[PRESS RELEASE] 75192 - UCS Millennium Falcon 2017

[ScottishDave]

I do own the original UCS Falcon, and over time I noticed a droop of 5mm at the front of one of the mandibles, and 3mm on the other.

This may class as "slight" or "severe" to different people, but it bugged the heck out of me.

I corrected this problem by rebuilding the frame supporting the mandibles to make it very solid: consisting of 2 rows of side-by-side technic beams, pinned together, sitting on two layers of plates, with a row of liftarms on the bottom. I attached it securely to the framework around the forward landing stand with more plates, technic box beams and pins.

The result does not droop :-).

Since the new UCS uses a very similar structure to the original, I suspect that something similar may be necessary there.

Edited October 31, 2017 by ScottishDave

[Whovastron]

3 hours ago, ScottishDave said:

I do own the original UCS Falcon, and over time I noticed a droop of 5mm at the front of one of the mandibles, and 3mm on the other.

This may class as "slight" or "severe" to different people, but it bugged the heck out of me.

I corrected this problem by rebuilding the frame supporting the mandibles to make it very solid: consisting of 2 rows of side-by-side technic beams, pinned together, sitting on two layers of plates, with a row of liftarms on the bottom. I attached it securely to the framework around the forward landing stand with more plates, technic box beams and pins.

The result does not droop :-).

Since the new UCS uses a very similar structure to the original, I suspect that something similar may be necessary there.

The thing is, I don't really want to take apart and restructure a set that cost so much money, I don't really have the confidence in myself to do it.

ive fiddled with the set a bit and have reduced the droop a bit, I'm fine with some drooping, but it's the fact that one is doing it more than the other that is bugging me. I think it's because there is a break in the side of the mandible structure to accommodate the cockpit, which is unfortunate.

 

[ScottishDave]

25 minutes ago, Whovastron said:

The thing is, I don't really want to take apart and restructure a set that cost so much money.

Fair enough.

I might post more about this in the Mod thread, when I get the time.

The differing degree of droop between the two sides was the thing which bothered me the most, and I agree that it was worse on the cockpit side.

[BigEl]

5 hours ago, ScottishDave said:

I do own the original UCS Falcon, and over time I noticed a droop of 5mm at the front of one of the mandibles, and 3mm on the other.

This may class as "slight" or "severe" to different people, but it bugged the heck out of me.

I corrected this problem by rebuilding the frame supporting the mandibles to make it very solid: consisting of 2 rows of side-by-side technic beams, pinned together, sitting on two layers of plates, with a row of liftarms on the bottom. I attached it securely to the framework around the forward landing stand with more plates, technic box beams and pins.

The result does not droop :-).

Since the new UCS uses a very similar structure to the original, I suspect that something similar may be necessary there.

 

It bugs me as well and triggered my OCD quite a bit, so I am really interested in any Mods that are done to prevent the dropping!

I could have sworn a saw a thread here on the forums that was about the dropping of the mandibles on the old UCS Falcon, but cant find it anymore.

 

Nevertheless, even though rebuilding the frame sounds like a nightmare that will require a lot of dissassembly, I am looking forward to any concrete stuff you or others will come up!

[segatasan]

Sorry to hear that :( I'm currently building the Falcon so any advice to do an anti-droop mod will be very helpful.

[karmajay]

If you don't feel confident about modding the inside, maybe some clear lego supports under the mandibles would solve the issue?

[Whovastron]

2 hours ago, karmajay said:

If you don't feel confident about modding the inside, maybe some clear lego supports under the mandibles would solve the issue?

That's currently the solution I'm going with, although it does spoil the look slightly

i must say most of the magic of owning the Falcon has faded over the last few days, some parts of the build are very flimsy and Can be difficult to put back into place if they break. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by Whovastron

[wwwmwww]

On 10/18/2017 at 3:28 PM, Whovastron said:

People should be receiving their VIP cards next week. I was surprised to learn that the wait is because they're engraving them with our names, pretty awesome in my opinion. I love this special treatment from Lego.

This comment was made 2 weeks ago.  I know I haven't seen any sign of my black VIP card yet,  Has anyone got theirs yet?

Carl

[Angry Warlock]

I emailed TLG at the weekend and was told all VIP cards would be sent out by the end of November - Quote - "

The special back VIP cards are coming from a galaxy far, far away so they are taking a bit of time to arrive. We received a special message from the crew bringing them over and they said everything should arrive until the end of November, so can you please bear with us a bit longer? The special VIP promotions are planned to happen only in 2018 so you won't miss out on them.

I hope this will give you some peace of mind, Mark. May the Force be with you! "

[Robianco]

Leicester Square store has some in stock apparently. If you're around that way it might be worth popping in.

[kungpo]

1 hour ago, Robianco said:

Leicester Square store has some in stock apparently. If you're around that way it might be worth popping in.

