UPDATE: The UCS SHIELD Helicarrier’s Australian price is… $499.99! WHAT A GREAT PRICE POINT! The Australian release date for this set is 19 February 2015 and it will be exclusive to LEGO.com for the time being.
The LEGO Group has officially announced the first UCS (Ultimate Collector Series) Marvel Super Heroes Set – the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. It was great waking up to the news and gorging my eyes on the beautiful official photos of this gargantuan set.
Constructed out of 2996 pieces, this set represents the most ambitious Marvel Super Heroes set yet and should tie in well with the upcoming Avengers 2. When a grainy tiny picture of this set leaked yesterday, I was initially quite apprehensive as I thought it looked quite small. Upon seeing the official images, it’s safe to say that I want it.
If the rumours are right, we’re looking at a mid-February release for VIP Members, and the general release date will be in March. That should also be around the same time the new Avengers sets go on sale as well. The Australian price for the UCS Helicarrier is still unknown but it will cost $350 in the United States.
I would be pleasantly surprised if this set is priced below $500 here.
As with all major LEGO releases, we also get an informative video by designer Marcos Bessa who shares some additional insight into the set. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of Technic influences in the set, which isn’t usually my cup of tea.
That said, the set looks impressively awesome and should be a must-buy for any LEGO Super Heroes fan. The Helicarrier is a huge part of the Avengers and Captain America movies, so it’ll be great to have this behemoth on display. Speaking of display, I have no idea how I’m going to afford or display this in my home, but I will find a way.
I quite like that they made this a micro-scale model, which I feel adds a lot of fun and playability to the set. Having all the little Quinjets and microfigures around really helps make the size and scale of the UCS Helicarrier become apparent – which IMHO, is the right move.
Some LEGO fans may have been disappointed as they were probably expecting a Super Star Destroyer-sized Helicarrier, but I think for all intents and purposes, the size is just right. Can’t wait to actually get play with this in real life.
Another interesting thing to note in both the video and the official press release is that they’re using the term Microfigures to describe these characters you see above. I thought that was a little odd, as Microfigures were previously used to name the small characters that you got in the LEGO Games. The ones above were previously Trophy Pieces but it looks like LEGO are going to expand the utility of these Microfigures.
Anyway, the Microfigures included are great, they’ve all got neat little details and we get miniature versions of Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Nick Fury as well as a whole legion of SHIELD Agents that you can place around the Helicarrier. They particularly look great in the bridge section of the Helicarrier!
I have to say that the minifigure selection of the LEGO UCS Helicarrier is by far its weakest part of the set. I love that we get a MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) version of Nick Fury as well as Maria Hill (yay), but Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye leave much to be desired. In fact, I think that Captain America and Hawkeye are the same versions included in the upcoming wave of Avengers sets. Black Widow seems to have a slightly different outfit, which is a nice little consolation.
I am very disappointed that LEGO didn’t include a Phil Coulson minifigure in this set. It’s a huge oversight in my opinion as Coulson is quite an essential character in the MCU. For crying out loud, he is currently Director of SHIELD!
Another glaring omission that I can think of is a Bruce Banner minifig since he doesn’t show up in the new wave of sets as well, but that’s a minor thing and not as grave as a Phil Coulson minifigure-sized hole.
So, what do you think of the UCS Helicarrier now that you’ve seen official photos? Let me know in the comments!
Any VIP members having issues with the LEGO shop for the helicarrier?
Last week, it had the pre-release of 19th of Feb. Now, when I log in it says 1st of March!!!
The big day is tomorrow and I’m freaking out!
Hey Scott, it’s not just you. I’m hoping it’s a glitch of some sort. LEGO.com has always had issues when it comes to new products going live.
I’m equally as worried as it’s already sold out/back ordered on the US site.
Hope t all gets sorted out by tomorrow!
amazed it sold out considering the backlash on the cost.
Will be very interesting to see how it fares in Australia at the $500 price tag.
