With the release of The Bad Batch recently on Disney+ I thought I would go back and look at some of the old sets based on its in-timeline predecessor The Clone Wars. The Bad Batch picks up directly where The Clone Wars left off and bridges the gap between the Republic in the Prequels and the Empire we see in the Original Trilogy. The LEGO 7964 Republic Frigate is one of the greatest sets to come out of The Clone Wars line, which is saying something considering all of The Clone Wars sets are brilliant. The set perfectly recreates the onscreen ship and has a fantastic minifigure selection, and a plethora of play features too.
I didn’t manage to get this set back in 2011 when it was released, but fortunately I was able to get this set at the end of last year, and I’m glad I did. All but 1 of the figures in this set are exclusives and only 2 of these have been remade. This exclusivity factor of the figures is a big draw to the set. The build itself is very large and it was satisfying to build and looks great on display.
This is based on the C70 Corellian Corvette that we see in The Clone Wars however some fans may recognise this ship from its brief appearance at the beginning of Episode I The Phantom Menace. The version seen in Episode I is the diplomatic version, so it is coloured brightly red and has no weapons or offensive capability. The ones seen in The Clone Wars are retrofitted versions of this diplomatic craft which have been modified to be faster and longer. They are equipped with 6 heavy turbolasers, 2 on the port and starboard sides of the craft 1 mounted at the front and 1 as a dorsal turret, and missile/torpedo systems to enable the ship to be of use to the Republic Navy. The colour scheme is grey and dark red to correspond with the other crafts within the Republic Navy such as the Acclamator assault craft or the Venator class attack cruisers. The craft has three large engines at the back and a communications array just along from the engine section; a similar array is located at the front of the craft by the cockpit. We see this frigate numerous times in the show, like the battles of Christophsis, Geonosis, Quell, and Kamino. The ship acts in a support role for many of the battles or as an escort for the large Republic fleets, due to the ship’s agile nature and speed.
I will start as usual with some information about the set then begin the review.
- Name: Republic Frigate
- Set Number: 7964
- Year released: 2011
- RRP: £102.99
- Pieces: 1015
- Theme: Star Wars
- Minifigures: 5
The Minifigures of LEGO 7964 Republic Frigate
I will begin by reviewing the minifigures then I will discuss the build.
The first figure is Commander Wolffe. This clone trooper is my favourite figure from the set. Wolffe is the commander of the 104th legion nicknamed the Wolfpack. Wolffe served under Jedi General Plo Koon and sports a wolf themed motif across all of his armours in the show. Here Wolffe is based on his appearance in Season 2 of The Clone Wars, so he is wearing sand blue paint rather than the dark grey we see him wear in later seasons.
The helmet print is great and has the stylised silhouette of a wolf’s face printed on in sand blue. He also has a red triangle on the forehead section of the helmet, along with some yellow stripes. He has the sand blue motif continued on both his torso and legs. These designs are shared with the Wolfpack clone trooper also in the set and make them stand out amongst the other Phase 1 clone troopers LEGO has produced. He has a bit of sand blue across the top of the armour plates on the front and back of his torso. The legs have jagged sand blue printing which we see on the boots of the 104th. Wolffe has the older style plastic Kama and range finder in black and comes equipped with dual wield DC-17 blaster pistols too. Wolffe also has a unique head print with his signature cybernetic eye and scar down his face, alongside his stubble. 10/10
Next up is the Wolfpack clone trooper. This figure really captures the look of these troopers in the show. This figure is almost the same as Commander Wolffe as he has the same legs and torso printing with sand blue arms. However, this trooper has a different helmet print which has sand blue on the chin and forehead sections with the wolfpack logo on the centre of the helmet and a little grey streak on the helmet fin. This trooper also has a jetpack in white, which is great as in the show we see the Wolfpack use jetpacks on many of their missions, whether it’s rescue missions or stealth infiltrations into Separatist strongholds.
This clone has the regular head print used from 2008 – 2014 for the clone troopers in the animated style used for The Clone Wars line. Both Wolffe and this trooper are very desirable figures due to the fact they are exclusive to this set, I just wish we got 2 of this trooper to go with Wolffe. 9/10
The third figure is Quinlan Vos. This figure does a very nice job depicting this very interesting Jedi. Quinlan Vos shows up a few times in the show and was meant to feature in one of the many arcs which was cancelled when Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2015. Fortunately, we received this arc in the form of a book and despite his relatively short time on screen he has become a fan favourite so people would like to get this character as a figure. He was remade in a realistic style in the 75151 Turbo Tank from 2016.
As this is a set based on The Clone Wars he has the notorious animated style face print. These prints were hit or miss. Some of them are fine but some are horrific with strange features and enlarged eyes to emulate the art style seen on screen. He has the iconic yellow stripe across his face and some stubble. The torso is nice and has the armour and robes we see him wear in the show. The hair continues onto the torso similar to how we see padawan minifigures with the hair braids printed on. The hair piece itself is ok for 2011 but I do prefer the newer hair piece that was used in 2016. The legs are relatively plain so perhaps they could have featured a robe print on his legs. This figure is still good despite the face due to his exclusivity and the nostalgia value of the old face prints. 8/10
The next figure is Eeth Koth. This Jedi features prominently in a season 2 arc where he is kidnapped by General Grievous and the Jedi launch a rescue mission to get him back, which incidentally features this Frigate. He has a nice torso print with his dark tan robes, brown belt and white arms to represent his clone armour gauntlets which many of the Jedi in the show sport during the conflict. The head print features the lines on his face which match his design in the films and the show, and also have the larger animated style eyes. I don’t mind this print on this figure, and it works well, but there are others where it doesn’t work at all.
