75159 - UCS: Death Star (2016)

[gregpj]

This one is for you LEGO, inspired by @BrickLegacy and brought to you by Brickpickers everywhere.

[jstodda]

6 minutes ago, stanleycoolbrick said:

Haha call it what you want hate on scoff at it LEGO is a child's toy and will always be 14+ on the box.

You mean 16+.... lol.. Meaning building legos is as complicated as.... driving? lol

[ad2001]

2 minutes ago, stanleycoolbrick said:

Haha call it what you want hate on scoff at it LEGO is a child's toy and will always be 14+ on the box.

My bad, it seems that you have no intention to engage in an educated adult discussion. I do hope that you are actually a super fan, and that you will actually be buying the new set at some point.

[dcdfan]

[jstodda]

14 hours ago, CM4Sci said:

What'll we do when it's over?  

We could count UP the number of members who actually bought the new set... 1..... 2..... 3..... lol

[Ciglione]

[jstodda]

2 minutes ago, dcdfan said:

Feed the Trolls with dead horses...

 

Or feed the dead horses, trolls.. whichever lol

[Ed Mack]

10 minutes ago, stanleycoolbrick said:

Haha call it what you want hate on scoff at it LEGO is a child's toy and will always be 14+ on the box.

OK, Stosh....cool your bricks.  Don't stir the pot.

[Pablo Brickasso]

11 minutes ago, Phil B said:

11 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Absolutely I welcome it.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by stanleycoolbrick
Spelling

[mudcatsfan]

2 minutes ago, ad2001 said:

And for people who didn't know the previous set exists ... well certainly there are some, but that number can't sustain the decision to create a new set and plan for all the marketing and stuff ... 

I think that those of us who have been fans for years are underestimating the number of new fans being born every day. 

We have at least 4, if not 5-7 new star wars movies guaranteed over the next 7-10 years and a new Disney land devoted to star wars being built .

There is a whole new generation that will be raised on star wars and never had a chance to want the previous death star while it was on shelves. 

I think this proves that we were right to think demand for the 10188 would be there in 2017-2021, but that Lego is smart enough to be the one collecting those profits instead of us. 

I doff my cap to you lego. Well played. 

 

[jonnyhanukkah]

3 minutes ago, mudcatsfan said:

I think that those of us who have been fans for years are underestimating the number of new fans being born every day. 

We have at least 4, if not 5-7 new star wars movies guaranteed over the next 7-10 years and a new Disney land devoted to star wars being built .

There is a whole new generation that will be raised on star wars and never had a chance to want the previous death star while it was on shelves. 

I think this proves that we were right to think demand for the 10188 would be there in 2017-2021, but that Lego is smart enough to be the one collecting those profits instead of us. 

I doff my cap to you lego. Well played. 

 

That's how I see this.  I know this is an investing forum as well as a collecting forum, but Lego has never been beholden to re-sellers.  As many have said before, the golden age of reselling has passed although there are still pockets where money can be made short term and long term.  The trick now is to try to spot the remakes as far in advance as possible.  

[ad2001]

10 minutes ago, mudcatsfan said:

I think that those of us who have been fans for years are underestimating the number of new fans being born every day. 

We have at least 4, if not 5-7 new star wars movies guaranteed over the next 7-10 years and a new Disney land devoted to star wars being built .

There is a whole new generation that will be raised on star wars and never had a chance to want the previous death star while it was on shelves. 

I think this proves that we were right to think demand for the 10188 would be there in 2017-2021, but that Lego is smart enough to be the one collecting those profits instead of us. 

I doff my cap to you lego. Well played. 

 

I can understand that they are many new fans being born every day ... but if that's their reasoning, then they shouldn't have retired the previous set at any length of time. They should have just replace it one day with a new price tag so as to maximize their profit.

In fact, they should have kept the old set, and create a brand new DS to sell along side. I will capture both the existing fans as well as new fans, and the profit will be much larger.

[jstodda]

7 minutes ago, jonnyhanukkah said:

That's how I see this.  I know this is an investing forum as well as a collecting forum, but Lego has never been beholden to re-sellers.  As many have said before, the golden age of reselling has passed although there are still pockets where money can be made short term and long term.  The trick now is to try to spot the remakes as far in advance as possible.  

That's the issue here really.. Although Assult On Hoth clearly isn't UCS material it really doesn't "remake" a specific set, especially one recent, especially one that just retired.

This is new to TLG as far as I am concerned for the following reasons:

10188 JUST retired recently, it's clearly a direct remake AND its not really UCS quality compared to the majority of prior sets. Its also a specific licensed theme.

I think the above is the reason we were all blindsided and in disbelief. Some previous sets hit one or two of the above points. I cant really think of one that hit ALL of them like this one has.....

[Darth_Raichu]

11 minutes ago, jstodda said:

10188 JUST retired recently, it's clearly a direct remake AND its not really  UCS quality compared to the majority of prior sets. Its also a specific licensed theme.

To be honest, a lot of people assumed 10188 was a UCS set due to size and/or price.   LEGO just made it official by putting their stamp on the box

 

[jaisonline]

5 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

To be honest, a lot of people assumed 10188 was a UCS set due to size and/or price.   LEGO just made it official by putting their stamp on the box

 

nah, it lacks a plaque. ha.  no wait, TLG's art dept. Photoshopped the UCS badge on the box.

i think lego secretly has two UCS lines.  

UCS playsets without a plaque   Sandcrawler should have came with one as it also displays well.  1018.. i mean, 75159 should have one also.  AoH is just a debacle and doesn't need one.
UCS Models for Display.

