Lego Star Wars set#8129 AT-AT Walker – 815 pieces – 8 minifigures – $109.99

This set is part of Lego’s new wave of Star Wars sets in honor of The Empire Strikes Back. This AT-AT is about the same size as the motorized set but this one doesn’t have the motor or walking function so it’s a little cheaper. Instead it comes with more minifigs including Luke Skywalker (with his grappling rope of course), C-3PO, Han Solo in Echo base gear, Rebel Trooper with P-Tower laser cannon, AT-AT pilot, 2 Snowtroopers, General Veers and Imperial Officer.

This set is a nice alternative to the motorized AT-AT if you’d like one for your Hoth display but don’t need it to really walk. There are a lot of compartments on it to sit the minifigs and you get the Hoth Rebel P-tower laser cannon. Plus, the added Minifigs especially the totally new Han Solo in Ecco Base gear are a really nice incentive to pick up this set.

-Daniel

It’s “Container Port 03″ created by Flickr users Nate (Shuppiluliumas) and Chris (cjedwards47) and their friends in the PennLUG. The port is pretty large with nice SNOT work throughout.

Check out that awesome water effect! It is really impressive and no doubt took a lot of time. I also like how they added little details such as a tire washing ashore near the cattails on the beach.

Great job guys.

-Daniel

Buy it now on Lego.com- 8093 Plo Koon’s Starfighter

The AT-AT is a large set with over 1137 pieces and four minifigs. It’s sizable all built too, standing 12″ tall and 14″ long. That means it can easily loom over any puny rebel defenses. The walker has a retractable handle on the top that makes it easy to pick up and move it from place to place or change it’s walking direction.

The Lego AT-AT walker comes with four minifigs: AT-AT Pilot, General Veers, Snowtrooper and Luke Skywalker. Luke has a grapling hook and cord so he can hang from the walker like he did in the movie. AT-AT walker toys always come with the obligatory grappling hook don’t they? Because they toy makers know we wanna re-enact that scene where Luke takes down that AT-AT walker with nothing but a grappling hook, a lightsaber and a thermodetonator. Oh yea that was sweet.

This set is kinda tough to find too. You’re best bet is to pick up the Motorized AT-AT walker from the official lego site here.

Also on my entertainment blog I just posted an article about my love for Star Wars AT-AT walker in film, toys and online. So don’t miss it yo!

Here’s a great video of the AT-AT walking that I found on Chris Pirillo’s site. It’s starts out a bit slow but gets better once he turns the walker on. So take a looksie and watch that walking action go!

-Daniel

After doing those posts on the new Lego Star Wars Clone Wars sets I have really been in a Star Warsy kinda mood. And I found some great Lego Star Wars mini movies on the lego.com site.

Watch the Lego Star Wars mini movies here! They are really quite funny. And some of them use stop motion animation using real minifigs and have a home made, youtube vid feel to them. The others are much more refined 3D CGI like in the Lego TV commercials.

From "May the 4th Be With You" vid

I also added a new Lego Poll. I am thinking about adding more info about minifig customization. What do you think?

-Daniel

What does it take to make sales of a Lego set jump 633 percent? Why just let world famous footballer David Beckham be your spokesman.

Beckham reportedly mentioned that he loves Lego in a recent interview and that he would have liked to be a “Lego Model Builder” you know if he wasn’t already practically the most famous footballer in the world.

Beckham also mentioned that he recently purchased the Taj Mahal Lego set while on a trip to Italy. That’s all it took to get the web buzzing about the Taj Mahal set and orders for it on Lego website to skyrocket up 633 percent!

And to thank David for his presumably unpaid endorsement a rep from Lego Group invited he and his family to their headquarters in Billund.

I sure would love to get a tour of that myself!

Buy your very own Lego Taj Mahal here!

-Daniel

“Colonizer” Blimp by Pierre E Fieschi

As you can see this baby has got some great detail. It has a strong design with a white and orange color scheme. This is getting a lot of attention and for good reason. I also picked it because I am a strong believer that humanity should actively pursue colonizing other planets. I think that would be a much better economic driving force than war and it would help safeguard the future of our species. I know that’s deep but what can I say? I get emotional about the future of us kind. hehe

Let me know what you think of Pierre’s work in the comment section. Also let us know if you have found a great MOC you’d like to nominate for a future post.

