Review: 10240 UCS Red Five X-Wing Starfighter

Set ID: 10240 Red Five X-Wing Starfighter

Number of Pieces: 1559

Year of Release: 2013

Minifigs: 1

Purchased Price: About SGD 350

An unexpected surgery was between my last review and this. Actually, there were a lot more. A business trip to Paris and Hong Kong, a family vacation to Tokyo (where I chanced upon a really cool LEGO factory outlet at the outskirt of Tokyo!) and the lethargy of recovery from surgery were amongst the reasons (or excuses) behind the long silence on my review blog. 2015 provided me with an opportunity to kick start my review blog again and it seems like a UCS set is the right catalyst for this brand new year.

Along the way in our adult life, I am sure the word "regret" does resonate with us from time to time, in particular some of the more significant events. A few of these could be life changing, some shaped the way we think, and some are irreversible. One of such regrets created a glaring void in an otherwise impressive collection of my LEGO Star Wars range. That regret, is the 7191 UCS X-wing Fighter, released in 2000. Back then, I was into my second year of collecting the LEGO Star Wars series, and with little spare cash in my pocket, I had to make a painful decision to choose between the UCS TIE Fighter and X-wing. I chose the former, purely from the price point of view. Over the years, I have attempted to acquire the now discontinued 7191, but was regularly deterred by exorbitant price tags. Luckily, and hopefully, this 10240 X-Wing will be able to exorcise that "regret" in me.

My last UCS built was the 10188 Death Star, which was a joy to build, play and appreciate. In fact, very few UCS sets have failed to impress me so far (ok, maybe the disappointing UCS Jedi Starfighter ...) and I am already looking forward to the UCS Slave I and and the rumoured TIE-Fighter in 2015. The only question left for me now is not "Am I going to buy them?" but "Where am I going to display them?" It is a happy question nonetheless.

The X-citing model?

Without the 7191 as a comparison, I am looking at this classic Star Wars vehicle with a fresh and independent perspective, perhaps only clouded by my prejudice against stickers (MORE of that later) It should also never be judged alongside the many variants of X-wings, which vary in terms of details and playability. Dimension wise, this version probably dwarfed the smaller siblings by a ratio of 2:1, measuring slightly more than 55cm in length and 50cm from wingtip to wingtip. With this scale and look, it does look darn good on any display shelf.

The simple looking display stand comes with a specs board and it allows the X-wing to be posed in two different ways. Both ways work just fine with me and I am glad I can have a choice of displaying the X-wing taking off or manoeuvring a bend.

The completed model does feel dense and solid, with exception of the pairs of wings which tend to flop around when moved. This flimsy design is attributed to the rubberised mechanism that holds the wings together. A fully geared mechanism might improve the stability of the wings but could significantly add to the brick count and complexity of the design. In any case, this model is not meant to be swooshable so chances of the flimsy wings being exposed will be slim.

UCS sets of this proportion are seldom known for loads of playable features. This is no exception, unless you consider the opening cockpit canopy and posable wings are "playable". The pairs of wings  can be separated with the turn of a knob at the rear of the X-wing - clockwise open, anti-clockwise close. Despite my preference to see its more majestic X winged profile, exposed studs on the underside of the wings does make it less attractive to look at. Closing the wings does have its other problem too, when the tip of the forward pointing gun turrets do get into each other's way.

Will it be too much to ask for undercarriage to be incorporated into the design too? At least collector can have another option of displaying the X-Wing, without the stand.

The XXXX Sticky problem!

The cockpit is probably one of my favourite parts of this X-wing. The bucket pilot seat, the joystick and HUD aiming scope score high for accuracy and details. The same can also be said of the details of the fuselage and four engine back burners. Then come the disappointment - the cockpit canopy. I believe with the amount of cash that we fork out for a set like this, we deserve a PRINTED cockpit! I believe LEGO recognises the difficulty in applying the stickers (especially in trying to avoid any air bubble), which is why they actually provided with two sets of stickers rather than the usual one. It is not as if you can rip the stickers off and re-apply again when you do a bad job, because every futile attempt to get it right will create some creases and bubbles in the transparent stickers. With my lack of patience, I gave up after 3 attempts, and ended with a rather large bubble on the front canopy panel. Ok, I admit there were some profanities punctuating the building process.

BoX

With the premium pricing that was paid for a UCS set, I would like to see better and more impressive box design. Although it was almost 14 years ago that the 7191 was released, I do prefer the box design then, more subtle and collector-like, shrouded in a mist of mystery, peppered with a taste of class. There is nothing "wrong" with this new box design I have to say, but a tasteful distinction between UCS and their lesser cousins will be a welcomed change.


The box art primarily follows the green Yoda theme predominantly found in the sets released in 2013.  Besides the picture of the actual X-wing zooming through space, there is also a small technical perspective with the dimension of the finished product. I guess the designers are well aware that most buyers would want to know this piece of information so that they can make space to accommodate it.

The rear is another picture of the completed X-wing, now propped onto the display stand. The other smaller pictures highlight the playable features (which are not a lot) and the famous battle scenes where Luke's Red Five single handedly took out the Death Star.

Building eXperience

Inside the box holds 10 packs of bricks, three instruction booklets and sticker sheets (yes, plural). Cardboard backing for the stickers and booklets is always a welcome sight.


The first half of the building process started well, full of admiration on the design and good choice of bricks. The fuselage section was especially interesting with most details and movable parts committed here. Then the fun goes downhill from there. Not a fault of the designer, but just due to the  fact that the X-wing is a highly symmetrical vehicle. This is the part where my son will always make himself useful to assist with the repetitive set. And I'll do my part to fix them to the main body. Easy.

Conclusion

I really find it hard to conclude if this X-wing resides on my good or bad book. Perhaps I am too attached to the 7191 X-Wing that I never had (think in terms of the girl / boy whom you idolised in school but not having the courage to be together with him / her) Perhaps the sticker on the canopy, or rather, the bubble, really pissed me off, I am more inclined to say "nay" than "yeah". But without denying also that the completed X-wing looks really darn good on display, and therefore managed to earn some points with that.

+ Size and scale are impressive
+ Details all around, especially the cockpit
+ Dual positioning display stand

- Flappy wings
- BLOODY CANOPY STICKER (Yes, I am damn pissed!)