[Review] 8038 - The Battle of Endor

[TheBrickHitHouse]

i like the new AT-ST - but this set is not particularily inspired

..all told, there isnt much of it...

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

May I ask were did you get this set?

The Toys´r ´us stores in Germany and Galeria Kaufhof have the sets already on the shelves. Only missing the three exclusives Home One, Pirate tank and the Falcon.

[dunamis]

Very nice review and nice photos. I enjoyed the close ups of the minifigs. Looking forward to building this one myself.

[brickzone]

I really liked seeing all the details in the review. Quite a difference between old and new Ewoks.

I am very tempted to make this set my first proper star wars purchase (apart from two small sets I got on clearance).

Am I simply too uninitiated, or is this really one of the better Star Wars sets recently if you're not crazy on just vehicles/spaceships?

The selection of minifigs seems really great!

[MaxGoof]

*HEART ATTACK*

God, that set is awesome. It's between this and the Temple of Doom for my favorite set of 2009, which is saying A LOT with all of the unique and amazing things we're seeing this year!

I love me some Ewoks, and can't WAIT to add this to my collection at full price. Hurry up, Lego!

[Abaddon127]

Great Review! I really love the look of the rebel commando torsos. The speeder bikes are really cool as well.

[Hewman]

Do my eyes deceive me or is there not even a hint of a sticker sheet there? Woo hoo!

[RileyC]

wow it looks better than i expected it would. The bunker is awesome it looks really well done and the exploding panel look really interesting. The minifig selection looks great especially the rebel soldiers!

A great review too! good detail

[Legoman]

This is personally the set i'm most looking forward to this year (that we've seen).

Everything about it rocks. Good job lego! The only thing i wish is that it was on a Green 32x32 baseplate

Still, what an amazing addition to any endor. If i see them cheapish, i'll probably get two!

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you very much for that great review, Navy Trooper Fenson!

I voted for Outstanding

since this set is - well - simply outstanding!

Cons:

- missing of one or two big brick-built trees - it's in the jungle and we don't get some trees?!

- would prefer either a black-suited Imp. Officer or at least a second Imp. Navy Trooper over Chief Chirpa (who should better be included in an Ewok Town set)

- AT-ST includes only one seat and no controls

Pros:

+ two speeder bikes

+ excellent bunker (even with some interior!) :thumbup:

+ twelve awesome minifigures

Comment to the OT sets this year in general:

- I really miss a Hoth Luke and an Endor Luke. It's the 30ths anniversary of SW but there is no single Luke minifigure in any set - isn't that a bit strange?!

+ Apart from that I must say that we're getting absolutely awesome sets with many new and excellent minifigures - brilliant job, TLG! :thumbup:

Klaus-Dieter

Edited May 25, 2009 by Klaus-Dieter

[Skipper 24]

I just noticed what you wrote about the speeder bikes. You said the black poles on the front were different pieces to the 7676 speeder bikes'. What piece do they use? I also just noticed that the rebel back packs in white would look perfect on the scout troopers. In they films they had a back piece similar to that shape just a bit shorter.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Skipper 24

[mufftarkin]

i bought the set last friday.

pros:

the minifigs: especially the rebels and leia are great, the camouflage print is really good.

the bunker: great design, can be used for other dioramas as well.

cons:

the helmets of the rebels tend to fall off, so i glued them.

speederbikes: i liked the older speederbikes better.

at-st: the second version of the big at-st is much more stable and the walking gimmick is useless.

bunker: the mechanic part wich can blast the walls. it doesn´t really work well. it should have a complete roof.

price

[SWMAN]

Now all we need is some Endor BP's. Ewoks, Rebel's, and Imperials would all be nice. Also, a new set similar to the new Hoth set would be nice. This is definitely an area Lego can capitalize on.

I don't think the poles on the Speeder Bikes are different. I just think on the one for the Gunship, the fat piece goes near the front., and on the new one is goes towards the back.

[Ras 74]

Very great review

Will build my own this evening.

Need a few houers of sleep first when I get home.

But so looking forward to sit down with this.

-Ras-

[calebexo01]

wow! this set is even better than i thought! the figures are amazing! 12 figs in a $100 set is great value. i am unable to afford the death star so the imperial trooper will be nice. ill probably mod the bike from the republic gunship and add it with the scout trooper and ewoks from the old endor battle set. im glad the ewoks have printing this time. they look way better. i also really like the sloped design of the at-st body. it is more realistic and looks like a minerature of the ucs at-st. the legs look ok. i guess having the walking function made them have to change the design of the legs. in a way, it is also more realistic. is the at-st able to easilly stand up on its own? it looks like it would fall forward or backwards from being topheavy since the legs can freely move. or maybe it wouldnt because the legs move in opposite directions. im not sure. i hope ill be able to afford this. its such a great set overall. but there are so many great set this year. thanks for the great review!

the poles on the speeder bike are new. i have the aat and the guns on the side have new poles. they are the same as the old ones but the thick part of the pole is a little closer to the middle in the new version. the new speeder would use those poles too.

