15 replies to this topic

[ILikePi]

NOTE: This review was started on April 13, 2009, and the text and pictures are not as good as I would want them to be (some parts of the text may also be outdated). My future reviews will be much better.

Today I am bringing you the first of three (or more) dual reviews of Star Wars battle packs. I am doing dual reviews so that I can point out the differences in each battle pack, so you can decide on which one you want more if you can only get one (although that won't be of much importance, since these battle packs are already discontinued).

The Droids Battle Pack was my first Star Wars set. It was also what got me into LEGO, along with the V-wing fighter set (yes, the "f" in fighter is lowercase ), and the 2006 City Ambulance set.
It is still one of my favorites over the years, mostly because of the amount of minifigures and the use of SNOT.

Droids Battle Pack

Set Name: 7654 Droids Battle Pack
Theme: Star Wars (Episode III)
Pieces: 102
Minifigures: 7 (Yay!   )
Price: 9.99 USD/8.99 GBP/9.99 EUR?
Year: 2007

Brickset
BrickLink
Peeron

Brickset quote:


Box

Front

The front of the box is similar to all of the other 2007 LEGO Star Wars sets. There is a picture of Darth Vader's helmet in the top right, along with the number 30, which stands for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. Also, there is are the numbers 77-07 inside the "0" of "30", which stands for the years that Star Wars existed (and continues to exist). It goes to 2007 because this set was released in 2007 (I can't remember which wave, though).

Back

The back shows four droids and three super battle droids. This back is very misleading, as there are only two megaphone blasters, while this picture shows four.
More on that later (at the accessories and the extra parts section). Also, the odd thing is that this set came in the type of box where you just cut open the seals, instead of the thumb-punch type, while the Clone Troopers Battle Pack came in the latter.

Instructions

Here is the front of the instructions, which is the same as the box art, except that there are no words and the like, except for the set number and the LEGO Star Wars logo. The whole instruction booklet (including advertisements) is 24 pages long. The size of the booklet is about 8.75" X 5" (20 cm X 12.5 cm).

Here are the minifigure pages.


Here is a page of the instructions. In this picture, you can see how the color of the bricks keeps changing from page to page. I think that this is already fixed for the 2009 sets.


There are some advertisements for the LEGO Club and LEGO S@H.


This is what you get when you buy four or so of each battle pack, something I would never do.


Here is the parts list. Click the picture to see a huge version if you're blind.

Parts

Here are all of the parts, sorted neatly and in the same order as the parts list.

Minifigures
The Droids Battle Pack includes seven droids, which I really like. However, I can see how someone would start hating them after getting too many. They can't stand easily, and the arms tend to crack after a while.

Battle Droids

Here are the battle droids. These are my first and the only ones I have (for now at least). I really like all of the detail that was added, so I provided a side picture. However, it would have been nice to have a clip on the back, so you can attach an antenna or something. I also don't like the molding mark on the leg piece. It would have been much better if it was on the back part of the leg piece.

Super Battle Droids

The super battle droids are good, but not as good as the normal battle droids. The reasons why are because:

• the many (four) visible molding marks
  
• the empty back
  
• how the arms break so easily
  
• how the legs come off so easily

I have had two arms break already (one is shown in the back picture), but I got them replaced by customer service.
However, they have only been in four sets (excluding the metal blue colored one and including the super battle droid with the blaster arm) so far, which makes them pretty rare.

STAP
The STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform) is a fun little model that includes some trans-clear parts to make it "hover" in mid-air. Unfortunately, the foothold of the STAP is attached to the trans-clear pole piece, so modifications will be needed if you don't like the trans-clear pieces.

There also exists two newer blue Clone Wars style STAPs - one in the Clone Wars AT-TE walker, and a polybag impulse set that was given away in a UK Daily Mirror promotion (the odd thing is that the polybagged set has no sticker on the 1 x 2 tile in the front, while the one in the AT-TE does).


Here are the parts used to build the STAP. There are 18 pieces in all. There aren't really any special parts in the STAP, but there is a black 1 x 1 brick with studs on all four sides, one dark bley cheese slope, and two light bley lightsaber hilts.


Here is the finished model. It looks really cool for something this small.

Droid Transport Carrier
The Droid Transport Carrier is a repulsorlift carrier (which means that it can "hover" in mid-air). There is almost no armor, and this transporter usually has a few STAPs escorting it. There are also front cannons and lasers to defend the troops that are getting out of the transport.

