[Review] 8014 - Clone Walker Battle Pack

[Walter Kovacs]

When giving advice to aspiring writer's, most authors tell them to "Write about what you know." So in that vein, I will use set 8014 - Clone Walker Battle Pack as my first review.

I own 15 copies of this set. To say I am familiar with it would be a gross understatement. I could assemble the walker in my sleep, if ever that was necessary. I've even assembled the set while traveling at 65 mph (and yes, I was driving. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.)

Set #: 8014

Name: Clone Walker Battle Pack

Theme: LEGO System / Star Wars / Clone Wars

Year: 2009

Pieces: 72

Minifigs: 4

Price: USD 10.99, CDN 13.99, EUR 14.99, GBP 9.79

Links: Bricklink, Peeron, Brickset

PACKAGING

The Box:

There's nothing special about the box front. Standard Clone Wars style white border, the "Build Your Army" logo in the bottom left. The art does show the walker in action, firing those flick fire missiles. That's probably the farthest the missiles will ever fly.

And the Back:

The back of the box shows what everyone is likely after in this set: The Minifigs! Four nice phase I clones, including a Gunner. In a pinch, the Gunners make nice substitutes for Pilot Clones. It also shows one regular clone in the full commander gear. Take a good look, it'll be the last Commander you see in this review.

Along the bottom is a picture of the two Battle Packs for this year. I find it interesting that you get a picture of the set you have in your hands on the back, but this is intended as an impulse set of sorts, so I guess that's OK.

I apologize for the crumpled look of the box. I had taken some pictures of a brand new, unopened box, but the photos came out blurry. I had to dig it back out of the trash .

INSTRUCTIONS

Front:

Back:

Parts List:

Random Instruction Page:

The instructions are very clear. No issues trying to discern Dark Gray from Light Gray or Black. That might be because of the limited piece count, though. The back has a part list, as is standard in almost all sets nowadays. The opposite page has a nice scene with some of the 2009 Spring line in action.

THE BUILD

The Contents:

There are three bags that come with this set. The largest contains most of the big pieces. The medium sized one has the small parts. The minifigs are spread out between these two bags. The third bags contains the Clone Gear, in a nice Black color. As I said before, I own 15 copies of this set, and I have yet to open one of the Clone Gear bags. So don't expect any photos of the gear. I'm not going to do it, no matter how you whine and plead

The DSS:

Can it really be dreaded? There are only two stickers. They aren't THAT hard to get aligned correctly, but it does ake a little patience to get them on straight.

MINIFIGS

What Everyone Wants:

There they are. Three bright, shiney Clone Troopers and one Clone Gunner, just begging to be deployed into an RGS or AT-TE. Because this set is relatively inexpensive, they do make excellent filler for your phase I vehicles. There are only three Blaster Pistols, so unless you open the Clone Gear bag, one of the clones will be going into a gunfight without a gun. The Walker's pilot doesn't need a gun, right?

CLONE WALKER

The Walker - Front View:

Side View

Back View

The Walker in this set is almost an afterthought. As far as Battle Packs go, it isn't a bad vehicle. The legs could use a little more detail, but it really does fit nicely into the Clone Wars theme. The flick fire missiles feel like they belong here, as opposed to just being tacked on. The cannon on the front is simple, but effective.

I find the parts selection to be rather nice. I like using wedge plates in my MOCs, and this set comes with two pair. It has two nice 1 x 4 Bricks with studs on the side for SNOT techniques, which is always useful. And the finished walker has two cheese slopes in Light Gray. I no longer need to substitute Dark Gray. Yeah!

The legs do move, which is a plus. Unfortunately, any position other than both feet flat on the floor is unstable, which limits the poseability.

The Walker, with Friends:

Here is the Walker with a pilot and a passenger. I'm not sure why LEGO keeps giving us vehicles with two seats. A single seat walker with three ground troops would have worked well. It probably has to do with circumventing the No Action Figure clause in their contract. At any rate, I am not really thrilled with the two seat aspect of this set. But that is what MODs are for (more on that later).

DIE, Clankers!:

When the droids see this, it usually is the last thing they see.

Extra Parts:

Here are the extra pieces that come with this set. Did I mention that I love the Light Gray cheese slopes.

