In this video we are going to review and time lapse build this LEGO Yoda UCS Ultimate Collector Series UCS set 7194 from 2002. It has 1,075 pieces but the vast majority of those are bricks. It’s like having your own little Yoda in a similar style to brick builds that you would find a a LEGOLAND themepark, and there aren’t too many sets like this.
How does it stand up today, what is it like, how hard is it to build, how can I get one? We will look at all these questions.
Time codes for the video:
0:06 Introduction
2:56 Instructions
5:08 Pre-sorting bricks into bowls
5:25 Time-lapse build
6:33 Head construction
7:21 Ear Construction
7:40 Final thoughts on the construction
7:52 Tips on How to Get A hold of one vs Rebricking on Bricklink
8:35 2002 Yoda vs 2019 Yoda
9:00 Building Mandalorian Baby Yoda from 2019 Yoda set
9:20 What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below
2019 Baby Yoda aka “The Child” Alternative Build 75255 instructions mentioned in the video:
https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-38952/Allouryuen/the-child-aka-baby-yoda/
Transcript from the show
Hmmm … Build or Build not! There is no try. <groan>
Introduction
G’day Everyone, Matt Elder of Family Bricks and in today’s video we are going to review and time lapse build this LEGO Yoda UCS Ultimate Collector Series set 7194 from 2002. It has 1,075 pieces but the vast majority of those are bricks. It’s like having your own little Yoda in a similar style to brick builds that you would find a a LEGOLAND themepark, and there aren’t too many sets like this.
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Overview
So this is more just a straight up and down brick build. You mainly just build it in layers as you go straight up. There isn’t that much movement in here or play features. There is a couple little things that you can do. Like you can turn the head a little bit. Its motion gets stop by this little necklace through there. If you lift it all the way up you can turn it around and stop it from getting caught in there.
I mean that little necklace thing seems a bit weird. I don’t remember it from the original trilogy set of films but maybe I’m not remembering it correctly. You do also have these eyes that can move a little bit up and down given the way they sit on these technic pieces. But again not a great deal that you can do with them. You can have them cross eyed or wonky or something. But otherwise just looks straight forward.
The head sits on one of those rotating 4×4 type bricks. And that is what gives it that motion there. And that chain is attached in at the back.
Most of it is in this tan or sand green, occasionally do get some of these other reds and browns. Most of it is built straight up. You do get some occasionally some studs to the side for the fingers. Otherwise it’s a big chunky sort of a build.
Just as you are going around you get a bit of a sense of those Jedi robes and sort of flowing. Then in the back you get a special LEGO piece. Coming back around to the front , mainly just detail and the flow there. Unlike the 2019 version of Yoda where you get the studs being in all different directions, this one just comes all the way straight up. You’ve got to keep in mind this was done, whats it now, getting on 20 years ago.
So you had a few less pieces and different ways and styles of building back them.
Then if we have a look up through the middle of him, have a look in here, you can sort of see that it is actually quite hollow. Just holding onto it with one hand, and hopefully don’t really drop it or anything like that. There is no sort of technic inner construction or like that. You have a few of these 1×16 beams at the very beginning to help support it but otherwise pretty hollow straight up to the head.
Instructions
Also pretty lucky when we picked it up we managed to get the original set of instructions. So interesting to see the different art styles and the way they were doing instructions and packaging back then. So you have a picture of Yoda himself but then in the background you’ve got a photographic image of part of the X-wing and Luke when he is on Degobah. Obviously when you are first seeing this character.
So you come to here and it shows you basically a layering system but you can just make out in the background there, you’ve got the rear engine of the X-wing all the way through. There instructions are a little bit of a challenge, don’t know how well it is showing up but these are different types of brown and these are meant to be the same types of brown as well where as this one is showing it as really red so don’t know if it is a printing thing or it has faded over time. These are all showing up as red whereas they should be more these sorts of browns. Particularly in the initial set up, that can make it pretty challenging to do.
You really need to pay attention to where the master grid lines are and also really need to be paying attention to if there is any difference between tiles and the actual bricks as well. You can sort of see in that place you have 3 tiles and you’ve got the one brick that goes there. So really staying on top and focusing on what you are doing.
It just so hard with these types of instructions as you can’t really tell 3 dimensionally when you start building up the next layers where things are and double checking the positions and alignments. It becomes really tricky. So we will take a bit of a flick through and might speed it up.
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You start off by building the body itself until you get to the top , and then in the next bit you do the head separately. The ears are separate as well.
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That is doing one of the ears, then the other ear and just slotting it straight in. Always interesting with older instructions seeing what current sets where also available at the time. You’ve got an early version of R2-D2 and C3PO and you can see they are quite hollow. Darth Vader, Blockage Runner, and another head sculptural type bust of Darth Maul which we also have one of those. So check around the video and you might see a link to a build of that.