It is non-canon (does not exist in any official Star Wars media). That means that this is a model that the LEGO designers made up.

Build


The bulk of the transport is built on two 4 x 8 plates. Also note that there are some boat studs on the bottom so that the vehicle can slide easily on carpets. I wouldn't recommend moving this set on any hard surfaces, because the boat studs will get some severe scratches.
You then add two "megaphone" blasters (with trans-neon orange 1 x 1 round plates) and the front armor plate - which, according to Wookieepedia, is blaster-proof.


After that, we start a "sub-model" of the front pilot cockpit and the two lasers and blaster cannons.


The laser and blaster holders, which have a small amount of SNOT) are attached to the larger piece...


...which is then placed on the main transport. The front has a 2 x 2 turntable so the pilot can move the guns on the front.

I also like the usage of light bley lightsaber blades and hilts for the lasers on the front - it makes it look much more interesting than just having a 1 x 1 cone or another common piece!

Extras

Finally, we have the extras. For a $10 USD set, there is a good amount.


Next, we'll move on to the Clone Troopers Battle Pack!
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One day, in the summer of 2008 (this was before I knew about the online LEGO community), I was in Walmart, going shopping for things with my mom and brother. After they got the stuff they came for, we decided to visit the LEGO section. I was just looking to see if there was anything good, and was not planning on buying anything. However, that changed when I saw the last box of the Clone Troopers Battle Pack on the shelf. I knew that the set was already discontinued by then (it was removed from LEGO S@H), so I had to get it.

Clone Troopers Battle Pack

Set Name: 7655 Clone Troopers Battle Pack
Theme: Star Wars (Episode III)
Pieces: 58 (Boo!   )
Minifigures: 4
Price: 9.99 USD/8.99 GBP/9.99 EUR?
Year: 2007

Brickset
BrickLink
Peeron

Brickset quote:


Box

Front

On the front, we get an interesting forest background. This box has the same things as the Droids Battle Pack.

Back

The back shows the minifigs. There's a great variety here!
Also notice that this box is the "thumb-punch" variety, while the Droids Battle Pack is the "sticker-sealed" variety.

Instructions

Here's the front of the instructions. The whole manual, from front to back, is 24 pages long (9 pages are advertisements). The odd thing is that the Clone Troopers Battle Pack instructions manual has lots of pictures of other sets, while the droid one has nothing.


Here's the minifig page...


...and a random page.


With a quick glance at the parts list for this set, you can quickly see that there aren't very many interesting pieces in this set.


Here's an odd mistake in the parts list page - the torso is backwards! I have no idea how I noticed this.  
Also notice the white lines in the background. I am guessing that they can be found on all instruction manuals for sets produced from 2007-now that have this background inside. However, it is harder to see the white lines in the new 2009 battle packs.

This is what you get when you buy about 4 of each battle pack. (This is the exact same picture as the one on the Droids Battle Pack instruction manual.)

There are also four pages showing pictures of sets, but I will just post links to them. The odd thing is that only the Clone Troopers Battle Pack instruction booklet has these advertisements.
7659 Imperial Landing Craft and more
7658 Y-wing Fighter and more
6210 Jabba's Sail Barge
6211 Imperial Star Destroyer

LEGO Club and LEGO S@H advertisements


The back page, which shows some boxes of LEGO Star Wars sets released in 2007.

Pieces

Here are all of the pieces sorted out just like the parts list.

Minifigures

Front

From left to right: Clone trooper, clone shock trooper, clone Star Corps trooper, clone trooper.

Back

We get some interesting back prints here! The weird thing is that the shock trooper has a darker "control panel" print. Also notice that the LEGO designers actually made the Star Corps trooper's back print a little different!

Side view (so you can see the helmet detail)

Accessories

Unlike the Droids Battle Pack, you get 4 of the "new mold" blasters, instead of megaphone blasters. You also get a pair of electrobinoculars (when I first bought this set, I actually thought that it was a detonation pack like the ones in Star Wars Battlefront II )

Blaster Turret

The blaster turret is made up of 17 pieces, if you count the minifigure. Otherwise, it is made of 12 pieces. It is a nice little model, and, like the STAP, would make a good impulse set. It even has some SNOT in it.  
A smaller version of this turret was available as part of the C001 LEGO Star Wars Clock.

