Geonosis Battle Arena - SW [S - P1] - Playsets

The ultimate playset to re-create the major battle scenes from Episode II or to create your own adventure! Add figures, vehicles and accessories (all sold separately) from your Hasbro Star Wars Attack of the Clones collection to re-create the Geonosian arena battle: the Battle Droid and Super Battle Droid factory; the climactic duel in the "secret" hangar; the arrival of the Clone Troopers in the Republic Gunship, and much more! With different play environments on each side, the playset lets you get right inside the action!

Well, well, well. Apparently Hasbro feels secure to spend the time, tooling and production budget by releasing a giant playset since it has a big Star Wars movie push behind it. Still unwilling to provide Original Trilogy collectors with updates to the Death Star Space Station playset or other “less interesting” vehicles from the first three films, they decided to take a stab at a scene/backdrop that is arguably the most visibly engaging in Attack Of The Clones. Granted, the most energetic moments of Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones occurred during the Battle of Geonosis. Before the clones arrived on Geonosis, which was the very start of the Battle of Geonosis, the three main heroes in Attack Of The Clones were to be executed in the Geonosis arena by hungry and angry beasts. Almost the Star Wars equivalent to Rome feeding the Christians to the lions in the coliseum, it was probably the most tense moments of the film. But they were rescued and a battle ensued. And that is the basis for the Geonosis Battle Arena playset. As Episode II built itself around a love story, even though painful as it was to watch, there weren’t many toy ideas Hasbro could visit for the basic figure line. But they were smart to develop the Geonosis Battle Arena because it encompasses so many aspect of the best parts of Episode II, albeit not in perfect scale or proportions, while providing a quality toy. With plenty of space in the front (and in the back) to set up various Jedi, clones and Separatists, the Geonosis Battle Arena may just be the perfect environment for all of these characters.

The Geonosis Battle Arena is very large, but it’s nowhere near the actual size to the one seen in Episode II. It’s really just one small slice of the actual environment, yet Hasbro cleverly added the most important features to it. The front centers around Count Dooku’s boxed seating. You can position him over the railing so he can observe the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. To the right and to the left are layers on which you can place Geonosian Warrior action figures (or other Separatist characters). The design of the arena is very, very nice. Whatever substance the Geonosians use to make their “hives” has been replicated beautifully. The Geonosis Battle Arena shows off the organic traits of this very nicely. Below where Count Dooku sits are two swing-open doors. This is where you can have the Reek, Nexu and/or Acklay come out of and head towards the heroes tied to the pillars. A portion of the terrain has also been included as the foundation to this playset. We would have preferred for Hasbro not to permanently sculpt the battle-damaged droid parts into the “dirt”, but they have chosen to do this and you just need to build the dead and injured around them. Two three-part pillars are also included and you can situate them in and around the playset very nicely. And if you’re so inclined, you can bind prisoners to them as you desire. It’s hard to use words like limitless and endless to describe a toy. But we believe the Geonosis Battle Arena will at least offer a chance at this for kids and collectors.

Hasbro has also added two cardboard backdrops which attached to Geonosis “boulders” to help provide a better sense of an encased arena. We don’t think it’s too successful at creating that environment, but the parts will enhance this playset a great deal. The rear of the Geonosis Battle Arena may be the nicest surprise of this entire playet. In fact, we feel good saying that the backside of it is more interesting than the front of it. Hasbro has added a separately sculpted “droid factory” for additional play value. It also attaches to the base of the playset too. It’s not the best functioning or realistically placed accessory that Hasbro has made to date, but it’s thematic enough to fit in very nicely with this playset. There are also stages and levels to situate various action figures on the back as well. The reverse side opens up to its own world through the doors just like the front does. As you can see, there are endless hours to enjoy here. And it’s evident Hasbro has hoped to not only allow kids and collectors to recreate scenes from Episode II, but to also generate their own situations and battles as well. There is also a bridge that shoots out from Count Dooku’s box. Obviously this is based on the scene where R2-D2 pushed C-3PO onto the droid factory conveyor belt. It’s niche, it’s novel and it is a necessary collectible toy for your Star Wars collection. For $39.99, collectors are treated to a healthy dose of plastic here. And exclusive figure may have sealed the deal for other collectors, but we have to admit that we’re quite impressed with how this piece turned out.