On Thursday, Lego unveiled its latest creation: the Ultimate Death Star, a “galactic icon reimagined.” With a $1,000 price tag, fans may need the Force to bring it home. Towering in both scale and price, it cements its place as one of Lego’s most ambitious sets yet.
The Death Star now ranks among the company’s largest builds, joining the Art World Map (11,000 pieces), the Eiffel Tower, (10,001 pieces) and the Titanic (9,090 pieces). With 9,023 pieces, a record-breaking roster of 38 minifigures and a weight of nearly 17 pounds, the set is designed to catch the eye of collectors and builders, Lego detailed in the set’s premiere video. At $999.99, it also claims the title of Lego’s most expensive model yet.
“Star Wars” fans will recognize more than just the shape of the battle station. Lego described the set as a “mashup” of the “A New Hope” and “Return of the Jedi” Death Stars, packed with intricate scenes and playful Easter eggs. Among them: a stormtrooper lounging in a hot tub, a cheeky nod to the Lego Star Wars video games.
Behind the design
For creative lead Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, the joy of the project came from watching the Death Star evolve “from the very first sketch model” into a finished product, he detailed in the premiere video for the set.
In the same video, design master Alexandre Boudon, who has been with Lego since 2010, explained that he approaches each build with his younger self in mind. “A lot of the stuff I build, I build thinking about what I would have liked as a kid,” he said, adding that the most important part is creating something people will enjoy building together.
Senior model coach Henk van der Does continued to detail the creation, emphasizing that the team wanted to design the set so it would be enjoyable for fans of all ages in Lego’s 18-plus category, aiming to make the galaxy’s most infamous battle station as accessible as it is impressive.
When and where to buy the Death Star
Set No. 75419 will launch on Oct. 1 for Lego Insiders and on Oct. 4 for everyone else on Lego’s website. Purchases made between Oct. 1–7 will come with a free Lego Star Wars TIE Fighter with Imperial Hangar Rack, while supplies last.
Seventeen pounds. A thousand dollars. Lego’s Ultimate Death Star is as massive as it is costly, staking its claim in the collector’s galaxy, even as fans debate whether it’s worth the jump to hyperspace.