Review: 7675 All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer

[Rufus]

Released back in 2008, the 7675 All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) formed part of the vanguard of the first wave of Clone Wars sets. A Clone Wars remake of 2003's 4482 AT-TE, this later version is larger, with 150 more pieces, though surprisingly - in the UK at least - cost only £5 more. Let's take a good look around this mechanical beetle.

Foreword: This review has an unusual history. I first took most of the pictures for this review back in 2010 - they were the first I took with my DSLR camera. Other projects took precedence, and I didn't get to start writing up the review until about a year ago: when I discovered I'd accidentally deleted one of the parts pictures. Only now have I had the opportunity to dismantle the set to retake the parts picture; however, I've spruced up the rest of the pics for this 4th Anniversary Special.

Review: 7675 All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer

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Set Information

Name:

AT-TE Walker

Number:

7675

Theme:

Star Wars

The Clone Wars

Availability:

2008 - 2010

Pieces:

798

Figures:

6

Price:

GB £69.99

|

US $89.99

When droids attack, it's time to call in the mighty AT-TE!

This powerful 6-legged walker features details straight from the Clone Wars, including positionable legs, movable cannons, firing missiles, and armored hatches and cockpit that open to reveal the cabin and troop bay inside. Even with its flying STAP vehicle, the battle droid doesn't stand a chance against Anakin Skywalker and the clone army of the Republic!

• Includes Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka, Captain Rex, Clone Trooper and Battle Droid minifigures, plus Rotta the Hutt!
  
• AT-TE Walker has 2 missiles that really fire!
  
• Cannon on top rotates in all directions!
  
• Hatches open to reveal the inside cabins and troop bay with 4 seats and extra equipment!
  
• Open front to access the cockpit and to slide out the pilot seat!
  
• Measures 15.5" (39cm) long and 8" (20cm) high

Links ... Brickset ... Bricklink ... Peeron

The Box

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Click for a larger full-frontal

The white box surround is probably my least favourite of all box art from the entire Star Wars range. It featured on all Clone Wars sets from 2008 to 2010, and even some Original Trilogy sets from 2010; to me, it seems out of keeping with the Star Wars genre, but the decision was part of the the Lucasfilm licensing agreement, so we can't blame LEGO for that. This being said, on this particular box, it contrasts nicely with the reddish background of the set picture, and does look smart. It's a lovely shot of the AT-TE itself, surrounded by the set's figures in action; who is driving the AT-TE? Unusually, the figure inset is on the left of the box front.

Also surprisingly, the back of the box doesn't feature a set diorama: instead, four insets demonstrate the AT-TE's features on plain white background, with advertisements for other sets of the 2008 Clone Wars range on the right.

Click for a larger image

This box is of the annoying 'tear the box sides apart' variety.

The six figures are shown in 1:1 scale on the box top:

Click for a larger image

I'm not so sure the scale is entirely accurate: Ahsoka seems rather larger than Anakin, even allowing for her spiky head, making her lightsaber protrude outside the inset.

Contents

Not wishing to destroy the box, I employed the 'stealing the mail' tactic to extract its contents. Out came two instruction booklets, one sticker sheet and twelve polybags:

There was no modular build for Star Wars sets back then, so some serious sorting is required!

Decal Sticker Sheet

My DSS had suffered in transit, though this isn't the worst sticker-catastrophe I've encountered.

The number of stickers is rather reasonable, and the set does surprisingly well without them, as we shall see. However, I'm disappointed that the round Republic emblems aren't on printed pieces; the stickers are printed on clear plastic, so these Republic insignia come out looking rather grey.

The Instructions

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The two instruction booklets are identical in size and thickness ...

... and feature the same picture as the box front.

I'm not sure of the wisdom of a grey background for a set which is predominantly light bluish grey; however, the diagrams are clear:

Piece call-outs are pictured on a blue background; sub-builds - of which there are many - on pastel yellow. As usual, it can be tricky to differentiate dark bluish grey from black, but in practice this doesn't prove too much of a problem as there aren't many similar pieces in each colour.

