[REVIEW] 75207 - Imperial Patrol Battle Pack

[makoy]

Are you ready for the Solo, a Star Wars story movie? If you're not, do not worry. You're not alone.

 

There is nothing to spoil in this review so please proceed without hesitation. The movie is not yet out and besides, my 16th RA review is just a battle pack.

 

You might be thinking, after a long break this dude only comes back with a puny little set to review? My reply to that: "I know".

 

Overview

Name: 75207 - Imperial Patrol Battle Pack
Theme:  Star Wars / Rogue One
Year: 2018 (1H) 
Pieces: 99
Minifigures: 4
Price: GBP 12.99 / USD 14.99 / EUR 16.99 / SGD 29.99 / MYR 79.90
Resources: Brickset and Bricklink

Quote

Play out Imperial law-enforcing scenarios with this imposing LEGO® Star Wars Imperial Patrol Battle Pack. Featuring a speeder with stud shooters, an Emigration Officer, Recruitment Officer and 2 Imperial Patrol Troopers, this Star Wars toy has everything your budding Imperial officer needs to keep their Star Wars minifigure collection under control!

• Includes 4 minifigures: an Imperial Recruitment Officer, Imperial Emigration Officer and 2 Imperial Patrol Troopers.
• Features a speeder with a minifigure seat and 2 stud shooters.
• Also includes 4 stud blasters for the minifigures.
• This LEGO® Star Wars toy is suitable for ages 6-12.
• Speeder measures over 1” (3cm) high, 5” (13cm) long and 1” (5cm) wide.

 

Introduction

Since the introduction of the new trilogy and anthology Star Wars movie, we began seeing more diverse design of armoured troopers. On the flipside,  It’s hard to imagine that there aren't many variations of Imperial uniforms. Apart from knowing that the empire has dedicated droids to do all the ironing to make the imperial uniforms look presentable, the imperial uniforms are generally grey and black with almost the same design.

Anyway, I am getting side-tracked. Let's check out the packaging first.

Front panel

The Solo movie is supposed to display the height of the Imperial power because in the Star Wars timeline the new movie happens before Rogue One. This is evident in this set showing the Imperial Patrol Troopers riding Interceptor Speeder Bikes. According to Star Wars databank, the Patrol Stormtroopers use the speeder bikes to cover distances across sprawling settlements and cities.

 

Back panel

The back panel just shows the studs shooters in action. Yeah... that's it.

 

Side Panels

Nothing much to see on the side panels of the packaging.

Now, let's open the box and start building.

 

Build

Unboxing contents

Inside the box, we have 2 plastic bags without number and a single instruction booklet. Good news: there is no sticker sheet!

This is a fairly small set so all the loose parts are meant for a single build which is called Imperial Interceptor Speeder Bike according to Star Wars databank.

The back of the instruction booklet displays the other available sets for the latest wave of Star Wars playsets.

 

Bag Contents

These are all the contents available. There is nothing particularly exciting about the parts included but this is not the set that you will buy mainly for the parts afterall. There is one relatively new part which is the black 2x2 modified tile with 2 studs on the edge that is used as the top piece for the driver's seat. Apart from that, there is no outstanding new part in my opinion. You do get 3 printed 1x1 round tiles with an Imperial logo, one of which is a spare.

For the build itself, this battle pack has a very practical use of parts despite it looking boring. The speeder bike design is very pragmatic and simple. In order to achieve the shape of the frame, it uses several Technic axles, Technic bricks, lift arms and hinges. As a result, the speeder bike has a very sturdy build.

Front view

By far, the least attractive front view of any Star War speeder bike. The lack of curvy styling isn't really the set designer's fault because when you see the speeder bike in the movie trailer (the speeder bike chase scene where someone flips in the air), it is really meant to be utilitarian. It is also faithful to the design with a size approximately close to minifig scale -- highly commendable for a battle pack like this.

There are also 2 stud shooters attached in front for additional play feature for younger builders. The stud shooters also make the speeder bike look more fierce as they add more character to the seemingly boring vehicle.