Build

After just 6 steps, it's already finished! I provided a picture of the finished turret on the instruction manual to prove it.  

Front view. I didn't like putting the blaster on the cone (it made it too high), so I removed it and put it on the side to act like extra ammunition or an explosive.

Side view

Back (without minifigure)

This is what the back looks like, without the minifigure. Here you can see the cone piece that I didn't use, and the headlight bricks that hold up the mudguard piece. The mudguard piece gives the turret a nice curve, and also provides a defense for the user.

Speeder Bike

This "speeder bike" is very badly designed for a 2007 set. It looks too simple and has almost no armor. It would have been much better if it looked like its predecessor, the BARC speeder from 7261 Clone Turbo Tank.

Build
This is what the speeder bike looks like after 4 steps. There are 11 steps total for the speeder bike.


This is what it looks like on step 11 (finished).

Small Modification and Side View

Here is a very small modification that I made so that the driver can actually hold the handles. I also gave the back gunner two guns instead of one, since the trans-blue cones on the sides look like front guns to me. This picture also serves as a side view.  

Other views:
Top
Front
Bottom
Rear

Box Art Mistake

There are two box art mistakes on the front for the speeder bike. Here they are. For the first mistake (yellow), one of the bottom pieces is missing. The second mistake (red) is almost the same, except only half of the part is missing. The result is a bar piece floating in mid-air under the speeder bike. Weird, huh?  

(A close-up of the second box art mistake can be found here)

Clone Trooper

This is just a normal clone trooper with a short blasters and a pair of electrobinoculars. Unfortunately, the clone cannot use the binoculars, since his helmet is too big. Not very convenient.


This is probably the best you can do with the pair of electrobinoculars: turn the clone's helmet to the side, and move the binoculars so that it looks like the clone trooper just finished looking through the binoculars.  

Extras
I tricked you - there actually are no extra parts! That's a first for me.

3: Comparison

STAP versus Blaster Turret

I have to say, both are very well designed. SNOT is used in both, and both are very sturdy. The STAP wins just by a small amount, though.

Droid Transport Carrier versus Speeder Bike

The droid transport carrier wins by a landslide. The speeder bike has a horrible design for a 2007 set - even the BARC speeder from the Clone Turbo Tank (released in 2005) is over two times better than this version!

4. Ratings
Okay, now for the ratings of the sets! First, the Droids Battle Pack:

7654 Droids Battle Pack

Pros:

• seven minifigures
  
• good price-to-parts ratio
  
• many large pieces for a battle pack

Cons:

• no "actual" minifigures
  
• megaphone blasters
  
• two weapons to four battle droids ratio
  
• no straight battle droid arms

Ratings:

Build: 8/10 (The build was pretty fun, and I did like the use of SNOT on both the STAP and transport)
Design: 8/10 (The STAP is well designed for a 2007 set, and the droid transport is very sturdy)
Minifigures: 7/10 (Although there are seven minifigures, they are not actual ones. However, the inclusion of the pearl dark grey super battle droids [which can only be found in three sets] makes the minifig choice more diverse)
Playability: 7/10 (You can swoosh the STAP around, and the transport has some fun moving parts)
Price: 9/10 (Definitely worth $10 USD, and the price-to-parts ratio is under the "golden rule," which is 10 cents per piece)
Reviewer's Tilt: 8/10 (It is a great set overall, but the colors are pretty bland)

Overall: 7.8/10

Conclusion
This was the my first LEGO Star Wars set, and it was probably what got me into LEGO Star Wars, and later, the other themes.

I would definitely recommend getting it if it were still available, but unfortunately it has been gone for about two years.
------------------------------
7655 Clone Troopers Battle Pack

Pros:

• back printing
  
• "new-mold" blasters
  
• a large variety of minifigures (3 types)
  
• turret is well designed

Cons:

• horrible price-to-parts ratio
  
• odd-looking minifigures (in my opinion)
  
• speeder is badly designed (basically some parts slapped onto a long plate)

Build: 7/10 (It was a pretty simple build, but the use of the mudguard piece on the turret was clever)
Design: 6/10 (The speederbike is horribly designed, but the turret is nice)
Minifigures: 7/10 (I don't really like the look of two regular clones, but the red and yellow ones make up for it)
Playability: 7/10 (There aren't any moving parts, but you can swoosh the speederbike around)
Price: 6/10 (58 pieces out of 100 is about 6 out of 10, so it gets a 6)
Reviewer's Tilt: 6/10 (The speederbike looks ugly, and the clone trooper helmets aren't well designed in my opinion)

Overall: 6.5/10 (It does include some great minifigs, but the piece count and design are horrible)

When I first opened it, I was quickly disappointed when I learned that there were only 58 pieces. However, now I am grateful that I got it, as it has completed my battle pack collection. Now I like it much more, but still not enough to pay $10 for. Unless you really like these clone troopers, I would not recommend getting this set.


