StoutFiles

Damn, I forgot to add that one! Always forget about him, he's on the other side of my Death Star that isn't easily visible.

This is really impressive, but I'm confused as to which scenes you're showing. Some reference material would help. I second the display case pictures as well.

I'll start off by saying I didn't think much of this set going in to the build. Maybe the set will change my mind? Set name: Hoth Echo Base Set number: 7879 Year of release: 2011 Price: 89.99 EUR? / 89.99 USD Parts: 773 Minifigures: 9 (Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Snowtrooper(2), R3P0, 2-1B, Tauntaun) Front: Back: (will take a better one later) Side: Random Bag: Bag 1: Let's start with the best feature of the set: the minifigs. A couple new figs and some big improvements on repeated figures. Han: Improved hood. Leia: More accurate hair style, more detail on jacket. Yes, they gave her a popsicle as well. Luke: Bacta Luke! Definitely the best fig of the set. Injured eye and cut on face. It's too bad the mask is on the face as well or this could work in the Wampa cave scene. R3P0: An odd choice for a fig, but an exclusive fig is better than a standard soldier here. Snowtroopers: No changes. Chewbacca: Bowcaster is now a dark grey. 2-1B: Medical droid to put in the med bay with Bacta Luke. Both Leia and Luke have reversible heads. These are likely their "we just kissed" faces. Let's not dwell on that longer than we have to. You can really see how much of an improvement Han and Leia are when you compare to their counterparts, especially Leia. For Han, the new hood makes a world of difference, and is able to rotate since it's not attached to the torso. Protocol party! Now we just need a silver one... (edit: yes, there's a black one...forgot to add it) Tauntaun is pretty standard. Comes with saddle or a few blocks to close the gap for a saddle-less Tauntaun. Note: this Tauntaun is NOT the same as the one that comes with 7749. The tail is a different piece that is slightly-off colored and made of a tough rubber. You can all speculate why they made this change. Basic E-web blaster. Nothing too fancy, slightly different build from 7749. As you can see, some color changes and a couple different pieces. The speeder, while using many of the same pieces as past speeders, is a very unique build. The speeder in the background is from the Snowtrooper battlepack. Stop doing this TLG! Stop it now! The speeders are so different I can't even display them next to each other. So this is the bridge that I assume goes with an X-wing. No, it doesn't normally sit on top of the base, I believe it CAN go there when you pick up the set to move it. A bit low though, right? Let's raise it. Yes, this is as high as it goes. An X-wing nose can fit through this, although the crane device gets in the way. It slides back and forth on the bridge and is used to pick up boxes. It's a pretty awful play feature. Alright, let's get to the base building...which always starts with a magical DSS. Some great stickers in there, but a shame they're going to fall off and/or look like crap in a few years. TLG, give us some printed pieces! Bag 2: Bag 2 result: Bag 3: Bag 3 result: Bag 4: Bag 4 result: Bag 5: And...done! Let's look at some of the "features". Yes, the wall actually folds so rebels can grab weapons while outside. This makes about zero sense but a kid might enjoy it. The Tauntaun's have their own, weather prone gate to come and go through. Huh? This makes no sense either...but it's fun I guess? Kids must not care about accuracy. Comes with some foliage to eat, which is attached to the door. Sigh. The med bay isn't awful, just cramped. Why couldn't they have just made this room instead as shown below? Still, it's sadly the best part of the base. The control room is so cramped there's no room to sit down at the other panel. Unlike 7666, the glass screens do not fold open. The sticker placement is on the INSIDE of the transparent piece making accurate placement very difficult. I originally thought the glass screens would slide to the right for more room, but no. All of this is just so horribly cramped. Tauntaun saddle holder. It's an interesting feature, I kind of like it. Next to it looks like a Snowspeeder fuel tank. This is just awful. What were you thinking TLG? The icicles fall when you pull out the pin, but no one will be under them because they hang so low that they block the doors! They're also a pain to put back unless you have 6 year-old fingers. Which leads me to my final conclusion. This set was designed for little kids. It has no regard for accuracy, just small bits from Hoth scrambled together to an undecipherable mess. It looks okay, but it's not remotely accurate. It's designed for this guy. You'll be right at home here, Ice Planet guy. Do I suggest this set? If you can get it on sale, you'll get some nice figures and some pretty good pieces for a MOC. Otherwise, unless you're 6-8 years old, I'd stay clear. It's just not Echo Base.

While the calendar is better than nothing, this reeks of laziness to not have a unique set to build.

It's not just DC. It's DC AND Marvel. Open the superhero/supervillian floodgates...

As someone who doesn't own the Falcon, I hope they don't rerelease it. UCS is supposed to be for collectors; it's not a collectable if they reissue sets. One and done is how it should be. This rewards both collectors and people hoping for new ships to get the UCS label. Is this set really for the little guy though? The Falcon that's out now, while much smaller, is made for kids to play with. The UCS Falcon is made to look at and take up space.

