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10188 Death Star Reviewed by Dunamis
Set 10188
3803 Pieces
$399.99 from the LEGO Store, Glendale, California
Build time: 21 hours
Stickers: Ouch! 31 total stickers!
LEGO continues its streak of giving fans what they ask for (although not necessarily in the price range that fans want…) The Death Star play set is the latest in that trend suggesting that LEGO will put everything (including the kitchen sink) in a set and charging big bucks knowing that people will buy it up. I can’t wait to see what next year’s huge set is going to be.
The Box:
The gigantic box (which is only slightly smaller than the Falcon box) has last year’s theme to it. Here are a few comparison photos of the two boxes.
Here is the front and back of the Death Star box:
When I opened the box, I was a little dumbfounded when I found four more boxes and the manual:
Each of the four white boxes has a symbol on it not unlike the controls on a playstation. Perfect I thought! They are going to break up the build into four sections. I found out later that this was not the plan…
The manual is spiral bound and absolutely humongous. Here are a couple of shots of it with a minifig shown for scale:
Each box contained several bags as shown below.
Square box had 14 bags:
Triangle box had 14 bags:
Circle box had 10 bags and the DSS (Dreaded Sticker Sheet):
Plus box was larger than the others and had 15 bags:
Here is the DSS:
The Manual:
As mentioned above, the manual is enormous. It comes in at 264 pages! It literally takes up 1/3 of the workspace on my desk. Since I build at my desk and I have a computer with a large monitor, I used the electronic version of the manual. Kudos to LEGO for providing electronic version of all the manuals lately – a great move by them.
Here is a link to the electronic version of the manual (warning it is 81 MB in size):
http://cache.lego.co...ons/4542760.pdf
While the manual had all the nice features we expect, I had a terrible problem with color separation. I had trouble differentiating various black pieces as well as identifying the trans orange, trans red, dark bley, black, etc. It really caused problems for me and probably delayed my build time by 5%. For me, it seems the manual was printed too dark. Your mileage may vary…
Other than that gigantic pain the rear, the manual is laid out nicely out and flows along quickly. We also have our standard set of features:
- Piece call outs for each step
- Parts inventory at the end of the manual
- Page numbers
Since the manual is available online and there is nothing more for me to complain about, I’m going to spend less time talking about it and more time building.
The Pieces:
Wow, there are a ton of pieces! Since the Death Star is more of a playset and less of a model there are more ‘big’ pieces and not as much Technic pins and little parts. Don’t get me wrong, there is a decent amount of little pieces but there is a TON of big stuff and it just gives the impression that there is a lot to this set (and there is!)
I would invite you to view the parts list in the online manual to get an idea of what I mean. When you sort it all out, light bley is the bulk of the parts in both plates and bricks. There is also a good amount of black and dark bley. There is a good assortment of tiles, plates and bricks here. At any rate, there is a great assortment of parts.
The Build:
I’ve built a lot of LEGO sets and I have to say this was probably the most fun I’ve had building a set. Sure, I enjoyed building the UCS Falcon and the Green Grocer/Café Corner/ Market Steet were all fun builds. There have been some fun Technic builds in my day as well as my favorite 7163/7676 Gunship sets. However, I just really enjoyed building this set.
I think a lot of the fun is seeing all the little hidden gems the designers put in this set. Also, the build is kind of broken up into sections of the Death Star so it is almost like you are building lots of little $30-$40 play sets but they all combine into one big set. Due to my crazy work schedule and lots of personal life family activities, I had to drag this out over a few weeks. The nice thing is that I could spend an hour here and there and make good progress because in that amount of time I could finish little sections of the overall model. It really made the build seem fun and that you were always making progress. When I compare it to the Falcon build, I spent hours on a bunch of Technic infrastructure that never got seen from the outside which left me feeling like I wasn’t making progress. With the Death Star build, EVERYTHING gets seen.
There are a ton of photos (more than 90) in my brickshelf folder for those of you who want to see more of the build.
My Brickshelf folder (when public) http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=342197
For this review, I’ll just include a few random build photos here for your amusement:
First Floor:
Second Floor:
Here are some examples of how you would build in ‘sections’. Each floor would have a quarter section to build:
How about the ingenious laser cannon:
Overall, I had a great time with it and there were several interesting build techniques involved including some subtle half-stud offsets and SNOT builds thrown in for good measure.
