BARC Speeder Bike With Clone Trooper - TCW [R] - Deluxe

Clone Troopers ride Biker Advanced Recon Commando (BARC) speeder bikes on scouting and escort missions. BARC speeders give the troopers greater range, speed, mobility and firepower than foot patrols. They prove so useful to elite units like the 501st Legion that they are soon made available to the entire clone trooper army.

We have to be honest with you. A BARC Speeder with a repainted Clone Trooper action figure just doesn't cut it for us. Even worse, it isn’t worth the MSRP. It makes perfect sense why Hasbro released Deluxe items like this however and we can't really fault them. It’s cheap to manufacture, there are zero dollars in tooling costs expended and even more pennies can be saved with a less than stellar, but unique paint job applied to it. So how could Hasbro go wrong? If you’re an army builder, you probably don’t mind this set and all of the unique ways in which we get the cool clone troopers from The Clone Wars line. But we don't know how many more BARC Speeder Bikes we need. We get it, Hasbro. We got two in 2008's TCW [B] Speeder Bike Recon Battle Packs sets. And let's not forget the launching BARC Speeder Bike in 2009's TCW [R] Clone Turbo Tank vehicle. They're cool Prequel Trilogy speeder bikes, but they are quickly getting old. And to be completely honest, the vehicle is not that engaging. We honestly don't need any more. So, enough now please?

Hasbro dug deep into their miniature vehicle archive and dusted off the BARC Speeder Bike from the Stass Allie Deluxe figure set from the Revenge Of The Sith line. They repainted it to make it look a little more “Clone Wars-y” and perhaps more believable for collectors. But to be fair, they did make it look like a BARC Speeder Bike that the 501st Legion did indeed utilize in The Clone Wars. Hasbro deserves credit there. But what about the Clone Trooper that outfits this vehicle? Hasbro set the precedent for how 2008's TCW [B] Clone Trooper (501st Legion) looked when they released the Walmart exclusive figure in 2008. The blue was very light (almost baby blue in color) and when compared to the clone trooper in this Deluxe set (now called "Vehicle With Figure" sets), they look as if they are from two different battalions. Believe it or not, the 501st Legion is quite “rare” in The Clone Wars franchise, so finding good source materials to determine the definitive color of them is very difficult. Despite their elusiveness in the series, we’d safely go with the darker (navy) blue that Hasbro has used in this Deluxe set. It appears more accurate than the lighter shade of blue used with the Walmart exclusive figure.

It’s almost as if the included Clone Trooper figure was designed for this BARC Speeder Bike specifically. (Well, maybe not entirely.) He doesn’t straddle it perfectly, but he looks so cool on it and you can pose him on it and it totally looks like he belongs there. The vehicle he rides is very sleek as is his silhouette and it makes for a very engaging set. The blue accents on the bike emphasize the dark blue color flashes on his armor. So the bike really works overtime to make this bland Clone Trooper look as cool as he can be. The Clone Trooper is a rework of 2009’s TCW [B] Clone Trooper (212th Attack Battalion) (No. 19) figure and in place of the orange, you'll now find a dark navy blue. The Clone Trooper is super-articulated with a lovely 27 points of articulation. Ball-jointed hips would have knocked this set out of the park. And with so many Deluxe pack-in figures receiving updates in articulation so they can better ride their vehicles, we’re slightly shocked that Hasbro decided to forgo it here. But we return to our original point. This set is a mini vehicle and another Clone Trooper. Big deal! Right? That is essentially how we feel about it. If you're not looking to army build the 501st Legion, you may bemore inclined to pass by this set comfortably.