As the model grows, steps begin to straddle double-pages:

There's a lot of blank space there, with no patterning on the background. Still, it means the instructions are clear and easy to follow, if page-turning does happen rather frequently.

Towards the back of Booklet Two is found the inventory ...

Click for a larger image

... and a double-page spread of the features:

These are identical to the shots from the box back, but picked out against red rather than blue.

The Figures

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I have to say, this is rather a yawn-inducing selection of figures. I'm sure even Clone Wars fans will agree!

Even in 2008, ugly-Anakin was common: he appeared also in 7669 Anakin's Starfighter, and the triad of Anakin, Ahsoka and Rotta featured in 7680 The Twilight. Both have featured in many sets since; note that they have plain bley lightsaber hilts, the standard at the time. Possible the only exciting figure is Captain Rex, who despite innumerable appearances in Clone Wars Episodes, only featured in this set and a Comic-Con exclusive. Until his re-appearance in 2011's Battle for Geonosis, that is.

Neither of the Jedi have back-printing, if you don't count Ahsoka's impressive headpiece:

The Clones do, but both torsos are the same, Rex's coloured arms notwithstanding.

The Clone Trooper has a 'standard' Clone head, although he seems to find something interesting over to his right:

Rex, on the other hand, will hold your gaze - for long enough to grow a nice 5 o'clock shadow

My Clone Trooper's helmet had suffered an interesting mishap during printing:

Here's hoping it's worth something in oddity-value!

Rotta is a strange beast. He is apparently the son of Jabba the Hut. His LEGO form has moveable arms, but they can't hold anything.

He also has an anti-stud on his bottom which means he can be attached to a structure, or to a minifigure in a disturbingly veterinary way

He does look quite like his CGI counterpart:

Intersting fact: (if you believe Wookiepedia) a leaked prelimary image of this set was the first recorded public mention of Rotta as a Star Wars character. Well, there you go!

Finally, we have a common battle droid, riding a Single Trooper Aerial Platform (STAP):

This STAP is similar, but not identical to, the promotional 30004 Battle Droid on STAP (pictured on the right). The latter is a little shorter, but it's nothing that a few extra pieces wouldn't correct. It's nice to get a STAP in this set, so the AT-TE has something to fight.

The Parts

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I've sorted the parts roughly into two lots: larger and smaller. As might be expected for a Star Wars set from this era, the larger lot consists of a lot of bluish-grey plates, and a serious amount of Technic:

There isn't a hug amount to get excited about, here, although the six Ball Turret Socket Bases make good plant pots. There are a couple of 6-wide printed 'AT-AT-style' radar dishes, and the trans-clear 4-wide radar dish and 'Snowspeeder cannon' are useful for making a stand. Note also the 1x1x5 dark red brick, which comes only in five sets - none since this one - and is to my knowledge only available in 'old' dark red.

Bottom-left are two cardboard cases each containing two white elastic bands, a bag of Technic pins and another of Clone accessories, and Rotta comes in his own little bag.

I accidentally deleted the second 'smaller' parts picture. Having to wait for the opportunity to dismantle the set accounts, to an extent, for the delay in releasing this review. Here is the re-take - it may be missing a few leftover pieces, but the set is complete.

Again, there's rather an overwhelming amount of Technic. There is, however, a good quantity of dark red plates and tiles, and no other set contains as many black chairs as this (and they have been rare since 2008). Four of the smaller 4-wide 'AT-AT' printed radar dishes are also present.

The Build

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We start with the base of the Walker's body, which consists principally of a sandwich of technic beams and blocks between plate layers.

The four black right-angle technic beams, with red perpendicular connectors at each end, act as outriggers to support the side panels of the bodywork. I'll be referring to them later.

We then encounter a number of small sub-builds. In the top half of the picture, a curious construction of engine-blocks and axles will form part of the mechanism for the AT-TE's central 'handle':

The other two sub-builds are placed at front and rear respectively ...

