R2-D2 announcement

 

  • R2-D2 announcement

    Posted by Huw, 16 Mar 2012 11:01. Filed under New sets.

    10225: R2-D2
    Star Wars/Ultimate Collector Series, 2012
    More details...
    ©2012 LEGO Group

    The YouTube blunder has prompted an official announcement, although there's not as much in it as usual:

    The Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2 – the best-loved droid in the Star Wars galaxy!

    10225 R2-D2™ Ages 16+. 2,127 pieces , US $179.99, CA $229.99, UK£ 149.99, DE€ 179.99, DK 1499 DKK          

    Presenting the iconic R2-D2 as you’ve never seen him before.  Everyone’s favourite droid from the Star Wars galaxy is now part of the Ultimate Collector Series. The model features fantastic detailing, such as retractable leg, front panels that open to reveal a universal computer interface arm, a circular saw, rotating head and two fold-out front spacecraft linkage control arms. With the included fact plaque and R2-D2 minifigure, this diminutive model is the perfect addition to your LEGO® Star Wars™ collection.

    Update: I've been sent alternative images of the set which you can now see on the set details page.

    --

    At least we know the prices now, and I'm told it's scheduled for a ’beginning of May release’: May the fourth, probably!

    The video is now on a different platform rather than YouTube; I'm guessing we might have seen the last of LEGO's use of that for product release videos :-)
            
     


    46 comments, latest one posted 14 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by legos4ever in United States, 16 Mar 2012 11:21

$180!? I don't know if I can stomach that. But he is awesome!

Posted by bellybutton290 in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 11:30

Pleasently suprised at the uk price actually given the 2k+ piece count

Posted by greg.titcomb in United States, 16 Mar 2012 11:32

$180 (usd) is great!! in my mind i was preparing for a $249.99 msrp, which would've been a tough sell, but one i probably would have given in to. however at < $200 i will surely snap this little guy up day 1.

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 11:53

I like it and £150 isn't too bad. But I think they could have made him better. If they had given him jet-things in his legs and a satellite dish in his head then I would have loved him, but I'm going to have to pass.
As they said, I understand that they can't fit all his gadgets and tools in the model but a few more would have been nice.

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 16 Mar 2012 11:54

I won't be getting R2 at $230. Nice model, though.

Posted by The_Rizulli in United States, 16 Mar 2012 12:39

I wasn't too jazzed by the concept of a UCS R2-D2 but after seeing it, I've gotta say this is quickly rocketing up my "Want" list. Good piece-to-price ratio (in USD), fantastic-looking model when built, and looks like a ton of useful parts for MOCs when taken apart.

Posted by QuagsireQing in Canada, 16 Mar 2012 12:58

Great price! Looks like I've confirmed another "souvenir" to pick up in my travels to the States this summer. (Current expected amount to spend on LEGO while down there: $560.)

Posted by skipper1011 in United States, 16 Mar 2012 13:12

Wait a second here, you people love this price per piece ratio but you complain about the Town Hall set? Pay $180 for the R2-D2, or pay twenty dollars more for a set that is 8 inches taller and has 600 more pieces. Besides the price, the set has way too many studs for my liking. A retractable third leg is not enough for me to fork out $180 for a large R2-D2. Thanks, but no thanks...

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 16 Mar 2012 13:42

I'm liking the price at $180.00!
I thought it'd be over $200.00. Seems fair (for the record I feel the Town Hall is a fair price too).
This is the model to either use your Vip points to knock it down even more OR wait till another double points month to maximize the Vip.
This looks to be a great display model. I'm reworking my home office this year so this will be one of my center pieces.

Posted by Kulturkampf in United States, 16 Mar 2012 13:46

Only $180 for over 2,000 pieces?! That makes me very happy.... :-) I'll definitely be getting this one.

Posted by Firox 5000 in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 13:51

I like it a lot and £150 is a price I'd be prepared to pay for this chap.

