Beckmesser

It's not an Echo base set. It's ASSAULT ON HOTH. So, with everything that's going on outside of the gate, and a token imperial presence. Because we were supposed to stock up on AT-ATs and snowspeeders LAST YEAR. The base interior doesn't seem to be the focus of this set, which is where Leia was hanging out. Not that she was doing much anyway. Maybe TLG felt that two similar-looking female figures (Toryn and Leia) were too much?

Could the x-wing be modyfied to fit a pilot? Probably difficult, but this seems like a must-win battle for a play set.

Awesome as in a 1 meter long bumpy white Lego whale? Have you looked at the Calamari ship? They are pretty featureless, aside from ... hull bumps. The whole ship is a bump.

Alright, I finally got it! This is like the 3 1/2 stars (out of 5) reviews internet crybabies gave The Force Awakens DVD/Blu-ray on amazon.uk (for a product they don't even own yet)! Right? "Worst SW movie ever"! - "Waste of an opportunity" - "Cash cow". Sounds familiar. Favorite: "Luke warm" - soooooo clever! There got to be something to this QQ thing that I'm missing in my life. Maybe I could get the hang of it, too. Be part of the gang. Let's give it a try! I ... really don't like the box! I might even hate it a little bit. It's nothing special, looks like its just taped shut on the sides. Seriously, for 250 bucks?? Feels so cheap. You can do better, Lego! 0/5!

By Vader's foul breath, don't quote IMDB internet nonsense. The "chicken-walker" was a pet project of some ILM guys who built the walker on the weekends and then showed it to Lucas. "Indeed, though practically out of time, Lucas ( ... and his ILM gang ...) were able to add the chicken walker to the mix. Muren: 'It's just in two background out-of-focus shots, marching along. It's a throwaway thing'" (source: The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, page 310)

The circus called. They want their clown back.

So it is foremost a matter of miscommunication/branding by TLG? All the builds seems to be in line with typical smaller Star Wars sets, there are just more of them. The function of the big gate could be interesting, although it's probably not much of a building challenge as well. I have problems imagining how TLG could have turned an icy wasteland and a hangar cut from ice into a challenging build ... However, there's still the matter of people justifying their dislike with utter nonsense, like terribly missing an AT-ST. There are no AT-STs on Hoth, their brief appearance was only due to Lucas´ tinkering with an almost finished movie by keeping ILM on their toes, adding details.

Well, I can see and agree that Hoth is no match for a UCS X-Wing, but isn't it up to TLG to define what qualifies as "UCS"? "Utterly Complex Set" is what AFOLs think it should mean, whereas TLG seems to focus more on the "collectable" aspect (whatever that means) from a time when we got that tiny, hyperexpensive silver Naboo Starfighter. Granted, with Hoth their marketing went a bit too creative in an almost comical way, that didn't help :D

It is neither the "like" nor the "dislike" for anything that earns the "entitled" status. It's the strong expectation that something absolutely has to be tailored to YOUR LIKING - even if the item in question is a toy for slightly older kids (what was it, 12+?) and the holders of negative opinion are mostly older folks with every Star Wars set dating back to 1999 at home already. So you have most of this already in some form? Good for you! So do I. I'm probably still going to buy the set to stay complete. What I find slightly annoying is the smugness some are trying to pass off their failed expectations with as a quality problem at TLG and defect in the set ("4-in-1 pack" comes to mind). We didn't get what we want, so let's trash this! Entitlement.

That's one half of the problem. The other is that webforum LEGO fans always know EXACTLY how TLG should have designed something, and if TLG went a different way then it is clearly a bad set, right? Right?! And too expensive, with the wrong minifigures, too many stickers ... but all this goes without saying anyway. Then you have the typical dynamic of QQ threads with the tendency to attract more entitled little whiners who love to see their sentiments echoed page after page, and hate nothing more than to be suddenly called out on their unqualified one-liner comments (most in the ballpark of "the clouds are .. too cloudy! Epic fail"). My personal favorites were those two people posting pictures of other Hoth builds, one a chunk of white bricks looking nothing like a LEGO set, the other some microbuild diorama - that's not even apples and oranges, not even close. Nah, people have their precious opinions, and they can keep them. I'm glad the set is not larger, because I do not want to pay premium licensed set-prices on two buckets full of white basic bricks for the epic snowscape some rich people here seem to be expecting. I'm going to wait for reviews from qualified people who have the actual set ON HAND and know what they are talking about.

Oh well, a bigger Ion cannon and maybe an ages-overdue rebel transport ship would have been nice, but hey .. no reason to go on a ridiculous rant. This set may not be for most of us, but I guess it makes sense, even if it's a bit pricey. When was the last time we had a Taun-taun or a Wampa? And the first Echo base with a white protocol droid dates back to 2007! Many kids playing with LEGO Star Wars today weren't even born yet in 2007. The set appears to have a massive problem with value perception though. In order to catch the whole assemblage, the photo is so zoomed out that even the massive gate in the center looks small-ish. Anyway, it also appears that many members have a lot of trouble managing their own expectations. Some were hoping for a display set, but we're going to get a playset instead -> all hell breaks loose. Well tough luck, and there are no trees on Hoth! The degree of entitlement, mixed with real or pretended cluelessness regarding LEGO design style is amazing (TLG makes TOYS for KIDS, doh!). Especially when coming from fans acting as if they have never seen a LEGO Star Wars set before. How embarrassing. Designing a play set got to be a pretty thankless job. So this set is just a collection of already released sets, but OMG why is the sickbay missing?! We want new figures, but but HOW DARE THEY put in new ION CANNON GIRL instead of little princess who, let's face it, does NOTHING other than even missing her own fricking designated transport. Some posters were seriously expecting a 6000-elements klutz of a fan convention display piece of mostly white bricks? For maybe 189.99, at that? Mates, that joke is on you!

Right, it's a shame we can't wear 75060 as a key chain! What an unbelievable oversight by the designer to make it so heavy, tsk. Fortunately not all of us feel like writing reviews, or UCS Slave One would have another 2/5 to suck up right now ... ;)

Well I guess there is no point in criticizing the critic, Anio. You seem to know exactly how this set SHOULD have been made by LEGO. I have seen this in a shop window, and it is HUGE and looks fantastic. So glad they didn't turn it into a sculpture of stacked bricks and plates instead of what appears to be a fun build. No doubts it will look great in my room too! And what's wrong with the color of the windscreen? It's trans-clear on the movie prop. The cockpit interior just looks very dark. I prefer to see LEGO Boba through the glass anyway, so I'm glad it's trans-clear. Not sure what happened to the engine glow though. It looks rather orange in EMPIRE? Aside from making new, shaped elements for the skirts I have trouble imagining how most of this could have been achieved differently - at this size with stability in mind. While I recognize the "flaws" in the set you so kindly pointed out, they don't bother me. At all. On the contrary, I believe it's charming that this set is still recognizably LEGO and made with existing parts. The biggest flaw in the non-set UCS Sandcrawler on cuusoo was that it's so smooth and perfect it doesn't even look like LEGO anymore. Sometimes less is definitely more, and the people working at LEGO seem to know that. If I wanted a 100% accurate plastic model kit I would buy one, or go for a Kenner toy on ebay.

You are correct, I edited that out, even if that is MY honest assessment of his "UCS Slave One" - which is just a beefed-up version of a LEGO retail set, down to the tan wings.

2 out of 5? Seriously? This amazing set is so much better than your own ###* "UCS Slave One", but you keep pissing on it. You just can't help it, I guess. I think someone is very jealous .... * Edited for language