What you really want to know from this review is whether the rest of 75342 Republic Fighter Tank is worth a slice of your LEGO budget, and the answer is satisfying straightforward: yes, almost certainly. It’s not the biggest Republic Fighter Tank, nor the prettiest, but it bests both its predecessors in at least one department, and for that it shouldn’t be overlooked – at least if only to see how the LEGO Group has managed to come up with a third completely different way to build this vehicle.

Features a centre typebar that rises each time a letter key is pressed, linked to a carriage that moves across as you type, plus a platen roller that you can feed real paper into.The LEGO Group has been recreating iconic starships, vehicles, locations and characters from the Star Wars universe since 1999. LEGO Star Wars has become its most successful theme, with a wide variety of buildable models to excite people of all ages. Includes 6 LEGO Star Wars minifigures: Mace Windu with a lightsaber, 187th Legion Clone Commander with a blaster rifle, and more Build, play and display – This buildable TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank model measures over 10 cm (4 in.) high, 20 cm (8 in.) long and 16 cm (6 in.) wide

What we actually need more of is Super Battle Droids (they haven’t been in a LEGO set since 2015!), but we’ll take these for the easy, throwaway addition that they are. Mainly because the star attraction is obviously the Clone Troopers, and they go a long way to filling out the Republic’s rainbow army – Star Wars is inherently silly, remember – with detailed printing from head to (literal) toes. Did we need another one of these video game curios? Hard to say. Maybe 75342 Republic Fighter Tank is the epitome of something we never knew we needed, right down to its bizarre (but just a little bit glorious) purple Clone Troopers. Nobody asked for those – nobody could have, surely, given they’re about as obscure as Star Wars lore gets –but you already know you need to get them somehow. I believe the troopers appearing in Clone Wars S7 are supposed to be a branch of 91st Recon, like Lightning Squad, his unit during the Ryloth arc, as the armor color better matches. "

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Surely simply knowing the information and being able to notice references that others cannot is good enough, or do you need that surefire satifaction from making someone look as if they are an idiot. Except for the mid-section of their boots, of course, which would cover that bit of minifigure legs that can seemingly never be printed on. Dual-moulded white and purple legs would have improved these characters massively (even if at a cost) – as is, their toe printing looks a bit naff, like they’re wearing little tap-dancing shoes. Still, beggars can’t be choosers. Who ever thought we’d get purple clones? Dual-molding takes at least as much time for one shot as regular parts do for two, if you want crisp divisions like arms and legs. For stuff with a marbled look, like the original Bohrok faceplate, they inject all of the colors simultaneously, so no waiting for one color to cool before you can swap mold sections and inject the next color. Finally, from Volume 2, there’s Chapter 23-25. Mace appears without armor, but briefly flies his purple Ep3 starfighter. This might be the first instance of purple as his signature color, excluding the lightsaber blade, since his Ep2 starfighter was fairly generic ( 7868). Most of the clones he fights alongside are in basic white, and don’t seem to be assigned to him. What few unit markings I can see look like blue or red ARC Troopers.