Grievous’ Wheel Bike - ROTS - Vehicles

General Grievous’ wheel bike is a custom-designed mobile attack vehicle. He sits in the center sphere, and the wheel revolves around him in driving mode. The four legs are used in walking mode and to climb vertical surfaces, such as the sinkholes on Utapau where he battles Obi-Wan Kenobi on Boga.

It’s likely that Hasbro was overloaded with ideas when it came to preparing for the Revenge Of The Sith line. The film had a lot of action throughout it and a ton of more new characters were introduced. They admirably grabbed a decent selection of characters and vehicles to create an excellent complementing toy line. Quite frankly, it was one of their most focused basic figure lines to date. With over 70 figures (including variations) by the end of 2005 when the line was all said and done, it was hard for many collectors to stay on top of with the deluge of products. Hasbro also made some gorgeous vehicles to accompany these vehicles as well. Some were released with pack-in figures, and others weren’t. But when they did include the figures, it seemed to make the most sense. That’s about how we feel with Grievous’ Wheel Bike, one of the most unique Star Wars vehicles the films and now the toy line has ever seen. It's technically referred to as a Tsmeu-6 Personal Wheel Bike. Exclusively utilized by the leader of the Separatist armies, Grievous’ Wheel Bike is a wonderful addition to the Revenge Of The Sith line.

The bulk of the Grievous’ Wheel Bike are, well, the two wheels. They function via ball bearings and the two wheels themselves are very weighty as a result of that. The circular motion of the wheels is very smooth, but the “teeth” or tread of the wheels is a bit too soft and these spiky protrusions bow from the weight of the rest of the vehicle. There are four legs that can either be stowed up close to the body and not interfere with the rolling wheels, or you can make this vehicle walk on all four legs – both style which could clearly be seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. To our surprise, each leg comes with three swivel click joints and then there are two points of articulation in each claw. This provides the optimal amount of movement for this vehicle and kids and collectors both will get a ton of play value out of it. When positioned in the walking mode, Grievous’ Wheel Bike has an almost character-esque quality. It feels like it becomes General Grievous’ beast of burden, and not just his “ride”. We think that effect is pretty neat. And it complements the Boga With Obi-Wan Kenobi set wonderfully.

Grievous’ Wheel Bike also comes with a General Grievous pack-in figure, but don’t get too excited because it’s not a great figure at all. It comes with only five points of articulation: a ball-socket head, two swivel shoulders and two swivel hips. But sadly, General Grievous has been painted in the very pale “concept art” colors because when this set was planned Hasbro was evidently basing the action figure on unfinished ideas. (This can also be verified by the 2004 date stamp on both the Wheel Bike and the General Grievous action figure.) The advantage however is that the General Grievous pack-in figure fits flawlessly into the cockpit area of the Wheel Bike, even though the cockpit is on the wrong side of the vehicle. But that’s about the only benefit here. The figure is very difficult to stand upright unassisted, and the lack of accessories make General Grievous unnecessarily boring. An electropole would have been the perfect accessory to include with him here. Oh, and back to Grievous’ Wheel Bike, it comes with a projectile that can be shot out of a cannon on the side of the bike. In general, this is a great release, and the pack-in “pilot” makes the $19.99 MSRP all the more palatable.