Review: 9488 Elite Clone Trooper & Commando Droid Battle Pack

[Masked Builder]

First things first, this is a special edition review for my 4000th post. I still can't believe I've made 4000. Anyways, when I saw that we were getting a new battle pack the year after we got a new Clone Wars one I was rather surprised but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it included four new minifigures, and a nice cannon. Now it departs from the usual tradition of four Clones or droids, depending on which one you want, in the set. This year LEGO has put two good guys and two baddies in one set so that kids can battle them without spending $20. Shall we see if it's as good an idea now that it's out? Read on!

Name: Elite Clone Trooper & Commando Droid Battle Pack

Set Number: 9488

Pieces: 98

Price: $12.99

Ages: 6-12

Minifigs: 4

Theme: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Year of Release:

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Bombard the Separatist forces with the Republic artillery cannon!

The Separatists have sent a new droid enemy to attack the forces of the Republic, but the clone army’s elite troopers have a new weapon of their own: the powerful Republic artillery cannon! With elevating turret and flick missile, those clankers will be running for cover! Includes 4 minifigures: ARC trooper, ARF trooper and 2 new enemy Commando Droids.

Includes 4 minifigures: ARC Trooper, ARF Trooper and 2 Commando Droids

Features Republic artillery cannon and 5 blasters

Republic artillery cannon features flick missile

Elevate the turret!

Fire the flick missile!

Republic artillery cannon measures over 5” (13cm) long and 3” (8cm) tall

Box:

Okay on to the set! The front of the box has the cool new Darth Maul art, I would suspect that this is present on the boxes because of the release of The Phantom Menace in 3D. (Even if LEGO didn't release any Ep. I sets.) LEGO has done a great job with the background editing and adding some blaster shots to make it more exciting.

Wow, I really like the holograph layout on the back. It really just radiates a Star Wars "feel." You also get several alternate images of the set in action.

The 1:1 image is of the ARC trooper. LEGO has taken it upon themselves to put the "new!" image everywhere the figures appear. I really like the 1:1 image, not sure why, maybe it just seems to add something to the box.

Contents:

Inside the box we have two bags and a very flat manual! I'm very happy that it wasn't just stuffed in there. Usually you get a nice manual that's folded over and you have to flatten it.

Manual:

The front of the manual is exactly the same as the box front but LEGO has removed the set information from the front, it makes it much neater and I like it. But I wouldn't let those commando droids get that close to me though.

I think this was mentioned in another review but the ARC trooper has seven, yep you can count them, steps to putting him together. This is the most steps, in my memory, for a minifigure.

Darth Maul makes another appearance in the top right corner of the manual pages where there is room for him. I like the idea of having him on the boxes for Episode I release, but it would work better for me if LEGO had released a Ep. I set.

Again we see the nice Star Wars style layout of the set showing functions, and minifigures. Have I mentioned I like this? It's a really great addition to the manual.

Now even Star Wars has comics too! Much like the Superheroes sets, LEGO has stuck a small one page comic into the back of the manual showing a battle scene. LEGO is probably trying to get the kids to play with their set by deciding how the battle ends. I wish I had that many Commando droids.

Lastly, LEGO has done a great layout of the new sets with the minifigures out of the boxes showing them off. These make it very easy for kids to be able to know which sets have the guys they want in them.

Parts:

Okay on to the parts. The only things I saw in this set were the 2x2 round column brick with the ridges and the 1x3 tile all nice to have around, but nothing too special.

Wow, there are quite a few extra parts. Look at all of those dark red kama armor parts! Those will be quite welcome in my collection. Then you have the customary parts that you would expect to see in a set like this.

Minifigures:

Yes! Now we're too the minifigures. All four are new and exclusive to the set. The ARC trooper has the new Kama armor on and it really makes his legs so much more pose-able. He's also got a lovely new torso and leg printing that just ties up the great figure. The ARF trooper has his new helmet with dark red printing that goes great with the set. And the commando droids are in completely new colors.

Nothing too special on the backs of the minifigures, just plain clone trooper armor on both of the clones and the droids have the stud that comes with the droid body. But you can see the backpack LEGO has put on the ARC trooper, while it's simple it is fairly close to an ARC trooper pack.

Ah, now the helmets are awesome. There really are no two ways about it, they're just such cool looking helmets. I would love to see LEGO produce just a plain white ARC trooper helmet so we could play around with the different ARC troopers we could make.

