Ahh, May the 4th: A beautiful and sacred time of year when Disney tries to extract as much money as possible from Star Wars nerds. It truly has gone down the same commercial path as Christmas, Easter, and the End of Financial year. But! This year there is something good to look forward to in amongst the naked consumerism, and that’s a fancy new LEGO X-Wing Starfighter set.
The set will be part of the Ultimate Collector Series, which usually includes extremely large (and expensive) Star Wars sets. At 1949 pieces and $369.99, the LEGO X-Wing Starfighter seems quaint next to the UCS Millennium Falcon, which is 7541 pieces and $1299.99.
There are two minifigures included with the set; Luke Skywalker and R2-D2. This is a new design for Luke’s Rebel pilot minifigure, adding more details to the arms and legs. There’s even a little seat for R2 to sit in in the finished model, and I just think that’s delightful.
The new set is nicely shelf-sized at 27cm tall, 44cm wide and 55cm deep. The stand puts the X-Wing at a jaunty angle, looking like it’s ready to fly off to join the resistance. So that’s nice.
This is the third X-Wing set, and the first time in a decade that LEGO has made a new X-Wing Starfighter, with the last being a 1559-piece Red Five X-Wing Starfighter that launched in 2013. Since then, the Ultimate Collector Series has been updated with more modern techniques and a slightly different look, so the new model looks much sleeker and appears to be a better display piece. That said, it still looks like an X-Wing, so those who already have the old one and aren’t avid collectors need not pay attention.
The biggest news, though, is that the plaque that comes with the set will be a printed piece instead of a sticker. The plaques have really added a lot to the display value of the collectable sets, but the stickers are hell to apply and a nightmare to properly align. Having the piece be printed likely contributed slightly to the cost of the set, but given the value per piece is so off in these Star Wars and Marvel sets, it likely wasn’t too noticeable. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come and we’ll never have to apply another plaque sticker again.
VIP early access orders start on the 1st of May, with the set becoming available for wide release on the 4th of May. Usually, LEGO has special offers and freebies for the 4th of May, but there’s also a good chance it’ll sell out before then, so you’ll need to weigh those possibilities. Until then, May the 4th be with you, and also with you.
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