Here is the ever-popular ‘what’s left over photo’:
The Design:
I can’t begin to cover all the incredible design work that went into this model. Suffices to say that the designers really knew Star Wars and did a great job to put the look and feel of Star Wars into the design of this set. I was very impressed with how everything turned out. I’m sure I’m going to miss something, but I want to cover as much as possible:
Trash compactor – The trash compactor walls can be moved by a lever connected to Technic axels. A couple of nice details include a sliding exit door as well as the garbage chute from the detention level directly above:
Heavy Cannon – this little jewel didn’t get much screen time, but it sure looks good:
Crane – Even little details like this cargo crane are well done:
Hanger Elevator – Elevator platform goes from cargo area below to main hanger bay:
Detention Block – I really liked the design of this area. The use of the sticker and along with the placement of the bricks does a good job of creating the illusion of depth. The detention door opens up (just like in the movie). There is also the ceiling mounted video camera and the control panel that Han shoots. Of course, another door lifts up to go into the trash compactor:
Tractor Beam – Obi Wan’s quest to disable the tractor beam can be replayed here as well:
Hanger and Vader’s TIE – Vader’s ship is excellent as well as the hanger deck complete with elevator and control room:
Blast Doors – you can’t have a shootout in a Death Star without some blast doors. These retract into the wall:
AA Canon – When you need to shoot down those pesky Rebel X-Wings, use the AA canons. These nifty little cannons are connected by Technic axels and rotate left and right as well as lift up and down.
Control Room – The control room looks great and has a cool display that you can change between Alderan and Yavin by flipping the brick over. In addition, you can rotate the laser dish (planet buster) by turning the control panel. You can raise and lower the laser dish by turning the knob. Everything is connected via a Technic axel to the dish below it. (It is hard to describe in words, you’ll understand when you build it.)
Elevator – There is an elevator that runs through the center of the model. It is controlled by a winch and it actually works really well:
Elevator
View from the top of the shaft
Conference room – Must have a conference room:
Throne Room – Wow, this is really cool and I like they use of the blue trans wedges. The throne chair looks good and there is even the collapsible catwalk:
There are many more surprises as well. Some can be seen in my Brickshelf folder (like the hidden knobs to turn the hanger crane). There are just too many to mention here.
Did I mention the minifigs? I think LEGO went above and beyond in giving the fans lots of minifigs in this set. Take a look:
Yes, there were stickers and lots of them. They were kind of a pain and I believe some pieces should have been printed like the 2x2 and 2x1 slopes that were computer panels. I seemed to have more luck with these stickers than before so they we’re too bad.
Overall Thoughts:
I really can’t say enough good things about this set. It is the Death Star play set we have all been asking for with tons of minifigs thrown in. Obviously, the $400 USD price tag will immediately turn a lot of people off. Seems like LEGO has created a little segment of sets (ISD, DS II, Falcon, DS I) that are expensive and cater to a smaller audience.
Personally, I would have tried to get the price point more in the $300 range and sacrificed some minifigs. We already have a Stormtrooper battlepack and you could have made a Death Star Trooper battlepack at $10 and sold the crap out of it. But, I I’m not in charge of LEGO’s product development and marketing.
I will say this set when completed is huge! It is also quite sturdy and heavy. If you put it on a smooth surface, it does rotate easily so you can spin it around to show it off. It looks great and is a must have (especially if it ever goes on sale.)
Let me know your thoughts and as always if you have any questions, comments, complaints, etc.
Final Rating: 98%
Build 10/10 (Incredible. It was a very enjoyable build and lots of fun.)
Minifigs 10/10 (I think they pretty much got everybody in here. Can’t really gripe about 20+ minifigs.)
Design 10/10 (Perfect. Covers all the scenes from the movies and has the right look and feel.)
Parts 10/10 (Tons of parts. Lots of big parts and plates. A great variety as well.)
Price 9/10 (Dang, it’s a lot but you definitely get what you pay for.)
Appartently, your completed review is wonderful. It's nice to go through again and again, looking at these nifty features which provides high playability. If I remembered correctly, I believe this set is your highest rating ever, for the reviews which you have done. 
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