... and secured with bush-pins (inset):

Large bley slopes build up the centre of the Walker, and are topped with a trap-door frame.

Four black bricks with vertical clicky-hinge will attach the opening top panels of the body; these are covered with black racks (used only as greebling) and secured with black liftarms:

The two spring-cannons are placed on the front end.

A black technic beam (inset) will form the AT-TE's carry-handle, allowing it to attach to the LAAT/c Dropship from 10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker. This slots into the aformentioned engine-block construction, and blue stud-pins prevent it over extending either way.

Considering it is not attached, only sitting loosely within the engine-block apparatus, the handle is surprisingly sturdy. I'm a little worried about the longevity of the blue stud-pin, which is all that stands in the way of the AT-TE's floor-based demise as it dangles from the LAAT/c.

Next come the four weight-bearing legs for each corner. As far as I can tell, front and rear are mirror-images of each other, with opposite corners being identical, but each leg has a separate set of instructions.

The legs pivot around the upper end of the liftarm, but the elastic band always returns the leg to full extension. The feet dangle from the tan frictionless axle-pin, making posing difficult, but giving a realistic appearance as the Walker hangs from the dropship handle.

Impressive though they look, the centre legs do not bear the weight of the AT-TE. They pivot around the top of the liftarms, and the feet dangle loosely, swiveling forwards-backwards at the lower end of the liftarms, and side-to-side around the lower of the two 2L red axles. It's really quite floppy!

The upper end of the leg attaches to the two axle ends which protrude from the engine-block attachment seen earlier.

Next comes the cockpit section, which again consists of a number of sub-builds. The main cabin is a simple structure of bley bricks and tall smoke window panels; on the hinges in front is mounted a brick-wide window panel flanked by dark red 1x1x5 bricks and fronted with a small ladder piece.

This section clips onto the blue pins at the front of the body base.

The rear of the cabin is built separately, and connects onto both the cabin (above) and the front of the body base, securing the cockpit firmly. Note the black tile and dark bley plate standing proud at the side; we'll see what this is for in due course.

The pilot sits in a black chair and has a couple of levers to play with. This little arrangement slides in and out of the cockpit using the bley 1x4 bricks with centre slot on each side of the cockpit.

Two wedged panels attach either side of the cockpit; they rotate around the bley pin attachments, and sit atop the spring-cannons.

Pressing down on the cheese wedges pushes the red technic connector onto the spring cannons' release mechanism. We'll look at this again later.

In case you haven't seen it before, the rotating guns consist of two hemispheres inside a larger cup. They can rotate 360 degrees around the z axis of the cup, or about 150 degrees around both x and y axes.

There are six of these in the set. Beware - move them too forcefully and they have a tendency to pop out!

The AT-TEs side panels are a simple plate construction reinforced with a central 2x6 brick; a small symmetrical wedge spur sits at an angle via clicky-hinges.

Note the slope brick towards the rear; the panel is attached only via the black 2x2 plate with pin hole onto the red outriggers of the main body; the slope brick 'interacts' with the 1x2 tile with handle on each of the four leg-parts, to prevent the whole panel swivelling. Sounds flimsy? Surprisingly not!

The rather bland bley panels above are placed at the front of the AT-TE; the rearward ones are identical but for some nice splashes of dark red tiling:

These are built later, but shown here for ease of comparison.

The AT-TE's 'bum' is a simple panel of plates, and features two more of the swivelly guns.

Of interest here is the use of two vehicular wheel axles to connect the white liftarms; these in turn secure the bum panel onto the blue friction pins at the Walker's rear.

A little removable 'tray' forms the main crew seating area:

... and finally, we build the two roof sections, which pivot on clicky hinges:

Front and rear are identical, except for the huge cannon ...

