Review: 75043 AT-AP

Set ID: 75043 AT-AP

Number of Pieces: 717

Year of Release: 2014

Minifigs: 5

Purchased Price: About SGD 140

"4 legs good, 2 legs bad" was ringing in my head whenever I come across 2-legged sets in the LEGO Star Wars series. Instead of agreeing to George Orwell's famous line from Animal Farm, anything LEGO that walks and balances on 2 legs never fail to impress me, more so if they come with a huge body and high centre of gravity. That addresses the engineering geek in me, but when it comes to aesthetic and look, this AT-AP, or the previous release in 2008, still fall short of my expectations, which I will talk about in the later part of the review.

A quick comparison with its predecessor (set 7671) reveals that the brick count has been doubled, but the overall size of the AT-AP has not been upgraded to any where near the doubling mark. There is also hardly any visible improvements, so the additional 300+ brick count really baffled me, at least until my construction commenced.

The AT-AP can pretty much survive without its third frontal leg, which can be tucked away neatly beneath the body and stay locked with the cleverly designed lever located at the rear. The two hind legs are more than adequate to keep the AT-AP steady and visibly impressive. The deployment of the third leg is apparently for better stability during its all-terrain manoeuvre but somehow I find it rather redundant, at least from a display point of view.

Retractable front leg does little on the stability

You need three Troopers to operate this AT-AP - 2 well-placed and shielded within the armour body and one gunner who sits in the gun station situated on the top of the vehicle. Totally exposed to the enemy fire, I would have taken him out first with a sniper shot before engaging the clumsy vehicle close up.

Access through hatch doors

Tipping over ...!

Both operating pilots have their own exclusive cockpits  and they can access the interior of the pod via two opening hatches found on each side of the AT-AP. Alternatively, you can lift the entire top (together with the gun station) backwards to have a better insight into the operation within the pod. Warning though, that this may tip the AT-AP over.

The armoury includes a few forward facing gun turrets. The gunner is also able to fire off a spring loaded missile from where he is sitting. As mentioned in some of my previous posts on this new spring loaded mechanism, the missile firing ability is simply awesome as it can really shoot a decent range. The down side is that the rear of the missile tends to protrude very far out, and in this case, almost right in the face of the gunner. The gunner station can be rotated 360 to confront enemies from different angles, or it can also be locked in place to align with the main cannon turret by simply clicking on a ball socket to a pair of c-clips. This is the first time I see such an innovative clip on design and I must say I am impressed.

Missiles invading the space of the gunner

Interesting ball and c-clip design

Both hind legs of the AT-AP are well designed and can be posed independently of each other. However, it is worth noting that each leg is only movable at the "hip" while the rest of the leg are pretty much, fixed. Therefore, this restricts the movement of the leg to 90 degree between pointing down and horizontally backwards. And before you get overzealous with the posing, do note that the AT-AP can only be stably posed with both legs parallel and vertically down. On the contrary, the third leg does have more degree of freedom and can even be deployed to step on slightly elevated terrain.

The finished product feels quite solid and can be easily carried around by just scooping the AT-AP up from behind. The only slightly loose pieces are those round plates that can be found at the hinging points of the legs. They are attached on by a sole stud so chances of dropping off are much higher.

Look-wise, I have to say this version has, as much as possible, stay true to its movie counterpart, even to the extent of getting the proportion of the body / legs ratio right. However, if I can make just one suggestion to improve the look, is to minimise the visible stud on its body armour, possibly by the use of more SNOT bricks. I know this is not an easy task given that studs are part and parcel of LEGO bricks.

Building Experience

The box for this set looks slightly elongated and flatter than I thought it should be. It is so flat that the five packs of bricks were pretty squeezed when I released them from the box itself. The AT-AP took centre stage on the art work in front and the back, as usual, painted a picture of how playable the set is. The content also include two instruction booklets and a small sticker sheet, much to my delight. As with most of the recent sets released, the minifigs were kept in different packs, presumably to keep the interest of the builder through the building process. Some of the steps are not easy to read especially in those pages when two big parts are to be put together. There is always an indication of where the connecting pegs should be inserted but somehow, it can easily be lost or misinterpreted by someone who is not into technical drawing.

For a set that is less than 1000 pieces, I initially thought the recommended age of 8-14 (especially the upper range of 14) seems a little too high. But after building it myself, I have to say it is well placed. Underneath the shell of the AT-AP lies a complex mesh of Technic parts and it was certainly not a walk in the park to put them together. In fact, every packet that I opened will reveal more Technic blue and black pegs, and I believe at least 200 pieces of brick counts are attributed to that.

Having an irregular shaped armoured body will always pose a challenge to the designers of LEGO. A good example of how challenging this might be can be found in the AT-AT sets over the years, where pieces of armour plates are constructed separately and then attached to the main frame via Technic pieces or hinges. The result is a rather shoddy finishing with gaps between those plates. The problem is not as acute in this set as there are lesser plates to grapple with but the two side armour plates are my biggest complaint as they feel very loosely attached to the body, mainly because there is only a single Technic peg keeping each plate in place.

