jasonsmith

10179 UCS Falcon Pricing

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Just curious how people feel about the pricing of this set. Pushing $1800 now. I can imagine there would be two camps on this topic, those that have and want the price to remain high and those that have not and would like to see it come down to a more affordable and realistic price per piece level.

Should Lego reissue it? Should more people be able to experience this set? Or is this all good?

I would love to watch my little guy build this but can't see how the little guys of the world can even get close.

From a "have not" AFOL.

EDIT: Now a "have" AFOL, thanks BrickLink. PICS HERE =>>>> http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57894&view=findpost&p=1256070

EDIT2:

What are your options if you don't want to pay too much?...

1. You could find the parts through BrickLink. Most parts are available but it is recommended that you purchase some of the harder to find pieces through Lego if possible.

2. You can build the same model off color with just a couple odd bits. Some of the parts are expensive due to the color like the rigging that covers the engines. Some are expensive due to their rarity like the radar dish.

3. You could just build it off color with some structure mods where required like in these threads.

- http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67129

- http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=65505

Edited by jasonsmith

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Well I'm glad I did buy one, after initially thinking I wouldn't. I'd have no problem with them reissuing it, as I've no intention of ever selling mine on. The problem from TLG's point of view, I guess, is whether there are really enough people out there left who don't have one, could afford one and would want one.

You do have to wonder at this point whether it would actually work out cheaper to just Bricklink all the parts.

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If memory serves me well, they had it on sale for quite a long time. I don't really believe they will ever sell it again.

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I've also missed out this awesome set(mid of my dark ages),so i went online to check the inventory. I've had almost 1500 pieces of the set at home,so i've started bricklinking the missing parts,well it was a good choice! There are some rare parts that cost me like 10€ a piece,but most of the parts are really common! At all i've spent about 400€ for the missing 3500 pieces,i'm thinking of also buying the original sticker&instruction book! So if you're looking forward for this set,go and bricklink!!! You will spend about 600€ for the pieces,i guess that's ok!

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As someone who doesn't own the Falcon, I hope they don't rerelease it. UCS is supposed to be for collectors; it's not a collectable if they reissue sets. One and done is how it should be. This rewards both collectors and people hoping for new ships to get the UCS label.

Is this set really for the little guy though? The Falcon that's out now, while much smaller, is made for kids to play with. The UCS Falcon is made to look at and take up space.

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I too would love to have this set, and missed buying it years ago (was just before I got back into Lego).

That being said, I'm working on a list and costs of the bricklink option.

So far, I've got the (estimated) price down to $455 (not counting any shipping...) and with no minifigs.

I've had to make a few substitutions to keep the cost down. (like those translucent blue 1x2 plates that were only issued with 10179)

Really want to get this set, so we'll see if I can convince myself to start buying the pieces :)

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I too would love to have this set, and missed buying it years ago (was just before I got back into Lego).

That being said, I'm working on a list and costs of the bricklink option.

So far, I've got the (estimated) price down to $455 (not counting any shipping...) and with no minifigs.

I've had to make a few substitutions to keep the cost down. (like those translucent blue 1x2 plates that were only issued with 10179)

Really want to get this set, so we'll see if I can convince myself to start buying the pieces :)

Hi there,i also thought these trans-light blue tiles(those are what you meant right?)were exclusive to the set,but it seems like these are average trans-light blue tiles! So no substitutions :laugh: I've bricklinked all the "official"pieces,it works!

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As someone who doesn't own the Falcon, I hope they don't rerelease it. UCS is supposed to be for collectors; it's not a collectable if they reissue sets. One and done is how it should be. This rewards both collectors and people hoping for new ships to get the UCS label.

Is this set really for the little guy though? The Falcon that's out now, while much smaller, is made for kids to play with. The UCS Falcon is made to look at and take up space.

I think the original release would still hold most of it's value though. There's lots of ways Lego could release it without degrading the collectors aspect of the original releases. I agree though, this set is not for the little ones but the building experience sure could be... Heck this thing isn't really playable for anyone from what I have seen.

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I have one, and it’s my pride & joy :wub: However, I paid a lot for it (via Ebay, new, in January this year) although it’s genuinely worth every penny. I bought it for me, rather than as an investment, and if Lego re-issued it I’d buy another. It’s amazing to build, but it does take up a fair amount of space so bear that in mind! :wink:

I can see why this set is getting so expensive, but I’d be happy to see the price settle down to a more sensible level.

