The most anticipated set of the summer, the LEGO AT-TE set is finally available. Is it worth the hype or does it fail to deliver? Read my thorough review of the building process, the pros and cons of the set, and find out if it’s worth the wait and its price!
Why the LEGO AT-TE set had a delayed release
As some of you might know, the AT-TE release date was delayed in North America. It was supposed to hit shelves at the beginning of August with the last remaining sets of the summer wave.
Due to shipping logistics, it was postponed for an undisclosed amount of time. Some speculated that it would only be two to three weeks and others said that it’d be available until September.
I’m someone who’s always checking online stores when there‘s a product I know might be available soon. One night I checked online stores like I’ve been doing for the past weeks and what was my surprise?
The AT-TE appeared as available. Honestly, I thought there was a mistake but couldn’t help myself so I ordered it.
In just a few days the package arrived at my home and I was able to finally start building the highly anticipated LEGO AT-TE set.
This set is #75337, with 1082 pieces and 20cm tall (7.8 in) when completed. Recommended age is 9+. It retails for $140 USD, but the price could differ depending on where you live, I had to pay around $185 due to import and tax fees.
All Terrain Tactical Enforcer Lore Reminder
The AT-TE or All Terrain Tactical Enforcer is a military tank used by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. It is equipped with six laser cannon turrets, a mass-driver cannon, and six legs to adapt to any terrain. Its versatility and power made it one of the main ground vehicles for the Grand Army of the Republic.
The AT-TE is present in any major battle (if the terrain allows it). Climbing a mountain, scaling a big metal surface, or being able to survive in the vacuum of space are what make it an incredible front-line tank for almost any situation.
The rotating mass-driver cannon could be used to shoot down slow enemy aircraft or intercept incoming enemy missiles. Its armor is more than capable of deflecting small arms fire, it is also shielded against electromagnetic pulses and ion weapons.
It has four small cannons placed at the front and two at the rear to protect itself from multiple angles. The AT-TE can seat up to twenty troopers plus the pilot, four gunners, a spotter, and the turret gunner.
All of these features make it a vehicle that serves the purpose of both a tank and artillery while also carrying a significant amount of troops. As you can imagine, its low speed is what makes it vulnerable to powerful and precise attacks, a well-placed missile could destroy or make it useless.
Nonetheless, the AT-TE is an incredible walker that allowed the Republic to overcome many situations that would have been impossible with other vehicles. We’ve witnessed its usefulness multiple times but watching The Clone Wars animated show really displays its full capabilities. It’s no wonder why this is a fan favorite.
The experience of building the 2022 AT-TE LEGO set
The box is way smaller than I anticipated. If you’re buying this in a physical store you won’t have any trouble carrying it with a single hand, this is super practical if you plan to recreate your favorite battle with multiple walkers.
There’s a total of six sections in this set, all of them within their respective plastic bags. I still can’t get used to the smaller bags packed inside the big ones, it’s just unnecessary waste in my opinion.
To try something different, this time I used the 3D instructions that are available in the official LEGO app. It is really useful particularly when you want to see other angles of your current step, but I got confused way more in comparison to the physical instructions. I’m probably going to stick with them and just use the 3D ones as additional assistance when needed.
When I built the BD-1 LEGO set, I organized all pieces to be as efficient as possible. On this occasion I went with the opposite approach; just emptied the bags on the table without organizing anything and search for every piece needed.
I’ve always loved the process of watching how something that doesn’t really have a shape becomes an awesome LEGO set, this was no exception.
The main structure of the walker is the first thing you build, I was clueless about what it was for around ten minutes. It is a very solid design that keeps everything tight without being too heavy.
The building process took me about six hours, in retrospect the method of not organizing the pieces wasn’t the most efficient. Sometimes it was very tedious, especially because it wasn’t until step four that everything started coming together.
For the second time, I got confused by the color of certain pieces when looking at the instructions. I’d say that ninety percent of the pieces are black, dark grey, and light grey so I had to adjust the lighting a couple of times to avoid using the wrong piece. Not that this is a deal breaker but it can be annoying sometimes.
Once the main base structure of the walker was finished everything flew pretty smoothly.
The side panels, turrets, cannon, and legs were super easy to mount. Considering that these are the most “fragile” parts of the set I was surprised by how effortless it was.
On the other hand, the cockpit wasn’t that easy. I forgot to place two parts that might look meaningless but without them, the entire piece would collapse with the slightest effort when trying to take the cockpit out. This shows how just a single piece can be the difference between a stable build or an inevitable disaster.
