I picked this set up a while back when I visited the Lego store at Mall of America. It sat on my shelf for a while, but I recently decided to look over it again. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Box/Instructions

Nothing special about the box. The usual artwork displaying the minifigures and play features. The instructions were simple to follow. I found no problems here.

Parts

This set contains several interesting pieces, such as the old missile launcher. I myself don't make many Mocs, but the parts would be perfect for a futuristic city.

Minifigures

My favorite part of sets. They certainly didn't disappoint here. This version of Ahsoka is only included with this set and the Corascant police gunship. Her printing is very accurate to the show. The 212th attack battalion trooper is featured here with a more yellowy hue then that of those included with Utapau troopers. Though it's hard to build an army of them, a single one works well with the set. The two Umbarans are without a doubt my favourites. Their printing is relatively simple but fits the figures perfectly. Even if you don't purchase the set, I highly recommend getting these two. I do however feel that it could have include one or two more minifigures for the price.

The build

The build took me under half an hour. No special techniques were used, but the structure proved to be quite sturdy.

The completed model

The completed model looks superb. I find that it has a very unique design that looks great next to most Star wars models. My only criticism would be the turret control. I find that it sticks out too much from the bottom which takes away from the visual appeal.

Overall opinion

A well designed, sturdy set. For kids, it has a lot of playability. For Afols, it looks good beside the other Battle of Umbara sets as well as in amongst a Droid army. A great buy, especially if you're looking for good playability.

Ok, are you like me? What does that mean?, well it means that you got back in to Lego because of your love for The Star Wars Universe and the total excitement created from the first time you saw mini Star Wars characters and ships represented in Lego form. But...did you wobble like me? Did the umpteenth version of an X-wing or Starfighter start to make you doubt your ability to keep collecting?, if so, again it's like me. So I started to get choosy, picking up what I thought were the choice cuts so to speak. Having a young daughter does mean we have the Cartoon Network on, and this particular set was therefore selected for a Clone Wars themed purchase.

The Umbaran MHC (Mobile Heavy Cannon) features in two episodes of The Clone Wars, 'The General' and 'Plan of Dissent', so do look them up if you want to see the cartoon version in action.

Box/Instructions

The box is quite small to be honest, which marks a welcome move to more appropriate sizing. I guess the juxtaposition here is that at an rrp of £49.99, it feels expensive on a size basis.

As with all the winter 2013 sets, the box has Yoda in the corner and the green trim. The instructions are just a standard one booklet format.

Parts

There are 493 parts, making it 9.86p per part against rrp, which is quite expensive, but I suspect as with the state of the current world economy, you won't find it too difficult to get this set for somewhere between £30 and £40, whipping the price per part in to a little bit of shape.

There are some quite unusual parts, including a very nice cockpit screen. The main colours you will get are dark red, dark blue, and of course lots of gray.

Minifigures

All 4 minifigures are new.

- Ashoka, with double printed head and orange torso. The expressions on the torso are a slight contented grin, and the getting angry Jedi. Although it must be controlled anger as we know. It's a nice figure, and kids will love this one.

- 212th Trooper, with single printed head. This clone comes in a white with yellow trim outfit.

- 2xUmbarans. The star(s) of the show. The figures sport a beautiful light purple single printed head with an expression I would describe as uncompromising. In additon, the fabulous new helmet is a great design and has some super detail on the back in the form of grooves. The torso is double printed, although the legs are plain. The figures are identical.

Footnote: Umbarans can see in ultraviolet. (below 300 nanometers only)

The build

Three bags are rattled through quite quickly, with the cockpit first, then the legs added after. I found a few really nice touches in the leg build, which meant it was just enough to avoid boredom setting in given the repeated nature of the build.

It is to be noted that there is a sticker sheet with around 9 stickers, mainly in blue and gray. It's a shame that we couldn't just get a couple more printed bricks, but this point has been debated many times before, so I won't labour the point here.

The completed model

Very accurate to the cartoon, and actually really rather good. Its perhaps slightly on the smaller side of what you migt expect, but the figures work fine with the scale. The model is very playable, with a workable cannon and moveable legs.

I would describe this set as cute, but in a good way.

Summary

As a child of the 80s growing up with Kenner (or Palitoy...) toys, I am really an original trilogy man, but occasionally I can give a nod to a really good design of a new character or ship, and this set deserves such a nod.

I am really quite taken with this set. The model itself is nice to look at, with a nice colour scheme, and also playable with the aformentioned cannon and movable legs, as well as the new unique minifigs.

If I was reviewing against rrp, I might be a touch harsher, but I am assuming we can all get at least something off rrp these days, and when you look at this set against a slightly discounted price, then throw in the new minifigures, and the simply wonderful Umbarans, I think I might have to say this is a real gem.

I picked this one up from the LEGO Store at the very end of 2013. Until now I hadn't taken a good look at how this set compares to what LEGO is doing today. Because this is an older set I thought it would be fun to while taking a look at set compare it to similar sets today.

Packaging

I wasn't a fan of the box art for 2013. When next to certain sets the green didn't look as good as say the new Rogue One box art does. I'm not going to dock points for this though because who cares about the box anyway?

The Build

Some of the techniques used here are really nice. For the main body they use some clever math and SNOT techniques which made this feel fresh and it was a really joy to put together. That joy didn't last long though as I realized I would soon be building SIX of these legs. They look small but they take a good five minutes each. That meant I was spending 1/2 hour just building up the same thing. That's one of biggest problems with the set.

The Parts

This being an older set I wouldn't expect much in the way of parts that would be new today, but let's have look in the good old database...

• 6029302 in Trans-Light Blue

Yeah, that's about it. It's a shame because it dings some value from the set.

Minifigures

This has to be the strongest part of this set. Four minifigures are included, three of which are exclusive and one has appeared only in one other set.

Ashoka is the only character in this set who isn't exclusive, she shows up again in 75046 Coruscant Police Gunship. The detailing on her torso is meant to show of her post season three outfit and this is a huge upgrade from her previous appearance in 8098 Clone Turbo Tank. She also comes with two lightsabers both with the (then) new green color for the blade. While some will argue this isn't necessarily accurate, it isn't that big of a problem.

This version of a 212th Battalion trooper is a little bit of a problem though. He uses a yellow print for his armor details where there should be an orange print. This might not be a big deal to many people, but I can't now see him as anything other than a 327th Star Corps trooper similar to the on the appeared in 2007 Clone Trooper Battlepack. This also means he doesn't look good with any other 212th troopers because LEGO made them in orange in the 2014 battlepack.

Ok, rant over, moving on...

The two Umbaran's included in the set look really good. I love the sand purple head and the detailing on the torso looks really nice. I could of gone for some leg printing personally, but I'm glad we got them none the less.

The Completed Set.

In terms of playability this is very basic for a Star Wars set. You can put someone inside and shoot something. Although I have to admit for being very basic it does basic really wel. The mechanism for opening the two canopies is smooth and it's nice you can fit both Umbarans in. This also uses a Technic shooter instead of flick fire missiles, stud shooters or spring loaded shooters so that's a win.

Esthetically it also looks good. While it was a pain to build the legs, it really paid off in the end. In this case I also think that the stickers look good and add some needed detail to the final set.

Overall

As much as I talked about the negative side of this set there's something about it that really draws me two it. Maybe it's because it's unique and isn't a major vehicle seen in Star Wars, or maybe I really like the style.

There are also things that I don't like. The build, the lack of play features and inaccurate minifigures all are issues that haunt this set.

I think you should see if you can find it for a good price on Bricklink or Ebay. If you do, then I would recommend giving this set a chance.