That's no moon
Can only write this from half way through the build due to the fact that one of the bags in box 2 has an incorrect bag within. The bits I have built - decent enough. Yes there's a good few stickers but apart from that it's fine. However am at bag 40 and within bag 40 was a small bag 48. Emptied all other bags and no small bag 40 that's needed. Been on to support. Still waiting a response. So stuck at a point less than half way through the build. Will see what happens if/when I get a response and missing bag of pieces.
Mid-Build Review
I have not completed the build yet, so this is an initial impression and review of the experience so far.
1. The outer box design is beautiful and creates excitement for the product inside. Love the artwork.
2. I’m not a fan of the new inner box design with overhanging sides. It feels more flimsy…not limited to this set. Also saw the same design with another new set, so it appears to be the way Lego is going.
3. Instructions…Paper version aren’t anything special. Just normal. Some good pictures and content at the front. I haven’t seen any special notes or content in the build steps, I don’t know if there are some later on but I’m missing that so far. I’m on Bag 10.
4. I think my biggest disappointment was that the builder app didn’t have the instructions in 3D.
5. Like others I would have appreciated more specially printed bricks over stickers.
All that being said…I am loving the set and the build! My mini figures (the ones I have already let out of the bag) are already having fun playing while my husband and I are building. I’m super excited to see this project come to life!
Beast of a Death Star
Firstly this set is a beast , and you will honestly need to have a good bit of space .
Build wise there was nothing new or anything that got me going sooo that’s interesting .
I like big builds and at least this one was not tedious.
It is basically my originally Death Star flattened with a roller.
Some scenes are bigger others not so .
I’m on the fence re the price as it’s a lot of money and yes it’s impressive but not sure warrants the price tag given .
Not much playability but that’s because this is a show piece and a very good one at that .
I would recommend to die hard fans with cash but if it’s a struggle to save for this prob think hard that your money could buy several sets instead .
Recommended yes , money wise on the fence , total showstopper though
Don't Even Bother
I’m a 56-year-old LEGO collector who has invested several thousand dollars in LEGO over the years. I purchased the UCS Death Star when it was first released on September 30 and was fortunate to receive the TIE Fighter gift with purchase. I chose to wait until Christmas to open it, as it was a gift to myself.
What I discovered was deeply disappointing.
From the moment I opened the box, the overall quality felt like a downgrade—especially when directly compared to the UCS Millennium Falcon, which I also own. The packaging immediately raised concerns. Unlike the Falcon, there was no reinforced corrugated cardboard. When I lifted the first panel of the Death Star packaging, it was obvious that the internal box itself was not sturdy. It flexed easily and felt thin, giving little confidence that it would hold up over time.
After opening all four panels, I was further surprised to find there was no spiral-bound instruction manual, something that has long been associated with premium UCS sets like the Falcon. The Death Star retails for $999.99, which is $150 more than the Millennium Falcon, yet it includes six thinner manuals instead of a single spiral-bound collector’s manual. That feels like a clear step backward for a set positioned at a higher price point.
The internal boxes holding the bricks also appeared to be made of cheaper cardboard. As a collector, durability matters. These sets are meant to last—not just through a build, but through years of ownership.
Then there’s the sticker sheet. For a $1,000 UCS set, I firmly believe there should be no stickers at all. Beyond that, the sticker sheet itself felt noticeably thinner and lower quality than what I’ve experienced in past premium sets.
Most concerning were the bricks themselves. The color appeared slightly lighter than expected, and there was a faint odor that I’ve never encountered with LEGO before. Even the tactile feel of the pieces felt “off” compared to other UCS sets I own. It was enough to genuinely make me pause and ask myself whether something had gone wrong with my order.
I contacted LEGO Customer Service on December 29, 2025, hoping this would be taken seriously. I was offered 3,250 LEGO Insiders points as compensation. Given the price of the set and the scope of the quality concerns, this response felt dismissive rather than reassuring.
I paid more for the UCS Death Star and received less—less premium packaging, less durable materials, and a noticeably reduced collector experience compared to the Millennium Falcon. If this represents the new direction for LEGO’s Ultimate Collector Series, that is deeply troubling.
LEGO has been a source of joy and creativity for me for decades. After losing my job nearly two years ago, this set was meant to be a bright moment—a reminder of why I fell in love with LEGO in the first place. Instead, it left me questioning whether investing further in premium LEGO sets still makes sense.
