I got this set for my 6 year old son who had spent months studying the box in stores and wondering how it works. So today when he finally got it he couldn't be any happier. As it turns out, this set is even better than it looks. He spent the whole night playing with it, and I don't blame him, it is a lot of fun. And unlike many Lego sets where the play features are hit or miss, these all work perfectly.

Box/Instructions

This set comes off as a premium set, with a beautiful large box and a perfect bound instruction book. These details make it seem like it should be a set for a much older crowd than it actually is intended for. Although the price tag is pretty high so I suppose Lego is trying to justify it, I won't complain!

Parts

First of all, there are no stickers! You get 3 2x2 round tiles with the Rebellion logo, and another 3 with the Empire logo printed onto them. These 6 bricks are easily the highlight. After that, you get the 2 cannons and 4 projectiles. Beyond that you do get a very healthy selection of larger bricks, just as we did with the Hoth sets that came out a decade ago. So while the price per brick is high, at least it isn't an inflated brick count.

Minifigures

You get 6 with this set. 3 rebels, 2 Snowtroopers, and a probe droid. The probe droid hasn't changed much if at all over the years, but for my son it was very cool. The Snowtroopers are identical, and while the printed details have improved, they are no frills (no backpacks, capes...) The rebels are more or less identical except that they have different faces. However, none of these look like the ones from 10 years ago which I personally have been collecting. But for my son, he absolutely loved all of them.

The Build

So my son enjoyed building the 2 cannons, he also built most of the Snowtrooper embankment until it got too complex for him with all the technic. Unfortunately, this portion of the build is by far the most complex, had he started elsewhere he probably wouldn't have asked for help.

The highlight of this build is of course learning how the play features work. It is also a very enjoyable build because of all the variety this set has to offer. Plus there is very little repetition, you only have repetition on the AT-AT legs.

The Model

it is a very attractive model and would fit in nicely with my Hoth sets from a decade ago if it weren't for the targets which can be removed. I do think that it is at a slightly smaller scale than those sets, but that is certainly forgivable as they pack a whole lot of stuff into a single set, and I'm sure keeping it affordable so that kids could buy it was a big concern. However I absolutely love this AT-AT which is much bigger than a microfighter, but still way too small for someone to for inside. Now the AT-AT is clearly designed for knocking down, it is difficult to get it to stand on its own without the snow bank between its legs. Also the back legs don't move and the front legs only bend at the knees and are connected. The head can hinge up and down only. So clearly this isn't an AT-AT that you would play with outside of this set, but it is certainly a design that could be easily modified if you wanted to build a handful of smaller AT-ATs without spending a fortune.

Overall

At the end of the day this is definitely a kids set and is meant for playing with. As far as I'm concerned, I've never seen a better Lego set for playing with. I also bought my son the Endor set in this line which he'll be getting in a few days, but now I'm thinking I need to get the other Hoth set and find an excuse to give it to him. I really think this is a brilliant new product line and I hope we see a lot more of it. I would love it if they made a Death Star set where you could hit a target and blow up the Death Star.

And in case you were wondering, this set is a lot of fun for adults as well!!!