Minifigs: the set comes with 6 regular B1 battle droids. Nothing new here; they're literally the exact same ones that have been used since 2007. What's more interesting are the new pilot battle droids, this time with torso printing! I hope these make their way into more sets soon. LEGO has been annoyingly inconsistent with their specialist battle droids for the past several years, so I hope they actually decide to use this design and stick with it. And I hope we get security, commander, and maybe even firefighter and rocket battle droids in this style too!

Build: the droid carrier comes together very well. I love all the sleek curves and angles on it that make the model look clean and modern. Up front is a place to put the pilot battle droids, and there's also a small light on the side too. Behind it is an area to slot in the carrier rack, which slides out easily! But luckily, not too easily that it falls out during play (not sure how many people are just playing with a rare LEGO set anyway, but still)! The carrier has places to put the battle droids' blasters, and each side of the rack has room for three battle droids. Getting them in was actually easier than I thought, and the racks can even tilt down to unload them (although you can't really unload them from that position; maybe if you loosened the feet and then tilted the racks IDK). There's also a fun Easter egg with four green 1x2 slider plates, a callback to #7126, which this set is clearly intended to be a spiritual successor to!

You also get a "25 Years of LEGO Star Wars" brick to go with it, which is a very nice touch.

Conclusion: this set is overall pretty solid! There's just one problem with it: it was a Gift With Purchase. LEGO Star Wars fans have been vocal about wanting more Separatist army builders, or at the very least something to oppose the onslaught of clone trooper minifigs. But when we finally get one, it's locked behind a $160 GWP spend threshold! The aftermarket is even worse, as sealed copies are going anywhere from $40-45, even $50! So sadly, I can't really recommend this, unless you just have money to throw away. I'm pretty sure at this point you could buy double the amount of battle droids for half of the set's value! Really the only thing that makes this special are the pilot battle droids, but even then I'm expecting them to make an appearance in more sets down the line. So while it is a great set, I don't think you should go out and buy it for 50% more than LEGO valued it at.

We as Lego Star Wars fans always look forward to May 4th as a day to celebrate our fandoms of both Lego and Star Wars. And that day has usually been accompanied with a phenomenal promo item. We've had some great minifigs as well as some great builds. Unfortunately we had about a 10 year period where we didn't get any great promos outside of a year or 2 here and there. But I think this year's promo signifies the return of great promos. This year's Battle Droid Troop Carrier is one of the greatest promos ever and here's why.

First off, the build is mostly solid. It pays tribute to the older 2001 version of this set. And with this being both the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace and Lego Star Wars, this makes perfect sense. It's got enough bulk to it as well as a great amount of detail. It may not be as big as the 2015 version of this set and that's ok, it doesn't have to. My one and only problem with it is that the troop rack seems to sag a bit in the back. It seems to do that due to the extra weight in the back of the troop rack which can be an eyesore to some. I just wish they would added a couple more of those rail pieces in the back to help even it out. But where this set really shines are its minifigs. 6 regular B1s is great but also the introduction of 2 brand new Pilot Droids is always a pleasure and reinforces the exclusive May 4th figure standard (for now). The Pilot Droids have new printing on the torsos and it really compliments them. This is an excellent army builder for anyone working on a Droid army.

Normally this would be a $30 set and I can understand why people would be bummed out having to pay $160+ for it, especially for army builders. But overall I think it's an excellent promo and Lego should continue to pay homage to these older sets. This has been a banner year for them so far, let's hope it continues!

9/10