75002 AT-RT Review

Hi All! It’s the weekend again! I’m back today with another LEGO Star Wars Set Review, for 75002 AT-RT!

Before we delve into the review itself, I’d like to make a quick update that from now on, my reviews are gonna be shorter than the previous ones, and before I get any questions regarding why, this is because of school, with the sudden onslaught of revision and homework as it gets nearer to my EOY Exams.

As such, in order to make it possible to keep churning out articles as frequently, I’m gonna have to shorten them by some. This is also partially because I want to get to the new 2014 sets as soon as possible!

So without further ado, lets get on with the review!

©The Lego Group, Photo Credits to Brickset.com

The set 75002 AT-RT was released in January 2013, as part of LEGO’s “Winter” Wave of LEGO Star Wars sets. It consists of 222 pieces, 4 minifigures and retails here in Singapore for $50.90, and in the US and UK for $19.99 (again, an excellent example of the price gap).

In case you were wondering, AT-RT stands for All Terrain Recon Transport, and appears in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith for a brief moment, and was heavily featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon series. The AT-RT is also the precursor to the much larger AT-ST seen in Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi.

I bought this set at a great discount of just USD $15.99 (SGD $20.00) from Amazon a year back, and had it shipped to a friend in the USA, who unboxed it and brought it back to Singapore. Unfortunately, in transit, he misplaced the stickers (not that I mind, I hate stickers anyway).

So, onto the first part, the Minifigures.

As I mentioned above, the set comes with 4 minifigures, namely a 501st Clone Trooper, a Clone Wars Yoda, a Commando Droid Captain and a Sniper Droideka.

For a set of its price range, the quality and quantity of the minifigures are excellent, especially the 501st Clone Trooper which can only be found in one other set that costs SGD $20+ more. The inclusion of a Yoda mini figure and a few Separatist Droids really complete the set.

As you can see, LEGO did really well in recreating the 501st Legion Clone Trooper, with the awesome dark blue prints on the helmet and even on the legs, something that was only recently introduced for LEGO Minifigures.

The helmet mold is the same as the one we see on the Star Corps Trooper that came with the Umbaran MHC, and it looks way better than the Phase 1 Helmets. Unfortunately, this improvement comes at a price, being the absence of the 2 holes on either side used to mount headgear.

As for Yoda, his design is really nothing that special, but LEGO was smart to include a Clone Wars Variant, instead of the regular one, making sure that the market isn't suddenly flooded with cheap Yodas that could decrease its popularity.

His inclusion in this set also raises its appeal, with Jedi usually only being available in sets that cost way more than this.

The Commando Droid Captain really complements the few commando droids we got in the BARC Speeder with Sidecar, and his printing looks really cool. Other than that, I don’t think he's that big a deal.

Last but not least is the Sniper Droideka. This one actually looks pretty decent, and is much sturdier than that flimsy Commando Droid earlier. LEGO really did well with its design, and although its a brick-built minifigure, he still looks pretty good.

For the Minifigures, I give this set a 9/10

Now for the Playability, and Display Quality.

Other than the 4 minifigures I mentioned above, the set also comes with a really cool looking AT-RT Walker. The walker itself is mostly grey and dark blue, which makes it look really good. Unfortunately for mine, I didn't have the stickers, and i couldn’t be bothered to go out and buy it from eBay or Bricklink or whatever, so I left it as it is.

Still, the walker looks really cool by itself, with a swiveling cannon and all. This is a set that would just be excellent for display, and yet it is both cheap and compact.

For playability, this set is just great, and everything about it just screams “ARMY-BUILDER”. From the 501st Clone Trooper to the Sniper Droideka, this feels like a glorified, expensive battle pack that when combined with a few more, can really start looking like a serious battle.

So for Playability and Display Quality, this set gets a 8/10

Last but not least, Investment Potential.

Unfortunately for this set, and for Star Wars fans alike, the Clone Wars cartoon series which this set was heavily featured in, just ended last year. Meaning that this set and the vehicle, are probably going t be relegated to the depths of the Star Wars Universe, together with other forgettable vehicles like the V-19 Torrent.

On the other hand, given how popular the Clone Wars cartoon series was, this set may very well see large growth in value post EOL, with the inclusion of the rare 501st Trooper being its saving grace.

Assuming the 501st Trooper doesn’t make an appearance in future LEGO Sets, I think its safe to say that this set would be highly sought after for this Minifigure, due to its low cost, and the popularity of the 501st as Vader’s Vanguard, who was responsible for the massacre at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.

Its low price also makes it ideal for buying in large quantities, and when at a significant discount, it could see its profits greatly increased.

So for Investment Potential, I rank this set a 8/10

So to top it all off, this has been a great set to build and to play with, with awesome minifigures and an awesome vehicle. I strongly recommend waiting for a sale to purchase this though, because forking over $50 just doesn’t seem worth it, no matter how good it is.

My final ranking: 8.3/10

On a side note, theres gonna be a lot more reviews in the near future, as I blaze my way through all the LEGO Sets i own until the latest wave.

Have a great weekend!