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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