Ever since the new LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) came out, it’s been accompanied by a lot of speculation borne out of some wording on its official product info. Some may have expected the set to be classified as an Ultimate Collectors’ Series (UCS) set. So the new designation of Master Builder Series threw everybody off.
Following days of jawing about the implications on social media, LEGO fans and experts finally get the official world from The LEGO Group itself. As many news sites already called it, the LEGO Master Builder Series is “for play, not display”.
We’ve made this comparison on the disparity between UCS-branded sets by pointing out how the LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon (75192) is more designed to be put on a shelf while the Assault on Hoth (75098) is more for active posing and play-acting in nature. Again, we applaud LEGO’s prudence in finally making heads and tails out of the UCS line by shifting play-worthy sets to the Master Builder Series instead.
Here’s how the LEGO statement puts it:
The Master Builder Series models are large playsets and beside being complex builds they are characterized by having many play features and functions, interior details as well as a range of minifigures. Ultimate Collectors series will remain highly detailed display models providing complex builds with a focus on authenticity and both Ultimate Collectors Series and Master Builder Series will continue as a way to highlight the unique characteristic of each style of model.