Review: LEGO Star Wars 75342 Republic Fighter Tank

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75342 Republic Fighter Tank, a box of 262 pieces which will be available at the retail price of €39.99 from April 26, 2022.

In the packaging, a new interpretation of the machine already seen at LEGO in 2008 in the set 7679 Republic Fighter Tank then in 2017 in the set 75182 Republic Fighter Tank, accompanied here by Mace Windu with a nice pad print on his arms, a Clone Commander, two Clone Troopers from the 187th Legion and two Battle Droids.

We are not going to lie to each other for too long, it is the Clone Troopers and Mace Windu who are featured here, the tank only serving as a pretext to sell us a construction toy which is in my opinion much too expensive for what it actually has to offer.

The machine is assembled in a few minutes, you have to stick a large handful of stickers to give it its final appearance and the result is ultimately just a simple children's toy without any particular pretension or ambition.

The youngest will probably be satisfied with it, the vehicle being equipped with a few features that will keep them busy for five minutes: two spring shooters sides, three hatches that can be opened to slide the Clones in and four wheels that allow this tank seen in the video games of the franchise Star Wars: Battlefront and in some comics to move without scratching the floorboards.

The presence of wheels under the tank also allows it to move with a relatively credible floating effect, they know how to be very discreet under the machine and we believe in it. The finish of the tank is very average with a front hatch that does not close completely, a central corridor too low for the minifigs and a somewhat empty internal space. The tank also seems to me a little undersized for the minifigs provided, they have a little trouble finding their place in the different positions.

There is no escaping the eternal difference in color between the background color of the stickers and that of the parts on which they must be stuck. It's really blatant here, whether it's when it comes to sticking white on white or red on red.

The real stars of the product are obviously the minifigs provided: we get an unpublished version of Mace Windu and three Clone Troopers of the famous 187th Legion delivered here in a color matching that of the blade of Windu's saber. Those who have experienced theBattle Pack" marketed by Hasbro in 2007 will appreciate to see that LEGO is going there this year of its adaptation of this squad, the others will probably find these colorful minifigs with very accomplished pad printing too cool to ignore.

Mace Windu's minifig is very successful even if it shows us the technical limits of the pad printing process used by LEGO. The white ink on a beige background struggles a bit to exist and it smudges in some places, especially on the underarms. The minifigure remains very convincing, however, and the slightly opaque blade of the saber goes a long way to making this detailed version of Mace Windu desirable.

The Clone squad here is made up of a commander equipped with a helmet usually reserved for members of so-called "Airborne" sections and two generic Troopers. Here too the pad prints are frankly successful and only a few patterns are missing on the arms for the LEGO version of these Clones to be perfect.

Let's not be too choosy, the purple accents are convincing, the level of detail on the torsos and legs is very satisfying and a few Clone variants are always good to pick up these days.

We could however regret the absence of antennas on the helmets, of patterns on the hips of the generic Clones and the very symbolic interpretation of the beige kama (the skirt) of the commander which comes down here to two pad-printed areas on the legs, but LEGO is doing pretty well in my opinion. Under the three helmets, we logically find the head available since 2020 and launched in the sets 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers et 75283 Armored Assault Tank (AAT).

I mention for all intents and purposes the presence of the two battle droids of which everyone already has a large handful in the drawers following the purchase of the various LEGO Star Wars Advent calendars, the two minifigures are equipped with metallic gray blasters and it's still better than the usual black color accessories.

LEGO can only market Battle Packs of minifigs and must defend its reputation as a manufacturer of construction toys. We will therefore have to bother with the tank provided here to be able to add the three Clones and the definitive version of Mace Windu to our collections.

It's not very serious, there will always be a child around to play with the machine which still offers some features if not ultra-detailed. Those planning to build a small Clone army of the 187th Legion can always try to recoup their investment by reselling their extra copies of the tank and Mace Windu.

40 € for this box, it's probably a little too expensive even if it allows us to obtain a large handful of new and technically accomplished minifigs. As often, patience will be rewarded by counting on Amazon's ability to treat us to a more reasonable price within a few weeks.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 21th next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate.

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