10179 UCS Falcon Pricing

[echobasehoth]

just done building my 10179 using bricklink and lego customer parts, i have lots of parts left, and i was confused for some minuts, but then checked my bricklink orders and could tell i have 3 orders i didnt remove from my wanted list. SO what to do now start buyng bricks for one more 10179

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

just done building my 10179 using bricklink and lego customer parts, i have lots of parts left, and i was confused for some minuts, but then checked my bricklink orders and could tell i have 3 orders i didnt remove from my wanted list. SO what to do now start buyng bricks for one more 10179

How much did it cost in total, including shipping?

[apps]

Just got mine in the mail today, this could take a while!!!

[adello25]

Just started building mine and WOW this set is huge!!!

[iamFLIP]

Just started building mine and WOW this set is huge!!!

Yes, it is huge and very sturdy. It helps if you can built it on one table and have all the sorted parts on another table. It actually took me about a week to build it, however, only spending a few hours of the day because it is hard on the eyes to keep looking at the laptop screen to follow the downloaded instruction. I had a great time though.

[Larrynautik]

I started to build mine too and I'm actually at 50% of its building, and I can say it's really big. And really long to display the thousands of parts close enough to the place where I build it, then finding the parts at each step and doing the assembly correctly. I get no regret for purchasing it by BL by so many parts sellers. Some of them were really sympathic, particularly Chalet-go-play in Florida.

[Cwetqo]

I am also re-building mine (original, not bricklink assembled) these days. Laptop instructions are maybe even better, because original ones really take too much space. I also tried iPAD, but its screen is way to small fos such large model.

[adello25]

Finally finished mine...this set is amazing!!.......and sure weighs a lot!

[adello25]

Finally finished mine...this set is amazing!!.......and sure weighs a lot!

[qvack]

Last BL order has been placed for mine. Should end up costing AU$800-950, which is a bit higher than I would have liked but not too bad considering how much it would cost me to get one locally. The bulk of the parts came from AU sellers, with I think 5 orders from O/S sellers. For anyone looking to do this I found that the US & western europe (ex UK) had the best shipping for smaller orders. I'd been thinking that small orders would get annihilated by shipping costs, but it was typically $2-5 for smaller orders which strangely enough is comparable or better than what it would have been to get them shipped from interstate.

I had to rush a bit with the orders, as it was a bit of a race between placing the orders and our dollar imploding, but I think in the end I won :)

[DBZkame]

That average price is ridiculous. I really think that it should be brought down, but Lego has no more control of that matter. It should not be reissued because it might ruin the collector's value for the people who already paid a lot of money for it.

[The_Chosen_1]

I'm only 25 pieces away! I'll probably place my final order directly through Lego. There are some hard-to-find/expensive ones in this last lot.

[UCSProductions1]

I preordered it and got the certification of authenticity the price was still $500 but at least that's a lot better than 1800 dollars new and sealed. Yet I did see one on brick link for 950 dollars I don't know if it is still there but it was used and complete with certification of authenticity.

[b4p]

I've been researching how to buy the 10030 ISD (imperial star destroyer) piece by piece, and I have a few questions.

Please help! Thanks

I changed all light/dark grey colors to light/dark bluish grey on bricklink.

PaB (Pick-a-Brick) uses medium stone grey and dark stone grey.

1. What is medium stone grey and dark stone grey? Is this the same as the light/dark bluish gray?

2a. When I call LEGO for hard-to-find pieces (or any pieces), do I have to have an instruction manual code?

2b. If so, is it OK to ask for one on these forums?

3a. What are the odds I will be able to get a replacement sticker set?

3b. Are there scans I can download and print out?

4. Are PaB prices the same as if I would call lego and order over the phone from the instruction manual?

While browsing PaB, I found lots of items I would need.

5. Does it seem normal that I am expecting to place a very large PaB order?

I would like to place double orders on the hard-to-find items (second order is for my brother).

6. Does LEGO let you order huge amounts of spare parts like this?

[Blondie-Wan]

That average price is ridiculous. I really think that it should be brought down, but Lego has no more control of that matter. It should not be reissued because it might ruin the collector's value for the people who already paid a lot of money for it.

I don't see why that's a problem.

[StoutFiles]

I don't see why that's a problem.

You don't see why alienating a group of customers is a problem? TLG is already rolling in money; they have no need to rerelease a UCS set. Besides, the fact that certain sets fetch such high prices increase the value of the Lego brand.

[b4p]

You don't see why alienating a group of customers is a problem? TLG is already rolling in money; they have no need to rerelease a UCS set. Besides, the fact that certain sets fetch such high prices increase the value of the Lego brand.

