REVIEW: 8083 Rebel Trooper Battle Pack

[Etzel]

The 2010 sets keep coming up around the world and I managed to pick up this one yesterday here in Sweden. When I came back from the store and logged in to Eurobricks I found out that DarkFader already had posted a review of this set. But I had then already started working on my review so I thought I could finish it. I hope I can add some more perspectives and thoughts about this set and not drawing attention away from DarkFader's great review. It's my first Star Wars set in 3 years and my knowledge about the Star Wars universe isn't as great as many others here so don't expect to much from me regarding nerdy SW facts. But I'll do my best to please all of you LEGO fans who wants to read about the:

Set number: 8083

Name: Rebel Trooper Battle Pack

Theme: Star Wars / Classic

Year: 2010

Pieces: 79

Minifigs: 4

Price: $14.99, €14.99, (149 SEK)

Resources

BrickLink

Brickset

The box

Finally I have some box pictures of the set I'm reviewing:

The front of the box shows the set in action with a lot of visual effects.

The back:

Here we can see the two new battle packs together. The 8084 wasn't available at the store, so I guess I'll have to wait a little longer before I can pick up that one (I really want that officer helmet). The back also shows the 4 minifigs that come in this set, a Hoth Officer, two Hoth Rebel Troopers and a Rebel Pilot named Zev Senesca.

Side of the box:

On the side of the box there is some advertisement for starwars.com and LEGO Club + a picture of Yoda to inform about the 30 year anniversary of the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back, the movie that this set is based from.

Content

Lets see what's inside:

An instruction manual and two plastic bags filled with those vital for life little bricks.

Close up on the manual:

The same picture as on the box, but much harder to photograph because of the crease on the manual.

Random manual picture:

The colours are very easy to tell apart from each other and the building process is very short. Remember to not shoot the Flick-fire missiles on big yellow faces.

More from the manual:

At the end of the manual we can see the same pictures as on the back of the box.

Here is a picture of the part list of the set - click on it for a bigger version.

Pieces

Here we have the real stuff:

White, dark and light grey is the main colours of this set. Some interesting parts are the new headlight bricks (Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side) and the macaroni pieces (in white and light grey). One pair of goggles, a 1x1 trans-red round plate and a white cheese slope was the extra pieces.

Accessories:

Helmets and weapons for everybody! But only backpacks for the officer and troopers. The pilot helmet features a new type of printing that is different from the earlier versions.

The rebel headgear is a brand new piece and much more movie accurate than the aviator helmets used in earlier sets. The snow goggles can be put in two different positions but you need to take them off of the helmet when you change the position because of the bill.

The minifigures:

The reason why people buy Battle Packs.

The two rebel troopers are exactly the same with dark tan legs, new torso print, new head piece and new headgear. The new face is very similar to this one but with white reflection points in the eyes and a little red mark under the mouth. I don't know if it's supposed to be a scar or just a marking of the chin? I watched the movie last night actually and I think it's a little weird that TLG choose tan and dark tan as colours for the troopers. In the movie they are dressed in almost only white which gives a much better camouflage in the remote ice world of Hoth.

The Hoth Officer has the same torso as was used in 7749 Echo Base. His head is somewhat special, it was centre of a big discussion when the Indiana Jones set 7683 Fight on the Flying Wing came out earlier this year. This guy was supposed to have the brown moustache head but came in many sets with a grey moustache version instead. The mix-up must have been pretty big because when I got my 7622 Race for the Stolen Treasure it came with the brown moustache head instead of the grey as it should . Therefore I now have 2 brown moustache heads and no grey one (if anyone wants to trade a grey for a brown you can PM me ).

Finally we have the Rebel Pilot Zev Senesca. The first named minifig in a battle pack which has caused a little stir amongst fans. Personally I don't care that much but I am not a big SW fan after all. I didn't know who this Zev was until I looked it up on Wookieepedia, apparently he is the pilot that finds Luke and Han on the morning after their adventure on Hoth. But since he has a pretty generic face (also being used as a clone pilot in 8088 - ARC-170 Starfighter) I guess he could do well even in a battle pack. His torso is the second version of the Rebel Pilot torso that has ever been made. The older one was used from '99 to '07 with no changes. This one features a more detailed control panel on the chest with silver printings and back printing which we can see in the next picture.

