Random set of the day: Clone Turbo Tank
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7261 Clone Turbo Tank, released during 2005. It's one of 26 Star Wars sets produced that year. It contains 801 pieces and 7 minifigs, and its retail price was US$90/£69.99.
It's owned by 4,440 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $610.20, or eBay.
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Back when Star Wars sets used parts (the wheels) that hearkened back to a much earlier Lego Space era, and prominently.
Ironically, first time I SAW the "Turbo Tank" was yeeeears before it hit the screen. West End Games published a "Imperial Sourcebook" for their "Star Wars: the Roleplaying Game" (first one). Great game, but I remember looking at the double-T and saying "WhhAAAttt..."...as I hadn't even thought about wheeled vehicles in Star Wars...but then again, the chapter/section on "slug throwers" was equally hilarious...miss that game, good times.:)
I wasn't enamored by any set that had a Jedi or Sith with a light-up lightsaber. Too gimmicky and hard to deal with (what happens when the battery dies?) for 16 year-old me. When they released a version in 2006 with a normal Mace Windu plus an extra clone trooper, I was more enticed, but ultimately, the model wasn't up to snuff. I had seen Revenge of the Sith multiple times by then, and as much as I wanted to have a Juggernaut/Turbo Tank, I thought for sure that LEGO could do better. And they did in 2010 with that Turbo Tank, ugly TCW minifigure heads aside.
I think I ended up passing on this one. All I wanted it for was the Mace Windu minifig, and it just felt too expensive for a vehicle I was kinda meh about.
I have the one 7261-2 the non-light up Windu one. Funny that this box art shows the regular minifig but comes with the light up one.
@KotZ said:
"I have the one 7261-2 the non-light up Windu one. Funny that this box art shows the regular minifig but comes with the light up one."
This looks like the instruction book from 7261-2. Bricklink shows the box for this set with the light-up version posed on the left, and an inset in the upper right showing the light-up Mace in what appears to be a larger than life-size image.
Back when Lego play sets had good volume. This tank is big for a set meant to be played with
What planet are they on?
Very nostalgic.
I wish I had one of the light-up Windu figures, or just any of those gimmicks
Great set. I think I have both versions, but have to check. I found the figure battery could be changed without much fuss (made a YT video of it on a policeman figure from the same time), but I have yet to figure out how to extract the head on Mace so I can change the frayed cape. Processing...
Still have my OG with the light-up Mace on my shelf in the box (still intact). No room to display, though - cases are full, shelves already allotted for Expert and Technic at this point.
I always liked this one, even after the newer versions came and went. It's just so classic and beefy with those wheels and the deployable turret looks fun. In this era playability was still front and center in licensed themes above accuracy and displayability. If there was no feature they just made one up! And this one had both!
I eventually got my hands on one of the later versions of the tank but there is still something very cool about this one. It's at that point where a lot of Lego are still quite chunky and blocky, leaning more towards the Lego side than the Star Wars side, but that honestly works in its favour given that's exactly what this thing is supposed to be anyway
@Maxbricks14 said:
"What planet are they on?"
The Forest Moon of Andor
Actually Kashykk
I love the old Lego sw alt builds they used to include!
"Now this is podracing!!!"
Why is an Imperial Scout Trooper SW0131 in amongst a bunch of clones? Aren't they about 20 years too early?
Sorry, I can't say I'm a big fan of Whitetron.
Ah i really need to rebuilt this thing, super hollow on the inside but really big and impressive nevertheless. Sadly I got the set before i realized what THE SUN could do to poor lego pieces
A legendary set. The whole LEGO Star Wars range between 2005 and 2008 is my source of nostalgia and this set is among the most memorable, to me.
My only complaint about this set is that with enough play, the front and rear wheels slide off the axles, but it was just so gratifying to have the wheels turn when you wanted to make it turn. And there's the whole thing with the suspension system. Really cool for a Star Wars set because wheels aren't exactly common in the universe.
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"funny thing is, it's going backwards!"
It has the capability to go either direction. In Revenge of the Sith, it does in fact move this direction. In Clone Wars, we never really see it move, but it is seen facing down the droids the other way. In Bad Batch, it moves with the larger end forward. And I think it's the same in Rogue One, too. If anything, thinking that it's rolling backwards here is the more uncommon opinion.
@lost_scotsman said:
"Why is an Imperial Scout Trooper SW0131 in amongst a bunch of clones? Aren't they about 20 years too early?"
