The demise of Death Star 10188?

[BrickUpdate]

@ncbarrett that really cracked me up - thanks!

She did notice the 20 Stormtrooper minifigs that arrived today though. Oh well.

Just to keep this on topic, I can't seem to get Amazon's inventory figures anymore. Needless to say, I imagine it will take awhile for them to move 400 or so Death Stars, and now that Target has them in stock, I have to assume that LEGO is well stocked for awhile.

That said, I do feel like in a year's time, this set will be tops in people's "LEGO sets I regret not buying list." $400 is a lot of money now, but once this gets retired, it will jump to $600-800 immediately.

[Kodiak10]

Yea, I know another topic on the everlasting DeathStar. In September when the New Super Star Destroyer comes out, do you really think it can compete with the Death Star and its 25 minifigs along with other UCS currently available? Or do you think the other UCS/Big Sets will be discontinued in replace of the Deathstar, ala

LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle (10212

LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars Dropship with AT-OT Walker (10195)

LEGO Star Wars Tantive IV - Anniversary Edition (10198)

LEGO Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank (8098)

LEGO Star Wars Obi-Wan Jedi Starfighter (10215)

among many others. Not to forget the new regular releases this month. IMO there are just to many "Pricey Sets" Has there ever been a time when there has been this many Star Wars Sets available, this expensive at once? Shoot, my local TRU even has the Lego Star Wars 8039 VENATOR REPUBLIC ATTACK CRUISER still for sale. Something got to give. Opinions??

[Follows Closely]

Just the other day I pulled out my 2005 catalog. It has the following sets in it:

2002
$270 Imperial Star Destroyer

2003
$130 Rebel Snowspeeder
$100 Cloud City

2004
$120 Y-wing Attack Starfighte
$70 TIE Collection

2005
$270 Death Star II
$140 Sandcrawler

Two UCS and many large sets. This shows that they have done it before, and will carry many large sets again.

I expect the death star set to have a life span of 4-6 years. It is that good! It is not going anywhere for a long time.

[vynsane]

I find it funny that we've been talking about this for literally a year now.

Also: merged.

[cbaker1974]

I would think pricing the SSD at the same price point as the Death Star would lead to some cannibalization of sales between the two at this upper end of the pricing spectrum, but the MF and DS coexisted in this price range for a couple of years. It wouldn't seem like the SSD is a direct replacement for the Death Star since they are really different types of sets (a true playset in the DS vs. more of a collectors display model with the SSD, despite the bridge and minifigs). The DS also has a lot more kid appeal, so I would think it would stick around a little longer and be a better seller than the ship "models".

[Luciant]

I'm so confused.... On Brickset, they have the timeframes of US-Availability for these sets:
10030 - Imperial Star Destroyer (Oct '07 - Nov '08)
10143 - Death Star II (Oct 07 - Apr '09) Released 2005?
10144 - Sandcrawler (Oct 07 - Jan '09) Released 2005?

The others do not have times... So is brickset wrong in their timeframes, or do they possibly only list when items were directly sold in Retailers (Walmart, TRU, Target) rather than directly through Lego?

So confused.

[cbaker1974]

I think the brickset times are not correct, as the ISD was released in 2002. The UCS poster for the May the 4th promotion has the release/retirement dates of the UCS and large sets and they even seemed to differ a bit than what was real (it shows the MF being discontinued in 2009, but it was actually 2010.

The longest running UCS was the ISD, 2002-2007 according to the poster, with nothing else lasting longer than 2-3 years, but not sure how to trust those dates either.

[Kodiak10]

Looks like the Death Star is starting to become rare again. Target has 12 left and the only other place is Lego.com. Maybe my theory is correct. Or maybe not. I still stay buy 1 now.

[natelite]

it's a little bit ironic but because it is selling so well, it will be available until 2012. at least that's the plan. might even be longer. the ucs mf wasn't selling as well, so it was discontinued after 2 years. however, because it was discontinued it sold really well in the secondary market. ironic isn't it?

i would say no need to hurry. wait and get this on sale. it's $400 after all. let the resellers stock up.

[cstojano]

How do people know that amazon has x many of these in stock? How do they figure that out? Some will post things like, "Amazon has 453 of these in stock." do they to to buy 1000 and have it adjust down?

[Follows Closely]

Try and put 1000 in your cart.

[gabriellee11]

Right now the death star is on backorder at [email protected] next step might be sold out...that usually happens...at least it happened with the grand carousel last year

[Follows Closely]

Right now the death star is on backorder at [email protected] next step might be sold out...that usually happens...at least it happened with the grand carousel last year

I just added 99 to may cart with no problem.

[cstojano]

I've been hearing this for many moons now. I will see it when I believe it.

[Follows Closely]

It is once again back ordered. I would like to see this set retired and another massive play set introduced.

[sadowsk1]

It is once again back ordered. I would like to see this set retired and another massive play set introduced.

Agreed! Bring on the UCS Jabba's Palace!

[gunoz]

This wouldn't be the first time a store manager gave their opinion on a set, but doesn't mean it's definitely happening. The question is do you want to take the chance? I'm on the side of buy it now and hide it away.

BTW my local Lego store hasn't had the Death Star in stock for over a year now, just the empty box, and if you wanted it they placed the S@H order for you.

[ENeuman600]

I thought that it would retired by now but not yet. I wonder when will be retired or stop production on this model?

[sadowsk1]

Maybe Lego sells this set as well as Luke's Landspeeder. That set has been around a while too.