Review: 75078 Imperial Troop Transport
Posted by CapnRex101,
Star Wars Rebels divides opinion and few factors are as divisive as the Stormtrooper design, which is the focus of this set. Battle packs have arguably lost their way a little in the past couple of years by offering minifigures unsuitable for armies but 75078 Imperial Troop Transport brings us right back on course with the perfect figures for building enormous forces.
Priced at £11.99 or $12.99 and containing 141-pieces, this set is very good value and the model included is not nearly as bad as many battle pack models, particularly since it is based on a vehicle we actually see in the show! Ultimately however, this is a set that comes down to the minifigures and their numbers.
Box and Contents
The battle pack boxes returned to their usual size in 2014 and that continues this year. Stormtroopers are in the midst of battle on both the front and back of the box, where there are also some shots showing off the play features of the set. Probably my favourite element of the box design however is the rendered image of the four minifigures included, which appears on every Star Wars set box in the wave I believe, perhaps with the exclusion of the Microfighters.
Inside is a folded instruction manual, a loose 12x2 plate and two bags which consist almost entirely of light bluish grey pieces or minifigure components.
Minifigures
Four minifigures are included and, delightfully, all four are (almost) identical. Stormtroopers are some of the most popular figures for army building and I am sure that even these versions based on Star Wars Rebels will be amassed in great numbers. Back in the Summer I reviewed 75053 The Ghost and commented that I was not very keen on this stylised design, but I have got used to them now and actually I like these minifigures which closely resemble the troops we see in the TV show.
The helmets are highly detailed all over and are impressively accurate to Star Wars Rebels as are the torso and legs, which are both printed with slightly more curvaceous and simpler armour than the Stormtroopers seen in the films. All four figures are armed with the stud-firing blasters, a weapon which I am not a fan of in general. Although these are grossly oversized they are a great deal of fun and I vividly recall my twelve year old self wishing that LEGO did these kind of blasters. The only area in which the minifigures vary are the heads as two are printed with the original Clone Trooper design, while the others are a new variant with teeth not visible.
I do not wish to get deeply involved in the debate concerning whether or not Stormtroopers are clones (personally, I think not by the period in which Star Wars Rebels is set) but simply consider these heads generic. I don't think LEGO intended there to be any continuity between the fact that the same head is sometimes used for Stormtroopers and Clone Troopers. Rather I suspect they meant to simply provide a basic head piece for these nameless soldiers of the Empire.
The Completed Model
As with any battle pack the model itself is only present to add a bit of extra play value and negate the licensing issues surrounding producing individual Star Wars figures. However, this Imperial Troop Transport (commonly referred to as an ITT) is a decent little vehicle in my opinion!
Although its most prominent appearance to date has been in Star Wars Rebels, where it appears to be a significant asset to Imperial ground forces, the design originated in 1979. Kenner, the company creating Star Wars toys at the time, produced this vehicle of their own design and it has been adopted today, albeit with some slight changes, as a canonical vehicle in the new TV show. So far we have seen it transporting goods and prisoners around on Lothal, which it appears to be pretty adept for as long as the Rebels are not attacking!
This model is a great deal smaller than the vehicle seen in the show, which holds six people on the sides and is crewed by two drivers and an officer in the cockpit. I would love to see a nice scale model of the vehicle priced at around £24.99 appear in future, although this little version captures the main features including twin guns at the front, a rotating laser cannon turret on top and side storage compartments.
There is no space for a driver inside but there are some nice features including two flick fire missiles and a storage container for blaster ammunition (trans-red 1x1 round plates). The side panels can be hinged up and down to lock the minifigures in place too, which is not accurate to the show, but the minifigures look superb standing in position behind these flaps.
Overall
This set is all about the minifigures and I will certainly be purchasing a number of these to assemble a modest army of Stormtroopers. I, like many others no doubt, would have preferred a battle pack filled with the standard Stormtrooper minifigures, but I think these Rebels Stormtroopers look great as well, particularly in groups.
The Imperial Troop Transport itself is not a bad little model, which I think is best described as a 'giant Microfighter' version of the vehicle. It is easily recognisable if you are familiar with the source material and is fun to play with, particularly since it glides very well on the six 2x2 slider pieces underneath.
I recommend this set even if you are not a fan of Star Wars Rebels. The minifigures may not be to everybody's taste but I am sure there will be demand for them on the aftermarket and there are some useful parts included, many of which are light bluish grey slopes. For £11.99, you can't go wrong!
