Review: LEGO Star Wars 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Star Wars set 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers (285 pieces - 29.99 €), a small box which allows fans of the animated series in particular The Clone Wars to get enough to start assembling a small army of Clone Troopers of the 501st Legion.

LEGO will therefore have heard the appeal of fans launched via the long spam campaign organized on social networks to try to convince the manufacturer to produce a Battle Pack of the 501st. In response, however, LEGO is not content with the usual format usually containing four minifigs and a mini vehicle of no great interest, all sold for 14.99 €. If the fans really want a few soldiers from the 501st, they are probably ready to pay a little more and LEGO is therefore going for a product with a little more content, the public price of which is set at 29.99 €.

Many minifig collectors would however have gladly done without the two vehicles delivered in this box. The BARC Speeder and the AT-RT are also really oversized and the staging of a minifig at the controls of these two machines makes it a bit ridiculous. The designers have put forward their explanation for this problem of scale: it is at this price that the two machines offer a minimum of playability and functionality, taking advantage of the passage of a level of detail that the more compact versions do not offer. not. Many fans already saw themselves investing heavily in a Battle Pack classic to accumulate the Clone Troopers, they will also have to deal with several copies of the two vehicles provided.

The different minifigs delivered in this box being armed with classic blasters, we had to find how to integrate some Stud Shooters on gear. The Speeder and the AT-RT are therefore both armed with these coin launchers. We no longer count the versions of the BARC Speeder at LEGO and even if the one in the set 7913 Clone Trooper Battle Pack marketed in 2011 remains my favorite, it seems to me that this new version does not deserve even if it seems a little too long.

The AT-RT delivered here is on a scale similar to that of the machine supplied in 2013 in the set 75002AT-RT. The mobility of the legs is still limited and the Stud Shooter integrated on this new version struggles a bit to embody the barrel placed at the front of the machine which in principle must be longer and thinner. The machine is stable and it is still possible to make it take a "dynamic" position by shifting one of the legs a few notches. Eleven stickers dress the two machines and some of these stickers, in particular those to be placed on the BARC Speeder seem to me dispensable.

LEGO delivers four minifigs in this box, three identical Clone Troopers and a Jet Trooper equipped with the back accessory already available in other colors for a long time but supplied for the first time in blue. The four minifigs are all equipped with the new head with its color "nougat"which sticks a little more to the physique of Temuera Morrisson, the pad prints are impeccable, the distribution of the endowment in figurines seems judicious to me and the Army builders should therefore find their account.

We will quickly forget both Battle droids generics also provided in this box, any fan of the LEGO Star Wars range who respects himself already has his drawers full.

In short, the fans wanted a Battle Pack of the 501st, LEGO took them at their word by relieving them at the passage of double the price usually charged for these small boxes very popular with those who like to line up units of soldiers. It's fair game, the manufacturer is not there to amuse the gallery but to maximize its profit.

Both devices are way too big for minifigs but they are still playable and I am convinced that younger fans of the animated series The Clone Wars will gladly be satisfied. Should we also include Captain rex in this set? I think so, especially for those who would have bought only one copy anyway.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 27th October, 2020 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.