Confession time: I didn’t exactly have my heart set on buying the new Summer 2013 LEGO Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid 75015. I ragged on this set when it was unveiled at the 2013 Toy Fair, and I had no intention of buying it–right up until it was the set priced closest to the LEGO Mandalorian Speeder I was buying at Toys R Us as part of their Buy One Get One Half Off sale. I’m lucky I did pick the new 75015 LEGO Star Wars Tank Droid up on a whim, though–because I absolutely love it!

The Right:

A lot of times, people (ie. me) give people a hard time about the “value” of any given LEGO set, particularly licensed LEGO themes like LEGO Star Wars. So it seems only just and fair to commend LEGO when they give us a set that is a truly terrific value like this $19.99 MSRP 271-piece LEGO Star Wars Tank Droid set.

It’s true that five-dozen pieces of this set are just the little pieces of the Tank Droid’s tread, but the moderately large Tank Droid and three Minifigures included with this set are a fabulous deal for $19.99. Nice job giving us value for our money, LEGO.

Not only do you get a lot of pieces with this new 2013 LEGO Star Wars summer set, but the build itself is actually pretty clever and fun! Partway through the build I stopped to appreciate what looked like a totally rocking Mandalorian Motorcycle for Jango Fett to ride! I was slightly tempted to just stop building there, because I really liked the look of Jango riding on this Chopper.

The LEGO 75015 Corporate Alliance Tank Droid is only a $20 set, so it’s not like building the LEGO Expert Grand Carousel or anything, but I was surprised by how involving building the Tank Droid was. I haven’t had this much fun building a little set in a while.

That’s a lot of pieces of LEGO tank tread, right? I thought that attaching the 60 pieces of tank tread was going to reach new levels of tedium, but I think I reached a sort of zen state of relaxation during the process.

I had a huge, doofy smile on my face when I looped the tread around the LEGO Tank Droid’s body and completed the final connection.

Once built, the LEGO Tank Droid 75015 really won me over. Though I’ve been a Star Wars nut for years, I never really cared about or appreciated the Separatist Tank Droid as a toy before now. This time, he’s a blast to play with and roll around. His front stabilizers can be moved up or down to suit the terrain, and the tank tread (of course) can rotate all around the LEGO 75015 Corporate Alliance Tank Droid when it’s in motion. And doesn’t he just have the sweetest little eyes?

From the side, the Corportate Alliance Tank Droid LEGO build looks really accurate. Although I ordinarily utterly hate flickfire missiles, they sort of blend in with the body of the LEGO Tank Droid this time, so they don’t bother me nearly to the extent that they sometimes do.

You get three minifigures included with the LEGO Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid 75015 set: a red Geonosis Battle Droid minifigure, a Jango Fett minifigure and a generic white Clone Trooper Minifigure. Of these three, the most compelling is easily the LEGO Jango Fett minifigure, as we haven’t had a Jango minifigure in a while and he’s also the only specific character included with this set.

It’s a little weird having Jango come in the same box as a deployed Clone Trooper and a Separatist Tank Droid, as Jango was already dead by the time those showed up later in the Battle of Geonosis, but I like the looks of this Jango Fett minifig enough that I’m not going to complain.

The LEGO Geonosis Battle Droid minifigure has a 2×1 LEGO brick forming his back and spine, which makes him a bit more stable than some of my older Battle Droid minifigures. He doesn’t have any paint on him, but he shouldn’t, as he’s a generic, unranked Battle Droid. The Clone Trooper minifig comes with a cool rifle with scope that makes this unnamed soldier look pretty deadly, and LEGO Jango Fett can of course look killer dual-wielding his blaster pistols. Overall, these are three great minifigures, even if two are just generic LEGO army builders.

The Wrong:

The only part of this Star Wars LEGO Corporate Alliance Tank Droid set I wasn’t crazy about was the colors LEGO picked for building the internal structure for the Tank Droid itself.

The innards of the Tank Droid are made of bricks with colors like bright red and bright yellow, which stick out like a sore thumb through the tread when looking at the Tank Droid head-on. It’s a glaring choice that really pulls me out of the illusion of the set whenever I see the bright colors inside. I can’t imagine why LEGO didn’t just have the internal “spine” of the LEGO Tank Droid built from black or grey bricks.

“Where Can I Buy It!?”

The LEGO Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid 75015 set is just now starting to hit Toys R Us stores in the United States (albeit at an inflated price). If your Toys R Us doesn’t have it, there are plenty of the LEGO Tank Droid set already up for sale on eBay. The set should be available from other retailers in August 2013.

Overall: What a wonderful surprise the LEGO Corporate Alliance Tank Droid turns out to be! With a fun and interesting build, a great-looking LEGO Tank Droid that’s enjoyable to play with and the first LEGO Jango Fett minifigure in years, the LEGO Star Wars Corporate Alliance Tank Droid is a solid mid-sized set and a good value at its $20-$25 price point. Recommended.