USC AT-ST - Photoshoot & Review

[Deinonychus]

The Star Wars Ultimate Collectors Series AT-ST (10174) is the latest entry into the UCS family, and just like an interlocking LEGO brick, it fits right in.

I won't bore you with the box so I'll get right to what's in it...

The 1068 pieces inside don't really look like a whole lot all bagged up. It seems more like a big System set then a UCS set. and once you crack them out and sort them, it seems like a paltry ammount of bricks to be building a large scale model with.

You start with the feet. The feet are broad and sturdy and robust enough to give the finished model plenty of support and standing surface.

From the feet you begin constructing the legs. This is where the majority of the concentrated building is in the set and with good reason...these things have to support the whole model and therefore have to be plenty sturdy. while building the various and seperate leg portions, you apreciate how well LEGO designed the legs and how sturdy they will actually be in the end. It's a testement to the designers that they pulled it off without making them overly bulky.

...and no small thanks to these joint pieces. These are the joints that seem to make almost every LEGO walker (AT-AT, AT-TE, Striking Venom) possible. Probably one of the best of the newer pieces introduced in recent years.

The body of the walker is so simple that it's hardly worth mentioning. And after that it's on to the head. The head goes together pretty easily and is made up of an overlaping panel design that should be familiar to any vetran UCS builder. The "forehead" is where one of the set's two stickers is placed...right between the eyeslits on a flat tile. The chin guns are the main weapon, and are flanked by the concussion grenade launcher and the light blaster cannons mounted on either side of the head., all simple builds.

The greebling is heaviest on the top and back of the head. it's nicely done detailing without overdoing it with tiny obnoxious pieces.

From there your final task is to asemble the display placard and apply the set's second sticker. See, only one sticker on the main model, that wasn't so bad now was it? :-P

And PRESTO! Your very own 16.5 inch tall AT-ST Walker. It truly is a magnificent looking model and by the end you're not even thinking about how few pieces it seemed to have or how straightforward the construction was. It's a satisfying project to finish and I got it done in somewhere between 4-5 hours (I build a little slowly though) and when I was done I didn't feel like I had been at war with little plastic bricks like I sometimes do after a marathon UCS set build.

This thing is sturdy and well balanced. It looks thin and fragile but it's surprisingly hardy and you can knock it over a time or two and it'll survive quite well. It's also roughly to scale with the standard 3 3/4" Star Wars figures, so dig out your old Imperial Army Trooper (AT-ST Driver) and have some fun.

This is where the opening hatch comes in handy. True, the interrior has no detailing, but with the vehicle's small viewports it really can be forgiven because you can't really see in there unless you flip the top of the head up.

System version is fun, Mini version is clever, and the UCS version is just all-around satisfying. It may seem a little light for the price tag, and it doesn't have the instant "WOW!" factor of the Death Star II or Imperial Star Destroyer, but it's a solid, fun, and handsome set.

It's a lock that the Star Wars Ultimate Collectors Series AT-ST gets the Deino Stamp of Approval!

[xwingyoda]

Tks so much for the review Deinonychus ;-) (It was about time that someone did one :-P )

I really can't wait to get it and stare at it all day long :-D

This thing looks way bigger than I thought (tks for the great comparison pic ;-) )

I need your help: could you please take a pic of the Blue/tan parts inventory please ;-) Many tks in advance ;-)

*yoda*

[sam89]

Thanks for the review, I was wondering when someone was going to do one. It looks like a very good model. I hope to get it later this year.

[mutley777]

great review! i love the picture of all three! *wub*

[Deinonychus]

Tks so much for the review Deinonychus ;-) (It was about time that someone did one :-P )

I really can't wait to get it and stare at it all day long :-D

This thing looks way bigger than I thought (tks for the great comparison pic ;-) )

I need your help: could you please take a pic of the Blue/tan parts inventory please ;-) Many tks in advance ;-)

*yoda*

Can't get snaps of the parts themselves, but luckily they're all shown together in the instructions' part listing

not a whole lot, this thing is almost all gray

[Clone comander Nodra 999]

nice reveiw, but does the head revolve(turn) ?

