Which models are really UCS?

[LoRd AmUnRa]

I hate that this is so contentious for some people. It's stupid, and it's nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

Seriously.

IBTL.

Yes, you are right, marketing.... that's what i was saying

But it has the card and what kind of details would you place in vehicle that is so smooth, it all falls down to its likeness to the original model that it was based on.

You denying your own theory here.... but to answer to your question: Cockpit for exemple

[BrickG]

Lego can define it themselves but essentially for me there's 3 types.

1) Usually highly detailed models that are usually of high quality. Not necessarily minifigure scale. Stuff like the big X-Wing. Quite large.

2) Minifigure scale but huge. The UCS Minifigure scale Millennium Falcon! Quite Large.

3) Everything else :P. None-minifigure scale things or just smaller things. However I'd say larger things are in this group too if they're not minifigure scale or just not big enough. Like the Sandcrawler. I want to call it UCS but really, it's not to scale and acts more as a playset. I have difficulty calling the playsets UCS.

[Lobot]

It's a good question, and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer.

Part of this stems from the gradual shift in TLGs approach, which doesn't help. Personally I agree that most UCS sets are big, detailed and usually include a display plaque. However, it was a strange move for TLG to brand the new Sandcrawler as UCS, but not include one... Also, it all seemed to fall apart when they included that bridge in the SSD, but that's another discussion entirely!

[Faefrost]

As other have pointed out UCS can be taken a few ways. Lego actually only used the designation on the packaging for a few early sets and then stopped using it until the Sandcrawler. But fans and cataloging sites kept the designation alive. Here are what are typically considered to be the key elements of a UCS set.

1- large D2C super detailed model. Often larger than minifig scale.

2- expensive Direct to Consumer (d2c) set

3. Typically featuring that distinctive name plate (although not in all cases)

Most have no debate over whether or not the large scale SW ship models and the Batmobile are UCS. They are. The points of debate are the huge play sets and the sculptures. By play sets I mean the original Sandcrawler. The Death Star, the Ewok Village, the 10198 Tantive IV (the older one IS UCS) and the huge MTT. (Other minifig scale sets such as the MF and Imperial Shuttle are fully UCS no question.) Previously most of the play sets were felt to be D2C but not UCS... Until the new Sandcrawler came out labeled UCS, which muddied things up a bit.

The Sculptures are equally weird. The large busts are mostly felt to be their own thing. But R2D2 is generally considered UCS.

In the end the specific labeling isn't that important. Collect the sets that you like and fit your mental image of what your collection should be.

[DarthTwoShedsJackson]

I don't understand what all the fuzz about the UCS-label is all about, and these two pages alone should tell you that there is no correct answer, but a buttload of opinions, so I my advice is to just shrug and get the sets you like for your collection. Lego is all about your imagination, and I guess by now it's up to your imagination what could be labelled UCS and what not, too.

Edit yells: TOOOOOR!!! Klose just scored 0:2 against Brazil, yay!!!

Edited July 8, 2014 by DarthTwoShedsJackson

[autorazr]

what does the words "ultimate", "collector" and "series" have to do with rare and expensive ???

The label suggest the buyer that he is not buying a "toy" but a high quality model which justify the price

"UCS" is a marketing tool to fish potential afol s

back to topic...

to answer the question:

as you can see you will not find a definitive answer to your question in this Threat, the opinions split to far away, maybe because TLG neither know were to use the therm and were not^^ maybe probably not or do they? we do not know...

If you want to be sure just buy Sets who are saying on the box UCS, but if money is no issue, buy waht you like

LOL, you refute what I say, but then elaborate and confirm what I say. If its meant for adults, contains the word "collector" and is exclusive to only certain markets it is indeed "rare" if they were not they wouldnt appeal to "collectors" and there's no denying that they are expensive. So please elaborate on how Ultimate collector series does not at all equate to rare and expensive. Show me one set you consider UCS, that is under $100 and can be bought at any walmart or target.

[1974]

A set is not rare if it's produced in the tens of thousands. Now a set like 4000001, _that_ is rare

Expensive is all relative compared to your income anyway

So no, UCS does actually not equate to 'rare & expensive'

Edited July 9, 2014 by 1974

[VBBN]

So no, UCS does actually equate to 'rare & expensive'

Well, that too is up to interpretation. You could consider them rare because they are not a set you will find in every store that sells lego. That doesn't mean UCS has that exclusive title of being rare, but anything that is a UCS set will fit the bill. And Expensive doesn't necessarily relate to your income, it's how costly the set is compared to other lego sets. When most themes do not have sets that are over $100, a 200-300$ set is quite expensive in comparison. Most UCs releases equate to lots of parts which lead to higher prices, and they are generally going to be found primarily in Lego brand stores/online.

