Ulysses Space Probe returning soon!

Wonder if this is we have made more (reasonable expectation to be able to get one).. or if it's like the Batpod as in found a couple of boxes when having a tidy up (reasonable expectation won't be able to get one)

@CapnRex101 said:
" @nick3c said:
"Does anyone know how many vip points it will be?"

It previously cost 1800 VIP points, but no information has been provided about its value this time."

Thank You.

So what happened to not releasing "limited" sets?

So does every VIP get a code or just the ones that bought the shuttle and missed the Ulysses?

I scored one the first time it was available, sold it for a nice sum, then plan to build the better Stonewars MOC instead.

I'm wondering about the availability, because sometimes "Europe/UK" seems to include Poland, and sometimes not - like when the sailboat GWP returned a couple of weeks ago. Here's hoping!

I’m really glad this is being reprinted, although I wish it were in larger quantities. I bought mine on the secondary market for an extortionate markup, so I’m glad others won’t have to now.

I was one of those very lucky few that got it last time around ;-) and it went very nicely alongside the big Discovery Shuttle set.

But it’s awesome to see that others who missed out on it then will now get a second chance! That is great news.

Got the shuttle, but the probe was already gone.

So I made one myself with more actual gold pieces.

@yellost said:
"As one of the lucky ones who managed to get one, I must say it's really not worth the hassle. The build and look are very basic and honestly not on the level of the shuttle and Hubble. To the point that they don't look so good together... "

That's also what I thought after reading the review of the Ulysses probe here on brickset. In addition, I like GWPs but I really don't like that you have to redeem points to buy a "limited" set.

So, pass for me.

@bananaworld said:
"
"limited number available"

Artificial scarcity. Again. Why...?"

yeah not interested.

My thoughts are with whoever spent over £90 buying one of these from Bricklink earlier this month...

Back in the day I was hyped for this until I 1. didn't get it, and then 2. found out it was a bit crap anyway. Now, the collector in me is saying "Buy it" but with my brain in gear I'm just not so sure. I even forgot the name of it recently when trying to remember it for another post.

So I'll leave it for others. Can I take bets on it costing more points than last time around? Coz if so I wouldn't be able to afford it anyway...

I managed to get one on the first run but it is still in its sealed box. The reason, it is simply not good. It does not have the same level of details that the shuttle has and as such they do not look like part of the same theme (i.e Fabuland and Bionicles would clash if used together).

Instead, I ordered all the parts from Lego and built the model from stonewars.net which is significantly better (the bottom part is a little fiddly but that is not a set I play with at all - it is there on display on a top shelf along with Lunar Lander and ISS).

I'll try to get it this time round.
If it doesn't work out (again), I'll source the parts for the excellent MOC alternative linked above.

My fever broke on this some time ago, and I’m much better now. Now that I’ve recovered from wanting it (and I’m not entirely sure why I did in the first place) I actually don’t really feel like I “need” it anymore. It may or may not be in orange on my want list, but a lot of stuff is…and I either pick it up or I don’t…but generally on ‘retired’ items that means I do it on my terms, not the company’s terms.

It’s just my own personal way of handling the ins and outs (and expense) of collecting and building LEGO. Your mileage should vary.

If I remember correctly. Didn’t LEGO say that the second release of the VIP coins would be limited as well. It’s a few months since they reissued coins and they are still available to this day in the VIP section.

IMO there is no way LEGO is going to let this release be a debacle like the last one in April 2021. From what I have seen they have been working to fix some of the mistakes of 2021. I am excited to finally get a chance to get one of these again.

I did however call LEGO every day for like 3 weeks straight after 2021 release complaining. One day I opened my mailbox and there was a bag of bricks from LEGO. It was a pick a brick order for all the bricks for the space probe. It included everything but instructions and the printed plaque, had a blank plaque. I got a sticker and printed PDF instructions and have a special space probe with a nice back story already. But will be nice to have the official one with the sweet yellow box on the shelf.

@nick3c said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
" @nick3c said:
"Does anyone know how many vip points it will be?"

It previously cost 1800 VIP points, but no information has been provided about its value this time."

Thank You.

"

How much do you have to spend for 1800 points? I’m not old enough to have a VIP account.

@HoMa said:
"I missed it last year and I was full of anger. Then a much better alternative showed up:

https://www.stonewars.net/lego-news/ulysses-instructions/

So I collected parts and build this MOC version by Jonas.

No need for me to try to get the bulky LEGO original this year. Will save time and anger."

Ooh, this is pretty!! I wonder: does Bricks & Pieces count towards an order total for VIP points or GWP?

It was a terrible set, lacking in details. I'm not sure what the hype was all about.

@bananaworld said:
"
"limited number available"

Artificial scarcity. Again. Why...?"

two words:
mo-ney

I want it, but knowing some, it will be gone in minutes

@TomKazutara said:
"Lego is running ot of ideas for giveaway sets ?"

Why would you think that? No, they just ran out of copies of the set to give away, so they made more. They still have a huge number of different giveaway sets and other giveaways these days, and even if/when they do run out of ideas of their own, they literally have LEGO Ideas providing them with additional ideas for GWPs, as they’ve already used multiple times now.

@yellost said:
"As one of the lucky ones who managed to get one, I must say it's really not worth the hassle. The build and look are very basic and honestly not on the level of the shuttle and Hubble. To the point that they don't look so good together... "

Yeah, this set is the poster child of wanting something just because it's hard to get. If it was a random set for $14.99, not many would've cared much for it.

