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

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

$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.

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.

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

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.

The price is better than I imagined.

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.)

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...

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

£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?

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.

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

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)

$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.

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!

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

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

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

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

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?

@ 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.

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...

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.

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! :)

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.

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

Well, thats my birthday planned out.

$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.

Huw, I believe that's an extra piece.

@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.

Why do you think May 4th?

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

Awesome! i want one!!!

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. :(

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.

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

Wait, what platform is this?