Review: 75054 AT-AT (AT-ATs Shootout!)

Set ID: 75054 AT-AT

Number of Pieces: 1138

Year of Release: 2014

Minifigs: 5

Purchased Price: About SGD 200

June is an exciting time for LEGO fan like myself. In the past I was always looking forward to the new Star Wars range (I still do) but now my attention has to be divided with other ranges such as the LOTR range (which thankfully has stepped off the limelight for a while) and LEGO Movie range (which unthankfully is getting better and better). The result? I just blew almost SGD 1000 last weekend in my neighbourhood LEGO store, beefing up my Star Wars collection and adding the Sea Cow (an amazing set) to my LEGO movie sets. I have no ground to complain, especially after getting to work on my first of the June releases - the all-time classic AT-AT.

Sibling rivalry! Older on the left, newer (and taller) on the right

AT-AT first appeared in 2003 in the form of set 4483. Even at more than a decade old, this set was already pace setting as one of the few 1000+ piece sets. The brick count was quite consistent even with the motorised version in 2007 (set 10178) and came down to sub-1000 pieces in 2010 with the disappointing set 8129. I was wondering how can LEGO improve or evolve this AT-AT after a 4 years' absence, and from the first pictorial releases during the early months of 2014, I was honestly not expecting too much pleasant surprises. I was wrong. The many flaws that I used to gripe about in my previous review of the 8129 have been addressed in this new set, and then more. Don't judge the set by its first impression, I have learnt.

Fortunately, I managed to find the 8129 in my LEGO Storeroom and thus this review will be a straight shootout / comparison between the two sets. Let me first declare that the latest version is already a winner by a distance and the following review will divulge my justification behind this verdict. For consistency, all the picture comparisons in this review are with the older version (8129) on the left, and the the 2014 release on the right.



The Winning Formulae

Longer new legs

Putting the 2 AT-ATs side by side and you will be able to tell some of the obvious differences straight away. The newer AT-AT is taller by around 2 studs and has a slightly wider head. Proportion wise, it is slightly on a lankier side, no thanks to its four long legs. It does make the AT-AT looks a little top heavy and susceptible to falling over. The legs of the new AT-AT is also closer apart, close enough for the left and right corresponding legs to touch each other if you align them together. For best photo moment, I will suggest to alternate the legs (1 click on the knee and 1 click on the hip joint).

Heads Up

The cockpit of the new AT-AT can now accommodate two pilots instead of one. There is a control panel now, although unimpressive, is still better than its older sibling. It also has a much more accessible top hatch that is easy to open and close. The previous version of the AT-AT suffers from a rather loosely put together head, which always give you the feeling that something might come apart while handling it. The head feels more solid in the new version, and comes with a pair of spring loaded missiles under the cockpit. These missiles do improve the playability of this set significantly. The neck connecting the head to the body can now be articulated at two joints. This gives the head an increased flexibility for posing.

The overall body design do look comparable between the two versions, in terms of size and design. The only significant difference, and one that swing the vote towards the new version, is the design of the hatch doors on both sides of the body. The entire side hatch door can now be opened via the hinge located on the top of the body. This resulted in a much bigger access to the belly as compared to half the size in the older version. I also prefer the new smoother hinge over the previous click hinge, which makes me worry of the side panel coming off every time I open the hatch door.

Much better new side hatch door design

The interior of the body has also gone through a major overhaul. Out goes the incomprehensible "mobile office' within the belly of the AT-AT, and in comes a totally empty interior (not sure if this is considered an improvement, unless doing nothing is better than doing something wrong) The bottom of the belly now includes a hatch door that opens downwards and allowing Luke to climb into the AT-AT during the battle of Hoth. Unfortunately, Luke is clearly missed in this new set. As with most new 2014 sets, this AT-AT also comes with a pair of red spring loaded missiles to improve playability. They can be located at the bottom of the head and can be fired rather easily from there.

Building Experience

Even from the box design point of view, the new set wins hands down. Although smaller, it is much more pragmatic and just enough to house the 8 packs of bricks and two instruction booklets sealed with a hard cardboard backing (always welcome this). Also included is a poster, which in my opinion, is the best I have seen so far. One side of it is the artwork of a battle scene from Hoth that is made up of three different Hoth sets, and on the opposite side is a minifig chart, laid out in landscape format. The opening of the new box is also my preferred dual-tape type, rather than the perforation one, which tends to damage the box.

Impressive poster!

