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Are you ready for the Solo, a Star Wars story movie? If you're not, do not worry. You're not alone. There is nothing to spoil in this review so please proceed without hesitation. The movie is not yet out and besides, my 16th RA review is just a battle pack. You might be thinking, after a long break this dude only comes back with a puny little set to review? My reply to that: "I know". Overview Name: 75207 - Imperial Patrol Battle Pack Theme: Star Wars / Rogue One Year: 2018 (1H) Pieces: 99 Minifigures: 4 Price: GBP 12.99 / USD 14.99 / EUR 16.99 / SGD 29.99 / MYR 79.90 Resources: Brickset and Bricklink Introduction Since the introduction of the new trilogy and anthology Star Wars movie, we began seeing more diverse design of armoured troopers. On the flipside, It’s hard to imagine that there aren't many variations of Imperial uniforms. Apart from knowing that the empire has dedicated droids to do all the ironing to make the imperial uniforms look presentable, the imperial uniforms are generally grey and black with almost the same design. Anyway, I am getting side-tracked. Let's check out the packaging first. Front panel The Solo movie is supposed to display the height of the Imperial power because in the Star Wars timeline the new movie happens before Rogue One. This is evident in this set showing the Imperial Patrol Troopers riding Interceptor Speeder Bikes. According to Star Wars databank, the Patrol Stormtroopers use the speeder bikes to cover distances across sprawling settlements and cities. Back panel The back panel just shows the studs shooters in action. Yeah... that's it. Side Panels Nothing much to see on the side panels of the packaging. Now, let's open the box and start building. Build Unboxing contents Inside the box, we have 2 plastic bags without number and a single instruction booklet. Good news: there is no sticker sheet! This is a fairly small set so all the loose parts are meant for a single build which is called Imperial Interceptor Speeder Bike according to Star Wars databank. The back of the instruction booklet displays the other available sets for the latest wave of Star Wars playsets. Bag Contents These are all the contents available. There is nothing particularly exciting about the parts included but this is not the set that you will buy mainly for the parts afterall. There is one relatively new part which is the black 2x2 modified tile with 2 studs on the edge that is used as the top piece for the driver's seat. Apart from that, there is no outstanding new part in my opinion. You do get 3 printed 1x1 round tiles with an Imperial logo, one of which is a spare. For the build itself, this battle pack has a very practical use of parts despite it looking boring. The speeder bike design is very pragmatic and simple. In order to achieve the shape of the frame, it uses several Technic axles, Technic bricks, lift arms and hinges. As a result, the speeder bike has a very sturdy build. Front view By far, the least attractive front view of any Star War speeder bike. The lack of curvy styling isn't really the set designer's fault because when you see the speeder bike in the movie trailer (the speeder bike chase scene where someone flips in the air), it is really meant to be utilitarian. It is also faithful to the design with a size approximately close to minifig scale -- highly commendable for a battle pack like this. There are also 2 stud shooters attached in front for additional play feature for younger builders. The stud shooters also make the speeder bike look more fierce as they add more character to the seemingly boring vehicle. Completed Imperial Interceptor Speeder Bike Here is the complete speeder bike. The side profile is very angular giving the allusion of raw power and that the speeder bike is meant for pursuit. Do you see the protruding black antenna on the left side of the speeder? I don't what is that for, but I am happy there is something different at the sides that makes the speeder slightly asymmetrical. Side view The bottom of the speeder is just a plate and there is no hidden wheel or glider. Kids will need to use the power of imagination to make-believe the speeder bike is floating. Parts As mentioned earlier, there isn't much notable part included in the set except those that I already mentioned. Once completed, you are left with these extra parts. Do note that all 4 minifigures carry a stud shooter and the speeder bike has 2 shooters as well. In total there are 6 stud shooters in the set. Therefore, having only 7 1x1 round plate spares isn't that much after all. Always Buckle Up! *only the speeder bike & Patrol Trooper are included in the set Minifigures Now let's get to the meat of this review. The minifigure selection in this set is perhaps the top reason people will buy the set. The set is obviously meant for army builders. Taking into account that the official description of the set describes the two uniformed minifigures as a recruitment officer and an Imperial Emigration officer, I don't believe people will actually build an army of recruiters or emigration officers. Of course, someone could possibly do that as well but more likely, people will pay for this set for the Patrol Troopers. TLG is generous to include 2 of them in the set. Front view with headgears The Recruiter Officer has a new face print with facial hair and sideburns. Judging by the uniform insignia, the army recruiter is also a captain. The officer from 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer also has sideburns so perhaps this style is common to captains. The torso print is also new with updated