 

Completed Imperial Interceptor Speeder Bike

Here is the complete speeder bike. The side profile is very angular giving the allusion of raw power and that the speeder bike is meant for pursuit.

Do you see the protruding black antenna on the left side of the speeder? I don't what is that for, but I am happy there is something different at the sides that makes the speeder slightly asymmetrical.

 

Side view

The bottom of the speeder is just a plate and there is no hidden wheel or glider. Kids will need to use the power of imagination to make-believe the speeder bike is floating.

 

Parts

As mentioned earlier,  there isn't much notable part included in the set except those that I already mentioned.

Once completed, you are left with these extra parts.

Do note that all 4 minifigures carry a stud shooter and the speeder bike has 2 shooters as well. In total there are 6 stud shooters in the set. Therefore, having only 7 1x1 round plate spares isn't that much after all.

 

Always Buckle Up!

*only the speeder bike & Patrol Trooper are included in the set

 

Minifigures

Now let's get to the meat of this review. The minifigure selection in this set is perhaps the top reason people will buy the set. The set is obviously meant for army builders.

Taking into account that the official description of the set describes the two uniformed minifigures as a recruitment officer and an Imperial Emigration officer, I don't believe people will actually build an army of recruiters or emigration officers. Of course, someone could possibly do that as well but more likely, people will pay for this set for the Patrol Troopers. TLG is generous to include 2 of them in the set.

Front view with headgears

The Recruiter Officer has a new face print with facial hair and sideburns. Judging by the uniform insignia,  the army recruiter is also a captain. The officer from 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer also has sideburns so perhaps this style is common to captains. The torso print is also new with updated creases and folds, and now with 2 code cylinders, one on each chest pocket.

I don't recall any officer with dark bluish grey legs with printing yet, which is frustrating because by right these officers should have those black boots. The dual moulded DBG legs with black boots are already used in other minifigures in DC Superheroes (Batman) and Ninjago (Shade) so other than reducing the production cost, I don't know why we don't get these dual moulded legs. The fact that LEGO sets put a premium price on these licensed sets, it's fair to demand accuracy of these minifigures. So if TLG is reading this, please put boots on the Imperial officers next time.

Moving on, the Emigration Officer has the same helmet used by Imperial Navy Trooper and Death Star Trooper. The front torso print is new but it is very similar torso to the Imperial Ground Crew, just slightly more detailed. Unfortunately, the knee pads pattern used in Imperial Ground Crew were not re-used so there is no leg printing for the Emigration Officer. I doubt the Emigration Officers use knee pads at work, so legs without printing look fine for this minifigure.

Finally, we move on to the stars of this set - the Imperial Patrol Troopers. These specialised Stormtroopers patrol the cities controlled by the Empire. Gladly, they come with a well-deserved and highly-detailed torso and leg printings.

You look at the Patrol Trooper helmets and they remind you of the classic Stormtrooper bucket helmets but with reinforced forehead armour similar to Tank Troopers in Rogue One, albeit smaller. The air vents (frown) is not pointy, the conduit housing is black, the vocoder speaker is bigger (probably to shout louder at people), and the eye visor looks different. It's not the same but it l looks so familiar.

It's very pleasing to know that the helmet is dual moulded. Can you imagine if they do this in the classic OT Stormtrooper? Maybe it is not necessary for the OT Stormtroopers because the black colour does not cover such a big area unlike the Patrol Trooper but it is interesting that we are getting more dual moulding in Star Wars. Hopefully dual moulding for arms and legs will catch up soon.

If you look inside the helmet you can also see the small hole in the forehead area.

 

Back view with headgears

The back printing for all the minifigures is superb. Note that the black part of the Patrol Trooper helmet is not ink printing - it is entirely made of dual-moulded ABS plastic. I don't believe that printing around the helmet will give justice at all so it's great that it is made of dual-moulded plastic.

 

Side view

The side printing is totally absent in all these minifigures unless you count the helmet printing as 'side' printing.

 

Front view without accessories/headgears

Removing the head gears, we can see more faceprints from the 2 officers.