All pictures used in this dual review (and many that weren't used) can be found in my Brickshelf folder.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the review of the 2008 battle packs!

[Oky]

Thanks for this great dual review, Pi! These are some of the best BPs we've had so far IMO, although last year's Clone BP was better than this one. The number of "minifigs" and vehicle designs in the droid BP were great! The only thing that bothered me was that the droids had the old arms and those stupid megaphone blasters even though the new arms/blasters already existed. But luckily most current sets have a spare of the new arm and sometimes even a blaster so that you can do some swapping and fix this problem.
The Clone BP was good too, but you're right, the figs did look odd. I never understood why they made them with eye holes in the helmet. It just made the helmets look too big. They should have made them fully closed and smaller, and maybe even with faces underneath them. I think I'm the only one who actually liked the speederbike in this set. I always thought it was genius how they made such a decent looking speederbike out of so few pieces. The turret was nice too and reminded me a lot of the ones in Battlefront.
Good job on finding those box art mistakes.
Looking forward to your next dual review.
Btw, you might want to change the title of that last poll.

[BlueDragonZ]

Thanks for the review ILikePi. Those battle packs are awesome. Only thing i didn't like was the battle droid's blaster and arms as it didn't "fit" in with the new ones. The clone trooper battle pack was nice. I remember how sweet it was to pick these up for $5 CAD each after walmart canada got lego again when they reach an agreement.

[lightningtiger]

My preferance goes to the Clones, only because I picked up the set three weeks ago for only $3 at a Kmart near my home in Adelaide (sorry only one they had).
The speeder bike is great, but the gun post I guess is okay. Now I have some more Shocktroopers to add to my one from a forty dollar walker I scored MISB for $2 at an Op-Shop (hey you gotta be in the right place at the right time ....right ?)!
Thanks for the double review anyway 'ILikePi' !     
Keep on bricking !

[Legostein]

Hello!

I am slightly confused about the third voting box. What exactly is it for? Which of them do I own? Which of them do I like better? Which of them do I want to be re-released? Maybe I have overlooked the hint, but otherwise some hints would be nice.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

[WhiteFang]

I have updated his 3rd question inside the poll, as it was previously inside the Reviewers Academy. Now, I hope it will be better for our readers to drop their votes.  

[speederbike]

Verry good review. I've got both and you did a great job.

Why did you only get 2 megaphone blasters with your droids? I got four.

[ILikePi]

Oky Wan Kenobi, on Jan 22 2010, 11:19 PM, said:

Thanks for this great dual review, Pi! These are some of the best BPs we've had so far IMO, although last year's Clone BP was better than this one. The number of "minifigs" and vehicle designs in the droid BP were great! The only thing that bothered me was that the droids had the old arms and those stupid megaphone blasters even though the new arms/blasters already existed. But luckily most current sets have a spare of the new arm and sometimes even a blaster so that you can do some swapping and fix this problem.
The Clone BP was good too, but you're right, the figs did look odd. I never understood why they made them with eye holes in the helmet. It just made the helmets look too big. They should have made them fully closed and smaller, and maybe even with faces underneath them. I think I'm the only one who actually liked the speederbike in this set. I always thought it was genius how they made such a decent looking speederbike out of so few pieces. The turret was nice too and reminded me a lot of the ones in Battlefront.
Good job on finding those box art mistakes.
Looking forward to your next dual review.
Btw, you might want to change the title of that last poll.

No problem!
Yeah, there were lots of minor annoyances in this set. The most annoying to me is the megaphone blasters - if the clones get the Star Wars molded ones, why not the droids?
The turret reminds me of Battlefront too! I remember that no one used them because of how weak they were.

