Review: 75132 First Order Battle Pack
Posted by CapnRex101,
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now only days from release in most territories and to celebrate this fact we are bringing you an early review of 75132 First Order Battle Pack. We will be continuing to review the new Star Wars sets over the coming days.
I was very excited by the prospect of a First Order battle pack as I have been intending to assemble an army of First Order Stormtroopers since we first saw images of the minifigure. I was therefore unhappy to learn that only a single standard Stormtrooper is included. This strikes me as odd given that a small set containing three or four First Order Stormtroopers would probably be the best selling set of its kind since 8014 Clone Walker Battle Pack from 2009.
However, a closer look at the four minifigures and the laser cannon turret which accompanies them has altered my view and the disappointment that marred 75132 for me initially has almost entirely vanished.
Box and Contents
The front of the box features the First Order army rushing into battle on the snowy Starkiller Base while the back exhibits the accessories included as well as some of the play features. The design is similar to that of the 2015 sets in that the images styled after technical readouts are still present and the Disney logo adorns the packaging as ever.
Inside are two bags of pieces and a single instruction manual. An advertisement for the upcoming Force Builder app can be found at the back of the booklet, although there is nothing to indicate what the app actually does, only that it will be free when it is released in 2016.
Minifigures
Four different minifigures are included which is very unusual for a Battle Pack. The first of these is the First Order Stormtrooper which is identical to the figure which appears in 75103 First Order Transporter. As with all of the minifigures based on Star Wars The Force Awakens the level of detail is impressive and the design seems very accurate to the movie. Underneath the helmet is a generic Clone Trooper head which is a bit of a shame as I think a new head design is in order, although I cannot imagine that many people will ever take the helmet off anyway.
The torso is printed on the front and back while the designs on the hips and legs match up nicely to represent the belt and leg armour. Unfortunately the stud-shooting blasters are the only ones included in the set which is good for play but slightly irritating if you prefer the standard weaponry which appears in many of the larger sets.
This is the first time the First Order Heavy Artillery Stormtrooper has appeared in minifigure form and he looks just as good as the standard trooper. His helmet, head and legs are identical to those of his comrade but the torso is printed with a black artillery vest on the front and some straps on the back.
It would have been nice to see a megablaster included with the minifigure as they are rarely seen without them in the trailers, although it would not be very difficult to make your own if you wish. Instead he is equipped with a simple stud-shooter.
A pair of First Order Crew are included in this set too. The crew members share the same black legs and printed torso but their headgear differs quite dramatically. The crewman with the bulkier helmet appeared in two of the sets released in September while the other has a brand new hat which is adorned with the First Order insignia.
Both appear to be equally sinister and I look forward to seeing them in the movie as I do not believe they have appeared in any of the trailers.
The Completed Model
Battle Packs are focused on the minifigures but a fun little model is also important to their success in my opinion, in which case this is an excellent offering. I believe this turret is loosely based on those seen on Starkiller Base during the First Order parade which appears in almost every trailer.
The geometric form of the turret looks superb and there are some nice play features incorporated into the model too. I particularly like the control panel which can fold away at the back of the turret and a storage compartment is found at the front for additional stud-shooter ammunition. The stud shooter which tops the turret can be moved vertically and rotate all the way around so has a very wide range of fire.
I should also mention the variety of useful and rare elements which make up the set. There are four light bluish grey 2x2x3 double convex slopes which have only appeared in five sets, the last of which was released in 2012. The rest of the pieces could easily be combined to form a larger turret if one were to purchase multiple sets.
Overall
I remain a little disappointed that only one First Order Stormtrooper is included but in every other respect this is a superb set. The turret is excellent and the minifigure selection is impressive, especially the two new and exclusive ones which make a perfect addition to the First Order Army. At a price of just £11.99 or $12.99 this is a must-have set.
Despite the presence of only a single Stormtrooper this is still by far the cheapest set to include the minifigure and the secondary market prices will hopefully be lowered accordingly, thereby allowing quick and inexpensive army building.
Stay tuned for reviews of plenty more sets based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including 75139 Battle on Takodana and 75140 Resistance Troop Transporter!
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29 comments on this article
Great review CapnRex! I can see one reason they included one of each type of minifig, which would be to make more money because people will have to buy more of these sets to build an army.
I will definitely be getting one of these and one of the Resistance BP. Anyone know if the JW sets will be making a return next year?
i hope that next year a battle pack comes out with 3 or 4 stormtroopers, that schould be nice
I will try to get 2 of these along with 2 of the Imperial battle pack from Battlefront
To me – someone who only buys one of each battle pack – the inclusion of two new and exclusive minifigures outweighs the negative of having just one regular Stormtrooper. The set still contains two Stormtroopers and one of them is exclusive to this set (for the moment). What's not to like?
Then again, I'm not one for amassing an army of Stormies. When I get this pack and the Takodana set I'll have five regular Stormtroopers. That's an okay number to me.
Great set, but due to the lack of more than one first order stromtroopers would've hoped for another minifig for compensation like captain phama.
