First Look: LEGO's Biggest Millennium Falcon

LEGO has officially unveiled its new Star Wars Millennium Falcon building block set, which ranks as company's largest set ever. Star Wars, of course, revolutionized the movie merchandising industry after the first film in the saga came out in 1977, first by granting the toy company Kenner (later acquired by Hasbro) the license to release 3 3/4-inch action figures of such characters as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Darth Vader.

Other toy companies and merchandisers soon followed suit, including the famed block building toymaker LEGO - which over the years has released such stunning Star Wars pieces to its collection as the Imperial Star Destroyer (3,096 pieces), the Sandcrawler (3,296 pieces), and the Death Star (3,083 pieces).

Related: Force Friday II Event Guide

Just in time, however, for the Force Friday II event Friday that will mark the official release of new toy products from the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, LEGO is giving its first look at Han Solo's famed spaceship the Millennium Falcon. The company teased the release of the set about a week ago, but only as one very large pile of bricks.

According to USA Today (which was granted an exclusive look at the release), the Millennium Falcon, at 7,541 pieces, is not only the largest Star Wars set LEGO has ever released, but its largest set ever. Previously, the company's Taj Mahal was the largest LEGO set, with 5,922 pieces. The new Millennium Falcon dwarfs LEGO's previous release of the vehicle in 2001, which came in at 5,197 pieces.

EXCLUSIVE: Get the first look at the biggest #Lego set ever sold, which will be a #StarWars starship (of course). https://t.co/YoA3QOrFdL pic.twitter.com/hdt4J3cLJ3— USA TODAY Life (@usatodaylife) August 31, 2017

While the announcement of the new Millennium Falcon was timed in conjunction with Force Friday II, it will not actually go on sale until October 1. Perhaps LEGO delayed the release to give fans some time to save up, since the suggested retail price for the set is $799.99.

When fans do acquire the set, they'll likely discover their tidy investment is worth the massive chunk of change. To begin with, the ship measures at 33 inches long, 22 inches wide and 8 inches tall; and has all the interiors fans know and love from the Star Wars films, including the ship's cockpit (which holds four minifigures), a gunner seat and Chewbacca's iconic holographic Dejarik game table (hint: Let the wookie win).

In addition, since Millennium Falcon appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy and the new trilogy, minifigures from both eras will be included. From the original trilogy, the release will include Han, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and a buildable Mynock creature from The Empire Strikes Back, as well as the older version of Han, Rey, Finn and BB-8 from The Force Awakens. To represent characters from The Last Jedi, a couple of Porg minifigures will also be included.

It's only appropriate that LEGO release its biggest set ever ahead of what could be the biggest Star Wars movie ever with The Last Jedi - that is, until Star Wars: Episode IX comes out in 2019, when LEGO may well unveil a set that's even bigger by comparison.