Speeder Bike Recon - TCW [B] - Battle Packs

Anakin is sent to the planet Teth to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son. The Huttlet is being held in a B'omarr monk monastery built on a high cliff. Anakin and his team of clone troopers fight their way up the cliff as battle droids attack from above. On the ground below, clone troopers on speeder bikes guard protect the assault team as battle droids launch an attack from the rear.

When The Clone Wars film came out, fans and collectors were treated to a sensory overload of clone trooper goodness. The fly-bys of STAPs and speeders and the battles between battle droids and clone troopers alerted a diverse viewing audience of all the new Star Wars worlds we would soon become familiar. The Battle of Teth in The Clone Wars film was probably one of the most exciting scenes of all and gave new perspectives in the continuing struggle against the Separatist moment. It was also in this exciting scene where we saw AT-TE vehicles scale 90 degree cliffs. It was a site to behold and it took away from the many smaller battles below. Hasbro decided to base a Battle Packs set on some of these events and created Speeder Bike Recon. While it’s not the most exciting set, it certainly allows kids and collectors to army build quickly and also gave us two unique clone troopers in gray color flashes. The clone troopers were designed to work very well with the included speeder bikes and overall the set satisfies in ways that may surprise us. In other words, it’s a set that should impress us, but we like it anyway.

There isn’t too much new inside this set. Both clone troopers are repaints of 2008’s TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5). And the two BARC speeders that they come with have been resurrected from the 2005 ROTS Stass Allie Deluxe figure set. Both figures have been reworked or repainted and Hasbro has crafted a great little set here. While the two clone troopers are clearly reworks of the regular release clone trooper, their legs have seemingly been slightly repositioned so that they can straddle the speeders as needed. And the fit is perfect. They also can hold onto the steering column very well. While you may say “yeah, so what?” we exclaim “Hallelujah!” because when action figures cannot hold or grab onto their accessories, it really creates unnecessary aggravation. The functionality of this set is nearly flawless and although the clone troopers are a little bit boring, they serve their purpose well. And how cool is it to get another color of clone trooper? You may have a different opinion here too, but variety is the spice of life, especially in The Clone Wars!

Hasbro made Battle Packs like Speeder Bike Recon and B’omarr Monastery Assault to help pad the release of the AT-TE (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer) so that kids could really have fun recreating the Battle of Teth as seen in the film. But these Battle Packs have also been designed to appease collectors. Hasbro has been gracious too by updating the action figures contained within them to make it a worthwhile purchase for even the most stringent collectors. Many of you prefer to never get another BARC speeder, speeder bike or STAP ever again, but these are mainstays in The Clone Wars many story arcs and their eventual rereleases are inevitable. But the Speeder Bike Recon Battle Packs sets definitely give the collector a new take on a basic character, even if the set is a little repetitious and lacks versatility. A third clone trooper would have made this set perfect, but we are likely going to see less figures added to these multipacks. While Battle Packs do not embody the theme or moral of the entire The Clone Wars film, they definitely do however serve as a snapshot of some of the most important events we have witnessed. The Speeder Bike Recon does just that, and you know you want to get cool looking gray colored clone troopers!