A lot of the time, I skip writing reviews for LEGO free promo polybag sets. They’re not composed of many pieces, there’s not much build to speak of, and there’s not much point to reviewing something that people aren’t going to pay any money for anyway. But the January 2015 LEGO AT-DP polybag is a little bit different, because even though it was originally “free”, it sold out from the LEGO Shop in two days, and now collectors have to pay ~$12 to get the 30274 LEGO AT-DP on the aftermarket. For free this set got an unquestionable recommendation, but what about if you have to pay for it…?

The Right:

The LEGO Star Wars AT-DP 30274 polybag is the first LEGO Star Wars polybag to be released in 2015, and coincides with the release of the first-ever regular-sized LEGO AT-DP set this same month. The set includes 65 pieces, which would be a terrific value if sold for $5-$6 in a store–but at the low price of “free with any Star Wars purchase”, the price is downright amazing.

I’m a pretty slow builder, so assembling the AT-DP took me a little under 10 minutes, despite the fact that the set only contains 65 pieces.

I imagine most other collectors can build this set in closer to 5 minutes, but I’m not them. The build itself is very straight-forward, and any kid old enough to be building with LEGO bricks should have zero issues with putting this set together.

Once built, I was totally stunned to find that the mini AT-DP is downright adorable! While it’s “big brother” version is a force of death and destruction and oppression in the Star Wars universe, this itty-bitty AT-DP promo lends itself well to being anthropomorphized.

In total, the LEGO Star Wars AT-DP polybag set has 7 points of articlation–a number that’s comparable to many Mixels figures. My undisputed favorite point of articulation on the LEGO mini AT-DP is its turret cannon. It’s on a micro ball-joint (again, like the Mixels figures), so it has a huge range of motion–and kind of looks like the AT-DP’s “nose”!

And with three points of articulation in each leg (“hips”, “knees” and “feet” joints), the AT-DP 30274 can “sit down” and take on a couple of cute and/or scary walking poses.

The AT-DP isn’t much to look at from the rear view, but it also doesn’t look as awful as many polybagged LEGO Star Wars ships do on the undersides, so I can’t really complain about that. In fact, all things considered, the back of this walker is really rather competently designed and not really an eyesore at all.

The Wrong:

I never want to be too hard on little polybag sets made up of under 70 pieces, but there’s one thing about the LEGO Star Wars AT-DP mini set that really bugs me, and it’s the articulation in the legs.

Each leg has several hinge joints and can bend at multiple angles, and the whole legs can move backwards with ease–but that’s as far as the articulation goes. For some crazy reason, this poor AT-DP LEGO simply cannot move its legs forward at all past the neutral-standing position. No wonder the Empire ultimately loses!

The Ridiculous:

The lack of availability of this set is incredibly aggravating–but it was also incredibly avoidable. LEGO was the top-selling toy manufacturer in the world in 2014, so they obviously had a pretty good idea of exactly how popular their promos are and the insane number of LEGO Star Wars sets that they were going to sell in January 2015.

The fact that LEGO so badly underestimated the popularity of this free LEGO AT-DP promotion so gigantically that they ran out of 30274 AT-DP sets in under three days is straight-up ridiculous. Bad, LEGO! Bad!

Overall: For a free promo LEGO Star Wars polybag set, the AT-DP is a complete winner. A fair number of pieces, a great ball-jointed turret, and accurate colors and proportions. And though the lack of possible forward movement in the legs is a definite hindrance, I can look past that in this set… as long as I’m not paying for it.

Is this set worth the ~$12-$15 (including shipping) that it’s selling for online, though? Well, to me, personally: No. I’d never consider paying a quarter or more of the cost of the regular-sized version of the AT-DP for this polybag version that includes 85% less pieces and no minifigures.

Because I got this LEGO 30274 set for free and because it’s well-done, it earns a ‘B’ and a recommendation. As far as paying $12+ for it on the aftermarket–that’s up to you, but despite being a solid set overall, it’s not worth that much to me, personally.

 GRADE: B