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This is quite a nice rendition of the Gungan artillery from the final ground battle in The Phantom Menace. These catapults are now fairly rare since I don't think they were actually that popular when they first hit the shops and I haven't come across anyone buying them in bulk to make a diorama of the scene with.

Find Electronic Gungan Energy Ball Catapult Accessory Set on eBay

When it comes to buying smaller vehicles from this battle I think most of us ended up buying the STAPs which came out as a Sneak Preview before we'd seen the film or knew the context. Not so many of us picked up this or the Gungan Assault Cannon.

The catapult itself fires its missiles surprisingly well. The missiles are quite heavy (the heaviest Star Wars missile accessories of which I’m aware) and look a bit like glued-together marbles.

As for the Naboo battle between the Gungans and the Trade Federation in The Phantom Menace itself, this felt like quite an antiquated type of ground battle with both armies lined up against one another face-to-face across an open field. This I suppose reflects that this is an early battle between quite primitive Battle Droids and Gungans who other species seems to look upon pejoratively as being primitives. Chronologically later Star Wars battles tend to be more complex and sophisticated in style and I presume that this is something which is quite deliberate. The Naboo battle is much more Romans versus Visigoths or Greeks versus Persians in style than it is modern warfare with both sides arranged in formation both for attack and defence.

Using a catapult as part of the Gungan artillery is in many ways quite a clever move as it is reminiscent of the Ewok catapults in Episode VI Return of the Jedi. At the time this framed the first all-out battle in the first movie chronologically with the last battle in the last movie. Once you start looking there are quite a number of these framing techniques used to give a feeling of balance to the first two trilogies. See my article on some other Star Wars movie framing devices here: Star Wars Trilogy Framing Devices – Fire, Water and Funerals.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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