You’re going to need a bigger coffee table!
Over recent years, there has been a tendency for the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate collector series to be getting bigger and bigger.
The latest offering, the Republic Gunship is no exception. The model was chosen by a fan vote conducted on LEGO Ideas, and there was an unprecedented response, with over 50000 votes, of which around 30000 were for the Gunship. [Me, I was an Original Trilogy kind of a guy, but I have come to unterstand the role that the prequels are playing in the lives of the next generation, who have grown up watching those films as ‘Their’ Star Wars.]
This set is essentially 1.5 x minifigure scale, according to the LEGO Star Wars team, and while it comes with 2 minifigures – a Clone Commander (with bright yellowish orange details) as well as Jedi Master Mace Windu – they are for display rather than play value.
This new model measures 68 cm long, over 70 cm wide, and 33 cm tall. It has 3292 pieces, and a reccomended retail price of $USD349.99 / £329 / €349.99 / 579.99 AUD / 479.99 CAD.
With such dimensions, it is certainly an impressive display piece, but has very limited Swooshability!
Today, the LEGO Group announced the new LEGO® Star Wars™ Republic Gunship construction set joins the LEGO Ultimate Collector’s (UCS) line-up. Fans have shared their passion, ideas and creative takes on the beloved saga with the LEGO Group for more than 20 years. So, the LEGO Group invited fans to vote on the top three requested sets via the LEGO Ideas website, and the Republic Gunship rose supreme with over 30,000 votes, accounting for 58% of all votes cast.
Inspired by Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and featured in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the new set is 3,292-pieces of amazing detail crafted for experienced builders and new fans alike. The set also includes LEGO Star Wars minifigures of legendary Jedi Master Mace Windu and a Clone Trooper Commander.
The challenge of creating the Star Wars Republic Gunship in LEGO® brick form was given to designer, Hans Schlömer who used his wealth of previous experience including designing the iconic UCS Millennium Falcon and UCS A-wing. The LEGO Group has developed around 150 LEGO Star Wars sets inspired by the prequel trilogy films (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith), with this set being the third UCS prequel-themed build – the others being Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter.
The highly anticipated construction set makes for an impressive display piece thanks to its immense 74cm wingspan that also allows for a feast of notable design features as seen in the film. The large free-swinging doors on both sides are some of the largest moving parts ever created in a LEGO Star Wars build and the set is completely open beyond the nose portion. Given the size of the LEGO Star Wars ship, a supportive LEGO Technic frame has been incorporated, perfectly hidden by the exterior panels and allowing Clone Troopers to load for their next mission via lift arms on the passenger compartment doors.
Discussing the new set, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, Creative Lead of LEGO Star Wars at the LEGO Group said: “Our fans are always coming up with concepts and ideas for the LEGO Star Wars range – so it was great to give them the opportunity to let their voices be heard and choose the next UCS set. There is always an enormous responsibility to deliver a quality design, and the set that Hans has crafted is a triumph, particularly the size. We knew our fans would want to display this model but we didn’t want to compromise on the scale versus the ability to exhibit it. I can’t wait to see how the fans incorporate the set into their Star Wars collections.”
The LEGO Star Wars Republic Gunship set will be available starting on August 1, 2021 via LEGO Stores and LEGO.com and will retail for the recommended price of $349.99 / £329 / €349.99
The Republic Gunship goes on sale on August 1st 2021. I’ll have my Hands-on review up in the next little while. It’s just so big that it is providing some extra special challenges….
It’s almost done… but I need a moment to get things finished.
In the meantime, I’d love to know what you think of this UCS… is it for you? Would you prefer a playset scaled ship, especially with renewed interest in (close to) Clone Wars era adventures with The Bad Batch?
Why not leave your comments below, and until next time, play well!
I was a little surprised at the price for something of this size, thinking it was going to be far higher, then I saw the USD price and was even more surprised at how much more expensive it is here. Usually our prices are in the 40-50% more then the US, but this 63% more. Current exchange rate with the USD is about 72c, so the USD price of $350 works out at around $455 AUD. I get it costs less in transport for the US market then the Australian, but that mark up is just too much.
In relation to the actual set, I love it and look forward to building it at some point in the future after I’ve picked it up at 25% off RRP lol!!
Thanks for the article and that picture at the end is hilarious, you should put the cat Brickheadz in the Gunship for size comparison lol!! 🙂
For comparison… sure. It wasn’t just that I hadn’t finished cleaning up one project before starting the next.
As for the price: the US pricing is almost always significantly lower: you already mentioned shipping (from the factor in Mexico) and also, unlike Australia, uk and most of Europe, sales tax is added to the list price.