Battle of the UCS x-wings

My first Ebay purchase of 2021 was a big one... the original UCS set.  From all the way back in 2000 (I was somewhere between masters and doctorate at the time and therefore far too poor to contemplate such frivolities as Lego UCS), is the X-wing Fighter (7191).  Weighing in at 1298 parts, this, for the time, was a BIG set.  

The copy I've managed to get my hands on (I'm not disclosing price, but it wasn't one of my better deals!) came with a slightly tatty box, pretty nicely kept instructions and (mostly) great quality pieces with absolutely no yellowing.  The stickers were all still attached and even better, only a few of the pieces were dusty.  Cleaning was therefore done during build, which took my two sessions.  

Here's the finished beauty:



A few things:

  • It's very sturdy, apart from the wings which are not brilliantly attached
  • The wings are mostly symmetrical but each of the four lasers is slightly different
  • At rest, with the foils in flight position, they actually both slope slightly upwards.  It was interesting to see that the mechanism only actually worked when the wings were actually attached
  • Helpfully for storage alongside the other 500 or so sets I've got built up right now, it can stand on its boosters
  • There is a surprising number of parts on this which I don't have in any other set (I think I counted 7) 
  • The stickers add to the detial but this set is one of the few I've found where Lego deemed it wise to make them stick over multiple pieces.  I always find this really annoying because it massively limits the utility of the pieces and risks damage.  I suppose the intention with this was to build a display model that is so amazing that no-one would ever want to deconstruct it but that defeats the object of Lego, in my book.

One of my last builds before I started this blog was the other UCS X-wing (10240) so I thought I'd get that out of the store and do a comparison:



It's immediately clear that these share a common heritage!  In fact, as far as I can tell, they are pretty much identical in size with the only difference being the height of the stand.  The foils on 10240 also spread further and the mechanism is completely different.  Unsurprisingly, 10240 has significantly more detailing (300 extra pieces) and the release of curved slopes and brackets leads to a much more rounded design.  However, with the exception of the nose cone on 7191, which is undeniably a bit clunky, the older model really holds its own in terms of design.  

The build was pretty challenging and I did have to reverse a few times (especially on the first wing, given that some of the pieces were stickered together).  All in all, I hope this is a good investment in the long-run but it was a fun build in the short-term and is a nice addition to the collection. 10/10.

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