[jstodda]

8 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

To be honest, a lot of people assumed 10188 was a UCS set due to size and/or price.   LEGO just made it official by putting their stamp on the box

 

And Disney added their stamp.. and a cheese wedge for $100... makes total sense business wise. Still caught folks off guard.

Does this mean UCS Ewok village is up next?

[Darth_Raichu]

2 minutes ago, jaisonline said:

nah, it lacks a plaque.  i think lego secretly has two UCS lines.  

UCS playsets without a plaque   Sandcrawler should have came with one as it also displays well.  1018.. i mean, 75159 should have one also.  AoH is just a debacle and doesn't need one.
UCS Models for Display.

Dunno, to me it was more like: "Hey nobody missed the plaque from AoH.  They are not going to miss it from 75159 either.  There you go, $3 saved by not producing those huge stickers that everyone was always complaining about anyway." 

 

[JDLego324]

40 minutes ago, jstodda said:

That's the issue here really.. Although Assult On Hoth clearly isn't UCS material it really doesn't "remake" a specific set, especially one recent, especially one that just retired.

This is new to TLG as far as I am concerned for the following reasons:

10188 JUST retired recently, it's clearly a direct remake AND its not really UCS quality compared to the majority of prior sets. Its also a specific licensed theme.

I think the above is the reason we were all blindsided and in disbelief. Some previous sets hit one or two of the above points. I cant really think of one that hit ALL of them like this one has.....

YES

The problem is that they "RETIRED" this set and then reissued it months later.  That's BS.  A Lego set of this price and marketed as 14+ is A COLLECTABLE as much or more than A TOY, and YOU DON'T JERK AROUND COLLECTORS LIKE THAT.

IF LEGO WANTED TO KEEP THIS SET ALIVE, they could have changed the box (like Tower Bridge, T1, etc), the price, the piece count, etc WITHOUT RETIRING IT.

I think collectors should be pissed not only because their Death Stars are less collectable now, but also because they were robbed of a creative new product. 

Additionally, I'm sure that there were those who rushed out to buy one before it was gone, only to have this new one come out so soon after.  Scratch that, maybe they were relieved to have avoided the $100 markup.

As an investor, I am pissed because besides one for my own collection, I HAD ZERO DEATH STARS before the retirement tag was applied.  Now I am stuck with 5 more.

Edited August 29, 2016 by JDLego324

[Ed Mack]

LEGO fans should be "pissed" in general about the 75159.  It is an old, tired set, with dated building techniques.  LEGO had years to prepare for a remake of the Death Star.  They have some talented people on staff and as fans that could have produced a stunning set which would have pleased collectors, dabblers, resellers, new fans, old fans hardcore fans and even non-fans.   

It is a HUGE wasted opportunity.  If this set has a short production run, it will show that resellers propped up the 10188, especially near the end.  

If this is supposed to be their "signature" set, then it looks like a forgery to me...

[longshot]

I have three of these and it looks like now I can crack one open and build it. Hopefully with the new movie coming out I can MOD it to represent scenes from Rogue One................

[jay4e]

 

15 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

LEGO fans should be "pissed" in general about the 75159.  It is an old, tired set, with dated building techniques.  LEGO had years to prepare for a remake of the Death Star.  They have some talented people on staff and as fans that could have produced a stunning set which would have pleased collectors, dabblers, resellers, new fans, old fans hardcore fans and even non-fans.   

It is a HUGE wasted opportunity.  If this set has a short production run, it will show that resellers propped up the 10188, especially near the end.  

If this is supposed to be their "signature" set, then it looks like a forgery to me...

It certainly is a blow to LEGO fans.  though in reality it may be a blessing in desguise for investors (minus those heavily invested in 10188..).  we are looking at around 2 years (assuming snow speeder is decent and hits early 2017) with no new competition in the UCS market.  fans will get hungry and look for sets they missed.  So there may be some silver lining in all this, if LEGO does not tank the market completely.  assuming of course you are sitting on some 10212, 10221, 10240, etc.  those prices are only going to go up for next 5+ years.

Edited August 29, 2016 by jay4e

[Alpinemaps]

I'll be curious to see the differences and the similarities in the builds.

[dcdfan]

7 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

I'll be curious to see the differences and the similarities in the builds.

On page 65 of the instructions, you add a cheese slop. Tada!

[jstodda]

17 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

LEGO fans should be "pissed" in general about the 75159.  It is an old, tired set, with dated building techniques.  LEGO had years to prepare for a remake of the Death Star.  They have some talented people on staff and as fans that could have produced a stunning set which would have pleased collectors, dabblers, resellers, new fans, old fans hardcore fans and even non-fans.   

It is a HUGE wasted opportunity.  If this set has a short production run, it will show that resellers propped up the 10188, especially near the end.  

If this is supposed to be their "signature" set, then it looks like a forgery to me...

I am actually more upset that its NOT a HUGE improvement in someway (display or game set). I love Legos so I am always excited to see a new set or new theme and find myself more as a collector than an investor.

Either way, its just a pure disappointment not for what it is, but what it COULD have been.

22 minutes ago, dcdfan said:

On page 65 of the instructions, you add a cheese slop. Tada!

And here are 3 cheese wedges extra just in case....

[Deanfjr]

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 7:41 PM, Lordoflego said:

 

R.I.P.

[labfreak7]

That's how I see this.  I know this is an investing forum as well as a collecting forum, but Lego has never been beholden to re-sellers.  As many have said before, the golden age of reselling has passed although there are still pockets where money can be made short term and long term.  The trick now is to try to spot the remakes as far in advance as possible.  

That should be easy to do.....