75098 Assault on Hoth

[Japanbuilder]

Or it could just be LEGO dipping UCS in their roots: children. Making something children will enjoy is basically the LEGO mantra all around. So this could be an experiment on that.

That said someone needs to tell TLG that children don't have the dough to drop on a set like this and that most parents don't either.

How they missed that part to this experiment is really what has me baffled.

[Tariq j]

To be honest it's not the playset aspect that bothers me. We've had plenty of good land based UCS sets in the past,(Ewok Village and Death Star just to name a few). Unfortunately, this was executed poorly.

The minifigure range is superb though, and probably the best we've had in any Hoth Set.

[Lobot]

Hi randomwalk

I don't think think a dedicated 'what went wrong' thread is needed so I've merged all of the posts into the main one for this set

[YellowCorvette]

The minifigure range in 75098 is superb though, and probably the best we've had in any Hoth Set.

I kinda disagree. Wedge and Janson is basically the Snowspeeder pilot from 75074 with new helmet printings. Toryn Farr and Major Derlin is kinda good, but nothing really special. Han Solo is available in 75138, the snowtroopers can be a little bit more (1 or 2 more snowtroopers can be slightly better), and the exclusion of Leia is not excusable.

Edited April 25, 2016 by ArmstrongYong

[analogkid81]

I can see the droid with the transparent dome doing well on the aftermarket.

The only people buying this set will be dealers ;)

[bountybossk]

I kinda disagree. Wedge and Janson is basically the Snowspeeder pilot from 75074 with new helmet printings. Toryn Farr and Major Derlin is kinda good, but nothing really special. Han Solo is available in 75138, the snowtroopers can be a little bit more (1 or 2 more snowtroopers can be slightly better), and the exclusion of Leia is not excusable.

I totally agree with ArmstrongYong. I'm a huge Hoth fan, but this...

The droids and Luke are cool, but Toryn Farr looks generic, Leia is missing, named rebel pilots with generic faces, no new General Rieekan. Besides that, I was hoping for Han in his black/blue jacket (which he wears during the assault) and new double-molded helmets with visors for the rebel pilots.

[Markalus]

I can see the droid with the transparent dome doing well on the aftermarket.

The only people buying this set will be dealers ;)

It will be interesting to see if the R3-A2 dome becomes available on Lego Bricks & Pieces when the set is released...I doubt it but stranger things have happened.

[HawkLord]

I look at this as Lego being just super busy. They have more licenses going right now than ever, with more and more material coming out all the time. This is a Lego boom.

With that said, Hoth is easy to design and with several prior sets to work off of (which haven't been in stores for years), it's easy for them to use that material which may not be as well-known to people who have not been Lego fans long.

I definitely feel like this set was phoned in, but I also understand the demands Lego probably receives from LFL/Disney and Lego's already hectic schedule.

[Markalus]

I look at this as Lego being just super busy. They have more licenses going right now than ever, with more and more material coming out all the time. This is a Lego boom.

With that said, Hoth is easy to design and with several prior sets to work off of (which haven't been in stores for years), it's easy for them to use that material which may not be as well-known to people who have not been Lego fans long.

I definitely feel like this set was phoned in, but I also understand the demands Lego probably receives from LFL/Disney and Lego's already hectic schedule.

But it wears the UCS badge. As such, "being too busy" is no excuse for dropping the ball on a flagship set. If that is the case then it is very worrying signs for the company.

[makoy]

The minifigure range is superb though, and probably the best we've had in any Hoth Set.

I would argue that the 7879 has better selection of minifigures than this because it has Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, R-3PO, Luke, medical droid. With that price tag I would expect to have the main crew and staff operating the Hoth base and not just random soldiers.

[JPN366]

I'm getting this as soon as I can. I love the Hoth Rebel troopers and I don't have any of the stuff in this except the most recent snowspeeder. I have two of the Hoth Attack sets as well as the recent AT-AT.

[HawkLord]

But it wears the UCS badge. As such, "being too busy" is no excuse for dropping the ball on a flagship set. If that is the case then it is very worrying signs for the company.

UCS doesn't automatically mean its flagship. UCS is the top of the price point, but I would argue sets in the $100-150 are more flagship, as they're the ones people generally spoil themselves with.

And, again, Lego may have dropped the ball with regards to veteran AFOLs on this one. New collectors, who haven't been buying years of Hoth material, may find this set useful.

[duboismerci]

It's missing too much elements for it to be interesting on its own.

Maybe in 1 or 2 year if they release other Hoth sets like the AT-ST, battlepacks with snowtroopers and rebel troopers, and a medical bay it would make this set interesting to pick up.

Many say that it's a great set for people who have zero Hoth sets, I think it's the opposite. You have nothing to play with in this playset since you have only 2 bad guys and a ton of defenses.

[Markalus]

UCS doesn't automatically mean its flagship. UCS is the top of the price point, but I would argue sets in the $100-150 are more flagship, as they're the ones people generally spoil themselves with.

And, again, Lego may have dropped the ball with regards to veteran AFOLs on this one. New collectors, who haven't been buying years of Hoth material, may find this set useful.

This might be a debate in symantics but flagship generally refers to the top of the line. What then does the 'Ultimate' in Ultimate Collector Series stand for? Ultimate price? When you label it as such consumers have higher than normal expectations. Regardless of whether you already own most of the material in the set there are many significant flaws and shortcomings in this set that do not justify the price or the UCS label. This thing is $400 where I live. To put it into perspective the UCS Slave 1 is $299.