Minifigs

Commander Gree - A Clone commander with an identity "Gree". I have absolutely no recollection of this character at all in the movie or cartoon (which I have never watched a single episode before). His head piece is the same with all Clone Troopers released in the Jan 2014 wave. His oversized helmet is primarily silver in colour with patches of green and battle damage prints on it. I suppose Gree spends most of his time in the thick vegetation, which explains the extensive and elaborate camouflage prints on his torso and leg piece.


Chief Tarfful - The revised Wookies' minifigs this year have been a delight to collectors. First it was Chewbacca, then this Chief Tarfful. As with all Wookies minifig in the past, the headpiece is fused to the front and back torso extension. This one piece gear gives the minifig its unique identity and boy, the designer has indeed done well to make Tarfful so recognisable. His 2-tone face and exposed fangs underlines his affiliation to the Wookie family. The thick fur and pleated braids are also well designed to give Tarfful's torso a textured look. The effort to put the extra hairs on his leg piece probably did not pay much dividend as you can hardly tell that they are fur. Chief Tarrful's is equipped with a pair of long common muskets that pale in comparison to the high-tech laser blasters owned by the Clone Troopers.

Battle Droid Commander + Common Battle Droid - They are exactly the same, with the Commander just having additional painted yellow stripes on his head piece. And as the yellow is very close in colour tone to the beige body of the droid, it is difficult to tell them apart from a distance.

Super Battle Droid - Another one?


Conclusion

The finished AT-AP has a rather intimidating vertical presence when on display so from that point of view, is a good set to buy to beef up the collection on the shelf. This AT-AP does impress me from the engineering perspective, but some basic design flaws do undermine the overall impression of the set. Chief Tarfful's minifig is a great inclusion but not worth the SGD 140 price tag.

+ Intricately designed balancing mechanism, stability of the finished product
+ Good use of Technic parts
+ Good effort to minimise gaps between armour plates, but still it can be improved
+ Good vertical presence

- Spring missile intruding into the space of its operator
- Loose armour plates in the legs and sides
- Can have a smoother finishing look on the body armour (ok, I am just being picky here ...)

Review: 75021 Republic Gunship

Set ID: 75021 Republic Gunship

Number of Pieces: 1175

Year of Release: 2013

Minifigs: 7

Purchased Price: About SGD 200

The Republic Gunships played a big part in the rescue of the Jedi knights in Episode 2. Faced with a closing circle of Battle Droids, the Jedi were outnumbered and facing certain death. In come a swarm of Republic Gunships into the execution arena, led by Master Yoda, swopping down on the Droids and eliminating them by the dozens. That scene alone gave me a thumbs up impression of the Gunships, looking bulky but yet, deadly. The LEGO version did not disappoint either, preserving its good impression with me.

Two earlier versions of the Gunship were released by LEGO in 2002 and 2008. As I am not a Clone War sets collector, the only other version I have in my possession (not physically with me now but somewhere buried in my LEGO storehouse) is the 2002's 7163. It has been some years since I have built that older sibling so there is little recollection left of how that experience was. More than a decade later, LEGO finally decided to re-launch the set, throw in close to 500 more bricks, double the price (inflation notwithstanding) and created a much better and playable set. At first sight, this is indeed a good looking set. Even my ageing father also commented how good it looks standing beside the Droid Gunship that I just completed last week.

The completed Gunship feels heavy and solid, with exception of a few loose parts near the nose of the cockpit. To enhance mobility, this Gunship comes with an in-built C-shape carrying handle that can be tucked away when not required. Having said that, it might still not be easy for a younger child to be carrying this Gunship by the handle, given that it weighs close to 2kg. Its huge wingspan contributes to an intimidating presence (and more space occupying on the shelf) and its height dwarfed most sets that I have recently constructed.

The Gunship is controlled by two pilots in the elevated cockpits. On the tip of both wings, you can find a huge bubble canopy each (presumably for the gunners / co-pilots) with pretty luxurious space within and an elaborate stickered control panel. Two more canopies can be found hinged to the mid body, allowing the Trooper to stand guard with panoramic view of the surrounding, while executing the extraction manoeuvre.

Playable Features

A well designed chamber below the cockpit conceals a rack of flick missiles, accessed by two hinged doors. How those missiles can be deployed still baffled me though. Another two hinged cabin doors can be found towards the rear of the Gunship. Opening them reveals a spacious interior and a parked Trooper Bike for recon missions. These doors are rather stiff to move and could not be completely closed by the use of the in-built hinged lever. Manual intervention will be required to flushed the doors against the side of the Gunship.

A couple of nice playable features can actually be found at the rear. A secret compartment is found above the hinged ramp. Its a nice little touch but IMHO, unnecessary. Should you desire, the light sabers and blasters can be stored here, but who will want to do that in the thick of action in Geonosis? The ramp provides an exit for the Trooper Bike, which can be secured in place by a couple of grooved 4X1 bricks while in flight.

