Best SW lego gimmick?

[findyourfix]

Hello all, I was wondering what the other FBTB folks thought the best SW Lego gimmick is/was/will be?
I've notice how missles now flick-fire, droids (Vulture/Hyena) convert smoothly, doors and panels open, and we even have a backwards compatible LAAT/c dropship coming that allegedly works! I thinks all of his makes the whole experience more fun, and has even brought small wars to my living room with my kids. What do you all think?

[MrCRskater]

Well, the best gimmick to date is probably the walking AT-AT walker. Though the model didn't look that great IMO, the fact that it walked was pretty cool! It also may very well be the latch system on the new LAAT/c w/ AT-OT and AT-TE. That was very impressive, both in terms of engineering and marketing foresight (awesome that the AT-TE works with the carrier, too). However, I feel my $250 will be better spent on the upcoming Endor and Home One sets, so I probably will not get to enjoy the glory of the LAAT/c.

A close second for me, though, are the weapons systems on the new Republic Attack Shuttle. The rapid-fire missile "clip" and the automatic bomb bays are pretty sweet, some of the best play features I think I've seen in a while.

[Bulls_Eye]

I'll probably be ridiculed, but I'm just going to say it. Despite the decrease in playability, I liked the added displayability of the light up lightsabers.

[darth jason]

Well i think the pop up tank commander seat is pretty neat in the Republic Fighter tank.

I really do like the comination folding wing/deploying landing gear sets like the V-19 and the Twilight but for true awesomeness I'd have to lean towards the walking AT-AT. I mean it walks! Thats a pretty good gimmick

[thepatient]

I've always liked the features on the V-19 and the Republic Cruiser.

[lordvader208]

Wing and landing gear function on the V-19 is just too good to ignore because it works so smoothly.

Flick fires don't really do much for me, just gives an added look to the sets.

And for some odd reason, I love the suspension on the Clone Turbo tank. You can basically roll over anything not too massive and it even turns direction if you tilt the tank sideways.

[Teekay]

I'm gonna have to stick with what many others said and go with LAAT/c. This just looks pure awesome. I can't wait to drop my AT-TE onto the soil of Geonosis.

~Sam (Teekay)

[Jabba the Taff]

Not sure if you'd class it as a gimmick or not, but I thought the floating seat on Slave 1 was really nifty.

Edit: Floating? Hmmm. Should that be swiveling? Or counter-weighted?

[MrCRskater]

Ooooh, good ones!! I second on the Slave I swiveling pilot seat and light-up lightsabers. V-19 sounds cool, too (I didn't know it did that!), but I can't speak to that one 'cause I don't have it.

[Darthboba281]

The best Lego SW gimmick ever is the "Death Star#10188"! No question! And if you disagree with me... ...I will destroy you!!!!

[Marf]

The best Lego SW gimmick ever is the "Death Star#10188"! No question! And if you disagree with me... ...I will destroy you!!!!

Best Lego Gimmick of that set is the elevator inside of it that takes the minifgs up and down and up and dow...

[enigmapc]

I think the best/most frustrating gimmick is a minifigure covered in chrome. I am also a big fan of the V-19s mechanics. Very nice!

[Jhulae]

Not sure if you'd class it as a gimmick or not, but I thought the floating seat on Slave 1 was really nifty.

Edit: Floating? Hmmm. Should that be swiveling? Or counter-weighted?

It may be a nifty feature, but the actual Firespray class starship doesn't have the rotating seat at all. That was 'added' by Kenner when they made their Slave 1 toy. I modded my slave 1 so that the seat stays in the proper position while allowing the wings to swivel.

[findyourfix]

Wow. Everyone has great opinions and it brings back some things I had forgotten about. Are there any improvements to said gimmicks you would have made, or done better IYO? Personally, I would have made the Turbo Tank's suspension more 'live". I managed to get 2 axles moving quite nice using old technic shocks, but ran out to mod the remaining axles.
I'm wondering though, how strong (kid-tolerant) will the LAAT/c be?

[lordvader208]

I think if you changed all 10 wheels of the Turbo Tank and used all suspension/spring/shock pieces, you wouldn't be able to turn the Tank by tilting it. I really found the tank to be quite neat after waiting like a year for the stores to have them available. Pretty fun to roll around.

Oh and here's another gimmick that I didn't know about when I bought the set. The gear mechanism in the newer MTT is pretty awesome. It's a nicely simple design that functions so well. I never knew it had this feature until I bought it. Honestly, I don't think it's fun to play with at all nor is it really interesting to me, but it really adds a lot to the set instead of a boring slab of brown bricks.

I'm really eager to purchase a Republic Attack Shuttle and try out a more improved version of bomb dropping function. Older versions were rather lame i.e. the TIE Bomber, newer Y-wing, ARC-170, etc.

[Darth Greeble]

I always thought that the droid 'dispenser' on the front of the MTT was pretty cool. But, nothing beats the new Death Star. That thing is pure win. The elevators, the hanging TIE, the trash compactor, the superlaser with two dimensions of motion, the prison block, etc. TLG really outdid themselves with that set. I put the whole thing on an inexpensive 'lazy susan' to add rotational capabilities.

[BigBenKenobi]

I'm really eager to purchase a Republic Attack Shuttle and try out a more improved version of bomb dropping function. Older versions were rather lame i.e. the TIE Bomber, newer Y-wing, ARC-170, etc.

It's also basically the same dropping function on the Imperial Dropship...it works well. Unfortunately it takes up most of the interior room in the ship itself.

[lordvader208]

Thanks for the info BenKenobi. Unfortunately I don't have the Imperial Dropship either, but I'm not too concerned about interior space. I have sets up for display, so all you will see is the outer appearance of the vehicle and the minifigs.

[MrCRskater]

It's also basically the same dropping function on the Imperial Dropship...it works well. Unfortunately it takes up most of the interior room in the ship itself.

I didn't feel this way about it. . . I thought it was more advanced than the dropship mechanism, as it has a sort of "automatic" reload system. And though it does take up a bit of the interior space, I think the interior could easily be modded to house another battle pack's worth of Clones (probably two if you got creative). The Republic Attack Shuttle is one of the best sets out this year, IMO.

[GregHyland]

Everyone is posting great answers that I hadn't thought of. Yep, the engineering on things like the Salve 1 and the Torrent is amazing! However, I was going to add that the one thing that I love, and have always loved on most Star Wars sets, and a lot of plain ol' LEGO Space sets, too, is a STORAGE COMPARTMENT! A simple things, but it really says "LEGO" to me!