The LEGO® Star Wars™ Ultimate Collector Series Through the Years

The LEGO® Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) features incredibly detailed display sets of some of the most iconic aspects of the Star Wars™ galaxy.

This epic range has previously included sets based on legendary vehicles like X-wing fighters, TIE interceptors and the Millenium Falcon.

Now, there’s a new ship coming out of hyperspace and into the collection, based on the craft of two true fan-favorite characters: Jango Fett and his son Boba Fett.

To find out more about the new LEGO Star Wars Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship, we spoke to Jackson Hughes, a LEGO designer who has worked on many Star Wars sets and who was the lead designer on the new one.

Celebrating a lifelong passion

A long time ago, before Jackson was a LEGO designer, he was obsessed with the galaxy far, far away.

“I’m a lifelong fan,” he says. “I, of course, grew up watching the movies, but also spent countless hours with the video games, novels, comic books and my own childhood LEGO Star Wars sets.”

So, it must have been a dream come true when he began working on the LEGO Star Wars range.

“Before this set, I worked on the Emperor’s Throne Room™ Diorama, 332nd Ahsoka’s Clone Trooper™ Battle Pack, New Republic E-Wing™ vs. Shin Hati’s Starfighter™, The Onyx Cinder, and C-3PO™.”

But where do you start when designing a large-scale model based on Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship?

“One priority was to match the scale of the 2015 LEGO Ultimate Collector Series model of this ship,” he says. “We wanted fans to be able to display both models side by side.”

While designing a LEGO set might include some looking back, Jackson also wanted to ensure that this new set was making the most of the latest advances in building.

“Another priority was taking advantage of modern elements and building techniques to maximize the shape accuracy of the new model,” he adds. “I’m proud of the result, especially with the curved base section of the ship. The perimeter and curvatures are extremely accurate from every angle. This model borrows a few techniques from the 2015 model, particularly in the nose, but is otherwise designed from scratch.”

One of the most famous aspects of this ship is that it lands horizontally and then flies vertically.

Jackson knew he had to represent this.

“The model rests on its stand in an iconic flight position, but can also be placed on a flat surface in the landing position,” he says. “The wings rotate as the model transitions between vertical flight position and horizontal landing position.”

Meet two fan-favorite minifigures

This set includes two new-look LEGO Star Wars minifigures: Jango Fett and Young Boba Fett. They can fit into the model or be displayed with the included plaque.

It also comes with a few Easter eggs for super fans.

“There are two nods to the Star Wars: Bounty Hunter video game,” says Jackson. “One is a sticker hidden above the cockpit interior that says, in Aurebesh, ‘Oovo 4,’ which is the Republic prison that Jango stole this ship from. The second is a small bacta canister behind Jango’s gear storage, which is a homage to the bacta canisters you pick up in the videogame.”

What is the Ultimate Collector Series?

Since its launch, the UCS has featured many LEGO Star Wars sets, which allow fans to build the vehicles and locations they love on an impressively large and minutely detailed scale.

Many sets are instantly recognizable icons from the original trilogy, such as the Death Star™, the Super Star Destroyer™ or the Rebel Blockade Runner (which super fans may know was the first ship to ever appear in the Star Wars franchise). But for newer fans of the more recent series, there are also vehicles from Star Wars: The Clone Wars™ and Star Wars: The Mandalorian™.

Hunt down your next display set

The new LEGO Star Wars Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship is perfect to add to or even start your UCS collection and is a must for fans of the Fett duo.

We asked Jackson why these characters in particular had such broad appeal.

“I think Jango and Boba’s tough but restrained personalities also add a lot of mystique to their characters. You want to learn more about them,” he says, before adding, “and, of course, they fly one of the coolest ships in the galaxy.”