display Lego sets?  Anyone with eyes can appreciate a Lego model no matter what type of status s/he is in life.  So to think that only a set that a 'CEO' can appreciate or display in his office is a good indicator on a sets EOL value is just silly.

 

Edit: Sleep deprivation sucks.  Getting up at 3:30 everyday no matter what time you go to bed sure does wear on you.

Edited April 29, 2016 by citymorgue

[jaisonline]

4 minutes ago, citymorgue said:

I sort of get this idea of 'CEO pass/fail' thing, but it just doesn't seem to hold water for me.  I say this because in general, the CEO pool is extremely tiny, compared to the general middle class/upper middle class populace that are going to be the biggest consumers.  Sure you might have the occasional CEO 'discover' Lego and buy a set or two, but never will it be in numbers to actually make any significant dent in the secondary market.  They are probably more likely to just buy a single set and be done with it.

But the middle class people and such are going to be the biggest consumers, mainly because there are just a lot more of them with disposable income than your CEO.  It would be nice to know for sure, but I just don't understand how that should be such an important factor. 

Not to mention the reasoning makes no sense.  Why would a CEO someone have a better eye for display Lego sets?  Anyone with eyes can appreciate a Lego model no matter what type of status he is in life.  So to think that only a set that a 'CEO' can appreciate or display in his office is a good indicator on a sets EOL value is just silly.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.  I rather use the "does my elderly dad like it" test.  Especially with my dad as he's not into Lego.  If he thinks something looks good, I'm all in. 

[fossilrock]

7 hours ago, cubfan78 said:

That's what my thought process is too. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. The 3 year old is really started with Duplo and really is starting to like Lego but not ready to put some of regular Lego sets together but would love the playability of the Ewok Village and Hoth. I remember playing with the original Ewok Village as a child and being able to recreate that memory with my daughter would be awesome!

I will have to take another look at the Slave 1. I want some display sets but would really like a set similar to the Millennium Falcon. 

Ewok Village is one of the best Star Wars set for young kids.  There's lots of play features in it, and it's loaded with minifigures. You can't go wrong.  Especially for kids in the 4 to 10 range.  When my sons friends or his cousins are over, the Ewok Village and the Hobbit House are the two sets that they always seem to gravitate towards.  I'm biased as a star wars fan, but I think it's worth the money. 

The only set on the market that I would say is in the realm of the UCS MF is the Tie-Fighter, and Slave 1.

[mudcatsfan]

16 hours ago, jaisonline said:

 

 

Not sure if the "CEO eye certification" is official. This type of investing strategy is prob still in alpha testing.

 

15 hours ago, Mos_Eisley said:

I'd say that most of the best performing sets the last couple years would not pass this new test that is all the rage.  But I fully support everyone focusing on it.  

I didn't mean to say it's the ONLY way a set will blow up % wise. There are certainly other paths to ROI wins.

However, for many AFOL's if it doesn't look "epic", they complain about what a toy it is.

Imagine that. A Lego set looking like a toy. 

Perhaps AFOL's need the UCS badge to make them feel like they're ALLOWED to build that set. This is an adult set. It's UCS. 

When they get a UCS set that looks like a toy they're reminded that these are ALL toys, and they look out their mother's basement window longingly and wonder what they've done with their life.

Edited April 29, 2016 by mudcatsfan

[Rimmit]

17 hours ago, mudcatsfan said:

But i also don't think it's CEO shelf-bound.

 

16 hours ago, jaisonline said:

Not sure if the "CEO eye certification" is official. This type of investing strategy is prob still in alpha testing.

Wow, I think I may have coined a new phrase on BP.

I'd say it's more Beta at this point, given it's been going on since early 2000's when Lego started consistently making larger sets.  However, it's definitely not as old as "buy on bad news" and "dollar cost averaging."

[Phil B]

7 minutes ago, mudcatsfan said:

 

I didn't mean to say it's the ONLY way a set will blow up % wise. There are certainly other paths to ROI wins.

However, for many AFOL's if it doesn't look "epic", they complain about what a toy it is.

Imagine that. A Lego set looking like a toy. 

Perhaps AFOL's need the UCS badge to make them feel like they're ALLOWED to build that set. This is an adult set. It's UCS. 

When they get a UCS set that looks like a toy they're reminded that these are ALL toys, and they look out their mother's basement window longingly and wonder what they've done with their life.

I think you're hitting on a key point here. The UCS badge is a way for (closet) AFOLs to justify spending money on a kids' toy, and might be one of the only ways they can convince their SO that they've not gone insane. "Look hon, it's got the UCS badge". When faced with a playset, that argument might not hold ....

[Rimmit]

2 hours ago, jaisonline said:

Yes, yes, yes and yes.  I rather use the "does my elderly dad like it" test.  Especially with my dad as he's not into Lego.  If he thinks something looks good, I'm all in. 

I agree this is probably a better test than the "CEO test" for the majority of sets.  There is obviously a much larger market in the "does my elderly dad like it" market than the high end professional market. 