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actually i have been toying around the idea of getting all the parts from bricklink since buy a BNIB or used will cost almost twice the amount.. however i am having plenty of problem using bricklink, the interface seems to be too complicated.. :(

can i confirm that all the parts are readily available?

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I think the original release would still hold most of it's value though. There's lots of ways Lego could release it without degrading the collectors aspect of the original releases. I agree though, this set is not for the little ones but the building experience sure could be... Heck this thing isn't really playable for anyone from what I have seen.

But they can't re-release it without turning it into a set that's only collectible MISB. There wouldn't be any way to prove that you had the original release once you built the set, if you decided to resell it without the box.

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As someone who doesn't have it and wished I'd bought it, I have this reasonable statement to make.

Something is only worth as much as someone else is willing to pay for it.

Is $1800 insane for a set originally priced at $500?, of course it is. But it's warranted, why supply and demand, the supply has plummeted and those with the set now set the price, also the fact that if they sell their copy and ever want another they will have to pay this same ridiculous price, which makes them want to list theirs for even more. It seems outrageous to us, but ask someone who has one, "Can I buy yours?" If they are a true AFOL, they will likely say hell no, because they know it's a collectors item, shoot LEGO sold it as one.

My point is, well I'm not sure any more, but obviously someone somewhere is willing to pay roughly that much or else they wouldn't have priced it so high, and if it is truly too high, the market will speak and the seller will be forced to reduce the price or settle for never selling it.

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I have one - and it's still MISB. It was on sale at least twice ($350 and then $375 when I bought it) from S@H, so I can't imagine Lego would reissue it. I kick myself constantly for not buying two (it was limit two during the sale when I purchased mine). My wife mentions selling it from time to time, but I just can't - I REALLY want to build it. I just don't have the space right now.

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But they can't re-release it without turning it into a set that's only collectible MISB. There wouldn't be any way to prove that you had the original release once you built the set, if you decided to resell it without the box.

True but isn't that where we kinda are now with BrickLink? Just a much smaller scale.

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Well, another option is: someone managed to sell it for an absurd price, and all the others are merely following. There doesn't need to be a demand for that UCS at such a price, it was probably a lucky folk somewhere that managed to squeeze 1500+ dollars out of it, and all the others believed it was the right thing to do.

I constantly monitor the Italian sites for rare LEGO, and all of them have it for at least 1000 euros. The funny part? They haven't sold one in ages. Their greediness is confounding them. Instead of thinking "hey, there isn't a single soul that would buy it at this price, let's take away a couple hundred euros and see how it goes" they keep it unchanged, sure that someday they'll find the simpleton who will dish out all that money. And they get greedier and greedier.

Those hoping to sell the 10179 at those prices are just fools that believe a few lucky sales are representative of the entire market.

I must admit I hope TLG will re-release it just to metaphorically kick them in the butt. I do understand inflating the price of a UCS to a certain extent (after all, they ARE rare, and 50-60% more is an understandable request), but this is beyond ridiculous. If they had charged 780-850 dollars for it I would have supported such choice.

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I was lucky enough to have bought the pre-order first edition Falcon which to this day is in my loft/attic unopened. Still waiting for the room, to display all my stuff. :sceptic:

I do understand your pain as this set is now selling for stupid amounts but I think the Stoutfiles is right. As a collectors set this has to be (like most lego sets anyway) a one off production run.

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True but isn't that where we kinda are now with BrickLink? Just a much smaller scale.

I doubt many people are going to track down all the pieces on BL just to resell. A lot of those people are AFOLs who missed the set or want another and are going to build it and display it. And if TLG rereleases it, it doesn't become collectible just as a UCS MF. The price of the original would drop along with a good bit of the demand as a lot of the people looking to buy who are just fans that missed out on the first and want to build and display it will probably just go for the new one. The old one will just be a rarer piece that only very serious collectors will buy. The sellers could try to use that to jack up the prices, but I think that in the event of a rerelease the amount of people looking to buy the old one will drop drastically. The price it's selling for on BL is only the value of the set if people are willing to buy it.

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As someone who doesn't own the Falcon, I hope they don't rerelease it. UCS is supposed to be for collectors; it's not a collectable if they reissue sets. One and done is how it should be. This rewards both collectors and people hoping for new ships to get the UCS label.

