The Executor Super Star Destroyer is one of those LEGO® sets where there's little point in starting with the piece count.
6,130 pieces. €749.99. Done.
You knew that before you'd even seen the box. The more interesting question is what you're supposed to do with it next.
Because the new LEGO® Star Wars Executor Super Star Destroyer is big. Not "pretty big for a LEGO® set", but really big. With its enormous length, this is a model that doesn't just need a collector, but a collector with a suitable wall, cabinet, table or partner willing to sacrifice part of the interior.
And yet I think it's an interesting set.
This is not a set for everyone
The Executor is one of the best-known ships in Star Wars. On paper, that makes it a logical candidate for a new Ultimate Collector Series version.
But that doesn't mean every Star Wars fan wants this set.
The previous big Executor, the 10221, came out quite a while ago now. Anyone who already has that one on display has to ask what the new version adds. Anyone who never bought it gets a new chance, but now pays €749.99 for it.
Those are two very different buyers.
For one, this replaces an old model. For the other, it's finally the Executor that has been on the wish list for years.
And then there's a third category: people who simply think it's fantastic, until they discover it claims about half a metre of width and more than a metre of length of their living space.
That last part is not a theoretical problem.
The scale is both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness
The charm of a UCS model is that LEGO® can do things that are impossible in a normal set.
The Executor makes the most of that.
The model has room for details that simply wouldn't be visible in a smaller version. That also makes the build far more interesting than you'd expect from the final silhouette.
But the consequence is that you get a model that isn't easy to tuck away when you've had enough of Star Wars for a while.
A Millennium Falcon you can still more or less put on a table as a large object.
The Executor is a landscape.
And you don't just put a landscape away.
That makes the choice for this set surprisingly practical. Before spending €749.99, I'd almost reach for a tape measure first.
The minifigures complete the story
LEGO® could of course simply have included Darth Vader and left it at that.
That would have been a shame.
Besides Vader, the set contains the six bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back: Boba Fett, Bossk, Dengar, IG-88, 4-LOM and Zuckuss.
I think that's an important choice.
Not because a UCS ship suddenly gets better with a few minifigures, but because these figures actually have something to do with the Executor and that scene.
It feels less like "here are a few more figures to make the box more attractive" and more like a small piece of the Star Wars story that belongs with the model.
For collectors, that can also lead to a very different calculation than the brick price alone.
€749.99 is a lot of money. But the price per piece doesn't tell the whole story here
With LEGO® sets it's tempting to divide the price by the number of pieces.
For this set that comes to about 12.2 cents per piece.
Fine.
But there's not much you can do with that.
A small three-cent piece and a huge moulded element don't represent the same production cost. And more importantly: with a UCS model you also pay for the scale, the construction, the development and the fact that LEGO® produces a gigantic display model for a relatively small audience.
That's why I don't find the question "is 12 cents per piece cheap?" all that interesting.
The better question is:
would you still want it if you knew you wouldn't get a discount on it for the next few years?
If the answer is no, I'd wait.
If the answer is yes, it becomes more interesting to look at price development, stock and temporary promotions.
And that's where I'd hold off a little myself
The launch period is different from the normal market.
At launch, the pull of a new UCS model, availability at LEGO® and any gift-with-purchase promotions all play a part. That can make people look at €749.99 differently in October than in a few months' time.
That doesn't automatically mean this set will soon be 30 percent off in every shop.
I certainly wouldn't bet on that.
But there's also little reason to pretend €749.99 is the only price you'll ever be able to buy it for.
For a set this size, it's precisely worth following the market.
The recommended retail price is the starting point. Not necessarily the end point.
Who should buy this set?
My answer is actually quite simple.
If the Executor is one of the most important ships in Star Wars to you, this is exactly the kind of set UCS is meant for.
If you mainly want a lot of LEGO® for your money, there are plenty of other ways to spend €750.
If you're a Star Wars collector mainly interested in minifigures, this isn't the most efficient way to grow your collection either.
But if you want a big Star Wars display, have always found the Executor impressive and actually have room to put it, the story changes.
Then 6,130 pieces is mostly the material the thing is made of.
The actual product is the Executor.
My verdict
I find the 75457 more interesting than the price suggests at first glance.
Not because €749.99 is suddenly a bargain. It isn't.
And not because every LEGO® fan should have this set. Quite the opposite.
The Executor is in fact extremely specific.
You're not buying a versatile LEGO® set that you can easily put somewhere after building it. You're buying an enormous Star Wars object that very much wants to be present.
That is exactly its strength.
And exactly its problem.
For me, this is therefore not a set where the question "how much discount do I need?" comes first.
The first question is:
Do I even have a place where this thing is allowed to land?
If the answer is yes, the second question becomes interesting:
What is a good price to put it there?
And that second question is one that makes it worth following the price development of the 75457 over the coming months.
Compare prices at every shop on Lakea. Straight to the set: LEGO.com.
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