Special offer from UCS Replicas

Anybody know what a MF will cost when ordered over there?

i wold love to buy 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer.

@allstyles: The website says something like USD1300 plus shipping. They replace the more (most) expensive parts with cheaper alternatives were possible (or may repaint?), and it also comes without minifigs.

allstyles;

Pricing

SMUGGLER Core Kit: $1,300

SMUGGLER EP-7 Core Kit: $1,550

Shipping: actual cost
(due to weight of the package to be shipped, Domestic and
International shipping price is based on actual UPS, USPS,
or FedEx rates - whichever is most affordable.

Residents of Michigan will be responsible for 6% sales tax.

And keep in mind you want it over to the Netherlands, so additional costs for transport and customs fees.

if i ever win a big sum of cash. this will be the 1st stop.
until then. it's nice to dream.

If it's not Lego who gives a stud stay loyal

You could have mentioned in your article, that certain (hard to find) parts are replaced or even painted (really??!).
You could also have mentioned that minifigs don't seem to be part of the deal.

But everyone hast know by themselves if they want to pay 1500$ plus shipping - and still not own the 100% perfect copy.

I don't see much point in paying 10x what a Chinese copy goes for when this 'replica' is also not a genuine UCS set.

Well they're genuine bricks at least.

Personally I'd just hold on until the inevitable re-release. If you don't get the fun of scavenging the parts from Bricklink, you're really just being gouged on the price, same as any other re-seller. But then I have 55% of a 10030 sitting in my wardrobe so maybe I'm just annoyed at these people driving the price of parts up even further.

expensive.

@Holodoc
I've just looked there for the first time.
It looks like they only paint the parts at your request. Eg. you can have black antenna, or, at a cost, they will paint them grey for you if you tick the box on the order enquiry.

@hardwax
A Chinese copy will use non-Lego bricks. It looks like these people are sourcing genuine Lego bricks.

As someone who bricklinked my own MilF, after knowing how troublesome it was, I might have been tempted to use a company like this. Their markup seems reasonable.

I agree with Holodoc. The principle behind this idea is potentially profitable, but they've ruined it with massively exorbitant prices.

Category: News or Advertising?

Seems like a good idea.

Given the choice between their mark up and trying to sort out 6,000-odd parts from resellers, I know which I'd choose! I'd be happy to let them deal with all that.

'The principle behind this idea is potentially profitable, but they've ruined it with massively exorbitant prices.'

That can be said about most anything LEGO does too.

If I want one I'll buy a high quality knock off for a 20th of the cost. Which also comes with figures that you can't even tell apart.

Or just wait for the rumoured new one.

Many thanks to Huw for this shout-out!

I am the owner of ucREPLICAS, and thought I’d give you a short explanation of the company and what we’re trying to do.

My family and I love LEGO products. For years, my kids and I have yearned to build some of the big UCS kits, but without the budget for the recent eBay prices, we had been unable to realize the dream. So we decided to try resourcing the parts for ourselves, and in the process, I started this company to teach my kids the inner workings of a small business (parts ordering, inventory management, etc.). Together, we’ve had a blast developing kits for two dozen customers in our first year.

To the LEGO purists, I understand that this is nothing like the experience of opening a NISB kit. And while I really can’t stand painting parts, the excessively expensive and hard-to-find parts that are necessary for this kit still need to be included, so this is the best option I’ve found so far. We use 100% authentic LEGO parts (1/3rd of them actually purchased directly from LEGO). Of the 272 part types, all but two are brand new — and those two are highly scrutinized, very lightly used parts (minimal scratches, with a mirror finish). Quality control is a major part of our process, and we pride ourselves on offering a great product.

In regards to our pricing, I run a report each month which summarizes the previous 30 days of LEGO 10179 sales on eBay. For the December 2016 report, sixty-four (64) Millennium Falcon kits were sold (33 used and 31 new — we don’t consider the 35 Chinese clone kits as they aren’t legit LEGO parts). The average of the used kits was $2,327. The average of the new kits was $3,744. As you can see, our price of $1,300 is well below either of these averages, and includes intricate packing and a convenient carrying case.

We really have enjoyed bringing the thrill of this kind of build to our customers, and look forward to offering more retired kits in the near future. To the purists, I understand if you don’t have an interest. To everyone else who may be daunted by current online auction pricing, we offer this alternative.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments! I hope you all have a great day!

Todd / Happyakrz

This is interesting for those who misse out on those sets.

I think it's a great service, it's real Lego bricks and compared to top-ups other companies ask for just feeling out a Lego minifigs packet, this is much more difficult.

I like it that Brickset gives small companies a shout-out too.

Good luck to you Todd & family.

Interesting concept, and I wish you luck with this venture. I'm curious to see what other sets you plan on offering - particularly in the Modular Building lineup, perhaps?

I don't see the point of this, from a consumer perspective - buying a very expensive kit re-build made from official Lego parts doesn't do anything for the Lego corporation, so it's not really "loyalty" or anything, it's just over-devotion to brand loyalty.

I don't like the knock-offs of current Lego sets, but I don't see how if it's ok to sell a piece-by-piece re-make of an out-of-production Lego set that it's not ok to just make a copy of the same set?

Brilliant idea to turn it into a business. I've thought of sourcing my own replica for years now but don't have the time or the funds. If I had the funds, this would be so much easier.

Cool idea! So glad I have em all already. There's no way I'd pay $1300 for a Lego set, fair as it might be.

@Happyakrz a good idea, valuable service for some, and great lesson for your kids. I don't understand the negativity from others. If it's not your cup of tea, do the legwork yourself or wait for a possible re-release. Best of luck.

