This is a set that you really have to look at through the eyes of the 2014 Lego landscape. A time before the Assault on Hoth controversy and before the 18+ rebranding of all adult-focused Lego sets. Retailing at $299 (~$350 in 2022 USD) the Sandcrawler was a great addition to the UCS and larger Lego lineup.

The build is simply fantastic. So many interesting techniques are used to achieve a steady frame and accurate angels. From the slight angle of the cockpit's roof, to the excellently done treads, this set earns its place as a UCS display model despite being a focused playset. It is stable and strong and the detailing is top tier. They were able to achieve a strong connection of the front ramp to the main body when closed, and it comes together with the main body panels perfectly. The size is large and the build feels heavy, despite not being minifigure scale it still towers over almost every other SW vehicle.

The interior contains a well-developed crane system with several attachments to move the included cargo boxes around and load them onto the included speeder. Although I wish the droid shop was included I'm still satisfied with what they came up with. The biggest con is the side crane can not be deployed to the exterior without removing a majority of the vehicle's roof.

The minifigures fit perfectly with this set. You get Luke Skywalker, Owen Lars, R2 and C-3PO, two pairs of Jawas, two astromechs, and three brick built droids (including a Gonk). The figures are nice and complement the set well and can be used to set up a nice display scene recreating Owen Lars' purchase of R2 and C-3PO.

Overall the biggest con of this set is the lack of a plaque, it would have complemented it very nicely like how they did it with the later UCS Falcon and AT-AT. The price back when this was released was also quite high, it was equivalent to $350 today which is the same as current MBS sets. I think $50 less would be more appropriate. This is a great set and I consider it a must-have if you can find it for a reasonable price.

When I was a kid I pined for the original Sandcrawler set but never was able to get it. It embodied one of my favorite Star Wars Aesthetics, the grimy, industrial SCIFI vibe that much of Tattooine and especially the Jawas held. For me, the only comparable SW aesthetic were the bounty hunter/Hutt/Criminal areas, locations and scenes.

I got back into Lego for the first time as an adult in early 2019, right before my 26th birthday. That lasted until Christmas of that year. I had used up most of my display space and so I somewhat jokingly told my wife that I would stop buying Lego if I could cap off my hobby with the perfect set, in no way expecting her to get the very expensive, retired Sandcrawler She had no real issue with me getting Lego sets, as she is the same with fashion, specifically buying too much Lululemon, but we hyperbolically tease each other for money wasting hobbies.

Yet to my disbelief, she somehow got the vastly improved version of the set I'd wanted as a kid. It was the largest set I'd ever gotten at the time, still is near the top. So, mostly due to display space limitations, my interest turned to other hobbies for all of 2020. I recently got back into Lego and just started using Brickset.

If my reviews seem largely too positive, it is only because I am beginning the process of reviewing my older sets with those that really stand out to me, my big favorites.

I'd imagine most or even all adults who were childhood fans of Lego had at least one set that represented the one that got away. I would also imagine that the Sandcrawler was that set for many. If you have the chance to get this set at a "reasonable" price, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

It is one of the more involved builds. While I can't imagine there are ant "difficult" sets for an adult to build (Colored step by step instructions basically make them all pretty easy) some sets involve more complex mechanisms and techniques. This is one of the better examples of such a set. I normally strongly dislike play features, being a 27yo man, they remain completely unused but still increase prices, but the features in the UCS Sandcrawler feel more like Lego's attempt to approximate a machine and the complexity of the Sandcrawler's fictional mechanics. They add to the experience, both build and display.

The build is as almost good as it gets, even with the tedium of sorting through small brown pieces. The minifigures are great, I thought at least. I LOVE when a set includess a variation of buildable star wars droids. They're tiny and simple, but getting the chance to see an improved manifestation of the interesting droids that only briefly appear is just fun.

There is really not much to complain about with this set. I got VERY lucky with UCS sets, the only ones I have being the Slave I and this...having two of the best, I am not rushing to get any of the retired UCS sets that I am far less interested in. They'll seem worse relative to the two I have.

This is a must-have for SW fans, that's basically all that needs to be said. Since I got it, I have seen the price rise steadily and so It's unfortunate that many won't be able to afford it...but IF you can and you love Lego Star Wars, I can't recommend this set highly enough.

This is a really awesome set.

The build is great with a lot of interesting techniques used in construction and some really nice engineering which makes this a very solid build when completed.

The minifig line up is great too with some nice exclusive figures and some brick built droids.

For a UCS set this has a lot of play features (yes it is a UCS set. Lego decides what is in the UCS range and this says UCS on the box!).