I would argue that not re-releasing the falcon would upset more people who are average customers. You seriously care if scalpers lose money? High-prices indicate the customers still have a demand, so if they want to re-release another falcon in a few years, I don't see the big deal. I own one myself and I think taking this set out of the store was a bad decision to begin with.

Edited October 11, 2011 by b4p

[StoutFiles]

I would argue that not re-releasing the falcon would upset more people who are average customers. You seriously care if scalpers lose money? High-prices indicate the customers still have a demand, so if they want to re-release another falcon in a few years, I don't see the big deal. I own one myself and I think taking this set out of the store was a bad decision to begin with.

It's a collector series. It's supposed to be hard to get. That is the point if the series. It is half enjoyment and half investment.

I fail to see how the sellers are scalpers, they didn't buy up all the sets. There were plenty of UCS sets, anyone could have one if they wanted. If anything, you all should be thanking the sellers otherwise you would have zero chance of getting the set.

The market determines the price, if there were more sellers, the price would be lower. Supply and demand.

[b4p]

It's a collector series. It's supposed to be hard to get. That is the point if the series. It is half enjoyment and half investment.

i guess this is where a lot of people disagree.

I fail to see how the sellers are scalpers, they didn't buy up all the sets. There were plenty of UCS sets, anyone could have one if they wanted. If anything, you all should be thanking the sellers otherwise you would have zero chance of getting the set.

true, but like any investors, they should know that it's a risk. I dont see why anyone would care about investors not making a ton of money close to 90% of the time (which seems to happen).

The market determines the price, if there were more sellers, the price would be lower. Supply and demand.

i agree, which is why i'm confused about why they stopped selling it in the first place. Also, it really really sucks for people who are in their teens right now; by the time they get money to start a collection every single good lego set has come and gone! And a lot of people around here like it like that :P

[StoutFiles]

i guess this is where a lot of people disagree.

true, but like any investors, they should know that it's a risk. I dont see why anyone would care about investors not making a ton of money close to 90% of the time (which seems to happen).

i agree, which is why i'm confused about why they stopped selling it in the first place. Also, it really really sucks for people who are in their teens right now; by the time they get money to start a collection every single good lego set has come and gone! And a lot of people around here like it like that :P

It's called Ultimate Collector Series. There's nothing to disagree with, it's right in the title.

It's not even a risk. Just by holding onto the box and manual and keeping the set away from direct sunlight and smoke, you will get at the very least your money back on any UCS set. The Falcon, more so. While it was a risk for the ones who hoarded, it was only slightly as they bought them during deals and history showed they'd get their money back in time. Just remember, hoarders did not prevent you from getting the set, just unfortunate timing on when it was released.

It's hard to believe now, but the Falcon sales did eventually slow down to the point where it was time to clear the shelves for something else. You could make the same argument for 10188 Death Star, but at some point it needs to go and make room for a new large playset.

I know how you feel, I missed out on the Falcon too. I have to eventually buy the Death Star II at a pricey markup. However, I'm glad to know Lego holds it's value so well and I could get most of my money back selling sets if I had to.

[b4p]

I know how you feel, I missed out on the Falcon too. I have to eventually buy the Death Star II at a pricey markup. However, I'm glad to know Lego holds it's value so well and I could get most of my money back selling sets if I had to.

I actually didnt miss out on it :) I'm about to start building mine for the first time in a few weeks.

I am glad i got the set when I did (on sale), and it came with the minifig poster, so no complaints about missed opportunity from me! I also have the DSII on display in my kitchen :P

I'm mainly just in the camp that doesnt give a crap about re-issues. Regardless of a re-issue or not, the set will never lose much of its value, and even if it did, i'm not selling.

edit: as you can see above though, i missed out on 10030 :( I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth it to buy it piece by piece

Edited October 11, 2011 by b4p

[Blondie-Wan]

You don't see why alienating a group of customers is a problem? TLG is already rolling in money; they have no need to rerelease a UCS set. Besides, the fact that certain sets fetch such high prices increase the value of the Lego brand.

Alienating some customers, and indirect ones at that (since TLG didn't sell anyone a Millennium Falcon for $1000 or more; anyone who spent the really huge bucks on it got it second hand), while pleasing others (the ones who would buy the reissue, obviously).

It's a collector series. It's supposed to be hard to get. That is the point if the series. It is half enjoyment and half investment.

