Review: 75199 General Grievous' Combat Speeder
Posted by CapnRex101,
Star Wars: The Clone Wars exhibits a selection of marvellous vehicles, many of which have not yet appeared in LEGO sets. 75199 General Grievous' Combat Speeder is one such craft, although I am not sure why this particular vehicle was selected as it only appeared briefly during season five's 'A Necessary Bond' and a later episode of the series which has been shown as a story reel.
Nevertheless, I am delighted to see that LEGO is still willing to produce sets based upon Star Wars: The Clone Wars as there is a great deal of unexplored potential. The inclusion of Mace Windu and General Grievous minifigures is also very satisfying as these are two of the most popular characters from the Clone Wars era, neither of whom have appeared in a set for a few years. However, the price of £25.99 or $29.99 seems extraordinarily high given the content of the set so I am hoping it will exceed my expectations in that regard.
Minifigures
Mace Windu last appeared in 2013's 75019 AT-TE so I am very pleased to see him again here. The minifigure has undergone a couple of changes since then, now including some cheek definition and a suitably stern expression. The torso has also been updated very slightly with more detail on the belt but Mace continues to wear a dark tan robe which looks brilliant in my opinion, distinguishing the character from other Jedi Knights.
The printing on the legs has been updated too, now featuring less white and a little more dark tan than the 2013 version of Mace Windu. This is definitely a considerable improvement as the lower section of dark tan resembles boots, although dark brown may have been more suitable so I would have liked to see dual-moulded legs. Even so, I am very satisfied with this minifigure and he comes armed with a purple lightsaber, as one would expect.
General Grievous has also been absent from the LEGO Star Wars roster for several years, appearing most recently in 75040 General Grievous' Wheel Bike. This skeletal figure is identical to that from the 2014 set, featuring printed yellow eyes and white armour Personally, I prefer the tan version from a couple of earlier sets, although the white design more closely matches the character as he appears in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and serves to distinguish the general from his legions of Battle Droids.
This minifigure includes some extraordinarily intricate moulding, especially around the chest where a section of Grievous' flexible endoskeleton is visible. I love the contrast between dark bluish grey and white which continues across the figure and the extensive articulation is well suited to the cyborg as each of the arms and legs are hinged while the head can be raised and lowered at the base of the neck.
I think the second pair of arms look odd when attached, as shown above, but I am not sure how this could have been improved upon without broadening the shoulders to an awkward degree. In addition, the present configuration is ideal for arming Grievous with his four lightsabers as you can create many different poses. I expect the villain is eager to add a unique purple weapon to his collection and it is nice to see Mace Windu and General Grievous in a set together given their brief, but memorable, interaction in the original Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series from 2003.
The Completed Model
The Separatist combat speeder is only a little larger than the more common STAP so the most surprising aspect of this model is definitely its size. The vehicle measures over 25cm in length, far exceeding true minifigure scale. Admittedly, designers often increase the size of speeders in order to include greater detail and match the unusual proportions of minifigures but this is a particularly extreme example, arguably to the detriment of the set.
Nevertheless, the level of detail across the model is impressive. The directional vanes and twin laser cannons fitted to the prow look superb, as does the armour sheathing around the steering column. A pair of silver stickers are applied to the dark blue panel and two more appear on either side of the rear section. Fortunately, these stickers are easy to apply and the vehicle is not entirely reliant upon them for detail.
A simple Technic frame links the prow of the speeder to the curved platform at the rear. This is quite sturdy and I like the controls fitted to the end of the steering column, featuring two levers and a trans-green 1x1 slope depicting a display that matches standard Separatist equipment. Placing the levers in General Grievous' hands is not easy as a result of their unusual geometry but this configuration is accurate to the speeder in the animated series.
The overwhelming size of the combat speeder becomes particularly apparent once General Grievous has been placed at the controls. I think he looks fine in the context of this model but comparing it with the source material confirms that the vehicle should in fact be far smaller, perhaps about half the size. Building the model at such a large scale has allowed the designer to include some extra details but I would have preferred a smaller and more authentic set.
Turning the model upside down reveals a series of trans-clear 2x2 sliders upon which the speeder appears to float above the ground alongside four clips for General Grievous' lightsabers. These are fairly well hidden from almost every angle, as are the spring loaded shooters on each flank that line up quite closely with the stickers on the front of the platform.
A pair of Technic liftarms run through the centre of the rear platform, strengthening it and providing a firm mounting for the cylindrical engine at the back. This looks superb in light bluish grey, dark blue and pearl dark grey, although it should be a little shorter in relation to the combat speeder in the animated series. Nevertheless, I do like the conical shape and the textured wheel slots into the grey turbine component perfectly.
Overall
I am always glad to see another set based upon Star Wars: The Clone Wars, although the obscure Separatist combat speeder is not necessarily the vehicle that I would have chosen. Nevertheless, the level of detail is impressive and this is a perfect opportunity to add Mace Windu and General Grievous to your minifigure collection, both of whom are fairly rare and are among the most popular characters from the Prequel Trilogy.
