With October 1st in the books, there’s a slew of new Lego sets on the shelves – both digital and physical – but one stands out for its size and price: the long-rumored, finally officially out Lego UCS Death Star, now available for order.
Reimagining the Death Star was less about rebuilding an icon and more about solving a design puzzle – how to capture the most pivotal moments that took place on the battle station from Star Wars within a single structure.
The newly released set – priced at $999.99 / £899.99 / AU$1499.99 and part of the Ultimate Collector Series – pushes the limits of Lego engineering with over 9,000 pieces and debuts a completely new approach to structure for the moon-sized battle station. To explore how it came together, TechRadar spoke with César Soares, a Master Model Designer at the Lego Group, who led the project.
Lego has been developing the moon-sized battle station for over a year at its headquarters in Billund. Soares said he took over the concept model in late summer 2023 and worked on it for about 14 months – by far the longest he’s spent on a single model.
“We had a concept model made during one of our design boosts in the summer of 2023,” he recalls. “I picked it up in late summer that year, and I worked on it for about 14 months. It was by far the model I’ve spent the longest time designing.”
Previous iterations – including the most recent one from 2016 – were fully spherical and significantly smaller, showing only a few rooms per level. This time, Lego reimagined the Death Star as a thick slice.
From the very start, the idea was the cross-section
“From the very start, the idea was the cross-section,” says Soares. “We wanted fans to see all the rooms and all the iconic moments in one view – every scene interacts with another.”
That decision required multiple prototypes and refinements before the team landed on the final version. “I made maybe four or five different iterations, every time building again from scratch and evolving the design,” Soares says. “Once you get to a point where you’re happy, it becomes about refining every detail – room by room, function by function.”
The finished model measures 20.6 inches in height, 18.9 inches in width, and 15.1 inches in depth, featuring six detailed floors. Notably, the ground floor features a large hangar bay, while the Emperor’s Throne Room is located at the top. In between are iconic spaces like the detention block, trash compactor, superlaser control room, conference chamber, and reactor core – all packed with references from both Death Stars.
Considering its sheer size and the likely lengthy build, the designer wanted to ensure the process remained engaging. Soares opted for a modular building approach, where each room is constructed separately before being attached to the main structure. “You start by building room by room,” he explains. “So, you build the trash compactor outside, and when you’re finished, you put it on and then move on to the next room.” He concluded by noting that it makes it “like the ultimate Lego building experience, because you never get bored.”
The method also mirrors how the model was developed internally. Soares started by building physical models, brick by brick, beginning with the bottom and working up, then repeating the process before digitally rebuilding them piece by piece to fine-tune connections and details.
“We physically recreate it piece by piece,” Soares says. “It’s a process of back and forth – you never jump definitely to digital; it’s always both at the same time.”
Hidden throughout are nods to the Lego brand and Star Wars lore – from a tiny Octan power reference in the foundation to a “hot tub Stormtrooper” room near the top that Lucasfilm approved without hesitation.
“We approached Lucasfilm about that, and they were totally on board,” Soares laughs. “They thought the idea was brilliant.” The reference, which began in the Lego Star Wars video games, is just one of many Easter eggs tucked inside the set.
Regarding the collaboration with Lucasfilm – the first Lego Star Wars set was released in 1999 – Soares shared that it has been ongoing for nearly three decades, with regular meetings, idea sharing, and access to Lucasfilm’s vast reference archive. This set will likely make it into that archive, and you can also find it in Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past, which is available to stream on Disney+.
For Soares, part of what makes this Death Star special is how it honors Lego’s longstanding design philosophy. “We Lego designers are very proud of the Lego system in play,” he says. “We always try to use what we already have available to us. For this Death Star, we only created one new element – the Imperial dignitary hat – and I’m very proud of that.”
That small piece was crucial for the included Imperial Dignitary figure, a first for Lego Minifigures and one of 36 included with the set.
We wanted the definitive version, with everything in one model
That efficiency extends to the build itself. The entire set relies almost entirely on standard Lego System elements, with only minimal Technic integration for the working elevator mechanism – proof, Soares says, that the existing system is still capable of new tricks even at this massive scale.
Ultimately, he believes the project represents the pinnacle of what Lego Star Wars can achieve. “Every major room or scene is there – from both Death Stars. We wanted the definitive version, with everything in one model,” he says.
Even after months of design and testing, and then building and rebuilding, Soares noted that “with this one, I was actually really looking forward to building it again,” he admits. “Which I think says a lot about the building experience.”
I’ve started the process of building the UCS Death Star myself, and while it’s a daunting one, it doesn’t feel as repetitive as I initially feared. The instructions mix things up early – from assembling portions of the hangar floor to building mirrored sections – keeping even the foundation interesting to put together.
If you’re sold on it, the Lego UCS Death Star is available now directly from Lego at $999.99 / £899.99 / AU$1499.99 – though, as of this publishing, it’s already backordered, so expect to wait a few weeks.
Lastly, while Soares can’t reveal what’s next for Lego Star Wars, his passion for the galaxy far, far away remains clear. “I grew up with the original trilogy,” he says. “So everything that I can work from the original trilogy, I will be very, very happy.”
The UCS Death Star might not be the first time Lego has tackled the Empire’s ultimate weapon – or the most affordable set ever released – but its ambitious cross-section design, modular build, and attention to detail make it the most complete version yet.
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