Navy Trooper Fenson

Review: 7964 Republic Frigate

  

71 members have voted

  1. 1. Rate the set

  2. 2. Which version is better?

    • 7665 Ambassador-version
    • 7964 Warship Upgrade


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The Republic Frigate finally arrived. As the flagship of this years The Clone Wars line the frigate has to live up to some expectations. Being a redesign of the 2007 set 7665 Republic Cruiser it was easy to call it unnecessary, but is this set really only a re-issue or is there more behind it this time? Obviously yes, people who know me know that I don´t have the first Republic Cruiser because I disliked it, so this should definately be a better set.

Name: 7964 Republic Frigate

Theme: Star Wars

Subtheme: The Clone Wars

Year: 2011

Pieces: 1015

Minifigs: Yoda (TCW), Quinlan Vos, Eeth Koth, Commander Wolffe, Wolfpack Trooper

Price: 129,99 Euro, 119,99 US Dollars (estimated)

Resources: Brickset, Peeron, Shop@Home

Box:

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Our standard box for >100€ sets, a big lid package. Nothing exciting there.

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The back shows other releases and functions of the set additionaly to a LSW3 advertisement.

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This picture reminds me at the old days of 2000 when Star Wars sets were disassembled on the back of their boxes by the figures. This was later replaced by portraits of the set with its figures for easier viewing of the content. I like this solution the best. The set gets shown from another viewpoint and the figures don´t stand still but use some of the functions.

Content:

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The instructions are seperated into two books. Interesting to note would be that the first book opens like a regular magazine but the second is diagonally.

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The bags were already thrown away but the instructions show how the set was parted into 6 numbered bags.

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Some of the stickers were already used, too. The grey ones above are used at the engines, the red cut off triangles at the escape pod. The black sticker with colored dots originally comes on a grey basic. Sadly the Open Circle Fleet 2x2 plates are now stickers and not printed tiles like before.

Figures:

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The figure selection is a little weird. I believe now LEGO just stopped caring about what figure fits where. Yoda used a frigate only in the first episode on his mission to the coral moon and the other four never were near one, not to mention in the same place as each other. But this isn´t a setback as we get four exclusive (for now) figures.

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Backs of the figures. Except Yoda everyone has backprinting.

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Quinlan Vos is finally released in a LEGO set. Sadly this is not due to his extraordinary awesomeness he showed in the Republic comics from around 2002 to 2007 but because of his guest appearance in The Clone Wars´ episode "The hunt for Ziro" in which he acted more like Anakin with dreadlocks as himself. And then he had to hunt after space Bonnie and Clyde with Obi-Wan while the episode pretended like Ziros story is perfectly reasonable drama, ignoring that we are speaking about a slug and an anteater with lipstick- but I digress.

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Part of his backprinting is covered up by the Hermione hair they used for his dreadlocks. I am not that satisfied with the solution, but Harry Potter brings up the problem and Harry Potter gives the solution thanks to...

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... Hagrids hairpiece. It only needs less beard and more knife and we get the voluminous hair he had in his appearances. Only downsides would be that the piece is rather loose and there is a noticeable gap between torso and hair.

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The back gets covered up even more so with this piece.

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Vos, Cad Bane and Obi-Wan as seen in The Clone Wars season 3 episode 9 Hunt for Ziro.

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Eeth Koth surprisingly also got his own figure, even though he too had only one appearance in the show. To counter Quinlans TCW appearance in the worst episode of the show to date, Koth was the mcguffin of the best episode (Season 2, episode 9) "Grievous´ intrigue" where General Grievous caught the council member. The green clones around Eeth are his Horn Company Troopers, as of now only released as Clone Commandos in this years Battlepack.

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Koth in battle with General Grievous.

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His skin is the Prince of Persia nougat and his hairpiece is made of rubbery material.

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And at last we have Commander Wolffe and one of his Wolfpack Troopers. The Wolfpack is under the command of Plo Koon and appeared as of now only in their blue design in small cameos in the show. Their first appearance was in episode 2 of the show were Koons Venator fleet was destroyed by the Malevolence and the only survivors were Plo Koon, Wolffe and two other troopers, which took this occaison to recolor their armor from violet to sandblue.

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The regular soldier has a jetpack as seen in Season 3 Episode 21 Padawan lost where the Wolfpack launched an ambush on seperatist forces on Felucia. Commander Wolffe has no jetpack, even though it could fit on him as he doesn´t use the pauldron piece. His head is designed with five o´clock shadow and a scarred and blind right eye which he lost in an issue of the TCW comic. Both figures use the same torso and leg pieces.