... which sits on top of the front one, via a clicky turntable, and requires patience and 2L axles to build:

Look closely at the dark red parts in this picture. I didn't notice until reviewing the set, but it actually contains parts in both 'old' and 'new' dark red; the triconvex slope brick pictured, and the 1x1x5 bricks in the cockpit, are of the 'old', slightly translucent colour, whilst all plates and tiles are of the newer, somewhat brownish hue. Hardly noticeable, but interesting nonetheless!

The Complete Set

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The way this set is constructed with lots of little sub-builds means you can save putting it all together till the end for a nice surprise. And the result is surprisingly nice!

The AT-TE looks pleasingly insectile, the body shape resembling a beetle, and the forward guns looking like little antennae.

It's amazing how solid the finished model looks - from this angle at least - despite the paneled construction. However, as we shall see, it doesn't bear up so well to closer inspection.

From the top, the AT-TE is a little plain, and the acres of bley are only partly compensated by the flashes of dark red.

This would certainly be ameliorated by the stickers which should go on the large 8x6 slopes, but as usual, I refuse to succumb to the stickery devil. From any other angle, the set does quite well without them, especially given the lovely printed radar dishes on the legs.

From the side, the model looks rather sleek, and stands quite high off the ground:

The exposed Tecnhnic is a little untidy; the large bley 1x6x5 slopes go some way to fill the gaps around the central legs, but this angle again is rather deceptive ...

... as starts to become apparent when the set is viewed from the bottom:

As you can see, huge gaps separate the side panels from the slender base, giving the AT-TE a rather unfinished look from this angle, and rendering the walker rather dangerous to its occupants! As it is designed primarily for atmospheric ground-based use, I don't have a problem with mysterious gaps as I would for a spaceship, but these take the biscuit!

The front has a narrow profile, and gaps are reassuringly absent here; the cockpit is completely enclosed:

The spring-cannons are well hidden behind the slope bricks on either side of the cockpit; the main projectile cannon looks menacing from this angle!

The AT-TE's bum isn't nearly so sexy . With the large gaps in the armour, and the exposed Technic, it looks rather unfinished. You can see quite a way into the hull from here!

I guess this would be a weak spot if the 'real' AT-TE had an behind like this! Or maybe the Republic were confident that the Separatists wouldn't get round the back

Here's how the AT-TE should look:

I think LEGO has done a pretty good job here in recreating the classic beetle shape of the 'real' walker. The cockpit, the shape of the front end, the four antipersonnel lasers are all spot-on. Even the shape of the main cannon is pretty good, even if the LEGO version's seat is a little disappointing.

The spiky top of the cannon has been recreated fairly well, but there really ought to be more dark red on there. And the seat just looks 'stuck on'.

Most of all, I commend the legs - LEGO has these looking perfect, both in shape and stance. It's a pity they aren't exactly posable, though.

This shot also highlights the importance of the little handle on the walker's roof - it allows the AT-TE to attach to the Dropship. I've still to build my 10195 but I'm delighted that this, the AT-OT, and 2010's Clone Turbo Tank all can be carried by the LAAT/c!

Features

Now let's see what play features the AT-TE has to offer. We'll start with the rather cramped cockpit:

Misprint-Clone is driving the AT-TE, with the help of two levers and no other controls. Still, any controls are good! It would be tricky to get him in and out of there, so the designer has thoughtfully included a little drawer that slides in and out. I guess it would also make a rather ugly escape craft, which is a little but unexpected bonus. Note the two wedged panels with the turret cannons either side of the cockpit ...

... these make a nice little surprise. The panels swivel on a Technic pin; pushing the cheese wedge opens the panel ...

and activates the trigger of the concussion missile. It's quite effective!

Moving in a logical order from front to back, next we come to the opening Forward Compartment.

The lid lifts easily, allowing access to the forward passenger seats, where Anakin and Ahsoka sit for this demonstration. Behold, however, the major flaw of this set: the lack of floor. I hope the Jedi aren't afraid of heights: there are big holes to both left and right, and directly in front of them. I really don't know why the designer couldn't have added just a few plates to fill those ugly gaps - it can't have added to the cost too much. As it is, the set just seems incomplete.