Despite its overwhelming size, the Gunship is not as heavily armed as I thought it should be. However, the lack in numbers are more than made up by the versatility of the few guns, mounted on ball-and-socket joints, providing a good range of firepower against the enemies. Two rows of flick missiles stuck out like a sore thumb on top of the Gunship. Very unlikely to be deployed even during play time as they are rather difficult to "flick". Funny though, that I am not able to locate these missiles in all the pictures that I researched online. But upon close examination of the Episode 2 clips, I finally caught a glimpse of those missiles in one of the scenes. However, they were shown as concealed rather than sticking out like what's on this LEGO version.

Building Experience

This is one of the biggest sets of the green box / Yoda series. Unfortunately, the opening of the box requires the perforation of parts of the box. As much as I always try to preserve the state of the box whenever I open one, such design made it impossible to. Once opened, I was greeted with nine packs of bricks and a pack of 2 instruction booklets, supported by a hard card board. Also included is a very impressive double sided poster, one of the 2013 minifigs and another of the Gunship itself in battle. As much as I would like to display the poster in my room, the thought of its subsequent disintegration discouraged me to do so.

As I had suspected, there were a fair bit of Technics parts and techniques required in the building process, especially for the lifting mechanism and the attachment of wings to the fuselage. Putting those long technic pins into a series of cross-hair openings is never going to be an easy task, even for myself. But once you get the "click" sensation, you know these parts are together for good.


There are a fair bit of stickers applications for this set, and the sizes of the stickers vary widely. Despite knowing that they will curl up in the months ahead, I proceeded with the application as they truly enhance the look and details of the Gunship. The whole construction took around 2.5 hours, with some tolerable repetitive steps for the wings and sliding cabin doors.

At the end of the building process, I could not help but to notice that the extra pieces were more than just the normal single-stud bricks. There were a few struts that were four amongst the extras, which prompted me to do an extensive revisit of the instruction booklet to ensure that I did not miss out any step. I didn't. So it must be due to the generosity of LEGO.

Minifigs

Other than the Super Battle Droid, the rest of the minifigs are unique to this set. At 7, the headcount is rather impressive, BUT I am still lamenting the exclusion of some minifigs that would compliment this set greatly, namely Yoda or Mace Windu, who have a lion share of air time in the movie scenes involving the Republic Gunship. Not too sure how much the price will inflate if my wish comes true though.


Anakin Skywalker - I hate this Anakin minifig, for a sole reason - the hair. Yes, in the movie, Anakin's hair was indeed combed back but not to the extent that it looks like a helmet rather than a hair piece. Even the color was wrong! His 2 expressions are difficult to tell apart and I am not sure if those additional lines on his cheeks are supposed to give him a more defined profile, or is it completely redundant? The details of his tunic prints on both sides of the torso piece still impresses, although it is hard to see his braided hair found on his right shoulder. His long tunic extends to the leg piece, with the prints up to the knew level.


Pademe Amidala - Three words. Oo la la. LEGO is getting closer to getting this minifig closer to Natalie Portman than ever. The resemblance can be seen by the inclusion of a couple of trademark moles found in the movie character! The lipstick color has also been toned down to avoid making Amidala more like a Moulin Rouge entertainer than a heroine. My favourite details on this minifig is still the battled / scratched torso prints on both sides, a result of her close shave with death in the execution arena.


Obi-Wan Kenobi - This Obi-Wan comes with a new hair piece that looks less symmetrical and more natural. He comes with a double sided head, one with an intense expression and the other a calmer one. There are little improvements to his torso prints, with both sides printed with his trademark earth coloured robe. It's worth noting that his belt is also printed on both sides of the torso. What sets this Obi-Wan apart from his predecessor is the extension of printing to his leg piece, a better representation of his long robe.

Clone Pilot - There are many variations of Clone pilots in my collection but this is new and unique to the set. He shares the same helmet mould with the accompanying Clone Trooper Captain, but just with a different paint work and colour tone (yellow). The details on the helmets are impressive but pale in comparison to that found on the torso piece. The prints on the torso do exude a sense of depth rather than the conventional 2-dimensional printing in the past. It will only get better, I hope.

Clone Trooper Captain - The Captain has a slightly more elaborate helmet design, although the face within is a homogeneous 2014 Clone Trooper version. The maroon colour tone can also be found in his sleeves and chest plate design. While his front torso sets him apart from the Clone Trooper, they both share the same rear torso print. His plain white leg piece looks rather naked in comparison to all the impressive designs above waistline but I guess in time to come, it too will be invaded with prints.

Super Battle Droid - Formidable and impressive when viewed from the front, empty and disappointing when viewed from the back. Period.

Conclusion

One of the more impressive sets launched in 2013. Its playability and minifigs (most of them at least) score high with me, while I do hope to see more remarkable improvements to the design if LEGO ever wants to launch another version few years down the road. Its substantial weight should also be noted if you want to give this as a present for a kids < 8 years old.

+ Handle for carrying around and playtime
+ Lots of playable features
+ Sleeker design compared to previous versions
+ Details on bubble canopies

- Loose parts / hangar doors
- Flick missiles on top looks out of place
- Could have included a Yoda or Mace Windu's minifig