10 Reasons Why You Should Get the Death Star 10188
Sat, August 28, 2010, 22:27 39 Comments
I mentioned I would be creating a post about the Death Star 10188 yesterday, during a chat with some AFOLs at a local meet-up so here it is… 😀
The Death Star…
- Is the most wanted set on Brickset, bar none…
- Has the highest number of minifigs (24!) in any buildable set, excluding chess sets and community people (Dacta) sets. Also in just one set, you pretty much get all the major characters in the original trilogy – which other set would give you so many SW minifigs?
- Has 6 exclusive minifigures and droids only found in this set: Luke Skywalker™ (Stormtrooper™ outfit), Han Solo™ (Stormtrooper outfit), Assassin Droid™, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers™!
- Has a Brickset rating of 4.8, which is the 2nd highest rating given (highest is 4.9) among the thousands of sets listed on Brickset.
- Has 3,803 pieces, and is the 4th largest set ever created by TLG based on number of pieces (after the 10189 Taj Mahal, 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon & 10214 Tower Bridge).
- Can be used to re-create scenes in both Episodes IV and IV (2 for the price of 1!).
- Has a ‘wow’ factor that few other sets (SW or otherwise have) – it is an instant centrepiece of a Lego collection and is an incredible attention draw even on non-AFOLs.
- Can be used to reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room – an iconic moment in the SW original trilogy. Set also has loads of play features in the many other rooms included such as detention block cell and trash compactor.
- Was released in June 2008 – not much more time before end of life since typically Lego sets last 3 years at the longest…
- Is now priced at S$599.90 pre-order at ToysHunt… Compared to US$399.90 and £274.99 in US & UK respectively. Update on 1 Sep: TH said that there was a pricing mistake from Lego Singapore and the correct price should be S$799.90. Members can get at 10% off, or at S$699.90 for payment in cash.
Apparently they do not intend to honour the pre-orders unless pre-payment has been made in full (less than 5 pax). Think they are lucky I’m not one of those who ordered… I will probably gather people to complain to CASE (Consumer Association of Singapore) to force them to honour the commitment… ha, yeah me scary woman… never stand in the way of a gal and her shopping! 😀
Ok, so the last point is more for Singapore based AFOLs who may still be hesitating to fork out S$600 for a set… seriously, if you don’t buy now there is a good chance you’ll regret later!
As for the power of a good set review, I found one by I Scream Clone from Eurobricks: Link to EB
Ok, pics to follow:
Battle inside the Death Star™! Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars™ movies with the ultimate Death Star playset! This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser…plus much more! Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy!
- Includes 24 minifigures and droids, plus all-new Dianoga™ trash compactor monster!
- Includes 6 new and exclusive minifigures and droids only found in this set: Luke Skywalker™ (Stormtrooper™ outfit), Han Solo™ (Stormtrooper outfit), Assassin Droid™, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers™!
- Also includes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi™, C-3PO™, R2-D2™, Princess Leia™, Chewbacca™, Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Darth Vader™, Grand Moff Tarkin™, Emperor Palpatine™, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Emperor’s Royal Guards™, R2-Q5™, and mouse droid!.
- Movie-authentic Death Star environments include the Superlaser control room and target monitor, Imperial conference chamber, TIE Advanced hangar bay with moving launch rack, Emperor’s throne room, droid maintenance room, detention block, trash compactor, and much more!
- Rescue Princess Leia from the detention block cell, then escape through the secret hatch to the trash compactor below!
- Reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room!
- Death Star measures 16” (41cm) tall and 16½” (42cm) wide!
- TIE Advanced measures 3½” (9cm) wide!
A Modular Life 
Nice Try … Agreed with you on the number of figs + different scenarios … but $$$ would be the primary factor of holding me back … I still have the AT-AT & Imperial Shuttle to think about as well … Many Thanks for this article …
i also have been thinking of this…and still got the imperial shuttle to consider…easily 1k if i buy both of them…hmm..price wise it is very attractive i must say..
Ooooh, soooo tempting! Must admit this post and the RB review nearly posioned me and opened up my wallet again. A must-have for any die-hard LEGO SW fan, just like the UCF MF. I don’t know anyone who collects all the LEGO SW sets. My hats off to them! 🙂
Actually, the review also revealed a con of such a large set – the sorting and challenging build in terms of time and patience. Another problem would be the large/special display area needed for such a set. Wouldn’t mind having such problems though, if I could afford this set.
