I didn't even know this set existed! But that's what RSotD is for!

I reckon we need more sets like this. Some army builder minifigs and a named character, plus a bigger vehicle which is actually seen on screen or isn't down-sized like the ones in battle packs.

That is so very nearly a stormtrooper helmet.

I still CANNOT believe that they were using the old P2 clone helmets as late as 2010. Especially when the Clone Wars sets introduced much cleaner, modern-looking ones only two years prior!

I'm a bit disappointed that Clone Wars never made use of these things in one of the many arcs because you have to look hard for this in Revenge of the Sith. I bet that if it hadn't been in the Wookiee Catamaran set (7260), most LEGO Star Wars fans wouldn't have known about it, but now we've gotten at least 4 of them in LEGO across the last 19 years. It is on Kashyyyk, but only really in the background, and there's the one shot on Felucia where they're a little closer to the camera, but that's not the focus of the shot either.

As for this set, it's pretty neat. It has wheels hidden underneath to make it "hover" and there's a mechanism that turns the guns and you turn the engine in the back. I also appreciate the use of plates to approximate that curve in the front. It was also the first time we got Barriss, so if you were a fan of the Clone Wars 2D Microseries, you finally had both characters, although Luminara is quite limited in her range of motion with a lightsaber because in 2005 she was a light-up figure. Eventually 3D Clone Wars versions of the figures, as well as a Saga rendition of Luminara would come to pass. There's actually quite of few of them running around in LEGO Star Wars. Not bad for two characters than never did anything except strike a pose or two in Attack of the Clones, and only really got to shine in expanded media.

The price for the set though, it was a bit much. Especially since you didn't even get a second Clone to pilot the Speeder. I don't know why this is a thing, but whenever there are two pilot seats on Republic Vehicles, there's always a missing figure. I'm not saying Barriss can't co-pilot, but unless absolutely necessary, she likely wouldn't. But it's been a problem for awhile. Don't even get a pilot Clone in 7676, Kit Fisto's helping fly 8088, there's only one pilot in 8019, but at least you do get a reg for the second seat. Some odd choices in my opinion, but I don't make the rules for who does and doesn't appear in sets.

Pathetic. Not a speck of Trans neon green in sight! Hardly any black! And the only white is on the Clone trooper! Who admittedly would fit it pretty good with the Blacktron 2...

@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I still CANNOT believe that they were using the old P2 clone helmets as late as 2010. Especially when the Clone Wars sets introduced much cleaner, modern-looking ones only two years prior!"

And I think that's where the issue is. Clone Wars was its own thing, and Ep3 was a completely separate thing. Obviously the face prints weren't shared between the two subthemes, but I don't think many molded minifig parts were either.

@PurpleDave said:
" @AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I still CANNOT believe that they were using the old P2 clone helmets as late as 2010. Especially when the Clone Wars sets introduced much cleaner, modern-looking ones only two years prior!"

And I think that's where the issue is. Clone Wars was its own thing, and Ep3 was a completely separate thing. Obviously the face prints weren't shared between the two subthemes, but I don't think many molded minifig parts were either."
The new Phase II helmets weren't made until 2013. There weren't even Phase I redesigns of Clones for Attack of the Clones until that year either, although they did use the new mold from 2008 for Clone Wars with a more movie style print. Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids were shared between Saga and Clone Wars, no need to mess with perfection. General Grievous had been redesigned for Clone Wars, but it was then the Clone Wars design that was reused for any future incarnations with only tan or white denoting Clone Wars or Saga. If a part was redesigned, it was eventually used later no matter the subtheme. The old cutout visor Phase II Clone Helmets were just barely still in use because of this set as the Battle Packs and AT-AP of 2007 were long gone by this point. The prints are updated on him and in this set alone, so he kind of stands out from his 2005-2007 brothers.

This set was for the longest time a bit of secret shame for me. In my enthusiasm for buying LEGO sets as a salaried employee (intern, technically, but it was more money I saw every other week than I ever had before), I snapped this one up without a second thought because a non-fugly TCW face for Bariss, a 2005-era Phase 2 Clone Trooper, a Super Battle Droid, plus everything else, made for a very appealing outlier in the TCW era of Lego Star Wars. But in doing so, I overlooked how I was only getting 176 pieces for $30! Shaking the box, I could tell it was mostly empty. And after staring at the box, it was obvious they zoomed in a lot to show the speeder build since it is not very large. So quite deceptive, but I swallowed my pride and learned from my blunder. In this age of tiny $90 Hooptys and puny $85 X-Jets, it was a good lesson to learn.

@TheOtherMike said:
"This reminds me, I still need to get around to building 75359."

It was released last year!

You can't tell me you haven't had 15 minutes to spare for 10 months!

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"This set was for the longest time a bit of secret shame for me. In my enthusiasm for buying LEGO sets as a salaried employee (intern, technically, but it was more money I saw every other week than I ever had before), I snapped this one up without a second thought because a non-fugly TCW face for Bariss, a 2005-era Phase 2 Clone Trooper, a Super Battle Droid, plus everything else, made for a very appealing outlier in the TCW era of Lego Star Wars. But in doing so, I overlooked how I was only getting 176 pieces for $30! Shaking the box, I could tell it was mostly empty. And after staring at the box, it was obvious they zoomed in a lot to show the speeder build since it is not very large. So quite deceptive, but I swallowed my pride and learned from my blunder. In this age of tiny $90 Hooptys and puny $85 X-Jets, it was a good lesson to learn. "

Yeah, this set was definitely a rip-off. Especially, since they put Bariss in 9491, then completely changed the look of P.2 clones.

Edit: I just realized that I don't own that version of Bariss. Off to Bricklink, to spend some dough.

@Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"This set was for the longest time a bit of secret shame for me. In my enthusiasm for buying LEGO sets as a salaried employee (intern, technically, but it was more money I saw every other week than I ever had before), I snapped this one up without a second thought because a non-fugly TCW face for Bariss, a 2005-era Phase 2 Clone Trooper, a Super Battle Droid, plus everything else, made for a very appealing outlier in the TCW era of Lego Star Wars. But in doing so, I overlooked how I was only getting 176 pieces for $30! Shaking the box, I could tell it was mostly empty. And after staring at the box, it was obvious they zoomed in a lot to show the speeder build since it is not very large. So quite deceptive, but I swallowed my pride and learned from my blunder. In this age of tiny $90 Hooptys and puny $85 X-Jets, it was a good lesson to learn. "

That reminds me that I need to grab a couple copies of the X-Jet.