Republic Fighter Tank - TCW [SOTDS] - Vehicles

For ground combat vehicles, the TX-130S Republic fighter tank has few equals. Though generally manned by a clone pilot and gunner, the vehicle's speed and maneuverability respond well to the Force-enhanced skills of a Jedi commander. The tank is armed with a turret-mounted laser cannon and dual heavy cannons that can fire concussion missiles.

It’s a pretty good bet that when Hasbro designs an all-new vehicle that we’re going to see it again, albeit in a repainted status, somewhere down the road. This is exactly what happened to the Republic Fighter Tank in The Clone Wars line. An awesome vehicle as a toy, the vehicle itself has never been seen in The Clone Wars movie or television show but has been curiously added to Hasbro’s The Clone Wars toy line despite this. Both the 2009 TCW Republic Fighter Tank and now the reworked 2010 TCW “Shadow Of The Dark Side” line make their appearances in different video games instead. While there isn’t much new to expect with the second version since Hasbro hasn’t updated or changed any of the tooling, it’s refreshing to get another chance at the vehicle in an all-new color scheme instead of just repackaging what we already have. The updated version is highlighted in blue and silver details and while it doesn’t look as realistic as the first version, it fits better (in our opinion) in the whole The Clone Wars theme. It seems that most vehicles are colored in some shade of blue in the televsion show for one reason or another.

A very well-designed vehicle, the Republic Fighter Tank’s real name is the TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank. The vehicle is equipped with twin laser canons that fire projectiles. And then the vehicle has a turret on the top which also fires a projectile. Referenced as the “Jedi starfighter of the ground,” this vehicle was used for endless ground assault during many pivotal sequences in the many Clone Wars battles the Jedi endured. You may be interested to know that this vehicle has appeared in the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith novel, but sadly didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. It’s definitely a shame because it is honestly one of the neatest vessels a clone trooper could have used in the battles we saw in the film, and we’re sorry to have not seen it in real life action. For the 2010 The Clone Wars line, Hasbro had a goal to make the 2010 version look very different from the 2009 version and they succeeded. It has lots of play value and we were glad to be reminded of just what this vehicle brings to the table.

It does look a little more animated because of the bright color whereas 2009’s TCW Republic Fighter Tank had a much more realistic feel to it. (Color evidently does play an important part in how a vehicle looks!) And while that could have been part of Hasbro’s plan, it really doesn’t matter because most of the reference materials that do exist for this vehicle are sourced from various video game stills, hence the animated feel. Besides, variety is the spice of life and it’s pretty cool to get two unique Republic Fighter Tank vehicles in two different paint jobs so close together in their release or availability. There is a flip-open hatch so a clone can fire the center cannon. And then two side doors open up to the same cockpit that houses two clone troopers. Awesome! All three turrets/cannons are movable, but only the two on the sides fire projectiles on the toy version. Then there are two storage compartments (one on each rear side of the Republic Fighter Tank) with opening doors and space to store weapons or what have you. Again, this is a nicely designed and very fun vehicle. We won’t want to see it in every possible color or configuration, but a few like we have are very nice to add to your The Clone Wars collection.