UCS 10227 B-Wing is going to be discontinued - now!

[Darth Dino]

Hi

yep, another B-Wing topic :(

I was in the Berlin Lego store today, asling for the B-Wing, did not see any of them. The alego rep told me they are not onyl out od stock now, but also completely replqced by the X-Wing. At first i thought this only happens to get more space in the shelves but he said they got no more B-Wings anymore. Only at S@H (germany) is the B-Wing still available until it runs out of stock. The rep told me there will be no B-Wing production anymore.

So for all potential B-Wing buyers: Do it now, it will discontinue soon.

Dino

[nesquik]

It's being discontinued June 1st.

[DrasticPlastic]

Didn't last very long - not even the standard 2 years. One concludes it has sold very badly.

I bought one and it's a charming set - but £170 for what is ultimately a fringe vehicle does perhaps indicate there were better UCS candidates and the price per brick ratio was a bit jarring.

Oh well.

[Fuppylodders]

Didn't last very long - not even the standard 2 years. One concludes it has sold very badly.

I bought one and it's a charming set - but £170 for what is ultimately a fringe vehicle does perhaps indicate there were better UCS candidates and the price per brick ratio was a bit jarring.

Oh well.

A bit jarring is an understatement Its the entire reason why I didnt bother getting one. Its a nice enough ship, but nothing special for the price they wanted for it. Even at £150 or 140, nah... not really. 130, maybe...But someone on here has done a version which is most exceptional, and at minifigure scale. Now that, I am willing to pay for (yes, the ldd is already available). But not that overpriced mediocre thing... Wasted a completely good UCS spot with that.

[TheGreenMachine]

Are there any official confirmations for this? I'm a bit surprised, as it has been released just a bit more than haf a year ago. I just ordered the X-Wing, as I hoped for a later sale on the B-Wing, but seems I have to get this asap...

[just2good]

Wow, I'm amazed. I'm guessing the X-Wing will sell a little better, but probably follow the same road. I hope LEGO doesn't stop making UCS sets, but I think they should only do one D2C set a year for Star Wars, in favor of other themes.

[Faefrost]

Didn't last very long - not even the standard 2 years. One concludes it has sold very badly.

I bought one and it's a charming set - but £170 for what is ultimately a fringe vehicle does perhaps indicate there were better UCS candidates and the price per brick ratio was a bit jarring.

Oh well.

It isn't necessarily a time frame. Often it is more has a set sold well enough, or fast enough to be worth doing another production run of it. With other scheduling considerations coming into play. They don't make these sets to order or continuously produce a given set. They make them as runs. So every B Wing set ever produced, was probably produced in a matter of 2-4 weeks a year or two ago. The sets were hen distributed from that run. Once the stock gets low they will make a call on whether to do another run. How well did it sell? Do they have to go back and schedule injection molding time to get needed parts for another run? Are the molds needed already committed, or at a different factory? Where in the production chain is this products replacement? Is the replacement expected to sell better? Is doing another production run if this product worthwhile? Is there demand?

I'm guessing that it was felt that the X Wing would be a better seller in the same retail space. We have seen sets with shorter lifespans (The Zombies anyone?)

[TheGreenMachine]

Anyway, that just sucks. First, TLG gave the US a real bargain with this set, only to announce now that the set is going to be discontinued now. Too bad i started with my UCS X-Wing today, otherwise I'd have sent it right back and have it returned for a B-Wing...

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Well, it sounds a little sad and might be result of poor selling rates. However, there are reasons behind this.

The bad decision on the part of TLG was not the B-Wing itself, but the point that they released two iconic SW ships at the high price mark within a short time frame. For many fans - i think - the decisione becomes an 'either, or'. And in a direct contest of popularity, the X-Wing almost inevitably wins.

While the hopes for this are lowered ATM, a B-Wing system set would be great, IMHO.

[Ritz Brick]

Interesting, although not surprising. On May 5th I went to the Canadian shop@home, the B-Wing was discounted, but sold out, didn't have the oppurtunity to add to the cart, not even a minute later when I went back and checked at some of the other Star Wars stuff, the B-Wing was back up, discounted and just said it would be back ordered until the 16th. I ordered it and got the usual email reminding me it was back ordered. I find it interesting that it would be sold out and then discontinued so soon after, without that usual wait of it just being on the site saying sold out. Hopefully there is no confusion with it being discontinued and someone not getting their B-Wing they hoped for.

My thoughts on the B-Wing and its low sales. Although while I do think the ship is rather intriguing, it wasn't a must buy for me. I figured it would sit on the shelves like usual to give me (and others) more time to think about buying it.

[merman]

Maybe it sold so poorly because of the rediculous price. €200 for 1,500 parts may work in the US that has more SW aficionados. Still, it sucks us Europeans didn't get the chance to buy the set 50% off...

[TheGreenMachine]

I just ordered it, despite the awful price/parts ratio. Used my few VIp points to get at least 10 Euro off, better than nothing. I just finished the 10240 X-Wing and planned to get the B-Wing later this year, but I've decided to get it now and give it myself as a gift for christmas. I've managed to get all "UCS" models since 2010 and some older ones (At-St, Rebel Blockade Runner) and I keep on collecting them all.

[TheLegoDr]

I think the price did hurt sales. The ship itself looks really nice, although I know nothing of the B-Wing. But at 50% off it was a good intro to the UCS line. I could picture myself wanting to get into some of them. That new X-Wing looks beautiful, so I may bite on that sometime. I doubt it will ever get a decent discount, but still a nice option.

But by offering that sale, I think a lot of people probably bought it to sell later which seems foolish. If TLG can't move the product, why could a re-seller? But also by offering that sale, it gave many people a chance to pick one up if they were only hesitant about it to begin with. I had zero interest, but when I figured it would be foolish not to buy one at 50% off, I bit the bullet and am now a UCS fan.

[rollermonkey]

In the US, Wal-Mart still has them online only and for "only" $153.

Pretty cheap, actually.

[mechamike]

I was planning on buying this ship as I really like the B-wing in the movies , but the pricetag here in Sweden was just way off. I agree that the prictag probably killed this on from getting of the shelfs..

It's still on the shelf at the local TRU but unless it sees a heavy sale it will not go home with me. aslo the use of stickers in UCS set's has made me hold onto my wallet even more..

I hope by discontinuing this there will bee room for another UCS and preferable in minfig scale as the MF or the Imp Shuttle..