HUH

Now, for the Huh Moment:

As I mentioned, I have bought a lot of these battle packs, mostly for the clones. Imagine my surprise when I realized, just last week, that the clones have two DIFFERENT face prints. They look like mirror images of each other, but they are clearly different. I hadn't heard anyone mention this before, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Of course, this revelation caused me to channel my inner DeNiro.

Are you looking at me?

Are you looking at ME!?

You must be looking at me! I'm the only one here!

Thank you, thank you. My acting skills are unparalleled.

Playability: 7/10 - The flick fire missiles don't fire well, at least the legs move.

Minifigs: 10/10 - Four Clones. 'Nough said.

Design: 6/10 - The Walker is solid, if not very well detailed.

Price: 10/10 - The Price-to-Parts might be off a little (as it is on all BPs). But four clones for $11 ain't bad at all.

OVERALL: 33/40 - If your looking for cheap clones, look no further. If you're looking for a great Clone Wars era vehicle, then this set isn't for you. But I'm guessing you knew that already.

Here is a link to the Brickshelf Gallery (when public).

MY MOD

As I have mentioned several time before, I have many copies of this set. 15 copies is enough to pack both versions of the RGS, both AT-TEs, the new AT-OT (all un-MODDed) and a MODDed Twilight full of clones, and still have enough left over to have one clone for each of the 15 Walkers. But the Walker has two seats. What to do?

MOD it, of course:

This MOD is cheap (~$0.40 on Bricklink) and can be done with minimal changes to the original Walker.

[pedro]

Great review Walter, thanks!

Driving while building a LEGO set... stuck in traffic or couldn't wait 'til you got home?

The new phase one clonetroopers are such great minifigs and this set is a must have for clone army builders... like you said, 10/10! I also don't think much of the walker itself although your mod does improve it. I saw fit to build a midi-scale AT-AP alternate model out of 2 of these battlepacks and as such feel that the parts on offer are really, really good.

The printed clone heads have been talked about elsewhere in the forum. Some prints have them looking left, right, straight ahead... and many variations between. Same goes for Ace's head too. I guess it adds that little bit of individuality.

Edited July 14, 2009 by pedro

[UsernameMDM]

Nice review. Why exactly won't you open the clone commander gear bags?

I wish that instead of this walker, Lego would have put in a AT-RT in the battle pack. I guess that's a MOC I need to work on.

[Commander Flash]

Great review from our favorite TIE specialist designer . DiNero part was good.

[prateek]

Great review I want this set so bad but I can never find one. And BTW, can you post a pic of your army? It sounds tempting

[Walter Kovacs]

Great review Walter, thanks!

Driving while building a LEGO set... stuck in traffic or couldn't wait 'til you got home?

The new phase one clonetroopers are such great minifigs and this set is a must have for clone army builders... like you said, 10/10! I also don't think much of the walker itself although your mod does improve it. I saw fit to build a midi-scale AT-AP alternate model out of 2 of these battlepacks and as such feel that the parts on offer are really, really good.

I remember your AT-AP MOC. That is really nice work there. My MOD wasn't intended to be an earth-shattering improvement. It is supposed to be a low-cost way to MOD many copies of the battle pack and remove the second seat at the same time.

As for building while driving, I knew I wasn't going to have any build time when I reached my destination. It's amazing how easy it is to build by feel only.

Nice review. Why exactly won't you open the clone commander gear bags?

I wish that instead of this walker, Lego would have put in a AT-RT in the battle pack. I guess that's a MOC I need to work on.

I'll second the wish for an AT-RT. But when life gives you lemons...

As for the Commander gear, I am using the BPs as regular troop builders. So I don't need the kama or pauldron on any of the clones. I opened the dark bley commander gear from the spider droid, RGS and AT-TE sets, so I have enough of the headgear accessories floating around already. And besides, it's much easier to keep track of 15 unopened polybags, should I ever need to off-load a set or ten, rather than trying to keep track of 135 separate pieces kept in a box. If I ever find the need to open one, I know where to find them. Besides, I still have the extra set from the RGS unopened. I'd open that one first.