Edited May 25, 2009 by calebexo01

[darthdarren]

AT-ST:

We are now finished with the first two bags, so we start our next two with the AT-ST walker Version 3.0 (5.0 if you count UCS and mini versions).

The legs aren t really well designed. They strong remind me of chickenlegs.

Even in futuristic worlds we still need hammers.^^

The tan wheel can be used to let the walker "walk".

The mechanism behind this technic

The walking function isn t very easy to describe, so I just link to a video from Toy Fair 2009 that shows it "walking".

The cockpit:

All three cannons:

The hatch:

The hatch is our well-known trap door piece, but the plate can be completly lifted up, too. The trapdoor will not stay open due to the way the At-ST leans forward in the standing position.

Inside the cockpit is only one seat.

Chewbacca inside the ST.

Back of the cockpit.

Another view of the tan wheel.

Imperial Shieldbunker:

Unfortunately we are near the end of this review with our last building: The Endor shieldbunker.

The Bunker is built on a 32 x 24 base.

The corners have the ability to blast their darkgrey wallsections out to create the destruction of the bunker.

The walls of the bunker are normal plates with 1x4 tiles. They are only inserted in the walls and can fall out of the place if you transport it from one room into another.

The closed doors:

Like I mentioned in my review of 8036 Separatists Shuttle, the doors can t be closed synchronally, they only open separatly.

Open:

Inside the bunker.

Look at the doors. It won t be easy but it can be possible to mod the doors with the function from 8036.

The walls have clips for four objects. In the instructions you put two rifles and two blasters there but it can hold shovels, brooms, lightsabers and several other things, too.

It will be difficult to throw Ben Burtt down there.

The bunker can be opened for more room to play. The bunker locks in place with 1x1 bricks with clips and black telescopes in the walls.

The electric thingies that create the Death Star shield

Computers for the Navy trooper.

Oh noes! My friend gets caught by the rebels!

Extra parts.

Complete set:

The Final Verdict

Design: 8/10 The set is nicely designed with many details. My only problems are with the Speederbikes which were better in the 7676 Gunship and with the AT-ST legs. Also the bunker could have been better with a normal brick wall and a sticker of the death star or Han in AT-ST driver uniform.

Build: 9/10 The build was straight-forward but includes a few technic parts. Numbered bags in a Star Wars set are also a welcomed addition.

Playability: 9/10 The walking function of the ST is more than useless and I really miss imperial reinforcements. 5 rebels and three heroes with a walker, catapult and flyer against three imperials with two bikes? The battle is as good as lost without some 7667 Dropships.

Minifigures: 9/10 I know, it s impossible to include every figure we need for this battle in one set, but I really miss them. Imperial officers, C-3PO, another Navy, maybe some Stormtroopers (but that can be forgiven if we get new imperial BPs in 2010).

Price: 9/10 Again it seems overpriced for most of the people, but I think that every set with a Navy trooper deserves 100 Euros.^^

Overall: 44/50 or 8,8/10

I recommend this set to every army builder, minifigure collector, diorama builder and fans of the rebel alliance.

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[Navy Trooper Fenson]

Do my eyes deceive me or is there not even a hint of a sticker sheet there? Woo hoo!

Yes, no stickers in sight!

the helmets of the rebels tend to fall off, so i glued them.

After a few hours it happened only to one of them, and I solved the problem with swapping the brickbuild backpacks with standard backpacks from my numerous Soldiers Arsenal Impulses.

The poles on the bikes are different pieces.

Gunship: http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/4095

Endor: http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/63965

[mattb483]

This set is cool but is lacking some mini figs, they should have added c-3po and atleast 2 stormtroopers as well...

[UsernameMDM]

Cool set, but I am only really interested in the Endor Rebels. Hope they make it into a battle pack soon!

[HJR-Holland]

Do you perhaps have some more info on how the roof line was made? brackets seem like the most logical option, but looking at the 8x8 plates on top, it seems brackets would stress (or not fit) against the 75° slopes... Or is there an extra layer of plates on top of the slopes?

Nice review, but it missed that info

Edited May 27, 2009 by HJR

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

I don´t really know how to explain, so I scanned a few pictures from the instructions.

[KimT]

I've just begun building my Endor set and it's great.

I am soo getting another of these to keep MISB forever

And maybe one more to tear open and enjoy.

[bamaker]

This will definitely be my first purchase among the 2009 LEGO summer sets. Great review, you covered everything!

Sometimes, LEGO really knocks one out of the ballpark! Leia , rebel troopers , ewoks , imperial trooper , and the bunker .

[HJR-Holland]

Thanks for the info; you get five bonus points

[DutchRebel]

Have been building this fantastic set last two nights. I am really impressed by the design: the bunker is a real old-school type of build (exept the exploding door mechanism), the AT-ST is a nice technical one and at last the Ewok stuff is quite original. Of course the minifigs are just GREAT, the rebel commandos are almost too detailed for putting the backpacks on!

This one definately enters my top 3 SW sets.

Thanx for the review by the way.

DR