Least Disappointing Set of 2016!

 

As you can tell from the above, no sarcasm will be used at all.

Let's begin.

Box

The box is large. I'm very glad it has the UCS logo on it. The disjointed build looks very appealing, I don't understand all the hate...

Minifigures

Wedge and Wes are nice figures. The best part about them has to be the use of identical, generic heads.

The rebel troopers are perfect. Totally would not have benefited from dual moulded legs.

Toryn Farr had a way more crucial role than Leia in the film, and thus I am so happy to see her instead of Leia.

*totally does not pause sarcasm*

Luke is a decent minifigure.

K3PO (I almost typed K2SO!) is too.

The Orange droid is cute.

The Snowtroopers are good too, but they reuse a 2014 design.

Tauntaun and Wampa are decent.

*totally does not enter sarcasm mode again*

The Rebel Officer is superb! Dont ya love it when they include unnamed characters and not named ones, especially at this price range?

Han Solo is okay...... I love his hair, it is completely accurate and has so much texture.

Okay, we got the figures finished. On to the...

Models

I love mini small models for UCS instead of one whole large model! When you buy a UCS, you want many mini models, totally not one huge model! Let's go through them one by one...

E-Web Blaster

Super accurate. I love laughably oversized things, especially in UCS sets, because accuracy is the least of worries in UCS sets.

Snowtrooper Speeder Bike

Utilizes an old design. Nothing much here, E-web blaster is way awesomer.

Wampa Cave

Great! Flawless! I like the attention to detail by putting the Wampa cave right next to Echo Base, and in the movie the Cave was extremely tiny, about 3 studs deep, so the scale is right. The lightsaber launching mechanism is so amazingly powerful, it launches the lightsaber right into the backyard!

Shield Generator

It is super cool how they included a shield generator with only three disks. Sure, in the movie, there were four, but hey, who cares? It's a UCS, after all. Since UCS sets are all about play features, there is a lever which sticks out quite considerably for you to hit, and the shield generators will explode revealing colorful pieces underneath. Glad they didn't include the AT-AT that caused the explosion.

Trenches

Nothing special. Movin' on.

P-Tower Cannon

The 2013 one looked good, but this looks even better, as they compromised accuracy for play. Stickin' a rapid stud shooter at the front should be fun for most AFOLs to play with.

DF-9 Cannon

Yay! They compromised accuracy for play again! The top opens up to allow a minifigure to sit in there, which looks super-accurate to the film! Spring-loaded shooters add tons of playability, who cares if they detract from the look of the cannon?

Blast Doors

They open and close in synchrony, and when fully open, barely allow a Snowspeeder to get out without hitting the doors, which is just so awesome! The back has tons of Technic pieces and gears exposed, which really add so much to the look of the model. The lookout tower is so accurate and uses one of the most sophisticated methods i've seen to raise and lower it: manually lift it up and use a click hinge to hold it there, or hit the click hinge away and drop it. Never mind that it doesn't go down all the way and compromises the base entrance's looks.

Tauntaun Pen

The part that absolutely makes the most sense in this set. I'm glad they included bright green leaves for the Tauntaun, a creature native to a planet with no vegetation whatsoever, to eat. The very tiny crane is very very very strong.

Rebel Base Transport

Small and sweet.

Snowspeeder

Almost a carbon copy of the 2014 version, just different colors. I'm so glad they lazily reused a old design with little modification, even though the 2014 one had several flaws.

Command Centre

Very very tiny. I love the size, it's an awesome replication of that in the movie! Extra missiles clipped to the side totally do not detract from the base's look at all!

Ion Cannon

As they say, save the best for last. The spherical shape is nothing noteworthy, but I am totally in love with the design of the back! Exposed technic mechanisms and a multitude of colors are fabulous! The front cannon is compromised to fit two spring-loaded shooters, which look spectacular. It would totally not have benefitted from the removal of the spring loaded shooters, inclusion of a better barrel, and covering up of the back.

Value

This set has amazing value, as its US price is about $40-50 overpriced.

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Final Verdict

I've put all sarcasm aside. This set is dreadful. Absolutely do NOT get it. Spend your money on any other UCS, they will do better than this  Ultimately Crappy Set. (sorry for the pun)

Wasting so much accuracy on playability is really bad for a UCS. Even the playability is hampered by the severe lack of Imperial Forces.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this review. :)

Edited December 29, 20168 yr by VaderFan2187

I just finished piecing together the set (ess the figs and snowspeeder) and really like it.  To me it seems that 3 letters on the box (U.C.S.) have created a bit of fuss over an otherwise neat set.  I plan to modify it like I do with so many of my sets.  I'm a little confused about what some people thought they would get with a 2000 piece set.  A decent Hoth UCS would probably need to be at least 3x that amount.

I love my Ewok Village and Hoth playsets and hope to see another one soon (maybe Cloud City?).  

I saw MULTIPLES of this set over at Toys r Us, they must be desesperate to get rid of them. 

This set definitly was a coming back and forth nightmare that the management wanted to push out, I can't believe the designers were happy with this result, especially since the guy spent a year designing the much loved Slave 1. 

Lego had to make a shitty UCS set one day, and here it is! And I wouldn't call this dissapointing, it's simply a crappy set, the UCS Death Star remake was the dissapointement ( Hello 690$ CAN ). 

I bought it when it 1st came out, have yet to open it. Wanted to use it in a Hoth setup, which I have neglected for a long while.

Usually the UCS sets tend to be sold out within the day of release, but this one didn't generate the same level of interest.

Same with the release of the new Death Star which I don't think I'll be buying any time soon.

