Encircled by an overwhelming number of battle droids, the Geonosis Survivor’s Circle was moments away from annihilation when Padmé suddenly lifted her eyes skyward and yelled out, “LOOK!”  There’s no denying that the debut of the Republic Gunships, carrying Yoda and the Clone Troopers of the brand new Grand Army of the Republic, were a dramatic and memorable moment in the Star Wars film saga.  Descending on Petranaki Arena like so many Huey’s at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, they rescued the remaining members of the Jedi Strike Team, and you could almost hear “Ride of the Valkyries” as they rose out of the arena and headed towards the larger battle on the plains of Geonosis.  (But you didn’t, because John Williams is too awesome).

In 2002, Hasbro wasted no time in offering up the first iteration of the super popular Republic Gunship vehicle.  Like the Jedi Starfighters (all 3 models), this was repainted (and retooled) so many times it over the years it was easy to lose count.  But not to worry, because here they are in a handy dandy list:

2002 SAGA - Attack of the Clones - “red”/“green” - v1
2003 SAGA CLONE WARS - Clone Wars Microseries) - black - v1 repaint 1
2005 ROTS - Revenge of the Sith - “green”/gray - v1 repaint 2
2006 TSC - Clone Wars Microseries) - blue “Space Whale” - v1 repaint 3
2008 TLC(B) - The Clone Wars - “red”/“green” “Lucky Lekku” - v1 repaint 4
2009 TLC(R) - The Clone Wars - “red”/“green” “Crumb Bomber” - v2 retool
2012 TVC - Attack of the Clones - “red”/“green” “Battle Droid Crosshairs” - v1/v2 combo

Now, here’s a disclaimer:  I’m colorblind.  Well, not really.  When I was a kid, I was told I was “color sensitive.”  I see colors, just not all of them correctly.  I know that most of the gunships have a color scheme that is in the “red” and “green” family.  I asked my wife, and she started saying things like “burgundy” and “chartreuse” and “maroon”.  I’m not sure about any of that.  I know the first two are libations and the last one is a Bugs Bunny insult.  So I just kept it simple, by calling it “red” and “green” even though there is very little consistency in the actual paint colors.  Anyway…

This debut version was the “vanilla” deco, which was shown in AOTC.  The clones hadn’t gotten all “gung ho” yet, and these yet-to-be-combat-tested gunships were still sporting their factory paint jobs.

It’s got a hinged 2-man canopy that encloses the cockpit.  The clone pilots actually are in the standing position while performing their duties.  It’s a bit of a tight squeeze but the bulky contemporary pilots will fit, as will the most modern Black Series version.

The body is large enough to hold several figures.  There’s a pair of narrow side doors, as well as a decently sized interior.  The floor of the ship is actually a platform that can be released upon “landing” by a conveniently placed slider/switch.  It’s a little wonky, but it’s meant to allow you to quickly deploy the troops on board.  in back of the interior is a space the allows for the storage of a speeder bike.  It can be stored fully assembled, but it’s meant to work better if you break it into it’s two main parts.  The coolest feature are the soft opening side doors.  Pressing a button on the top of the gunship activates the doors, while they need to be manually closed. 

There are removable missiles under the wings, as well as inside the main doors.  They’re good for decoration, or as diorama fodder, but I think I would rather not have them and risk losing them.  There’s also a removable hatch on the underside of each wing that gives you some storage space.  There are ball turrets embedded in the wings, and although I initially thought these were Hasbro’s scaled down version of the turrets that are manned by clones in the film, they are indeed screen-accurate.  The separate clone-operated ball turrets were eventually released separately, and could be retrofitted to this release.  The ball turrets were later included as part of the TVC packaged Gunship, the seventh and last release to date.

There are two spring loaded nose cannons, and a pair of heavy cannons on top of the hull.  The back of the ship also has a small rotating cannon.  Additionally, there is a towing cable which deploys from the back.  For a long time I thought this was meant to have troops rappel down to the ground, “Air Assault” style, but later I learned these are for towing other vehicles.  Not quite sure what that’s all about.  Personally, I would have done away with these altogether, as they are kind of a hassle to deal with, and the string is tangled if you don’t store it properly.

This gunship is one of the iconic Hasbro offerings of the prequel era.  As mentioned, it was repainted/retooled many times, giving us a total of 7 versions.  All of them are awesome.  This is one of my favorite vehicles in the films, and one of my favorites translated into a toy by Hasbro.  I will give this specific release, the OG Gunship, an 8/10.