Death Star vs Imperial Shuttle, I would say…
– Imperial Shuttle is new… and should be around for the next 2 years. The Death Star is past 2 yo and probably near end of shelf life. If you wait till it’s announced that the set will be discontinued and then decide you must have it, it’ll be like the run on the UCS MF the last time when the remaining sets just flew off the shelves…
– Imperial Shuttle just doesn’t seem like as fun a set to play and display… no swoosh factor (at least the DS has a small tie fighter), and no fun scenes/chambers to play with (like the trash compactor & monster in DS).
– $-wise… well, discontinued SW sets the prices always goes up.
I’m not much of a SW fan tbh but I must say when I saw the DS I had to have it. It’s probably still the only really expensive SW set that I’ve plonked my money on without hesitation. 🙂
your last statment killed me….i am gonna order it
OCK … no offence but as Darth Vader said, “Your powers are weak, old man …” You should resist her selling tactics … think of how many other sets you “really like” that you can get with S$ 600 … Like Yoda said, “Clear your mind must be, if you are to discover the real villians behind this plot …” It is not too late to “Turn Away From The Dark Side” …
i have fallen……..i bow to the Dark Side………….
Ok Serious note : both the DS and IS are in my list already…just that when the release of IS and the pretty gd pricing from TH came at the same time…makes it a bit …hmm..tougher for me.
She is right that IS will be ard for some time. looking at lego site and i can see the availability of some of the UCS releases…it makes sense. so i decide to get the DS first..then save and wait for the IS..the pricing is really gd considering shipping costs is unpredictable when seller ship in big box.
i have ship quite a few items and i can say a few comes with box damage. it is not critical for me since i open them up. but is gd to preserve it. if TH can do a competitive shipping and i can get a gd box…it is hard..
i last check abt 30+ has make reservation there already…
OCK: You have chosen wisely my young apprentice/Jedi/Padawan/(Insert as appropriate)…
Well, I also agree that after getting DS can still start saving $ for the IS. Actually considering that when Lego SG first brought DS in at the Toy & Comics Convention, they sold it at S$799.90! So yeah, comparatively S$599.90 is a good price.
Btw I am not affliated to any of the stores here, so I don’t get commission when I ‘poison’ minds…
Jonathan: It’s not how many sets you have that matters, but how many GOOD ones. I refer to points #1 & #4 in my post. Ok lar, if you decide not to get, just don’t regret next time k? 😛
i can’t wait for september….wait..only another 48 hr……and UCS IS will be on sale…
This is very impressive! If I was a Starwars collector I would have gotten this, but I guess my wife would have killed me if I did =P
Just got back from Toy’s Hunt. The guy (owner) told me Lego has misinformed him and that the Death Star is actually S$799.90 instead of S$599.90. He just got the news today and is having a major headache of informing his customers.
He will be calling those who have pre-ordered one-by-one to inform them of this sad news So for those of you who have pre-ordered, you may either want to get your refund or pay the full 799.90 amount. Hope this info helps =)
Thanks a lot for the update! I think a lot of Lego fans will be very disappointed…
Yup! I can see some pulling of hair and banging of tables =P
By the way, you may want to update your sidebar so as not to confuse people that it’s still 599.90 =)
Only tonight! Can’t fiddle with widgets on iPhone.
That’s bad… Nobody call me yet… Then likely i will pull out fr this.799 is not worth it at all… Shipping back is even cheaper considering Internal US shipping now free and BLX 30%…
Maybe i will ship together with 10212..
whats BLX ?, how do you go about getting it from the US ? singapore is selling it way to expensive
Borderlinx. You can go to their website to check how it works. Tie up with Citi credit card.
U get an address in US, ship stuff to the Borderlinx warehouse there, and then ship it back to SG. Works for those stores that do not ship to SG directly e.g. S@H.
Ic, thanks would it be cheaper by alot ? cause still have to add in the shipping to 2 places, to the US address and also back to singapore
I rest my case … Imperial Shuttle, it shall be … BUT .. I feel for TH owner .. if this is to happened in Japan, the owner will honour the sale to his/her clients that have paid up or have signed up before the price changes … only those who came later will missed this good deal (mistake).