Now let's have a look at the legs. The front and rear legs are sprung with elastic, which means that although they are movable, they aren't really poseable, though you can kind of simulate the AT-TE walking . They also carry all the weight of the AT-TE:

The centre legs, though they look rather substantial, are entirely vestigial. They are, however, poseable - their full range of movement seen in the image above - but only when they are in the centre position to they actually touch the ground. I'm undecided as to how important this is; it's great that they do move, but they are a little too floppy for my tastes.

Finally, we can open the Rear Compartment:

Here, clones from the Clone Walker Battle Pack demonstrate the rear passenger section: they are sitting on the removable 'tray' we encountered in the Build section. Like the front compartment, there's a little storage box; also like the front compartment, there are acres of space for the poor clonies to fall through, if they aren't well strapped in. Again, some floor would be nice!

Conclusion

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Compared to the 2003 original 4482 AT-TE, 2008's Clone Wars version is more imposing, standing higher off the ground, and recreates the shape of the original fairly well - a shape which is tricky to achieve in LEGO, and therefore unusual techniques are required in its construction. The downside to achieving this shape is the resulting gappiness that these techniques produce, and the ugly exposed Technic, particularly at the rear.

The set is therefore the result of a trade-off between recreating the original design as accurately as possible, whilst keeping the model playable, and cost/benefit of filling in the resulting gaps. I think the winning formula was one that looks good from the outside (and therefore on the box), and I do think that form the outside it's a great representation of the AT-TE - it's just on closer inspection that the set fails. Through some rather forgettable figures in there and you'd be forgiven for wondering if the set is any good at all.

As a non-Clone Wars fan, however, I can live with the set's failings. I wanted an AT-TE, as the vehicle has an important role in the Prequel Trilogy, and I want it to look like an AT-TE, and this set does. You can keep the ubiquitous figures! It may not be a classic set, but it's a good representation of a classic Star Wars vehicle.

Design:

7

The deisgner has done a great job of rendering the AT-TE 'beetle' shape in LEGO, which is no mean feat. It necessitates a 'plates on Technic frame' approach which is rather familiar to

Star Wars

fans, and to some may be disappointing, but the overall shape is good, and the model surprisingly sturdy. However, the cost is a whole load of gaps leading to a sadly unfinished feel.

Build:

7

There's a lot of fiddly Technic work, but without much repetition, with some interesting techniques thrown in. I learned quite a lot from building it.

The best thing perhaps is that, even though you aren't directed to, you can build the model in lots of sections which all come together at the end, leading to a lovely

denouement

to the build process.

Parts & Figures:

4

Aside from a few useful dark red tiles and plates, and some nice printed radar dishes, there isn't a lot that most Star Wars fans won't have already. Moreover, the figure selection is decidedly lacklustre. A forgettable set from the parts perspective.

Playability:

9

Four good guys and a big armoured walking tank against a single STAP? That's not a battle! Still, those STAPs are zippy little things. The AT-TE has lots of fun play features; lining up the concussion missiles to know the STAP over is fun even for an adult.

If only the legs were more poseable, this might get a high score.

Value:

8

In terms of LEGO pieces for you money, 7675 was quite good value for a Licensed set. I'm not sure that it would be worth trying to track one down now - a used complete 7675 will currently set you back about £90, a little too much in my book.

Overall: 70% My score: 7/10 If you can find a used one now for the original price, it might be worth picking one up, but I wouldn't spend any more than that. If you decide you really need an AT-TE, I'd Bricklink the parts if I were you; forget the figures, and spend the difference on some extra plates to fill those gaps.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this Reviewers Academy 4th Anniversary review. Please comment!

Rufus

Larger pictures on flickr.

Endpieces:

(A reference to this, for which I can't find a video I'm afraid.)

Apologies if you've seen this one before: I originally made this funny to go with the review when I first took the review pictures two years ago.

