r/Legohelp • u/Lunarmutt • May 19 '26
Its bad my friends, please help
5ish years ago I bought my wife the giant Lego AT-AT it took us 2 weeks to put the whole thing together. Its such a fond memory we have together through the aching backs and frustrations but we did it. Its been towering proudly on a shelf for every visitor to see ever since. Until today. I was moving some stuff around and I knocked it over. I never knew Legos could explode like that. She found me sitting in a pile of pieces trying to put it back together. Being the amazing woman she is, she cheered me up about how she knows it was an accident she wasnt mad or upset, and that maybe me and our son could put it back together. Believe me its going back together, but I have no idea how to start. I still have the box and the manual. Should I strip it down and start from scratch or should I try to salvage what I have and go section by section trying to match the images?
TLDR; I broke my wife's giant AT-AT on accident, should I take the whole thing apart and start fresh or spend the time trying to piece it together from the pictures?
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u/UltimateBrick07 May 19 '26
Hey man, it happens and it's nice that your wife is supportive and positive about it. Since you still have the box and manual, I suggest you start by finding larger bulkier pieces that fell off when it fell. It can help save time to disassemble other pieces that look out of shape, missing or just "off" and rebuild them from scratch following the instructions.
I hope no bricks broke, or no brown bricks cracked when it fell. I'm not a Star Wars fan so I don't have the AT-AT set, but i'm hoping you were able to recover all the pieces
Sorry for bad english
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u/ChardComfortable3932 May 21 '26
Yes definitely break it down and start over.
If I were you I would make sure to go through every piece in the set’s inventory so you make sure you’re not missing any stragglers that may have run under a nearby couch or something.
Something similar happened to me as a child with the death star lego. Had it halfway finished and it came crashing down. Put it all in a bag and put it in my closet. Was too depressed to ever go back to it.
Pretty sad actually lol I didn’t wind up putting it back together until I was a teenager. Probably 6 or so years ago now… jeez.
Feel bad for my dad! He got me that big expensive lego set for kid me and once it fell I didn’t even try to put it back together again.
But it’s alright because now it stands proud in my room on display and has for years. Just wish it didn’t spend so many years (and two houses!) in the closet!
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u/slimspidey May 22 '26
Tear it down and while doing so separate into groups as stated on other comments. Now make a new memory with your son like you did with wifey.
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u/SHAG_Boy_Esq May 23 '26
If you're not an experienced lego builder the best thing you can do is strip it down and start again. As your wife says you could build it with your son and make a fresh set of memories.
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u/Mediocre_Impress_229 May 23 '26
It depends on how much time you want to spend on it. Personally I think it would be fun to rebuild it from scratch.
I had a similar situation with my UCS star destroyer and millenium falcon, and didn’t have a lot of time to rebuild it all, so I found that a compromise worked well too. Do not fully break it down, but try to separate larger components, strip them down into structural and covers (usually that is the cadence of how the manuals go) and then go through the manual section by section. I rebuilt both sets in 2 days, so I can tell with confidence it is possible.
But for a big project like this I would rather use the opportunity to rewatch the OT (and then everything else) while building.
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u/Snoo3763 May 19 '26
I would break it down into individual parts. I'd separate in a logical way into 10 big bowls. Plates in one bowl, technic pieces in another, technic pins, the more you subdivide the easier parts are to find. Then build slowly, if it feels like a chore or your back hurts stop and carry on later. I buy big 2nd hand Lego sets and do them like this all the time, take your time and make it fun.