I’d say this is hands down one of the best battle packs, except it wasn’t a battle pack.

@TheWackyWookiee:
One minifig-scale TIE Bomber. None for UCS, of course (it’s the last of the eight OT starfighters). But there have been at least a few microscale versions.

@Mr__Thrawn:
Was this released within that time period? I know 2020 on should be safe because they announced they’d identified the problem and figured out how to fix it. I just don’t know when the problem started.

@Mr__Thrawn:
Oh, I’ve picked up a bag each of the 10x, 8x, and 6x radar dishes in clear when they became available. They’re so useful for making stands for flying vehicles. I think I’ve used the 10x for the BttF2 DeLorean, the 8x with a tall stand for Holley Shiftwell from Cars 2, and the 6x for the Weaseleys’ Ford Anglia.

I love my clear dishes that came from this set.

Legos best looking Hailfire Droid. Id like to pick this up to display in my Geonosis moc and also to see the wheel design in person. I definitely prefer the look of the wheels on this model compared to 75085 with its printed 10x 10x radar dishes.

@PurpleDave Yes, I was referring to the minifig scale model.

I had wanted a smaller-scale Hailfire droid since I saw Attack of the Clones, so I was excited when this was released in 2008 amongst all the Clone Wars sets. I felt good buying it, too, knowing I wasn't adding any superfluous minifigures with those hideous animated faces.

This set also stood out for that time period in my LEGO collecting for the sheer fact that I opened the box and found time to build it! As I was in college out-of-state at the time, I didn't have the liberty of getting sets I could build and appreciate on a regular basis. This was an exception due to its size, and I enjoyed making the droid's wheels around the clear radar dish pieces and then rolling the thing across the floor. I didn't witness any cracking of parts, but I did disassemble the set later. Perhaps I'm in for a nasty surprise should I choose to rebuild it?

If I’ve got the math right, this is about half minifig scale, and the Technic version is nearly double minifig scale. The wheels should be about 18 studs in diameter compared to a minifig at 4 bricks tall.

@TheWackyWookiee:
Oh, I’m aware. That lone minifig-scale version is the only one that anyone ever acknowledges. The various microscale versions are persistently ignored.

Kudos to LEGO for recognising the lefty population. Only a few other sets depict droids this way, though no doubt they are programmed to be ambidextrous.

@MeisterDad said:
"Kudos to LEGO for recognising the lefty population. Only a few other sets depict droids this way, though no doubt they are programmed to be ambidextrous."

Every figure I put on display is Left Handed :)

As one of the 8910 people who own this set, I always found the flick fire missiles in this set super awkward to use. One by itself is annoying enough to hit just right so it actually fires, but trying to hit one in a cluster of four? You just keep hitting them all a little bit instead of one properly

I think this was my first set with flick-fires, and probably has the best use I've seen of them to date: Flicking away at the missiles really recreated the look of the swirling missiles going everywhere from Attack of the Clones.

@PDelahanty said: "Monday: Star Wars
Tuesday: Star Wars
Wednesday: Space
Thursday: Star Wars

C'mon Huwbot...don't break that trend! Finish out the work week with another Star Wars set!"

You know it's going to be Galidor now, right?

it is really random set of the day ? I did notice only older sets from database. What about newer ones from last couple of years back ?

A great little set. Essentially a battle pack+, like the 501st last year, the way the wheels were done on the hailfire droid is inspired, even if they don't roll particularly well. Definitely tedious to construct, but that's the cost of those chain link pieces being very small, and hence being xapable of forming specific lengths.

Difficult scale to attempt the hailfire droid, but clever use of the large clear discs in their only ever appearance to hold the tracks. Long overdue for another version to appear, hopefully slightly larger with smooth running tracks or wheels.

I understand comment on missing unique mini-fig as at the time the similar priced 7681 contained commander Fox, who is now worth more than the whole set.