Wait, what? Where'd you get this? That may be implied, but I certainly don't recall TLG ever saying outright that these things were supposed to be investments, or even hard to get, for that matter. They're pricey, but they're pricey in accord with sets of their size, complexity and detail, that's all. They're "collector" sets simply because they aim to satisfy a collector market with designs and builds more realistic and substantial than the typical mass-market set aimed at eight-year-olds and laden with play features. But they're not exactly "limited edition" in the sense in which the term is typically applied to collectibles; there's no hard cap on the production runs. Instead, they just produce them for as long as they continue to sell well enough to warrant it. Even this Millennium Falcon, as expensive as it was, was still in production for well over two and a half years, and I'd bet TLG would still be producing it now today if enough people were better able to afford it that it could have continued to sell as well as it did at its full-price sales peak, whenever that was. I don't think they deliberately sought to limit availability duration; I think they just decided to end production when they did according to pretty much the same criteria they use to determine when to discontinue pretty much any other "regular" set, whether it's a $150 modular building or a $5 impulse from some action theme.

I fail to see how the sellers are scalpers, they didn't buy up all the sets. There were plenty of UCS sets, anyone could have one if they wanted. If anything, you all should be thanking the sellers otherwise you would have zero chance of getting the set.

The market determines the price, if there were more sellers, the price would be lower. Supply and demand.

Now, with this I do agree, and I think it's perfectly natural for such a desirable set to routinely command such a premium on the secondary market given that it's no longer in production and readily available at MSRP. I just think that given that there's obviously enough demand for it that TLG would have no problem selling more if they made it available again (which wouldn't necessarily be the case for every recently-discontinued sets, just a number of specific "special cases" like this one), it wouldn't hurt for them to do one more production run.

[fyrmedhatt]

Alienating some customers, and indirect ones at that (since TLG didn't sell anyone a Millennium Falcon for $1000 or more; anyone who spent the really huge bucks on it got it second hand), while pleasing others (the ones who would buy the reissue, obviously).

Wait, what? Where'd you get this? That may be implied, but I certainly don't recall TLG ever saying outright that these things were supposed to be investments, or even hard to get, for that matter. They're pricey, but they're pricey in accord with sets of their size, complexity and detail, that's all. They're "collector" sets simply because they aim to satisfy a collector market with designs and builds more realistic and substantial than the typical mass-market set aimed at eight-year-olds and laden with play features. But they're not exactly "limited edition" in the sense in which the term is typically applied to collectibles; there's no hard cap on the production runs. Instead, they just produce them for as long as they continue to sell well enough to warrant it. Even this Millennium Falcon, as expensive as it was, was still in production for well over two and a half years, and I'd bet TLG would still be producing it now today if enough people were better able to afford it that it could have continued to sell as well as it did at its full-price sales peak, whenever that was. I don't think they deliberately sought to limit availability duration; I think they just decided to end production when they did according to pretty much the same criteria they use to determine when to discontinue pretty much any other "regular" set, whether it's a $150 modular building or a $5 impulse from some action theme.

Now, with this I do agree, and I think it's perfectly natural for such a desirable set to routinely command such a premium on the secondary market given that it's no longer in production and readily available at MSRP. I just think that given that there's obviously enough demand for it that TLG would have no problem selling more if they made it available again (which wouldn't necessarily be the case for every recently-discontinued sets, just a number of specific "special cases" like this one), it wouldn't hurt for them to do one more production run.

You are truly one of the more reasonable voices I have heard when it comes to this debate on whether or not Lego should venture out to do rereleases of these sets, I feel there are many complaining about scalpers, failing to take into account the effects of supply and demand on discontinued products, and then there are many who feel lego should never rerelease sets because investors and collectors will lose their investment and get pissed off with Lego.

Many of the customers who paid dearly for such sets will not get pissed off, they will be glad to have the opportunity to pick up another copy, or they will be happy other people will be able to enjoy the sets. When it comes to Market Street and Cafe Corner, I am one of them, I have paid WAY above MSRP simply to purchase the set in pieces, but I'll celebrate the day they are rereleased, as I will be able to pick up more of them, and I will be happy for those who will be able to complete their modular streets. Checking on the Millennium Falcon on Bricklink, a total of 70 new and used sets have been sold in the last 6 months, so I hardly think there are going to be that many disgruntled second hand customers.

I agree with you completely in your assessment that these sets are not meant to be rare collectibles, but are toys, albeit expensive ones. Lego will probably rerelease or at least release something similar when it makes economic sense, I'm thinking in a timeframe of a few years when there are more potential customers out there. There is money to be made from these sets, and as a whole, I think the lego community will be excited to get their hands on them again.

[b4p]

just to be clear; i was not complaining about scalpers or sellers. I was saying that people shouldnt care so much about their feelings being hurt over a reissue. the people who should matter are the ones collecting, not the ones selling/hoarding

Edited October 12, 2011 by b4p

[Destroydacre]

I think a lot of people would say that the UCS Falcon was unaffordable at its retail price. As for the secondary market prices now, no one should be surprised. If anyone on here was unaware of the drastic increase in prices of Star Wars sets after they are discontinued then they just weren't paying attention. I'm honestly somewhat surprised the secondary market value isn't higher.