As I like the inclusion of both these figures I would have preffered them more as part of the battlepack replacing the bombsquad and Horn Company troopers with two Wolfpacks and Commander Wolffe. The Horn Company fits much better in the frigate since ts inclusion of Eeth Koth. Having two troopers belonging to a completely different Jedi happaned several times before (Cody and Ki-Adi, Rex and Luminara) but this time none of them even appeared in the same episode, an advantage that the former examples had.

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Wolfpack, Plo Koon and Ahsoka as seen in Season 2 Episode 21 Come home R2.

Funfact: The Wolfpacks wolf-theme was an idea of supervising director Dave Filoni whose favourite Jedi is Plo Koon and favourite animal is the wolf.

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As noticed before LEGO finally decided to change the lightsaber color into something darker. The green saber at the right is the old version, the left is the new version. I would normally complain about how this set seems to be overloaded with sabers of only one color but because of the colorchange I find this rather nice of LEGO. The blue sabers to the left weren´t included and only photographed for comparsion. The dark blue blade comes out of Shop@Homes current Pick-a-Brick range. The blade is probably included for the "Make your own Hero Factory figure" offer but I find this blue color also fits nicely with the new green. Sadly it doesn´t look like LEGO is changing the blue blade color too, so I recommend ordering them from PaB.

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At last we have the most exciting part of the set: A grey container with 2x2 dark tan tile including Star Wars stile binoculars (not pictured) and a hologram of Darth Sidious. The same hologram is included in the UCS Executor making its inclusion here a miracle as the Jedi never recieved any messages from the darkest lord of all and LEGO seems to like putting small decorated pieces into sets that aren´t wort the money for a single piece.

The design is nice but I find it a little off. It looks like it was designed by Greg Hyland with a look of cloth on Sidious´ arms and hood. I would have preffered a real figure stile like with the original Han in carbonite or Emperor hologram on an 1X2X5 wall piece.

The frigate:

The frigate is called Consular-class cruiser (Charger c70 retrofit). The ship is in-universe an upgraded version of the regular Consular-class space cruiser used by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan in the opening of Star Wars The phantom menace. As the first vehicle was merely a ship for ambassadors is had no weapons and had to be modified by the republic army to be used in the war. It is noticeable that this version has more guns than 2007s version. The first ship had a paintjob mostly consisting of winered and little white, this war-version comes in mostly grey with little winered. Judging from the paint I liked the TPM version but LEGOs decision to use regular red on their model in 2007 together with randomly thrown in white, orange and dark red ruined the set for me completely. This years version is better as it uses no regular red pieces but sticks to the wine and the always usefull greys. Only dark tan comes of as this years counterpart of the randomly thrown in color the original design never had. As far as I know the redesign also is longer than before, giving more room in the middle.

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Side-view.

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Enigines and communications station/turret.

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Cockpit.

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Under-side. The legs above are retracted, the legs below in landing position. Instead of round plates the turrets on the underside are connected with 1x2 plates with 2x4 SNOTs. They aren´t turnable.

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The underside of the cockpit without escape pod.

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The escape pod can be ejected with this lever.

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Ejected.

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Both halves aren´t connected, the technic parts in the middle help keeping them together. There are five seats and two clips for weapons.

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The turret with the flickfire missiles fired.

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The cockpit only has room for a single person. There are no consoles.

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The upper turrets are turnable and the lasers can be adjusted.

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The left room stores the bombs and grey container. There is a little additional room for at least two figures.

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The lid above stores the bombs before launch.

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The lever helps transporting the model similiar to the one used on the AT-TE, Clone Turbo Tank and AT-OT.

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The right room holds two of the lightsabers, Sidious´ hologram and a diagnose picture of the frigate. There is enough room for three figures.

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The holder is in no way connected, only lies in place with help of small wallpieces.

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The communications station got upgraded to turret control.

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The basic right to the great turret should hold the black sticker mentioned earlier. It looks roomy but the clone only fits just right into the place.

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The turret also holds flick-fire missiles. As this is the only turret in the back the person in charge of this place should be careful with choosing a target.

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The landing gear can be used to place the ship a little bit off-key.

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This is great if you plan on displaying it on a high shelf and still want to see some of the details on the top or side instead of the underside. Here is the place of my frigate.

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The set with open rooms, cockpits and functions.

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Complete set in regular display.

The Final Verdict

Design: 9/10

The model is a worthy upgrade to 7665 Republic Cruiser. It´s longer, has a much better fitting color scheme and better functions. The only downside would be the dark tan tiles. What is their use anyway? They weren´t ever on the original ship and the Theta Shuttle also got stuck with mindless dark tan pieces. Is their any reason for this?

Build: 10/10

Was parted into six sections, no misplaced parts.

Playability: 10/10

It has landing gear, can be carried with one hand and fires PEWPEWLAZORS. What do you need more?

