Don't miss the latest stories
LEGO Fans Rail Against $800 ‘Star Wars’ Set They Say Is ‘Impossible’ To Rebuild
By Mikelle Leow, 08 Dec 2021
Subscribe to newsletter
Like us on Facebook
Image via LEGO
LEGO, in its quest to build complex, intricate kits for adults, turned away from one of its longstanding beliefs: its advocacy for play and reinvention.
Normally, hobbyists can get in touch with this sort of creativity by completing the sets, then taking them down and rebuilding them, maybe even adding some personal touches of new bricks and accessories along the way. They could even reuse the bricks from this box to modify other builds.
Unfortunately, the process isn’t this straightforward with the new Star-Wars AT-AT set, priced at US$799.99, as customers have found that the 6,785-piece setup isn’t so easy to disassemble because of its interlocking parts. LEGO-focused news site BRICKSET, for one, laments: “[LEGO] has broken from this tradition and some sub-assemblies within it are impossible to dismantle without resorting to using sharp metal implements.”
The publication says that “there is only one way” to dismantle the construction—with a knife blade, which would be thin enough to get into the slit of one of the connectors and dislodge it. “However, it comes at the cost of damaging the axle,” it notes. “I am quite surprised that this passed LEGO's stringent model review.”
Users have also vented their frustrations on platforms like Reddit. “How to remove?” asks a vexed builder. In a video, YouTuber RacingBricks calls this a “major design flaw.”
Defending the set, LEGO tells VICE’s Motherboard that, like all other LEGO sets, the AT-AT build is “designed to be rebuildable.”
“This set is a complex build intended for those aged 18+ and uses Technic pieces to secure elements of the set. Once assembled, these pieces can sometimes be more difficult to take apart, but it is still possible,” the company acknowledges. LEGO also says interlocking rods can be released when the model is eased on its side.
[via Motherboard, cover image via LEGO]
Receive interesting stories like this one in your inbox
Also check out these recent news