“It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 7,541 pieces.”
September 2, 2017 8:52 AM   Subscribe

New Millennium Falcon is Lego’s biggest set ever [Polygon] [Star Wars Lego Blue] “Lego has revealed a new Millennium Falcon set for their Ultimate Collector’s Series line. Tipping the scales at 7,541 pieces, it’s Lego’s largest set ever released. When built, the new set is eight inches high, 33 inches long and 22 inches wide. That’s really big. Don’t believe us? Here’s Lego designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer cradling it in his arms.” [image gallery: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
posted by Fizz (38 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
And it will cost $7,541*. Like every other Lego set I've really wanted.

*ok it's $799.99, but most likely people will buy it and sell it at a ballooned price on ebay. Bastards.
posted by littlesq at 9:26 AM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I would like to see it go for a ride on the massive LEGO roller coaster.
posted by storybored at 9:57 AM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


What a piece of junk.
posted by cazoo at 10:05 AM on September 2, 2017 [13 favorites]


hmm maybe I could win one in a poker game
posted by rifflesby at 10:12 AM on September 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


Jesus, that could render at least an acre of carpet uncrossable at night.

(Also, I want it, sure, but....dial it back at little, woudja Lego? Eight hundred bucks?!)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:14 AM on September 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


At that price, I wouldn't be at all surprised a lot of them ended up on a storage box waiting until it is out of stock and doubles or triples in value. And as a fine piece as it is... man, LEGO at this point only seems to care about modular city buildings and licenses. Considering how freakin' expensive this one is, I feel Disney has altered their deal, and LEGO is praying they don't alter it any further.
posted by lmfsilva at 10:22 AM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's expensive, but not outside of typical lego pricing. 10¢ per piece +/- 5% is how it always is, this just seems atypical coz it's an utterly crazy number of pieces.
posted by rifflesby at 10:28 AM on September 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


10¢ per piece +/- 5% is how it always is,

I'm not so big into Lego, though I do appreciate the nostalgia and the warm feelings that are generated whenever I think about that part of my childhood.

That being said, this is interesting. I've never really thought about Lego in this way. I wonder if this cost/pricing been consistent over time or has that been adjusted at any point to reflect current market prices. Hmm.
posted by Fizz at 10:39 AM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


So is there any overlap between Sword Guys and Lego Guys?
posted by clawsoon at 10:46 AM on September 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


*grabby hands*
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:57 AM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I wouldn't be at all surprised a lot of them ended up on a storage box waiting until it is out of stock and doubles or triples in value.

I'm not expecting to see many of these in the wild. A lot of the folks in my Lego club still have the last UCS Millennium Falcon in storage waiting for the right time to sell it.

LEGO at this point only seems to care about modular city buildings and licenses

I don't disagree with this as a general statement. Classic themes like castle, space, and pirates don't really exist anymore in favor of licensed sets. Even city doesn't seem to get much attention these days. That said, Ninjago is Lego IP and the sets in that line, especially the sets for the upcoming movie like the Ninjago City set, are pretty cool. Lego Ideas is also generating interesting sets these days, like the Saturn V and the Old Fishing Store.

I wonder if this cost/pricing been consistent over time or has that been adjusted at any point to reflect current market prices.

There are lots of really interesting details about Lego prices over time in this article. In a nutshell, the price of a Lego set has been pretty consistent over the past 20 years, but during that period the price per piece has gone down and the number of pieces in a set has gone up.
posted by HiddenInput at 11:03 AM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]




*Some assembly required
posted by dr_dank at 12:05 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


We dropped by a Lego store this morning on a whim and they had one on display. In fact they had a lot of Star Wars themed stuff on display. In fact every store catering to stuffed animal collectors, toy collectors, nerd media collectors, game collectors, etc., seemed to have shoved aside any gesture towards product diversity to be predominantly Star Wars collectibles vendors.