[1974]

Of course it is

I see I bungled up that quote you made of mine, I meant ; "So no, UCS does actually not equate to 'rare & expensive'

Sure, they cost a good deal more than your average set, but compared to a lot of other hobbies (mine are synths/musical gear and RC cars) it's pretty cheap. It's all relative

But they have all been, or are, available at S@H/Bricklink, which a quick googling will tell you. That does not make them rare imho

[LoRd AmUnRa]

LOL, you refute what I say, but then elaborate and confirm what I say. If its meant for adults, contains the word "collector" and is exclusive to only certain markets it is indeed "rare" if they were not they wouldnt appeal to "collectors" and there's no denying that they are expensive. So please elaborate on how Ultimate collector series does not at all equate to rare and expensive. Show me one set you consider UCS, that is under $100 and can be bought at any walmart or target.

no I didn't...but wehn you cant or don't want to understand that UCS is just a marketing tool, you maybe are just to young, no offence, to understand how big companys earn money.

Lego is a expensive toy compared to other toys... yes all those ucs cost a lot of money but you also get more bricks.

I have a discounter here witch only rarely sell pizzas of a well-known company, does that make the pizza rare?? yes maybe in this shop but the Pizza itself is not rare NOT AT ALL, same goes with UCS only becouse TLG DON'T give the right to all shops to sell UCS don't make it rare it just appear to you to bee rare that is called a Marketing strategy.

YES a UCS can be rare like the millennium falcon but UCS don t stand for rare... if I want, per example, I could without any trouble buy the 10188 death star. after 6? years now.

Edited July 9, 2014 by LoRd AmUnRa

[GregoryBrick]

To hallonsylt,

Since you don't know exactly which models are UCS, then how do you know you want a complete collection of them? As others have said, why not get the sets you want? Otherwise, you're just committing yourself to buying sets before you even know what they are, which I do not think is wise.

[Anio]

That means for you the 10026 Naboo Starfighter is not a UCS set because it is missing 1. be super detailed?

But the Naboo ships are preciely not super detailled. 10026 is very accurate.

[1974]

Lego is a expensive toy

Wrong. We're adults. These sets are not aimed at kids, but adults. Adults have money, some of us have serious money. So a 1K$ set is really not a lot of money. I have friends who are into vintage cars, planes, choppers, clothing, stamps whatever and they'd laugh of putting out one grand (or ten) for a single buy. That's what it needs to get whatever they fancy flying (sometimes literally)

And that's exactly the people TLG are targeting

[1974]

But the Naboo ships are preciely not super detailled. 10026 is very accurate.

But it's a boring build, done in half an hour. TLG could have made it 4x times as big (as scale has nothing to do with UCS) and it would have been much more fun

A new goes for 270EUR. I guess those chopper/stamp people have to finish their collection

[VK-318]

... Lego is a expensive toy ...

No, it's a highly sophisticated interlocking brick system.

Maybe this conversation has diverged into two distinct conversations? The question of which sets are worthy of collection for display purposes and which sets aren't is different from the question of which sets are UCS.

Not to say that it isn't a good question - I, for instance, like to collect Star Wars microships, like the old Mini-sets and the newer Planet series, while others like to collect UCS series, or all the sets of a given ship, or belonging to a given faction, or including a certain character, or whatever. Maybe someone should start a thread about collecting habits in general, since the "Show your Army/Navy/Collection" thread just wants pictures, not discussion.

Let's just keep the debate, wherever and whatever it happens to be, friendly, okay? At times, the tone here has been pretty tense, and let's all remember that the user who started this thread is a brand-new user, who probably has worthwhile contributions to make to the Eurobricks Star Wars Forum and the community at large, and discouraging him or her with acrid comments over a question of largely personal preference is hardly in anyone's best interest.

Back to the original point of the conversation, where do MOC UCS sets place in the mix? There's Cavegod's mammoth AT-AT, and Anio has designed at least a dozen models , including an AT-AT of his own, the Tantive VII (Anio's stated personal favorite, and mine as well ), a 74-Z speederbike, an AAT, and a Venator-class Star Destroyer. The UCS label is often applied to these MOCs. So, are they UCS? I personally consider UCS to include all the sets LEGO identifies as such, (though the bridge in the Executor does kinda give me pause ) as well as a handful of MOC's that are both built to the same exacting standards of accuracy and detail and are widely regarded by others as being worthy of the honor of UCS-ness. Of course, UCS sets must be Star Wars. I had entirely forgotten about that Batmobile until 1974 brought it up, and I'm still not sure what to think about it. For purposes of this discussion, I'm going to use "UCS" to refer to Star Wars stuff only. Batman only complicates things.

By the way, I hope you all got the LEGO Movie quote at the beginning. I'm not making any implications or arguing with anyone there; the joke was just too good to resist at almost midnight where I am sitting.