I truly hope someone within LEGO who has the authority to influence product quality sees this. Because if this is the standard moving forward for UCS sets, LEGO risks becoming indistinguishable from the very knock-offs it once stood above.
Better than a big grey ball... =)
I don't know why so many people are hating on this set, just because it's not what they wanted it to look like or the fact that it has stickers... seriously people need to grow up. The set looks great and has a lot more going for it then what most haters wanted, which was basically a big boring grey ball...lol As for the stickers they have always been a part of Lego so if you don't like it get another hobby. =) Lastly are the mini figs, there are plenty for you to play around with and each compartment can have multiple figs doing different things so you can come up with your own ideas.
Personally I like this set, it has a lot going for it and overall it was a fun build.
Minifig Missing Arm
I think the set is good the minifigs could have been better. One of my Minifigs was missing an arm. It was my imperial Shuttle Pilot. I have contacted Lego but have not heard back yet. i will contact them again. For a thousand dollars you think they would be on it. I hope they will send me a new torso.
Better Than You’ve Been Led to Believe
Great set. Yeah, there’s always something to nitpick, but the complaints about too many decals and the price are just dumb. People already complain about the price. How much more do you think it would cost if it was all printed? Usually, printed pieces are made to be used in other sets. That’s why they do decals. Duh.
The set is good. Lots of figures. They could’ve given dual molded legs on some but so what? The selection is good. The decals were fun and added a challenge. I’m good at applying them straight, so no issues here. Anyone over a certain age who can’t apply them properly needs to practice their skills. It gives the model building experience some good pacing.
The levels are nice. They each have good “scenes” from Episodes 4 and 6. Some hidden surprises and some silly stuff here and there make the set entertaining. About all it needs is a light lot. It is a bit dark and tough to see things, but until I install the lights, a lamp will do.
Definitely pleased with the set probably because I had low expectations going into the build and was pleased.
Too Many Stickers, Too Little Stability
I was really looking forward to this set and spent 22.3 hours building it. The build itself was enjoyable and the final look was incredible — until I went to move it. I
carefully lifted it from the two points the instructions recommend, and the entire bottom level collapsed, taking most of the structure with it. Over 22 hours of work gone instantly.
For a set priced around $1,000, I expected much better structural integrity. A model of this scale and price shouldn’t fall apart when handled correctly. It’s disappointing that something designed for display can’t even be safely repositioned.
The minifigure selection is generous, but the quality is noticeably below what I’ve come to expect from LEGO. The prints and finishes just don’t feel up to par for a premium set like this.
And finally, the amount of stickers was frustrating. For a flagship set at this price, I would have expected more printed elements and fewer stickers — they really take away from the overall experience and presentation.
It’s a visually stunning build, but between the fragile design, excessive stickers, and underwhelming figure quality, I can’t recommend it at this price point. I’m way too embarrassed to post pics if it’s destruction…
Great build but 50 Stickers kill the value
I really just want to love this set but I CAN’T. Don’t get me wrong I love the end result. The set looks fantastic. But the 50 stickers killed the vibe and value for $999.99 set. And the excuse for not accurately dual molded legs is pathetic. Most Star Wars lego fanatics would really want a tv/movie curate looking character especially for a 1k set. The average builder wouldn’t really care but true Star Wars Lego fan would want accurate representation. We shouldn’t have to buy key chains to swap out their legs in order to make the characters look accurate to the movie
Also for 1K set, it should have came with already printed pieces no stickers! Like I said, stickers killed the value instantly
Don't get it
Don't know what all the bad reviews are about. It's a big set, so it's going to cost. It's still only Lego. From the printed box to all the royalties, printing of books, and the £150 tax. It's not just about the brick count. Stormtroopers are all in the same uniform so they are not going to be different. We display ours in our front window, looking out so all the kids can see it and it's a hit with the neighbourhood. If you don't think there's enough figures, put minions in it. The kids love trying to find them all.
Awesome set but missing a piece and damaged piece
I purchased the set day 1 with some hesitation but overall the set has exceeded my expectations except for having an incorrect piece in a bag and a factory damaged piece. Received a flat corner tile instead of a key technic connector. The damaged piece is a 1x10 brick. Neither would be a huge deal for me but given the price of the set along with this being the second set I have purchased this year where I have had to request a missing piece. I've never had this happen before this year but now 2? Also seeing 10-12 week time for receiving a missing piece after request is a negative.