Minifigures: 10/10

Like mentioned, swapping Bomb Squad and Horn Company with Wolfpack and Wolffe would have made this years sets much better with a clone legion that you could actually use and easily build with Wolfpack Battlepacks and Horn Company troopers to use with Eeth Koth in this frigate, but a single Wolfpack and Wolffe is better than none at all. Also we got Quinlan Vos and new green sabers.

Price: 9/10

I can see this set as this years flagship with 130 bucks. The piececount lies 300 under the non-license sets standard but the ship is big enough. I got my frigate for 103€, if you get it at that price or even cheaper the purchase is 10 of 10.

Overall: 48/50 or 9,6/10

This count doesn´t mean this is the bestest set I´ve every seen in my whole life but it gets the job done that it is trying to accomplish: Being a replica of the Consular-Class cruiser, and is much better at it than the 7665. If you are a figure collector I recommend buying this, too. Four of them are exclusive, the hologram is only in another set for 400 bucks and another Yoda is never wrong (and when it is sell one on Ebay for half a Battlepack when you´re lucky).

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Eeth Koth: Who is going to fly? We Jedi never steer warships!

Wolffe: Are you mad?

Wolfpack: I am a Paratrooper, not a pilot!

Brickshelf

Edited by Navy Trooper Fenson

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Thanks for the great review. The more I read about this one, the more I want it. The figure are awesome and I found it quite satisfy with the new color of lightsaber blade.

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The figure selection is a little weird. I believe now LEGO just stopped caring about what figure fits where. Yoda used a frigate only in the first episode on his mission to the coral moon and the other four never were near one, not to mention in the same place as each other. But this isn´t a setback as we get four exclusive (for now) figures.

Does your imagination not allow Yoda to use the frigate except for when Lucas specifically says he does?

Good review otherwise.

Edited by gotoAndLego

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Thanks for the highly detailed review!

As a non-watcher of the CW show, I like the ship itself but the minifigures are hideous. I'm not sure if I like this or the Republic Cruiser more, though the latter definitely stands out on the shelf more thanks to its bright red colour. The changes made on this ship made it worthy of a "re-release", and I think it's one of the best Star Wars sets of the summer wave.

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Thank you for the review.

I want this set. The ship looks good with great playability. I don't own the previous red one but this "seems" an improvment.

The 2 "wolf" troopers are awesome.

Yoda is ok. Nothing new here.

The "Jedis" are really Ugly, especially Quinlan "whatever" Vos.

The hologram is a great addition but it looked nicer from far.

It's overpriced as usual.

I will definitely buy it and try to bricklink 3 wolfpack troopers.

I voted: Above average and 7964

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Thanks for the review! :thumbup: This is my favorite ship from the Summer 2011 wave and I'm going to be getting this one. I like the figures even if some of you guys think they're hideous. And Yoda has made his reappearence too.

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Fantastic review, I don't have much to say, because I'm not a huge CW fan, and although the ship is massive, I can find better things to spend $120 on. I think I want it, but the price will likely keep me away, since I'm saving for the falcon.

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A very good review Navy Trooper Fenson thanks. I think the set is above average even though the fig choice is a little silly. However I voted that the previous version was better because it looked more in scale and smother without all the silly flick-fires all over the place. Does this Yoda have a darker torso than the previous version it looks as if he does.

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Thanks for a very thorough review! :sweet: It looks like this set turned out better than I expected, but the fact that the minifigs, the big selling point of the set, don't interest me will prevent me from buying it. Actually, to me the most useful part of this set is the DSS. I could see some of those stickers being very versatile. PIece selection looks good as well. Overall it looks to be a good set, but I'm passing on it. It's too expensive to be a parts pack.

Edited by Brickdoctor

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Finally we've seen a review for this set! This is on the top of my list for summer sets, I really like this. With exception to 10195 Dropship with AT-OT Walker, this will be the biggest ship in my fleet. I want this really for the clones, but I also like the looks of the ship.

That was a very good review. Good insight and pictures showing just about every inch of that ship, inside and out. You really know your CW stuff.

Edited by Legocrazy81

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Really nice review. Great inclusion of comparing it to the clone wars, and plenty of great quality pictures.

Great review :thumbup:

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Thanks for the great review NTF!

This is the release of the summer for me! Love the ship in the new colours, the figs are fantastic! The only down side for me is the lack of printed parts on the big curved panels. That is pretty minor gripe in a otherwise wonderfull set.

I have already bought 4 Wolfpack troopers from BL for when I do finaly get my hands on this set too. :drool:

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Thanks for this review! This is one set I've been keeping my eye on since it was announced; I loved the old cruiser, and this was one of my favorite ships in CW season 1.