2 Cranes, steering, drawbridge style front ramp, storage crates and boxes, storage compartments, control deck, moveable/removable panels and a lot more besides. This is something you could play with for hours and still find new things to do.

I totally love this set and would recommend it to anyone. The only downside to this set is the price now it has been retired but to be fare these can be had for a reasonable price and are not crazy over expensive like some retired sets can be.

If you like how it looks then buy one if you can. You won't regret owning this set.

The Sandcrawler set was never going to be proper minifig-scale; it would have to be a meter long and half a meter tall. However without the minifigs it would be a fairly dull brown box on wheels so the designers had to make a compromise. Did they get away with it? Hell yes!

Box/Instructions

The box is BIG as you'd expect from 3000+ part set. Bags are numbered 1-16 and for some reason some bags are in a plain white box inside the main box. The back of the box, along with the usual pictures that show play elements, strangely says "Exclusive building instructions included". I don't think they're any more exclusive than any other set instructions; they tend to be unique to a single set...

The instructions are in a single 308 page book which interestingly starts with a few pages about the prototype and the set designers. The instructions are very good and easy to follow. The same can not be said about the online instructions. I built the set with my wife, with one of us working from the downloaded pdf instructions. At times they are so badly pixelated I needed to switch to the book to see the details.

Parts

3296 of them. Looking at the set image it's hardly surprising that the bulk of the parts are brown plates in various shapes and sizes, some unique to this set, with some dark tan, dark orange, dark brown and tan mixed in. There's also a good bit of Technic for the internal structure and cranes. And let's not forget 304 Technic thread links.

Minifigures

Brickset lists 14 minifigures but 4 of those are brick-built droids and another 3 are R2-D2 and two cousins. C-3PO is included and of course there are Jawa's; four of them, with two different torso prints. Uncle Owen is there, but no aunt Beru, and of course Luke. Most of them are unique to this set while some appear in one or two other sets.

While she doesn't appear in the droid-buying scene I would have liked to see aunt Beru and I definitely would have liked more Jawas. Still, the minifigs you do get are all pretty good.

The build

It's a good set to build with two people; once the first part of the chassis is built a good few parts are built as modules that are attached left and right. The tracks are a bit repetitive to build but otherwise there's good variety in build techniques; some Technic for internal structures and cranes, greebling on the outside and various ways to connect sub assemblies at all sorts of angles.

The completed model

Once you're done there's an impressive monster sitting on your table. The overall shape is great and there's enough colour variation to break the brown monotony. It's a pity though that the colour patterns are symetrical; left and right are exact mirror images. At the back, where the engines are, there's more opportunity for details and it doesn't disappoint; it's Pete Reid in brown ;-)

Where this set blows all previous UCS sets out of the water is in play functions. It rolls and steers (but not on a smooth surface), the front ramp can be lowered and most top and side panels open to allow access to the interior. Because of the size there's just the one big space inside; no multiple engine rooms and workshops.

There's a Jawa speeder bike, a working crane at the front and a working crane inside and there are different grips that can be used with the crane. There are also of course many boxes and crates for the various droids.

The bridge is a bit cramped and has no real windows. This again is where the size/scale compromise bites but the designers have done a good job; the outside looks the part and there's just enough room and equipment inside to play.

Overall opinion

This is a fantastic set. It's not cheap, especially when you consider that 10% of the parts are chain links, but it's worth the money. It looks great from the outside and it's full of play features on the inside. There are a few details that could be improved but that shouldn't stop anyone from buying it.

This is one build I won't forget, in a good way.

Box/Instructions

It's a keeper

Parts

More reddish brown than you will ever need.

Minifigures

The 4 jawas are simply a must have

The build

Oddly fun

The completed model

A big hit with the fascinated six year old.

Overall opinion

I bought this on April 30th 2014, as I knew I had a few days off in early May to put it together. With the son at school, I assembled it over the course of three days. This would be a monumental task if done in a rush, but done at a relaxed pace, it was strangely enjoyable.

The many droids and figures keep my six year old puttering around this monster in the mornings before school. The play features are neat, and the stow away storage bins are great. At night I separate and hide the 'six piece robot' into all of the secret containers, and in the morning I find the little guy assembled again.

It's obviously not priced to be a child's toy, but the bonus of having my son love it so much is that every time he pulls a wall off, or drops a book on it, I have an excuse to haul out the hefty instruction manual and fix it.

I explained the cost to my wife as 'buying memories with my son.' I will remember building it when he was six, (it took 3 days!) and I will remember him playing with it too. And this thing is going to be around a long time. It would take decades just to break down in a landfill.