Only the pilot got back printing on the torso but since the other minifigs got backpacks it's not a surprise.

Building process:

As I wrote earlier the build is very easy and quick, nothing challenging but I don't want to call it boring either.

The complete set

Here we have the whole set with all the minifigs:

Looks just like a normal battle pack with a small vehicle and 4 minifigs. It seems the vehicle is supposed to be a Laser ice-cutter. It's only seen very briefly in the movie so it's hard to tell if it's accurate but it seems to be of a fitting size.

Here are some pictures of the Laser ice-cutter from different angles:

Front view - not the best view if you happen to be a snowtrooper.

Side view - the blaster is held by one of the new headlight pieces.

Back view - without minifig for better vision.

This part of the Laser ice-cutter confuses me a bit. Is this supposed to a storage room of some kind, or is it something else? The grey crate fits nicely in the hole.

Here is my little idea of what the space could be used for. Problem is that the cannons on top aren't able to shoot forward when the passenger is in

Bonus picture

There is a lot of winter sets coming out this season and I like it. Here is a little bonus picture of one of the Rebel Troopers when he's taking a break from war fighting

Final thoughts

Build: 5/10 Simple and quick build. Nothing special so I give it an average score.

Playability: 6/10 This set almost demands the 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack if you want a good play factor. If you have both the play features like flick-fire missiles and spinning cannons can be fun and useful.

Minifigures: 9/10 The minifigs are the main attractions in this set. All of them look very good to me, the troopers might not be very movie accurate but they are still nice I think. I like the goggles and the new headgear (but it sits quite high up on the minifigs heads) and the best thing about this set is the new heads in my opinion. I really like that Star Wars is starting with pupil-eyed faces too, now they fit with the rest of the licensed themes.

Pieces: 5/10 There isn't many pieces in this set and it's hard to build any good alternative models. But the pieces aren't totally useless because the colours are still good and there aren't any stickers.

Price: 5/10 Quite expensive for just 79 pieces but that's licensed themes I guess

Design: 6/10 Not too bad, the torso designs of the minifigs are very detailed and nice and the Laser ice-cutter is acceptable. A little strange back section on it though

Total: 6/10 An average set with focus on minifigs. A lot of Hoth sets are coming out this year and next so I guess this is a must buy if you are aiming for a recreation of a battle scene. I'm a little tempted myself actually to get all the Hoth sets but I'm not sure if I want to step deeper into the Star Wars world, there are many other themes that demands my attention

Thanks for reading my review!

/Etzel

EDIT: I forgot to add the set number in the title Would a member of the staff be kind to fix that, please? (number 8083) Thanks!

Edited December 17, 2009 by KimT

[def]

Nice review and a nice set. I'd like to see those troopers side to side with the troopers of the summer Hoth set. I wasn't blown away by their goggles. Anyway, I have this pre-purchased on Amazon and it'll be arriving shortly after they're released in Japan.

Thanks for the beautiful review!

[Uncle]

So much better a review than most. I liked how you rated the categories honestly, not dishing out 8/10's and 9/10's so freely (although you gave build a 5/10 for being average and price a 5/10 for being poor). Don't be afraid to dip below the 5/10 barrior if the set actually is below average. I like your explanation of the minifigs and the bonus picture too. And as for this set, it's significantly overpriced but still provides a good selection and potential for army building.

[Swash Buckler]

Good review good set- i also agreed that this is above average- but not so good that it could have been- hats sit too high and icecutter could have been better but that one is still one of the best vehicles in bp:s ever appeared- but of course flickfires - anyway i think that "red mark" is just supposed to be wrinkle in chin because of serious impression- good face btw- not too classic smiley guy

[DarkFader]

Great review with equally great pics; I have to say that they are even better than the pics in my review.

Edited December 13, 2009 by DarkFader

[Commander_Rob]

Great review, I want the set even more now, the figs are just great.

[Ratshot]

Have you considered joining the Reviewers Academy? Top-notch review.