creases and folds, and now with 2 code cylinders, one on each chest pocket. I don't recall any officer with dark bluish grey legs with printing yet, which is frustrating because by right these officers should have those black boots. The dual moulded DBG legs with black boots are already used in other minifigures in DC Superheroes (Batman) and Ninjago (Shade) so other than reducing the production cost, I don't know why we don't get these dual moulded legs. The fact that LEGO sets put a premium price on these licensed sets, it's fair to demand accuracy of these minifigures. So if TLG is reading this, please put boots on the Imperial officers next time. Moving on, the Emigration Officer has the same helmet used by Imperial Navy Trooper and Death Star Trooper. The front torso print is new but it is very similar torso to the Imperial Ground Crew, just slightly more detailed. Unfortunately, the knee pads pattern used in Imperial Ground Crew were not re-used so there is no leg printing for the Emigration Officer. I doubt the Emigration Officers use knee pads at work, so legs without printing look fine for this minifigure. Finally, we move on to the stars of this set - the Imperial Patrol Troopers. These specialised Stormtroopers patrol the cities controlled by the Empire. Gladly, they come with a well-deserved and highly-detailed torso and leg printings. You look at the Patrol Trooper helmets and they remind you of the classic Stormtrooper bucket helmets but with reinforced forehead armour similar to Tank Troopers in Rogue One, albeit smaller. The air vents (frown) is not pointy, the conduit housing is black, the vocoder speaker is bigger (probably to shout louder at people), and the eye visor looks different. It's not the same but it l looks so familiar. It's very pleasing to know that the helmet is dual moulded. Can you imagine if they do this in the classic OT Stormtrooper? Maybe it is not necessary for the OT Stormtroopers because the black colour does not cover such a big area unlike the Patrol Trooper but it is interesting that we are getting more dual moulding in Star Wars. Hopefully dual moulding for arms and legs will catch up soon. If you look inside the helmet you can also see the small hole in the forehead area. Back view with headgears The back printing for all the minifigures is superb. Note that the black part of the Patrol Trooper helmet is not ink printing - it is entirely made of dual-moulded ABS plastic. I don't believe that printing around the helmet will give justice at all so it's great that it is made of dual-moulded plastic. Side view The side printing is totally absent in all these minifigures unless you count the helmet printing as 'side' printing. Front view without accessories/headgears Removing the head gears, we can see more faceprints from the 2 officers. As for the Patrol Troopers, I have 3 words: angry clone trooper!! Back view without accessories/headgears There is only 1 minifigure with dual faceprint -- Emigration Officer. The alternative faceprint looks like an irritated snarky face. Comparison of black and white bucket-heads I lined up the most recent releases of the Stormtrooper variants. To me, nothing beats the original trilogy (OT) design. They all look nice but the refinement of the OT design over years of iteration makes it the most pleasing Stormtrooper to my eyes. That is not to say the other Stormtrooper designs are ugly; all of them are great minifigures. How about you? What's your favourite Stormtrooper design? Zoom-zoom! Conclusion There isn't much to say about this little set. It's good because the build is okay for its size. The parts are not really excellent even though they could be used for other purposes. The minifigures are great even though the majority of the buyers will likely purchase the set just for the 2 Patrol Troopers -- myself included. The official set description is a little self-aware that the buyer must have Star Wars minifigure collection first so that this battle set can have something to take control of. The inclusion of 6 stud shooters for such a small set is really overkill especially when there is no conflict to stage. I don't hate the stud shooter but I don't like them either because it doesn't really add much value even if it gives more 'action'. This set could have benefit for adding just a classic pistol for the minifigures. There's also an argument that instead of adding the stud shooters for more parts, the cost could have been allocated for more printing on the other minifigures. To sum it up, the Patrol Troopers outshine everything in the set. The rest is just ordinary. You're under arrest for impersonating Stormtroopers! Review summary Playability: 6 / 10 - Extra play features are almost absent, save the stud shooters and role-playing with the minifigures Design / Building Experience: 9 / 10 - Pragmatic design for an industrial-looking speeder bike. One of the better build for a battle pack lately. Minifigures: 8 / 10 - Patrol Troopers look great. Could have been nicer if Mudtrooper or standard Stormtroopers were added in the mix instead of the officers. Price / Value for money: 7/10 - The pieces included can be re-purposed for MOC quite easily but there is nothing out of ordinary other than the minifigures. Overall: 7.5 / 10 - Admittedly, the Patrol Trooper is likely the only reason you want to buy this set. There is another battle pack (75206) that comes with Clone Troopers and 2 Jedi, so if you have a limited budget you may prioritise that over this. Comment below if you enjoy reading this or if you disagree/agree with me. Let's have a clean and healthy discussion. Thank you for reading!
