One of the largest and most expensive sets in the Star Wars Lego Collectors Series is the Death Star II. In the Star Wars saga it is the second Death Star to be built and the Lego designers did an incredible job with this set. The Death Star II that is depicted in the films can transport and house over two million people so it is something that is enormous in size and mass; that carries over nicely to this Lego version. The size of this is comparable to the newer versions of the Imperial Star Destroyer and Millennium Flacon. In other words, it is an gigantic beast.
If you are judging this based solely on looks and not the design aspect, well, the Death Star II looks a little on the haggard side. People who are not into Star Wars that have seen this ask if it is the view of it after it’s been attacked. As funny as that might sound to seasoned Star Wars fans, it does make sense. There are a lot of small things to the Death Star II that make it worth buying and building; the plethora of hatch pieces, gunner ports and the incredible laser disc are just a few of the things that will have fans drooling. Be forewarned, the laser looks a lot nicer in the magazine and online than it does in real life. It doesn’t really glow or throw off any light; it’s simple neon yellow transparent pieces assembled to give the illusion of what the Death Star II is capable of.
Building this is not easy; if you don’t have experience with building Lego sets this is not the one to get your feet wet with. The structure size is a massive 25 1/2 inches high (that is with the provided model stand) and almost 20 inches wide. What makes this a complicated build is the delicate nature of it; it is, after all, a partially constructed death ship. This means that handling it from the sides takes a lot of care and pieces will pop off or come loose during the build. I have been building Lego sets for a long time now and this one was one the absolute hardest ones to complete. Even though I had help sorting through pieces and assembling it, it still took three hours.
The instructions that come with this are good but they could be better. Because there are so many similar pieces it is important to read through the entire booklet and get familiar with all of the different bricks and plates that are used. Make a mistake at the beginning of the build and you could compromise the entire structure; if you are trying to rush through completing this you could make a mistake that could set you back hours. This is something that advanced builders dream of because it is a true challenge to complete.
The suggested retail price of this set is $299.00 and can be purchased at the Lego World Shop online, through the Shop At Home Catalog or from retail stores that carry larger, higher priced Lego sets. I picked this up at a local comic book store for $250.00 after one of the clerks bought it, tried to put it together and ended up throwing all the pieces back in the box because he was so frustrated with it. His loss was certainly may gain. Completed Death Star II sets have sold for as much as $500.00 in online auctions.
Is this worth the price? If you are a Lego collector or something that considers themselves a Star Wars fanatic it most certainly is. You have to look at the design behind it, piece count and overall size of it when considering dropping three hundred dollars on this. I happened to luck out on this and get it in mint condition for fifty dollars less than the suggested retail price; if I didn’t know the person that was selling it I would be extremely leery about the purchase but in this case, everything worked out well for all involved.
I do not regret buying this or investing three hours of my time into building it. It makes for a very nice addition to my collection and is something that always gets a lot of compliments when people see it. The collector’s card and stand that come with this are nice but for three hundred dollars they could at least give you a nicer stand and something to house the collectible card. Even so, Lego junkies can’t get enough of the series and the designers know it. I can hardly wait for the next installment in the Star Wars Lego Collectors series.
Name: Death Star II
Set Theme: Star Wars Collectors
Set Number: 10143
Piece Count: 3449
Age Recommendation: 16 and older
Difficulty Level: Extremely Hard
Build Time: 3 hours
Price: $299.00