That is a Kashyyyk Trooper. While repurposing the same helmet in a different color, it's also not too dissimilar to how they actually look. We would eventually get more accurate depictions in 2014 with the Kashyyyk Troopers Battle Pack 75035 and their inclusion in Revenge of the Sith was to help show just how much the Republic had already transformed into the Empire, even if it had not been made official yet.
Oh yes, this set is a legend. I got this for Christmas at 6 years old, having just seen revenge of the sith in theaters. The build may not be the best by today's standards, but it's impossible for me to look at this without rose tinted nostalgia goggles. I can't help but love it.
I wanted this set so much at the time, but ONLY for minifigure Mace. Because of that, naturally, I couldn't justify a £70 spend - even if I had saved up that much, which as a kid wasn't easy to do! - for just one minifigure, and contented myself with all the other sets with light-up minifigures from the RotS range.
Of course nowadays, that Mace probably fetches close to that cost *on his own*, so I'd say my chances of getting him are still pretty much zero!
Did this tank show up in Revenge of the Sith, in the end? I remember it being in one shot of the trailer, but I don't recall seeing that shot in the movie itself. I may just be forgetting, it's been a hot minute since I watched any of the "Lucas Six" Star Wars movies in full. But I don't remember it doing much of significance onscreen.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"I wanted this set so much at the time, but ONLY for minifigure Mace. Because of that, naturally, I couldn't justify a £70 spend - even if I had saved up that much, which as a kid wasn't easy to do! - for just one minifigure, and contented myself with all the other sets with light-up minifigures from the RotS range.
Of course nowadays, that Mace probably fetches close to that cost *on his own*, so I'd say my chances of getting him are still pretty much zero!
Did this tank show up in Revenge of the Sith, in the end? I remember it being in one shot of the trailer, but I don't recall seeing that shot in the movie itself. I may just be forgetting, it's been a hot minute since I watched any of the "Lucas Six" Star Wars movies in full. But I don't remember it doing much of significance onscreen."
During the Kashyyk battle we see one or two driving. And I think there was also one from a distance when the 'camera' goes to Yoda's platform.
The AT-AP is there too, but that one is even less clearly visible.
@brick_r said:
"Ironically, first time I SAW the "Turbo Tank" was yeeeears before it hit the screen. West End Games published a "Imperial Sourcebook" for their "Star Wars: the Roleplaying Game" (first one). Great game, but I remember looking at the double-T and saying "WhhAAAttt..."...as I hadn't even thought about wheeled vehicles in Star Wars...but then again, the chapter/section on "slug throwers" was equally hilarious...miss that game, good times.:) "
It also appeared in Wizards' Star Wars TCG in the Battle of Yavin Expansion, 2 years before RotS as wll.
@Trigger_ said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"What planet are they on?"
The Forest Moon of Andor
Actually Kashykk"
Kashyyyk ;). I know, the extra y's are easily forgotten.
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"funny thing is, it's going backwards!"
Maybe this unit is being led by the brave Clone Trooper Captain Sirrobin.
@brick_r said:
"Ironically, first time I SAW the "Turbo Tank" was yeeeears before it hit the screen. West End Games published a "Imperial Sourcebook" for their "Star Wars: the Roleplaying Game" (first one). Great game, but I remember looking at the double-T and saying "WhhAAAttt..."...as I hadn't even thought about wheeled vehicles in Star Wars...but then again, the chapter/section on "slug throwers" was equally hilarious...miss that game, good times.:) "
The A5 Juggernaut appeared several times in the Bantam Era novel material, including "Darksaber" by Kevin J. Anderson and "Rogue Squadron" by Mike Stackpole
@Zink said:
"Can anyone explain to me what that weird lift in the front (not the cockpit) is supposed to be? I was always very confused by that as a child."
The observation post?
@brick_r said:
"Ironically, first time I SAW the "Turbo Tank" was yeeeears before it hit the screen. West End Games published a "Imperial Sourcebook" for their "Star Wars: the Roleplaying Game" (first one). Great game, but I remember looking at the double-T and saying "WhhAAAttt..."...as I hadn't even thought about wheeled vehicles in Star Wars...but then again, the chapter/section on "slug throwers" was equally hilarious...miss that game, good times.:) "
Isn't it some weird licensing reason with West End Games or some other party as well which is why LEGO always called these things "Turbo Tanks" instead of Juggernauts?
Either way, I always enjoy seeing them including the one at the opening of Rogue One, or the slimed down cargo ones in Mandalorian Season 2. It feels like LEGO is overdue in making a new one, seeing as we now have multiple sources to draw from.