The heavy is nice, and I think this would be best with only one crew member, as they're not really characters who would actually fight in the battles, and this is a battle pack.
Does anyone know any stores in the uk where this is available yet?
^ Yes, see the news we posted yesterday.
I doubt I'll buy this set, as I almost never want battle packs, but it's nice we got a Starkiller Base pack in the 1HY 2016 selection. As we've had two (?) snow-themed models so early, I think it's safe to say that the planet this SK Base is on will play an important part in the movie.
@ Lordmoral: No, JW is a 'special' theme. The 'special' themes are the ones with only one wave of sets, usually based off a new / upcoming movie or TV show. Examples of this are Scooby-Doo, The Lone Ranger, Jurassic World, etc...
@ legoverslinder: I'd like that. :)
As with most people, I was a bit disappointed with the stormie situation at first, but the selection of minifigs here is great and across the range you can now pick up a good number of stormies from the various FO sets. I'm still not convinced by the turret though, but maybe it's more impressive 'in-hand'.
Can't wait for the Takodana review CapnRex - hope it drops soon! Also can't wait to actually see the film at midnight tomorrow!
I kind of still hope that someday we will see the return of 'normal' blasters to the battle packs. These completely out of scale stud-shooters just simply make me refuse to buy the new ones...
Bit iffy on this. I like the Imperial Officers, but I'm personally not a fan of the new Stormtrooper design (specifically the helmets), so I'm not sure if I'll get this. I do like collecting Stormtrooper armies, so this may just not work for me.
This set was up till now the kind of set I just ignore.
But now that I have seen the Capt's excellent review, its now a must buy.
Personally, I love and probably prefer the new Stormtrooper helmet to the original trilogy (hang me now!). It would be great to haven more of them included in the battle pack to build the army!
For anybody looking for these, Argos and Smyths have them available. Supermarkets are patchy but the toy places have plenty
Just like the white Boba Fett, I would rather the Troopers had solid black heads than a face so the flesh color doesn't show. As said in the review, I would never take off a Stormtrooper's helmet anyway and you never unmask Boba Fett. NEVER!
After reading this review I happened to pop into ToysRUs (Exeter) and found they had this set, the resistance battle pack and the TFA micro fighters on the shelves!
Well, I really do like this set, but why doesn't the heavy trooper have one of the ginormous lightsaber-proof guns? Those are their defining feature.
Still disappointed with the stud shooters. The stormtrooper heavy gunner wears that black vest to store ammo for his, well, heavy gun. Having that minifig hold the stud shooter just defeats the purpose. Can you possibly imagine if Hot Toys did the same to its 1/6th scale figure?
I'm unsure about buying this pack, but if I do I'm definitely replacing the guns. As for the heavy gunner, I can't think of a better weapon for him than rifle blaster 4498712.
Lego keeps giving us firing blasters.I think Lego needs to do a weapon update.
You can buy this set from Dorking Models, in Dorking, Surrey, England. You can also buy the resistance trooper battle pack and first order snowspeeder microfighter.
Thanks for the great review. I popped into Toymaster Bury St. Edmunds yesterday and they had this set, the Microfighter First Order Snowspeeder and a complete set of The Force Awakens Buildable Figures! I sent the wife and son back there today with specific instructions, so I'm pretty sure this battle pack and Captain Phasma are now wrapped up under the tree for me ;) I will of course replace all the guns and I'm currently working on a Heavy Blaster design in readiness.
Also, if you're looking to army build the Snow Troopers the Microfighter is the one to go for as you can get 4 of those for the same price as the big one. I actually think the Microfighter version looks better, and it seems to be popular too. When my wife went back today all the Microfighter Snowspeeders had gone!
Maybe one thing Lego could do is add collectible weapon stands that fit together and include blasters/blaster rifles with them along with the stud shooters. That could increase sales as kids try to collect all the weapon stands.
Great review can't wait to see the movie.
Ok i think this is a terrible set! Because it is a really small set it looks just like some random parts are putted together, and its so expensive for just a few parts i'll think this is maybe one of my top 10 worst lego sets list.
Whaaaaa? This set makes PERFECT SENSE. I am definitely buying it this January.
Now that I've built my copy I will say that it disappoints. Having two First Order crew in the set puts me off buying several sets because I don't want an army of crew. Two of each kind of Stormtrooper would have been better.
The turret is a let down too. The basic structure is OK, but a silly little stud shooter is the weapon chosen to sit on top of it. I added a black lightsaber hilt to the stud shooter to make it look like a half decent weapon.
Another problem I have with the turret is the arc of fire of the weapon. It can point downwards almost vertically, yet can hardly elevate beyond the horizontal. Pretty useless as a defensive turret. I reversed the stud shooter on its mount so that it can now elevate to a more realistic angle IMHO of course!
I bought this just for the stormtroopers but actually, as capn rex points out, the turret is not a bad little model and has some good play value. I definitely would have preferred another trooper though. Maybe they'll release a pack with flame troopers soon too.