As for the Patrol Troopers, I have 3 words: angry clone trooper!!

 

Back view without  accessories/headgears

There is only 1 minifigure with dual faceprint -- Emigration Officer. The alternative faceprint looks like an irritated snarky face.

 

Comparison of black and white bucket-heads

I lined up the most recent releases of the Stormtrooper variants. To me, nothing beats the original trilogy (OT) design. They all look nice but the refinement of the OT design over years of iteration makes it the most pleasing Stormtrooper to my eyes. That is not to say the other Stormtrooper designs are ugly; all of them are great minifigures.

How about you? What's your favourite Stormtrooper design?

 

Zoom-zoom!

 

Conclusion

There isn't much to say about this little set. It's good because the build is okay for its size. The parts are not really excellent even though they could be used for other purposes. The minifigures are great even though the majority of the buyers will likely purchase the set just for the 2 Patrol Troopers -- myself included.

The official set description is a little self-aware that the buyer must have Star Wars minifigure collection first so that this battle set can have something to take control of. The inclusion of 6 stud shooters for such a small set is really overkill especially when there is no conflict to stage. I don't hate the stud shooter but I don't like them either because it doesn't really add much value even if it gives more 'action'. This set could have benefit for adding just a classic pistol for the minifigures. There's also an argument that instead of adding the stud shooters for more parts, the cost could have been allocated for more printing on the other minifigures.

To sum it up, the Patrol Troopers outshine everything in the set. The rest is just ordinary.

 

You're under arrest for impersonating Stormtroopers!

 

 

Review summary 
 
Playability: 6 / 10 - Extra play features are almost absent, save the stud shooters and role-playing with the minifigures
Design / Building Experience: 9 / 10 - Pragmatic design for an industrial-looking speeder bike.  One of the better build for a battle pack lately.
Minifigures:  8 / 10 -  Patrol Troopers look great. Could have been nicer if Mudtrooper or standard Stormtroopers were added in the mix instead of the officers.
Price / Value for money: 7/10 - The pieces included can be re-purposed for MOC quite easily but there is nothing out of ordinary other than the minifigures.
Overall: 7.5 / 10 -  Admittedly, the Patrol Trooper is likely the only reason you want to buy this set. There is another battle pack (75206) that comes with Clone Troopers and 2 Jedi, so if you have a limited budget you may prioritise that over this.

 

Comment below if you enjoy reading this or if you disagree/agree with me. Let's have a clean and healthy discussion. Thank you for reading!

 

 

[stormtroopercaptain]

I picked one of these up and I agree with you on most of your points. A mud trooper would have been great and I hope we get some down the road. The officers are going to be a good base to modify with different faces/legs to make some command for my army. The patrol trooper helmet looks really good and I can’t wait to get more. I was really impressed with the bike. Normally I do the builds for only the first pack I get and don’t bother with the rest. But these I think are going to be an addition to the army. 

[makoy]

1 hour ago, stormtroopercaptain said:

I picked one of these up and I agree with you on most of your points. A mud trooper would have been great and I hope we get some down the road. The officers are going to be a good base to modify with different faces/legs to make some command for my army. The patrol trooper helmet looks really good and I can’t wait to get more. I was really impressed with the bike. Normally I do the builds for only the first pack I get and don’t bother with the rest. But these I think are going to be an addition to the army. 

I also can't wait to get more of these, but before that I would like to see how the movie first before I commit to buying more of these.

Cheers!

[Don Neimoidte de la Mancha]

Interesting review. I picked up one of these and I quite liked it as well. Now we just need updated Scout Troopers...

[rahziel]

Nice review. I love the battlepacks, also collecting minifigs, bought one of this and I'm mad, they look awesome, but the print alignment between the upper and lower torso in the one I got, god damn!... Sadly another friend of mine had the exact same problem...

[Cyberfounder]

It's a good looking battle pack, but I really still don't like the connecting torso/leg printing, still looks sloppy. There are custom figures were the transition is seamless, should not be to hard for TLG to do the same, but after all this time, still looks sloppy. So big reason why I don't buy minifigures with this look.

