Geonosis Assault - TLC - Battle Packs

Clone troopers arrive on Geonosis in Republic gunships to support the Jedi, who are battling Geonosian warriors and battle droids. Troopers in armored spheres operate the bubble-turret cannons that extend from the troop cabins, spraying the enemy with laser fire in this opening salvo of the Clone Wars.

At the end of 2002, Hasbro treated us to our first Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones Clone Pilot action figure and he came with an insanely small turret that was shorter than the action figure itself. (It was meant to be an accessory - with its projectile and all.) Undoubtedly, there was no way the action figure would ever fit inside of it, so we had to pretend for over half of a decade. Fast forward seven years. Hasbro reinvented both the turret AND the action figure(s) and put together a wonderful little package (albeit overpriced) that is this Battle Packs set. Geonosis Assault is an excellent idea for a Battle Packs program. Originally it was to include two Bubble-Turret Cannon Spheres, but with everything being victims of tooling costs, one was nixed and airspace was put in its place. Yes, that was a sarcastic remark, but Hasbro has got to start giving us more value for our dollar. This is honestly very frustrating to us since we would like to get as much value as we can from multipacks. For Battle Packs that include larger items like speeder bikes for example, we always seem to get two of them. And since a speeder bike utilizes quite a bit more plastic than this Bubble-Turret (maybe the same amount), we are not so sure why Hasbro couldn't have just bitten the bullet here and given us two in this set. After all, a Republic Gunship has two turrets, so should the Battle Packs. This means you would have to spend upwards of $50 to complete your gunship. This of course is ridiculous when in 2005 the Republic Gunship could be purchased for under $30. While the ultimate value for your dollar is lacking here, the included Clone Pilot action figures and Bubble-Turret are great and very movie accurate. You can almost forgive the overcharge. (Not really.)

The Clone Pilot figures are retools of 2003's CW Clone Trooper '03 #50 figure. The best thing that makes these clone trooper pilots unique are the removable helmets. So these two pilots are completely unique to all other clone trooper pilots we have received thus far. The torso appears different and the legs have been slightly repositioned. While not straight, the angle/stance that the legs are in works very well for them and we are impressed that is doesn't inhibit their balance at all. Another benefit to the revisit of the figures is that Hasbro has significantly tightened up their joints. If you own the 2008 TLC Saga Legends Clone Trooper Officers, you know just how annoying the loose joints are. The clone troopers are ready for action and they have just the right attitude and easily convince you they are ready to fight in the most dreaded of battles. The paint jobs on the action figures are once again pristinely too clean. We would have preferred a figure smothered in brown Geonosian soil or extra carbon-scoring, but still, the figures look pretty good as is. Interestingly, the clone troopers are outfitted with gray DC-15 blaster pistols. It is a shade of color that we don't see too often, so these will likely be harder to replace if you unfortunately misplace or lose them. Your extra weapons from the Saga Legends figures won't be able to replace these specific colored ones. The packaging of this set has an interesting footnote. It is labeled under The Clone Wars and should have been marketed under The Legacy Collection. Hasbro confirmed that The Clone Wars branding would only contain the animated styled figures (and that the brands wouldn't comingle. If this was indeed a The Clone Wars Battle Packs set, it would have been packaged with two Odd Ball action figures. Mistakes like this are inevitable with two [three] concurrent lines, so we will look the other way with this error. (Editor's Note: When this set was released in the red phase of the Legacy Collection, Hasbro fixed the box to say Legacy Collection.)

The Bubble-Turret is very impressive. The plastic is pretty much crystal clear (we hope that time doesn't cloud or yellow it) and once the clone is placed inside, it looks a whole lot more awesome. Please allow yourself extra time to futz around with getting the figure in size because the canopy opening is slim and big fingers don’t interact well with it. But the figure does get housed nicely inside. The turret is large and it looks fantastic on the Republic Gunship vehicle. We have heard whispers saying that it is too large, but we disagree. We give Hasbro credit for producing a well designed set. You will thoroughly enjoy it too and we are confident of that. This set is averaging between $23.99 and $24.99 at retail and this of course depends upon what store you purchase it. So if we do the math, two figures at $7.99 each is $16, leaving a balance of $9 for the cost of the Bubble-Turret. Certainly high for a mid-sized accessory, it isn't the worst overcharge we have seen (ahem, Disturbance At Lars Homestead). Of course, two of them for the $9 extra would have been so much better! The story about this set from Hasbro has changed daily, but we have been told that it will be released in short supply in the red phase of the Legacy Collection. Hasbro is returning to the streamlined packaging of the earliest Battle Packs so these turrets will not fit inside the thinner boxes. (Editor’s Note: The Geonosis Assault Battle Packs set in the red phase of the Legacy Collection seems to have shipped in higher numbers than the blue phase version in The Legacy Collection.) We highly recommend that if you want these turrets to not pass on them once. The last remnants of The Legacy Collection (blue phase) is bearing down to an end - this stuff will NOT ship forever. Like we stated earlier, we know you will be happy with this set. Clones are always cool, and clone accessories are even cooler. And this set totally completes your awesome and various Republic Gunship vehicles.