Here's a height comparison of the Commando droid next to some of the other members of the Separatists army LEGO has made. He's roughly the height of a Magna guard. I would love to have an army of the Commando droids.

I would suppose you want to see him compared with last years ARF trooper. The only difference are the helmet prints. The new one has dark red and light blue in place of green.

So we'll start the comparisons with the baddies. The LEGO version is really perfect by my standards. They've included the little red dot on his chest, and the very iconic head of the Commando droid. This is one figure I've really been looking forward to LEGO making as they play such a big role in the Clone Wars episodes they show up in.

Next up is the ARF trooper. This one is spot on, but he's missing a few small details on his helmet but I can see why LEGO left those off as they'd be really hard to put on there. The wolf insignia is printed on both sides of his helmet and I quite like the dark red highlights on the helmet.

Now to the ARC trooper. LEGO has matched him almost perfectly. The only thing I'm not sure about is the helmet. It may be that I've just found the wrong reference image but other than the helmet it's a perfect match. Even if the helmet doesn't match, it's still a great new LEGO mold.

And lastly, one of my little changes. I've moved the backpack piece under the cloth element as I noticed that it was fairly stressed when it was on his back in the other configuration.

Complete Model:

Now to the completed set. It was a very fast build for me, I probably spent the most time just building and drooling over the minifigures. Overall though, it's a fairly good little set. The legs seem a little flimsy for holding the cannon up but they do a good job even without the 2x2 trans-clear brick.

The front of the cannon looks a little blockish but it's where all the action happens. I wouldn't want to be the gunner though, he's pretty exposed.

From the right side you can see the flick fire missile function, more on that later. I'm not sure what's up with the 1x3 tiles on this side, maybe just to hold the whole thing together.

The back of the cannon is uglier than the front of it. But at least the gunner can't be shot from behind!

On the left side, the cannon looks much better. It actually looks like a cannon now! I really like the shape of the barrel of the cannon. It does look as though the gunner could fall off the side though!

Sadly, LEGO has put a 2x2 round trans-clear brick here to help hold the thing up. I tried it without the brick and it works just fine, it's probably there as a structural bit though.

Here's a nice comparison for those of you who might have wanted to see this. The BARC speeder is a good bit longer, and I think better model, but they do make a nice fighting force when you put them together.

Functions:

You can "aim" the cannon part up a down. It has about a 90 degree pitch.

And of course you have the usual flick-fire missile which seems mandatory in every set now.

Final Thoughts:

So here we are again at the end of a review, and I get to tell you about what I think of the set. I'm very happy with the minifigures from this set, I'm definitely getting sets for the minifigures these days. But set wise, I think the set is pretty lacking, in fact, I really prefer the speeder bike from last year’s set, but the cannon isn't totally awful. I see LEGOs reasoning behind the idea of the two factions in the one set it makes it a lot easier for the little kids to just have their parents buy the one set for $13 instead of spending $20 for how it originally was. I was happy with the old way, but it's good to see LEGO changing things.

Ratings:

Playability: 8/10 It's a good idea for LEGO to include the two different factions in a battle pack and I do see their reasoning behind the decision.

Design: 8/10 I like the cannon enough but if it's supposed to be this, which would make a great set if done right, it is very much undersized.

Price: 9/10 I am not a fan of the price. Let's just go back to when there were two battle packs for $20, it makes more sense than one for $13 to me.

Minifigures: 10/10 The minifigures are top-notch and are very nicely accurate.

Parts: 5/10 There weren't really any good parts in this set at all. But those 1x3 tiles are nice to have though.

Total: 40/50 Forty out of 50 isn't too bad. I do like the idea here but I would like to see it with a better clone vehicle.

And now I would like to announce the return of my old ARF trooper avatar in honor of my 4000th post. I can't believe I've made 4000 and it's great to have such a fun online community to interact with. Thanks Eurobricks!

Want to learn to make excellent reviews like this one? Then join the Reviewers Academy!

[K-Nut]

Congrats on 4000!

[Big Cam]

What a great review of the new battle pack. Unlike older battle packs, I'll probably only get one or maybe two of these since the troopers don't look as generic as they used to. I do love the new prints though, these are definitely a buy for me.

[K-Nut]

And of course you have the usual flick-fire missile which seems mandatory in every set now.

Flick Fire Missile? All I see is a yellow blur.

[LEGOman273]

Great set. Great review.

But what is up with the blaster bolts in the first pic. They don't look like they have been shot from any of the blasters.

