10144 Sandcrawler Review

[ImperialJohn]

this looks awsome i love it...bloodyjay after you saying hmm maby i could motorize it that made me think you could motorize the rear or front or both then attach a motor to the steering in the rear and if you have mindstorms make a remote with the 2 touch sensors....that would be so cool a remote control sand crawler

Why not make a "follow the line" Mindstorm control :oD Coooool.

Now see what you have done. I have to buy a SC to try now. Well does'nt matter :P

[The Middleman]

UPDATE TIME! :-D

Yeah, I dismantled the Sandcrawler, just so everyone can get a good look at the parts. If I can find out an easy way to do it, I'll probably also do a Peeron inventory for it, now that they're all sorted. ;) Without further ado!

Burnt Orange: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0067.jpg

Brown I: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0068.jpg

Brown II/Misc: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0069.jpg

Dark Gray: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0070.jpg

Light Gray/Trans: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0071.jpg

Tan: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0072.jpg

White: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0073.jpg

Black: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ts/100_0074.jpg

Enjoy! :-D

[vcvc]

you know you have to put it back together again right? :|

[The Middleman]

you know you have to put it back together again right? :|

Um.... no. I'm not going to.

[Rivets]

I think building up the model is the fun part of LEGO as I don't actually 'play' with it.

I could never be arsed to dismantle the Statue of Liberty, though.

Jay, you're not going to rebuild the Crawler. Did you just buy it for parts, then?

[LegoSW]

Woah, you took it apart, I would never do that lol! Well, I want it even more now, being a Sandcrawler mad guy, but there is one thing I am disappointed about. The steering mechanism, yes very good, but... The front treads are supposed to turn, not the back ones!!! It says in the Incredible Cross Sections that the rear treads CANNOT be steered but the front ones can. Hmph. Ah well, it looks superb, thanks for the great review, the pictures are perfect quality and show so much! I just need to save up now...

[The Middleman]

I think building up the model is the fun part of LEGO as I don't actually 'play' with it.

I could never be arsed to dismantle the Statue of Liberty, though.

Jay, you're not going to rebuild the Crawler. Did you just buy it for parts, then?

I always buy a set for both the model and the parts (with the exception of Designer sets). I build it then break it. ;)

[Jipay]

That's what lego is supposely all about :)

[alienwar9]

I must have a bad memory but what's the largest system set? I'm on low brain cells here.

[vcvc]

but if u don't put it together some of the parts will go missing. it's happened to me alot of times.

[vcvc]

so put it back together and that won't happen

[Mr. Lego-builder]

I must have a bad memory but what's the largest system set? I'm on low brain cells here.

Well, according to Peeron, here are the current LEGO sets that have the highest piece count.

[The Middleman]

but if u don't put it together some of the parts will go missing. it's happened to me alot of times.

I keep VERY good track of my LEGO... they're sorted by color and type of piece (plates/bricks/other) in labeled containers. You should try it.

[M'Kyuun]

If anyone is curious how their Lego Sandcrawler compares to the movie version, here's a link to some good pics of a well done model:

http://www.starshipbuilder.com/ubb/Forum11...TML/000016.html

I'm always interested to see how close the Lego designers' versions are next to their real-life/movie counterparts. I'm just odd like that. Enjoy the pics.

On a side note, this set had a great deal of fan input on the road to production( check out www.bricksonthebrain), and one point of contention was the large forward doorway on either side of the 'crawler; the fans in question didn't like the look of it. However, I noticed in the model pics that there is indeed a small door in the "real" sandcrawler. Let's just say the Lego version, big as it is, lacks somewhat in the scale dept. Still, great set overall....Love the little tread marks it leaves on my little padded card table!!! :P

[stb]

I need help building the Sandcrawler!

I build it yesterday and have a remaining brick! It's a 1x8 brown plate (from the part list: 8x 3460 RedBrown Plate 1 x 8). This part is really remaining (I contacted LEGO and they say 8 plates is the correct number). I just used 7 plates. Can anybody help me? I searched the instructions multiple times and didn't find it. The model is quite left-right-symmetric so I assume I'm missing a piece somewhere in the middle (or front or back). I marked the positions where I used those 7 plates in the picture. Green means 2x (right/left), red means 1x (front "door").

Best regards

[RocketMan]

Relax, that is the exact same brick that I had left over after building the Sandcrawler.

Now either we made the exact same mistake (what a coincidence that would be), or Lego just added this by mistake or as a spare part.

There are always leftovers, but usually much smaller parts that get easily lost.

[stb]

Sounds good (at least for a perfectionist like me). :-)

Some very small parts are often remaining, which is intentional. I have many Star Wars sets, but no set ever had such large "extra" brick. And packaging at LEGO works quite perfect. This is obviously a mistake: Either LEGO miscounted or the instructions are incorrect or I'm a bit dozy.

Anybody else having exactly this brick remaining?

[The Middleman]

Hey stb,

I had that piece remaining as well. No worries! :)

[AV1214]

NICE REVIEW! i might get this for christmas this year since its currently on sale. I have one question: is the thing sturdy enough for playing with? or is it mainly a display model like all of the other UCS sets?

[KimT]

NICE REVIEW! i might get this for christmas this year since its currently on sale. I have one question: is the thing sturdy enough for playing with? or is it mainly a display model like all of the other UCS sets?

I wouldn't call this a UCS.

It has the 10000 number, but it's more an exclusive than a UCS.

And yes it's fully playable.

A large part of it even comes off to enhance playability.

[darkrebellion]

I order this beast back in May of this year and I have to said WOW! I really like it. The Sandcrawler is not fragile like many reviews pointed cause mine is pretty strong. The color mix at first glance looks a bit "wrong" but when you finish the actual model, it works perfect (Just imagine this set with just brown bricks well that would be BORING!). The minifigs are great and mine comes with the error pearl gold C-3PO (The one that came with the new DS 10188) .

[General Magma]

Aargh the bottom collapsed

I was almost done, and then 'boom', collapsed..!!

Edited December 6, 2008 by General Magma

[KimT]

OMG I didn't expect a great set like this to be so freaking weak

I was almost done, and then the whole thing damn broke!!

Weak?

Mine didn't seem or behave in any weak manner.

Either you built it wrong or you build it wrong.

Only way I can imagine that this would break was if it was thrown at a brick wall.

[mechamike]

OMG I didn't expect a great set like this to be so freaking weak

I was almost done, and then the whole thing damn broke!!

Just out of curiosity how did You manage to break it? I have one myself but i done a lot of modifactions on (lenght,hight extended it), but as I remeber it was pretty sturdy even before that (at least my daughter who was 3 back then used to play with it alot, she liked the "brown house" and the jawas alot) and it never broke then.. but perhaps was it the bottom that collapsed?

I recall doing some modifications on the bottom to get the ramp betwen the track's in place and i strengthen the bottom some then.

Well at least Lego is designed so you easy can rebuild it :-)

[General Magma]

Yes, the bottom collapsed..don't know how but I managed to fix it and now I almost finished building it. I'm taking a little break, just the crane and I'm done! By the way, I got the Death Star C-3PO! Not with flesh hands, but with gold hands! And uhh..forget about my last post, I was mad back then..