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Set Review: 75532 Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike
 Monday, July 24th, 2017 at 11:02pm by Andrew, BZPower News ManagerToday we have another set review for you all, one that's more in our traditional wheelhouse. BZPower Forum Assistant Nuju Metru is taking a look at the largest Star Wars Buildable Figures set to date: 75532 Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike. This is the first time we've gotten a large-scale Star Wars vehicle and figure and hopefully it won't be the last. To see if this is a set to pick up and swoosh around or to skip in lieu of smaller sets, read on to check out our text and video reviews! Hey guys, and welcome to BZPower's review of LEGO Star Wars set 75532 Scout Trooper & Speeder Bike! As always, I'd like to heartily thank TLG for giving us at BZP free stuff... I love my job and I love my free LEGO. Read on to see my thoughts - captured for you in both a video and a text/image format - on this new Constraction figure and vehicle combo. Does this set deserve to swoop into your collection? Let's find out! Presentation
I'm surprised by the fact that "speeder bike" is actually a trademark for Lucasfilm... that, and the little Ewok-on-speeder-bike are about the only remarkable things to me on this box front. The rest is, frankly, rather standard. It's a LEGO box. The graphics are nice. TLG's designers have photoshopped in explosions, lasers, the like; it's all pretty standard. Down in the bottom right corner, see how a hand model can hold the bike! Finally, LEGO has designed something with swooshing in mind.
The back looks like every other LEGO Star Wars constraction figure's box has looked: a hologram deck(?) where an alternative pose of the model occupies center stage. Play feature callout boxes, measurements of the final product. Clean design, and expected too. All in all, I find the packaging here wholly average. Let's move past it. Building
When you open up the box, a few crinkly numbered bags, a sticker sheet, and an instruction manual come falling out. Just from a first look, you can see 75532 features a bunch of reddish brown. No surprises there! I won't show you the build process in pictorial form for two main reasons: one, I don't want to spoil these surprises�the kinds of things I enjoy most about a new product�and two, I never look at build-in-progress shots myself when reading these kinds of reviews. The Scout Trooper comes together quite fast; it's a pretty standard constraction figure, without many bells or whistles to slow down a builder or remark upon. Some little details, like his gun and backpack, offered fun insight, but all in all I'd call the figure part of the build pretty uninspired. On the other hand, assembling the Speeder Bike was much more fun. I'm not used to building LEGO Technic sets, so this bike�effectively, a Technic vehicle�was a fairly novel occurrence for me. My experience: the thing was an incoherent mess of pins, axles, beams, and connectors until it suddenly wasn't, and I could make out which part of the speeder was which, where the stand was, and that sort of thing. The inside is a real tight knot of Technic; it makes the finished speeder sturdy and hefty, but also made for a build process where more than once I had to check the instructions twice. Anywho, let's have a look at the finished product. Set Design
Before we critique the set from every angle, let's take a look at the new/interesting elements included in 75532 (forgive me if I've missed anything, or added something here that isn't new/interesting!). They are:
And here's the finished model! Instantly recognizable, big and striking, this set looks nice on initial inspection. Let's take a look at its component parts.
As a constraction figure alone, the Scout Trooper doesn't offer us much beyond a beautiful new head mold, movie-accurate printing, and strong color blocking. There are a few system-built pouches attached to the legs and at the waist that give the figure a little more bulk and detail; also, a little roll in the small of the back designates the figure as an imperial/clone trooper type, and a shoulder armor element has been repurposed as the Scout Trooper's backpack. I think my favorite detail of this figure is the pistol holster on the calf, which can hold the figure's little black gun.
The bike offers us much more in the way of the new and interesting. This is one of the first times a Star Wars vehicle has been made in Technic, and I think it's a success. Looking good from every angle, the speeder has sleek armoring and tons of fun greebly details, like tubes and this radiator-looking thing on the underside. I like how the handlebars and the speeder itself are fixed at deliberate angles. Stickered details give a little pops of color (as if we needed more of those #blueaxles). To me, the stirrups are a bit skimpy; they move together, which I appreciate, but are definitely the weak point of the build for me. Speaking of the stand; it's minimal, unobtrusive, and is solidly integrated into the body of the speeder. I would have preferred, aesthetically, not to have a stand; however, I can't really think of a better way to display this hovering model and support its weight at once. The bike never really overbalances, either, so it definitely does its job. Playability
This is one swoopy speeder bike! It's the ideal size, durability, and all that for swooshing... If you're into that. There are only so many ways to pose a speeder bike with a built-in stand; most of the variety you can achieve comes from the Scout Trooper. They make a handsome couple, and thanks to the slight up-angling of the bike, have a sense of dynamic motion even when statically posed. When figure and bike are together like this, sometimes I feel like the vehicle is just a bit small... like I couldn't imagine two figures being on-board (which happens in Episode VI in case you forgot) without the bike seeming just a bit diminutive.
The main play feature of the set is a spring-loaded blaster built into the bottom of the bike. By holding the stand and pulling the trigger, you can fire off the gun. It's a reliable mechanism and the inclusion of a trigger makes the whole contraption, while swooping, feel like a real weapon. Considerately, a spare shot can be stored on the speeder's base.
Another play feature/detail at the back of the speeder: two black rear flaps can be lifted to reveal glowing red engines. These flaps are rather superfluously stickered with dark grey rivet patterns. Final Thoughts
Well, that's the lot of it. Let's tally things up...
75532 is a neat set, especially because it forges new ground for LEGO Star Wars with a Constraction vehicle. Movie-accurate, recognizable, and fun to swoosh, the Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike offers a good time on display or in the hand of the builder. Sparse play features and some minor size issues seem mostly insignificant compared to the set's virtues, including its wealth of reddish brown Technic elements. If you're looking to invest in your SW Constraction collection, this is definitely a set to pick up. A big thanks goes out to Aaron for putting this review together, and of course to LEGO for sending us this set. As always we'd love to hear what you think of this set, as well as any feedback you might have on the review. Until next time, keep checking back on BZPower for more LEGO news!
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