I'm only half way through the build and hope this is the end of the negatives as I am eager to finish and display.
Excellent Build All Around!
This was a fantastic build. The designers really thought this through and created a tremendously satisying and entertaining experience. Zero repetition and wonderfully layered reveal of many Star Wars scenes from the classic movies! The structure went up surprisingly fast and I enjoyed it the entire way!c For those who do not like the price - I would say you don’t have to buy it. Yes, $1000 can be off-putting for many people, but this was known in advance by all of us! I don’t understand why someone would spend this amount of money and then complain about the price after the fact. For me, given the number of pieces and the complexity of the build, this was well worth the money! I rate this 5 stars and was one of the best builds I have ever done. Well done, LEGO.
Low quality
This set has lots of low quality pieces which is not even two pieces in same size. Really I disappointed of the quality
Underwhelming but not bad
G'day, this death star took me 20 hours to build. During that 20 hours I didn't have any "wow" moment or see any creative or new building techniques.
I believe the GWP should just be included in the set as it's quite blank in that area without it and the extra minifigs helps fill out the blank spaces.
this set is far less impressive that the falcon which is a shame because it had so much potential.
My opinion is to only get this one if you are a collector, if you are just starting out or aren't dedicated to collecting the star wars sets then give this one a miss and pick up some other sets instead. You can get ALOT of great lego for the same price as this one.
The price puts this on a pedestal that it can't come back from.
Be careful moving it
So overall I was enjoying this build. I had 6 bags left but needed to move it from the table because we had company coming over. I picked this up exactly where it says to and started walking with it only to have the entire bottom section fall out and then the rest disintegrated in my hands all over the floor. After spending HOURS building this thing and it broke to pieces. This thing is way too heavy and clumsy to move once you get it built. I was so upset I just put it in the box all busted up. This should NEVER happen. What a poor design. It should have come apart like the Eiffel Tower does in sections so you can move it easily. I’m extremely unhappy with this
Death Star over
Overall it was a fun build , seeing it come alive with each section of the build. It was laid out very clearly EXCEPT for a few pages in the booklet had you scratching your head. Bags were laid out per section not per parts. Integrating stories within the instructions prevent any boredom haha! Having characters spaced out too was fun especially setting them up. Biggest problem not clearly identifying sections with clear descriptions and after putting parts on they whipped to the next section without providing a clear view of the completed parts. The biggest gotcha which designers still having problems with is the death stars gun. Very disappointed again! The figures didn’t fit well in the cannon section and were super tight to move within. The emperors section didn’t fit well and had to make some adjustments too. Also , seemed like DEI hit the troopers and will leave it at that ! Overall it was fun and maybe next time put some hard points for a hanging wall option !! Love the elevator too!
The whole is better than the sum of its parts
The good.
The finished product looks amazing. I love the scale of it and the overall look. As a fan of episodes 4, 5 and 6 (and Rogue One) this was really a must have and I've got no regrets about the purchase!
The Bad
I know the model is designed to be displayed against a wall but the back of the model still looks sloppy. Especially (a) the price which screams premium and (b) the hidden eastern egg on the back. Pretty sure I'll be working on a MOC to create a grey plate back cover.
The build is ok but not overly inspiring. I've had much more fun building modules and admiring intricate and amazing build techniques. This is just pretty straightforward.
The recesses are DARK. If your model isn't facing a light source its going to be hard to see the nooks and crannies of some of the design areas.
I feel like it could've had a few more mini figs to build out the various play areas. I've co-opted a few star wars mini figs from other sets to fill out the death star and it looks much better and more dynamic with more characters running around.
Playability is kind of limited. I have fat fingers admittedly buts going to be difficult to get some minifigs into some areas as there's just no room. Which is odd give the scale of the model.
The gift with purchase feels a bit mean. Designing the hangar with a big empty space for a mini tie fighter than you can only get as a GWP seems very mean spirited. The fun should be for everyone
Summary
Overall the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Im glad I got the set and im super happy with the way it looks. However, there's a few niggles which prevent this from being an absolute classic set. Which is a shame as there was so much potential let down by a few poor design / financial decisions
Poor Quality
So far into the build, the quality has been poor. Start with the poorly printed QR code on the front of the booklet, so bad it’s not scannable. Then the quality of the bricks fit and molding is some of the worst I have seen. Should not be this bad for this price and level of a LEGO kit or any LEGO kit for that matter.
