Need help keeping the peace and just your troopers aren’t cutting it? Get this Lego battle pack and add several bounty hunters to help maintain order! Track down prey and maintain Imperial law with these official peacekeepers. So this battle pack includes four bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back. In one set. For around $15.00. Done!
Okay, so that doesn’t sum it up all the way This is the first of the 2017 battle packs I’ve gotten my hands on – and a few days early thanks to some stores seemingly not caring about street dates. Now that I’ve gotten around to reviewing it, I have to say I have mixed feelings about this one.
Let’s start with the pros. The selection of figures in this battle pack is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. When rumors started going around that the pack was four of the classic bounty hunters, I didn’t believe it. Leaked box art eventually confirmed it, and I couldn’t be happier to get these characters in such a cheap set.
Bossk is updated from his initial appearance in 2010 and features belt printing, front and back torso printing, printed legs, and printed toes on his feet. His Trandoshan head and hands are updated with a new shade of green, looking closer to an olive or arm green instead of the previous green that seemed to have a hint of mint color.
Dengar appears in his second recent set but is identical to his previous appearance in the Freemaker Adventures set, the Eclipse Fighter. He’s actually sort of an upset in this kit, as he should have been Zuckuss. My thoughts are that Lego probably wanted a more recognizable character than Zuckuss to round out this pack – Dengar and Bossk have both appeared on Clone Wars (and Dengar also appears in the Aftermath novel), so it’s likely that they went for two more well-known characters and two ‘side’ characters in IG-88 and 4-LOM. Or maybe it was cost – Zuckuss would have meant another unique head mold, which could have increased the price of a set like this. Regardless, if you don’t have Dengar yet, this is probably the best way to get him since he’s packaged with other unique characters. He features unique face printing and a bandage for his head. His armor is brown and rusty, and features a brick-built backpack.
IG-88 only features one unique piece – his printed tube-shaped head with orange eyes. Aside from that he’s a standard battle droid in dark grey, which is slightly disappointing. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the battle droid body needs an upgrade. IG-88 isn’t a bad figure, he just looks more like a battle droid with a big weird head. Now granted, that big weird head is what makes IG-88 recognizable – I just think that while other characters were getting upgrades, the droids should have gotten some love, too. Anyway, he includes a clip on his back for storing an included blaster rifle (the only non-stud-shooter in the set) which is a great touch since IG-88 is known to dual-wield blasters. There’s a spare straight arm included as well so he can be changed into a fighting pose with arms out and guns blazing.
Last but not least is 4-LOM, appearing for the first time in a Lego set. His head has buggy eyes with tinges of copper, and the copper color carries throughout his front and back torso printing. He looks perfectly rusty, the total opposite of a polished droid like C-3P0. The dark grey color is closer to gunmetal, which also may have suited IG-88 well. Regardless, he looks great, and it’s also great that he’s appearing for the first time in such a cheap set.
Then we move onto our battle pack build – I can’t decide if this thing is weird good or weird bad. It’s a souped-up speeder bike, which fits the theme. But it looks like a speeder bike and an X-Wing had a weird blue baby, and here it is reporting for duty with its little backpack and everything.
On the good side, I like the splashes of blue and the big intakes/engines on the sides. Without those, this would be a very boring build even by battle pack standards. The bike doesn’t feature any kind of handles or control panel, but seemingly makes up for those features by strapping redundant guns onto the back. There are four blaster barrels that can turn side to side and even backwards, plus two front-facing stud shooters. With firepower like that, most bounties probably won’t come in alive. The backpack on the back is a little random – it’s nice to get an accessory, but the character in the pack known to wear a backpack (Dengar) already has one, so it’ll either go to another figure or stay on the bike.
I would call this set a must-buy with a few caveats. The figures are the obvious draw, even more than they usually are with battle packs. Other than that, the bike is something most will probably want to tweak or break down for parts altogether. My only other criticism is that the bounty hunters all have the same weapons, no tap pieces or extra bits to customize them with. Bounty hunters are known partly for their unique, often personalized weapons, and these guys just have four boring megaphones basically. Even some thermal detonators or something would have been nice, but I wouldn’t say it breaks the deal for me. I’ll pick up another for sure, maybe a couple, just so I can put some Trandoshans in my MOCs. So pick this one up like any other battle pack – just know it’s not the usual army-building type and it’s a bit of a niche purchase.
Thanks for reading! As always, read on for other reviews of Star Wars and leave a comment if you see something you like, or if there’s something you’d like to see. Interact more by checking out the Facebook page or find me on Reddit at u/SupremeLeaderDavid. I talk about big issues there too – Lego, Star Wars, Star Wars toys, and of course prequel memes.
Also, for more bounty hunter love, check this custom Zuckuss out!
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