Grievous’ Wheel Bike - TSC - 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.

So, Hasbro clearly goofed on Grievous' Wheel Bike in the Revenge Of The Sith line. But they didn’t bother fixing its errors when they re-released it in The Saga Collection line later in the year. The clear and most obvious issue is that the seat is on the wrong side of the wheel bike. And aesthetically, it still sticks out like a sore thumb. However, if you’re able to get past the logistics error of Grievous' Wheel Bike, there is a lot to appreciate here, and overall, Grievous' Wheel Bike is another great addition to The Saga Collection line, the first line that encompasses all six Star Wars films. The first (and only) wave of The Saga Collection vehicles included four Revenge Of The Sith vehicles repacked to keep at retail, but refreshed in new packaging. Grievous' Wheel Bike was one of the four. The new packaging is fantastic. And the orange color-coding that represents Revenge Of The Sith perfectly captures the spirit of the film. Much like the Episode I line, the Revenge Of The Sith line became sensory overload for many collectors. And as a result, collectors missed out on a few items during the run of the line. That’s why collections like The Saga Collection are great for collectors. Hasbro can get out some of their most popular stuff with repacks.

During the Revenge Of The Sith line, Hasbro made some gorgeous vehicles to accompany the vast line of figure also produced. 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 especially true with Grievous’ Wheel Bike. One of the unique Star Wars vehicles ever seen in the films, collectors now get a second chance to add this vehicle into their collections, complete with updated packaging. Grievous' Wheel Bike is exclusively utilized by General Grievous himself, and it makes the perfect addition to the heavily-focused “Episode III” The Saga Collection line. The bulk of the Grievous’ Wheel Bike is the two wheels. They function via ball bearings, and the two treaded outer wheels are weighty and rotate smoothly. The circular motion of the wheels works well, but the “teeth” or tread of the wheels is a bit too soft, and these spiked protrusions bow from the weight of the rest of the vehicle and this looks worse over time. Grievous' Wheel Bike has four legs that can be stowed up close to the body of the vehicle and not interfere with the rolling wheels, or you can make this vehicle walk on all four legs – both styles are clearly 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 articulation 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 doesn’t have great balance. Gravity wants to weigh it down and collapse the wheels. This defect didn’t improve with the re-release. 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. Sadly, Hasbro painted General Grievous in the very pale “concept art” colors because when this set was planned, Hasbro was working off of the available reference materials at the time which included unfinished ideas. This thought can also be verified by the 2004 date stamp on both the Wheel Bike as well as the General Grievous action figure.) The only advantage, however, is that the General Grievous pack-in figure fits flawlessly into the cockpit area of the Wheel Bike. The figure is challenging to stand upright unassisted, and the lack of accessories make General Grievous unnecessarily boring. Now we need Hasbro to address Grievous' Wheel Bike's design issues.