The Lego store was our last stop in the mall. I overheard the store manager telling another patron proudly that they were the only Lego store in the area to have one of these Millennium Falcons on display, and incidentally all the stores in the shopping mall had gotten massive shipments of Star Wars tat earlier this week and they were all basically leaking Star Wars out of every seam.

Later my partner explained to me that there's another Star Wars movie coming out soon. Oh.
posted by ardgedee at 12:09 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's getting silly now.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:36 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Being an adult means that I really want this, I COULD go buy it, but I won't buy it because I just can't bring myself to spend that much on a single Lego set.

But god damn do I want that.
posted by bondcliff at 12:44 PM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


OMG OMG OMG I WANT ONE!!!

I already have a Lego Yoda, which sits in a position of pride on my mantle. This would not sit on my mantle, but I can put hooks in the ceiling.
posted by hippybear at 12:44 PM on September 2, 2017


I'm not expecting to see many of these in the wild. A lot of the folks in my Lego club still have the last UCS Millennium Falcon in storage waiting for the right time to sell it.

If it wasn't last week, I'd be surprised if they didn't start dropping soon.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:54 PM on September 2, 2017


Y'know...it's cool and all but, at that scale, to me the Legoness of the thing seems to get in the way of the effect.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


This set is really beautiful, and includes parts and characters to customize it for Episode V or VIII. Nice touch!

LEGO at this point only seems to care about modular city buildings and licenses

I don't disagree with this as a general statement. Classic themes like castle, space, and pirates don't really exist anymore in favor of licensed sets. Even city doesn't seem to get much attention these days.


I'll disagree with this as a general statement. LEGO releases like, one modular city building a year. And while licensing are a huge part of what saved the company in 1999 (Star Wars), the classic themes, and new non-licenced themes are still a big part of the line. Castle for the past few years has been Nexo Knights. Space is admittedly tricky to do next to the behemoth of Star Wars, but they did Space themes in 2001 and 2007-2013, and also as a sub theme of City in 2011 and 2015. (Source: brickset.com)

I don't think kids really know much about, or are very interested in pirates this decade. Not like we did/were 40 years ago. But Pirates and Ninjas have a similar coolness factor. And LEGO Ninjago is in its 7th year, and is so popular that it's getting a film in theaters this month. (Jackie Chan choreographed all the fight scenes!)

City may not get much attention in the press, but it certainly gets it from LEGO. It is still the largest theme (or possibly second largest, next to Star Wars), and it generally gets four new sub-themes a year (this fall is Jungle and Coast Guard).

Current non-licenced themes include City, Nexo Knights, Ninjago, Speed Champions (arguably), Friends, Elves, Creator, Technic, half of Juniors, and Classic (basic bricks).

Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the exact objection is to licenced sets. Nearly every LEGO set ever builds a scene and tells a story. If you don't like the story, just dump all the parts in a bucket and built whatever.
posted by LEGO Damashii at 1:08 PM on September 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


7541 pieces in the set, but each set has two random pieces removed.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:14 PM on September 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Han can make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, which is faster than you can make this Millenium Falcon
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:27 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Saw this at the Lego store this morning. My GOD is it both big and detailed. I have no idea where we'd put it, and our house is pretty big. Like many AFOLs we have a lotttt of models on display already and could make more room by breaking down one of the older ones, but even if we did, this beast is so wide I can't think of a shelf in our house where it might fit. I think this is one to buy for teambuilding events at the office or something. Plus then you could put it on your company's credit card instead of your own.

IDK. I love my Lego and I love my Star Wars but this is one of those sets like that big Death Star where I just don't know where I'd put it.

