I was in my local Walmart yesterday hoping to see some of the new Summer sets but they weren't in stock yet. However, as noted on the Sales/Deals forums, they had several of the older sets on rollback and decided to pick up 8085 Freeco Speeder.
Details
Pieces = 177
MSRP = $24.99; currently on rollback at Walmart for $20
Minifigures = 2
Price per piece = 14.1 cents (MSRP)
The Box
The box is mostly white with the same logo patterns used in other early 2010 sets. The front of the box shows Anakin piloting the speeder against a nice art background. Thi-Sen (the furry guy) is in the foreground, looking all menacing with his spear.
The back of the box contains a shot of the speeder from another angle, along with two action shots. The first shows the cockpit (oh! it opens! gasp!) and a storage box that is hidden under the rear cowling. The remainder of the back of the box is taken up by images of other early 2010 SW Lego sets:
Inside the box, we find one large bag, one small back, the instruction book and a dreaded sticker sheet.
Minifigures
This set comes with only two minifigures but both are exclusive to this set. Thi-Sen is similar in design to the Chewbacca minifig, with a large molded head that comes down over the torso. Lego kindly ships his head in its own bag, presumably to prevent the lovely paint job from chipping or wearing during shipping. It is appreciated!
Thi-Sen's only accessory is a large spear. At first glance, Anakin appears to be very similar to the Hoth Han Solo, with similar colored torso and hood. However, printing on the front of the torso is subtly different, with an Republic symbol screened on his upper left chest. Neither figure has any printing on the rear of the torso.
Anakin also has a fairly detailed reversible head. One side shows the standard Anakin face found on his other minifigs.
The other side is very detailed and shows his eyes covered by goggles and his mouth covered by a scarf of some kind.
Freeco Speeder
This speeder first appeared in in Episode 15 of S1 SW Clone Wars. The overall vehicle is an accurate representation of the speeder as seen in the animated series. The speeder sits low to the ground with two side mounted engines.
The majority of the pieces in this set are white, with a few red and brown mixed in for contrast. Sadly, this means that much of the color in the final build comes from the stickers. There are eight total stickers.
As seen on the box, the cockpit opens towards the front of the speeder. When closed, the cockpit windshield does not fully flush with the rear cowling.
The final functional area is a small storage box hidden under the rear cowling. Its size is suitable to store Anakin's binoculars or his lightsaber hilt. Obviously, the full lightsaber won't fit in here.
Overall, the build feels very solid, with no weak areas or dead spaces. The low height of the speeder is perfect and it "swooshes" around nicely.
PRO's
New Anakin minifig with nice details
Thi-Sen minifig is very well done
Accurate representation of speeder from the animated series
Currently on sale at Walmart!
CON's
Too many stickers
Comparably priced sets come with more minifigures
FInal Verdict
At the new rollback price, I can easily recommend this set to both Clone War fans as well as minifig collectors. The speeder just feels right swooshing around and my son keeps asking to play with it (always dangerous!). Anakin and Thi-Sen are both well done and it is clear that some effort went into making them an integral part of the set.
My only wish for this set would have been an extra minifig: a Clone Trooper in snow gear. Although you can find custom clone troopers in snow gear, no official minifig exists (yet). Maybe next time!