7 likes
19 comments on this article
Nice review and nice little set! :-)
Probably one of the best sets lego has produced in awhile. Definitely my favorite battle pack with exception to maybe the Clone Walker battle pack.
Ya, we loved this set too, for the same reasons!
I would have preferred Lego would keep the firing blisters to the Microfighters and put some neat weapons here instead, but that is irrelevant as I can come up with an excuse for as to why these guys have this blaster (Bazooka Squad). Neat vehicle with some useful pieces for MOCs, I may end up buying more than one most likely :) Is the AT-DP being added to Star Wars orders now?
Picked this up at the Cardiff storeslong with the AT-DP and speeder bike sets. You can never have too many stormtroopers and I think they blend in well enough with the movie versions. I agree with the review though - I'd like to see a larger version of the ITT at some point too!
I've noticed during the day that the other 3 battle packs (Shadow Troopers, Senate Commandos and Geonosis Troopers) are selling far more than this pack is. (I work in one of the Brand Stores)
@Lordmoral: These blasters have generally appeared in battle packs, not in Microfighters. There are flick-fires in Microfighters, but the minifigures have normal weapons.
As for the debate on whether or not Storm Troopers are clones or not, well, it depends on when you're taking about in SW. :P
I hadn't even realized this was from Rebels. I thought it was based on the vintage Kenner Imperial Trooper Transporter.
http://www.12back.com/vehicles/transport.php3
That kind of a throwback tribute definitely would've upped the cool factor, though I'll probably still get it because it seems a fun little build. Thanks for reviewing it!
Totally won't regret getting 5 or so of these. Heck , I even like the vehicle (if only Lego would make an accurately sized version of the vehicle). All in all , a very solid addition. The first true 'army builder' pack in a while in my opinion. The last pack that held this appeal for army building was 2009's clone walker pack (the 2011 Endor pack would be close , if not for the fact it only includes 1 of each type of trooper , as is the case for the clone pack from 2013.)
TL;DR : MAKE MORE PACKS LIKE THIS LEGO!
*edit* what! The other packs are selling better? Aww man , that means for the next SW movie we won't get any good packs cause LEGO will think they don't sell well. Probably the reason for that is people that only buy one of everything want the cooler , specialty troopers (that and the shadow troopers are indeed amazingly cool - dark metal grey troopers? Yes please!). However , they BETTER make a pack of 4 of the basic troopers (seen in trailer) from SW7 : all new troopers means we need an all new army builder (either that or they make it only 1 of those and then a officer and two crappy brick built droids *cough*2013 clone pack*cough*).
I'm planning on buying atleast 2 of them tomorrow at the LEGO store... :P
Well you could look at it this way:
If the other packs are selling better, it means these are likely to be reduced over the others, so in a short while you might be able to buy more for less...
Or people might just want a change as they don't really want them for the purpose of "army building"... (Why buy an army builder if you don't want to build an army?? Strange people...)
I, too, am warming up to the new stormies... although the vehicle is just bleh, can't ignore the PPP ratio. Probably will pick this up if I get the AT-DP... more Empire stuff is better, blah blah blah...
And yes, I far prefer this as a battle pack (and to a certain extent, Shadow Troopers) than the '13 and '14 ones. Who needs that many Royal Guards? I don't. Shadow Guards, yes, but just because they're awesome.
Yes , those shadow guards are awesome (and make me wish they'd make another Version of star killers ship) but those dark metal grey stormtroopers are INCREDIBLE... Man , I can't wait to get 2 more of those packs to have 6 of them.
Plus , with a little modification , those shadow guards helmets could be used for Carnor Jax from crimson empire (dark horse comic series).
Does anyone have a comparison of Stormtroopers side by side? I'd be curious to see how drastic the difference is. Just in my memory, all the appears different is the steeper "frown" on their helmets.
Thanks for the review, I might consider getting 4 (or more) of these :D
I got one today and will get another one tomorrow along with other stuff. Cabot help but think that if you had 3 or more you can make a larger, truer version and have enough Stormtroopers to fill it.
I personal prefer emprire stuff to droids but empire is normally expensive...
But this!!!!!
AWESOME
This set looks great, wish I saw it sooner. Would have liked a more plain trooper, but that won't stop me from building an army.