I think the things they changed on this one compared to the old cruiser are interesting. The escape pod is changed, the release mechanism is a little different, and the insides of the ship look greatly improved; the original was somewhat Spartan in interiors. The turrets are interesting, and you said it's a bit longer too. I don't love the mini-figs here, since I barely remember any of the characters except Yoda, but there is a lot more effort put into them than in the ones with the cruiser.

Unfortunately, I'll ultimately end up voting with my wallet, since it's about ¥15,000 here, a steep markup from the ¥10,000 cruiser. If I find this on sale, I'll be very tempted to pick it up though.

Thanks again for the review, always glad to see high quality ones :wink:

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Great review, NTF! I like the part with the gear making it displayable! That was fun!

The frigate is seriously one of the best CW sets to date. I absolutely consider getting this. Not only that is looks cool, has lots of features, but the Jedi and troops will make a great addition to my clone army. Plus, it can hold some figs which is a rare sight and I simply love those ships able to hold some minifigs.. Landing gear, colours, holograph, it's all there!

@def - hope you find some -15% offer at TRU, amazon or Bic soon. I remember getting my 7676 in Japan for a nice price!

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Thanks for an AWESOME and entertaining review 'Navy Trooper Fenson', oh....I wonder if my budget will stretch this year for this one. :moar:

Appears to be one of the best Clone Wars sets for years, highly playable and those minifigs - AWESOME.....though isn't Wolfpack troopers usually to do with Plo Koon ? :look:

May the brick be with you all ! :grin:

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I've been back and forth on this one. First, it was the only one I wanted. Then, when I saw the "big" play areas, I wasn't so sure. But you've sold me on it, NTF. This is a must buy for me, even if I never open up the play areas.

I like the way Quinlan Vos looks. :classic:

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Very good review, thanks for sharing NTF! :thumbup: This is definitely a significant upgrade from the previous 7665 Frigate design-wise, but for some reason reason I still prefer the more regal dark red color scheme of the old one. The minifig line-up of this set is a WIN for me. I know how much other dislike the CW figs, but I'm very happy to see two new jedi figs, and those Wolfpack troopers are certainly must-haves for any clone army builder. The price is expectedly high, no surprises about that, and since I don't have any interest in the frigate I might just have to purchase the minifigs separately or wait for them to be released on a less expensive set.

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Thanks for the awesome review. I'm liking this set more and more each time, and the Wolfpack clones are the highlight for me. The ship itself I am really starting to like, after not being that interested to begin with. Well done!

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Finally the frig'n figate review. Nice review and set :thumbup: . This will be a must have for me.

Grest to see a ship that is designed better than the previous version. The odd addition and selection of figs is weird but overall awsome characters to make a added bonus with this set.

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Well frig it... after all this time no review - I bought it yesterday, built & photographed it last night to put up a review today and what happens? :hmpf:

The minifigs were what sold this set for me. 4 exclusive (1 of which will be high demand) there was no way I was going to get the minifigs for a decent price, and then that niggling feeling that I would've gotten much better value for money if I'd bought the whole set...

It was an enjoyable build, the new green lightsabres are interesting, and there were some cool pieces in there. It took me forever to work out what the lid on the top was for, and what pulling that thing in and out did. Later on I remembered the bombs and :facepalm: ah-ha!

It's pretty cool how you can use the retractable handle to carry the whole thing with 1 finger...

On top if you remove 2 red curved vehicle roof pieces there is enough room for a minifig to stowaway in.

As far as stickers are concerned, I felt that the round tiles could have been printed. (Nowhere near as bad as the 7957 though, with 6 identically stickered tiles!) Maybe the escape pod parts too, but it was an acceptible sticker application, & the other stickers were fine by me. Not that I prefer stickers to prints ever, but I understand why they're used.

Thanks for the review!

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Great review, NTF! I like the part with the gear making it displayable! That was fun!

The frigate is seriously one of the best CW sets to date. I absolutely consider getting this. Not only that is looks cool, has lots of features, but the Jedi and troops will make a great addition to my clone army. Plus, it can hold some figs which is a rare sight and I simply love those ships able to hold some minifigs.. Landing gear, colours, holograph, it's all there!

@def - hope you find some -15% offer at TRU, amazon or Bic soon. I remember getting my 7676 in Japan for a nice price!

I agree. I'm even considering buying 2, which I haven't seriously considered before. I have a lot of the CW ships/vehicles that you could gave multiples of and make a squadron of, but I've never really wanted to buy another more than this frigate. And the clones! Oh the clones, very cool!

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Nice review, though i consider the red ship nicer at least in colour scheme. I also agree they should have paid more attention in QV comic than in pathetic CW season... :sadnew: ... anyway, at least released one of the most important jedi from CW who even survived order 66... :blush:

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