7155 - Trade Federation AAT

Rating:
Pros: Interesting design; good pieces; very sturdy; great for price
Cons: Has holes that should've been filled; odd balance
Contents: 158 pieces including 2 battle droids
Price: $19.99
Reviewed: 30-Jul-2000
Reviewed by: Gareth Bowler

The rebel Gungan band had a pretty tight position in the swamp. The humidity and thick, choking plant-life hampered the Trade Federation's battle droids' targeting ability, making them easy pickings for the Warriors and their Boomers.
They were celebrating another successful kill by kicking a droid head around in the mud when their revelry was interrupted by the whine of repulserlift engines and the cracking of branches. The massive, round prow of a Trade Federation AAT crashed its way through the undergrowth, moving in for the kill...

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STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I think Star Wars Lego is the best thing since sliced bread. Many of these sets are more fun than their larger, plastic counterparts, which you can neither customize nor destroy in battle. These sets tend to build very differently from normal Lego sets, in that they contain fewer large, specialized or pre-printed parts, are generally free from common space Lego design flaws, (like open cockpits and useless, dinky secondary vehicles) and usually have a very good piece-to-price ratio. Having established that I find these sets to be cooler than both normal Star Wars toys and normal Lego, let's move on.

This set is an authentic replica of the AAT (tan tanky things) from Episode One. I won't describe its outward appearance, since hopefully most of you have seen the movie. If you are looking to bulk up your collection of cool tan parts, this is a good set, since it's pretty cheap. In addition to a number of tan bricks, flats, and slants, it has a number of specialty pieces in that color, like the large round dish parts up front, the engine pieces (the same ones that appear on the X-wing and A-wing), the tube-like pieces that form the main fun, the small gun pieces with studs on four sides, and the three-stud long bricks that taper from two studs to one stud wide.

This set has a very unique design, that I particularly like. It balances (surprisingly) but only just barely, and if you set it on a soft surface or carpet it will list backwards. This is easily solved by installing heavy pieces under the front dish. If you look at it from behind or underneath, it looks somewhat incomplete, but this is also fixable by the addition of more pieces. The turret pivots and the gun elevates, but alas, the turret can only pivot about 30 degrees in each direction. Although I suppose that if it went further, the whole thing would fall over.

Like most Star Wars sets, this one has a few randomly colored parts included, (blue and red) but luckily they are mostly hidden from view and do not detract from the set's appearance. I quite like the battle droids, although there are cheaper sets to buy if you just want them. The way they fit inside is kind of lame; the one in the turret has to be totally folded up into a ball to fit in and to insert the driver you have to remove a piece and reattach it.

The biggest downside to this set is that you can't build much out of it. It lacks wing pieces, wheels, canopies, or enough bricks to make decent walls, so all you can really build out of it are other hover-type vehicles. Despite this, though, it is a good, surprisingly cheap set with some interesting parts. I recommend it to any Episode One fan or anyone who wants a good mid-size tank for their surface battles.