Remote Control Republic Fighter Tank - TCW [SOTDS] - Vehicles

Run for cover, battle droids! The Republic fighter tank is coming for you! This tough ground vehicle rolls onto the field and blasts the droids with concussion missiles. It can carry several clone troopers and bring them into the center of the action. For fast-attack fury, the Republic fighter tank has no equal!

Perhaps Hasbro didn’t learn their lesson after the global failure of the Radio Control Hailfire Droid. Not only was that vehicle NEVER seen in The Clone Wars franchise, it was expensive, inauthentic thanks to its chubby proportions and it just wasn’t a popular enough vehicle to make a big splash in the 3.75” scaled Hasbro line. Hasbro did intend for the Radio Control Hailfire Droid to accompany the very popular Anti-Hailfire Droid Squad Battle Packs set released at the same time, another Hasbro Universe concept, but the RC vehicle failed to engage kids and collectors enough for them to shell out the money Hasbro/retail recommended. In fact, most collectors we know didn’t buy the Radio Control Hailfire Droid until it could be found for under $13, which of course is a very good deal. So Hasbro decides to release another electronic vehicle for the 3.75” line, this time the Remote Control Republic Fighter Tank, yet again another vehicle not present in The Clone Wars television show or film. (But at least it makes a significant splash in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Video Game.)

The Remote Control Republic Fighter Tank is much more compact than the Radio Control Hailfire Droid. The good news is that collectors in general have a great fondness for the Republic Fighter Tanks, more so than many other vehicles and in that light, this was a great choice for Hasbro to make. But we wonder if there will ever be a large enough market to support an expensive format of this type. In an age where collectors micromanage every last decision Hasbro makes with regards to cost and tooling budgets, many would wonder if the process/cost/development of creating a toy of this type would be better left on increasing paint job process and articulation in the basic figure line. But since both Radio/Remote Control vehicles performed so badly, we don’t believe Hasbro will ever fully strike out by producing a third vehicle like this. At least we hope they don’t. As a toy, the Remote Control Republic Fighter Tank has its moments. There are some fun play features and the vehicle itself is very streamlined and doesn’t have exaggerated features and fits in well with the rest of the mid-size vehicle assortment.

There are peg holes on the vehicle’s platform to store/place figures outside of the cockpit (since the cockpit only holds two figures). The Remote Control Republic Fighter Tank remotely launches 6 (six) projectiles and you can manually position the angle of the launchers to reach your intended target. The vehicle has a functioning center headlight which is a detail we love to see on Star Wars vehicles, and the coolest detail is that the cockpit lights up as well. Despite these great enhancements, we feel Hasbro could have lit this baby up quite a bit more. There are so many areas tat could have benefitted by this electronic upgrade, so we feel it lacks a little bit in that area. The IR (infrared) has been designed to accommodate forward and reverse-turn steering which is honestly nothing out of the ordinary. And lastly the center button in between the directional controls launches the missile projectiles. The paint job on this vehicle is very simple and is nearly identical to how Hasbro decorated 2009’s TCW Republic Fighter Tank vehicle. If you can find this cheaply, then go for it, but we bet you’re one of the many collectors who wouldn’t even give it a second glance.