Today, we venture into a galaxy far away, where Clone Wars (LEGO vs Every Chinese Cloner?) rage as opposing forces of the Republic and Count Dooku’s Separatists duke it out in the ongoing saga of Star Plan. Whose plans will prevail? That’s for you to decide as you build and play out the scenarios however you see fit!

The Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser is an attractive entrant into the Star Plan universe, featuring way more colour than most other sets of this theme, which tend to be nearly all grey. Thank the Republic’s decorators and designers, who apparently were not opposed to some accents, unlike the gloomy, evil Empire’s brutalist designers. Not that there’s not plenty of grey to be had here: there certainly is! But the red accents really stand out on this completed ship.

This set is a replica of the now-discontinued Lego 8039, which you can obtain on the second-hand market for around $500 USD. If that’s a bit out of your toy budget, participate in your very own Clone War by buying the clone version for $62 USD.

If you’ve built other ships from the Star Plan line, or even from the eerily similar line called Star Wars, the beginning of the cruiser will immediately feel familiar to you. Mounted on a floor of grey baseplates and triangles is a frame built of technic girder beams and 2×1 hinge plates, culminating in a pointy nose. This structure will be clad with more plates to form the outside of the ship.

This model really was designed with playability in mind, much more than the last Star Plan set we reviewed, the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer which has no interior to speak of. The cruiser has a handle, in fact, that one can use to lift the ship and even fly it through the air (I’d probably support the bottom with my other hand if I were going to fly at warp speed or over long distances to galaxies far, far away). The handle is built of technic beams and axles and tucks into the top of the ship discreetly, making this also a good ship for display.

Speaking of display, the blue exhaust from the engines is simulated with translucent royal blue circles which look quite stunning against the grey engines. I’m always a sucker for transluscent elements in brick building. These ones look great, too. No excessive cloudiness here.

Other playable features include the furnished interior including the bridge, where the included minifigures can get up to their Star Planning. Included mini figures are the Chancellor Palpatine, two elite Senate commando bodyguards, a clone trooper pilot and a clone trooper gunner. The figures all look great and though I do not have any of their Danish cousins to which I can compare them, they are recognizable as who they ought to be, and the printing looks nice. On the ship, the outside armor raises up to allow play inside, where there’s plenty of room for the included minifigures and more if you feel so inclined.

There’s also a little glider rail system installed that allows the clone trooper gunner to slide into position to defend the ship, and for offensive warfare, a chute that can be loaded up with missiles that can then be dropped with the turn of an axle. The effect is quite cool, as the video below shows:

And if everything does not go according to (Star) Plan, as a last resort there’s an escape pod which easily slides out of the rear of the ship, shuttling Chancellor Palpatine to relative safety.

This set has a number of stickers, all of which were printed on glossy, plasticky paper, and all of which are pretty well colour-matched to the pieces they affix to.

It also has some nicely printed pieces, such as the translucent red minifigure head piece, which is printed with (Death Star) plans.

My 14-year-old son and I worked on this one together, and had a fun time. No issues with clutch were noted. It seems like this is a perfect size for a ship, in that the vast expanses of connected plates are not so vast as to require any glue or other extra support.

Get it today from our friends at BuildingToyStore.com At 62 USD, the Republic Cruiser looks good, has some great play features, and was fun to build. It’s a great clone addition to your Clone Wars (or is it Clone Plan?) Star Plan fleet!

Our friends at Building Toy Store are offering a coupon for $10 USD off your order, exclusively for readers of Alt-Blocks, in addition to other discounts on their site. Just go to BuildingToyStore.com using this link, create an account (which gets you a 10% discount), and use coupon code K7CXYREL. You may also find a coupon code on their site for an additional 5% discount.

Like most blogs, Alt-Blocks.com is supported by readers clicking affiliate links within posts, which links result in Alt-Blocks.com receiving a small commission on purchases made by readers. Your support is appreciated and helps us to keep providing thorough reviews and photos of brick sets.