[Deinonychus]

It turns a little...

If you look at the two full body images, his head is turned as far as it will go in either direction in both of them...right up to the dark gray plates on the tops of the "hips"

It's not much, but enough to "pose" it on the shelf in something other then head-on

[xwingyoda]

Many tks Deinonychus for the parts pics ;-)

*yoda*

[ReZourceman]

Great review! I thought it looked a bit small until you compared the two other models....and then it dwarfed them haha.

[prateek]

WOW!! it is way better than I expected. and who else to review this then Dieno *y*

btw, can we see the interior please

[oo7]

WOW!! it is way better than I expected. and who else to review this then Dieno *y*

btw, can we see the interior please

It's Barren :'-(

[Deinonychus]

WOW!! it is way better than I expected. and who else to review this then Dieno *y*

btw, can we see the interior please

It's Barren :'-(

thanks oo7, now I don't have to ;-)

yeah...didn't see much point in getting images of the inside...although I did have the driver hanging on to that rubber band like a set of monkey-bars for a second there just for kicks

[captaintau]

So, what's the elastic band for anyway?

[Deinonychus]

The band pulls the sides of the head flush against the edges of the front and back.

The front and back are pretty stable and squared off, but the sides have to be angled slightly so they're mounted on a set of axles threaded through technic brick axel-holes. The axles and holes provide the correct angle, and the band pulls the whole thing together tightly.

[Darth Doggfather]

great review deino, a review for this is long overdue. not to nitpick, but you transposed the last two letters in UCS. the thread title is USC AT-ST instead of UCS AT-ST. Great review otherwise!

[Deinonychus]

great review deino, a review for this is long overdue. not to nitpick, but you transposed the last two letters in UCS. the thread title is USC AT-ST instead of UCS AT-ST. Great review otherwise!

:-D

Thanks for the catch! But curses...my otherboardly Mod powers are useless here...perhaps some kind EB Moderator can fix that for me

[sam89]

I bought this on Saturday and finished building today, and it's truly magnificent! It's really big, and looks dead on to the AT-ST in the films. I didn't apply the sticker, since I didn't see the need when the model already looks this good!

It's definitey my favourite UCS after the ISD.

[Kahgarak]

Great review,this walker sure looks like a beauty!

If i had a bigger room i would surely buy this baby...darn. |-/

[Mithrandir]

My take:

The good:

- holy cripes! It's HUGE! I seriously did not think it would be that big

- Amazingly accurate

- lots of pieces for the money

The bad:

- No numbered bags. If there was a set that ever needed them, this is it. Building it was almost painful at times, since I spent up to 5 minutes searching for a single small piece at times.

[yoda601]

Wow! That model looks really great. It's just proof that LEGO can build! :-P

[Zane]

Hm, maybe I should ditch Bionicle and go on to UCS. The models look more satisfying and more people are going to say it looks cool than they would Bionicle... Hmm....

-Tilius-

[oo7]

Hm, maybe I should ditch Bionicle and go on to UCS. The models look more satisfying and more people are going to say it looks cool than they would Bionicle... Hmm....

-Tilius-

Yes, great idea! I support it fully!

[Zane]

XD

There are only a few UCS sets each year, and if I get two a year (one for birthday, one for christmas) it'd give me time to focus on other things. I may possibly do that...

-Tilius-

[oo7]

And now it seems that LEGO might start making not SW UCS starting with this new 787, I can't wait for a fighter plane, an F22 would be wonderfull! But now that I think about it, Lego has pretty much already did this with the huge Designer/Creator sets. Except you get instructions for more than one model and there's no fancy collectors card thing. I would love a fighter plane creator set, better than this one!

[Grand Moff Viceroy]

I thought the sticker on the front was supposed to be brownish.