8 Ways to Justify Spending $800 on Lego's Massive New Star Wars AT-AT Set

Just as the Empire decimated planet after planet with its intimidating fleet of space weapons, Lego continues to decimate responsibly planned budgets with its Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars sets. The latest Lucasfilm creation to lay waste and stomp all over your wallet is the new UCS AT-AT that costs a hefty $800.

The AT-AT set includes 6,785 pieces, which is just shy of 800 pieces smaller than Lego’s original large-scale Star Wars masterpiece: the UCS Millennium Falcon but is quite a bit larger than the 4,784-piece UCS Star Destroyer that followed it. There’s no getting around it: $800 is an obscene amount of money to spend on a Lego set, so if you’re trying to perform the necessary mental gymnastics to help justify the investment (sure, let’s call it that) here are eight ways the set is yet another Lego show stopper (plus some more photos, of course).

With its legs fully extended, the Lego UCS AT-AT stands almost 25-inches tall, or in Lego metrics, roughly 78 studs. That means the vehicle is finally in a proper scale when compared to Star Wars Lego minifigures, at least based on Luke’s interactions with the AT-AT on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. If you’ve been thinking about getting a dog but don’t want all the responsibility, get this instead.

The AT-AT wasn’t just designed to stomp, smash, and blast its way through enemy defenses. It’s an armored transport that’s used to haul troops and other equipment to the battlefield. So, in addition to the capacity for four speeder bikes, the Lego UCS AT-AT includes seating for 40 minifigures, which is accurate to the “real” AT-ATs in the Star Wars universe.

Once fully assembled, 6,785 pieces of Lego are very heavy, so to ensure the AT-AT can stand on its own four legs without them collapsing under the weight, the joints are made with a combination of Lego Technic turntable gears paired with worm gears. It ensures the joints won’t buckle, but it also means the legs can’t be posed by hand. Instead, an included brick-built tool that can be stashed inside the AT-AT is used to adjust the leg joints, one by one, for the perfect pose.

An entire fleet of Snowspeeders struggles to bring down a handful of AT-ATs in The Empire Strikes Back, but for a Jedi, it’s just another day’s work. The Lego UCS AT-AT model includes the underbelly hatch that Luke slices open with his lightsaber, an included grappling hook rope that can be attached to the underside of the beast, and a thermal detonator Luke can use to bring the AT-AT to its knees.

The armor plating on all sides of the Lego UCS AT-AT can be removed to reveal the inner workings of the vehicle, and to load it up with troops and weapons. There are also secret panels that can pop open revealing more headaches for the Rebels, including this dude ready to strafe at approaching Snowspeeders with a heavy blaster. Surprise!

Did the Empire really have to design the AT-AT to look like a four-legged creature right down to its moving head? Not really, but the choice makes the AT-AT look extra intimidating when you’re staring it down in the heat of battle, and that’s been perfectly recreated on the Lego UCS AT-AT. The head is fully articulated and able to look left and right to scan the battlefield, and it’s got a host of rotating blasters attached, plus that terrifying red visor.

In The Empire Strikes Back, the only interior shots of an AT-AT we really get to see are inside the vehicle’s cockpit, which also happens to be located inside the AT-AT’s articulated head. The Lego UCS AT-AT includes a lavishly detailed recreation of that cockpit with room for the two AT-AT pilots as well as the General Veers minifigure standing behind them shouting orders.

The Lego UCS AT-AT will officially be available starting on November 26 through Lego’s website for $800, but don’t hold your breath for a Black Friday deal that day. Despite the obscene price tag, Lego usually has little trouble selling out of these massive sets.

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