They do indeed. Just popped in and got one!

[elederberg]

So at this point for those of us who missed out on during the falcons release online is the only way to get a black VIP card to buy the set in stores?

[Markalus]

On 11/2/2017 at 6:43 AM, wwwmwww said:

This comment was made 2 weeks ago.  I know I haven't seen any sign of my black VIP card yet,  Has anyone got theirs yet?

Carl

I think any members would post if they received it, I certainly haven't. 

On 11/2/2017 at 6:51 AM, Angry Warlock said:

I emailed TLG at the weekend and was told all VIP cards would be sent out by the end of November - Quote - "

The special back VIP cards are coming from a galaxy far, far away so they are taking a bit of time to arrive. We received a special message from the crew bringing them over and they said everything should arrive until the end of November, so can you please bear with us a bit longer? The special VIP promotions are planned to happen only in 2018 so you won't miss out on them.

I hope this will give you some peace of mind, Mark. May the Force be with you! "

It sounds like they are being printed in a single run. Hopefully they will do another for those ordered between now and end of year. If demand for the Falcon has genuinely been far above what they anticipated (hard to believe they wouldn't have foreseen it imo) then the special VIP offers may end up being diluted from what was "planned". To be honest, I doubt the special offers will be that special. More likely a mechanism to encourage more spending like double VIP points. 

50 minutes ago, elederberg said:

So at this point for those of us who missed out on during the falcons release online is the only way to get a black VIP card to buy the set in stores?

Online or in store, and no matter your geographical location, was the original statement from TLG. But end of year is quickly approaching and stock is still severely limited. 

[kungpo]

I believe some online backorders are going through. My order from the launch date has changed to "In Warehouse" which I assume means it will ship soon.

[BrickieB]

I was on the local waiting list and got the call this afternoon. I've picked it up later and now I finally have my falcon! Now to find the time to build the beast :)

Happy camper!

[OCD_Chad]

I'm now putting the top pieces with the ventilation circles on.  They only connect to the frame with one pin and just lay on top loosely.  What the hell?

[Shadow_brick]

54 minutes ago, OCD_Chad said:

I'm now putting the top pieces with the ventilation circles on.  They only connect to the frame with one pin and just lay on top loosely.  What the hell?

Use a blue 1x2 pin with half axle

[OCD_Chad]

2 minutes ago, Shadow_brick said:

Use a blue 1x2 pin with half axle

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Midlife-crisis]

On 16.10.2017 at 5:41 PM, Flandy said:

The worms are out already, there's no point pretending this isn't happening. There are going to be a lot of potential customers that will see "Temporarily out of stock" for the next few weeks (months?) and go the Lepin route instead, and while I despise the lack of scruples of these Chinese  copycats, I feel like Lego only have themselves to blame this time. If they'd let people pre-order in advance of release, and metered them out at one per customer, or household, then there would be an awful lot less annoyed potential customers out there. As it is, it seems like it will be 2018 before anyone wanting to order one will even be able to place said order. Meanwhile the Chinese will be making out like bandits.

I know that Lepin is a touchy subject on here but I really hope Lego is reading this and learns from their mistakes. Launching one of the most eagerly anticipated sets the way they did was stupid, and has left many disappointed, and many others are making a fortune selling on the extra sets they bought due Lego's production ineptitude. 

 

exactly!

While LG isn´t able to produce a sufficient amount in time, the chinese copycat le... offers a few thousand of sets elsewhere. Thats weird.

Not sure if i get the Millenium Falcon in the next months!, but some people already sell 2 or more pieces on Bricklink for a 50% premium.

 

DISSAPOINTMENT is not the correct term for what i feel right now.

[Shadow_brick]

11 minutes ago, OCD_Chad said:

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Does this make sense?

[OCD_Chad]

33 minutes ago, Shadow_brick said:

 

Does this make sense?

I recognize that but what's a half axle?

[Terrasher]

11 minutes ago, OCD_Chad said:

I recognize that but what's a half axle?

Axle is the X-looking piece. Pin is the round one. 1x2 pin with half axle = half pin, half axle.

[Shadow_brick]

I use those on mine and it holds very solidly.

Thanks @Terrasher for explaining that. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Shadow_brick

[OCD_Chad]

44 minutes ago, Terrasher said:

Axle is the X-looking piece. Pin is the round one. 1x2 pin with half axle = half pin, half axle.

Picture?

[Terrasher]

On ‎07‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 7:45 PM, OCD_Chad said:

Picture?

*Snip*

You know those technic pieces that are long, usually black, grey or red and look like an cylinder and an X? That's an axle. The technic pieces that are small black cylinders are pins. You can just Google "LEGO axle piece" or "LEGO pin piece".

Edited November 12, 2017 by Lobot
: Please don't quote images, thanks :-)