Review: 9679 AT-ST & Endor - Planet Series 2

[Lobot]

I was in Sainsburys today and found this at 50% off. It seemed like a good opportunity to get one & do a review of it at the same time, as it hasn't been before, so here goes!

AT-ST & Endor

Series 2 Planet set

RRP - £9.99 (£4.99 on clearance)

To be honest I think that the planet series are massively over-priced, even by Star Wars standards. I'm not surprised that the majority of the series 1 & 2 have been seriously discounted here in the UK on a regular basis. The only other one I own is Lobot and the Cloud Car :wub: which I've bought twice (once for me & once for my SW obsessed nephew!). Anyway, on with the review.

The box is fairly standard stuff, apart from the odd shape, lots of nice little details:

Front of box:

Reverse of box:

The box contains the instructions, planet and two small bags of parts. The Cloud car was definately more full than this one.

Contents:

A nice mix, ideal for anyone who needs small light grey & dark grey parts! Sorry about the alignment but I was battling against the failing daylight!

Parts:

The build was very straightforward and easily accomplished by anyone in their mid-thirties, well late thirties in truth. The booklet is 32 pages and includes 17 stages for the AT-ST plus a further 7 for the planet. Interestingly, Lego have included some really helpful swimming guidance in their instructions, I haven't seen that before

AT-ST swimming:

The minifigure is obviously the main attraction for most. He's kind of cute for an Imperial and has a standard 'stern' and 'visor' double-sided head. The printing is very clean and is on both sides. He'll make a nice addition to my Imperial forces, which already outnumber my rebels. I'll do my version of the Endor battle one day; he will play a pivotal role by throwing numerous ewoks from the top of his AT-ST and saving the day....and the Death Star! I'll never understand why they didn't lock the top hatch so that Chewie couldn't open it, but hey, that's hindsight I guess

AT-ST driver front:

AT-ST driver reverse:

The end result:

Considering the small number of parts used it's surprisingly accurate. Admittedly it's no UCS model, but it will do nicely. The legs are a little awkward to position into the correct places, but it stands well.

Final thoughts: At a RRP of £9.99 it's ridiculously priced, but at 50% off it's not bad at all. For that you get a nice minifigure, and a selection of small parts that would be useful for anyone wanting to SW MOC. I hope that you enjoyed my review, C & C welcome! I think that this has been done before but I couldn't resist:

Mummy!:

[imhotep85]

Nice! Going to check my local Sainsburys on the way home tomorrow see if they have it half price there.

[Sirtank]

This set is marked down to $7.50 at my local Meijer, I might keep an eye out incase it gets any cheaper.

[Only Sinner]

These planet sets are almost kind of fun. They really are if you can get them discounted. Even if you don't care much for the model, you still get a nice minifig and a handful of tiny, unique parts. I haven't got more than one of each yet, but series 3 and 4 might change that trend IF they ever go on sale. We're still waiting for the winter sets to get stocked over here, Lame.

[Zzz]

Thanks for the review! This is actually one of the planet sets I am interested in, together with Bespin and Hoth. All the minifigs are useful and the models are nice. At 10€ they are absolutely overpriced, though. I agree here with you entirely and that's the reason they didn't get my money yet.

[FireWorm]

Are there many uses for planets? I have one, but can't incorporate it in mocs, too big for mocing, too small for playing as a planet...

[Praiter Yed]

Thanks for the informative and amusing review Lobot .

I picked one of these up a while ago when Sainsburys had 1/3 off, I still haven't built it though and only really bought it for the figure. The minifig is much needed after the lack of a AT-ST pilot in '8038 Battle of Endor' and this fig is an improvement on the one in 7657, with more detailed print and back printing. However, I do feel it's a bit of an unnecessary improvement and would be happy to own/use multiples of both.

I paid so little attention to the actual model that I've only just realised, by reading your review, that this AT-ST is actually built differently from the awful 30054. This set looks miles better, but I still feel there's room for improvement, particularly on the weapons and feet. Love that printed cockpit though - there must be other uses for that?