I want....oh, lets say 30 of these

EDIT: I just nottced that you are in the Academy

Edited December 13, 2009 by Ratshot

[Swash Buckler]

By the way- when those "Macaroni-pieces" get that new design (not seen in here as well as in another review) that better well ...suspension with studs if you get my meaning- i had only the old ones that are like "empty" underneath...

[RileyC]

I so want this set so bad! The ice cutter is really cool and I believe that this is the best battle pack so far.

Great review! The best of the set so far

[Svelte]

Thanks for the sweet review! I really like the use of that container - very clever.

The visors look in the down position. LEGO's increasing trend on making everything big, bigger, biggest (flame pieces in SP3 and Castle, barbed horns in Atlantis, Rebel helmets) is starting to become silly.

[Fumoffu]

Thanks for the review. After seeing the photo of the goggle in the down position I think I'll be keeping mine in the up position.

I now think TLG should have included some skiis in this set!!

[BlueDragonZ]

Great review there. I too find this set quite expensive. Its very similar to rebel scout speeder for the ship. But we get a really small one this time and pay a bit more on price. But the minifigures makes this set the star.

[Ras 74]

Thanks for a great and fun review Etzel!

I will go and buy the new wave at TRU on thursday.

Really looking forward to these sets now!

[Bobskink]

The new headsets make the head indeed look quite high, big bummer. This set doesn't really live up to it's expectations because of that.

[Big Cam]

Great review, such clear pictures adn nice close up s of those new helmets. Great job!

[Penitent Tangent]

Good to see I'm not the only one who thought the heads look a bit odd with those helmets.

I also see what you're getting at, a lot of these new sets seem to be designed to be put together. The Echo Base, these two battle packs and the Wampa Attack coming late next year seem to have been made in the idea that you'll buy all of them to put together. Shame last years Hoth Base was such a limited run too, because that was perfect to go with all these new ones.

But I don't think that's too much of a problem, the battlepacks have always been intended as "army builders", and I think the minifigs here are really well done. I look forward to having a nice little Hoth collection.

[CommanderFox]

Thanks for the Great Review Etzel

I am liking the look of this set more and more!

I can't wait to get atleast one of these babies!

Thanks for the review!

CommanderFox

[BlueDragonZ]

Good to see I'm not the only one who thought the heads look a bit odd with those helmets.

I also see what you're getting at, a lot of these new sets seem to be designed to be put together. The Echo Base, these two battle packs and the Wampa Attack coming late next year seem to have been made in the idea that you'll buy all of them to put together. Shame last years Hoth Base was such a limited run too, because that was perfect to go with all these new ones.

But I don't think that's too much of a problem, the battlepacks have always been intended as "army builders", and I think the minifigs here are really well done. I look forward to having a nice little Hoth collection.

Ya they are now starting to release lots of new hoth/snow sets. I got the hoth base still but i dont' really like the new helments. I think the the ones in echo base were good enough already. I hope the snowspeeder in wampa attack isn't too different than the one in hoth rebel base.

[WhiteFang]

Not sure if I am the only person whom has mixed feelings about this battlepack.

I just find the minifigs included for the Rebel Troopers, are not the same as the Echo Base troopers. I thought all Echo Base troopers are wearing the same Hoth Combat Uniform for the ground solders. I thought this could be a chance for me to standardise these, but I will need to give it a thought to find a valid reason to purchase more of these, to include them.

[Dennimator]

Nice review!

You´re lucky, my local stores does carry most of the Jan-10 sets... except the SW ones. Oh well...

[Disturbia]

This set is definitely on my wish list. I have only two Hoth Rebels, and those new helmets are something I can't simply miss.

However, that problem with the helmet is quite annoying and they must have gotten frostbite on their necks by now

[General Magma]

Thanks for this great review, Etzel!

Can't wait to get a few of those, along with the snowtrooper BPs. Though I'm disappointed that they changed the outfits, now only the 'officer' has the real outfit. Oh well, I can always replace the legs and the arms.

Overall it's a great set and definately worth buying, to make the troopers more accurate you'll need a few of those light grey hips, white legs and light grey arms. I guess that's better.

~General Magma

EDIT: 400th post...

Edited December 18, 2009 by General Magma