Random set of the day: R2-D2
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 10225 R2-D2, released during 2012. It's one of 38 Star Wars sets produced that year. It contains 2127 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$179.99/£149.99.
It's owned by 11,958 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $211.30, or eBay.
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24 comments on this article
A Star Wars set on the day a Star Wars trailer is revealed?
Such a cool set. I honestly like this one more than the 2021 version.
I like the use of the studs on the dome instead of the curved slopes on the newer model(s). It does feel a little weird the curved parts and slopes are on his struts when everything else is a much more traditional LEGO sculpture with jagged edges everywhere, but it does still work as a whole, and the studs on the dome don't really look out of place.
Oh I remember buying this with quite some fondness. My daughter was not even four, and she thought it was the best thing in the world. We still have it together and put it out for display sometimes. Great set!
Ah R2, you gotta love 'em. I second the studs on the dome look great here!
I think I have this version, but I prefer the look up the updated one.
If https://brickset.com/minifigs/sw0217/astromech-droid-r2-d2-light-bluish-gray-head had been today's RMotD, we'd not only have gotten an RMotD that was in the concurrent RSotD, but an RMotD that *was* the concurrent RSotD!
I remember getting this set for Christmas in 2012, it was also my first UCS set!
I skimmed past too fast and thought it was 30611-1, but then realized it was a bit bigger. Kinda wish I'd gotten that little set, but I have enough desk gremlins as it is. And I don't have space for a technic droid on my shelves at this point.
Oh, this isn't the version I thought it was. There is a guy in our local group that has done this version in a range of different droid colours. Quite an impressive display when they are all together.
I passed on this one, then the second one... Not that I don't want it, I like it and it looks great but I guess I'm not there yet.
A beloved set still on display all these years.
My son at the time 9 years old built almost all of it. I had to handle the dome since he was off a stud and it went askew.
Another cherished memory.
It's size and detail doesn't look dated at all. Displays prominent in the room.
A classic. I remember when this was leaked in the background of another reveal video. It was so weird to see this thing from a distance to realize it was an upcoming set! I recall everyone being hyped for it!
Later I saw it in a store in London once. Those big boxes were an event to stumble upon in a store.
Btw I dug up the article about its leak, from Brickset:
https://brickset.com/article/2562/future-exclusives-previewed-inadvertantly-in-town-hall-designer-video
This is not the droid I'm looking for.....
(still in my dark ages)
Kinda ok. Still never interested me enough to get it.
Probably was both too early and too late.
Not enough curves or SNOT pieces available to look interesting.
Would it be released around 2000, the top dome might have been done using a 2 or 4 drum-lacqued special shells, not much build, but certainly an interesting look (maybe it would even have been chrome). Compare to the 1999 Mindstorms one.
Yep. This ages well.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I like the use of the studs on the dome instead of the curved slopes on the newer model(s). It does feel a little weird the curved parts and slopes are on his struts when everything else is a much more traditional LEGO sculpture with jagged edges everywhere, but it does still work as a whole, and the studs on the dome don't really look out of place."
Yeah I never really have problem with studs on a Lego model because…well it’s a Lego model. If I wanted something perfectly smooth I’d go buy a normal model
@BabuBrick said:
"Such a cool set. I honestly like this one more than the 2021 version."
Me too, I'm happy how it got cheaper after launching new one, same with Tantives.
@stepwise said:"I skimmed past too fast and thought it was 30611-1, but then realized it was a bit bigger. Kinda wish I'd gotten that little set, but I have enough desk gremlins as it is. And I don't have space for a technic droid on my shelves at this point."
Honestly, I'd rather have 30611 than this one, because it would take up less space, and if I were going to get a larger brick-built R2-D2, it'd be 75379.
@Brickalili said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"I like the use of the studs on the dome instead of the curved slopes on the newer model(s). It does feel a little weird the curved parts and slopes are on his struts when everything else is a much more traditional LEGO sculpture with jagged edges everywhere, but it does still work as a whole, and the studs on the dome don't really look out of place."
Yeah I never really have problem with studs on a Lego model because…well it’s a Lego model. If I wanted something perfectly smooth I’d go buy a normal model"
I like the way 21345 uses exposed studs on the back, to replicate the textured area on the actual camera.
I remember picking this up on clearance at Toys R Us for about $80. I never got around to building it and ended up selling it for around $250 after it retired. I recall prices getting over $300 until the new version came out.
How come Brickset doesn’t classify the 2019 version of R2 D2 as a UCS set?
@CommanderR3x said:
"How come Brickset doesn’t classify the 2019 version of R2 D2 as a UCS set?"
That gets really complicated. There are sets that were marketed as UCS, or some near equivalent, even outside of the SW theme (officially, UCS is an exclusive branding of the SW theme), but not all of these sets really feel like UCS sets. And there are sets that feel like UCS sets, but never got any formal badging. Then there are sets that got marketed as UCS, but fans threw a fit, so they spun off the minifig players into the Master Builder Series (which hasn’t seen much action since). So depending on exactly who you ask, you could get a wildly different set of answers regarding what the true list of UCS sets really is.
I do like this set. Reminds me - albeit in a smaller scale - of the life-size brick-built model of Artoo that accompanied a similarly life-size build of Darth Vader near the entrance of Legoland Windsor for a while back in the early 2000s. As such, and because I was a biiiiig Star Wars fan growing up, there's a small childhood part of me that would rather like to get either this or his more recent successor...
Even if I had the budget for it though, I don't think I would these days. They would 100% be very cool to have, but I haven't been deeply invested in Star Wars for more than a decade by now so I really can't imagine myself going out of my way to get him unless he was reeeeeeeeeally cheap.
Thinking of the set, though. In the past I've not been sure which UCS version of Artoo I prefer, but comparing them again now I think I'm coming around to this one. Somehow the 75308 version, to me, looks like his proportions are a bit more on the cartoony side, and his dome design looks too 'busy' with all the slope details; this one might be a bit simpler of a build but to my eye he looks more nicely proportioned and with a cleaner design ^^
@legoDad42 said:
"A beloved set still on display all these years.
My son at the time 9 years old built almost all of it. I had to handle the dome since he was off a stud and it went askew.
Another cherished memory.
It's size and detail doesn't look dated at all. Displays prominent in the room."
I remember building this set with my dad. It was his big present the Christmas of 2014; such a fond memory.
I agree, it's still a great set 13 years after release.