Posted by OllieL in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 14:18

What was the youtube blunder? Could someone enlighten me please?

Posted by goldfish in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 14:20

Well the price is on the low side of my expectations, so at least thats a pleasant surprise. With a bit of luck they might give another 10% off on May 4th, in which case I'll be in like a rat up a drainpipe.

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 16 Mar 2012 14:27

^^ Basically someone posted a preliminary video/picture/description of R2-D2.

Posted by ktranger in United States, 16 Mar 2012 14:32

Yaaaa... and I want one, now to figure out how to raise the cash.

Posted by DarthLuke824 in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 14:36

Ironic but May the Forth (Or Force!) is on a Friday so most likely to be released then! Not bad for £150 pound. Might get it for the summer-or the Town Hall!

Posted by LEGOSLUG in New Zealand, 16 Mar 2012 14:40

£150 Pound? For R2-D2? That's $300 NZD!
It is a great model though, great features and I'm looking forward to building it.
Still, I'm gonna start saving............ Ideas anyone?

Posted by Nesquik in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 14:46

For once, a Lego Star Wars product that is actually 'OK' value! I guess that's largely because only one minifig is in the set.

With £150 though, i'd still buy the Town Hall.

Posted by Rocka 3.0 in United States, 16 Mar 2012 14:52

Dude! That thing's awesome! The price isn't bad for a large themed set!

Posted by Ap3X in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 15:38

Pleased with the price. I understand Lucasfilm want their cut but Star Wars sets usually have a very high pence-per-piece value and I feared the worst given the price of 10212 Imperial Shuttle - 2500 pieces, £245.99 - and 10221 Super Star Destroyer - 3152 pieces, £350. So R2 with ~2100 pieces for £150 is great. I'll be getting 2. :o)

Posted by brixton in Canada, 16 Mar 2012 16:02

$230 is a lot. I thought it would be closer to $200. I guess fans will be paying a premium for Star Wars. The Haunted House we saw in the Town Hall video is a part of the Monster Fighters theme and is constructed at the modular buildings scale. I'm guessing if Monster Fighters is coming out in October, the Haunted House will be released around that time too.

Posted by DarthLuke824 in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 16:22

Going an inch off topic but if you used the base of the droid (Legs and Body), the mod the head you could easily make an R5 type UCS droid in LEGO! Yay!

Posted by lippidp in United States, 16 Mar 2012 17:09

Am I the only one disappointed that there are no wheels??? Seems to me that wheels are important for R2-D2.

Posted by teenielou in United States, 16 Mar 2012 17:10

Lego Shop on Facebook says it will available May 1, 2012

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 17:13

Is it just me or is this the third time it has been released, accidentally or not?

Posted by TekkamanRaiden in Canada, 16 Mar 2012 17:25

So it looks like I'm going to be saving for a bit, looks awesome though.

Posted by Dodge in Canada, 16 Mar 2012 17:35

This is pretty wizard!

$230 is a big hit, especially since shelling out $250 for the Town Hall last week... but who needs food eh?

Posted by skipper1011 in United States, 16 Mar 2012 17:42

@ lippidp So am I. I am overall not to excited about this model already, but when I heard there were no wheels I became very disappointed. I might pick this up, as it is the only SW set that has a piece-to-price ratio even half-decent.

Posted by Orthobotrex in Philippines, 16 Mar 2012 17:47

Well, well...this is something I would consider on a wishlist. I wonder if they will make it better, though, given the additional 10 year license...

Posted by GothamConstructionCo in United Kingdom, 16 Mar 2012 17:50

I would love having a go at building him but i think i will stick with the droid developer kit R2D2 he lacks the detailing but he wonders around and beeps all day long.

