Interview with César Soares, designer of 75419 Death Star
Posted by CapnRex101,
75419 Death Star is the biggest LEGO Star Wars set to date, containing over 9000 pieces and 38 minifigures. Its designer, César Soares, has worked on a number of prior Ultimate Collector Series models, so I was excited to speak with him about the Death Star recently.
Among the topics discussed were the model's format and whether a spherical version was explored, how the internal layout was developed and more!
Brickset: How did you decide on this cutaway format for the Death Star, as opposed to a sphere with panels or perhaps a half sphere?
César: It is a combination of several things. First of all, we wanted to make something different. As you know, we have made a few versions of the Death Star before and the last two were basically the same, so we wanted to develop something new. Also, this shape is easier to display and more effective on display, as you can see all the rooms at the same time across the front, which definitely appealed to us.
On top of that, we had a concept designer build a sketch model during one of our creative boost sessions and its format was very similar to the final set. Pretty much everyone agreed that the idea was very cool and totally different to what we have produced before, so we went in this direction.
Could the model potentially have had a rounded back, so it could be displayed from either side, or would that require too many pieces?
I do think the piece count could have been a problem in that situation. A half sphere or any significant curved shaping at the back would greatly inflate the number of elements, especially with the surface texture, so one of two things would need to happen. Either the model would have to be much smaller, or the level of detail inside would be lower, or maybe a combination of both.
Can you also address the concept of a sphere with removable or folding panels?
If we tried to do that, it would again require a lot more pieces, so the size would be reduced or the price increased. However, the bigger challenge would be making the panels easily removable on such a model, especially because they could not play any structural role, which would be a major problem on a large sphere.
The other issue is how people would display a panelled Death Star. You would have to choose between the enclosed or open formats and would never have the best of both, either concealing a lot of the details inside, or having to put the panels to the side somewhere to show off the interior, making those a bit of a waste. We want people to appreciate what is happening inside the Death Star and be able to see everything at all times.
On the subject of what is happening inside, how did you decide on the internal layout?
As you would expect, we started by thinking about all the rooms we wanted to include. From there, the positioning of the rooms was quite intuitive and came about naturally. You immediately know the trash compactor belongs on the lower levels and the Emperor's throne room towards the top, with the conference room and the bridge. The cell block then needs to be directly above the trash compactor, so minifigures can drop from one to the other.
Other than that, we took some creative liberties to situate different spaces as coherently as we could, so we brought together features like the tractor beam controls and chasm where Luke and Leia swing across.
I notice that the rooms are fully navigable for the minifigures too, connected via the lift, bridges and doorways, except for the hangar control room. Did you try to integrate that too?
I knew you were going to say that! That is the one area a bit isolated from the others and I did look into adding something there, but there is just not space for a lift or anything on that side of the hangar.
10188 Death Star and 75159 Death Star both had ladders to reach that room.
Yes, but I wanted to avoid anything like that because it would not be authentic to the Death Star in the movie and preserving that authenticity was a real priority with this model.
Moving into the hangar itself, I find it interesting that you have included the brick-built backdrop outside the entrance.
That actually started as an open hangar door, but I later realised that many people will display the model against the wall and it could look strange if they had colourful wallpaper or anything like that showing through. At that point, I decided to add the wall.
We discussed a few possibilities for things outside the hangar, like a foil sheet with a couple of different planets from the Star Wars universe. In the end, though, we decided on the brick-built scene with stars because it just seems more natural and we always favour anything constructed with proper bricks.
Next we have the trash compactor. Did you consider adding a removable panel to cover that room at all?
I did, once we added the blast door between the hangar and that area, creating space for the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan. I created a wall panel to separate them at one point, but those parts were ultimately needed elsewhere.
Several rooms slide out of the model for access. Did you think about making them all the same size, so they could be rearranged, or even releasing a separate play set that could be added to the Death Star?
Yes to the first; no to the second. We very briefly considered the option of swapping rooms around, but quickly decided to prioritise making sure the rooms were properly proportioned, rather than the same size just for modularity. The reason some sections slide out is purely for better access to pose minifigures, although we also raised the ceiling heights to accommodate that.
For the possibility of add-on sets, we just wanted to make a complete Death Star in one go.
The bridge is perhaps a bit smaller than I would expect, given its size in the movie. Did any iteration of the Death Star have a larger space for the bridge?
Not as such, although the internal section of the superlaser was much smaller on my original model of the Death Star, which left more room for features like a larger screen. Ultimately, we decided to increase the size of the superlaser's internal mechanism because it looked a bit too small.
The bridge is quite compact, but we knew from the beginning that the hangar and throne room would need to occupy the biggest sections of the model and this area beside the superlaser is sufficient to capture the essential details on the bridge.
Were there any other rooms you wanted to include?
I cannot think of anything else, to be honest. I wanted to expand the conference room at one point, but there was not enough space. Can you think of anything else we could have added?
Not really. One advantage of including the generic corridor is that it works for multiple scenes.
Absolutely, it covers lots of different moments, especially aboard the first Death Star when the heroes are sneaking around.
The back is clearly not intended for display, but it does include a little thermal exhaust port. Was adding a microscale trench run or anything else on the exterior considered?
It was, but like the panel covering the trash compactor, it was ultimately necessary to prioritise other things. However, there was one external feature that Lucasfilm specifically asked for: the trench around the Death Star's equator. As ever, we have an ongoing discussion with Lucasfilm and they sometimes make little suggestions.
Thank you for speaking with us!
A separate interview with the graphic designer, Maddy O'Neil, will be published later today and we have lots more coverage of the Death Star to come!
Thanks to Solid Brix Studios for some of the photos in this article. David's video interview with the designers is available here. Jedi News also had an opportunity to interview the designers and that interview can be found here.
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102 comments on this article
Piece of cake, literallly
Kind of messed up that the TIE only comes as a gwp and isn't included in the set
Ig you could part it out easily from common parts, but it still comes across as scummy on lego's part as we see the TIE on display here
Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical.