Purist or not, if I'm not getting a genuine LEGO product with all the correct pieces then I either do not want it or I'll pay less than $100 for a 'replica', 'clone', 'bootleg, whatever you want to call it.

If I were in the market for a Lego MF at this very moment, I would consider two options:

1. Buy the Lepin clone for a fraction of the price for this "replica"
2. Wait for the re-release later this year, which - I would wager - will be better than the original 10179 even though surely more expensive

The lepin version is much cheaper!!! These replicas are of no benefit to Lego themselves but the lepin version is of benefit to your wallet.

Personally, I feel a great deal of people will wait for the mighty Falcon to return.
I know I will.
That being said, anyone talking of purchasing a Lepin product is out of their mind.
Here's why:
Lepin is a pure knockoff product who has even stolen the look and logo of Lego.
By some miraculous loophole, they are still operating, which I think will end someday.
To state you want Lepin would be the equivalent of sourcing Mega for the same purpose.
Out of your mind? Yup. At least this dude and his kids are offering legit Lego.
Again, either wait or buy Lego...the reality is, if he is buying most from PAB in bulk...Lego as a company is being supported nonetheless.
Can't wait for the new Falcon to fly high!

The brand loyalty to LEGO is laughable. I'm glad more and more people are coming to their senses.

I think this is a cool idea and I would probably be interested in the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer somewhere down the line, when my finances improve.
I was unable to afford that set while it was in production and finally purchased an NISB one from a fellow LUG member in 2011. I never got around to building it and had to sell it on eBay in 2014 when I was in dire financial straits.
I would never buy a Lepin one because it's LEGO or nothing! :D

Honestly, I think that this is quite brilliant. I wouldn't purchase it myself, but for someone who wants the set but doesn't want to spend so much time on BL, I could see this being a very good offer.

habbathejutt - Chinese knockoffs will never go away. But think about it this way ... if you buy either of them, your order will be filled by child labor.

I love LEGO as much as the next AFOL, but I'd never spend $1300 on anything that I'd just keep around to look at. I don't even care if they re-release it or not. It's OK not to have everything.

Neat idea. Still crazy expensive though.

This seems ridiculously expensive.
Has someone taken the approach to BL the pieces for this set, how much did it cost to get all the pieces and how long did it take (i.e. factoring a cost for the ordering)

So three Lego pieces can be worth almost 1000$ (2 x shroud, 1 x disk). Now that is a ppp value! :-)

The Green Brick Giant - Considering this is a LEGO website, it makes sense there is a strong LEGO devotion/loyalty.

AussieSamurai - From the threads I've read on eurobricks about rebuilding this via bricklink, it is usually the low 1000s. Granted I haven't read it in a while and that was with the standard substitutions, so this actually is a good deal comparatively.

I think I will wait for a re-release and laugh at the price and then not buy it. This set didn't sell for $250, yet I guarantee it will sell for $600+ when it is re-released.

@AustinPowers later -this year-?? Where'd you hear that? I'm sure another UCS Falcon is invevitable, but I doubt it'll be soon. Though, hey LEGO--are you paying attention here? There's clearly demand!

$600-$700 when re-released I can guess. Can you imagine if Lego/Disney re-released both 10179 and 10030 at the same time!!??

@Sethro3: I'm confused by the last sentence in your comment. Didn't sell for $250? The UCS Falcon went for $500 and then $600 for its last couple years.

I love Lego as much as anybody but that doesn't mean it's lego or nothing!!! I don't do brand loyalty.

@ The Green Brick Giant, there is a big difference between blind loyalty, and not wanting to encourage plagarism/theft. I have nothing against buying Mega Blocks, because they create unique sets.

I've never had a desire to get the UCS MF; I'm content with my system-scale one, but if I did this is probably how I'd get one (assuming the rumors of a new one are false). I can't stand non-LEGO bricks, and anyone who has ever used Bricklink can tell you that while it is an incredibly useful site, it would be painful to buy 5000 pieces there. I'd much rather pay their mark-up compared to going to all the trouble of finding the pieces myself.

As for all of you complaining about loyalty to TLG, this is no worse than buying from a reseller or buying from Bricklink - and it's worlds better than buying a knock-off. TLG makes nothing off Lepin sets, but here they're indirectly making money due to parts sales and higher sales of sets for parts. This is a clever and useful service, and I hope it's successful - there are other sets I could see myself buying in this manner.

@ra226: I've heard it on several occasions that a new UCS Millenium Falcon is on its way, for example from the Brick Vault:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPKPp_Agfi8

(This is just one of the videos where they mention it), just google Lego UCS Millenium Falcon re-release. You'll find something on the lines of this:

http://www.thebrickfan.com/new-rumors-of-lego-star-wars-ucs-millennium-falcon-coming/

And yes, technically it is just a rumour as of yet, but the plot seems to thicken...

I cannot believe lego isn't re-releasing these UCS packs.

I've seen unboxed, few parts missing and no mini fig genuine sets go for around £1,000. These seem no better than that, and cost more!

I've also seen a guy Bricklink a whole set in pieces for a total cost of £900 and I think the dish was the only non original part.

It's expensive for the number of bricks, but when you compare it to a Bricklinked Falcon, it's about the same price, but with none of the intensive labor of finding as few sellers as possible with the pieces you need.

Still holding out for a new LEGO UCS Millennium Falcon, but I think this is a great option for people who want the UCS build with genuine LEGO parts.

Congrats, Todd! Nice service you're providing - while at the same time teaching your kids. Don't bother the negativity, the demand you saw and try to cather to is real and you should be rewarded for your work. People just can't (won't) see this is a big set, with lots of pieces, that unavoidably comands a hefty price in sourcing!

THis is great that they are doing this but its still way too muchmoney!