REVIEW: 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City

[manumi]

Hello friend, many congratulations for the review.

I am a lover of minifigures, and I am doubting whether I like it or not, there are things that I like a lot and others that I do not understand or that I would have wished otherwise.

Figures that I like:
"Leia" Bespin dress (For me the best minifigure of the set)
"Lando". The coat is impressive
"Cloud Car Pilot"
"Han Solo" I love new pants, I think they should print more minifigs on the sides of the legs. I think that until now there are only two figs with this impression.

Figures that I do not like
"Boba Fett" I thought it was very bad strategy to leave the same Boba as the UCS Slave, and change the face only for a standard clone head. They could have reedited the whole fig and added new impressions.
"Lobot" Few modifications with respect to the previous figure of this character.
"Chewbacca" I think this character needs a reedition of his figure, it has already been used a lot in many sets.

Question:
As I have seen in a review, C-3PO, it seems to have one arm and the head of another color to the rest of the body, this is so?
If so, it could be considered as a new figure.

[Borex]

Thanks for the review. Although its flaws i quitte like this set! I even must admit with your arm holding it, it even looks more like cloud city. So maybe, to make it more CC, we only need to build a tower or something to stand on.

[TeufelHund]

Just finished building this set...have to say I really enjoyed most of the build...often I'd open a bag and an unusual piece would fall out and I'd think "what the hell is that for?" which made the building and consequent revelation very rewarding. The build actually follows the events of the movie starting with landing platform and finishing with the "I am your Father" scene. It does take up a ridiculous amount of space (you definitely need a coffee table to display/play with it) but the way the designer managed to cram every little scene from the film into is to be appreciated.

The minifig selection is pretty good – I guess it would have been nice for them to include a second Ugnaught but otherwise they covered almost every base save maybe an Imperial Officer.

[Sucram]

I think Cloud City is a set that is simply impossible to get right. This set has pretty good playability, but next to no displayability. The original set's design has potential to look better on display, as its a long narrow set, but playability could be compromised. If you try to make a set that looks like the actual cloud city exterior, it will have practically no playable functions, be way too big and expensive, and a whole host of structural issues that would be hard to tackle. 

Minifgs are cool tho

[brobert]

On 10/24/2018 at 7:00 AM, LEGODrongo01 said:

I think Cloud City is a set that is simply impossible to get right. This set has pretty good playability, but next to no displayability. The original set's design has potential to look better on display, as its a long narrow set, but playability could be compromised. If you try to make a set that looks like the actual cloud city exterior, it will have practically no playable functions, be way too big and expensive, and a whole host of structural issues that would be hard to tackle. 

Minifgs are cool tho

Definitely hard to get it right, but they clearly just went to the proven way (a-la Death Star). If they just wanted to go towards a playset, they could've just included a bunch of connectable rooms, that might've looked more consistent on their own, and leave the option to organize them any way you want. This is just an inconsistent slab of different colored bricks. There are small details that look cool, but in one piece it really bad looking. The vehicles are wrong too, the cloud car in color, the Slave-I in form.

 

[Sucram]

On 10/26/2018 at 1:53 AM, brobert said:

Definitely hard to get it right, but they clearly just went to the proven way (a-la Death Star). If they just wanted to go towards a playset, they could've just included a bunch of connectable rooms, that might've looked more consistent on their own, and leave the option to organize them any way you want. This is just an inconsistent slab of different colored bricks. There are small details that look cool, but in one piece it really bad looking. The vehicles are wrong too, the cloud car in color, the Slave-I in form.

 

Yeah the cloud car shouldve been orange. the slave 1, while small, is pretty cool though.

[brobert]

On 10/28/2018 at 10:02 AM, LEGODrongo01 said:

Yeah the cloud car shouldve been orange. the slave 1, while small, is pretty cool though.

yeah, that's pretty much a taste question, I saw that most people like it, I just can't see past the very inaccurate form. After the UCS-version it's not easy to get impressed though.

