BARC Speeder (With Clone Trooper) - SW [TPM 3D] - Vehicles (Class I)

A clone trooper rides a BARC speeder during a scouting mission. The speeder is fast and highly maneuverable, making it ideal for almost any environment, from thickly forested planets to parched desert worlds. The trooper carries a rocket launcher in case he encounters any Separatist forces.

We often experience déjà vu in our Star Wars collecting. If you’re a longtime collector, you know how very frustrating it is to see the same concept rear their ugly heads, especially if they’re not all that exciting. The Class I line (now referenced as Class I vehicles) is a sticky thing however. There is a need for kids to have some play value in their Star Wars toys. The Class I line absolutely provides this. To collectors, we see it as unnecessary and wasted shelf space for all-new basic figures. The 2012 line is already worrying collectors. Hasbro has dug much too deeply into their past and things we prayed would never see the light of day again are coming back like zombies. If they don’t ultimately kill the line, they’ll do enough damage to stall it and the all-new stuff will rot in warehouses never making it to retail until they’re relegated at discount chains like ROSS and TJ Maxx. If we sound too down and gloomy, well, we frankly are saddened by the direction of the new line. Unless Hasbro immediately stops the current approach of the Movie Heroes line dead in its tracks and starts pumping out all-new stuff, the Star Wars toy line is inevitably in great danger.

We are amenable to the fact that 2012 is all about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But does Hasbro need to be releasing clones and speeders from Revenge Of The Sith to celebrate it? Clones were not even part of Episode I, so it seems quite backwards that Episode III is getting a lot of attention that Episode I should be getting instead. Hasbro’s BARC Speeder (With Clone Trooper) is an unnecessary release in the Class I line. We know that collectors are more interested in the figure than the vehicle in this set, but Hasbro could have released this Episode III Clone Trooper in the Movie Heroes line and called it a day. After Hasbro released 2010’s TVC Clone Trooper (VC15) figure, collectors immediately complained that this wasn’t necessarily an upgrade of the figure. But when they updated the clone body with 2011’s TVC Clone Trooper (VC45), a new thinner body sculpt was made and made the clone look better. So the pack-in figure in this set is the body of 2011’s TVC Clone Trooper (VC45) figure (the Episode II clone) with the helmet of 2010’s TVC Clone Trooper (VC15) figure (the Episode III clone). It’s a slight upgrade to the figure, but the helmet is still too big on his head. It’s not terrible, but it could be a whole lot better.

The BARC Speeder is nothing to get worked up over either. Based on the BARC Speeder Bike from 2011's TCW [SOTDS] BARC Speeder Bike With Clone Trooper Jesse Class I set, it gets repurposed for an off-screen Episode III toy concept. The vehicle is really now overkill and Hasbro should give it a rest. On a more positive note, the “new” Clone Trooper fits like a glove on the BARC Speeder. Hasbro definitely chose a perfect sculpt for this vehicle so that the Clone Trooper has a very natural “riding look” when placed on it. The BARC Speeder (With Clone Trooper) Class I set, while indirectly based on some scenes with “other” clones riding them, is actually a Hasbro concept. The all-white clone troopers were barely seen in Episode III and the ones that were visible clearly weren’t riding BARC Speeders. This would have been a perfect time for Hasbro to have revisited Commander Neyo and/or one of his BARC Troopers. But such is life and this is how Hasbro is playing the game in 2012. We have reservations for the Star Wars toy line. We will hope for the best and pray it doesn’t belly flop. But things aren’t looking too brightly at the moment. Take for instance this set, You can make this Clone Trooper at home and you know you didn’t need another BARC Speeder. It’s relentless!