75159 - UCS: Death Star (2016)

[gregpj]

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

[citymorgue]

Quite simply, it's been an up and down year for me.  There are some fantastic technic sets out that I will be buying no matter what.  But the rash of other exclusives is so effing disappointing.  The batcave, AOH, the mine, etc.

Since I got out of my dark ages in Sept 2013, I have averaged about $3-4 thousand a year in Legos, buying up all kinds of fantastic sets.  This year? Well it's been pretty much cut in half, only because there are about half as many sets that are appealing to me this year.  On one hand I should be thanking Lego, because it's been a tighter year financially for me, so I don't feel worried about not being able to get all the sets I want, but then on the other hand, it's like, what the hell Lego???  It sucks to see such little creativity out of Lego, and I really, really hope that this is just a fluke year.

My opinion on the Snowspeeder/MF rumors, honestly, I wouldn't mind that, only because it's been so many years between sets, that it wouldn't be so bad.  But I feel also though, that if both UCS sets are, let's say, the Snowspeeder AND MF, then that will also be disappointing.  If they want to do one remake, and then a new UCS that we haven't seen yet, I think that wouldn't be so bad on Lego's part.

Point being, I'll be saving $500 because I will NOT buy the new DS.  I already have 10188, and that's good enough.  I don't care about the updated minifigures.

[gregpj]

15 hours ago, scuttfarkas said:

They didn't lie. They added 200+ pieces and updated the minifigures.  Sets are refreshed all the time with minimal or a small amount of cosmetic improvements. 

Funny, their most recent calendar says "Death Star is Back!" ... implies to me they brought the same one back.

Sets are RARELY refreshed with such minor changes. Toy Shop is an obvious exception but normally some effort is put into the changes... and even then, there was how many years between releases? 

LEGO should be ashamed of their behaviour on this one.

[exciter1]

6 minutes ago, gregpj said:

Funny, their most recent calendar says "Death Star is Back!" ... implies to me they brought the same one back.

Sets are RARELY refreshed with such minor changes. Toy Shop is an obvious exception but normally some effort is put into the changes... and even then, there was how many years between releases? 

LEGO should be ashamed of their behaviour on this one.

Taken directly from the McDonald's playbook.

[Alpinemaps]

57 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

I was referring to the large VIP ad that is attached to the catalog.

Nope, nada.  Nothing.  No attachment to my catalog.

[kris_1973]

Nope, nada.  Nothing.  No attachment to my catalog.

Same here.

[zskid00]

5 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

Nope, nada.  Nothing.  No attachment to my catalog.

 

3 minutes ago, kris_1973 said:

Same here.

 

[jstodda]

Nice "what's changed" article on Brickset, which is also amazingly positive all things considered.  

[Sprocket77]

Just going to throw this out there for our American friends.

When 10188 first came out, the $400 RRP was about 1,920DKK. If the RRP is as expected $500 on the 75159, then you'll be paying the equivalent of 3,335DKK at today's rate. 

Lego Inflation eh.

 

 

[gregpj]

4 minutes ago, jstodda said:

Nice "what's changed" article on Brickset, which is also amazingly positive all things considered. 

Seems pretty light on the changes to me.... and they didn't mention the randomly placed cheese slope. Smells of being asked to be positive if you ask me.

And sure, if you liked the old set there is no reason not to like the new one. A few minor tweaks isn't a reason to hate the overall design. The original 10188 build might be dated, but 213 pieces isn't going to change that.

So they changed the yellow crane... yippee. I had already done that by making a rail for it to slide back and forth on. The original one was useless to play with.

[Fenix_2k1]

46 minutes ago, jstodda said:

Nice "what's changed" article on Brickset, which is also amazingly positive all things considered.  

I think it's that thing of not biting the hand that feeds you.  They did a similar job on Aoh. I can understand it but I'm sure the writer took a shower after writing that.

[scuttfarkas]

1 hour ago, gregpj said:

Funny, their most recent calendar says "Death Star is Back!" ... implies to me they brought the same one back.

Sets are RARELY refreshed with such minor changes. Toy Shop is an obvious exception but normally some effort is put into the changes... and even then, there was how many years between releases? 

