Review: 75131 Resistance Trooper Battle Pack
Posted by CapnRex101,
Battle Packs are built upon the premise of offering a quick and relatively inexpensive method of building an army and 75131 Resistance Trooper Battle Pack delivers in that respect. Three Resistance Troopers are included along with an officer so even a single set already offers enough soldiers to fill a battle scene, a feat which 75132 First Order Battle Pack does not achieve in my opinion.
A couple of Resistance Troopers appeared in the first wave of Star Wars: The Force Awakens sets but they have been hugely improved for 2016 by the addition of an excellent helmet which is accurate to the movie but could also serve as a generic science fiction helmet if need be.
Box and Contents
The box shows the Resistance forces moving through the forests of Takodana as explosions burst around them. Kylo Ren peers out from the top corner of the box and looks as intimidating as ever while the Disney logo appears in the bottom left corner. Notably, the Disney logo does not appear at any point during the opening or closing credits in The Force Awakens!
Several images showing the functions of the model and the accessories can be found on the back of the box alongside an image of the speeder from the rear. Inside is a single folded instruction booklet and two bags of pieces along with a loose 4x10 plate.
Minifigures
The Resistance Officer is a relatively simple minifigure, although it does include a new printed torso which I like. Surprisingly this is the first time the hair piece, which is used in plenty of sets, has appeared in this colour. The head is decorated with a headset and a slightly concerned expression while the legs are left without printing.
Although the torso design is quite plain I think it looks great. A little rank indicator is pinned to the left breast and a belt runs across the front and back of the torso, not interfering with the otherwise simple printing but also breaking up the colours a little.
The three Resistance Troopers are far more detailed than their superior and include the aforementioned headgear which looks superb. This consists of two elements, a chin guard and the helmet, which clip together and allow you to raise and lower the chin guard as shown in the image below. The yellow visor is moulded into the helmet and conceals three different heads underneath, one of which is brand new and features an enormous moustache!
Two torsos are included to provide some variation in the troopers’ attire. One of these appeared in 75103 First Order Transporter last year but with the swapping around of legs, heads and torsos I think you could amass quite a large army without the need for repetition. Both torso designs are highly detailed and look suitably rugged for the battle-weary Resistance forces.
The Completed Model
I do not expect a great deal from Battle Pack models and the speeder included in this set is not particularly exciting, although it is based on a vessel from the movie which is unusual for a Battle Pack. The Gian-211 patrol craft scoots around the Resistance base delivering personnel to where they need to be and is therefore unarmed. In this set it seems to have been re-purposed as an infantry support vehicle and a stud-shooting turret is mounted on the back.
The pilot can sit inside the speeder but has no proper controls, only a 1x2 plate with arm up which is presumably intended to represent a control yoke. A steering wheel or panel would have been preferable, although my major issue with this section is the speeder’s lack of depth. There is almost no structure found on either side of the pilot’s seat which leaves this section looking a little flimsy to me.
However, the front of the model looks far better. A pair of offset laser cannons are located beneath the armour plating which is nicely shaped and looks fairly faithful to the film. The rear of the speeder is equally detailed and includes a couple of nicely detailed engine pods as well as a radiator grille. The gun turret can rotate all the way around and be raised or lowered on a click hinge. You can also remove it altogether and use it as an enormous handheld weapon if you like. There is room for a minifigure to stand behind the laser cannon and control it, although the handle is not positioned very well for a minifigure and the entire barrel is mounted a little too high, although this was necessary to give the pilot some headroom.
Overall
This set is focused on the minifigures and in that regard I think it is excellent. It is a delight to see so many generic troopers included in such a small set which allows one to build an army quickly and inexpensively, unlike 75132 First Order Battle Pack. I think the idea of building an army of First Order soldiers is more appealing than one of the Resistance but it is certainly easier to do the latter.
The Gian-211 speeder is a decent model too. It seems a bit unfinished in places but is scaled perfectly beside the minifigures and interacts nicely with them. I look forward to purchasing several of these packs and the minifigures will go nicely with 75140 Resistance Troop Transporter, where more Resistance Troopers are included in different outfits.
Hopefully additional Resistance sets will appear in the coming months so it will be possible to create an enormous battle between the opposing factions of the Sequel Trilogy or populate a Resistance base as seen in the film.
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33 comments on this article
What an awful set, if it didn't have a star wars on the box you would never know what it was from.
@Oligarchy You could say the same thing about all the sets - you can't expect every vehicle from the movie to be iconic like the X-Wing and Tie Fighters. In fact - I don't even remember seeing this in the movie. Going again for another viewing today to hope and see some things I might have missed - including the First Order Snowspeeder.
Great review. LOVE that final image.
I'm surprised how NON-toy-errific this movie was (which is a relief for my wallet). In a lot of these films, characters have multiple costume changes which require you to have to buy multiple versions of them. Here, the characters pretty much looked the same throughout and there were only a few standout vehicles. Now if only there were an inexpensive way to get the main minifigures....
I also don't remember seeing this in the movie, but that doesn't say a lot because I also didn't see the Snowspeeder.