-Daniel

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8098 Clone Turbo Tank $119.99 – 1141 pieces
This set is just released this July 2010 and is showing up now in ToysRus and other stores.

Here’s an overview of everything this set comes with. It consists of 1,141 pieces total, which includes the A6 Juggernaut: Clone Turbo Tank (CTT), as well as a small Scout Walker, a weapons pod, removable command center and six minifigures!

Some of the Tank’s best features are flick-fire missiles and plenty of troop seating in each of the two dual cockpits. It also has a top mounted handle that really helps move the thing around.

But the coolest thing by far about this tank is the wheels. It comes with ten wheels and they are different from the older version of this tank (that was set#7261). You can see a comparison of the old and new wheels here. The new wheels look more accurate than the old ones but they still lack that line across the center of the hubcap. That would have been a nice addition so that you can see the wheels rotate better. You can always add that with a few smooth plates from your collection though.

All of the axles have the ability to pivot up and down, and the center axle on each side has independent suspension. They use spring elements to keep the wheels flat when on a flat surface and then pivot up and down over rough terrain. Here is what the spring suspension looks like.

There are a lot of compartments with opening doors or panels that you can hide minfigs, weapons or gear in. Each of the two cockpit roofs can be opened to reveal control rooms with clone trooper seating.  There are also several headlights, but they don’t really light up. Lego needs to make it easier and cheaper to add working lights to its sets.

Quit showing off Ahsoka! hehe.

Both sides of the main compartment open and fold down to form ramps for troop deployment.

The tank is well armed with several moveable laser cannons such as this manned gun (seen with the top hatch opened) and the ones in front. Also included in the set is a small removable weapons module that can hold two Blaster Rifles and two Blaster Pistols. Plus the tank has a few flick-fire missile launchers. Take that General Grievous! lol

The Scout Walker that comes with it is kinda cute. It is made with pieces designed to be compact so it will fit into the tank’s troop bay. The walker features a seat and controls for one trooper, it’s legs are posable of course and it has a front mounted laser cannon.

The small Command Center included with the set is basically a couple of seats and some computer screens. I guess it’s a nice addition but I think they could have added another mini vehicle or a small enemy vehicle instead. That would have added a lot to the set’s value and even its playability. You can store the command center in the inner compartment.

Now on to our favorite part of any Lego set, the Minifigs! The Clone Turbo Tank included six minifigures including Anakin Skywalker, one Clone Trooper, one Clone Commander, Cad Bane, Ahsoka Tano, and Aayla Secura.

The rarest minifig is Aayla Secura. The others can be found in different sets. Cad Bane is a little different in this set cuz he has a bigger hat and the breathing tubes on his neck.

Overall this set has some great features like the new wheels and pivoting axles which work well and look great in action. No doubt this set also has a lot of playability with tons of compartments, missles and minifigs. But for collectors and display purposes I think this vehicle design is kind of plain and boxy looking. It’s accurate to the tank as seen in the show and from the films, but I admit I much prefer the look of the AT-TE walker. As for building your collection of bricks, this set includes a lot of gray colored plates. Those are always a welcome addition especially if you like building space ships and vehicles. So bottom line it’s definitely a fun addition to this latest wave of Clone Wars sets!

-Daniel

Shop for Lego Star Wars sets here!

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8093 Plo Koon’s Starfighter – $24.99 – 175

I wanna start with this set because it’s my favorite of the new Clone Wars wave. This set is awesome. At first I was afraid that it wouldn’t be released in the US because it only came out in the Netherlands for awhile. But it appears like it is available at ToysRus in the States, possibly as an exclusive.

This ship reminds me a little of Anakin’s modified starfighter with the white and blue stripes.

I love the look of Plo Kloon’s ship and the layered texture the blue and white stripes create. The coloring is great.

Besides the nice look of it the ship also has some other cool features. The ship has a cockpit ejection function and retractable landing gear!

Plus you get Plo Koon and the Astromech R7-D4 minifigs with this set. Plo Koon’s Starfighter measures 10” (26cm) long. I highly recommend you get this one.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8085 – Freeco Speeder – $24.99 – 177 pieces

The Freeco speeder is the CK-6 Swoop speeder from the show. It initially was only out at ToyRus I think. But now you can find it anywhere.