Box and content

Pack 1-3 of Technic parts

All the packets contain pretty manageable amount of bricks each but pack 1 and 2 are overwhelmed primarily by Technic parts. These are the parts the made up the core of the AT-AT, after which the frame and panels are added to it. Pack 4 and 5 are the "legs packs" where I engaged my son's assistance to get through the more repeated and boring steps of putting all the 4 legs together. Pack 6 builds the side panels and the last pack is responsible for the head. Although there are a lot of grey bricks in this set, the colour representations in the instruction booklets are easy to tell apart and I experience no problem in reading them at all.


What I did have challenges are with the instructions on building the Technic portions. I had to backtrack on a number of occasions as I mis-read the instructions on where to insert the pegs. As I undid some of the steps, I could not help peeping at the "9-14" recommended age
label on the box with a strong sense of embarrassment...

There are a whole lot of new brick types found in this new set that I have not come across before. Perhaps they may have appeared in other ranges of LEGO products, but certainly unseen in the Star Wars range. The flat 4X2 with single peg hole (part 4646512 and 4646513) is the most intriguing find for me. They are extremely useful in hinging parts together without the use of too many bricks. Hope to see them more often in the other sets in future.

This new set adopted a much more "Technic-ques" building technique. Much, much more. In fact, almost the entire frame of the new AT-AT was built using tons of Technic parts and pegs. This certainly gives rise a a very sturdy frame and solid body, something the previous version scores very low on. It is so well designed that the younger AT-AT is able to withstand some rough handling during play time. Despite the slender look, the legs are also quite well designed and built, also being able to take some abuse in twisting and turning for various poses.

Minifigs

For the first time in many recent new sets, the minifigs in this set are rather underwhelming, both in quantity and variety. Although all the minifigs are supposedly "new" as proclaimed on the box, the improvements are minimal and you can hardly tell unless you place the earlier versions beside them. I would have hope for some major characters, especially Luke, to be included. Sadly, this set has placed a much heavier emphasis on the vehicle than the characters.


The only "recognisable" character is General Veers, who also appeared in two other earlier releases of the AT-ATs (set 8129 and 10178 Motorised AT-AT). This new version has attempted to replicate the wrinkled expressions of Veers and ended up with an over elaborated face design that makes his face looks like cracking up instead. Surely there is a way to reflect Veers' ageing complexion than to add more lines on his face? If that is not enough, a microphone headset is also printed across his right cheek. Guess the designer had an aspiration to fill up every micro inch of the head piece of this minifig. Veers' torso has also been updated with an additional black belt, on top of his vest.

The revised Snowtrooper has a brand new helmet, one without the see through eye holes. His head piece is now the generic face commonly found in all the 2014's releases. The torso piece undergone minimal revision when compared to the 2013 version from the Battle of Hoth set (75014). What's apparently new are his backpack and "butt cape" (not too sure what else to call it) While I am quite a fan of the printed 1X1 SNOT brick for the backpack as it resembles closely its movie counterpart, I can't say the same for the "butt cape", for it is a little out of proportion relative to the short legs of a minifig. It does look weird though.

The Snowtrooper Commander does not differ too much from his subordinate, and visibly having more whites than greys. He has a pair of white gloves, white groin T-joint, and a little more whites on his chest armour. From a distance, you probably can't tell him apart from a regular Snowtrooper!

The last minifig is the AT-AT driver. He has no identity so LEGO has assigned the common generic face head piece to this minifig. My favourite part is still the well-designed helmet, with much thoughts and details put in. However, I cannot  help but to notice that the rear of the helmet is not designed to cover the entire head, exposing a relatively large area of the head. I tried to research online to see if this is true in the movie but there are simply no information showing the rear of the helmet. I'll give the designers the benefit of doubt then. Driver's torso prints do expend to the peg piece but the design seems to mysteriously truncate somewhere near the knee, making me wonder what happened below that?

Conclusion

This is my 4th AT-AT already and I must say it brought back the confidence that was once lost with version 3. With every release, the price will only go north bound so I am not going to comment on whether it is worth buying this based on price. But if you can appreciate good engineering design and value the uniqueness of the AT-AT, this is a must-have. Now I have the urge to dig out the other AT-ATs and build them too to create a AT-AT nursery!

+ Very sturdy body design, thanks to the extensive use of Technic parts
+ Side panels open up much more than the previous version
+ Larger cockpit that accommodates two pilots (although they look a little too close from comfort inside)
+ Hatch door at the bottom of the belly a better representation of the movie version

- Legs look a little too long for the body
- Too little minifigs and iconic ones included in this set