User blog:Brikkyy13/Will there be a new UCS Millennium Falcon

From Brickipedia, the LEGO Wiki

UCS Falcon.png

By now you've probably heard the rumor, this year's May the Fourth set could possibly be a re-release of 10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon. The original set from 2007 is arguably one of the most valuable sets ever produced, fetching incredibly high prices on the secondary market, so seeing a new set could be great news to many people (not including the investors). Is there any truth to this rumor though?

From what I gather, the following points are what are leading people to believe there will be a new Falcon:

  • It's the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. Given that the 30th anniversary was celebrated with the original Falcon, many people believe that LEGO will do another commemorative UCS set.
  • The box of 75159 Death Star has a silhouette of the Millennium Falcon, and it featured more prominently than other silhouettes on the box.
  • Set 75144 was originally listed on Brickset as "Snowspeeder" and tagged with "Ultimate Collector's Series," but has recently been changed to simply "?" and tagged as "Normal."
  • An apparently credible source has said that there will be a new Millennium Falcon this year, and it will contain both circular and rectangular radar dishes so it can be displayed as either the original trilogy or sequel trilogy version.

These are all good points; however, to me, they all seem unrelated to an extent. Given that it is the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, there is a high chance that LEGO has a special release in the pipeline, and there is precedent for it to be a large set. However, looking at promotions from recently, it wouldn't be surprising if any 40th anniversary release is simply a polybag. In 2007, all LEGO Star Wars sets were branded with a big "30th Anniversary" label. Nothing like that has been seen on any of this year's sets.

The box of the Death Star is another argument altogether. Why design it to showcase one silhouette over the others? It does seem like LEGO could be teasing the release of a new Falcon. On the flip side, the silhouette is positioned directly behind the included TIE Advanced. In the film, the Falcon shoots down Darth Vader's TIE so Luke can have a clean shot at the Death Star's exhaust port. Probably the biggest point to consider for the silhouette is the fact that it's emphasized by a white glow. One could argue it's a design choice that symbolizes the ship appearing to shoot down the TIE, or it could be argued that it's a teaser for something to come.

Brickset changing the listing of 75144 is a tough one. From what I gather, the idea of 75144 being a UCS Snowspeeder was put forward by C4MSci, and I don't think it was confirmed by anyone else (I'm not too sure here, someone feel free to correct me). However, C4MSci was recently banned from Eurobricks. I don't know why he was banned, but it could be argued that because he was banned information that only he has given should be taken with a grain of salt. Brickset strives for accuracy in their database, so I wouldn't put it past them to remove any information perceived by the LEGO community as a whole as untrustworthy.

On the note of only one person with information, the "fact" of the set including two radar dishes has only been presented by one person. I don't recognize their name, but just because I don't doesn't mean they're not trustworthy. A lot of other people say he is, so I'll go along with this for the moment. Again, this source says there will be a new Falcon and it will include two radar dishes. If this was a solid fact, don't you think someone else could confirm it?

I'm not saying I don't believe this rumor, but I'm not saying I do. Even though there are signs that we might be getting a new Falcon, don't be surprised if it doesn't happen. In my opinion, at this point it is a 50/50 chance that there will be one. I think we should all wait for more info before losing our minds.

Even though I think it's too early to tell if we will be getting a Falcon this year, I say the chances of there eventually being a re-release of 10179 are fairly high. Much like 10188 and 75159, any re-release will have updates - and a price hike. What could we expect in a re-release? Please keep in mind that what follows is simply me speculating. I don't want to see my name popping up in a Eurobricks thread saying something like "Brikkyy13 said there's gonna be a new Falcon with two Han Solos!!!!!11!!1!"

10179 came with 5195 pieces, cost $499.99 USD and included Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Any re-release will most likely have more pieces and almost definitely have a price increase. Price is probably the easiest to calculate. Given that $500 in 2007 is approximately $580 in 2017, I'd say a re-release this year would be between $650 and $700 USD.

As for piece count, I think that a reasonable amount of parts to justify a $700 price tag would be around 5600. I don't see the Falcon cracking the 6000 piece milestone.

As for minifigure selection, if the source is to be believed and the re-release comes with two radar dishes, I would not be surprised to see an aged Han Solo variant taking Obi-Wan Kenobi's place in the lineup. In addition, I think it isn't a stretch to say that Rey and Finn would also be added to the lineup. This means that there would be seven figures in total: Young Han, Old Han, Chewbacca, Luke, Leia, Rey and Finn. In addition to swapping out the radars, the 4 respective minifigures could take their spots in the cockpit. However, if the rectangular radar dish is not included, I suspect the minifigure lineup may not change.