[Japanbuilder]

This might be a debate in symantics but flagship generally refers to the top of the line. What then does the 'Ultimate' in Ultimate Collector Series stand for? Ultimate price? When you label it as such consumers have higher than normal expectations. Regardless of whether you already own most of the material in the set there are many significant flaws and shortcomings in this set that do not justify the price or the UCS label. This thing is $400 where I live. To put it into perspective the UCS Slave 1 is $299.

The import price here so far stands at 67,800 Japanese Yen. Roughly $700 USD when you factor in shipping. Once authorized retail begins on this thing I don't see the price going down more than $300 (thanks to common pricing collusion) The fact that we never get sales or special promos further aligns this set in the outright you-are-out-of-your-mind-if-you-buy-this-category. It is going to be easy to vote with our wallets here.

Which is a shame all other UCS sets here have flown off the shelves no problem.

[Seaber]

I really want quite a few elements of this set, but overall there's so much modding I'd have to do to get the set I want, I'm not sure it's worth the price.

• Shield Generator and Ion Cannon - remove the spring missiles and give a proper cannon and back section to the Ion Cannon, and a fourth section to the Shield Generator.
  
• Snowspeeder, Wampa Cave, TaunTaun Cage, Command Centre and Crane section barely upgraded from sets. Apart from some nice stickered elements in the Command Centre, I don't really want any of these sections.
  
• The Doors look great from the front, but a lot of work would have to be done to get the back looking good. The choice of dark bley BURPs also needs changing to white, and that lookout needs to go.
  
• The Trench and the Turrets are fine. I like the new e-web design too.
  
• The minifigs look beautiful. I already have enough TaunTauns and a Wampa, and I could take or leave the Snowtroopers.
  

So, here's my problem - do I buy the minifigs I want separately, as well as hope someone puts up each individual section on eBay, buying the Ion Cannon, Shield Generator, Doors, Trench and Turret - or do I wait for a sale? I don't know how commonly UCS sets go on sale, any idea which is he best route to go down?

Thanks :)

[HawkLord]

I've not noticed a lot of sales on UCS sets.

[HawkLord]

This might be a debate in symantics but flagship generally refers to the top of the line. What then does the 'Ultimate' in Ultimate Collector Series stand for? Ultimate price? When you label it as such consumers have higher than normal expectations. Regardless of whether you already own most of the material in the set there are many significant flaws and shortcomings in this set that do not justify the price or the UCS label. This thing is $400 where I live. To put it into perspective the UCS Slave 1 is $299.

Flagship is not always super expensive. Look at Toyota or Honda - their flagship model is not the most expensive, but it's the one people gravitate towards and is the most financially successful. UCS are expensive, but Lego certainly moves more product in the $50-100 weight-class than UCS.

[darththeling]

Adding a Fourth Shield Generator

One of the video reviews has the shield generator exploding, slowed down. The rings of the generator appear to fit snugly in the grooves - should be fairly easy to mod it up to 4 rings by simply building a fourth ring and lengthening the base a few more studs.

When do the instructions come out? I figured it would be a few days before release but I haven't been able to find them yet.

Seaber, I plan to buy/build the ion cannon and shield generator too. My guess is the piece count on each is low enough it should make Bricklinking fairly painless. I hope so, anyway. But yeah - if someone puts each of those parts on eBay, what would a fair price be? I doubt I'd pay more than $30USD for either.

[Peasantseverywhere]

Only a few more days till I can get my hands on this awsome set :)

[anothergol]

while I have no interest in this UCS playset, I spotted this cool part that didn't exist in LBG as not printed:

..but only 1 in an expensive set :(

[the Brickman]

Indeed the minifigures range is good, but not amazing. A few nice updates, but Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson share the exact same generic double exp<b></b>ression, Toryn Farr and the Rebel Officer are good but not phenomenal, and we don't have Leia nor Chewie...

But the new droids really are excellent though!

My full review is available here (in French )

Edited April 27, 2016 by the Brickman

[Midlife-crisis]

today at eBay US: http://www.ebay.at/itm/Lego-assault-on-hoth-75098-1-DAY-AUCTION-/331841883905

brand new sealed in Box for 200$ ~ 176€

guess this playset will tank hard.

[Robianco]

I personally don't see the need for a new Leia in this set. The exiting Hoth design we already have is pretty much perfectly in line design-wise with these so apart from the legs that Toryn and the Rebels have there was nothing to add. I think Han in his Blue coat would have been a really nice touch as the alternate to the brown and a Chewie with snow printing would have made the set unmissable even with a lacklustre build. With the Escape pod set giving us the updated R2 & 3PO that would have rounded off the Hoth based figures perfectly. Add a few Bespin based figures and we'd only be missing 4-Lom and Zuckuss to tick the whole ESB line off the list.

I'm also not that bothered about having moulded visors on the helmets for the OT stuff although some slight variations of the rebel pilots face print would have been good... similar to Luke with visor up and down rather than happy and scared faces.

[lomis]

I personally don't see the need for a new Leia in this set.

It's a glaring omission in my opinion.

There is no way to buy a Hoth-themed Leia off the shelf these days - unless you buy her as a keychain.

Yet she's a central character to most scenes in Echo base.

Having Han in this set when he's also in another Hoth set just adds fuel to the fire.

I showed the set pictures to both my wife and 4 year old daughter separately.

They both immediately asked "Where's Leia?"

I totally agree with them... Where's Leia?