The latest LEGO® Star Wars sets are mostly inspired by the Disney+ series Ahsoka, but joining those sets is something from the Clone Wars era. The Republic Gunship has become a much-loved ship among Star Wars fans and has been the subject of various LEGO sets over the years. Most recently a Gunship was transformed into a highly detailed UCS set. But it’s been many years since we’ve seen a minifigure-scale version of the prequel-era vehicle. This latest version isn’t just a mere remake, it’s inspired by brief moments from the animated Clone Wars series and offers the first-ever Coruscant Guard Gunship variant. Here’s a closer look at this newly released set.
Product Details
Set Name: Coruscant Guard Gunship | Set Number: 76354 | Pieces: 1083 | Theme: Star Wars
RRP: £129.99/$139.99/149.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 10 | Instructions: 1 x Paper booklets + Builder App | Stickers: Sheet x 1 | Minifigures: Commander Fox, Chancellor Palpatine, Padmé Amidala & 2 Coruscant Guards
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
The Republic Gunship was first introduced during the prequel era films and was used by the Clone Army to transport troops, carry military vehicles into battle and provide air support. They are also used by the Coruscant Guard, an elite garrison of shock troopers, for escort missions. To note the ship’s use, the Coruscant Guard’s Gunship has a red-coloured shell and lacks the full firepower of the standard gunships. Its most prominent role in the Star Wars canon is during episode seven of the 6th season of The Clone Wars. These see several Coruscant Guard Gunships escort Padmé and Rush Clovis in a mission to Scipio.
The Coruscant Gunship isn’t overly different from any other Republic Gunship. The basic design is identical with a sloped body flanked by two large sloping wings mounted towards the rear of the ship. The main differences are minimal weaponry and the ship’s colouring. Other Gunships are mostly white with flashes of red and green. The Coruscant Gunship is mostly red with accents of white. The set makes great use of newer elements to help recreate the ship’s odd angles. This is especially the case around the dual cockpit. This slope section of the ship is connected in an unusual way. Towards the front, it’s clipped into the body of the ship, with the opposite end sitting under the lip. Once the surrounding elements are layered around the cockpit, it’s perfectly incorporated into the overall build of the ship.
The rest of the ship is quite cavernous. This is due to the ship’s use as a trooper transporter. Thankfully, the inner structure of the ship is both sturdy and not complex. Often a set that has a spacious inside area requires a Technic element heavy core. That’s not the case here, with mostly System bricks used with only a few Technic pins and beams. The most obvious of these is a retractable handle which can be used to pick up the ship and ‘fly’ it around. It’s a little unbalanced, but does the required job regardless. Another play feature is the two large sloped panels which sit on either side of the ship. These can be pulled out and slid back to access the interior of the ship. It’s a little cramped and awkward to place minifigures in here but you can pop in a couple of characters at least. Both wings also include a pair of stud shooters.
The set includes five characters all of which are unique to this set. They include Padmé, who has a vast amount of looks to choose from. Here she is wearing an outfit considered to be her ‘action’ look. This includes disappointingly plain beige legs and a top, with a dark red jacket. A similar outfit has been used before, back in 2012. Thankfully, this updated version ditches the scary ‘wide-eyed’ character design for the usual minifigure features. Another character, with a wardrobe almost as elaborate as Padmé’s is Palpatine. In this set, the character is in his Supreme Chancellor guise and is wearing his red senate robes. Shiv’s hair has been changed up compared to other sets. The normally white hair do is pale yellow in this set and the style has been changed. I think I prefer the old angular hairpiece.
Everyone loves a Clone and the set includes three of them. These include two random shock troopers who both use the exact same torso, legs, helmet and heads. The same head is used for the named Clone, Commander Fox. To denote Fox’s position of command, his armour features more red than his colleagues. Unfortunately, the white printing on the red surface of the torso results in pink-tinged chest armour. The character’s helmet also has the addition of a visor, which clips into the holes on the updated Clone helmet element.
Overall
The Coruscant Gunship is far more than just a recoloured version of an older set. It obviously has similar features, which is expected due to the source material. But it benefits from the use of newer elements, which give the set a better appearance without the need for loads of elements to craft a simple shape. Although it can be slightly awkward to connect, I love how the slope cockpit of the ship has been implemented into the set. Once the surrounding elements are added around it, it’s nearly incorporated with the rest of the ship. As always, the set gets bonus points for adding the two storage cabinets at the rear of the ship. Offering somewhere to place weapons when not being held by the minifigures. Speaking of which, the line-up of characters is good. The updated versions of both Padmé and Palpatine are OK but don’t offer anything overly exciting. Padmé needed dual-moulded legs and I’m not sure about Palpatine’s updated hair. The Clones are also a welcomed addition to the growing ranks. But the print detail on Commander Fox lets them down a little. It’s just nice to see the Star Wars theme offer something different.
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The LEGO Group provided this set for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
