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10175 Imperial AT-ST
Set Name: Imperial AT-ST
Set Number: 10174
Year of release: 2006
Price: £59.99 (Still available on eBay, sometimes for less than the original RRP!)
Parts: 1068
I noticed we don't have a review of this set, so here we go.
The box is really rather nice, with the AT-ST stood on Endor.
Flipping it over, we get another shot of the model, along with a couple of front and side photos with measurements. 42cm tall, 24cm wide, and 30cm long. It's a pretty big set, especially for £60. Inside are two instruction books (rare for a £60 set), and the build is pretty simple. Leg, leg, lower 'body' in the first book, then the head in the second.
This is the head, with the front taken off to show the insides. An elastic band holds together the two side panels, though it's not essential - it just keeps the plates held in a little tighter, making it look better. Now, this is my one complaint with the set. This whole area is pretty fragile. I pulled the set apart in chunks for storage, and, when I got it back out, it took forever to put this all back together. You fix on one side, another falls off. You reach in to rejoin some pieces inside the head, and another panel falls off and I HAVE FURY. It's incredibly frustrating. But, follow the instructions and you should be pretty much fine. It's just trying to rebuild it from chunks that has proven difficult.
That's the construction of the body/lower head, with the turning wheel thing which lets the head move, and some nice detail at the back as well.
Now, the finished set. It's beautiful. Seriously. You know with most sets, you glance at them and that's it? With this set, you look at it and get an inner feeling of 'that's awesome' every time. Perhaps that's just me. But it looks very, very impressive in the plastic. I've compared it to some art of the actual AT-ST, which I expect this model was based off, and it's pretty much spot-on.
The legs look great, though naturally cause a little repetitive build (they're not the exact same, obviously, but they're 'mirror images' of eachother, as you'd expect). They're quite stable, too. A little notch stops the body from swinging down under the legs - it keeps the body at 180°, basically. The set is a little wobbly, but it's not going to fall over or anything.
A couple of head closeups. One gun sticks out a lot, but that's accurate to the actual thing, so I can't really complain. The window flaps can also be adjusted to a close position.
The back of the head. It's quite pretty for something that isn't really going to be seen whilst on display. The designers could have easily been quite minimalistic here, but they weren't - I suppose that's what you get from a UCS set.
The top of the head, with the hatch open and closed. I hear that this is inscale with many regular Star Wars figures, though I don't own any so I can't say.
Of course, you get the usual UCS info stand. A few flat plates with a sticker on.
So, to conclude.
Build 8/10 - It's fine, but loses a couple of marks for the head which falls apart quite a bit (only if you're meddling - it'll be fine for display or moving from one place to another.). Also, the leg build is inevitably repeated, but that can't be helped.
Functionality 10/10 - It's meant to be displayed, and it looks awesome. The two things work well together.
Design 9/10 - The elastic band in the head is a little odd, but everything else holds up.
Parts 8/10 - It's a lot of grey plates, really. If you're into grey, you'll likely love this, though. Personally, I didn't buy this for parts. But even if you did, it's 1068 of them for £60.
Price 10/10 - It's £60. For 1068 parts. For a set that looks awesome. This is pretty much the biggest bargain OF ALL TIME. Especially considering that there's one going on eBay for £50 right now. The price hasn't flown up over the years like it did with 6210, so you've no excuse not to go and buy this set.
Final Rating: 93%
Not gonna lie - this is perhaps my favourite Lego set EVER. I love the AT-ST design anyway, and this set captures it perfectly, AND looks big and awesome on display. I got it for £40 on a S@H sale, too, so it really was a steal. I can't recommend this set enough. Really, I can't, and it's still available on places online for around the original RRP. Please, go buy it. It's beautiful. Thanks.
- Tilius
Edited by KimT, 27 July 2010 - 10:58 PM.
indexed and poll added