Not looking forward to seeing the postage of this sucker to WA…..
In the good news, at least I should get enough points from this to buy the lego power later on (to drive the turbines)
I wasn’t too surprised – most of the newer exclusives like the Detective’s Office and Tumbler had stock issues when they first went on sale too.
In case you didn’t know, the Australian store is shared with Europe so I wouldn’t be shocked if it gets sold out.
It’s free postage since it’s above $500! You just have to pray that it doesn’t get damaged by Aus Post!
well, as suspected, the pre-order went up today.
Just bought one!!
For those on the fence, if you order now, you get a demo driller for free.
You also get – LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes Winter Soldier (5002943 ) for free
Awesome! I was just about to let you know. I’ve got mine as well. The Winter Soldier polybag was a nice surprise and it seems that we’re the only country to get the offer.
Seems that UK gets the Winter soldier too.
A friend over in London just bought hers and it had the free WS.
Yup, I’ve amended the post. Basically, everyone but the Yanks get the WS! The US is supposedly to get theirs in June
I don’t care what anyone else says about it, I love this set. It looks totally awesome! I love how you can open the top from the run-way and see the control center. The new mini Quinjet is the best one so far. I enjoy how it comes with the micro figures, so you can put many people in the control center. The Shield sign that u put the minifigures on is especially cool. Overall, this set is one of the best LEGO superheroes sets that has came out. GOOD JOB DESIGN CREW!!!
I agree! The set has a lot going for it and I’m 100% sure it’s going to sell incredibly well
If the Tumbler could cost up to RM999.90 over here, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Helicarrier would cost around the same amount, so… I’m just going to opt for the upcoming LEGO Marvel Avengers videogame instead. I’m happy that they’ve finally made a Captain America minfig where he isn’t wearing his helmet though. hope to see it in a future Marvel set. I also love the new Hawkeye design.
Hi Jac-
Just revealed that this set is priced at $350 USD (I’m guessing it’s USD). So I’d suspect it would be somewhat more than 1000 RM, seeing as tho that converts to approximately $275 USD.
Yeah, the new Hawkeye looks a lot less cartoony than the previous version. Like Nick said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Helicarrier costs at least RM1500 in Malaysia, using the Tumbler’s US price as a benchmark, since they’re both Super Heroes-themed UCS sets.
Afternoon Jay 🙂
I received the email from Lego as well. Upon first sight, I wasn’t too impressed. Adding to the seemingly endless grey masses of models inspired by the Star Wars theme seemed a bit draining. I’m still not convinced it is a set I’d buy (although as I said before, I am on lego hiatus anyway, til I get to the U.S in October) mainly because it just doesn’t seem to ‘wow’ me. If I were to buy a set of that magnitude, it’s likely going to be a modular. In any case I’ll be hitting up the new Lego video that Marcus is hosting and I’ll be adding it to my Lego Design video playlist. I can’t get enough of those videos– especially ones hosted by true Danes!
To be honest, I’m not sure why Lego would take such a huge risk with the Marvel IP in producing a set that, let’s face it, is NOT in the budget of most mums and dads for their 11 year old child. It’s a collector set. I dunno– it seems a bit like making a massive friends collector set of a playful “jungle rescue” or something. Maybe not quite to that extent, but I don’t believe Marvel Superheroes deserve huge sets like this.
Just my two bobs’ worth!
That’s good for my wallet in any case!
Keep up the top reviews and posts.
All the best,
Nick
Hey Nick
I don’t collect that many Star Wars sets, so my collection doesn’t have a lot of grey outside of Castle sets. I think this set isn’t for everybody – it’s certainly been quite polarising with some people hating it and some peple loving it. This definitely isn’t a set aimed at kids – with LEGO’s “adult” sets like Modulars, Tumbler and other higher priced items selling so well, there’s certainly a market for it.
With so many sets coming out this year, it’s becoming more and more important to pick and choose which ones to get! If you’re on a normal budget like me and you, buying everything on the shelves is no longer feasible!