Pre-sorting bricks into bowls
As always with second hand sets, try to sort into as many bowls as possible so you can easily find pieces when you are building. One of those sharpening the saw type ideas. Spend a little bit of time upfront and you’ll save yourself a lot of time down the line.
Time-lapse Speed Build
Starting off with the base tiles/plate layer and bricks on top of that it’s a little bit of a challenge. It feels a little bit like open season as pieces can kinda go wherever as opposed to once you get a couple of layers going, you get a general sense of which way the pieces are moving and forming as you are going up each layer.
Previously rebricked a Statute of Liberty from around this time period. Click on the link around the video to see how that one worked out.
Even though that was a much bigger set, that one was much easier, cause you are mainly only dealing with one colour. Where as here you are dealing with multiple colours in terms of the tans, the reds, the browns and the sand greens all at once.
As you saw earlier in the video, the instructions are just layer by layer. So best way I’ve found to approach these is to look at your major gird lines and keep looking at where pieces align relative to those grid lines.
In each step pull out all the pieces that you need which the instructions tell you. If there is a mixture of plates and bricks in a step, pay attention to which is which. Whenever I’m getting something wrong, its usually when I’m getting plates and bricks mixed up and not paying supper attention to the grid guidelines. Through the magic of editing, you don’t get to see where I make mistakes.
Head Construction
Now onto the head construction. Due to the layering way you build this, if you do make a mistake, its actually really quite difficult to figure out where it is as you don’t see it in 3D. You just see this slice at a time. So you don’t get a really good sense of how one layer relates to another.
I find then to go back and fix your mistakes the easiest way is to go back and take 2 or 3 layers off back to where you are pretty confident it is correct and its usually all on the same plane. As you can see, the head construction is quite hollow as well.
This was also quite challenging to build due to the way the jumpers and the way holes were left to give the sense of wrinkles and age, and the way that Yoda’s head is that wrinkly. As you get to the top and start closing in that open gap, it does feel quite satisfying. Its brick building a sphere with all sorts of wrinkles and holes and plates and bricks.
Ear Construction
Each ear is then built separately. After the complexity of the body and the head, its nice to have a quick simple little build like the ears. The ears connect into the head through Technic pins. The head itself simply connects onto the 4×4 spinning disc plate. Pretty simple isn’t it Yoda.
Final Thoughts on the Construction
This brick built sculptural statues from the early 2000s are always challenging builds. So if that’s your sort of thing and you like the aesthetic of this brick style build with studs usually all going in the same direction, then definitely check it out and try the build.
Tips on How to Get A hold of one
In terms of trying to get ahold of one, ebay is going to be your best bet. People will ask crazy money for these sorts of things so you do need to be a bit patient. Instructions and the box I would consider essential unless you are a completist as you can get the instructions off LEGO.com or some other digital format.
Rebricking vs Bricklink
I did look at parting the set out on bricklink but did find if you don’t have a lot of tan and sand greens in particular, its actually quite expensive and getting to that point where trying to get a good deal second hand is actually a better alternative.
I’ve seen that some consider this to be a UCS Ultimate Collectors Set series, so if you are trying to be a completist, it is going to be one of those ones which is going to be a challenge to get your hands on.
2002 Yoda vs 2019 Yoda
If you are just looking for a Yoda statute, then maybe consider the 2019 version. As at time of recording this video, it is still available and occasionally you can pick it up on sale. Just be aware that the 2019 version is the prequel type Yoda, he has a little bit of greying hair and there are some other subtle differences, but his eyes are a lot more posable. And he does come with a light sabre as opposed to a cane in this version.
Building Mandalorian Baby Yoda from 2019 Yoda set
I have seen online where someone has taken the 2019 version and rejigged it just within the set to make it into a baby Yoda. Given the Mandalorian is quite hot at the moment, that might be something that sways you one way or the other. Note however the person who produced those instructions is charging about £15 or $20 US dollars for the instructions.
So what do you think? Are you up for the challenge of this old school Yoda from the early 2000s or do you prefer the new one and that is more your aesthetic? Let us know in the comments below.
This is a Family Bricks video. Be sure to hit that like button, share or if you want to be super awesome, subscribe! Click the bell and select “All”, to be notified of new videos as they are uploaded.
You might be wondering, where can I see that early 2000s Statute of Liberty build, click here for the video. Alternatively, here are some other videos you might be interested in.
That’s all from us here at Family Bricks. Thanks very much for watching. Until next time when we talk about all things LEGO and Lifestyle.