BlueDragonZ, on Jan 22 2010, 11:26 PM, said:

Thanks for the review ILikePi. Those battle packs are awesome. Only thing i didn't like was the battle droid's blaster and arms as it didn't "fit" in with the new ones. The clone trooper battle pack was nice. I remember how sweet it was to pick these up for $5 CAD each after walmart canada got lego again when they reach an agreement.

No problem!

lightningtiger, on Jan 22 2010, 11:49 PM, said:

My preferance goes to the Clones, only because I picked up the set three weeks ago for only $3 at a Kmart near my home in Adelaide (sorry only one they had).
The speeder bike is great, but the gun post I guess is okay. Now I have some more Shocktroopers to add to my one from a forty dollar walker I scored MISB for $2 at an Op-Shop (hey you gotta be in the right place at the right time ....right ?)!
Thanks for the double review anyway 'ILikePi' !     
Keep on bricking !

Wow, only $2 for the AT-AP?
That's about...95% off original price!

Legostein, on Jan 22 2010, 11:54 PM, said:

Hello!

I am slightly confused about the third voting box. What exactly is it for? Which of them do I own? Which of them do I like better? Which of them do I want to be re-released? Maybe I have overlooked the hint, but otherwise some hints would be nice.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

WhiteFang, on Jan 23 2010, 04:13 AM, said:

I have updated his 3rd question inside the poll, as it was previously inside the Reviewers Academy. Now, I hope it will be better for our readers to drop their votes.  

What was wrong with the poll title? I can't remember.
Also, thanks for fixing it, WhiteFang!

speederbike, on Jan 23 2010, 07:06 AM, said:

Verry good review. I've got both and you did a great job.

Why did you only get 2 megaphone blasters with your droids? I got four.

I'm not sure.
Maybe it was because TLG decided to add two more megaphone blasters a while after the release. When did you buy yours? (I remember getting mine a bit after the Christmas of 2006)

Thanks for the comments everyone!
I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the 2008 battle pack dual review up, since it's been raining on and off with almost no sunshine here. (California is in a drought right now, so I'm not going complaining about the rain )

Edited by ILikePi, 23 January 2010 - 04:28 PM.

[RileyC]

Im really disappointed I missed out on these sets because they are pretty good. It is annoying how the droids have megablaster guns and no straight arms which was weird. I like the clone BP better because it has the new guns and I like the speeder and turret a lot. I like the different markings on the clones too.

Great review!

[Big Cam]

Good review, it's nice to see them side by side for comparison.

[The Legonater]

Noo!!! I was going to do these dual reviews! Snap!

Edited by The Legonater, 24 January 2010 - 04:51 AM.

[Lockon Stratos]

Excellent detailed review! I can't wait for the others :)

[speederbike]

Quote  I'm not sure.  
Maybe it was because TLG decided to add two more megaphone blasters a while after the release. When did you buy yours? (I remember getting mine a bit after the Christmas of 2006) Quote



I got mine half way the yaer in 2007 . I don't exactly know when they came out. I checked my instructions, and they say there sould be 2   . Still not sure why.

[Blondie-Wan]

Nice work on the reviews. I personally like the speeder in the Clone Trooper BP just fine, though, I must say.

I'm more than a bit dismayed to learn (only now!) that (some of?) the Battle Droid BPs came with just two blasters, even though the box clearly indicates four. I'd say it was dishonest, but it's easier to think it was just an error that slipped through (like the missing parts on the box art, or occasional parts missing from construction on other sets).

I have such a tough time keeping up with Star Wars sets that I never did get one of the droid BPs, even though it was only $10 (US). I actually did manage to get three of the clone one, though, and I've opened and assembled two but the third is still MISB; I'll probably try to trade it for a droid BP out of a desire for completeness, though truth be told I'm really more interested in the OT SW era anyway (I did manage to get 7 Stormtrooper BPs and 12 Rebel Trooper ones). Perhaps I should try to combine it with a few other older duplicate sets I have MISB, to get something larger that I missed getting new...

[CommanderFox]

Great Reviews Pi!
I noticed that your 7654 spare's are different to mine!   You have an extra 1x1 tile! mine only comes with one.
Nice pics for both of the sets.
I think that the 7655 set is better, I just Love those clones!
Thanks for the reviews!

CommanderFox

[Brickus]

Thanks for the reviews, alas I was never able to get these sets, so it was nice to see a detailed review of them.