[ProvenceTristram]

I'll be honest: I hate this set. For me, the coolest element of Cloud City is its external shape - its interior is a mixture of harsh, dark colors, and a white wash, neither of which are (to me) particularly appealing. I would much rather have seen a smaller kit without vehicles that attempted to incorporate at least an external wall or something, than yet another "here's the inside of the Death Star!" hollowed out crush of scenes. As it stands, the effort to retain a sort-of-circular shaping is laughable, and should have been ditched entirely in favor of producing more satisfying functionality across the board.

Edited November 28, 2018 by ProvenceTristram

[naugem]

Very comprehensive review, thanks!

I like the figs and the vehicles, but it looks the scenarios could be better.

[eliminator]

Looks like this set will be retired early this year; expect some deep discounts soon. Fingers crossed for Black Friday!

[WhiteFang]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:38 AM, eliminator said:

Looks like this set will be retired early this year; expect some deep discounts soon. Fingers crossed for Black Friday!

I am surprised. It is just a year old set for a D2C playset. Normally, it ought to have a 2 years shelf life. 

[dvogon]

Got it 30% off from Toysrus here in Europe about one month or month and a half ago.

Although I will definitely do some big changes to the set when I'll build it, for sure it's a very good set, with a great selection of minifigs. An essential foundation for any cloud-city MOC. 

First I need to figure out the changes in the design, which is the most interesting part 

[Willsy]

With the talks of imminent discontinuation, I am contemplating picking this up early January if my local LEGO Store still have it in stock, but I'm torn. On the one hand, I'm a sucker for location based sets and I loved the Death Star playset (despite never actually playing with it and just displaying it). On top of that the minifigures are great, as are the Cloud Car and mid-scale Slave 1. I always wanted the original Cloud City set too.

However, there's just something about the main build that doesn't quite hit the mark for me. It's difficult to describe, but it does put me in an awkward position. Any chances LEGO will discount it before discontinuation? That might sway me.

[Omand]

4 hours ago, Willsy said:

With the talks of imminent discontinuation, I am contemplating picking this up early January if my local LEGO Store still have it in stock, but I'm torn. On the one hand, I'm a sucker for location based sets and I loved the Death Star playset (despite never actually playing with it and just displaying it). On top of that the minifigures are great, as are the Cloud Car and mid-scale Slave 1. I always wanted the original Cloud City set too.

However, there's just something about the main build that doesn't quite hit the mark for me. It's difficult to describe, but it does put me in an awkward position. Any chances LEGO will discount it before discontinuation? That might sway me.

I can't speak for the UK, but here in Canada the set was on 30% off at ShopLEGO and physical LEGO stores this past weekend as part of a VIP promotion.  It sold out quickly, as did the UCS Y-Wing Starfighter.

Might not be the news you want to hear, as it may already be gone in your area as well.

Cheers

[azzer86]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:23 AM, Omand said:

I can't speak for the UK,

On 11/25/2019 at 11:08 PM, Willsy said:

That might sway me.

 

I was in the same boat Willsy. I refused to pay full price and I would only pick it up on a good discount.

LegoShop in the UK doesn't have it on sale this week, but I picked mine up from Smyth's toy shop for £213 a couple of weeks ago (Smyth's is similar style shop to TRU for anyone not familiar) and I think John Lewis or Debenhams have it too for £225 (so 25% off). Smyth's also currently have a £10 off voucher if you spend over £100 so you can get it a bit cheaper but it's an in store voucher only. 

Brick Fanatics (issue 1) also have a magazine which has some mods to the set which might sway anyone on the fence about the set.

Edited November 27, 2019 by azzer86
Typo

[roadstermatt]

11 hours ago, azzer86 said:

 

Brick Fanatics (issue 1) also have a magazine which has some mods to the set which might away anyone on the fence about the set.

I am planning to do this myself I brought a second set minus the figures to assist with the required plates etc