LEGO UCS A-Wing
May 2020
Dave
Dave
Manufacturer:
Lego, product code 75275
|
Size:
42 x 26 x 27 cm (Oversized Lego mini-figure scale)
|
Year of release:
2020
|
Price:
£179.99
|
On May 1st 2020 LEGO released the UCS (Ultimate Collector Series) A-Wing on the Lego.com webstore. I was already aware of the kit from the advertising LEGO had undertaken on the run up to the launch of the set.
Now, for me, the A Wing isn’t a ship I am particularly fond of. My personal favourites are the Y-Wing, B-Wing, U-Wing and ARC 170 (from the clone wars era), all more ‘interesting’ ships from the perspective of their shape. So, I didn’t have much enthusiasm for the set initially as the A-Wing has a much blander appearance. It’s not a cheap set, at £179.99 its £10 more than the Snowspeeder or Y-Wing (both USC sets that have been released in the last few years) and has 30(ish) bricks less than the former and 200(ish) bricks less than the latter. Admittedly, the bricks will be larger than the Y-Wing due to the nature of the ship itself, so perhaps weight-wise its comparable, but it did feel like a lift in cost and coupled with my perspective of the ship itself I was unconvinced. |
Over the course of the months leading up to release, LEGO released teaser videos of the set and, to be fair, they got my attention. I already have the UCS X-Wing, Y-Wing and Snowspeeder and this was looking like a decent set to go alongside them. So, with a bit of ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ I eventually decided to buy.
Given the current Covid-19 situation, LEGO shops were closed in the UK so my only option was to buy from LEGO.com. And LEGO were offering their Death Star II Battle miniset for free as an incentive for any purchase over £75 over the ‘May the 4th’ weekend – from 1st May through to 4th May. So, I bought on May 1st to ensure I got the set (and the free miniset). It arrived on 6th May and my unboxing of the set can be seen here on the right. |
|
|
As with other, recent, UCS sets the box has a definite ‘luxury’ look to it, with a photograph of the model artfully overlaying a solid black background. This luxury look is continued inside the box, the instruction manual also adopts a clean black finish, very much at odds with ‘typical’ LEGO sets and their light background. As with other previous UCS sets there is an introduction about the A Wing itself, using information provided by Lucasfilm along with an explanation from LEGO of why this ship was chosen as a UCS set. There is also a brief interview with both the Creative Director for LEGO Star Wars and the designer of the set itself.
The set itself is split over 11 numbered bags, each relating to a defined section of the instruction book, making the build simpler, and again, in keeping with other larger LEGO sets. I was really impressed by the build, much more than I expected if I am totally honest. Some clever methods to allow you to allow you to build a more organic shape than many Star Wars spacecraft, with a sleek, smooth, curved overall form. |
The final build is fairly robust, with the internal frame – comprised of LEGO Technic pieces holding the outer skin of LEGO, and you can lift the finished model by grabbing any of the main body. The wings that run through the engines on each side are the only fragile piece of the ship, but that is to be expected. You also get a special edition of the A-Wing pilot as a minifigure, but as with other sets in this range, he is too small to sit in the cockpit. Perhaps LEGO should bring out a slightly larger minifigure range just for these sets?
So, my final thoughts… I have become a bit of a fan for the A-Wing, despite my first impressions. What LEGO have done is very, very clever and the model is one that will go proudly into the collection alongside the Y- & X-Wings and the Snowspeeder. May the Force be with you… |
|