Great review I want this set so bad but I can never find one. And BTW, can you post a pic of your army? It sounds tempting

Ask and you shall receive:

Front View

Top View

[green dewback]

Great Review

Im not going to open the commando gear polybags too as I don't need the contents. Keeping the clones generic so no armor for them.

Will open my 2 boxes after watching season2 of TCW and into the gunship they go.

[howl.bricks]

great review Walter

nice mod too, i think it looks better as a single-seater walker.

15 copies? believe it or not, im still waiting for my first

havent been released here in my region since, i think january?

the stupid lego store here, not up to date

[lightningtiger]

I remember your AT-AP MOC. That is really nice work there. My MOD wasn't intended to be an earth-shattering improvement. It is supposed to be a low-cost way to MOD many copies of the battle pack and remove the second seat at the same time.

As for building while driving, I knew I wasn't going to have any build time when I reached my destination. It's amazing how easy it is to build by feel only.

I'll second the wish for an AT-RT. But when life gives you lemons...

As for the Commander gear, I am using the BPs as regular troop builders. So I don't need the kama or pauldron on any of the clones. I opened the dark bley commander gear from the spider droid, RGS and AT-TE sets, so I have enough of the headgear accessories floating around already. And besides, it's much easier to keep track of 15 unopened polybags, should I ever need to off-load a set or ten, rather than trying to keep track of 135 separate pieces kept in a box. If I ever find the need to open one, I know where to find them. Besides, I still have the extra set from the RGS unopened. I'd open that one first.

Ask and you shall receive:

Front View

Top View

Just saw your own Clone army and your great modified walkers, gee those clankers are going to get hammered.

Anyway read the review, very well done and I just like humor injected into reviews, it makes for non-boring reading.

[Big Cam]

I wasn't in the RA at the time this was done but it looks great, I'm impressed with your 15 battlepacks, I think I only bought 7, makes me want to go buy more.

[CommanderFox]

Great Review Walter!

I liked this BP as it had phase 1 troops and im a Huge fan of them.

The gunner in it, also makes this set very tempting!

Wow you bought 15! I only got 3. Ooops! Shouldn't have said that.

Great job!

CommanderFox

[charlieboy]

Surely this set is one of LEGO'S biggest sellers? I own eight now,i get one each time the wife drags me round Tesco's!

Great review though,love the pic of your army too,mine is getting close!

[blksuperman2]

Great Review Walter.

This is the best set for the buck. I just wish it came w/ a Pilot instead of Commander gear. I think I'm up to 7 or 8 now.

[BlueDragonZ]

Great Review ! I buy these clone packs mainly for army building and easy way to get clones. Not really worth it for the lego as you don't built much but for the troops !!!

[Enigma-85]

I quite like the Walker actually, non-canon though it may be. It's a nice 'filler' for an army. You don't get armies made up entirely of infantry and main battle tanks, after all - you need a whole bunch of armed Humvees in there too. That's how I look at the Walker, anyway, and the back seat is just space for a regular trooper to fire off a few blaster rounds as they rampage around the battlefield.

Unfortunately, I can't walk past one of these without buying one. I have always preferred Phase I Clone Trooper armour to the Phase II armour (I don't know why), and the fact that these are some of the best minifigs ever only makes it harder to resist. These clones are remarkably detailed for 'generic' minifigs. Some of the major characters' minifigs haven't enjoyed so much attention to detail compared to these guys! Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Republic Gunship, for example, may as well be an M-Tron figure when stood next to one of these dudes.

[commdr_neyo]

Very good review! A shame I only own 2

[Loganwan]

I thought I was going to have a great battle with Clones vs droids, but so jar, I have way more clones, and the weaponry is far superior. I like your changes to the walker. I have been looking at them, thinking that I only wanted one guy inside, but I did not want to do too much in terms of modifications, since I would have to do it to 4... so far, and I would like to have some sort of continuity to my walkers. Off to do some mods.

[Killer1860]

Thanks for the review. At first I had mixed emotions about the set but this review has but it in a better light. I don't really mind that it is a two-seat walker and i like the helmet detail on the clone gunner. When I next see this set I will pick it up!

Nice review Walter Kovacs

kILleR 1860

[Xcod119]

Great review! I am so stupid but it has taken me almost 6 years to find out about the different clone face prints!