Review: LEGO Star Wars 40558 Clone Trooper Command Station

Today we make the tour of the LEGO Star Wars set very quickly 40558 Clone Trooper Command Station, a small blister pack of 66 pieces including three minifigs which will be available from January 1, 2022 at the public price of € 14.99.

Since the announcement of this product and the other January blister pack, the reference 40557 Defense of Hoth, opinions are very divided. On the one hand, all those who believed in Santa Claus and who already saw themselves getting exclusive and never-before-seen Rex and Cody minifigs for less than € 15 are bound to be disappointed. On the other, those who will gladly be satisfied with a few Clones Troopers Phase I moreover in their dioramas are rather satisfied. Finally, those who wanted a copy of the Clone Commander seen in the set 75309 Republic Gunship without spending 349.99 € will no doubt be delighted.

We can always consider that LEGO is reducing the content of what we commonly call a "Battle Pack" to maintain the public price charged for years on these small boxes which allow to obtain generic characters in multiple copies. But it is in fact rather a simple tariff sliding which left an empty box: The traditional Battle Packs with four figures and some parts like the set 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack will now be sold for € 19.99 and the price bracket of € 14.99, just above the Microfighters at € 9.99, had become vacant. These unpretentious blisters therefore now occupy this niche and it is logically necessary to be satisfied with three minifigs instead of four so as not to encroach on the ground of the classic Battle Packs.

I hardly ever tell you about the packaging of the products I test, I buy LEGO for the bricks, not for the box. I'm making a sprain here because this type of product, already seen in this format in other ranges, is unheard of in the LEGO Star Wars range. The packaging is attractive, even if we can blame LEGO for putting a lot of plastic in it while the brand's communication goes in the direction of reducing the use of this material for the packaging of its products. This blister pack is designed to be grabbed around a corner and thrown into the cart without thinking too much, the price charged is not a priori a brake if we compare it with the high prices usually charged by the brand.

The three minifigs provided are as always accompanied by a few bricks. This involves assembling a Clone command post and a weapons rack, two rather sketchy constructions. By removing two minifigs, we are in the concept of Microfighters with a totally symbolic machine and on a scale that makes it almost cute. Those who already bought products from the LEGO Star Wars range in 2013 inevitably remember the set. 75000 Clone Troopers vs. Droidekas which then allowed to obtain 124 coins including only two Clones Troopers for 14.99 €. There were certainly two Droidekas to build in addition to the command post, but it was not necessarily better "before" if one is satisfied to evaluate the price of a product in relation to the quantity of minifigs supplied.

The three minifigs delivered here are Clones Troopers, so logically everyone looks the same. As I said above, we mainly get a copy of the Clone Commander seen in the set 75309 Republic Gunship which sold for a good thirty euros before the announcement of this blister pack. But the officer / private ratio is not very advantageous here and I have a thought for those who will accumulate copies of this blister pack by wanting to build up a small army of Clone Troopers without spending too much money. On arrival, that's a lot of commanders ...

A technical detail that is a little embarrassing and which has a tendency to become widespread: the ink drools frankly around the border of certain patterns. This is sometimes the case on faces, for example around the eyes, but it is also the case on some torsos. One would have imagined that LEGO masters the art of pad printing on an industrial scale, but it seems that a few production units have to adjust their machines.

The good news about the product: the presence of classic blasters instead of Stud Shooters usual rude and disproportionate. LEGO adds a candle to the end of these weapons, it is visually quite convincing. No machine launcher in this product, it will be necessary to pew pew.

In short, there is nothing to say about this product that LEGO presents as an economical gateway to the LEGO Star Wars range for the youngest. This set is indeed in the second row of the cheapest references in the range just behind the Microfighters sold for € 9.99, it will easily find its audience and it is anyway the cheapest solution at the moment to accumulate Clone Troopers until more thirsty.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at December 21, 2021 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.