Once again, that was all me speculating.

So there it is, my blog analyzing the possibility of a new UCS Millennium Falcon. It's my belief that at this time it's too early to tell if the rumors are true or not, so we should all calm down a bit just in case. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Update: 7th August 2017[edit source]

Yeah, okay, I'm pretty sure this thing is coming now. I didn't mention it above, but I've believed it to be true from day 1; I just had a gut feeling. So much so that I began saving money back in May to buy it on day 1. I haven't updated this blog until now because I thought there still wasn't much information and people were just acting too hopeful and blowing things out of proportion (e.g.: There's a Millennium Falcon on this box, in the background of this video, etc. therefore it must be confirmed).

If you haven't seen it yet, LEGO posted this on twitter a week ago, indicating something BIG was coming. Other FOLs were quick to notice that it appeared as if the photo had been edited in such a way that it showed what was under the paper in some cases, with some people posting edited "x-ray" images. At first I didn't really believe it and thought it was either a) more wishful thinking or b) some photoshop prank. Then I looked at the original photo myself for a little bit and I think it's pretty clear what is there and what isn't there... and what is there is the Falcon itself.

So, yeah, I'm pretty excited now. I've wanted the original UCS Falcon for years now and hopefully this set is what I'm looking for. Hopefully the Aussie price isn't too steep (compared to the aftermarket prices of 10179 it has to be good. I'm just gonna be thankful if I can grab this thing for under $1,500) and it looks as good as the old one. Really, the only thing that could disappoint me is if it were smaller than the last one (if it comes in that box, size won't be an issue... it'll be finding a place to put the damn thing).

If anyone else has something to say regarding this subject, comments are down below, can't wait to hear what you guys here think about it. I think I've done enough talking because, frankly, this set has been the number 1 thing on other sites for weeks now. I think it's safe to assume LEGO will do some teasers like they did with the Saturn V and we'll be seeing more within the week. We'll probably get a leak in ~2 weeks followed by official pictures no later than the 1st of September. It's all about patience from here on out; now we play the waiting game...

...the waiting game sucks, let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Comments (6)
Add your comment
Brickipedia welcomes all comments. If you do not want to be anonymous, register or log in. It is free.


avatar

BerrybrickLegendary Brickipedian

82 months ago
Score 2++
Hate to break it to you, but images of what that large box actually is have leaked, and they aren't the Falcon.... Here's the link, but prepare to be heartbroken.
avatar

Brikkyy13Outstanding Brickipedian

82 months ago
Score 1++
Oh. My. God. Forget the Falcon, this is a million times better. Are they doing preorders?
avatar

Anonymous user #1

89 months ago
Score 0++
I'd assume CM4S has been banned for the same reason everywhere bans him - because he is good at annoying people
avatar

NovaHawkLegendary Brickipedian

89 months ago
Score 0++

"it could be argued that because he was banned information that only he has given should be taken with a grain of salt" - since when? He's one of the most reliable sources out there. I highly doubt he was banned for misleading information, but there's really no point in speculating.

Everything you've said about possible reasons for it happening makes perfect sense. I can definitely see it happening- I've got no interest in buying one personally but I can see the appeal I guess. I think the rumoured feature of switching dishes is pretty cool, and can see that figure lineup you've suggested the most likely. I just hope they don't do something stupid like including an exclusive figure (ie, Nien Nunb).

(a bit off-topic): what you do think about the Episode VIII TIE Bomber? If nrg didn't lead with "Maybe" then it'd be certain since he's nrg. I'm trying very hard to not be pessimistic about the rest of the sequel trilogy, but all we know at the moment is that there are two ships- A-wings and TIE Bombers... both remakes of OT ships. Again. Yet we got heaps of cool new ships in Rogue One :/
avatar

Rock-O-JelloNovice

89 months ago
Score 0++
I've never really cared about the spaceships in Star Wars, I'm more into it for the Force/fantasy part of it.
avatar

Brikkyy13Outstanding Brickipedian

89 months ago
Score 0++

I don't think he was banned for misleading info, but some people may argue that. Whatever reason he was banned for, that's between him and the EB mods.

If the set does happen, I think any exclusive figures would be exclusive variants.

It doesn't surprise me that A-Wings and TIE Bombers are rumored, it just scares me because what if Disney tries to go down the nostalgia fueled remake route again? As for the set, I'm kind of hoping it isn't a TIE Bomber but rather Kylo Ren's rumored TIE advanced. (Maybe we'll be lucky and get both, or maybe we'll finally get another OT bomber and it'll just somehow be in VIII as a stolen ship or something.)