Wow that's why they did not show any picture of the back! I was expecting it to look like the exterior of the Death Star ... Of course it's Lego and it can be done , but come on, it looks like your missing the last bag of pieces there
huh, Minikit and studs hidden round the back.
shame its the backside where none will see them.
neat idea, but does nothing to redeem this overpriced disk
I'm confident everyone will be very normal in this comments section
People complain a lot about the set. I get that the price is high, but people wanting it spherical are simply being unrealistic. All the designer insights make a lot of sense.
@capnrex101 - I don't know if these are your photos or someone else's, but they actually make the set look way better than the official ones in my opinion. Seeing more of the depth and curvature of the lower levels really makes it feel like it has more to it than a flat disc.
Who do they think will be buying this? I would assume most people would think of an actual sphere when they hear "$1000 Death Star" but what do I know. Lego is so out of touch with their fans but as long as they get their millions i guess. "Only the best is good enough" should be changed to "Only the bare minimum is required for adults to throw thousands at us for toys"
@bnic99 said:
"huh, Minikit and studs hidden round the back."
Holy shoot, I hadn't noticed that lmao. That stack of cash is amazing
Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round.
Did I miss the question about the Stormtrooper Hot Tub & Sauna room?
It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot.
I loved the first few questions and answers, thanks for them.
No LEGO no! Don't send your designer out to the front lines like that! They'll never show him mercy!
I still think this looks great. All of the room s are substantially bigger than the previous versions and each is essentially a self contained play/display set.
I also don't really see the point of completing the hemisphere on the back. It would no longer display up against a wall if you display the interior and you wouldn't be able to see anything in it if you turned it around.
Han solo turned a lot thinner for sure!
@Kievex said:
"People complain a lot about the set. I get that the price is high, but people wanting it spherical are simply being unrealistic. All the designer insights make a lot of sense."
That's my impression too. You can have either a spherical model of the exterior like the first UCS Death Star. You can have a spherical interior focused model like the last two UCS Death Star models. But that came with compromises in room sizes and shapes, and is overly complicated to cover with an exterior as well. Honestly the "cake slice with a dollhouse interior" is a brilliant design choice to emphasize the interior while keeping a recognizable silhouette. I like it far more than the last two UCS models at least.
Now is that $1000 price worth it? That is for the consumer to decide.
@MrKoshka said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
If it helps, I'm writing you off as both a bigot and an idiot."
A BigIdiot?
Why does LEGO keep shoving that false minikit with round 2x2 plate on the bottom instead of the rounded bottom piece? I don't care if the real one can't be connected via studs, that's not a minikit.
It’s a cool design and impressive no matter how you slice it! The folks who made it did a great job. I just think expectations and reality are clashing here for the first $1000 lego set.
@ohrmazd said:
" @MrKoshka said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
If it helps, I'm writing you off as both a bigot and an idiot."
A BigIdiot?
"
No. A Bigiot.
Emperor Palpatine is in bag 66
@Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Absolutely agree. Do Lego want to show the Empire as moral in their recruiting process?
It's a bit like making a WW2 set and putting black/Jewish female Nazi officers in it.
There's nothing bigoted about being accurate to your sources.
That said, I'm fine with the change. It's not implausible that there would be those officers on the Death Slice, if it existed, and it helps make each minifig unique.
Unpopular opinion, but I think this is a brilliant way to approach the design as opposed the the typical same-but-bigger style of a lot of the UCS sets. I wonder if this had been called "Death Star Diorama" or something along those lines if it might have managed expectations more.
Did any one else notice the storm trooper height chart on the back?
Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?
The back could've been a flat Death Star, then given people the option to turn it around.
@jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?
@khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?"
I would have loved to have the back half of the set a sphere of the Death Star exterior. That way you could have options for display. This looks like a doll house with the exterior broken off
Nuff said. https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-67785/BigJudge/ucs-death-star-playset-combo/details
@jhoya said:
" @khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?"
I would have loved to have the back half of the set a sphere of the Death Star exterior. That way you could have options for display. This looks like a doll house with the exterior broken off"
So you prefer to display a giant grey surface instead of a full detailed set of film scenes? In a 1000$ set? Don't believe you sorry :)
@khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
" @khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?"
I would have loved to have the back half of the set a sphere of the Death Star exterior. That way you could have options for display. This looks like a doll house with the exterior broken off"
So you prefer to display a giant grey surface instead of a full detailed set of film scenes? In a 1000$ set? Don't believe you sorry :) "
By this logic no one would have bought the original UCS Death Star II.
First off, I really respect the hard work that Lego set designers and graphic designers put in. Most of the problems with LSW are arguably due to the bean-counters and execs, not the set designers and graphic designers. A big thank you to Maddy O'Neil and Cesar Soares for giving these interviews, and to Brickset and other RLFM for participating in them. That said, here are my two cents:
I respect a lot of the design decisions made here, and honestly the reasoning behind the tall disk form factor instead of a sphere, half-sphere, or shell makes sense. However, some of the answers in the interview make a little less sense. Lke these:
@CesarSoares said:
"I wanted to avoid anything like that (ladders to reach some otherwise inaccessible rooms) because it would not be authentic to the Death Star in the movie and preserving that authenticity was a real priority with this model."
If authenticity was really such a priority, then several things would have been done differently. None of this model can be truly authentic, because in the movie each and every one of these rooms and scenes is separated by who knows how much distance inside the in-universe location. They're already being jammed together for play in a way that is totally incongruous to the in-universe setting. Why don't you acknowledge that and make one more very minor concession for play, like adding ladders where it makes sense to add them?
@CesarSoares said:
"For the possibility of add-on sets, we just wanted to make a complete Death Star in one go."
I can respect that as a halo product, but it shuts those scenes behind an enormous paywall for everyone else.
@KingTyrannos said:
" @khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
" @khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?"
I would have loved to have the back half of the set a sphere of the Death Star exterior. That way you could have options for display. This looks like a doll house with the exterior broken off"
So you prefer to display a giant grey surface instead of a full detailed set of film scenes? In a 1000$ set? Don't believe you sorry :) "
By this logic no one would have bought the original UCS Death Star II.
"
Not many people bought it back in 2005. Thats why its so expensive new and used nowadays.
@GrizBe said:
"Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?"
Probably not just you, but that doesn't make it correct.
"For the possibility of add-on sets, we just wanted to make a complete Death Star in one go."