I've never really gotten how "collectible" has somehow become synonymous with "rare." Something common can still be collected - indeed, it can be collected even more. The fact that something might be plentiful doesn't mean it can't be collectible (I do of course recognize not everyone will agree).

In the case of this particular set, I don't know that it actually matters - there's already a limited subset of the entire production run that was made extra-desirable for its exclusivity (the first few thousand copies, with the individually numbered certificate). I think if they wanted to, TLG could do one last production run of this set without ruffling the feathers of the hardcore collectors / speculators (not that I really care about appeasing them anyway, but assuming it's important...) simply by not producing any more copies with those certificates (as would surely be the case if they were to do it again at all). However, I don't think TLG is really interested in reissuing discontinued sets these days, alas.

____________________________________

Of course, it's easy for me to say this, as I don't have one of these yet myself and desperately want it, but have no way to get it. Even if I had the money now, I could never ever be sure one I found on eBay or whatever was a legitimate, non-counterfeit, genuine LEGO 10179. Given that small customs shops like Brickforge and so on exist (that are able to make their own, small production run elements comparable in quality to TLG's own) and that much / most of this set is made up of fairly common elements, what's to prevent some unscrupulous individual from simply forging their own copies of the rarer elements in the set, adding them to bunches of the appropriate genuine LEGO elements, recreating the packaging and selling it all as a genuine TLG 10179? Before the price went up, the fact it simply wouldn't be cost-effective was deterrent enough, but now? I've expressed concerns about this before, and others' responses there were somewhat comforting, but I'm still not sure...

____________________________________

Meanwhile, since 10179 is off-limits to me, my personal LEGO SW collection feels incomplete. Oh, it'd never be complete in the sense of having everything, but this is worse; it's missing one of the more vital, core, essential things. The Millennium Falcon is very close to the heart of Star Wars for me, and it seems that if there's anything I should have a "deluxe" version of, it's that. Not having it kind of kills my ability to enjoy some of the other UCS sets - why should I have a UCS Imperial Shuttle, say, when I don't have the Falcon? The Falcon is the vastly more important vessel in SW, and to me personally, and having a UCS version of the shuttle or the Executor or something like that when I don't have the "ultimate" official LEGO rendition of the Millennium Falcon just feels a little... wrong, somehow. I therefore find myself dreaming that one day - and yes, I know this isn't going to happen, but I can't help but wish for it anyway - there'll be an even better, more definitive version of the ship.

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It was probably sent in a black trash bag, with the box covered in snot and ketchup.

I have had a new set turn up in a black trash bag! It is not a funny experience I can tell you!! :thumbdown:

Still your comment did make me laugh. :laugh:

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I doubt many people are going to track down all the pieces on BL just to resell. A lot of those people are AFOLs who missed the set or want another and are going to build it and display it. And if TLG rereleases it, it doesn't become collectible just as a UCS MF. The price of the original would drop along with a good bit of the demand as a lot of the people looking to buy who are just fans that missed out on the first and want to build and display it will probably just go for the new one. The old one will just be a rarer piece that only very serious collectors will buy. The sellers could try to use that to jack up the prices, but I think that in the event of a rerelease the amount of people looking to buy the old one will drop drastically. The price it's selling for on BL is only the value of the set if people are willing to buy it.

True, but TLG doesn't make any money off the sets they no longer produce. Hurting the "Value" of the UCS MF by re-releasing it will only make them more money. If TLG made money off each sale of the existing sets, or off of BL, then it wouldn't be in their best interest, but in this case, a rep-release would make them money.

At least that's how I see it.

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However, you must take into account that many UCSs are bought with the precise intention of reselling them at a higher price in the future.

Re-releasing the MF would scare away that kind of buyers. Unfortunately, losing a fixed percentage of sales on every UCS is something TLG would probably never be too keen to do... :hmpf_bad:

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True, but TLG doesn't make any money off the sets they no longer produce. Hurting the "Value" of the UCS MF by re-releasing it will only make them more money. If TLG made money off each sale of the existing sets, or off of BL, then it wouldn't be in their best interest, but in this case, a rep-release would make them money.

At least that's how I see it.

However, you must take into account that many UCSs are bought with the precise intention of reselling them at a higher price in the future.

Re-releasing the MF would scare away that kind of buyers. Unfortunately, losing a fixed percentage of sales on every UCS is something TLG would probably never be too keen to do... :hmpf_bad:

Both agreed. I wasn't saying those were reasons for TLG not to rerelease it; just that a rerelease would hurt the value of the original.

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