Review: 75342 Republic Fighter Tank

October 9, 2022 | 4

When images of 75342 Republic Fighter Tank were first released, they prompted a split reaction from LEGO fans.

This unusual and unexpected set divided opinion, with some excited over the new clone designs while others expressed disappointment at the design of the tank itself.

It is certainly a slightly strange choice of sets – a vehicle that has never appeared in a Star Wars movie, coupled with some non-canon Clone Trooper designs should make this a hard sell, but so far it seems this set has been pretty well-received! Well, is this set any good? Let’s find out!

This is a guest review from our resident LEGO Star Wars correspondent, vaderfan_2187. Check out Vaderfan’s previous reviews, 75336 Inquisitor Transport Scythe, and 75333 Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Starfighter, and be sure to follow him on Instagram, or read some of his other guest reviews.

75342 Republic Fighter Tank Set Details

Set number: 75342
Pieces: 262
Minifigures: 6
Retail Price: US$39.99 [USA] / £39.99 [UK] / AU$69.99 [AUS] [Amazon]
Theme: Star Wars
Release Date: 26 April 2022

Unboxing

The front of the box shows the tank in action against a desert backdrop.

The back of the box has an alternate view of the model and its play features.

Interestingly, despite being a relatively small set, the box uses tape instead of thumb tabs which is welcome. This means you don’t have to destroy the box to open it – I wish this would be standard on more sets.

Inside are three bags numbered 1 and 2, plus an instruction manual with the old-style cover (not the newer simplistic white design).

Unfortunately the sticker sheet was very bent in the box for my set – I wish LEGO would find a way to better protect the stickers.

Minifigures

The first minifigure in the set is the exclusive Mace Windu minifigure. This minifigure is very similar to the one in the UCS Republic Gunship set, even using the same head and leg pieces.

However, the torso has been updated to remove the sand from the Gunship variant, and he now has his Clone Wars-era arm print.

It’s great to get Mace Windu in a relatively affordable set, especially with his fan-favourite status.

His arm printing is also a welcome surprise, and it’s great that arm printing seems to slowly become more common in Star Wars sets.

Hopefully dual-moulding becomes more widely used too – dual-moulded white boots would have been good on this figure. Mace Windu is armed with his iconic purple lightsaber.

Next is the new 187th Legion Clone Troopers, two of which are included in this set. These Legends clones have purple highlights to match Mace Windu’s Lightsaber colour, and look pretty unique.

They follow the modern Phase II Clone Trooper armour template introduced in 2020, but with purple prints. It’s a slightly strange choice of trooper, given the wide array of canonical clone trooper legions that we haven’t gotten yet in LEGO, but the figure does look quite nice – I especially like the sand blue accents on the helmet and legs.

The back of the figure looks plain, with just a bit of purple on the belt and an extra grey strap.

All the clone troopers in this set use the new 2020 clone trooper head. Both 187th Legion clones are armed with standard LEGO blasters in black.

The next figure is designated as a “187th Legion Clone Commander”, although he uses an Airborne Trooper helmet which is slightly confusing.

His torso has less purple but features some dark tan straps, while the helmet has small purple accents. His weapon is a large blaster rifle with a black candlestick piece on the end to lengthen it.

The back of the figure has no purple at all, just the continuation of the tan straps from the front. The clone commander uses the same clone trooper head underneath the helmet.

Finally, two Battle Droids are included as cannon fodder. These are the standard moulds since 1999, but are armed with gunmetal grey blasters.

Overall, the minifigure selection in this set is very strong. The exclusive arm-printed Mace Windu and 187th clones will be a big draw.

Perhaps LEGO could have gone for a canonical clone legion instead, but these purple clones are quite cool and they will likely not be released in any future sets, which is another strong point for the set.

Builds

Now on to the build of the set, which is the TX-130 Republic Tank. This vehicle has never appeared in a Star Wars movie but has popped up in other media like the Battlefront games and comics.

This is the third time getting this tank in LEGO form, and this variant uses the least pieces (but is not the smallest).

The low piece count can certainly be felt when building the model, as the parts budget feels very stretched and it feels like the designers tried to use pieces only where absolutely necessary.

The part that stands out the most is the use of large slope pieces on the sides of the central area, which look very plain. Some studs-not-on-top techniques or even stickers should have been used here, as it looks way too flat.

