Yesterday, LEGO officially revealed the #75181 LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing Starfighter. This is an interesting choice by LEGO, as the Y-Wing was released numerous times in the past, including the now-retired #10134 LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing Attack Starfighter from 2004, and the currently available #75172 LEGO Star Wars Y-Wing Starfighter (released in 2017). However, Star Wars re-releases seem to be popular, so LEGO must have felt that it was time for a new Y-Wing. Below are the details of the set. 🙂
Here is the official description: Own part of Star Wars history with the Y-Wing Starfighter! This LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series model has an amazing level of detail, including an opening minifigure cockpit for the included Gold Leader minifigure, wheel-activated rotating ion cannons on top, retractable landing skids and space for the R2-BHD astromech droid. This fantastic Star Wars toy also comes with a tilting display stand and informational fact plaque, making it the perfect centerpiece for your collection. Measures over 2” (7cm) high, 24” (61cm) long and 11” (30cm) wide, and over 9” (24cm) high mounted on stand. Includes a Gold Leader minifigure and an R2-BHD droid. 1,967 pieces. Recommended for ages 14+.
The #75181 LEGO Star Wars UCS Y-Wing Starfighter will be available on May 4th with no early access for LEGO VIP members. Prices are as follows: US $199.99 – CA $279.99 – DE 199.99€ – UK £169.99 – DK 1799.00 DKK (Euro pricing varies by country). The set is already listed, so if you would like to see detailed images, visit the LEGO Star Wars section of the Online LEGO Shop.
LEGO has been pretty good at re-creating the shape of the Y-Wing. While the earliest LEGO Star Wars Y-Wings from the late 1990s and early 2000s were blocky, the #10134 LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing Attack Starfighter from 2004 (1,473 pieces, original price $120) was a beautiful set that still looks impressive to this day. In between then and now, we got a couple of more Y-Wings in regular size sets that also look great (#9495 LEGO Star Wars Gold Leader Y-Wing from 2012, and #75172 LEGO Star Wars Y-Wing Starfighter from 2017).
I think the #75181 LEGO Star Wars UCS Y-Wing Starfighter captures the Y-Wing really well, although the cockpit area is still not quite right, due to LEGO not having any windscreens shaped like on the original Y-Wing (image above from the Star Wars wiki). The greebling, however looks fantastic – something that LEGO does really well with all the interesting little bits and pieces they have in their parts selection.
It is also interesting to note that the #75181 LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing Starfighter is minifig scale. This is a new trend LEGO has been doing with the Ultimate Collector Series releases. It makes the sets more playable and appeal to a wider audience, however, it can also mean that there is less difference between the Ultimate Collector Series version and the regular version of a set. The #75181 LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing Starfighter comes with 1,967 pieces and sells for $199.99, while the #75172 LEGO Star Wars Y-Wing Starfighter comes with 691 pieces and sells for $59.99. They both look excellent, just one of them is larger with somewhat more detailing and greebling. While dedicated Star Wars fans may be willing to shell out money for the more expensive set, for most people the less expensive option would be just fine. But having choices is a good thing, so if LEGO feels comfortable carrying two Y-Wings at the same time, they must feel that there is a market for both.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Y-Wing? Do you have any of the previous versions? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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I’ve become a major fan of the UCS Star Wars Lego sets, and I missed this one so it’s definitely on my list to get.
Not my thing, but the greebling does look very good. It’s interesting that they are using the same canopy for all of them.
The cockpit seems too wide but looks good otherwise. Or, is it just the angle?
It does look a little wide, but I think that’s a combination of the windshield not being exactly right and the angle of the photo.
This Would be my first USC set if I decide to get this. I’m leaning towards a possible “yes”. The Y- Wing has been one of my favorite spaceships. Maybe next year Lego would do an A- Wing.
Y stands for YES, so yes, the Force is telling you to get it. The question is, is that the Dark Side’s temptation or the calling of the light. 😈
So excited for this!!! Huge difference between the old ucs y-wing and this one! The old one was good, but this one is even better!!!
The engine details are very good. But I’m confused about that pinkish color on the round wheel looking piece at the back. Is that printed or molded like that?
I think it’s due to the photo’s weird red- and- green- lighting…
If you look at the second photo, you can see that it’s just ordinary gray.
Yeah, it looks like the photo with the clean white background is the same as on the box image, and they forgot to take off the special effects. 😀
I like it and will probably get it, but I wish they would do (0r redo) Darth Vader’s TIE or a Tie Interceptor. The Interceptor especially needs at least a system scale because AFAIK they have only done one or two in the past, and it has been a while since one has been out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they indeed make them. LEGO Star Wars is an evergreen theme, so they have to keep pumping out new sets and re-releases. They usually have some stuff for the new films, and also for the classics. So there is a good chance that you will get your wish fulfilled. 😉
To be fair, “minifig scale” is often fudged to just mean “there’s a seat for a minifig to sit in”. The giant UCS sets are probably more correctly to “scale” than the smaller main line ones are.
What would really impress me though is a Lego Y Wing with removable cowlings so you could swap it between the original trilogy appearance and the prequel trilogy appearance.
Well, minifig scale is very approximate to begin with. As many have noted, minifigs aren’t built to scale to begin with, their body shape is like a square Oliver Hardy…
That’s very true about minifig scale. And yeah, they should probably do all the starships that changed though the episodes with customization options. They have already done it with the Falcon, so why not the others?
This is my May The Fourth Be With You prize! I have to wait until after work to go and purchase it. I hope it will be available. I also have a grandson turning 5 on Saturday to shop for. He asked for Lego for his birthday! I’m so proud. 🙂
Ahhh… training the next generation to be LEGO fans! Good job! 😀