What's this? Latest BASIC set? No it's:

Set: 10019 Ultimate Collector Series Rebel Blockade Runner

Year: 2001

Pieces: 1748

Price: I bought it for £135 in 2002

With the eagerly awaited Tantive IV just around the corner, I thought it was high time her UCS elder sister got a bit of limelight, and thus filling a hole in KimT's excellent Review Index.

The Box Black and white, typical of early UCS sets. Mine has withstood the test of time reasonably well, considering it has moved home 5 times. No relief printing on the front, unlike the X Wing and Tie Interceptor.

Just imagine there's something interesting on the back:

Inside the box

The box opens with a lifty lid, no tear tabs at the side. Inside are two smaller white boxes. The box is pretty full, but bear in mind the smaller white box is full only of the 31 (empty) original polybags which I've kept for some reason.

All the pieces in their new homes (supermarket freezer bags). 1748 pieces doesn't sound much by today's standard, but these are mostly large pieces. The centre bag is entirely full of 52 4x4x6 quarter circle wall pieces. There are too many to sort prior to building, unless you have a very large table.

The busy Decal Sticker Sheet:

Unfortunately I didn't think to do a size comparison. It's slightly smaller than the instruction manual. The worst news for sticker haters is shown in this page of the instruction book: look at the pieces on the back of the model here...

... Aaargh! STAMPs! No wonder I didn't apply them. To be honest, I don't think the model needs them.

The instructions are generally clear, with no colour issues. There's no piece inventory either.

The Build

The ship consists of three sections, held together strongly by technic pins. The front section is built first. The build is very traditional, with some interesting SNOT techniques and not very many out-of-place colours.

The bridge sides are constructed thusly:

There are meant to be elastic bands holding the wing-pieces together, but mine have long perished and it seems to manage without them.

The mid-section takes shape. There is room for a small interior here, for the diehard modders out there, but getting into it would be such a hassle I never bothered.

The side greebles get added. It seems no starship is complete without telephones, binoculars, radiator grilles and classic space droid ears.

The rear section consists of engine mount, side 'wings' attached with some SNOT, and eleven identical engines.

Here I'm afraid the build gets rather repetitive. The engines consist of a reinforced tube of white, a classic space radar dish, a large cartwheel I've not seen before in Republic Red, a Clone Turbo Tank wheel, smaller Castle cartwheel and trans-orange dish. A lot of unseen pieces help to reinforce the centre (unlike the engines in 7665 Republic Cruiser):

All the sections ready to couple together. It takes a bit of effort to get the mid-section onto the engine mount, but the rest come together nicely. You can see the diminutive UCS description stand, sans sticker, in the middle.

The Whole

And the finished product, with Lando for comparison (he was the only figure to hand):

Overall

Design: Perfect I should say: faithful to the real thing, and extremely well put together. Very sturdy too!

Build: A traditional brick-built model, with Technic used only when necessary and for strength. The rear gets a bit repetitive, but by this point the end is very much in sight.

Pieces: Mostly standard stuff, unless you need an odd number of oversized wheels or are building a very tall wind turbine.

Swooshability: Believe it or not you can swoosh this thing: it balances nicely around the radar dish at the back of the mid-section. Weighs in at over 3 kg though, so some upper body strength necessary!

Playability: You can swizzle the radar and the guns, but that's about it. No minifigs, this is very much a true UCS.

Price: �135 seems such a bargain now, but at the time it was a fortune, and by far the most expensive Lego model I'd ever bought.

This is a display model, through and through, but looks great on the shelf. It remains one of my favorites, and I usually have it on display. It's fun to build, imposing, and incredibly sturdy - you can stand it on the floor on its engines if you're short of shelf space (or on the kitchen scales, which is how I know how much it weighs!) You can even use the back of the box as a 'space' photo backdrop - see my Lambda Shuttle for an example.

Thanks for viewing, and hope you enjoyed the tour. Feedback on the review most welcome!

Rufus

Edited September 6, 200915 yr by BoneyT

Holy cow that's gigantic, nice pics!!

Great review. Unfortunately for me this is a set that I didn't have the chance to get or even see up close.

I like the photo of Lando standing behind the engine block. Those are some seriously big engines.

Very nice pictures, relevant comments, and awesome UCS set.

In short : great review !

This set is also one of my favorites, with 7191.

Edited September 2, 200915 yr by Anio

Thanks for the review, I always wanted to see some close up pics of this thing. I never realised it was so big.

You're also lucky that you bagged up this set for that low price. Now a days you would get nothing close to that price.

Edited September 2, 200915 yr by Skipper 24

Great review This set is great too

Thanks Rufus for that great review

You're indeed lucky (or were smart) to get the set back in those days. It's huge.

This set makes me want the new Tantive IV even more.

I would love to see some comparison pictures with this USC set ones the new one comes out.

For a second there I thought this was a review of the new 2009 Tantive IV, but great review anyways!

I always wanted to see a review of this huge UCS set after seeing pictures of the new 2009 version.

If you plan on getting the new Tantive IV, can you provide us with a comparison?

Just imagine there's something interesting on the back:

I rarely laugh at much on here, but I must admit, that was pretty funny!

