Maybe I'm reading too far into the titles of these things, but like Darth Vader Transformation, it would seem to me that the set is actually named incorrectly. I would have thought that 7258 Wookiee Attack would have more of a focus on Wookiee technology. Maybe if that were the case, the set would have been called Attack of the Wookiees instead; maybe it should have been called Attack on the Wookiees, or Battle of Kashyyyk, but that is neither here nor there, so let's move on, shall we?
Unfortunately, there's not much to move on to. Out of all the reviews I've done so far, very little has thrilled me. 7252 Droid Tri-Fighter still stands to be the best set of this movie's product push, which does not bode well for some of the higher priced sets. The MINI's are excellent, but I have a propensity to like most things miniature, or "super-deformed" as some would call the genre. Anyways, I digress yet again.
In this set you get Battle Droid x2 and Wookiee x2 and a Spider Droid. The Battle Droids are your standard issue tan Battle Droids. But, the Wookiees are not your typical Chewbacca minifigs. While they still use the "sandwich-board" style head/chest/back all-in-one piece, the mold is all new, with a more prominent "crown" molding on top of the head, and a spiffy paint job. Even the back gets some new mold and paint love, nice. It most likely was not a mistake that the figure is meant to portray Tarfful. It should be noted that despite the way this picture turned out, the eyes are NOT painted in black. I know, bummer, but still a great figure.
The Spider Droid is actually pretty neat despit it's simplistic design. Nothing extraordinarily noteworthy about in either a good or bad way, but I suppose that's a good thing. It's a shame though that the Spider Droid is so nice, cause it really doesn't bode well for the other two big items in the set.
The Wookiee Ornithopter.... sigh... if you've kept up at all with the reviews I've written, you'll know what kind of problem I had with the Jedi Starfighter's wing flaps. Unfortunately, the Wookiee Ornithopter is just as nerve wracking. There are no guides nor protruding studs or elements to keep the top and the bottom antenna whips at a constant angle. A slight bump and they're misaligned. Heck, they're predisposed for misalignement anyway since you can only really close one eye and align them with the other and hope that the angles you create are symmetrical. I guess they're supposed to flap, since they are wings, but that isn't something that's immediately obvious. I guess I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but overall, the entire model feels extremely delicate.
One point of curiosity on the Ornithopter was the wings. Why do the wings open up in the back? It was never demonstrated in the instruction manual, and for the life of me I can't remember if that was something shown in the movie. I guess the idea is to open up the back wings, and swivel the rear seat like a gunner station. You can kind of see the point of rotation in this pic. You can also how the roof of the glider hits the gunner in the head. Nice. Not really, but that's sarcasm for ya.
Now onto the giant slug- I mean, the Corporate Alliances tank droid. It looks like a giant slug. A very symmetrical design, it balances well on the single tread that runs down the middle of the droid without the aid of the "training" wheels on the sides. The side panels consisting of the giant 8x8 printed trans-orange radar dishes swivel back much like doors on a Lamborghini Countach, but the arms that secure the giant panels consist of a series technic beams and joiners. A Battle Droid minifig sits neatly inside. But because of the way that the panels are constructed, you can't really grab the sides of the tank droid to lift it away; you're better off grabbing the tail end of the droid where the brick construction is much more solid. Like the Ornithopter, the tank droid also feels very delicate. Not much you can do about that, it's just a terrible build.
Other than the minifigs, I think the highlight of this set is the return of the tank tread links, or conveyor belt as LEGO likes to call them. You get a total of 70 links, one is extra, so set one aside when you make your tread. Yes, the instruction manual says you need 69 links, but I just assumed that you only get 69 of them. I personally really like the tank tread links much more so than the rubber ones you see in some other sets because you can adjust the length to fit your MOC needs, but with a retail price of $29.99, it's a little cost prohibitive. Parts monkeys are better off getting the service pack, or 10144 Sandcrawler if you also want a good supply of brown elements.
Tank tread links aside, I can't really give this set a recommendation to purchase. The minifig selection is rather sparse and since you can get the Wookiees in another set, it doesn't really make this a must have. The Ornithopter is delicate as is the tank droid. With a couple of Episode III sets under my belt, it's not looking good for the rest.
Price/Parts ratio: 6/10
Parts Selection: 6/10
Minifigs: 4/10
Construction: 4/10
Design: 7/10
Swoosh Factor: 4/10
Reviewer's Tilt: 2/10
Final Score: 4.7
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