Here you can see the central portion of the tank is very flat on the sides due to the use of those slopes, whereas the in-universe tank has more layered armour plates.

The shaping of the central structure is definitely the weakest part of the model for me, although I like details like how the cockpit glass has been incorporated with some transparent plates.

The back of the model is also fairly under-detailed, and I’m not a fan of all the anti-studs on the back of the cockpit section.

Because of the low piece count, a lot of the details come from stickers, so if you prefer to leave stickers off your sets then this set is not for you. I must admit that the model does look pretty good with all the stickers applied, and doesn’t look as under-detailed as it felt during the build process.

One way of part-saving is this ingenious repurposing of an X-wing canopy piece in white for the centre section (which does use three stickers). Opening it up reveals more interior space, where a minifigure can sit.

Unfortunately, this area is really bare – just a brown backrest. I would’ve liked a printed control panel or maybe a weapons clip, which wouldn’t really increase the parts count but would add more detail.

Unfortunately, there is a gap around this X-wing canopy piece, but it seems that it was intentionally left there to make it easier to open. Still not a great side view, though.

Further up above is the top hatch of the tank, and I like the overall look of this section despite its simplistic design.

There’s another sticker used for some lime green lines, plus a dark red 4×4 dome used as the hatch.

A couple of rapiers are used to represent antenna, but unfortunately these get knocked off really easily in play. Also, the hatch piece is quite tricky to open, thanks to the white tiles around it.

You can open the top hatch and place a minifigure in this section – standing or sitting. It looks good, although the hatch cannot close fully even when the minifigure is seated inside.

The tank operator gets a 1×2 printed tile to represent some controls.

Revisiting the back of the model – again, I really don’t like the antistuds visible here.

This can be hinged open to provide some access to the interior.

My guess is the LEGO designers oriented it this way so it can serve as a boarding ramp – allowing you to pose minifigures on the studded side.

Still, the tank doesn’t look great when it’s closed, and I’m not sure if this is going to be a popular posing option. The ramp doesn’t even fully touch the ground, instead, it has this weird hovering look.

There’s a little bit more interior space back here – you can fit a minifigure lying down, or perhaps throw some accessories in there. It’s not very useful, but it does mean the tank can technically carry all the clones included.

The cannons of the tank are mounted on either side of the cockpit section. They are attached via Technic axles and thus can rotate up and down, and use stickers for extra detail.

Each cannon has one spring-loaded shooter, although these are quite easy to accidentally fire off.

Flipping the model over shows that it sits on four small wheels – this give the tank a ‘hovering’ look and are a nice hidden feature, although from certain low angles you can spot the wheels.

Final Thoughts

What I liked:

• Strong minifigure selection
• Tank looks decent overall

What I didn’t like:

• Parts usage feels stingy
• Overly simplistic design
• Reliance on sticker
• A little expensive

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this is not a bad set, but it’s not a great one either. It feels like most of the budget went into the minifigures, which are great – the Purple Clones are cool, arm prints on Mace Windu is exceptional – but the actual build seems to have suffered from it, and it feels like corners were cut where possible.

It’s still a fun set to play with; the tank rolls around nicely and the inclusion of troops on both sides allows you to create battle scenes. The build is a little undersized for US$40, but the high minifigure count does somewhat make up for it – ideally I’d like it to be $5 cheaper.

That said, I wonder if this will start a bad trend for LEGO Star Wars prequel sets. It seems as though Prequel fans will buy any set with exclusive clones, no matter the build quality. I certainly hope we don’t see a backward trend in build quality in future prequel sets.

Build [2] – It looks good overall, but the actual design is overly simplistic and the build process really feels like corners have been cut.
Minifigures [5] – I can’t really complain about the minifigure selection at this price point, and I suspect the purple clones will likely stay exclusive.
Real Value [3] The minifigures are great but the build feels too simplistic and small for a $40 set.
Innovation [1] No innovative techniques here, apart from maybe the use of the X-wing canopy piece. The lack of detail makes the build feel like a set that’s a couple years old already.
Keepability [2] I can’t see the tank being a long-lasting iconic set, although the 187th Clones may be quite desirable in future, especially if they stay exclusice.

Rating and score: 2/5 ★★✰✰✰

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading my review of 75342 Republic Fighter Tank ! Do check out some of my other guest reviews for some of my previous work.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section – what do you think about this set? What other Clone Trooper designs would you like to see in LEGO form? Comment below!

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