Big nostalgia for this set. This was right after I got into Lego Star Wars (and Star Wars in general), and it got played with a LOT.
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"funny thing is, it's going backwards!"
That's the way around it's going in the movie, and there's heavier weaponry facing this direction (although the pop-out missile launchers have never made it into a Lego version).
The other way 'round though, "thin" end forwards, really emphasizes its relationship to the AT-AT: A head, thinner neck section, and a large boxy body with tapered ends. You can tell that the concept artists working on Empire pretty much ripped the wheels off their original design and replaced them with legs.
And since recycling concept art is a tradition as old as Star Wars, we also got to see this thing on the big screen 25 years later.
There was a kid on YouTube circa 2008 who made stop-motion Lego Star Wars videos that had a lot of this tank in them so I feel like I know everything about it without ever having owned it, cuz I watched those videos so many times when I was a kid myself in 2008...
@Zink said:
" @TheBrickBulbasaur said:
" @Zink said:
"Can anyone explain to me what that weird lift in the front (not the cockpit) is supposed to be? I was always very confused by that as a child."
The observation post?"
No! Not the thing on top, but what was inside the turbo tank's front. It had a little hatch for it on the outside too. In the instructions it starts on page 54."
Looking at the bit you're point out...is it not just how they've engineered the cockpit seating? Looks like it may have needed to be set back a bit to compensate for the slight sloping of the front plate of the cockpit itself so they've got it on a kind of hinge so minifig feet can fit in there
@Zink said:
" @TheBrickBulbasaur said:
" @Zink said:
"Can anyone explain to me what that weird lift in the front (not the cockpit) is supposed to be? I was always very confused by that as a child."
The observation post?"
No! Not the thing on top, but what was inside the turbo tank's front. It had a little hatch for it on the outside too. In the instructions it starts on page 54."
The lift and hatch on the front is also an observation post. Quinlan Vos is shown standing there in the extended Order 66 sequence, which reached the animatic stage before being shortened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpamDybYR18
I presume LEGO had access to a storyboard featuring Quinlan Vos' death when developing the set, hence deciding to prioritise that feature.
@Ephseb said:
"The A5 Juggernaut appeared several times in the Bantam Era novel material, including "Darksaber" by Kevin J. Anderson…"
Oof, I’ve largely managed to purge memories of anything KJA did in his adult SW novels, except for crutching along on yet another Death Star.
@xboxtravis7992:
Given how many Kenner and Hasbro action figures have borne WEG names, I very much doubt Lucas let them get away with a contract that didn’t clearly state that Lucasfilm owned the full rights to anything they came up with. As far as I know, the only major contractual flub Lucas made was not securing likeness rights for minor OT characters. When Galoob produced a 1” tall Senni Tonnika, and Decipher out a picture of the Tonnika sisters on a card, actress Angela Staines supposedly dropped Lucasfilm a line, and the two characters have reportedly been banned from merchandising ever since. There seem to be a few holes in this story, but anyone who’s still around is 46 years older, and Christine Hewett passed away several years ago, so I kinda doubt we’ll ever find out the full truth.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Ephseb said:
"The A5 Juggernaut appeared several times in the Bantam Era novel material, including "Darksaber" by Kevin J. Anderson…"
Oof, I’ve largely managed to purge memories of anything KJA did in his adult SW novels, except for crutching along on yet another Death Star."
yeah I never finished "Darksaber"… then, in 2021, I dropped "Jedi Search" after less than 100 pages, but I will defend his contributions to the iconic TOTJ comics.
From what little I've read of his novels as outlined above, it seems like he's just not on the level of even other Bantam authors like Zahn, Allston, and Stackpole, not to mention Stover, Keyes, and Luceno.
@Torrent_Studios said:
"Very nostalgic.
I wish I had one of the light-up Windu figures, or just any of those gimmicks"
I have all of them except Mace. I didn't really bother to 'collect' them. It just sort of happened as I got the sets I had previously wanted (but, missed out).
The lightsabers are definitely gimmicky.
@Ephseb:
The thing is, the Young Jedi books are actually fairly entertaining. It's just the adult fare that feels phoned in.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Ephseb :
The thing is, the Young Jedi books are actually fairly entertaining. It's just the adult fare that feels phoned in."
So I've heard! I was never really interested in the children's books. However, Jude Watson's Star Wars work (Jedi Apprentice/Jedi Quest/Last of the Jedi) has been recommended to me time and time again, so I may check that out one day.