But still a good review. ;)

[makoy]

9 hours ago, Don Neimoidte de la Mancha said:

Interesting review. I picked up one of these and I quite liked it as well. Now we just need updated Scout Troopers...

Thanks. I saw some folks using the legs of these Patrol Troopers to update the Scout Troopers. 

1 hour ago, rahziel said:

Nice review. I love the battlepacks, also collecting minifigs, bought one of this and I'm mad, they look awesome, but the print alignment between the upper and lower torso in the one I got, god damn!... Sadly another friend of mine had the exact same problem...

If you look at the Patrol Trooper that I used with the Panda Suit, you'll notice that the alignment is quite well. The other one, not so perfect, but I didn't complain this because I think it will differ from one batch to another. Anyway, thanks for pointing this out. :)

48 minutes ago, Cyberfounder said:

It's a good looking battle pack, but I really still don't like the connecting torso/leg printing, still looks sloppy. There are custom figures were the transition is seamless, should not be to hard for TLG to do the same, but after all this time, still looks sloppy. So big reason why I don't buy minifigures with this look.

But still a good review. ;)

Custom minifigures are produced in fewer quantities compared to official minifigures and they cost so much more than your average minifig. Because of this, I also expect so much more from 3rd parties and a tiny bit of "error" is a big deal breaker. The only 3rd-party printed minifigures I have were gifts so I really can't complain. Having said that, perception of quality differs from person to person. I have expressed several disappointments on official LEGO minifigures in my previous reviews so I do take minifigure quality seriously.

The gap between the torso print and leg print is something that I am already used to. As for the misalignment -- personally, a fraction of millimeter of misalignment is not a deal breaker -- there are more annoying and serious problems that could happen in minifig production that bothers me.

Anyway,  thanks a lot for adding your opinion. Cheers!

[rahziel]

32 minutes ago, makoy said:

If you look at the Patrol Trooper that I used with the Panda Suit, you'll notice that the alignment is quite well. The other one, not so perfect, but I didn't complain this because I think it will differ from one batch to another. Anyway, thanks for pointing this out. :)

Yes, as you said its a matter of batch quality control. You're a lucky one with those prints, its a fairly cheap set, but for LEGO quality has to be better than this, check mine:

[Artizan]

I couldn't care less about some troopers Disney made up, I would have preffered standard stormtroopers or scout troopers over all these new troopers which are nowhere to be seen in classic trilogy.

This pack is only good for me to collect some officers and naval troopers(with wrong torso).

[makoy]

1 hour ago, rahziel said:

Yes, as you said its a matter of batch quality control. You're a lucky one with those prints, its a fairly cheap set, but for LEGO quality has to be better than this, check mine:
-snip-

Awwww.. that's quite bad. Worse than I imagined. Thanks for sharing, and hope this is not a widespread issue. 

1 hour ago, Artizan said:

I couldn't care less about some troopers Disney made up, I would have preffered standard stormtroopers or scout troopers over all these new troopers which are nowhere to be seen in classic trilogy.

This pack is only good for me to collect some officers and naval troopers(with wrong torso).

Totally understand where you are  coming from. I will always prefer the standard Stormtroopers as well. Somehow the animation group in Lucas Arts were able to extend the screentime of the other trooper variants like Death Troopers. I don't think they can pull the same strategy for the other troopers so I am also on the bench regarding collecting a bunch of them. That's why in my recommendation, I would look at the other battle pack first.

[Don Neimoidte de la Mancha]

8 hours ago, makoy said:

Thanks. I saw some folks using the legs of these Patrol Troopers to update the Scout Troopers. 

Ah, yes it would make sense, I was thinking of some kind of pack with the updated helmets... like for what Lego do with the swamp troopers from 2014. 

[Junior Shark]

I like this battlepack a lot. I am definitely buying multiple copies of this set, mostly for the minifigures. I don’t care too much for the builds in BPs, but that this one is movie-accurate and more-or-less to scale is applaudable. 