I quickly realized my mistake and rebuild the cockpit from scratch. Even after the pieces were in place, it wouldn’t slide as gently as I’d expected. That’s the only part of the set that I think could be a problem in the future.
This was a fun but long process. A pretty easy build and you shouldn’t have any troubles if you follow the instructions thoroughly.
If you enjoy building LEGO sets on your own this is the perfect way to spend your weekend. But if you like to share your hobbies with your friends, family, or significant other; having someone help you makes everything more enjoyable.
Playability and Features
The AT-TE isn’t as expensive or valuable as a UCS set, so I’d say it’s more accurate to call it a toy rather than a collectible. I know all LEGO sets are collectible but I think you know what I mean.
All six turrets are movable, the cannon can rotate 360º, and the legs are movable but I don’t really find a reason to do it unless you want to do a stop-motion cutout or something similar.
I love that it’s possible to open up the side doors of the walker, this allows you to see every detail inside without having to disassemble anything. In this picture, you can see the gunner at the back of the AT-TE as well as some of the troopers that are being transported.
The cabin can slide out of the walker, however, it requires a certain amount of force to pull it out, and some pieces ended up falling more than once.
I don’t know if I’m doing it the wrong way but it shouldn’t be that hard to retrieve that part considering how fragile it is, by far the most annoying thing I encountered.
The Minifigures are super cool, my favorite one is obviously Commander Cody. The 212th Battalion is one of my favorite Clone Battalions so it’s pretty cool to have four of them in this set. I would have liked a more detailed paint job in their armor but for me, it’s not that big of a deal.
The cannon is able to shoot green studs. It’s a cool feature but I would only use this frequently if I had many studs to spare, we all know how easy it is to lose them.
The negatives
The most obvious one in my case was the price, $180 is a little too much in my opinion but it’s still more appealing to me than The Justifier.
This is a very cool set, but it doesn’t shine by itself if we compare it to other sets. It looks “OK” on a shelf but to truly take it to the next level you certainly need at least two other copies of it.
In my opinion, recreating any big battle is the most fun thing you could do with multiple LEGO Star Wars sets. The possibilities you get with this set are incredible, but if I had to choose this or BD-1 to display on its own I’d pick BD-1 every day of the week.
The rotating cannon is my favorite part of the walker, but if you’re not careful when moving it the trooper will easily fall off since there are no studs on the seat, nothing to worry about but I think it’s worth mentioning if we consider how annoying it can be to look for a missing Minifigure.
The positives
It’s super cool that they included a total of eight Minifigures (3 battle droids+4 clone troopers+Commander Cody) and a Spider Droid. With the included CIS units you don’t need another set to play “CIS vs Republic”.
It looks incredibly accurate to the screen version for a LEGO set, the colors and details are on point.
It has a perfect size, big enough to actually stand out in your build but not small enough to look “awkward” in comparison to other vehicles or figures.
The side panels make a very good job at protecting the inside and not allowing its details to be revealed unless you open it, if you decide to do so, you’ll be able to see every funny detail like the fire extinguisher or the cup.
The handle makes it extremely easy to move it around without having to worry about disarming anything, I absolutely love this feature because I’m pretty clumsy.
As someone who hates stickers, I can say that the ones included here were pretty easy to place.
Verdict
As with any LEGO set, this is perfect to hang out with a friend if you don’t want to go out. It’s a super fun activity that doesn’t demand too much concentration so you can talk about anything without losing focus.
This is a very good set, it is super complete and you only need a couple more troopers, perhaps a Jedi, and you got yourself a complete unit.
The building process was super fun but I don’t recommend doing it in one sit especially if you’re not using a comfortable chair, other than that it was a pretty good experience.
It is pretty expensive, but I think the price is justifiable if we consider everything it includes. The Phase II Commander Cody Minifigure is the most important one, if you’re a collector and you love the Clone Wars animated show and the prequel movies it is a must-have.
Should you buy the Star Wars LEGO AT-TE set
If you just love the AT-TE or if it’s an important set for your next LEGO build then absolutely yes, you should consider buying it.
If due to space limitations, you can only have a few sets displayed it might be worth considering other sets like BD-1, the N-1 Starfighter, or any of the Diorama sets.
Of course, this is just my subjective opinion. At the end of the day, it’s your money and only you should decide how to spend it.
This was my LEGO Star Wars AT-TE Set Review. If you have any questions I’d be more than happy to answer them as best as possible.