Seems like LEGO Singapore do not know how to manage client’s expectation & the company’s image based on this incident. A lot of AFOL would withdraw this purchase in my opinion & there goes the revenue for LEGO. In the end, a lose-lose situation for both LEGO & Clients. Sad story I would say.
How come no one has mentioned going to CASE? Consumer Association of Singapore?
aiyo…CASE against Lego or TH…..cannot force them to sell at a loss…yeah Japanese has a different spirit and i like their work attitude…
i am happy to cancel this…i may just ship from US my 10212 since lego free shipping and BLX 30% off..
Actually, for the people who pre-ordered and paid deposit I think they may be able to lodge a complaint with CASE. Why can’t the retailer sell at loss? Cases have happened before where the retailers do uphold their end of the bargain even when there is a genuine mistake. Think for some online computer deals a few years back.
Base on what I can remember of my undergrad law modules anyway, there is a ‘contract’ between TH and customer and the deposit paid seals the deal.
Guess those few lucky people who paid in full are the only happy ones then.
are they getting it at 599.9 if they pay full? i paid half…so am taking it back
Yes, will get at $599.9 if already paid in full. That’s what I heard anyways, I dunno anyone who is one of the few who did pay in full to confirm.
That’s not fair then i must say. We pay deposit cause we want it right. So how can they do that?
From what I heard by talking to the TH guy, he said that for those who have already paid he may consider asking them to pay 699.90. That means he absorbs 100 and the buyer absorbs 100 equal share of loss. But he is still thinking about that when I spoke to him.
I don’t think going to CASE would help if it is against TH, maybe against LEGO? You have to consider the poor owner at TH, he also feels very bad about the situation and some more it is not his fault that Lego told him it’s 599.90 right? He is already trying his best to see ways to either absorb some loss to satisfy his customers. =)
But having CASE go against LEGO… err I still have my doubts on that =P
Collected back my deposit just now, I see no point in venting anger at the store assistant as it’s not her fault. Now what should I get from S@H? Am thinking the Imperial Shuttle or the HP train or maybe both
True, plus the sales staff at TH are really quite nice.
Oh pls share your shipping cost too k? Am considering getting stuff shipped in too. (-_-“)
Yes. I agree. TH are quite gd..though i am upset..but the community is small…let’s keep it gd…
i am still thinking shld i combine or shld i ship 10212 and 10188…i am worried Lego will use a super big box..
need to factor GST and shipping fees….
do u think at 450 it is worth it for the shuttle?
Be careful of gst if u combine both. Another 7% (on item + shipping) can be quite a bit more. I think you’ll exceed the cap if you combine.
The last time I had 3 boxes of shipment, it was cheaper to split into 2 separate pods to ship back cos of the GST.
As for worth it or not… it doesn’t give me the same “I must buy” vibe as when I saw the DS. But very much up to individual I guess. Just get if it makes you happy lor. Life’s too short to mull over stuff like that. 😉
For your reference, received my Fallingwater and DK SW visual dictionary today, BLX shipping cost is S$30.75 after discount. Definitely cheaper than buying locally even with shipping cost.
the box of DS and Shuttle is quite big…either one i buy i suspect will exceed 400 sgd for sure
That’s the problem with LEGO: box is big but inside is half filled with air only. And shipping cost is by volume, not actual weight.
i just went to BLX website to check. i use the shuttle actual box dimension(given by lego) and the cost 259.90 usd. confirm exceed 400 sgd even if 30% off shipping costs. and you know the actual box is much bigger. so def goes up.
looks like i will preorder this shuttle with TH then…probably go over on sunday and do so…
10188-Death Star: 588 x 502 x 176mm or 23.2 x 19.8 x 6.9″
10212-Imperial Shuttle: 582 x 480x 91mm or 22.9 x 18.9 x 3.6″
these dimension given to me by Lego Cust svc online. you can try. with this even death star at 699 seems reasonable after factor in GST. note this is size of the toy box and NOT THE SHIPPING BOX.
i can only get my friend to bring back 1 set fr US..so i have to choose carefully which one to pick… =(
Hey how do we get the destar it’s hard to find
Hey how do we get the destar it’s hard to find
And y is it so expensive