8 replies to this topic

[JimButcher]

7670: Hailfire Tank and Spider Droid
Number of Pieces: 249
Number of Minifigs: 4
Price: 19.99 USD/ 25.99 EUR/ 19.99 GBP
Brickset

Hello everyone, today I will review the extremely underrated Hailfire Tank and Spider Droid set. I hope this review does it justice.

So, let's start with the box:

NOTE: This picture is not mine. Standard box for Star Wars in that time. The background on the box looks like it's from Geonosis, indicating that this set is from Episode II, and not III or the Clone Wars. The back of the box (not shown) shows the playability functions and some other sets that were released at the same time as this.

Overview

Here is an overview of the whole set. It comes with one construction manual and no sticker sheets ( ). This is a very simple set, but with not much to it, it is still a very important part of the CIS army, especially if you are interested in army building. I like to call this set a "super battle pack", and you'll find out why soon.

Let's get right to it, and look at the feature of the set: the Hailfire Tank.

Front

A front view of the very cool tank. Here you can see two triangular shields on the hull. The main body is very simple, but altogether very effective and clever, and making it really look like a hailfire tank, although a little bit sized down from it's movie version. The trans-red stud used as the "eye" makes the tank look more menacing.

Side

The side view. The wheels are very easy to make, but it's a real pain to connect all of those chain links together. I don't see what you could use the links for, except for another tank, but maybe someone creative will find something for these. The dark tan is nice though. The wheels are held on by Technic poles, and the tank rolls on the wheels fairly well on carpet or a hard surface.

Back

This is the back of the tank. Here you can see eight flick-fire missiles (four on each side) of the new type, so they don't easily fall out. Also note the modified 2x2 with extended hole piece sticking out of the back. This may be used to easily push around the tank. I just wish you could fit a droid in the body for the cockpit...

Now we move on to the Spider Droid, or what I like to call "The Dwarf Spider":

The front. This one is also simple, but very cleverly built. The main body is two semi-spheres connected together for rotation, and an antenna, a cannon, four legs, and eyes made out of a useful telephone piece. The picture speaks for itself as far as how the gun and eyes are built.

Side

A side view. You can now see the legs better, which are more sturdy then you would think. Each one is made out of two pearl bronze Exo-force robot arms, a useful bley handgun piece, and a dark bley battle droid body, all connected to the under body (a big knob-like piece).

Back

The back. Not much to say here. I like this spider droid because it is very sturdy, and the legs are easy to adjust.

Finally, we look at the minifigs:

There are four minifigs in this set, which is quite generous for a set of this size. It comes with a yellow battle droid commander (I really like this one), two battle droids, and a super battle droid. All three battle droids have the new blaster pistols and one twisted arm.

That's about it for the review, so here is the
FINAL VERDICT:
Build: 8/10, Very fun and easy, besides the chain links. Should take the seasoned builder less than 20 minutes.
Playability: 7/10, the flick-fire missiles are fun, as well as just zooming around the tank. Could use some clones for a battle.
Swooshability: 8/10, you can roll around the hailfire fairly well.
Minifigs: 9/10, a generous amount of figs, and all are pretty good.
Design: 9.5/10, a really simple and clever set, although a little too small for the movie version.
Price: 10/10, a very fair price considering the price-per-parts ratio and the coolness of the set.

Overall Score: 8.5/10, a very neat set to have, a great army builder, and great for display next to all of the other CIS sets. The price is fair, the figs are good, and the build is very clever.

That's all for now, folks. Please feel free to give some feedback!

Edited by JimButcher, 15 September 2008 - 03:08 AM.

[KimT]

Thanks for sharing this review with us.
I think this one of the   sets. In Europe this thing is waaaay overpriced and thus makes it a crappy set.
We pay nearly double the US price.
So I rated it poor. Also because the figs included does not make it great. The Hailfire is well designed and looks great, but that's just about all there is worthy of a positive mentioning.
Sorry.

[on a side note: As a bronze-awarded student, where's the price in EUR and GBP? And where's the poll?]
[Nevermind the poll, I've added that one for you ]

[JimButcher]

KimT, on Aug 30 2008, 04:21 PM, said:

Thanks for sharing this review with us.
I think this one of the   sets. In Europe this thing is waaaay overpriced and thus makes it a crappy set.
We pay nearly double the US price.
So I rated it poor. Also because the figs included does not make it great. The Hailfire is well designed and looks great, but that's just about all there is worthy of a positive mentioning.
Sorry.

[on a side note: As a bronze-awarded student, where's the price in EUR and GBP? And where's the poll?]
[Nevermind the poll, I've added that one for you ]

Oh yes, I will add the other prices, and I was going to make a poll for it (I made one for the Homing Spider review), but you beat me to it.   Thanks!

[KimT]

JimButcher, on Aug 30 2008, 10:25 PM, said:

Oh yes, I will add the other prices, and I was going to make a poll for it (I made one for the Homing Spider review), but you beat me to it.   Thanks!

That's my job, I'm a moderator   

[Asuka]

Thanks for the review, JimButcher.  
I really like that set. It combines interesting and good design with some awesome cool parts and a neat amount of charm.  

[Shenayny10]

Great review. I agree that this set is underrated. The Hailfire is supposed to be a little taller than two battle droids, so scale-wise it's nice. The dwarf spider droid is amazing in my opinion. I just wish it wasn't brown, it makes me feel like it's on Geonosis. We never saw a grey varient of the Hailfire, so it's fine with me that it's brown.

[Jedi Joe]

This is a great set, I have 2 of them now, and I plan to get more. It is much better than the droid battle pack. For 10 bucks more, you get better battle droid arms and some canon "vehicles", good enough for me.

[baby]

Thanks for the review. Is a great one.
This set is not really a good set but i like the Spider Droid. The Hailfire Droid scale is not right, i think it is suppose to be even bigger.
anyway, this is the first set that re-release the Commander Droid. So i grab it.  

[darkrebellion]

Thanks for the cool review JimButcher   . Actually, I really like this set, it is small but very clever and even if the hailfire droid is undersized, what in the whole line is not under or oversized   . The new spider droid is the best small build I have ever done in a set and the droid commander is pretty cool   . I am happy with the set and I will get another with my comic-con exclusive     .