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If you want to learn to make stellar LEGO set reviews, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

[Bilbo Baggins]

Great review, I love that Rotta minifig

[Nightshroud99]

Excellent review, I love this set as it's the second large set I got after coming out of my dark ages. And, as such, it holds a special place in my heart even with it's flaws.

[wokajablocka]

Thanks for the detailed review Rufus. I quite like this set and one of the first large Star Wars sets I bought after my dark ages around 2007. Its an upgrade from the first set TLG brought out 4482.

The best feature of this set was the carry handle that can be easily picked up and moved easily, nice one Lego that they have repeated quite a few times now with the bigger Star Wars vehicles. With this carry handle it can be connected and carried by the 10195 Republic Dropship just like the AT-OT that comes with the set. You just need to position the AT-TE backwards as the turret cannon get in the way of the Dropship if you don't (tried to Google an image but couldn't find one). The 10195 is one of my favourite sets for this play feature, its just so awesome to pick up and drop of your large walkers into battle just like the movies.

[XimenaPaulina]

Thanks for another great review Rufus! This has always been one of my most favorite CW sets, second only to the 7676 Republic Gunship, and this is certainly a must-have for any CW army-builder. Despite the gaping flaws I think TLG did a pretty decent job with the overall design, capturing a good balance of aesthetics, accuracy, playability, and the stability and piece count requirements.

As far as the minifig line-up goes, it might be perceived as 'weak' now, but during its time of release you'd be able to get the three main characters of the TCW movie (and later the TV series) in just one set! It saves one a lot of trouble buying the ugly "box-with-wings" Twilight just to get Anakin and Ahsoka, plus you get the then-exclusive Rex, and of course the AT-TE which is essential to any CW Army. If you look at it that way then this was a great pick-up overall back then, both minifig-wise and vehicle-wise.

[Brickadeer]

Excellent review

Building the stap made me crazy. If you look at the last picture of the stap in the instructions, you'll see that they build it slightly different than you did (the grey/blue front part is so to say one stud deeper: it is build exactly like 30004). When you do that, however, you'll find that the two upper 1x1 blue round studs are pointless: their only function is to make the whole build too high, so that the droid either can't see anything or "flys" above the part of the structure his feet should rest on. Applying them makes sense only if the front part is placed one stud higher like you did, which results in the "too high" problem described above as well. Which is why I decided to build it like 30004, that is, without applying the two studs.

I always liked the AT-TE. What bothered me a bit that compared to 4482, the back of the model is a step back with regards to functionality: the back of 4482 could be opened to release a speeder, 7675 doesn't offer such a feature. The back can be opened, but it's pretty pointless. I always wondered what the restrictions were the designers had to work with

Edited August 23, 2012 by Brickadeer

[LuxorV]

Man, how I love this hulk! It's one of my favourite vehicles from all the SW films.

Having missed the first LEGO version, I knew I had to get this CW one. Apart for a few gaps in the armour (which can be fixed quite easily) I think it's great.

Thanks for sharing this review, Rufus!

[Hartfan]

Exellent review. I realy live Clone Wars sets and I wish I have this one in my collection. Thanks !

[Ferrik]

This looks like an interesting Star Wars set but the minifigures are as you mentioned just a bit bland compared to other SW figures.

[DFOL]

Thanks for this great review Rufus, and my compliments for the excellent photography. I never considered the minifigs to be anything special, but the model itself is quite well made. It sure is an impressive sight amongst my collection and i'm glad i got it!

[Masked Builder]

My brother got this set when it first came out, and I helped him build as he was still a bit young. It's really not a bad set overall, but I do agree that the legs are not to my liking. Excellent work on your review, I look forward to more.

[Bob De Quatre]

I was wondering if the AT-TE could be modded with something like this:

Sariel.pl

[wctan4444]

Excellent Review.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Great review!

I definitely agree that it could use some more plates to cover the gaps! Those gaps are crazy!

[Darth Solus]

This set was... average . I just hope the new one coming out is better.