Its a shame the Imperial print 1x1 is white instead of LBG. Lessens the usefulness IMO.

[Tariq j]

Great Review Makoy! I like the Recruitment Officer, the head would make a good Admiral Ozzel head had it not been for the sideburns. I like the Patrol Troopers, but the OT Stormtroopers are still my favourite. 

[makoy]

10 hours ago, Junior Shark said:

Its a shame the Imperial print 1x1 is white instead of LBG. Lessens the usefulness IMO.

There were several 2x2 LBG round tiles with Imperial logo... I also don't understand why the 1x1 round tile came out in white. 

1 hour ago, Tariq j said:

Great Review Makoy! I like the Recruitment Officer, the head would make a good Admiral Ozzel head had it not been for the sideburns. I like the Patrol Troopers, but the OT Stormtroopers are still my favourite. 

Thanks a bunch! Removing the sideburns shouldn't be a tough job for Brasso if you're into that sort of thing; if you're not... pretend I didn't say this. 

[Panthro]

That speeder bike reminds me of the Mutant Skycutter in Thundercats. 

[Calanon]

The officer being a captain with the rank insignia from R1 is superb, something I'm eager to get a lot of. I wish the emigration officer was instead a regular navy trooper, but alas. This set is definitely something I want multiple of.

[makoy]

14 hours ago, Panthro said:

That speeder bike reminds me of the Mutant Skycutter in Thundercats. 

 I can see the similarities.

12 hours ago, Calanon said:

The officer being a captain with the rank insignia from R1 is superb, something I'm eager to get a lot of. I wish the emigration officer was instead a regular navy trooper, but alas. This set is definitely something I want multiple of.

It's good to find people who can truly appreciate these uniformed officers. Happy shopping! 

[roadstermatt]

great review of a great battle pack I've got 4 so far

[rahziel]

Well, let me share a little update...
Couldn't leave this matter, so I entered in contact with LEGO about the poor minifig print alignment, and awesome as the customer service is, got to be honest, they are brilliant, they sent immediately a couple of "legs" after seeing the pictures I sent (posted above). And the result is...

The first picture, (with the lego bag) has the ones I bought, and in the second photo you can see them with the new "pants"... What can I say, nothing... just laugh... nevertheless two of "legs" will be acceptable with the torso.

Edited May 14, 2018 by rahziel

[Flieger]

Nice, I like the picture&text review and this is an enjoyable example.

I have a slightly different opinion on the set. I bought it because I wanted the officer figure with the new rank insignia plague. The speeder and the patrol troopers are fine, too, but how many of them does one need? Patrol troopers seem to be a rather minor branch of the ground forces, appearing in small numbers. (The movie might prove me wrong!). I do not need masses of them. (…yet).

Thus I really do not consider it a classical army builder, I think it is more of a supplementary set for mocs or even a starter set from the Solo movie line. And as such I like it.

 

[Good Old Dude]

nice!

[Renown]

Very minor spoiler for Solo below, but relevant.

 

Very much like this set for what it is, but having seen Solo, I do wish that it had been more Mimban-themed than Corellia. From my initial viewing I counted only one patrol trooper in the whole film, the exact same one seen in the trailers, giving chase to Han and Moloch on Corellia. Fundamentally, the patrol troopers are the least significant of the new troop variants featured in the film, with the mudtrooper design arguably having the most screen time. As much as I do like this set, I don't feel the same about it now having seen the film and now knowing that the patrol troopers played the least 'pivotal' role in the film of the new troop designs introduced. [/spoilers]

Edited May 25, 2018 by Renown

[makoy]

Thanks for the comment @Renown and I do agree with you.

We need Mudtroopers minifigure!

[roadstermatt]

On ‎26‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 8:26 AM, makoy said:

Thanks for the comment @Renown and I do agree with you.

We need Mudtroopers minifigure!

yep I agree too but that said I do like the speeder build so I will forgive Lego this time

[TheGeneralMoe]

They could have included a Patrol Trooper with the Han Solo speaker instead of the hound. Then this battle pack could have something else, like mud troopers.