Republic Dropship (#10195)

Sweet mother of pearl!! I just saw this on the Lego website and was awe-struck, I can't be completely certain, but I'm pretty sure I heard angelic choirs in the background. Available on March 30th with a pricetag of $350 CDN ($250 US), which means it won't be making it on my wishlist any time soon. You've got to admit it's cool though! The images below are from the Lego site...


Even if it wasn't cost-prohibitive, I have no idea where I'd put it... This is not a small model by any means.


The engineering on this set is truly impressive! The wings are huge, there is a pop-up handle on top to make it easier to carry, the docking mechanism has to be solid in order to carry the AT-OT (All Terrain Open Transport). I'm guessing the nose art on the side is a Wampa??


The set comes with six clones and two clone pilots. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like there is seating for six additional clones in the forward section as well as the six shown in the rear.


According to the Lego site, the dropship will also carry the AT-TE (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer). I'd have to let Dawn go away on her own for a month to even get close to enough the brownie points it would take for this one. I think this set is even more awesome than the USC Millennium Falcon (1/2 the price too).

Republic Gunship, Modified (#7676)

Because I can't leave things alone, I modified my gunship to accommodate more troops.


I took out the speederbike and dock, then added a couple of white plates in the middle. Now, instead of only holding about 5 minifigs, I have room for 9. I also added a weapons rack at the rear of the crew compartment. Lightsabers for Kit Fisto and Plo Koon (can't really see him in the photo, but he's there) and weapons for the pilots and wing gunners.



Here's the original, unaltered version just so you can really appreciate the life-altering adjustment.

Republic Fighter Tank (#7679)

I was so excited when I saw this on the Lego website. I first saw it in the Battlefront games, then it made it's way over to the Clone Wars. It must've been more popular than expected because it never hit store shelves and after a couple of weeks it was on "sold out" status. I managed to track one down on Bricklink.


Front view: It's a little larger than I had expected. It has four wheels underneath that help it look like it is hovering.


There is a pretty cool pop-up seat for the gunner. It's rigged up to an elastic band, and the back door holds the seat down. The turret rotates side-to-side and can also raise up and down.


There is a flip-up compartment on each side as well as the flip-up flick-fire missiles.


The engine compartment on the front flips up. I'm not sure exactly what mechanical problems one could have, but it'd be easy to fix.


The top comes off to allow access to the driver. You can also see the pop-up mechanism for the gunner's seat.


Here's a view from the rear. The guns on the side rotate up and down.

This one lives on my desk, and not just because I haven't found room on my shelf yet. It's very distracting because it practically begs to be played with. And who am I to refuse?