1. I do not mind playfeatures incorporated into a lego set, even one marketed towards adult fans. I hate sets that do not fit minifigs or don't have any. Hence i'm not a big UCS fan. I like a balance between realism and play. However there is 1 play feature i hate on almost any toy and that is shooting (springloaded or otherwise) missiles, i hate them with passion. This set has plenty so that's a big negative.

2. Star wars die hard fans tend to overdetail everything, if it's not exactly like in that dusty 40 year old movie it's not good (it's not like everything in the movie(s) was oooo so great). I change alot of stuff if i don't like it, movie correct or not.

3. I bought this set with alot of doubt. It's clearly not as good as the ewokvilage set (which i should have gotten, but it was sold out) but it's not the end of everything.

4. It's clearly way overpriced, hence it was on discount (payed 220€ for it myself ) and even then i felt  a bit ripped off afterwards because i could have gotten it at 200€ a week later,

Does all of this mean i'm gonna resell it? Probably not, because it's Lego, if it's not what you want it, you can change it, remake it or re-immagine without much effort. It does give you a good basis for building a hoth display if like me you start with almost none of the older Hoth sets.

Will i recommend this set then? Not at the rediculous official price, but at the lowest discount price of 200€ i've seen it (official price in Europe is 280€) it's a good deal if you're new at lego star wars Hoth and you want to have some fun in the snow :) .

 

Edited December 30, 20168 yr by firefox

Yes, fair points, but the disjointed build REALLY puts me off. That is uncharacteristic of a UCS. At least 75159 is one big model.

And like JANGBRiCKS said, even if you treat it as a playset and not a UCS, it still fails, thanks to the lack of the Assaulters on Hoth.

2 hours ago, RetroInferno said:

Lego had to make a shitty UCS set one day, and here it is! And I wouldn't call this dissapointing, it's simply a crappy set, the UCS Death Star remake was the dissapointement ( Hello 690$ CAN ). 

So true. This set sucks, Death Star just was a disappointment only. It's still an okay set. $899 price tag for me, but no price increase.

The most disapointing aspect for me is the lack of interior. For a UCS at that price point this should have been the definitive Echo Base set but instead it feels like an afterthought. Especially compared to the 2011 Hoth set that was exclusive to Toys R Us. There's no reason why the size and details of that base couldn't have been incorperated into the side wings of the main gate. Thankfully its Lego so it can easily be modified but it still feels like a missed opportunity.

The unfinished backsides and lack of Princess Leia are also sore points. Yes its nice to have Toryn Farr but that shouldn't come at the expense of the movie's lead heroine. There's no reason why two female characters couldn't have been included.

I do think the hate for this set has been overblown though. For anyone who doesn't own any Hoth sets this is still a good starting point. And there's nothing more irritating than constantly hearing the set called "Insult on Hoth" over and over. Coming from adult fans it just sounds incredibly childish.

I got a nice laugh from the review, thank you. 

It may sound harsh but I think this set deserves most of the flak people sent to it.

I highly recomend Jang's breakdown of the thing: he goes through everything down to how it even fails as a play set. 

As I've said from the start, this set it best for those who don't have any Hoth sets or those who love that battle and just want to add to their Hoth collection. I'll buy any A-wing Lego puts out, so I understand that some people will buy this just because of the Hoth elements, and that's cool. But for many of us, it feels too much like a collection of sets we already have, with too many odd choices to overlook. One of the things that stands out to me is that we finally get Wedge, but in reality we only get his helmet. Stupid stuff like that sort of sums up the set and the disappointment around it.

As for the Death Star, I missed the last one so I'm in the camp that appreciates the rerelease, but I can 100% understand people being upset that the new UCS is just a $100 pricier version of an old set. I got it for Christmas and couldn't be happier with it.

I had almost no Hoth sets so I loved this set. I also got it for $190 total which is more reasonable. I also picked up 7879 Hoth Echo Base so I have. Huge Hoth scene now that I love. Just need to build the At At moc that has recently been posted. 

Lack of completion is the problem here. The front side looks great, then the back looks as though the rest of the model has been chopped off. The designers focused too much on getting all the aspects of Hoth and not enough on the base itself which resulted in the back of the base looking like it did. I didn't mind the minifigure choices that much, I think the only notable absence was Leia. 

Good and accurate review that provided some laughs, well done. 

12 hours ago, Thebeeze111 said:

I got a nice laugh from the review, thank you. 

 

59 minutes ago, Sion said:

Good and accurate review that provided some laughs, well done. 

Glad to hear that 

 

8 hours ago, RetroInferno said:

It may sound harsh but I think this set deserves most of the flak people sent to it.

I highly recomend Jang's breakdown of the thing: he goes through everything down to how it even fails as a play set. 

Yeah it's a great vid. 

https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=X8uj_CnQEV8 but it's about 20 mins long.

Hi.  I am new to this site, and I have a question.  I don't know if this is the best place to ask, but has anyone posted instructions on how to update the shield generator from this set to have 4 power disks instead of the 3?  I've searched online and etc., and I haven't found one.  Any suggestions?

I've tried to update it myself, and I haven't been happy with the results.

Thanks.

8 hours ago, mgtron1 said:

Hi.  I am new to this site, and I have a question.  I don't know if this is the best place to ask, but has anyone posted instructions on how to update the shield generator from this set to have 4 power disks instead of the 3?  I've searched online and etc., and I haven't found one.  Any suggestions?

I've tried to update it myself, and I haven't been happy with the results.

Thanks.

Maybe stretch the base out longer and create a fourth one based on the other three?

Oh, and you can ask in the "Post your general SW questions here". Might get more answers.

Edited January 1, 20178 yr by VaderFan2187

Thanks VaderFan2187.  I'll try what you've suggested....

An epic failure what could have been but wasn't !!!!!

5 hours ago, KevinYoung said:

An epic failure what could have been but wasn't !!!!!

One big model with great figures would be very nice. And displayable.