Pascal Hetzel wants to remind us that even the evil Empire gets into the Christmas spirit. That’s why these microscale AT-ATs have been outfitted in festive sweaters and ordered to leave some presents just outside the Rebels’ base on Hoth. There’s so much life to the walkers in this vignette. The head tilts and the tracks left in the snow make it feel like a scene from a stop-motion Christmas special. Maybe they’re going caroling next. “It’s Beginning to Look AT-AT Like Christmas.”
After another year of waging war, both sides of the conflict put down their blasters and held a holiday celebration. Builder Carter Witz displayed the historical setting that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Let’s look at this on a deeper level. I’ve never seen that model of AT-AT before. It’s very detailed and fits perfectly into the scene, lifting Vader to the top of the tree to place the star. The large columns are both beautiful and straight-up Empire, with Imperial lighting helping light the room. And what’s in the kegs by the window? Cider? Cocoa? Coaxium?
This build goes to show that not everything has to be about fighting and blowing stuff up. You can use good and evil forces from the darkest of moments to create holiday cheer and warm feelings towards everyone. Isn’t that right, Mr. Wampa?
The Battle of Hoth is a popular scene to recreate with LEGO, and there are multiple versions of it as fan creations as well as official LEGO sets. My new favourite take on the battle has got to be Fuku Saku’s Assault on Hoth. He’s got all the essential elements: a snowspeeder, an AT-AT, and most importantly, a snow! On top of that, he’s built a turret representing Echo Base, a probe droid from before the battle, and an AT-ST coming up from behind.
The designs on the vehicles are spectacular, the AT-AT in particular. For one, it actually looks armoured. On top of that, all the right details are present, such as the side hatches. It even has interior detail and space for snowtroopers to actually be transported. The overall attention to detail in the entire battle scene is on point – it’s not often that blaster bolts are built into LEGO models, flying through the air. But they’re included here, and it really feels like there’s a battle going on.
