Official Announcement: 10227 B-wing Starfighter

[Flynn]

As for Jabba's Palace ... the price will be related to sheer amount of brand new figures and moulded parts in that one ...

I'm hesitant to accept that as the answer, though, because even if we accept the mark-up for all the new figures, it's still exorbitantly overpriced. $120 for 717 pieces is bad no matter how many figs you throw at it.

[theone]

i love the design, it is my favourite models i've seen since the imperial shuttle, but the price may be too much for me. The lack of min figures is a shame though, also the mini fig scale would be nice so it could go with my shuttle

[Crusader]

I was really hoping that this would be $100 mini-fig scale UCS ship. The design looks cool, but I can't justify $200 for somehting that will just sit on a shelf. The silver lining is that I suspect that Lego will have multiple sales on this set that will make it more attractive price-wise.

It's obscure enough of a ship that maybe it can be picked up on a great clearance.

[bigospedros]

I'm hesitant to accept that as the answer, though, because even if we accept the mark-up for all the new figures, it's still exorbitantly overpriced. $120 for 717 pieces is bad no matter how many figs you throw at it.

It's pretty clear that in recent times, whenever the set has a lot of brand new figures in it, the initial retail price is high. As I said, the price per piece ratio is too simplistic. You really need to consider what the pieces are. Not all pieces and colours (and combinations of such) will cost the same to make. It's also correct, in my opinion, that a set which contains unique parts or figures should carry most of the cost of the manufacture in it's price.

And, as always, at the end of the day, if you don't like the price, don't buy it, or, better still, decide a price you are willing to pay and wait for a deal that brings it in at that price. If that deal doesn't materialise, well, then you'll miss out.

Anyway, going back to topic, I'm still not a fan of this set. I quite like the "real life" ship itself and I'd like to be able to re-display the most recent MF "scale" set (it's packed away), but I can't bring myself to like this or most UCS sets in general. I'm also not a fan of the cockpit design ... it just doesn't look right.

I should say though, despite what I said earlier in this thread, I must have a small soft spot for UCS sets, as I have recently ordered the UCS JSF, but only because it was 50% off and there's free shipping! Thinking about it, I also own the UCS AT-ST (although that's packed away too) and the UBC General Grievous (also packed away!). But they were also bought on the cheap.

Perhaps people will get their wish and if this is not popular, S@H will eventually have to discount it on a grand scale.

[sparkart]

I think it looks spectacular, even if the proportions seem a bit off. The shapes and details are certainly there, but it looks like the Hasbro toy was used as a reference, instead of a studio scale model. The cockpit, engine block, and weapons pod looks a bit large for the wings, IMHO.

At first I was thinking that an opportunity was missed to introduce a rebel pilot minifig with one of the less common helmet designs (those funky ones with the giant chins), even if he wasn't to-scale with the B-wing, but now I'm thinking the lack of any minifigs will cause this set to sell poorly, and I can get it cheaper.

[harrison]

Looks pretty bang on in scale to me

[Blacknight]

You have a problem with minifigs being included with a set that is close to scale but don't blink at mixing the sacred brick with other companies' products? Wouldn't Technic pieces be a better solution to the sag?

No, not mix. I'm not even sure how that would work. Simply noting that Lego isn't the best construction toy for all types of models. Things like mechs and large starships tend to be fragile, or overly heavy, or suffer sag issues when made out of Lego. Some other company's building toy products are better for making these sorts of things. But since most of the good ones aren't even in business anymore, and they certainly don't have the Star Wars license, I'm left with having to say this about the B-Wing: "this particular ship/set simply may not work that well made out of Lego, so I'll pass on it in favour of other Lego models that play to Lego's strengths as a building toy". Clear now?

[RenegadeClone]

Not too bad. Of course, not a patch on my own design Interesting how Lego used my idea for the cockpit - using the JSF cockpit.




http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=RenegadeClone

[twentythree]

^^^
Yes, I understand your point of view now that it has been clarified. Lego can be flimsy when building models that are heavy or contain long/thin sections.

[Sinestro00]

I, for one, like the fact that this doesn't come with minifigs. Helps me convince the wife it's not really a toy

Price does seem a little high though. Probably the new pieces (as others have said) plus the SW license. Guess I'll need to sell off some stuff to help with the purchase.

[DarthBuilder]

When I first heard about this UCS Set being released I had mixed feelings. I was concerned about the stability of the long sections and if at $200 was it a worthwhile addition to my UCS collection. Specifically finding a home for it on a shelf. Now that this set has been announced and I have taken several looks at it, its really growing on me. I guess its mostly the over all uniqueness of the ships design alone. A single pilot minifig would be nice but "eh". I think I will give this some time but most likely pull the trigger and buy when I can find it for a few bucks cheaper.

[fallenangel327]

To be honest, this set is just a cut above minifig-scale.

If I'm calculating this correctly it should be something like 1:26 scale, which is a good deal larger than what most would call minifig scale (which I tend to like around 1:44).

Here goes nothing:

Assuming that the X-wing is about 12.8m long (from the 42’ length, which in turn comes from the 21" length of the 1:24 studio miniature) and that the B-wing is about 18.9m “high” (cockpit to main wing-mounted weaponry, going off scaling for the SMT kit), a LEGO B-wing should be about 17.8" “high” in comparison to 9493’s 12" length. 10227’s “height” is given as 26", indicating that it is about 46% larger than minifigure scale. (I’d say 9493 is pretty close to stud-to-foot minifigure scale).

It’s more than I thought it’d be, but use canon figures or ERTL kit scaling and you get an even larger scale difference.

Anyone else care to check it? (I may have to make a run for my money now that Aeroeza frequents these boards. )

[harrison]

Thought i would post this here, incase you haven't seen it, it's not the best review but it should give you an idea of what to expect.

http://www.1000steine.com/brickset/temp/10227review.pdf