Great review! I don't have or will ever have this set, but it was interesting to read a review of it! I almors wish that the new version was in this scale, but still had an interior and figures.

It must've been torture building all those back engine blocks!

-darthperson

that's HUGE I wish i had bought it

Thanks for the review Rufus!

This is my favorite UCS set. It took me a long time to save up for this one. I almost wish I had 2! IIRC this set had more pieces than any other set in Lego history when it was first released.

For a second there I thought this was a review of the new 2009 Tantive IV, but great review anyways!

I always wanted to see a review of this huge UCS set after seeing pictures of the new 2009 version.

If you plan on getting the new Tantive IV, can you provide us with a comparison?

Wierd. I first thought it was of the new one too. I was also going to ask for a comarison if he gets one. Nice review anyway. It still is to small for minifigs.

Thanks, Rufus!

I remember my friend having this set and thinking how awesome it was. Unfortunately, I wasn't interested in buying one at the time.

... Aaargh! STAMPs! No wonder I didn't apply them. To be honest, I don't think the model needs them.

STAMPs? I'm not familiar with this one... Stickers That....?

Thanks, Rufus!

I remember my friend having this set and thinking how awesome it was. Unfortunately, I wasn't interested in buying one at the time.

STAMPs? I'm not familiar with this one... Stickers That....?

Sticker Across Multiple Pieces

Edited September 3, 200915 yr by Destroydacre

Thanks for reviewing this awesome UCS set Rufus

I'll make sure to add this to the index.

Great review Rufus, and what a magnificent set. It is, hands down, the one set I most regret not owning... the new one looks really good, but this thing is stunning.

I rarely laugh at much on here, but I must admit, that was pretty funny!

I'm glad you spotted that!

Thanks everyone, glad you liked the review, and that you agree it's a great set.

I'll be sure to provide comparison pics with the new Tantive, when I get it!

Thanks - nice review !

One of my favourite sets - I fully agree that it's an excellent build, with only the repetitive engine construction spoiling it a tiny bit.

I built it about 6 months ago, and now need the space for another big model, but can't bear to break it up because it looks so cool !

The new Tantive IV will I fear not look very impressive against the UCS original, so my enthusiasm for buying it is relatively low. Can't wait to see some pics of the UCS version next to the new version !

Cheers,

Dr. D

Yay! Thanks KimT (I presume) for indexing it, and for the poll. Looks like I'm first to vote.

I guess nobody's received the new Tantive IV yet, so we've yet to see a review. However, I saw one in my local LEGO Store today, and snapped a couple quick pics to compare... most notably, the engines on the new model are quite undersized, throwing off the proportions:

Here's Rufus' photo, for comparison:

There is also a section of engines on the bottom that is missing to make room for structural supports. It's hardly noticeable though, and overall I was quite impressed with the new set. I look forward to a review!

Thank you Rufus for your great review, the Rebel Blockade Runner 10019 is also one of my favourite LEGO Star Wars.

The Box Black and white, typical of early UCS sets. Mine has withstood the test of time reasonably well, considering it has moved home 5 times. No relief printing on the front, unlike the X Wing and Tie Interceptor.

Just imagine there's something interesting on the back:

Rufus

I was quite surprised by your box and your description of it because mine is colorfull and with at its back a great presentation of the set and some of its details. I wondered if your box was the first edition and mine the second (I bought it quite late, nearly two years after its was first released.

Does anyone has some information about these different kind of boxes (maybe the ultimate collectors bought two 10019 just to have the different boxes ) ?

Thank you

Thank you Rufus for your great review, the Rebel Blockade Runner 10019 is also one of my favourite LEGO Star Wars.

I was quite surprised by your box and your description of it because mine is colorfull and with at its back a great presentation of the set and some of its details. I wondered if your box was the first edition and mine the second (I bought it quite late, nearly two years after its was first released.

Does anyone has some information about these different kind of boxes (maybe the ultimate collectors bought two 10019 just to have the different boxes ) ?

Thank you

That's interesting. I purchased mine in February of 2003, which I believe was roughly 2 years after the initial release and mine came with the black and white box.

Thank you Rufus for your great review, the Rebel Blockade Runner 10019 is also one of my favourite LEGO Star Wars.

I was quite surprised by your box and your description of it because mine is colorfull and with at its back a great presentation of the set and some of its details. I wondered if your box was the first edition and mine the second (I bought it quite late, nearly two years after its was first released.

Does anyone has some information about these different kind of boxes (maybe the ultimate collectors bought two 10019 just to have the different boxes ) ?

Thank you

I bought mine from S@H if that's anything to do with it. Did you pick yours up from a shop?

Very nice set and a very good review! TLG did a great job of this set, the overall scale works very well. I'm glad to hear that the rubber bands don't seem to be neccesary; it's one of the few things I've never liked about it.

I bought mine from S@H if that's anything to do with it. Did you pick yours up from a shop?

i bought mine in a Toys'r'us if I remember well (It was a present for christmas bought by my parents),

Here are the pictures :

front :

back :

Sorry for the pictures, I took them quickly and the box is quite old and not as good as I wish !