Except for, ya know, the GWP TIE Fighter that was left out...
The most egregious part of this set is the fact it has literal DLC in the Tie Fighter. They made an attachable holder to place onto the Death Star and even have it in the photos. They've done exclusive GWPs before, but only as complements to the set.
The Black Pearl has a compass GWP which pairs nicely with the ship, but the ship alone feels complete.
Here, you pay $1k for an incomplete set. The Tie Fighter goes in the empty space. There's a reason TLG is showing off this Death Star with the GWP in the set (which they don't do) because they know it's incomplete without it. I'll be damned if I drop a band on an incomplete Lego set direct from manufacturer.
That GWP TIE is the worst looking thing in the set.
I’m sorry but they could’ve made the back even if flat, look like the Death Star landscape.
I know, I know the piece count.
Either that or no Gw/P and just have included the TIE Fighter.
Ughhhhhh!
@khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
" @khomps said:
" @jhoya said:
"Fair questions. Sounds like they should’ve made it smaller so it could’ve been at least partially spherical."
To be honest, why all of you want it to be spherical, if 99,9% of the people owning a Death Star has it displayed against a wall?"
I would have loved to have the back half of the set a sphere of the Death Star exterior. That way you could have options for display. This looks like a doll house with the exterior broken off"
So you prefer to display a giant grey surface instead of a full detailed set of film scenes? In a 1000$ set? Don't believe you sorry :) "
Gee, thanks for telling me what I want lol. Let’s see how quickly this set is on discount or has huge insider point bonuses. Most Lego Star Wars fans don’t want a bunch of diorama sets thrown together for a $1000 Death Star set
Nice of the high-level corporate cash-guzzlers at TLG to trot out the designers in front of the firing squad to bite the bullets actually meant for the greedy bean-counters at the top. Pathetic, although I feel for the designers, they have probably done the best they could.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Absolutely agree. Do Lego want to show the Empire as moral in their recruiting process?
It's a bit like making a WW2 set and putting black/Jewish female Nazi officers in it.
There's nothing bigoted about being accurate to your sources.
That said, I'm fine with the change. It's not implausible that there would be those officers on the Death Slice, if it existed, and it helps make each minifig unique."
I, uh
I feel like if you were able to type that second paragraph, you should be able to see what's wrong with the comparison in the first one.
@Andrusi Empire is literally space nazis
Actually, the back doesn't look particularly bad. And when the slice is displayed at a very slight angle, it does suggest that it's a cutaway view of a sphere. The superlaser adds to that effect. Clearly people worked very hard on this design.
The basic concept doesn't work for me--which isn't the fault of the designers, given the size they wanted and the requirement that it should fit somewhere in a normal house without turning it into a Star Wars museum. It's probably the best solution to that complex of restrictions. And I don't feel that bean counters or insensitive execs spoiled what would otherwise have been a better set.
But I don't want it. I don't have the slightest tinge of regret about leaving it off my wish list.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Absolutely agree. Do Lego want to show the Empire as moral in their recruiting process?
It's a bit like making a WW2 set and putting black/Jewish female Nazi officers in it.
There's nothing bigoted about being accurate to your sources.
That said, I'm fine with the change. It's not implausible that there would be those officers on the Death Slice, if it existed, and it helps make each minifig unique."
A bit disingenuous to compare Star Wars with WW2 in that manner, isn't it? Canonically, the Empire only really seems to care about alien species, not different human races, and it's not really the same thing, given one was an actual event and the other is fictional.
"I created a wall panel to separate them at one point, but those parts were ultimately needed elsewhere."
It seems odd that because of budget they couldn't add finishing touches. The duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan looks silly with the trash compactor as a back drop. The lift when open also lets you see the wall behind which is another thing that doesn't seem finished.
As far as I’m aware the OG trilogy creators were trying to make a point with all the Empire staff being human, white and male (and usually British), with regard to how fascism is usually expressed through suppression of women and minorities, but unfortunately it’s somewhat undermined by the failure to include more than a tiny smattering of aliens, women and non-white characters on the Rebellion side. I think it could be a bit of a shame to lose the point they were trying to make, but since arguably due to the failings elsewhere they never made it properly in the first place (we aren’t talking the level of incisive commentary of the Assassin’s Guild in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld), it isn’t really a problem to have some variation in the display kit and later films (actors who aren’t white British men with upper middle class accents deserve jobs too) instead of nearly-identical minifigs.
If Lucasfilm asked for the trench, where is it?
For $1000, this was not the Death Star I was looking for. A smaller but fully paneled, spherical Death Star (even with no interior) would have been a definite buy for me. While I do like what they came up with; I feel like it's designed well and looks pretty cool all things considered, I look at it more as a cool MOC than a set I would personally want to own. For that reason, and the $1000, it is in all likelihood going to be an easy pass for me. A sphere, on the other hand, would have been an easy buy, even at $1000, even if it had a smaller radius, and even if it had no interior. I wanted a Death Star. This is not a Death Star, and honestly not deserving of the UCS title. This is a large scale Death Star diorama. Cool, but not what I wanted, and not what a lot of people wanted. I expect a lot of people are going to pass on this. I appreciate the designers' desire to do something different, but LEGO's first $1000 set is not something they should get experimental with if they want it to sell.
@Andrusi said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Absolutely agree. Do Lego want to show the Empire as moral in their recruiting process?
It's a bit like making a WW2 set and putting black/Jewish female Nazi officers in it.
There's nothing bigoted about being accurate to your sources.
That said, I'm fine with the change. It's not implausible that there would be those officers on the Death Slice, if it existed, and it helps make each minifig unique."
I, uh
I feel like if you were able to type that second paragraph, you should be able to see what's wrong with the comparison in the first one."
ngl I'm in two minds about it...