It's an impressive effort. But I think it's more Lego Millennium Falcon than I need in my house.
posted by potrzebie at 2:54 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


MetFilter: More Lego Millennium Falcon than I need in my house.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:43 PM on September 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Han can make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, which is faster than you can make this Millenium Falcon

Parsecs are a measure of distance, and something something orbital mechanics something something, and so yeah, he can probably fly that distance in less time than I would take to build this Lego thing.

but I still want one.
posted by hippybear at 3:46 PM on September 2, 2017


it’s Lego’s largest set ever released [so far]
posted by fairmettle at 5:01 PM on September 2, 2017


My wife said I was not allowed to spend $800 on Lego, which lead me to discover the Bucket Wheel Excavator is only $279 on the Lego shop right now.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:12 PM on September 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


it’s Lego’s largest set ever released [so far]

size queen
posted by hippybear at 5:23 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


My favourite part of them releasing this is the howls of all the people sitting on the (now inferior) previous UCS Falcon hoping to make a pile of money on ebay. There's one on there now with a current bid of 1300 euro and reserve not met. Good luck with that.
posted by markr at 6:32 PM on September 2, 2017


I happen to be visiting my inlaws, so the old Lego is out and I happen to have a 1988 Lego catalogue next to me. A single replacement piece for the train track costed $14.95 for 8 straightaway pieces and up to $18.95 for a single crossover. A baseplate costed $11.95. A duplo play farm was $69.95. To be honest, I think the cost of Lego is way lower than it was 30 years ago... also, hopefully my brother isn't reading this, because he will totally be getting this for his 40th birthday this fall.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 8:39 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


T.D. Strange: "My wife said I was not allowed to spend $800 on Lego, which lead me to discover the Bucket Wheel Excavator is only $279 on the Lego shop right now."

I got my younger son this for Christmas last year, it's pretty sweet.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:46 PM on September 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Like many AFOLs we have a lotttt of models on display already and could make more room by breaking down one of the older ones, but even if we did, this beast is so wide I can't think of a shelf in our house where it might fit.

My previous-edition UCS Millennium Falcon lives on top of the fridge.
posted by rifflesby at 9:04 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


There is no discussion of Lego and Star Wars without Death Star Canteen
posted by jadepearl at 11:02 PM on September 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Han can make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, which is faster than you can make this Millenium Falcon

Parsecs are a measure of distance, and something something orbital mechanics something something, and so yeah, he can probably fly that distance in less time than I would take to build this Lego thing.

but I still want one.
posted by hippybear at 6:46 PM on September 2 [+] [!]


This is not the plate of beans you're looking for.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:54 AM on September 3, 2017


did I mention on MetaFilter yet the conversation I had with my brother about how Star Wars is probably actually set in the Dune universe and "a long time ago" is relative to post God-Emperor timelines ca. 15000 A.G. and the galaxy far away is somewhere in the Scattering regions and Chewie is actually a guild navigator wearing a mobile ghillie suit and they actually did make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs because that's a measurement of the unfolded space through which they did conventional travel after having bent space for most of the distance through spice-fueled precognizant navigation

also Leia remembers her mother even though Luke doesn't because Padme and Leia are both Reverend Mothers and Padme didn't die of a broken heart or of childbirth complication but because she didn't successfully transmute the Water of Death in the womb whereas the preborn Leia did (and helped Luke out a bit there in the process like a good sister but he didn't get the good stuff so he's still just kind of a farm boy dingus and can only manifest his prescience in a passive way, hence his "command" of "the Force")

(also "force" in that corner of the post-Leto galactic diaspora is the regional linguistic variation on the older Galach word "will", so that in Luke/Leia/Han/et al's corner of the universe they say e.g. "it is by force alone I set my mind in motion", often idiomatically paraphrased as just "use the force")

(also the clones in the clone wars were all just gholas)
posted by cortex at 8:09 AM on September 3, 2017 [13 favorites]


"Tipping the scales at 7,541 pieces" is a horrifying mixed metaphor
posted by stevil at 8:09 AM on September 3, 2017


cortex: I love you and you're an amazing person but don't ever do this SW/Dune mashup again. You got it out of your system, but that's enough.
posted by hippybear at 8:44 AM on September 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


To be honest, I find this to be a very impressive product, but was and am more impressed with this fan's Millenium Falcon Lego project from the late '90s. No special pieces, roughly the same size.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:53 AM on September 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


« Older Birth of the sticky: how neanderthals made glue.   |   We all float down here Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments