Holiday gift guide: 501st Legion Clone Troopers
Posted by Huw,
Today, two Star Wars fans advocate for a popular set, but good luck getting hold of it in the USA this side of Christmas!
First, TeddytheSpoon:
Star Wars is and has always been one of LEGO’s more popular themes, with a large and dedicated fanbase. However I would be surprised if even LEGO knew just how popular 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers was going to be when it was released this summer!
The elite 501st Clone Legion, with its signature blue markings, first appeared in Revenge of the Sith, and was ever-present in the popular Clone Wars series; in LEGO, its appearances have been limited to a handful of sets in 2013. This latest version brings the minifigure design up to modern standards, and they are some of the most accurate clone troopers to date.
Complementing the superb minifigures are a BARC speeder and an AT-RT walker. The builds are uncomplicated yet sturdy, and really look the part when finished, with a few stickers adding some useful detailing. What the vehicles may lack in size accuracy (both are, technically, wildly oversized), they make up for in playability: while it may seem a bit unfair pitting these formidable troops against just two battle droids, there is plenty of fun to be had with them. That said, for a more balanced battle, the set does make a great pairing with 75283 Armored Assault Tank (AAT)!
75280 has become one of the must-have sets of the 2020 range, and now that the supply is beginning to catch up with the demand, what better set to add to your holiday shopping list?
Now TFOL Bogdan501st tells us what makes it such a great set:
This set is an awesome gift for anyone who watches The Clone Wars, or even for little kids who want to role play a Clones vs Droids battle. Here's why:
I was surprised by the size and complexity the models. The box and the price pointed towards small vehicles, but that's not the case.
The BARC speeder is simply huge and very bulky, while still maintaining a sleek look. I love the design used in the front and the chair, alongside the handle bars. My only complaint with the speeder is that there is no clip for the driver's blaster.
The AT-RT looks great. I love the mechanical detailing on the side, as well as the combination of brick-built and sticker decorations on the legs, which are poseable, by the way. The main section has those fins in the front, so you can adjust the overall size of it. The stud shooter in the front is a cool inclusion and it doesn't stand out. Also, it's on a Mixel ball joint so it has a great range of motion. The clone has a lot of space behind the panels and in the back you can see two antennas, as well as two clips, one of which is holding a pair of Thermal Binoculars. That means you can store the pilot's blaster this time!
Of course, the main selling point of the set are the minifigures. Three classic 501st Clones is very generous. Their design is fantastic and I like the new clone face. My only complaint is that they have all-white arms: blue accents would have been nice.
The Jet trooper is really cool. I may like his design a little more, maybe because of the blue arms and the more detailed helmet. It is also nice to get the jet pack piece in blue. Two B1 battle droids are welcome, but it's high time LEGO improved their design. Still, they are good for army building.
This set was made mainly for Star Wars nerds but it would still be an amazing gift for younger fans of the franchise!
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18 comments on this article
A set so nice I bought it twice!
Also, even though it’s not one-to-one, I found that the Jet Trooper’s helmet looks very similar to Fives’, so one can easily use it and the torso to create a custom Fives minifig.
The set is currently available at Target.com for those of you in the US. I have also seen it physically in a few stores so you can try your luck there.
I still haven't picked this up. Kind of waiting for it to go on discount because I don't care about the builds; I already made my own AT-RT and BARC speeder at smaller scales. Honestly the figs don't excite me as much as they do other people. The design isn't compatible with my other phase II clones and I'm not that interested in the 501st anyway. I'm more of a 212th or 327th guy.
Nonetheless, it's a good set overall and I'll definitely get it at some point if I can.
Maybe I’m not a big enough of a Star Wars fan, but I just don’t understand the over the top hype for this set. I think it looks good and has great figures, but at the end of the day it just looks like a generic Star Wars set.
Might pick up later on discount if I stumble across it though.
@christopher94 said:
"Maybe I’m not a big enough of a Star Wars fan, but I just don’t understand the over the top hype for this set. I think it looks good and has great figures, but at the end of the day it just looks like a generic Star Wars set.
Might pick up later on discount if I stumble across it though."
The 501st name originates from the largest Stormtrooper cosplay association. As a nod to the group the 501st was introduced in Revenge of the Sith during the Order 66 scene. Later on the 501st became the central legion in The Clone Wars, with the series focusing on the lives and deaths of many of the soldiers who fought in the war.
That's why people are excited.
In Australia Lego always keep one set back for D2C and this is it for the last Star Wars wave. I don't know if it's been in stock at all since it's release though. Want it - just haven't been able to get due to lack of stock. Hopefully they will get it in for the Black Friday sales or the start of December for the good GWP's, fingers crossed!!
Thanks for the review :)
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @christopher94 said:
"Maybe I’m not a big enough of a Star Wars fan, but I just don’t understand the over the top hype for this set. I think it looks good and has great figures, but at the end of the day it just looks like a generic Star Wars set.
Might pick up later on discount if I stumble across it though."
The 501st name originates from the largest Stormtrooper cosplay association. As a nod to the group the 501st was introduced in Revenge of the Sith during the Order 66 scene. Later on the 501st became the central legion in The Clone Wars, with the series focusing on the lives and deaths of many of the soldiers who fought in the war.
That's why people are excited. "
Thanks for clearing that up! I really didn’t have a clue, and perhaps that’s just me being slightly ignorant to the source material. Regardless, I’ll let people enjoy the things! If I skip this one, at least someone else can truly enjoy it.
I'll wait until this and 75283 get discounts so I can get both. I hope Lego gives us some more Mandalorian super commandos, some named clone characters, and maybe a new Venator.
If only one could actually buy it... It always is sold out so quickly everywhere, even at full price. :-\
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @christopher94 said:
"Maybe I’m not a big enough of a Star Wars fan, but I just don’t understand the over the top hype for this set. I think it looks good and has great figures, but at the end of the day it just looks like a generic Star Wars set.
Might pick up later on discount if I stumble across it though."
The 501st name originates from the largest Stormtrooper cosplay association. As a nod to the group the 501st was introduced in Revenge of the Sith during the Order 66 scene. Later on the 501st became the central legion in The Clone Wars, with the series focusing on the lives and deaths of many of the soldiers who fought in the war.
That's why people are excited. "
Almost correct, the 501st Stormtrooper Legion was first introduced into canon by Tim Zahn in "Survivor's Quest" (2004), and then they were later expanded upon in the guides for ROTS and the Dark Times comic series, before being used as the central clone unit in the TCW series.
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/501st_Legion/LegendsBehind_the_scenes
Canada Walmarts around me have now been getting these as part of their LEGO displayers.
@Ephseb said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
" @christopher94 said:
"Maybe I’m not a big enough of a Star Wars fan, but I just don’t understand the over the top hype for this set. I think it looks good and has great figures, but at the end of the day it just looks like a generic Star Wars set.
Might pick up later on discount if I stumble across it though."
The 501st name originates from the largest Stormtrooper cosplay association. As a nod to the group the 501st was introduced in Revenge of the Sith during the Order 66 scene. Later on the 501st became the central legion in The Clone Wars, with the series focusing on the lives and deaths of many of the soldiers who fought in the war.
That's why people are excited. "
Almost correct, the 501st Stormtrooper Legion was first introduced into canon by Tim Zahn in "Survivor's Quest" (2004), and then they were later expanded upon in the guides for ROTS and the Dark Times comic series, before being used as the central clone unit in the TCW series.
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/501st_Legion/LegendsBehind_the_scenes"
I didn't realize Zahn used them in his book. Kind of funny since in one of his recent Thrawn books he replaced the 501st serving under Vader with "The First Legion," although its suggested that members of The First Legion were 501st troopers who were promoted to serving directly at Vader's side, and if demoted they would be returned to the 501st (assuming Vader didn't choke them to death himself).
Anyways as to the set itself, I bought two yesterday after months of none of them on shelves. Maybe it was reckless of me to buy two copies of the set... but the figures do look oh so nice.
I bought the Mandalorian set just because everyone else was buying it (after talking about the TV show with baby Yoda, which I've never watched because I don't have Netflix), but now I'm feeling the pressure to buy this one too, because it does look pretty nice, but everyone else is buying it.
I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan.
@Zordboy said:
"I bought the Mandalorian set just because everyone else was buying it (after talking about the TV show with baby Yoda, which I've never watched because I don't have Netflix), but now I'm feeling the pressure to buy this one too, because it does look pretty nice, but everyone else is buying it.
I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan. "
The Mandalorian isn't a Netflix series, it's on Disney+ (understandable mistake, all the streaming services kind of blend together in my mind).
It's a solid set (probably the best one of the summer wave) and all but I don't feel like it's worth the hassle of finding. There's absolutely none at my Target and I don't think they're officially stocked by LEGO on Amazon (at least where I live). If you can find it and really want it, go right ahead, but I'm going to wait another six months and see if it hits a consistent 10% off.
Yeah wanting one of these, love the minifigures in this set, ace they are
I never really looked too closely at this set as I thought the models were small and pointless, but they do look rather decent in this review, and the set is very reasonably priced. I may have to pick one up. Although honestly, I’m much more interested in 75283 which is outrageously overpriced. I’m going to wait to see what sets come out for the Mandalorian that include Ahsoka. I kind of feel like it might be feasible to collect the entire Mandalorian line.
This is a beautiful set with lots of figures and nice speeder and walker. I don't think I'll buy it, but I may try to replicate the walker. I've already made modified copies of the speeder. It's a very useful design, if you only have odd number of slopes.
I'm a Wolfpack guy more than 501st guy I still want this set though