@Hiratha said:
"As far as I’m aware the OG trilogy creators were trying to make a point with all the Empire staff being human, white and male (and usually British), with regard to how fascism is usually expressed through suppression of women and minorities, but unfortunately it’s somewhat undermined by the failure to include more than a tiny smattering of aliens, women and non-white characters on the Rebellion side. I think it could be a bit of a shame to lose the point they were trying to make, but since arguably due to the failings elsewhere they never made it properly in the first place (we aren’t talking the level of incisive commentary of the Assassin’s Guild in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld), it isn’t really a problem to have some variation in the display kit and later films (actors who aren’t white British men with upper middle class accents deserve jobs too) instead of nearly-identical minifigs. "
It's something the Expanded Universe kind of broke quickly too. Grand Admiral Thrawn as an alien. Admiral Daala as a high ranking woman in the Empire. Grand Admiral Nial Declann as a black man in the Empire. The Death Star novel had a Twi'lek bartender on the station as well. While the real world analogy is still present, it solidified that the Empire is anti-nonhuman biased but actually rather diverse in humanity itself; and the Disney canon has stuck with that (Finn as a First Order stormtrooper, Thrawn again in his same role, Dedra Meero spectacularly as an ISB agent in Andor or Moff Gideon in Mandalorian).
I respect the original 1977 film's visual messaging of the Empire being predominantly white men to mirror the real structure of certain historical German military and political groups, but "The Empire is Woke" in terms of its human characters has been established since the 1990's. If anyone asks "why is real world minority absent in the Empire in the first three films?" it's easy to point out the Empire's scope meant they're always just off screen, or the faceless nature of Stormtrooper armor hid a lot of people's faces and identities from the audience's view. Then I'd also just remind people the films primary Imperial scenes were also made predominantly in 1970's/80's Britain, Scandinavia and Northern California; and extra casting also reflects the area the films were shot in at the time.
@Th3D0m1n8r said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Absolutely agree. Do Lego want to show the Empire as moral in their recruiting process?
It's a bit like making a WW2 set and putting black/Jewish female Nazi officers in it.
There's nothing bigoted about being accurate to your sources.
That said, I'm fine with the change. It's not implausible that there would be those officers on the Death Slice, if it existed, and it helps make each minifig unique."
A bit disingenuous to compare Star Wars with WW2 in that manner, isn't it? Canonically, the Empire only really seems to care about alien species, not different human races, and it's not really the same thing, given one was an actual event and the other is fictional."
The Empire literally has Stormtroopers. It's a dictatorship. It's clearly based on the Nazis.
It's a pretty fair comparison I think.
@César Soares said:
"For the possibility of add-on sets, we just wanted to make a complete Death Star in one go."
Ah, that certainly explains the GWP....
That aside, I think one of the more baffling choices is that it isn't flat around the back so you could hang it against a wall. At first glance it seems like the whole set was designed for that, but nope. And in that regard it doesn't help either that from the throne room you don't look into space but just at the wall behind it. They did do a back drop for the hangar, so why not for the throne room?
But the one recurring answer in both this interview and the one with Maddy O'Neil is how it's been all about cost cutting. Considering the price tag, that's just sad. I do get that there will always be constraints, but at this point many of those cut corners are just laughable.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @Hiratha said:
"As far as I’m aware the OG trilogy creators were trying to make a point with all the Empire staff being human, white and male (and usually British), with regard to how fascism is usually expressed through suppression of women and minorities, but unfortunately it’s somewhat undermined by the failure to include more than a tiny smattering of aliens, women and non-white characters on the Rebellion side. I think it could be a bit of a shame to lose the point they were trying to make, but since arguably due to the failings elsewhere they never made it properly in the first place (we aren’t talking the level of incisive commentary of the Assassin’s Guild in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld), it isn’t really a problem to have some variation in the display kit and later films (actors who aren’t white British men with upper middle class accents deserve jobs too) instead of nearly-identical minifigs. "
It's something the Expanded Universe kind of broke quickly too. Grand Admiral Thrawn as an alien. Admiral Daala as a high ranking woman in the Empire. Grand Admiral Nial Declann as a black man in the Empire. The Death Star novel had a Twi'lek bartender on the station as well. While the real world analogy is still present, it solidified that the Empire is anti-nonhuman biased but actually rather diverse in humanity itself; and the Disney canon has stuck with that (Finn as a First Order stormtrooper, Thrawn again in his same role, Dedra Meero spectacularly as an ISB agent in Andor or Moff Gideon in Mandalorian).
I respect the original 1977 film's visual messaging of the Empire being predominantly white men to mirror the real structure of certain historical German military and political groups, but "The Empire is Woke" in terms of its human characters has been established since the 1990's. If anyone asks "why is real world minority absent in the Empire in the first three films?" it's easy to point out the Empire's scope meant they're always just off screen, or the faceless nature of Stormtrooper armor hid a lot of people's faces and identities from the audience's view. Then I'd also just remind people the films primary Imperial scenes were also made predominantly in 1970's/80's Britain, Scandinavia and Northern California; and extra casting also reflects the area the films were shot in at the time. "
Well, quite. The ship has thoroughly sailed, finished its round-the-world expedition and set off again to find the northwest passage. Even if the original point, if it had been made a bit better, would have been a good one, I don’t think there’s much chance of its meaningful reinstatement in a lone Lego kit.
The team wanted to try something new… but reading these threads, what the customers - and fans - wanted was a modern take on the Death Star.
I very appreciate the time and effort the team spent on this but I feel they missed the brief on this one.
I will just say - For HALF the price, you can get previous Deathstar on BL.
It's a nice set. Too bad about shortcuts of the back, trash compactor, etc.
The figs are almost a complete redundant disgrace!
Too bad this $800 set is being marketed at $1000.
Overall, it's just a big, half-shined turd.
As the most expensive set yet, the model needed to look seriously impressive to justify the pricetag. 75192 and 75313 were able to do this with both being detailed models that look accurate to the source material, and the latter also having a full interior copied from the cross-section books.
This thing though? Aside from the superlaser on the side, it looks nothing like either of the Death Stars seen in the movies. While the value for money might not be completely terrible on paper in terms of price/piece and price/weight, it simply doesn't look good enough for anywhere near the price they are charging. Even if it was literally a tenth of the price I'd only want it as a parts pack.
@MisterBrickster said:
" @capnrex101 - I don't know if these are your photos or someone else's, but they actually make the set look way better than the official ones in my opinion. Seeing more of the depth and curvature of the lower levels really makes it feel like it has more to it than a flat disc."