Edited July 10, 2014 by VK-318

[Anio]

TLG could have made it 4x times as big

Precisely not.

You obviously lack experience in design process.

[kiwiatlarge]

Doesn't really matter to me whether it has UCS on the box or not.... I see it ultimately as important as whether or not when bricklinking a UCS Falcon, you get 100% accuracy of colours of the hidden technic lego parts which you'll never see. (People get so hung up on that, yet after all that they still don't have a genuine UCS Falcon anyway... it's a replica)

What matters to me is what I want from a Star Wars Lego set... Some sort of attempt to at least try and accurately reproduce a vehicle to scale, and plenty of pieces. The plaque doesn't make or break the set to me (although it is a nice touch), and I don't really care for mini-figures, although I wouldn't say no to a Falcon with the complete set of ANH characters in it from that flght.

They can slap the UCS marketing on an Ewok Village all they want, it doesn't make a big playset any more appealing to me...

[rollermonkey]

Well, that too is up to interpretation. You could consider them rare because they are not a set you will find in every store that sells lego. That doesn't mean UCS has that exclusive title of being rare, but anything that is a UCS set will fit the bill. And Expensive doesn't necessarily relate to your income, it's how costly the set is compared to other lego sets. When most themes do not have sets that are over $100, a 200-300$ set is quite expensive in comparison. Most UCs releases equate to lots of parts which lead to higher prices, and they are generally going to be found primarily in Lego brand stores/online.

Then I must just like the most expensive lines... Creator Expert, Modulars, Technic flagship, SW UCS, all run well over $100.

[1974]

Precisely not.

You obviously lack experience in design process.

Haha, right

[Fuppylodders]

Precisely not.

You obviously lack experience in design process.

Actually, they could have. At its current scale, it in no way captures the sleekness of the Naboo Starfighter, nor is the yellow sticker on the front giving the correct angle/amount of silver curve correct. It's a sticker for christ's sake, how could they get it THAT wrong and make the amount that excessive when they can literally change it to be perfect due to the dynamics of it being a sticker??! Nor is the cockpit canopy black. That ruins the look, let alone it barely JUST resembles it. The rear? Lacking in sleekness and gentle reduction in size COMPLETELY.

They wanted to do the N1 as a UCS, they 100% chose the wrong scale.

Hell, why not just add a chrome dome to R2D2 minifig and call him UCS. I mean, that would literally be suitable going by the same process as the 10026.

I am not saying 10026 is worthy or not of the UCS label, TLG gave it to it regardless, so it unarguably is. I am simply saying it is lacking a high amount of detail that one would 'typically expect' in a UCS set, and could have captured detail at a larger size.

[Robianco]

It's such a minefield... I'd normally judge whether a set it UCS as to whether that's the BEST set Lego are going to make of a particular ship etc... Less so places... But in the instance of the Ewok Village a £300 set is pretty much as big and as complete as that's going to get so you could consider it a UCS I suppose.

I don't really care whether a set is UCS or not as I'm not going to limit what I buy by a particular label etc... I must admit I love the last system scale TIE and it's nicely scaled to the figure but I'm sure it's not the largest version of that ship they're going to do. I definitely wouldn't let that put me off buying it as it's a superb set.

[Anio]

Actually, they could have. At its current scale, it in no way captures the sleekness of the Naboo Starfighter,

Lacking in sleekness and gentle reduction in size COMPLETELY.

They wanted to do the N1 as a UCS, they 100% chose the wrong scale.

could have captured detail at a larger size.

You couldn't be more wrong.

For example, you don't stack curved parts.

Worse : you can't stack wedge parts.

Just try to do a N-1 twice bigger. I don't need to see what you will do to tell you that it is going to be ugly.

[Fuppylodders]

You couldn't be more wrong.

For example, you don't stack curved parts.

Worse : you can't stack wedge parts.

Just try to do a N-1 twice bigger. I don't need to see what you will do to tell you that it is going to be ugly.

Your opinion. You are entitled to it.

The best thing about opinions is they are never right or wrong, they are just that-an opinion.

[Anio]

Just try.

[LoRd AmUnRa]

this is madness

I never said the N-1 is not a UCS...

but lets stay by facts PLZ!! do you agree with mee?:

1. "UCS" is a term invented by TLG ?! right?!, do you agree yes or no?

2. This term is only a purpose for advertising LEGO star wars Model, like the lego system model theme. ?! yes no?

3. and so far only 3, now 4 sets have the term on the box( if i recall right)

4. because of this the community is using the term ucs for lego moc that are different to theirs system scale brother (p.EX.; bigger, complex build, greeblings and loot s of details....)

Edited July 10, 2014 by LoRd AmUnRa