[Masked Builder]

What a great review of the new battle pack. Unlike older battle packs, I'll probably only get one or maybe two of these since the troopers don't look as generic as they used to. I do love the new prints though, these are definitely a buy for me.

Thanks Cam. I think I will probably get at least one more as the figures are just amazing.

Flick Fire Missile? All I see is a yellow blur.

It's a gold blur.

But what is up with the blaster bolts in the first pic. They don't look like they have been shot from any of the blasters.

Um. Well, I didn't exactly plan on having them in the original picture but I decided to add them later on.

[K-Nut]

It's a gold blur.

There's a difference?

[JackJonespaw]

Nice review and good pictures! Are the Commando Droids in Dark Brown?

[K-Nut]

Nice review and good pictures! Are the Commando Droids in Dark Brown?

Yup.

[Masked Builder]

Nice review and good pictures! Are the Commando Droids in Dark Brown?

Thank you. I never though about it but yes the droids are dark brown.

[Churchill]

Thanks for the great review, Masked, and congratulations on 4000! I may get this just for the minifigs. The cannon doesn't really do anything for me.

[Brickadeer]

Nice review :)

Actually, the reference for the ARC Trooper is this one.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Brickadeer

[Mr Man]

Great review Masked Builder also congratulations on 4000 posts . I think the Clone is Hammer or something not Colt .

[Esurient]

The 2x2 round trans-clear brick is for those who wants to securely fix the cannon onto a base plate.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Esurient

[LEGOman273]

The 2x2 round trans-clear brick is for those who wants to securely fix the cannon onto a base plate.

No, it's so the set would pass the "Heat Test".

[Esurient]

No, it's so the set would pass the "Heat Test".

So how exactly would the 2x2 brick help the set pass the brick test?

[Clone OPatra]

So how exactly would the 2x2 brick help the set pass the brick test?

This is just a theory, but perhaps under heat the joints of the legs would soften a bit and the model would collapse. With the piece underneath, the model will certainly not collapse.

[LEGOman273]

So how exactly would the 2x2 brick help the set pass the brick test?

The "Heat Test" is when a set is placed into an oven to test how it holds up against heat.

Clip-and-bar configured hinges weaken when exposed to heat, so the 2x2 is needed to keep the set in place. Essentially it's a fail-safe, and unless you plan on baking your LEGO, it can be removed safely.

[WhiteFang]

Well done M.B!

What a great way to celebrate your 4000th post in EB with this wonderful review. I certainly enjoyed this set very much and I actually can't wait to pick this up for the new troopers. Certainly are great minifigs to acquire.

[Esurient]

This is just a theory, but perhaps under heat the joints of the legs would soften a bit and the model would collapse. With the piece underneath, the model will certainly not collapse.

The "Heat Test" is when a set is placed into an oven to test how it holds up against heat.

Clip-and-bar configured hinges weaken when exposed to heat, so the 2x2 is needed to keep the set in place. Essentially it's a fail-safe, and unless you plan on baking your LEGO, it can be removed safely.

Cool. Didn't know much about the Heat Test until now. Thanks for the information.

[Brickadeer]

No, it's so the set would pass the "Heat Test".

Oh! I thought that it was integrated because otherwise it's pretty difficult to place or remove a minifig at resp. from the seat. The legs might be stable enough to hold the construction if you don't play with it, for for placing the minifig, the 2x2 part is necessary.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Brickadeer

[LEGOman273]

Oh! I thought that it was integrated because otherwise it's pretty difficult to place or remove a minifig at resp. from the seat. The legs might be stable enough to hold the construction if you don't play with it, for for placing the minifig, the 2x2 part is necessary.

Good point. Perhaps this is another reason to include the 2x2.

[Masked Builder]

Thanks everyone!

Actually, the reference for the ARC Trooper is this one.

You are quite right. I should change that.

What a great way to celebrate your 4000th post in EB with this wonderful review. I certainly enjoyed this set very much and I actually can't wait to pick this up for the new troopers. Certainly are great minifigs to acquire.

Thanks Fangy! The new troopers are lovely.

[Brickmamba]

Another beautiful review, personally reckon there should be another droid in there otherwise the new troopers look great!

[Masked Builder]

Another beautiful review, personally reckon there should be another droid in there otherwise the new troopers look great!

I would agree with that too but LEGO has always had four figs in a battle pack, so I can't really see them changing it.