I had the exact same thought - the photo that's looking down from the top, where you really see the depth of the parts that jut out more, is really impressive - and it vividly shows just how big this set is too!
As for all the hate this is getting, I understand it to a point, but I feel like some folks are failing to make a key distinction: the concept or approach of this set is not what some folks wanted, yes. But for what it is, I think it's very well-designed and executed.
And let's not forget that this format is for many people much better for display - and it gets away from the UCS Star Wars problem of "giant slabs/globs of light bluish gray" that some folks have complained about with sets like the prior Death Stars, AT-AT, and especially the various Star Destroyers. Variety is good.
@tmtomh said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
" @capnrex101 - I don't know if these are your photos or someone else's, but they actually make the set look way better than the official ones in my opinion. Seeing more of the depth and curvature of the lower levels really makes it feel like it has more to it than a flat disc."
I had the exact same thought - the photo that's looking down from the top, where you really see the depth of the parts that jut out more, is really impressive - and it vividly shows just how big this set is too!
As for all the hate this is getting, I understand it to a point, but I feel like some folks are failing to make a key distinction: the concept or approach of this set is not what some folks wanted, yes. But for what it is, I think it's very well-designed and executed.
And let's not forget that this format is for many people much better for display - and it gets away from the UCS Star Wars problem of "giant slabs/globs of light bluish gray" that some folks have complained about with sets like the prior Death Stars, AT-AT, and especially the various Star Destroyers. Variety is good."
It's not $1k good.
1) the GWP should just be part of the set 2) I don't see how there wasn't space to make some of the scenes bigger when the entire center of the model is basically empty space.
I don't own anything that had an equal or higher price than this (except my house and cars) so I can't imagine someone buying this. My only complaint is that they combined movies into the same set. I like it, I just can't believe the price.
Firstly, credit to Cesar Soares for doing an excellent job within the constraints he was given.
"I created a wall panel to separate them at one point, but those parts were ultimately needed elsewhere."
I feel like this attitude by the Lego management is unacceptable in a flagship product - as with the minifigures, the most expensive set you're selling should damn well be the best in everything....
Looking at this, I feel like if *I* were in charge, I 'd have drawn up 2 separate hemispherical sets - one for the Death Star 1 with the cell block / tractor beam / swing across the chasm / corridor fight / conference room, and a different set for the Death Star 2 with the shuttle bay, throne room. Both sets have finished backs (the Death Star 1 with a complete casing, the Death Star 2 with an under-construction section). Then they could be smaller in diameter to reduce structural piece count and displayed either open, or placed together to make a complete sphere. Two $800 sets and I'd probably be saving my money now...
I get their thought process when designing it. But I just don't think it's a good design. The spherical nature of the Death Star is part of what makes it iconic: a moon-shaped planetary body of a planet-destroying death ray.
I also think that Lego has gotten too obsessed with minute details that inflate the piece count, the prices, and generally make things more expensive. Sure there is more detail, but is all the detail necessary? I've think they've lost the plot with part usage in detail vs. part usage in effective design of a Lego set. I guess they've been inspired by AFOLs who have much more committed budgets to get into those details, but that mindset doesn't always translate well in making a product. Many of the early Lego Star Wars designs had too many studs showing, but now it's as if they are ashamed of the essence of their Lego system.
Overall, it seems like a collection of worse versions of sets they've already released duct-taped together in a Death Star facade.
Thanks for this interview! It’s always interesting to hear the design process of a set from the designers themselves, and I’d like to see more designer interviews like this on Brickset.
It’s also a nice reminder for people that real human beings have worked on these projects.
It’s funny, his answers to why it looks like it is are exactly what I said to a couple people on their instagram. The complaints are so off base. Like adding half a sphere…then what would the complaints be? “It’s too small for being a $1K” because, as he said, they would have to decrease its size a bunch to accommodate all those parts. Or if it was a full sphere, say goodbye to the interior.
I will say, these pictures help show the set in a better light. The first one showing it at a slight angle & the curvature that is going on is very smart.
I was never a buyer of any Death Star, but I can appreciate this for being something different while giving us the iconic scenes from the Death Star.
@AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
@Vindicare said:
"Or if it was a full sphere, say goodbye to the interior. "
I remember the gnashing of teeth when 10143 came out and people were furious that it was a big grey ball instead of a series of minifig scenes.
@Wasthereonce said:
"I get their thought process when designing it. But I just don't think it's a good design. The spherical nature of the Death Star is part of what makes it iconic: a moon-shaped planetary body of a planet-destroying death ray.
"
The spherical shape of the Death Star is iconic and if you want that shape model then you have had pretty much two decades in which to buy one. I think the way they have sliced this but maintained the curve at the base is a clear indication that this is a cross section of a sphere rather than a cross section of a cylinder. The outer sides also seem to curve inwards slightly again suggesting a sphere.
I wouldn't have bought it either way, if it was this or a slightly bigger version of the ball they did before. But I think they did a good job of maximising the display area on this one compared to what they could do in a sphere.
I'm not a fan of the GWP, leaving out a piece to make it appear something is missing if you don't buy direct is pretty bad. That marketing aside, I think the designers have come up with a good but different take on what they have done before. I would have been disappointed if they just did a slightly bigger sphere for double the cost. I think I would also be disappointed with some of the fan suggestions such as a hemisphere with solid exterior surface, as that would be too deep to display, likely unstable, lots of unused interior and you wouldn't see the exterior anyway plus the exterior would be the wrong scale compared to the interior so any exterior diorama like the x-wing in the trench would look silly.
Oof that back is rough. I get that it's intended to display against a wall, but having a flat/greebled side would have been a fun 'reveal' for those wanting to display it that way occasionally, then spin it around to show friends etc.
Be interested to see how they display this in the LEGO store window display.
I think it's an interesting concept, just a bit disappointing for the first $1000 LEGO set. I'd love to know if they came up with the concept or the price point first.
@GrizBe said:
"Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?"
It’s just you.
I can’t believe that Cesar agreed to build this thing in the first place, when he knew he’s going to get bullied for it, even before he put two bricks together, no matter what he would end up with.
You forget that people are different, think different, and decide different. Stuff you take for granted might be something others don’t even imagine. Giving someone hard time because they didn’t build your toy the way you dreamt out is just dumb.