I feel people are misunderstanding the point of the CEO eye test.  The point of it is that if you can see it in a CEO office , it means it is HIGHLY displayable and high end in appearance.  It does not mean that the middle class population does not have the ability to spot a pretty set or buy the set.  The middle class can spot a Porsche or a Rolex with no problem.  It's just a way for someone to screen that if you had extremely limited shelf space, what would you choose to display on it?  If you could only display 3 sets,  would this set make the cut??  It's a way to screen for sets that can transcend the hundreds or other sets on the market. 

The CEO eye test is really only for the big whales (Taj Mahal, Millenium Falcon, etc.) and in this age of Lego investing is difficult to make the huge returns due to the number of investors.  These sets if given enough time (who knows how long that is these days) and if not remade are nearly guaranteed to go for huge dollars down the road.   Do you get the best ROI given the current market in Lego?  Not likely, but if you are trying to make the most amount of money for the least investment of manpower (not actual hold time for a set, but manpower to buy, store, and then sell) and storage is not an issue,  these will likely yield the most cash from that standpoint.  It takes marginally longer to pack and ship a big set, than it does a small set, but the reward (not ROI) is much larger. 

From a ROI standpoint, the "museum/CEO level" sets are definitely falling out of favor due to the number of investors.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Rimmit

[SpaceFan9]

For me the "CEO test" captures two important things:  'appeal' and 'ability to pay top dollar'.

It also captures what I've observed in my own sales over the years... when a set sells for both 3x+ over RRP and more than $500, the buyers tend to be in places like Miami Beach or downtown San Francisco.  Lots of people may find a particular set appealing, but it needs to be extremely appealing for someone to pay top dollar.

I personally think Assault on Hoth lacks in appeal.  If the appeal isn't there, its doubtful that top dollar will be paid.

I've been wrong before: I passed on Market Street for the same reason---lack of appeal.  And I have a bunch of trains that are struggling to reach 2x, which I bought thinking the appeal was greater than it is.

I'll be holding out for 50% off on May 4th, 2017 for this one. ;-)

Edited April 29, 2016 by SpaceFan9

[Pomodoro]

7 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

I'll be holding out for 50% off on May 4th, 2017 for this one. ;-)

More like Force Friday 2016...

[Phil B]

Brickset review for this set is live: http://brickset.com/article/20575/review-75098-assault-on-hoth

[Manse1001]

5 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Brickset review for this set is live: http://brickset.com/article/20575/review-75098-assault-on-hoth

It would therefore appear their review pretty much follows the consensus amongst members on here then  . . . POOR ! (I've chosen my word carefully as kids visit this website)

Edited April 29, 2016 by Manse1001

[inversion]

22 minutes ago, SpaceFan9 said:

I've been wrong before: I passed on Market Street for the same reason---lack of appeal.  And I have a bunch of trains that are struggling to reach 2x, which I bought thinking the appeal was greater than it is.

Market Street has the 'collectable series' bias: as a standalone it is ugly, but completionists will get it nevertheless.It is a series since they form a street. UCS can not be considered as a series in such a strict sense since they are not compatible with each other.

[Darth_Raichu]

Lol I agree the lookup tower on Hoth is dumb.  Who in his correct mind would stay alone up there when

a. It is cold and windy
b. you cannot see anything 1/2 the time due to snowstorms anyway

[Phil B]

Here's the TL;DR from the review:

Overall

This is an awful set. Almost every section is rife with issues and the minifigure selection does little to make up for this. Clearly the set has no right to Ultimate Collector's Series designation but more damaging in my view is the fact that the individual models are not very impressive. Most feel unfinished or are lacking in detail and some of the design choices which have been made are simply bewildering such as the absence of a fourth shield generator module or the lack of space to fit the snowspeeder through the doors. Corners have been cut all over the set and even the minifigure selection is weak as the few new characters which are included are not particularly appealing and many important minifigures have been left out.

Furthermore, the price of the set is absolutely ridiculous. Images do not convey how little substance there is and the numerous small models do not form a cohesive whole so I see no justification whatsoever for the price of £219.99 or $249.99. Sometimes the cost of producing new parts can inflate the price but that cannot be the case here as no new pieces or elements in new colours are included. Even more astonishing is the lack of new printed designs for the minifigures. Only five new torsos have been introduced along with two new heads and this detracts quite significantly from their quality which is a shame.

[mudcatsfan]

11 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Lol I agree the lookup tower on Hoth is dumb.  Who in his correct mind would stay alone up there when

a. It is cold and windy
b. you cannot see anything 1/2 the time due to snowstorms anyway

The Hoth tower is an awesome nod to the vintage micro scale toy

 

[lego rules]

14 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Overall

This is an awful set.

No point reading more than this if you are on the fence to get this set.   It is too bad my AT-AT's stand alone for now.  I would likely buy this for 50% off but would need to modify it in many areas.