However, the price of £25.99 or $29.99 is nothing short of ridiculous in my opinion. This 157-piece set feels like it is worth about two thirds of the current cost and at a significant discount I would recommend it. Having said that, the scale of the model is also rather strange and I think it should have been designed to suit a typical Battle Pack price point, even if the set still only contained these two figures.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
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30 comments on this article
Is it possible that the $29.99 price tag is just a glitch on the LEGO website? Because that price seems, as you put it, extraordinarily high; especially when Ahch-To-Island Training is the same price.
Uk price definitely isn't a glitch. I saw it in a bricks-and-mortar tesco at £25.50 earlier today
The build looks very boring to me. I prefer the 2014 speeder bike to this set. Windu looks good though and since I missed the grievous fig I might get this set
Why does the price of each new wave of LEGO Star Wars increase by about 15-20%? Prices are getting silly
Horrid. Destined for the deep discount shelf.
Was anybody else having trouble seeing all the pictures?
Price, size, obscurity; how could they get a set SO wrong...?
So this is a set based off of the Clone Wars cartoon, but does not have the cartoonish faces, correct?
If so, have they made other such similar sets? I personally do not like the cartoonish faces but did like the sets themselves.
I appreciated it when they made the Rebels figures look like regular movie figures and did not cartoon them up.
Obscure source material, ugly set, uninteresting Minifigs, laughingly overpriced (a trend among current LEGO Star Wars sets), makes for an easy pass.
When I first saw it from a distance I thought it was a remake of the Droid Gunship (7678) of some sort.
This is clearly a way for Lego to offer - and for fans to buy - these two popular figures. Talking about the build or price per part seems almost pointless as they are evidently afterthoughts.
The speeder straight up looks bad next to the source material, it's way too large and the proportions are totally wrong, and the set costs about twice what it ought to considering the contents.
Why on earth anyone who already has these figures would buy this is mystifying.
I like it! Especially Grievous! But not the price ...
Dang... I really need to add Grievous and Mace to uh... my collection *cough cough*, but $30? I'll save it for the Ahch-To set, or for the Build-able Boba Fett figure. Just, yikes! I don't get how LEGO/Disney expect people to be able to buy their stuff when it's so exorbitantly priced, kids and adults alike don't want to spend so much of their valuable money on toys, regardless whether they have my favorite Jedi-killer or Mace M-Fing Windu.
So, a good Mace Windu, the same old undersized Grievous, and a completely out-of-scale representation of an obscure vehicle... at a ridiculous price.
Nope, nope, nopedy-nopenopenope.
Nice to see these two minifigures come back again into the catalog. Yet the price is a serious put-off. Not only that but the speeder seems very boring to me. The colors make it appear a bit of a mish-mash. It really needs some color or smooth elements added to liven it up. I may look for it when it's 50% off but not until then.
Excellent minifigs, okay speeder, ridiculous price.
Is this one retail-limited in the US? Trying to figure out why the price point is so high. Seems like the speeder build was bulked out to hit the price point as opposed to accentuating features.
Still, been looking forward to this one. Hope I can snag it on a discount.
The only positive thing about this set really is Mace Windu - even the General Grievous was in a cheaper set than this, last time around - £19.99 rather than £25.99. But the Wheel Bike had some major film airtime. I saw all the Clone Wars episodes and still I draw a blank trying to remember this vehicle.
I just don't understand why the set is so obscure - they surely didn't have to have Mace Windu AND Grevious in the same set - in which case there are many more famous scenarios that could have been represented instead, with one of those characters and someone different to accompany them.
They should have made the speeder smaller and had it be a $15 set. If $30 really is the correct price, which it seems to be, this will probably go down as one of the worst Star Wars sets in history.
Yep, this is sure an obscure vehicle. Why they chose this, no one knows (like the headless At -St). I really feel like the draw of this set is the figures, so I don't see myself buying this one.
I like the figure choice. I think it is really interesting that they would include the film figures in a clone wars set. Not a version of the clone wars figures like the yellow greivous or the strange looking Windu
At this rate, we'll get a movie-like teenage ahsoka in no time. My opinion: bring it on!
I’d rather see more Rebels sets.
Is Grevious the same exact print from 2014? If so, looks like I’ll search for Mace on the aftermarket.
@Mr_Skinny: the prices have gone up because the sets have gotten larger and have more pieces. It's not some sort of sneaky money grab by Lego to trick us. If you are an AFOL or parent, you decide whether to spend. If you can't afford new Lego, buy second hand, use a toy library, share with mates, sell a kidney...
FYI it might have been mentioned elsewhere, such as the forum, but some of the Star Wars sets, Friends and City Mountain Police for 2018 were in stock in Toys R Us UK today. I clicked and collected a couple. Here's a quick resume of the higher priced Star Wars sets at TRU prices:
Sandspeeder - £34.99 (not too bad considering the previous EpV Snowspeeder was the same
Mos Eisley Cantina - £44.99 (pretty high but a TRU exclusive)
Defence of Crait - £74.99 (as per regular LEGO.com price)
... and the big one...
First Order AT-ST - £54.99 (!!!) Were my eyes not deceiving me? Needless to say I did not purchase at full price
^According to Jang's review the First Order AT-ST costs $40 so surely not £54.99... If so that's ridiculous
I suspect the almost complete lack of “toyetic” new designs in the new movie has a lot to do with this.
This will be one of, if not the worst Star Wars set of 2018
i think the half blown First Order AT-ST is more of the joke...