And for all who rush to the keyboard to tell me how you are allowed to expect the blue from the sky because of the pricetag: NO. You don’t. It’s just a toy, you don’t like it? Don’t buy it. So simple. There is no obligation for you to purchase it whatsoever.
@classicstylecastle said:
"Oof that back is rough. I get that it's intended to display against a wall, but having a flat/greebled side would have been a fun 'reveal' for those wanting to display it that way occasionally, then spin it around to show friends etc.
Be interested to see how they display this in the LEGO store window display.
I think it's an interesting concept, just a bit disappointing for the first $1000 LEGO set. I'd love to know if they came up with the concept or the price point first."
I imagine it was a bit of both. It was time for another UCS Death Star that will probably be around for 5+ years and the time is near for the first $1000 set. If they had 'only' done $800 or 900 for this, would any other subject have been right or deserving of the tag? I cannot really see the demand for a much bigger X-Wing so the only other thing would be a $1000 Millenium Falcon.
And as for the concept, I'm glad they did something different rather than similar to what we have had for the past two decades just a little bit bigger.
@Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas.
@Gamlebilrokker said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?"
It’s just you.
I can’t believe that Cesar agreed to build this thing in the first place, when he knew he’s going to get bullied for it, even before he put two bricks together, no matter what he would end up with.
You forget that people are different, think different, and decide different. Stuff you take for granted might be something others don’t even imagine. Giving someone hard time because they didn’t build your toy the way you dreamt out is just dumb.
And for all who rush to the keyboard to tell me how you are allowed to expect the blue from the sky because of the pricetag: NO. You don’t. It’s just a toy, you don’t like it? Don’t buy it. So simple. There is no obligation for you to purchase it whatsoever.
"
It's NOT just you.
This thing is a great $600 set. It's a pretty crappy $800 set.
It's an abomination at $1k.
Anyone saying different is a Lego LAN hack.
@AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Don't compare this over-blown blowhard with the awesome Haunted House. That's a fully enclosed set with great minifigs!
They barely spent the same amount on new minifig prints for this set. :(
@Gamlebilrokker said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?"
It’s just you. "
Funny that theres lots of people agreeing with me, and everyone telling else saying YOU are wrong then....
@AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Yet it is more new than yet another spherical ball with minifigures inside that we have had for two decades. It was obvious another Death Star was coming given its importance in the OT so at least they tried something new. I would be ,ore outraged if they did the same sphere again just at a higher price point suitable for the next decade.
People complain if they do the same thing in the same way or slightly bigger or smaller. Yet people complain if they do a new take on it as well. Maybe that is why LEGO doesn't take much note of fan comments and instead rely on sales data.
@GrizBe said:
" @Gamlebilrokker said:
" @GrizBe said:
"Is it just me, or do alot of these answers read like 'we couldn't be bothered' rather than 'we wanted to make the best quality product we could'?"
It’s just you. "
Funny that theres lots of people agreeing with me, and everyone telling else saying YOU are wrong then.... "
Because lots of people feel entitled enough to assume that designers didn't do their job right, just because the outcome doesn't match whatever you made up in your wildest dreams.
It's fine to not like it, but to say that the guy didn't give a damn, that's maybe what you feel, but it's still wrong.
@Gamlebilrokker said:
"It's fine to not like it, but to say that the guy didn't give a damn, that's maybe what you feel, but it's still wrong. "
And yet even the people recognising the designers hard work are saying you are still wrong....
But given you've made it clear you're just trying to cause trouble now, I'm blocking comments from you as you're not worth wasting time dealing with.
@GrizBe said:
" @Gamlebilrokker said:
"It's fine to not like it, but to say that the guy didn't give a damn, that's maybe what you feel, but it's still wrong. "
And yet even the people recognising the designers hard work are saying you are still wrong....
But given you've made it clear you're just trying to cause trouble now, I'm blocking comments from you as you're not worth wasting time dealing with. "
So what you're saying is, you dont give a damn what the person you're responding to actually said or meant, you just know they disagreed with you while you were mad and that makes them bad.
@TheOriginalSimonB said:
"If Lucasfilm asked for the trench, where is it?"
On the sides, represented by dark bluish grey bricks. That is the equatorial trench, instead of the polar trench where the thermal exhaust port is located.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Don't compare this over-blown blowhard with the awesome Haunted House. That's a fully enclosed set with great minifigs!
They barely spent the same amount on new minifig prints for this set. :("
There were seven new printed parts produced for the minifigures in 10228 Haunted House and I believe there are 37 in 75419 Death Star, not to mention a couple of new hats.
Though there are definitely problems with some of the minifigures in this set, exaggerated comparisons do not help make that point.
@Andrusi said:
"So what you're saying is, you dont give a damn what the person you're responding to actually said or meant, you just know they disagreed with you while you were mad and that makes them bad."
No. That is what YOU are saying. I'm just pointing out the simple fact that there are many people here who've made long explainations as to why they're wrong, who agree with me, and yet the poster was making an attempt to personally attack me instead of addressing everyone else....
So given you're piling into an issue that doesn't involve you to try and berate someone... what does that say about you?
@StyleCounselor said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Don't compare this over-blown blowhard with the awesome Haunted House. That's a fully enclosed set with great minifigs!
They barely spent the same amount on new minifig prints for this set. :("
Does that set have great minifigs? I personally love them, but the only exclusive minifigures in the Haunted House were two zombie servants, and the Chef had a reused head print that makes him less interesting, plus a dull flat grey pair of legs. The Butler is good for the time, but would he really be a set seller? No, you bought the set for the building.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @TheOriginalSimonB said:
"If Lucasfilm asked for the trench, where is it?"
On the sides, represented by dark bluish grey bricks. That is the equatorial trench, instead of the polar trench where the thermal exhaust port is located.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Don't compare this over-blown blowhard with the awesome Haunted House. That's a fully enclosed set with great minifigs!
They barely spent the same amount on new minifig prints for this set. :("
There were seven new printed parts produced for the minifigures in 10228 Haunted House and I believe there are 37 in 75419 Death Star, not to mention a couple of new hats.