LEGO should be ashamed of their behaviour on this one.

If it were "back" in the sense that it was the same one...... it would have the same number. It would have the same number of pieces. It would have the same mini-figure list.  It doesn't.  It's a new set.  

[gregpj]

3 minutes ago, scuttfarkas said:

If it were "back" in the sense that it was the same one...... it would have the same number. It would have the same number of pieces. It would have the same mini-figure list.  It doesn't.  It's a new set.  

 

(all in good fun)

I get what you're saying and I'm just poking fun ... I'm sure the updated minifigures are nice and it sounds like the little vader's tie is improved (it was rather flimsy) but overall it's a sh*t effort by LEGO and most diehard fans see it. Even the ones who never bought the "old" one are and who are "happy" about this one ... well, because they can now get the "old" one with updated figs. The comments speak for themselves.

[Fenix_2k1]

10 minutes ago, scuttfarkas said:

If it were "back" in the sense that it was the same one...... it would have the same number. It would have the same number of pieces. It would have the same mini-figure list.  It doesn't.  It's a new set.  

You know when your other half walks in the house looking all happy with herself and says "Well..........?" And you know she must have changed something but you've no idea what.

This is the Lego equivalent. 

[Brian Briggs]

1 hour ago, jstodda said:

Nice "what's changed" article on Brickset, which is also amazingly positive all things considered. 

I wonder if we read the same article because I don't see the author being overly positive about this set:

"Ultimately, I do not object to the fact that 10188 Death Star has been remade but an opportunity has been missed by not making further updates. 10188 is not a perfect set and 75159 makes no attempt whatsoever to improve upon the original which is not good enough in my opinion.

I think the LEGO Star Wars range has been poor in 2016 and this set does little to change my view."

[GhostDad]

So much reading to catch up on here.  My thoughts: The new Death Star is real.  The new Death Star is bad.  Be nice to people (like me) who are sitting (figuratively) on stacks of 10188's.  Don't buy any 75159's or you will be summarily deported to Denmark.

[Ed Mack]

7 hours ago, gregpj said:

Seems pretty light on the changes to me.... and they didn't mention the randomly placed cheese slope. Smells of being asked to be positive if you ask me.

And sure, if you liked the old set there is no reason not to like the new one. A few minor tweaks isn't a reason to hate the overall design. The original 10188 build might be dated, but 213 pieces isn't going to change that.

So they changed the yellow crane... yippee. I had already done that by making a rail for it to slide back and forth on. The original one was useless to play with.

They didn't change crap!

[gregpj]

Just now, Ed Mack said:

They didn't change crap!

Hehe... Here's Grumpy Ed trying to sell his Death Stars in 30 years.

 

[Bold-Arrow]

U know Ed will never sell  . period 

[gregpj]

4 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

U know Ed will never sell  . period 

That's because he'll look back on his stack of 10188s and...

[jaisonline]

7 hours ago, Brian Briggs said:

I wonder if we read the same article because I don't see the author being overly positive about this set:

"Ultimately, I do not object to the fact that 10188 Death Star has been remade but an opportunity has been missed by not making further updates. 10188 is not a perfect set and 75159 makes no attempt whatsoever to improve upon the original which is not good enough in my opinion.

I think the LEGO Star Wars range has been poor in 2016 and this set does little to change my view."

I read the article the same way. CaptRex expressed his disappointment with the slight changes made for the price increase.

If we want to read a harsh realistic article, just want until FBTB.com's review. I'm also going to bash it in a blog I began.  I'm thinking about starting a GoFundMe for the 75159 purchase...

[BRIX23]

23 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

 

No Death Star in my catalog.

 

Same here, no death star.  Guess I didn't realize they could be different.  Any idea why or is this typical?

[Pablo Brickasso]

Damn.Everyone's.Attacking.This.Huge.Space.Toy.At.Retail = D.E.A.T.H. S.T.A.R.

[Phil B]

Don't.Even.Attempt.To.Hoard: Same.Toy.After.Refresh.

[KShine]

LEGO can do whatever they want to do - It's the lies about the set being "Retired" that really bothers me.

"All I Want is The Truth"

 

[justapilgrim]

you can't handle the truth