Over-hated and Underrated
When I first saw the reveal of this set in early September, I was quite disappointed because the set wasn't what I had hoped it would look like. The exposed back side, lack of small details on figures, and the $1,000 price tag really upset me.
But, after seeing over 10 reviews on YouTube talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly, I learned to like the set for what it is and appreciate the marvelous details and Easter eggs included rather than constantly complaining about all of the small details being omitted.
I bought this set, on day one of it's release and now that I have it in person, I adore this masterpiece! The build process never got boring or repetitive and I was always looking forward to continuing the build. At the end I was wishing for more to build, but was ultimately satisfied with the finished product. Amongst all the good, there were some minor setbacks. While building the dark gray cylinders directly below the main death star lazer, it was extremely difficult to insert the gray rod pieces into the circular tiles. The stud on top of two of the cylinder tiles were partially damaged because of the amount of force I had to apply to push the rods through. The only other issue I ran into while building was finding that two of the swivel assemblies for the chairs in the meeting room were missing. Instead, I was left with two two-by-two black tiles and two curved black tiles. I have requested the spare parts and hope to get them soon to completely finish the build.
Despite those complications, everything else was wonderful! The attention to detail in the emperor's throne room is immaculate and I love the floating balcony with the railings that allows me to recreate several scenes from that duel.
The hangar area is a lot more spacious than I had thought and is perfect to display multiple vehicles inside. The star backdrop to the hangar is beautiful as well and the pieces and building techniques used to create it were ingenious.
The design of the detention block really grabs my attention with the smooth interweaving of the orange and black pieces. I wish there was a bit more space, but other than that the hallway and control room are amazing.
The Imperial shuttle is a great inclusion to the hangar and gives the black and gray color scheme of the build a nice contrast with its white color. The build of the ship is compact and surprisingly fits two figures which is an awesome feature. I personally use it to store extra pieces such as Obi-wan's hair and lightsaber. I wish there was somewhere else in the build to place the extra pieces but it's not too big of a deal.
The hot-tub area at the top of the build and the Hot Tub Trooper are an exciting top-off to the entire set. I also have to mention how I appreciate the other Easter eggs including the Minikit, currencu studs, stormtrooper height chart, and octane tank at the base of the structure.
The elevator function to reach all floors is incredible and very smooth. It's super fun to interact with!
Finally, I have to say that the entire build is very stable considering the amount of brick-built elements there are and how little technic there is, which I appreciate. I have the model displayed on my shelf and it fits perfectly between my other furniture.
Overall, this set while being hard to accept at first has blown my expectations out of the water! I am willing to excuse some complications that I had here and there. I do wish there was a little more detail (dual molded legs prints) on certain minifigures and that the price was cheaper. But, all things considered, this set is stupendous and deserves more credit and less hate. I am very satisfied with this purchase!
Quantity Over Quality
If you don't have any other versions of the Death Star and have a bunch of space you would like to fill, this might fit the bill. Personally I will have 10188 still as my main Death Star display as it overall a better representation of the station. I think the mini figure selection in this set, even though is wide and broad, is missing important details, with the overall representation of each character. Dual modeled legs needed to be used more than just the hot tub stormtrooper in this case. This set and its contents should be the creme of the crop at this price point. Now to get to the quality issues more. Yes the details on the minifigures would fall into this. But in conjunction to that, I had several quality control issues. I had a double stamped piece in bag 40. Not a huge deal, I've had a few in the past, so moved along. Then page 136 of book 3 was misprinted, with about half the page being the wrong color for the pieces. Then in bag 49 all 12 of the 2 x 2 modified round tile with center stud were molded incorrectly, to the point that you couldn't insert the rod through. Overall, this is the worst quality control I've experienced with my extensive collection. Interesting not on the build experience is that Bag 26 is included in box 1, but is not included in the build instructions until the 2nd box. Then Bag 54 is included in the third box, but is needed to complete the building for the manuals provided in box 2. How the attention to detail was emphasized in the marketing campaign to move things around so that Emperor Palpatine was in bag 66, then I feel that these details would align. These types of sets need to include spiral bound manuals again. Again at this premium price, everything throughout should follow. The spiral bound manuals when books are already this big, make it very difficult to read, as you have to really stretch the pages out to read. I personally use a music stand that has retention arms, but still is a pain. This model does look good fully built, but some of the issues, tainted my experience.