Though there are definitely problems with some of the minifigures in this set, exaggerated comparisons do not help make that point."
I understand that they may have redesigned every minifigure to keep themselves busy and try to justify this crap. However, the redesigns are not significant. They provide no real value to the casual fan or the long-time collector.
I don't care that Han, Luke, Vader, Obi may have a new wrinkle (and little else) in their costume.
I go out of my way to defend your integrity on these issues. Don't blow it!!
@8BrickMario said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
" @Vindicare said:
" @AtomJVD89 said:
"It's a doll-house for adult children. For 1000€. This set embodies everything wrong with LSW and LEGO in general. They absolutely lost the plot."
And so was the Monster Fighters Haunted House, albeit it wasn’t $1K. Not sure why you’re using dollhouse as an insult…
"
I'm not using it as an insult, ithat's what it is. A collection of dioramas, most of whom have already been done fairly recently, arranged in a circular shape. I understand wanting to do something different and not another grey sphere, but this not anything new either. For hardcore fans with disposable income, wich I asume is the main target for this set, it doesn't really add anything new since they probably already have those dioramas."
Don't compare this over-blown blowhard with the awesome Haunted House. That's a fully enclosed set with great minifigs!
They barely spent the same amount on new minifig prints for this set. :("
Does that set have great minifigs? I personally love them, but the only exclusive minifigures in the Haunted House were two zombie servants, and the Chef had a reused head print that makes him less interesting, plus a dull flat grey pair of legs. The Butler is good for the time, but would he really be a set seller? No, you bought the set for the building."
True. But, those figs were spectacular for their time compared with this $1k ton of lard.
For the Lego SW fan, there is nothing here. Galen doesn't even have leg printing.
So I haven't read everything in detail and looking at the reviews this can't be wall mounted which is a shame. Is that correct? If so looks like a dedicated shelf would be needed, but how sturdy is the base as wouldn't want such an expensive set to get dislodged and fall to the floor
@StyleCounselor said:
"I understand that they may have redesigned every minifigure to keep themselves busy and try to justify this crap. However, the redesigns are not significant. They provide no real value to the casual fan or the long-time collector.
I don't care that Han, Luke, Vader, Obi may have a new wrinkle (and little else) in their costume.
I go out of my way to defend your integrity on these issues. Don't blow it!!"
The problem is that minifigures like Han Solo and Obi-Wan from A New Hope were not in production for anything other than this set, so whether they had been updated or not, it would have counted as a 'new' piece in production.
As for 'defending my integrity', I know I am being honest in my views, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Acknowledging some of the mitigating circumstances around issues with this set is a reasonable thing to do and bound to happen if perveived problems with a set are raised in an interview. That does not mean I or anybody has to agree with those mitigating circumstances or explanations, but I think many people want to understand more about why certain decisions are made, which sometimes means hearing about frustrating limitations.
For the record, I like this set. It is definitely not without fault and I made my concerns about several features known to the designers when in Billund last month. However, it is highly detailed for the most part and has incredible presence on display, even more so than 75192 Millennium Falcon, in my opinion. Even the minifigures are very good on the whole, but let down by some extremely conspicuous flaws, like the lack of dual-moulded legs for certain characters.
@GrizBe said:
" @Andrusi said:
"So what you're saying is, you dont give a damn what the person you're responding to actually said or meant, you just know they disagreed with you while you were mad and that makes them bad."
No. That is what YOU are saying. I'm just pointing out the simple fact that there are many people here who've made long explainations as to why they're wrong, who agree with me, and yet the poster was making an attempt to personally attack me instead of addressing everyone else....
So given you're piling into an issue that doesn't involve you to try and berate someone... what does that say about you? "
Yes, that *is* what I'm saying, because it's what you're *demonstrating* as you continue to double down on your own personal attack on Soares and O'Neil, that they "couldn't be bothered," your words, and insist that anyone trying to get you to maybe back off a little is "trying to cause trouble," again your words. If you go in guns blazing, you don't get to play the victim when people shoot back.
"We just wanted to make a complete Death Star in one go." Where is the complete death star then?, The designers im sure did a great job working around so many limitations, budget, piece count or "frames" as they call it but given that this is the biggest and most expensive star wars set it should have been special. They said it, they approached this like any other set, it was just bigger, but this shouldn't be "any other set" it should have been a real love letter to Star wars and the fans. (after all, SW did save them from bankruptcy back in the 2000)
@Andrusi said:
"I'm confident everyone will be very normal in this comments section"
How did you know? ;-)
Well, having seen this thing in (sponsored) videos I must say: I am impressed of what I see, maybe because any set with that price tag is out of the question for me.
And I seem to be one of the few who gets and appreciates the decision for the "slice star": A full or even half sphere would have either increased the price or would have been significantly smaller. And the size is substantial enough as it is - I own 10188 and that's no joke to store or to display.
Solid brix studios put the AT-AT walker next to it and if you accept the (wild!) price of that I can see the 150 € in additional value to that.
The designers did an incredible job under heavy constraints - I'll give them that. And I feel almost bad for them, because they are doing the interview tour and face the criticism for the bean counters desicions.
But - and it's a "but" the size of a small moon - (corporate) LEGO absolutely missed an opportunity for a "set of the decade" moment and a "thank you" to it's fans by cutting corners and appearing tone-deaf, petty and cheap on this most expensive set so far. They were absolutely wrong to treat this "like any other set". This is not like any other set, this is an almost obscenely expensive luxury item - and for this no expenses should have been spared. Especially when releasing it to the public immediately after reporting record profit, said public was bound to react badly to 50 stickers, cheaper versions of minifigs and a GWP that should have been part of the thing in the first place and whose inclusion in publicity photos without a disclaimer is...shady.
At a moment where prices spike up everywhere and Lego Star Wars has a rough standing anyhow due to pricing and quality issues in the current wave - this could not not end in a PR desaster with LEGOs Star Wars' fan base.
The designer did a great job with this IMO, I think it looks very nice. In reality the project brief probably never should have been greenlit. Even with prints and the nice figs this set deserves, I think it still would have flopped because there just are not that many people excited and able to spend 1000 clams on an adult dollhouse with a lot of content recycled from recent dioramas.