The hairpiece is a rubber piece similar to Yoda and Plo Koon’s head pieces. This piece also features his horns, as he is a Zabrak like Darth Maul. His legs are quite plain unfortunately, and some robe detailing could’ve worked nicely but the specifically moulded headpiece redeems this. Something interesting to note is the fact he is included in this set when one of the clone troopers which serves under him was featured in the 7913 clone trooper battle pack. Surely Plo Koon would make more sense to be in this set to go with the Wolfpack troopers, or have the different clones, making the Wolfpack more accessible. Regardless I like the figure selection we were given. 8/10
The last figure before I review the build is Yoda. This is the same Yoda from the 8018 AAT and the magnet sets from 2009. He has grey hair rather than the later versions where he has white hair. He has a rubbery head like Plo Koon rather than the more conventional LEGO heads. The print on him works well and you know who it is instantly. He has his robes and under shirt printed on the torso with some creasing details. I like this torso and it resembles what Yoda wears in the show relatively well. He has short legs in light tan, so he is smaller than the average Minifigure. Like all of the Jedi in this set Yoda has a green Lightsaber which is correct to the one he uses in the Star Wars Saga. This is the only figure who is not exclusive to this set, but a good figure regardless. 8/10
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The Build of LEGO 7964 Republic Frigate
The build process is enjoyable and the final result with the completed ship is very impressive. The ship has ample space to fit all of the figures included within it, and there’s enough space to add your own minifigures to man the ship. Both the sides of the main body open up to reveal the interior space and the gunner position and cockpits are also hinged to allow ease of access to position figures within.
On the left side of the ship there is a hologram table and a computer screen featuring a technical readout of the ship on the screen. There’s also a bit of space to attach accessories on a storage rack on this side. The hologram table has a printed Palpatine Hologram which is a great piece and is exclusive to this set. It can be useful in order 66 MOCs or just for the play value of sending a message to get reinforcements in a battle. On the right side of the ship is a space for crates and storage for the proton bombs alongside one of the main play features. There are some missiles/bombs which you can load into the craft via a hatch on the top. The black technic bar can be pulled out from the side of the model and this will release the bomb elements directly down onto whatever is below. This is a great play feature but if you don’t want to use it then you can modify or ignore this part of the ship.
There are a couple of triangular shaped sections which have some detailing on them sandwiched between the top and bottom panels of the ship. The 4 legs can be folded up and down which act as landing gear for the ship. There is enough space here to store more crates if you would like or even more troops to transport them to a battle. At the front of the ship there is the cockpit which opens up and allows you to place a figure within to manoeuvre the ship into battle. The very front of the ship has a nice bit of greebling and is constructed via Studs not on top (SNOT) they even use a telephone element and some binoculars to add some detail to it which is a great use of minifigure accessories.
Under the cockpit is a detachable escape pod build. This is held on by a technic lock mechanism and is released in a similar way to the bomb release function I mentioned earlier. The pod is held on securely and if you pull the technic pin out it drops the pod, so you use it as a way to allow the figures to escape or be deployed into battle quickly. There is enough space to seat at least 5 minifigures inside so you can fit all the figures from the set inside. This is great if you want to pair this set up with your other figures because this adds even more storage space to the ship. There are a couple of clips within this structure so you can attach the accessories of some of the figures in there. There are some large stickers on this escape pod build, to get the dark red decoration as seen on the in-universe ship. This is effective and looks good but if you don’t like stickers then there’s no necessity to add them.
There are quite a few stickers in the set, some for the cockpit windows a couple just behind the cockpit, there are a few on the engine assemblies and the open circle fleet insignia on the topside of the hull are stickers too. The technical readout screen and controls in the gunner station are also details achieved through stickers. The stickers are good though and do add to the build. Another couple of play features are the flick fire missiles on the front and back of the ship. These look ok and don’t detract from the ship and they blend in relatively well, so you don’t need to extensively modify the set as if they were spring loaded/stud shooters. The overall shaping of the craft is captured well in the design of this build and the shape is instantly recognisable.
The dark red striping is replicated here with 1 stud wide tiles arranged in the pattern we see on the craft in the show. There are some areas of the ship with dark tan highlights which look good and make the set look imperfect and battle damaged, like the ones we see in the show. Just below the gunner station there are 2 docking rings. These are just for show, but they translate well from the on-screen ship to the model.
As the set is in play scale, we can see what would be the real escape pods on the underside of the hull, represented by 2×2 domes in dark grey. The cannons on the top and bottom of the craft can spin 360O and can be rotated up or down to point at whatever you want them to point at. LEGO has simulated the blaster fire with translucent 1×1 light blue studs, but you can remove these if you don’t want it to look like the ship is firing.
In the middle of the ship there is a technic handle which you can use to lift the craft and simulate it in flight. The handle is in the centre of gravity, so the ship doesn’t want to fall to either side while you’re moving it and evenly spreads the weight distribution, so you don’t drop it. The handle is also great if you want to pick it up to move it or clean it without accidentally breaking parts of the model off by applying too much pressure to the plates on the underside. When the handle is retracted you don’t know it’s there, so it’s integrated really well. Just in front of this handle is the bomb hatch to reload the bombing mechanism, and just behind is the gunner station. That’s it for the build so just onto my final thoughts now.
Final Thoughts
I’d recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars as it is an incredible display piece and a brilliant playset. The craft is instantly recognisable and iconic to many fans of The Clone Wars. Overall, the figures are great and most of them are exclusives. The build was challenging enough to be enjoyable without being needlessly difficult. If you’re a fan of The Clone Wars and don’t already have this set, I’d recommend getting it, especially before the price gets even higher than it already is. 9/10
Images from Brickset
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