It comes with an Anakin minifig wearing cold weather gear. His head can flip around to show goggles or no goggles.

The other minifig is named Thi-Sen. Just a bit of trivia,  Thi-Sen is seen in The Clone Wars episode “Trespass.” He was the leader of the Talz who live on the planet Orto Plutonia. He has a neat looking head piece-every thing from the shoulders up is one piece.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8088 ARC-170 Starfighter – $59.99 – 396 pieces

I always like the look of this ship. It’s clearly a variation of the classic x-wing design but it has a real organic feel to it. The actual ship is bigger than it may look. It has a 20″ (50.8cm) wingspan and it 7″ (17.78cm) tall.

There are three cockpits and a droid bay so you get four minifigs. It comes with Kit Fisto (I’m sure you know him) two clones including Captain Jag and the astromech droid R4-P44.

The wings are functional and open up using a gear in the tail of the ship. They have rubber bands to make them close back up too. It also comes equipped with auto-fire flick missile launchers.

This set is actually a tweak of a similar set that came out in 2005. That older set was part of the Revenge of the Sith line, set# 7259.

Above is a comparison shot I found, the older set is on the top. It didn’t change much, mostly just in the nose of the fuselage and now with larger engines.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8086 Droid Tri-Fighter – $24.99 – 268 pieces

The set has actually been out for awhile but I think it’s technically part of the latest wave. In fact I believe it is a re-release of a similar looking model released for the Revenge of the Sith line. The Droid Tri-fighter features two flick-fire missiles.

It comes with three minfigures including a Rocket Droid Commander and two Rocket Battle Droid minifigures.

As you can see the Rocket Droid Commander minifig has slightly different coloring from the Battle Droids.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8095 General Grievous’ Starfighter – $49.99 – 454 pieces

I liked Grievous in the movies okay but I think I like him even more after seeing the Clone Wars series. The set 8095 General Grievous’ Starfighter is a great looking ship. The engines have maintenance compartments that open up. It also has an opening cockpit, retractable landing gear and a flick firing missle.

The coolest thing by far about this set is the Grevious minifig. Check this guy out! The detailing it pretty great. I love that they included the quadruple arms.

Here he is weilding multiple lightsabers.

You also get two more minifigs: the Jedi Nahdar Vebb and Grevious’ repair droid EV-A4-D. They can all have tea and hang out together on the chair and lightsaber rack included. Interesting that they included furniture like this in the set. Dunno why exactly, but it’s neat I guess.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Set# 8128 Cad Bane’s Speeder – $39.99 – 318 pieces

This is a special edition set. I really like the Cad Bane character. I wonder why Lego didn’t come out with a model of Bane’s ship the Xanadu Blood yet. I can’t wait to see that one. But until then this speeder is pretty cool looking.

The plus side about this set is that it comes with 5 minifigs including Bane and has a trigger fire hidden missile that shoots from the headlight! There is a compartment that opens up and additional seating for up to 6 minifigs. It’s also a pretty big ship more than 10” (25.4cm) long.

As mentioned above there are 5 minifigs: Cad Bane, Shahan Alama, Elite Assassin Droid, a Senate Commando and a Senate Commando Captain. I really like the design and blue coloring of these commandos. It would be cool to build and army of them.

Buy Lego Clone Wars Sets

Okay so the last item in this way I want to talk about is the ginormous Clone Turbo Tank. But I want to devote a whole post to it because it’s so big and so freakin’ sweet!

So see you next time for Set 8098 the Clone Turbo Tank!!!

-Daniel

Shop for Lego Star Wars sets here!

I’m starting a new feature on this blog by picking a MOC of the Week! I’ve added this to the blog’s categories.

My pic for this week is Doomgrin by BrickFX

Doomgrin

This is a great looking mech which he makes use of the lime green bricks from the Power Miners sets. I think this proves wrong the stance that those bricks can’t be reused in other models. I think they are used brilliantly here.

Comment on this MOC pick or suggest your own pick for MOC of the Week would be. You can even nominate one of your own creations! I want to make this site more interactive so here’s your big chance to express your own tastes and style. Just be sure it’s recent and give the link info and provide the creators name so they get full credit.

-Daniel