10212 Imperial Shuttle Revealed - Updated

[SDIronClaw]

Walked into my somewhat local Lego store on Friday and they had like 5 of them on the shelve. Went back on Sunday and they were wiped out......must be a real popular set.

[Skafte]

Bricklink says it's 3985g, which converts to about a dozen cubic feet or such.

[Andi]

I guess the heaviest thing at this set is the instructions? Like it was by the Death Star.

Ed, which flight company do you fly? I discovered that with Lufthansa - if you have about 30 kg - it is cheaper to check-in a second bag but that one too heavy bag. A second bag up to 23 kg costs $50, one heavy bag with about 30 kg costs $150.

[Gingerbeard Man]

I guess the heaviest thing at this set is the instructions? Like it was by the Death Star.

I don't think it is quite that bad. It is four of the normal "large" booklets (A4 size, about 80 pages each). I wonder if it would be possible to mail them as "printed matter" and if you would save anything by doing so rather than transporting them with the rest of the set.

one heavy bag with about 30 kg costs $150.

The first time I flew home from University for Christmas I had to take all my books with me because the college rooms were rented out to conference participants between terms. I turned up at Heathrow with a suitcase weighing 41 kg. The lady at the check-in had a fit and covered it with bright red warning stickers "Danger! Heavy". I don't think the extra fee was that much though. I was able to pay it with the last of my English cash, so it can't have been more than about £20-25. (This was British Airways in 1992.)

[Andi]

They changed the luggage rules this year in January. Unfortunately.

No ring file this time, just 4 booklets? This might indeed be possible to send as letter. Could you weight them? Please?

[Gingerbeard Man]

Here you go:

Book 1 - 169g
Book 2 - 170g
Book 3 - 136g
Book 4 - 162g

All four books together - 636g

Within Germany it would be possible to send them as a Maxibrief (up to 1000g) for EUR 2.20. I have no idea what international rates are like.

[Andi]

Thanks. This is indeed not very heavy.

[Skafte]

Has anyone tried to motorize the wings? I am absolutely crap at Technic construction, but nevertheless I ordered a PF battery box and motor from Bricklink. I'd like a tip or two from someone more experienced on how to get it all together. I think I should have gotten another motor, guess my AT-AT has to donate after all...

[Inzane]

I don't like this recent trend of including minifigs in a UCS set.

Trying to please too many people.

The UCS sets were supposed to be about accuracy (and hence to be to-scale as much as possible with.... itself. Not forcing things to minifig scale), a nice large complex build, and marketed towards the adult crowd.

/rant.

[ccandgc]

I myself, as a member of the adult crowd, particularly enjoy the minifigs included in all the sets. A lot of people go nuts over the minifigs....I doubt Lego will leave them out of sets in the future(just guessing) but I think getting an exclusive minifig in a set will cause it to sell....

[Voice of Reason]

I don't like this recent trend of including minifigs in a UCS set.

Trying to please too many people.

The UCS sets were supposed to be about accuracy (and hence to be to-scale as much as possible with.... itself. Not forcing things to minifig scale), a nice large complex build, and marketed towards the adult crowd.

/rant.

As an adult builder, I prefer the size and scope of the UCS sets but I also like the minifigs. Often I only buy the system sets because of the minifigs. Including minifigs in a UCS set is a benefit for me if it saves me from buying a system set with the same figures.

[Gooker1]

I also like the addition of minifigs, b/c it gives a sense of scale that is much appreciated. I bet the previous UCS were to scale before, but probably like 1/xxth or something like that. I'm just imagining the UCS XWing w/ a minifig inside. Anyone ever try that?

[Robzula]

I've heard the X-Wing fits an action figure and the Interceptor is just a tad too small for one, but removing a plate or two allows enough room for an action figure, so no, they're not to scale with minifigs. The only UCS style set I have is 3451 Sopwith Camel, which is action figure sized as well.

[Bellicose]

Having minifigs in a UCS kit standardizes it to a sense of scale - without it, there's no incentive. Plastic and die-cast airplane models are all built in specific scales, so for this to become more than a toy and became an actual collector's item (hence the "C" in "UCS"), shouldn't it be in some sort of scale scheme?

Yes I realize it's impossible to build an ISD to scale, or the death star. But for the smaller ships, why not try?

[Gingerbeard Man]

I'm just imagining the UCS XWing w/ a minifig inside. Anyone ever try that?

All I can say is that it's a snug fit for one of the Technic figures.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2792426
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2792427

[Skafte]

I put one of these in mine:



It works quite well. I'd like to rip his hair of and try on a Luke or Wedge helmet, but I guess they are too small. The orange jumpsuit looks good, anyway.

[dylla]

Can anyone explain to me why this is so expensive?? I mean it's awesome, but 2500 pieces and 5 figures?

For almost the same price I could get Medieval Market Village, King's Castle, Kingdom Advent Calendar, Knights Battle Pack and Dragons Battle Pack. That's a higher piece count, plus it includes a castle, 2 houses, a Wizard, a King, a Queen, a Prince, 22 soldiers, 8 peasants, 2 horses, 2 cows, a pig, food, weapons, armor, etc. etc...

What am I missing here?

[ccandgc]

I just finished mine today.....its pretty darn big! Those 3 wings are very impressive.Ny 9 year old son built 2 of the 3 wings and most of the fuselage....Im very happy I got it!

[onions]

Can anyone explain to me why this is so expensive?? I mean it's awesome, but 2500 pieces and 5 figures?

For almost the same price I could get Medieval Market Village, King's Castle, Kingdom Advent Calendar, Knights Battle Pack and Dragons Battle Pack. That's a higher piece count, plus it includes a castle, 2 houses, a Wizard, a King, a Queen, a Prince, 22 soldiers, 8 peasants, 2 horses, 2 cows, a pig, food, weapons, armor, etc. etc...

What am I missing here?

other than the obvious? the cost of the license.

if you'd rather get the kingdom stuff, get the kingdom stuff. no one's forcing you to buy it.

[kyphur]

I'm just counting down until Wednesday (Oct 6th), gonna hit the Lego Store after work and grab this set... Double VIP Points is a bonus.

I just hope I have the shelves for my parts bins done by then to I can actually start the build.