@Slithus_Venom said:
"If they leave a Plo Koon out of a set like this, you can use it for droid army-building without ending up with an unwanted Plo Koon army. Although I agree, most people would be more likely to buy it just for an exclusive Jedi."

That's a fair point on army-building. I think I've been conditioned to think of Battle Packs as the only real expression of army-builders, but this was definitely early enough where LEGO hadn't standardized the "four figs and a..." model. I wonder if they did studies to analyze what sold better, special figs vs. army building, and at exactly what price point. I assume so.

Again

Wow, this set has a couple of rare part colors. The chain links in reddish brown are only in this set, and that clean large radar dish is in this set and one other, 71042 Silent Mary. Impressive for a smallish set.

@sanders2221 :
“His built in a few restrictions.”

That should say “Huw built in a few restrictions.” Yay Apple Autoincorrect!

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"2008 was indeed the first appearance of the flick-fire missile element."

2008 was the first appearance of the Technic pin that made flick-fires actually useful, but there were several sets before then that used a flick-firing missile feature. I'm mostly thinking of 6208, 7658, 7660, and 7661, but I'm probably forgetting some others. In those, it was little more than a regular Technic axle sitting loose in a pin hole, which meant that they'd easily fall out if you swooshed the ship around. The new pin element for 2008 was a great improvement, and LEGO has found a lot of other uses for it since then.

My first Lego Star Wars set I got. Man, the memories...

@Drzhivago138 said:
"2008 was the first appearance of the Technic pin that made flick-fires actually useful, but there were several sets before then that used a flick-firing missile feature. I'm mostly thinking of 6208, 7658, 7660, and 7661, but I'm probably forgetting some others."

7663, too!

In fact, because that was about when my 'dark age' was starting to come on, and that was the last significant SW set I got for a long time, I didn't even realise that a dedicated flick-fire piece had been made at all until a couple of years ago. I just ASSUMED that all flick-fires ever since had used the axels, which - naturally - gave me not a very high opinion of them. It was only when I was sorting a box of donated Lego for a charity I was volunteering with that I found 75032 in the lot, and the existence of those pins in that set was quite the revelation to me. I had no idea they'd existed as far back as 2008.

I always thought it was called a Hellfire droid...also: I remember first time seeing this; it shortly after seeing the improved 'Super-Battle Droids'...now without 'rolling' action. Anyway, sitting in the theater thinking 'Well, THIS is better', only to see the Hailfire and 'Ah...NOPE...' :)

@brick_r:
I’m not sure if the “rolling action” refers to the “Droideka” Destroyer Droids that curl into a ball and roll into action, or if you meant the regular Battle Droids that fold up into a fetal position for storage.

@PurpleDave:
Well, the first one actually...but now that ya' mention it: 'standard' Battle Droids are so, very lame...I heard a story that Lucas was show Spielberg them...and Steven was rolling his eyes...:)

@brick_r:
So, the Super Battle Droids, as their name indicates, are an upgrade from the tan or sand-red Battle Droids. They have integrated weapons (rather than being given blasters designed for humanoids). They have more durable armor. They are autonomous (rather than requiring a Droid Control Ship). I’m not aware of any movie-canon upgrade for the Droidekas, which got largely shoved into the background for Ep2.

Regarding any of the goofier designs during the PT, remember that the Republic has enjoyed peace for a very long time. The Jedi have been a peacekeeping force, but there was no standing military in living memory, prior to the creation of the Clone Army from Ep2. As the Separatists build up their military force, it’s pretty much a spaghetti system. You throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Research WWII, and to a lesser extent WWI, and you’ll find tons of really oddball designs that didn’t perform as expected. Most of them faded quickly into obscurity, but a few were notable for their high profile failures, especially when the Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. Two that I recall in particular include paratrooper “leg bags” that were immortalized in the interviews for HBO’s Band of Brothers miniseries, and I think there was some sort of snorkel-equipped battle tank that tested well earlier, but tended to capsize and sink in the choppy surf off Normandy. It’s just that in wartime situations, “seeing what sticks” often involves literal trial by combat.