And I don't have a problem if TLC makes up vehicles for the battle packs. Having said that, I do prefer something that comes from the movies.
Pretty neat, this will go well with my idea that the both the Tesistance and First Order troops are Elite squadrons of both the Rebellion and Empire.
@rcmadiax : the FO Snowspeeder appears briefly behind Rey and Finn at one point :-) I suppose they used it to travel (probably had to put up a fight to take it) at one point but it got cut in the final version.
That final image is great!
This looks like quite a nice set, hopefully I'll be able to pick it up soon.
Great review. This is a good battlepack. On top of that, the Rebels look so similar to the Resistance that the Rebel Battlefront Pack coming out at the same time can be blended easily with this one for a bigger Army (plus a few cheep alien heads!)
It's worth the money just to get that mini figure with the sweet mustache!
That last photo is great! I'd be more than content with that collection.
Thanks for another awesome review. I haven't seen any of these new sets in the wild but they all look great going by the reviews I've read. I saw this speeder transporting X-Wing pilots to their craft in one scene. It's basicly a better build of the little side-craft we got with Poe's X-Wing - which are both in the last photograph. Looking at the bushy moustache trooper I wonder if he'll double as John Ratzenberger's character in the Assault on Hoth set.
A very useful set, and far better than the disappointing First Order pack.
" @rcmadiax : the FO Snowspeeder appears briefly behind Rey and Finn at one point :-) "
I am 100% sure that the scene featuring the Snowspeeder was deleted from the final film. We will see it on the DVD release, I guess.
@ Oligarchy That says quite a lot about how generic the new movie looks (and is!) too
Those helmet visors really bug me. The trans-yellow makes it look like someone accidentally mixed yellow heads in with flesh-colored heads.
I was originally excited about this set, but I think I can pass. I love the 2 battlefront packs and will get those instead.
I really like the minifigs; speeder is OK. Although I wish it was a bit deeper.
@morbicizer
I am 100% sure that a snowspeeder appeared for a couple of seconds at one point in the film I saw. It was immobile and uncrewed, and only occupied a tiny part of the screen, but it was there. Because I have two of them I was looking out to see when it appeared and what it did. Turns out it did nothing!
I really like this one. The speeder has a certain liveliness and charm about it, and the minifigs will make great generic crewmembers. I love that, at least for the three soldiers, there are not any logos or insignia. Interesting colors, cool helmets.
A very nice pack, I'll definitely be picking one up. The speeder is pretty interesting, as battlepack vehicles go, and the figures are nice: A little variation, yet similar enough for army building. And the Resistance troops do wear perfectly simple uniform trousers, leg printing wouldn't add anything to these guys.
I know, I saw it too. Since this is a spoiler free thread, I will not go into any details, but its exactly the circumstances of that appearance that suggest a deleted scene to me.
That mustache really puts a smile on my face....
Thanks for the review.
After seeing this at Target last week, I thought I should pick it up. I bought it for the genericity of it. The helmets are neat, although I think I liked them more in pictures before I bought it. The torsos can be useful. And I do like the officer's torso, a lot.
The vehicle didn't get built, but seeing it here, I actually kind of like it. Definitely tweak it a bit, but it turned out pretty decent.
My kids love this set. My daughter thinks the trooper's moustache is funny. Well worth the price, although you can make the chin guards fall off just by looking at them; I fear for their future
After seeing the film a second time - I did see the Snowspeeder for about 3 seconds. I'm guessing there is plenty of deleted scenes we will be getting in future releases of the film.
As for this transporter - I "might" of spotted something similar towards the very end of the film - but it's still not even close to the film. I'm guessing they had to trim down the detail to hit a certain price point.
It really looks unfinished... but it is a great pack, all the same... love the new head! And I also liked the final picture of this review.
Bought this set today at our local Sainsburys, well, I didn't exactly receive any gifts this Christmas I actually liked so I bought this on Boxing Day for myself to make up for it...
Its a great set. Perhaps a tad overpriced but for £12 I'd say thats the maximum limit you should spend on it...
Quick to build, the visors are great and signify the ever advanced world of Lego design, 4 mini-figures in one small set is a great thing and comparable to the First Order battle pack, its much more entertaining to have a small vehicle rather than a static blocky gun emplacement.
You can actually place all 4 mini-figures on the speeder.
Oh, and there isn't a sticker in sight....
A lot of people seem disappointed... is this a bad place to admit I'm more excited for this set than anything in TFA's first wave?
A lot of people seem disappointed... is this a bad place to admit I'm more excited for this set than anything in TFA's first wave?
A lot of people seem disappointed... is this a bad place to admit I'm more excited for this set than anything in TFA's first wave?
Well I am excited for these new TFA sets but I got the FO transporter for Christmas and like it a lot. The other thing I would get is the FO snowspeeder and perhaps Rey's speeder too.
Now that I've built my copy I would say that the "stud shooter turret" is just about the worst weapon I've seen built from LEGO. It looks more like a mobile TV camera than anything potentially dangerous and deadly. Imagination must have evaporated when it came to designing the gun.
But the minifigs are good so I may well buy more of these and design my own weapon to fit it.