I'm happy to get a second chance at the "official" version of an alternate payload for the Shuttle. I'm also happy to know that there's an excellent alternative if I don't manage to get it this time around. So I'm going to be happy whatever happens. It's nice that TLG are releasing this set again, given how badly things were managed during the original attempt--which wasn't entirely TLG's fault, I believe. Thanks to Brickset for the heads-up!

Good…ish. I did manage to get one the first round, but because they couldn’t just stick with the normal midnight launch, I had to waste a vacation day just to sit at home (some of us worked non-remote jobs during the entire pandemic, and can’t hang a sign on the side of the cubicle that says, “I swear I’m working,” while goofing off on the internet). Unfortunately, it appears they’re again dropping the codes in the middle of a work day (but at least I don’t need to fight for one this time).

I still haven’t done anything with my copy, but eventually it will be built. I didn’t obtain it for the investment, I don’t care if the value skyrockets or tanks, but they really bungled the rollout for both this and the last two coins (Space dropped at least three hours early in the US, and Coin 5 got held back for another middle-of-the-workday launch that I again had to waste a vacation day to lock in. And both times I was seeing complaints from people who got shunted to the “something’s wrong” page (because the queueing system doesn’t work on the VIP Rewards site) and didn’t realize it was never going to redirect them back to the correct page. I saw people from the UK say they only had a half hour window to grab codes, and I think it was someone from Portugal who couldn’t get in until half an hour after those codes were all gone. People on the west coast of the US were expecting 9am local time, where they don’t seem to have the same problem with midnight launches that kick in at 9pm over there.

This sort of thing needs to never happen again. Maybe they need to commit to making a second run anytime they blow through stock too quickly as a way to help tamp down the speculator market. If collectors know they don’t need to trade body parts just to score a copy when they missed grabbing their own code, there won’t be as much demand driving secondary prices up. If you can’t swipe a code and turn it into a huge payday, there’s less incentive to bleed the Rewards Center dry before collector demand is sated.

@SAAFOL:
No _regional_ exclusives. Limited sets and event exclusives are still fair game. This may not be available in every nation, but neither is LEGO.com.

@Chang9081:
You have to buy a code with points. If you’ve already done so the first time, you’re locked out of Round 2 (fair’s fair). A lot of people skipped buying the Discovery once they realized they couldn’t get an authentic Ulysses (the probe itself is easy enough to replicate, but it has a printed placard that’s exclusive to the set). Some people will probably want to try to get both as long as it’s possible again, while many people who got the Discovery don’t care about the Ulysses at all (or don’t qualify for it due to not being a registered VIP).

@tees:
When in doubt, call and ask in advance. That way you know if there’s any point diving in to another mad scramble.

@honbushu:
The camera worked the same way, but for some reason the aftermarket never heated up on that one (not being associated with a popular set probably helped. Eventually I noticed I was being allowed to grab a second code if I wanted, but I’m fine with one copy.

@BrickAstley:
Prices dropped that low? I remember seeing $200-300 as the going rate right after they dropped.

@finkle316:
They did, but same rules applied. Those of us who got the full set the first time were locked out of the rereleases, anyone who was short a complete set could only order the ones they missed, and there was a claim that at some point, if supply lasted long enough, they’d allow second helpings like they did for the camera set.

That’s cool about the surprise shipment. They do bungle things in epic ways sometimes, but they’ve also bent over backwards to address customer complaints in some cases. I’ve had companies basically tell me to return it to the store for a refund when I called to complain about defective products.

@elangab:
The CMF vintage policeman is your textbook case. Many people of all ages said they didn’t want it until it turned out to be limited to one per case. In this instance, several people wanted the Discovery, but couldn’t afford to buy one. Hooking a code for the Ulysses onto the order allowed them to sell that for enough to cover the entire purchase of the set they wanted, and all they had to do was float the purchase price for a week or two.

@PurpleDave said:
" @elangab:
In this instance, several people wanted the Discovery, but couldn’t afford to buy one. Hooking a code for the Ulysses onto the order allowed them to sell that for enough to cover the entire purchase of the set they wanted, and all they had to do was float the purchase price for a week or two."

I'm talking about the people purchasing that set overpriced from people who just got it with the discovery, not about them selling it because why not make a profit. My point was that it was never about the Lego set itself, it was either about making money or the feeling of owning something "rare".

In the NZ lego .com, the Jane Goodall GWP 40530 is appearing in your cart now

@elangab said:
" @yellost said:
"As one of the lucky ones who managed to get one, I must say it's really not worth the hassle. The build and look are very basic and honestly not on the level of the shuttle and Hubble. To the point that they don't look so good together... "

Yeah, this set is the poster child of wanting something just because it's hard to get. If it was a random set for $14.99, not many would've cared much for it."

Ugh. I have to care about this AGAIN. In many ways, this was the beginning of Lego's descent to its current state of unending greed and stupidity.

Nevertheless, I will undoubtedly line up to AGAIN be a pawn in their game.

Does anyone know what time the Bricklink Designer Program begins on the 17th?

Ulysseee-eee-eees, no-one else can do the things you do!

I just built my own version. Lego's inaccurate and out of scale design looks beyond disappointing next to the shuttle set.

If anyone else wants to build one I put free instructions on my RB page
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-83038/MuscoviteSandwich/deluxe-ulysses-spacecraft-170-scale/

And it is gone in EU North, they had so many :D like 3-4 mins and sold out.

Pathetic. Just Pathetic. Sat online from 0755 refreshing and by the time it eventually came up it was already gone, never even had a chance.

Dear Lego, if you have a fan of space like me, who has every effing adult space set from the last 10 years plus some classic space, maybe sort out your house so they can buy a space set yeah *shakes head*