Part 1 - Unleashing the Falcon

You can see part 2 here.

It's been a bit since I've posted because I broke down and bought the LEGO Millennium Falcon. I had $155 in VIP points and I used EBates to get another $20 back. Besides the discount I also got a Darth Vader Pod polybag (#5005376-1). I ordered it from LEGO Shop at Home, but at the time of ordering it in early May 2018, it was also available at Target, Walmart, and Amazon.com in the US.

LEGO Shop at Home shipped it off pretty quickly and I got a notice from FedEx that we would have to sign for the package. I think this is the first ever LEGO order that someone had to sign for. The email I got said that the package would be 34 pounds. Whoa! Here it is:

Like many of the other big sets these days, the LEGO Group has packaged the set inside another box. The first time I saw this was in the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056). It is a great way to protect some of the sets that cost a bit more. If you're going to put a bunch of money into a LEGO set, it had better show up in pristine condition. This set up helps to make it happen and I'm glad the LEGO Group made this change to their product.

The inner box had a few labels. Of note to me was that this set was made in April of 2018 and I purchased it in early May 2018. Considering the LEGO Group's trouble in keeping up with demand for this set, they definitely made up for it with some sped up production. Also of note is that this set was made in Mexico which I'm pretty sure most sets sold in the US are made there.

Here are some pics of the set box itself. The front shows a good illustration of the set from Episode VI: Empire Strikes back with a Tie Fighter and Cloud City. On a side note, there were rumors about this set on other earlier sets and there have been a lot of rumors about a Cloud City set coming out. Could this picture be a rumor for it? The back side shows the set itself with some of the details.

The sides have a schematic, the minifigures, and the other side has a picture of the set with a write up about the set itself.

I included the top just because. Nothing really special there.

Inside the big box are 4 smaller boxes with some Falcon art and a few quotes from the movies. I did some reading of other reviews prior to building and learned that you have to open them all to sort out the bags. I opened them all and with my helpers, sorted bags 1 through 9. We put 10 through 17 back in the boxes for later. I didn't take a picture of all the contents like I usually do because of lack of space to take a giant picture with all of the bags. I think everyone gets the idea anyway.

A set this big and they had to include a sticker sheet. Thankfully there are only 12, but still for the price, couldn't they have printed on the stickers? Most are fairly small and easy to put on, but the big label is a pain as you'll see.

Okay so there is the opening... next up will be the build. I was up against a move so I had to get it built quickly. Thankfully a friend and 2 of his boys pitched in to help and made sure we could get it done beforehand. The build will be up next so stay tuned...