A whole new generation was introduced to Star Wars in the 90's with the SE rerelease, which was supported by most parents taking their kids to see it loving SW themselves. That created TWO generations that love the OT. As for the younger generation, the majority of people who saw the PT that weren't kids hated it, partily due to unreasonable expectations and partily due to the movie's faults. I believe we can agree on this, maybe not. I would also go as far as to say that some kids grew to dislike the PT over time after their tastes matured and finding the PT to be a lifeless film that should be more than special effects, however, that's just me. Anyway you spin it though, there are more people who can afford, who choose to afford, high-priced sets in the OT lineup. It isn't coincidence that the OT dominates the UCS lineup.

Very nice, love the detail where it was applicable. Any estimate on how many pieces you used (aka: cost to build)? It's a good way to compare to TLG's sets and their choices.

10 year olds can't save 400 bucks. They need parents to help, and most parents won't put that much into sets they don't care about. OT sets sell because they not only appeal to older collectors, they appeal to the parents buying sets for their kids. Yes, the JSF was overpriced but ALL Legos are overpriced these days. Even more important now that large sets be something that both parents and kids would like.

Yep, the target audience of UCS sets favors the OT. If I had to wager on the next PT UCS set it would be Jango's Slave I.

Maybe during the Episode III movie release after the Executor is being phased out...and that's a big maybe. I would thing TLG has learned their lesson by now that straying away from OT sets for the UCS label is incredibly risky.

While that is a lot, there are people on here who buy seemingly impossible amounts of sets. No one judges 'round these parts.

One of the few SE changes I'm happy with.

Anio has built his own so naturally he will hate this set. A MOC is almost always better than the TLG version for many reasons.

I was shooting for figs we'd never see again. I'm sure well see Hoth Han and Hoth Leia again. I thought droids like the med droid werent counted as minifigs.

The Home One set had four figs we may never see again (Madine, Mothma, Ackbar, and BoE Lando). Should have had five, the A-wing pilot should have been given a unique face and labeled as Arvel Crynyd. Hoth has only two (Bacta Luke, R-3P0). Home One also resembles something from the movie while Echo Base is a classic space set. I think they're both overpriced but Home One is more valuable IMO.

Ignoring the proportions, it looks great without the studs. Nice work. I'd argue the claim of it being the most iconic PT ship though...simply because the PT has no iconic ships ignoring the Slave I. If you surveyed 100 people, the most "well-known" PT ship would probably be the N-1.

I worry about how well this set will hold up over time. All my old Legos have held up well, except for my white pieces which have stained slightly. It's hard to tell until you bring out a new white piece and then the old piece looks awful. My old ones were mid 90s pieces, so I'm sure the protection of the plastic is better nowadays. Still though, in ten years I imagine this whole set as a huge stained ship...

This is why I wonder how much TRU is paying TLG to have the summer sets early. It puts them at a huge advantage, especially when you consider their markup.

If it became a legal issue they would just say they ran out of product at the lower price. Or something like that. The fact is there's no way you could win that case. I was willing to buy at TRU before the markup, but now I can wait. I refuse to pay their marked up prices, even if the other stores have to wait till August for the new sets.

Went to my Toys R Us and they weren't there, nothing in the back either. Said they were getting two shipments on Wednesday and Friday so maybe then. Oh well. I'd rather buy the sets at Walmart/Target without the TRU markup...but are they going to get the sets soon? Is it normal for Toys R Us to get sets so much sooner than the other major retail stores? That puts TRU at a HUGE advantage.

I bet that feature costs more money though. If anything, TLG is looking to cut down on box prices even more by asking us how we would feel about smaller boxes. I'd rather have sone extra pieces over a fancier box, IMO.

Well, at the earliest he died 4 years after Anakin was born so that would be odd. However, I always thought that story was to show that the Force could conceive, either willed by someone strong with the Force or just the midi-chlorines themselves. You're probably right though, Lucas just finds the worst ways to explain things.

What is this I dont even...

Let's not forget he hated Sebulba and wanted to race so badly that he promised Qui-Gon a victory even though he had never won before. Not to mention he goofed around in a starship when he was told not to move, and he didn't bother to tell Padme after the war to save his mom. The only good thing he does is build Threepio, which is an odd choice anyways since he's a protocol droid and only useful for edicate and protocol. Everything else is him just being a kid and wanting to have fun. Don't get me started on Episode II Anakin, the biggest brat in the universe. He isn't even remotely "good" in that movie, just extremely selfish. What you're stating about good/evil is what Lucas was going for, but he failed miserably at making Anakin a likeable character in the prequels.