@plasticheart said:
"The designer did a great job with this IMO, I think it looks very nice. In reality the project brief probably never should have been greenlit. Even with prints and the nice figs this set deserves, I think it still would have flopped because there just are not that many people excited and able to spend 1000 clams on an adult dollhouse with a lot of content recycled from recent dioramas."
I imagine they will be able to judge the demand quite well. They have been selling Star Wars for 25 years and large sets for 20. It is way too early to call it a flop.
I hope this doesn't sell well. And I hope ANY of the influencers who get this for free, do not recommend it to people. Because they sure wouldn't pay 1k out of their own money, in this economy, for this... it's a displace piece? But, is more of a play set? So.. who exactly is this aimed at other than than people with more money than sense?
Lego has become too complacent and needs to be knocked down a stud or 5.
I actually don't care about it being spherical, I'm more disgusted with it being just a big collection of vignettes in a ring, for the asking price, when 50% of the pieces are.. not seen or just kinda pointless detail that add nothing.
Could've been half the size, and hemispherical, so it could be viewed from the back and cleverly integrate internal space for a few key scenes.
The Death Star is a sphere, while I can see the idea of using a cross section view to depict various moments across the movies being kinda cool, it doesn't make any sense for a $1000 set aimed towards collector adults to give us what's essentially an oversized hockey puck that fails to capture the essence of the original design, I think a properly enclosed sphere that's smaller and can open up in a dollhouse style to reveal some details inside it would've been more appropriate, for a model of the death star, I'd want it to actually look like the thing, not whatever this is.
good or not $1000 for a Lego set is beyond insanity to me anyway.
Having seen the OG sketch model, there are two features I wish were kept. First, the Millennium Falcon in the hangar bay makes more sense with the Obi-wan/Vader fight off to the side. Really there should have been two hangar bays. One with the Falcon and the other with the shuttle. The other feature that should have been kept was the cool greebling on the outside. Even though the model is just a slice, the greebling makes it feel more like the Death Star.
@Darth_Dee said:
"Having seen the OG sketch model, there are two features I wish were kept. First, the Millennium Falcon in the hangar bay makes more sense with the Obi-wan/Vader fight off to the side. Really there should have been two hangar bays. One with the Falcon and the other with the shuttle. The other feature that should have been kept was the cool greebling on the outside. Even though the model is just a slice, the greebling makes it feel more like the Death Star."
Even before seeing the sketch model I was telling my partner that if we got it we’d need to figure out a midi-scale Falcon to put in the hanger bay sometimes. I’m glad they didn’t make it the GWP though because I think that would’ve felt not-great compared to a highly optional TIE.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"I understand that they may have redesigned every minifigure to keep themselves busy and try to justify this crap. However, the redesigns are not significant. They provide no real value to the casual fan or the long-time collector.
I don't care that Han, Luke, Vader, Obi may have a new wrinkle (and little else) in their costume.
I go out of my way to defend your integrity on these issues. Don't blow it!!"
The problem is that minifigures like Han Solo and Obi-Wan from A New Hope were not in production for anything other than this set, so whether they had been updated or not, it would have counted as a 'new' piece in production.
As for 'defending my integrity', I know I am being honest in my views, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Acknowledging some of the mitigating circumstances around issues with this set is a reasonable thing to do and bound to happen if perveived problems with a set are raised in an interview. That does not mean I or anybody has to agree with those mitigating circumstances or explanations, but I think many people want to understand more about why certain decisions are made, which sometimes means hearing about frustrating limitations.
For the record, I like this set. It is definitely not without fault and I made my concerns about several features known to the designers when in Billund last month. However, it is highly detailed for the most part and has incredible presence on display, even more so than 75192 Millennium Falcon, in my opinion. Even the minifigures are very good on the whole, but let down by some extremely conspicuous flaws, like the lack of dual-moulded legs for certain characters."
Yes, I understand that Lego considers all these old figures to be new because of their own logistical intrigues. Who cares?
Guess what? Fans don't care. To us, these are just renditions that most of us have too many already.
For $1k, Lego needed to provide the best of every one of these figures. They've done that plenty of times before (such as Cloud City). They chose to go the cheepest, mediocre, boring route instead.
For $1k, Lego needed to produce something epic. They didn't. The stickers are everywhere. The back is unfinished. There's no sphere or half sphere. The sides are boring tiles. The inside is mostly an amalgamation of dioramas and sets that have been produced better elsewhere.
For $1k, they needed to give us an overwhelming plethora of reasons to spend the money. They didn't.
The GWP is a sad, 4+ joke. (credit Brickfanatics) Although, I must admit it's better than patches or a key chain.
Fans don't care or want to hear Lego's excuses for why this set is the new 'Assault on our Wallets.' Lego chose to make this set. Lego chose the price point. That they had to redesign a bunch of boring, redundant Lukes is due to choices they made.
And yes, I defend your integrity because I value your insights, knowledge, and criticism. However, your business model is based on an essential conflict of interest. Your receive free sets, special access, travel, establish personal relationships, and receive numerous other perks from the corporation that you proffer criticism to the public. Thus, there is always the danger of self-interest, bias, and cronyism lurking in the background- especially when the pressure is highest. We all know that the pressure on the LAN will be greatest with this flagship set.
@Brikkyy13 said:
"Funny how he talks about not including a ladder for the control room to “preserve authenticity to the movie” yet almost all the unnamed officer minifigures are black or female.
Write me off as a bigot if you’d like but that doesn’t change the fact that the Death Star crew was exclusively white men in the movie. For the price tag they’re asking you’d expect accuracy all round. "
Well that's just the truth. Some people hate the truth
All you people wanting a sphere...good news: this is Lego. Add a sphere yourself!
"I do think the piece count could have been a problem in that situation. A half sphere or any significant curved shaping at the back would greatly inflate the number of elements, especially with the surface texture, so one of two things would need to happen. Either the model would have to be much smaller, or the level of detail inside would be lower, or maybe a combination of both."
OR maybe LEGO could STOP artificially inflating piece counts by using a bunch of useless 1x1 tiles and plates, using 3 1x2 plates to make 1 1x2 brick etc.
It's amazing LEGO actually thinks all their customers are dumb and haven't seen through their BS yet.