My local Walmart had one of these marked down to $90. I guess they're clearing shelf space for the Summer SW wave. I've been thinking about getting one for a while and the sale price tipped me over the edge.
Details
Pieces = 890
MSRP = $99.99
Minifigures = 12
Price per piece = 11.2 cents
The Box
The box is on the large side and really does justice to the set. The front shows all of the components in action, with an art background.
The back of the box is packed with photos showing the playability and functionality of the set. I really appreciated this, as the 2010 line seems to use a good portion of the box space to simply advertise other sets in the line. The rear left side shows the AT-ST in action, along with the Ewok catapult.
The rear ride side focuses on the bunker and its various features.
Inside the box are a lot of bags (9 total!) and two instruction books. Hooray! No stickers! :D Bags in this set are numbered. The Ewok catapult, minifigs, glider and imperial speeder bikes are in bags labelled 1, the AT-ST is in the bags labelled 2 and the bunker is in bags labelled 3.
The Ewok heads show up in their own bags within the larger ones.
Minifigures
The minifigures were a big part of my initial interest in this set. Twelve is a great number and several of these are new or exclusive to this set. The rebel troopers make their first appearance ever in the forest camo, as does Leia in a similar outfit. The last time Lego Ewoks came out was several years ago and their faces were nowhere near as nice as these. Let's start with the Ewoks.
We get three different Ewok minifigs. Two have the same color fur and are distinguished by their hood color. The third has a gray colored fur. All of them have molded heads the fit over the torso. I included R2-D2 in this picture as well. He is fairly common to many sets. The dome printing on R2 is the newer kind that extends all the way down. None of the Ewoks have any printing on their torsos.
Han, the scout troopers and the Death Star trooper all have nicely printed torsos on the front. None have any printing on the back. The scout troopers are the only duplicated figures in this set. Their distinct helmet is accurate. The death star trooper is a nice inclusion, although a little surprising. I would have expected an AT-ST pilot but was happy to get this guy instead!
As I mentioned earlier, the rebel fatigues are new minifigs. We get two different rebel trooper heads, plus helmets and guns. The torsos of the troopers are identical but very nice. Leia has her own unique torso.
All of the jungle fatigues also have printing on the back too!
Ewok Glider and Catapult
The glider and catapult were both quick builds. The catapult is nothing special, although it does seem to scale with the Ewok figures.
The glider assembles easily and is nicely designed. The Ewok minifigs attach by holding on with their hands. There is a separate "flying base" that the Ewok can then stand on for the flying effect. Or they can just be swooshed around.
The Speeder Bikes
These bikes are not unique to this set have appeared in other recent OT and CW sets. That said, I really like them! I believe they capture the feel of the ones from RoJ perfectly. 8038 comes with two, so you can recreate many of the chase scenes from the movie.
AT-ST
The AT-ST was my favorite build in this set. It had a nice mix of different building techniques with almost no repetition. As can be seen from the pictures, the AT-ST has a good amount of technic pieces to give it the walking action. The final product is very functional, with good walking action, opening top hatch and full swivel of the head from the legs. Here's a side profile shot with a minifig for scale:
A shot of Chewie after commandering the AT-ST:
My only complaint about the AT-ST is a minor one and is the size of the cockpit. It would have been nice to have a final vehicle that could seat two minifigs. However, they most recent AT-AT set doesn't even seat two, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised here.
The Bunker
As was seen on the box, the bunker "unfolds" for playability. The build begins with the front part of the bunker, that is most visible throughout RoJ.
As the outer wall is being built up, there is a whole lot of Technic pieces and gears that go near the front entrance. We'll see what this all does in a moment.
Here's the front of the bunker once the blast doors are in. They slide freely along the beige technic gears seen in the picture above.
After the roof goes on the main building, we turn the structure around and build the wings. Both sides are identical.
The side wings fold neatly into the main structure and actually click into place on some concealed pieces. This is nice feature if younger kids might play with the set, as it allows the compact bunker to be moved without the sides breaking away from the main piece.
So what was all of the technic construction for? To blow the bunker up, obviously :P ! The inverted dishes on the roof to the left and the right of the main entrance trigger the (now) hidden spring loaded assemblies and BOOM, the front four wall pieces blast off. Fun!
The bunker works really well with the minifigs and other accessories in this set. The opportunities for modeling or recreating some of our favorite Endor moments from RoJ are nearly endless.
PRO's
Awesome selection of minifigures
Good breadth of playability
Extraordinary attention to detail, more so than other recent sets
Fun, varied builds
Appeals to both kids and AFOL (at least in my household!)
CON's
No AT-ST driver?
FInal Verdict
If it isn't apparent from my comments so far, I really like this set. It is probably my favorite SW Lego purchase from the past 18 months. Lego seems to have gone the extra mile here, between the new rebel figures, redone Ewoks and lots of little touches that make everything come together. In an era where is seems like most of each release line is spaceship that has often been made three or four times already, a playable base with some vehicles feels like a breath of fresh air. The MSRP isn't great, but it also isn't the highway robbery that some of the more recent sets have been.