Posted by LukeSkywalker in Ireland, 16 Mar 2012 17:58

A few simple modifications to the base of the legs and this R2-D2 will have wheels - I will Definitely be buying this. :)

P.S. R2-D2 is to be released around the May the Fourth promotion, and rumour has it that a chrome C-3PO will be making a re-appearance to coincide with the release of this little droid, it makes sense! :)

Posted by TBOC in United States, 16 Mar 2012 21:36

Eh... I like the set, but it has some glaring faults, in my opinion, and at $180 (even with a fairly good price to piece ratio) I'm definitely not buying, unless it maybe goes on sale sometime.

Posted by Dlakii in Australia, 17 Mar 2012 03:47

One thing I find interesting is that the announcement does not list an Australian price, whereas they normally do in such press statements. Could this mean a lack of an Australian release? I mean, it barely matters at all these days - any Australian who cares enough about the set could order it from any of hundreds of sites and it'd be significantly cheaper than if they bought a theoretical Australian release - but still, even though Australia isn't exactly an important LEGO market, I don't think LEGO has skipped an Australian release for something like this in quite a while... Hm.

I guess it doesn't affect me either way - it's nice, but I'm not exactly interested.

Posted by Galactus in Netherlands, 17 Mar 2012 09:20

"I've been sent alternative images of the set"
A 1x4 brick?

Posted by toon10001 in United Kingdom, 17 Mar 2012 10:13

Well, thats my birthday planned out.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 17 Mar 2012 11:18

^^ I'm not sure why that image was included, maybe to show people not familiar with Lego what it was made of...

Posted by Darkknight in Canada, 17 Mar 2012 11:30

$50 difference in price between US and Canada makes this a non-starter for me.
Have severely reduced my Lego purchases due to the Lego Corporation's ridiculous Canadian pricing policies.

Posted by skipper1011 in United States, 17 Mar 2012 12:36

Huw, I believe that's an extra piece.

Posted by Aussie Tahu in Australia, 18 Mar 2012 03:30

@Dlakii - I don't think they will skip an Australian release, most of the time they don't even list the Australian price in these press releases. I wouldn't worry about it, we will be getting it.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 18 Mar 2012 14:52

Why do you think May 4th?

@dodge, Nice Robot Chicken SW 3 reference. :P

Posted by rolomolo12345 in United Kingdom, 18 Mar 2012 15:59

Awesome! i want one!!!

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 18 Mar 2012 18:12

People (in America) who are complaining about the price, think about the price per piece.

179.99 / 2127 = .0846215326751293, or roughly USD$0.09

Not counting that Friends polybag, there have been a LOT worse prices. So $180 is very good for what this is.

Now, Canada's pricing? All I can say is: I feel so sorry for every Canadian lego-buyers. :(

Posted by lippidp in United States, 19 Mar 2012 11:46

Why do some of you guys do a price to piece ratio? It's not really helpful since different pieces have different prices. To really do a comparison you should get the parts lists for two different sets and add up the prices of the parts for each set.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 19 Mar 2012 13:25

Most pieces are of a very similar price. In a general statement, price to piece is somewhat accurate.

Posted by 22896mbw in United States, 19 Mar 2012 21:10

Wait, what platform is this?

Posted by monkeyhanger in France, 20 Mar 2012 04:12

I wish Lego would get some robust pricing across all countries, just pick a conversion rate and stick to it for all sets.

The fairest one, allowing for a little play in true currency variations should be £1 = 1.25 Euros = US$1.50.

I find it odd that some sets like the Death star have a "reasonable" US:UK conversion rate of US$1.45:£1.00, and others like the Imperial shuttle have a rate of $US1.06:£1.00.

I'll buy this R2D2 when I can get it for no more than £120. It might have about 2100 pieces but it's still a small model. Piece count isn't everything in deciding price, some low count models are quite substantial - like the recent Slave I 8097, even though it has less than 600 pieces.

I think Lego should treat it's EU customers a bit fairer than it currently does with it's pricing policies, especially when transportation to those countries is generally only a few hundred miles.

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