“A red astromech droid, R5-D4 thought he’d found a home when the Jawas sold him to Owen Lars, along with the protocol droid C-3PO. But R5’s motivator blew as he rolled away from the sandcrawler, forcing the Jawas to take him back in exchange for R2-D2.”
The Mandalorian has had a number of returning characters from elsewhere in the Star Wars mythos, some big returns, and some rather small. On the small side was a character that’s easy to miss in both of his on-screen appearances. A little less so in A New Hope, where R5-D4 is notably the astromech whose head blows up, prompting Owen and Luke to buy R2 instead, but it’s not like he gets name dropped there, or anything. His reappearance in The Mandalorian almost feels like it could just be a similarly designed droid, until we see the back of him, revealing a small scorch mark where his motivator would have blown all those years prior. It’s a nice little touch, and a welcome return for a character most people don’t even know exists. As another astromech, R5 is prone to getting toys, since he can frequently make use of R2 parts. That was the case for today’s offering, which is the Black Series version of the character.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R5-D4 was released in 2017, as part of the vintage-carded-styled A New Hope 40th Anniversary sub-set of Black Series figures. R5 was a GameStop exclusive, but was also available through Think Geek, due to their partnership at the time. It so far marks his only time getting a Black Series release. The figure’s just over 4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation. His movement set-up is the same as R2’s, which tracks, since he’s largely the same collection of pieces as R2. Like I said, frequently makes use of R2 parts. It’s film accurate, so it’s not like it’s a bad idea or anything. The notable change-up here is on the head, which swaps out R2’s dome for the more cylindrical set-up that R5 had going on. It melds well with the pre-existing parts, and is generally a pretty nice piece in its own right. R5’s paint work was notably a bit better than the basic R2 we had at this point, since in addition to getting a pretty solid selection of base color work, he also got a little bit of accenting on the white sections of the body in order to make him look a little grimy from being on Tatooine all those years. It’s actually pretty minor, and a very good sample of work from Hasbro, especially for this era. The weirdest part is the one stripe of reflective coloring on the head, which is actually a decal. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t look bad, and it’s in a spot where it being a decal’s not going to be quite as detrimental. Unlike the first two releases of R2, which had a ton of accessories, R5 is barebones, with nothing beyond just himself in the package. It definitely feels light, but then again, I have no clue what exactly you would give R5. The ’90s opted for missiles, but that’s out of place these days, I suppose. What a shame.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
R5 is a figure I came very close to buying new. I saw him at the Think Geek in a mall in Seattle in the summer of 2017, and thought very seriously about buying him, since I’ve always liked him and all, but money was tight at the time, and I had already bought other stuff that day, so I wound up passing. I never saw him again, and always kicked myself for not picking him up. So, when this guy came into All Time a few months back, I jumped at the chance to get him, especially after his return appearance on The Mandalorian. He’s not a figure that does a ton new, I suppose, but that’s just generally R5. He’s still pretty darn nifty, and a little bit more unique than just another R2. He’s a real sleeper figure for me. You don’t expect to be all that impressed by him, but he’ll catch you off guard, in a rather subtle sort of way.
Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review. If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
Remember last week’s Speeder Bike review, where I mentioned setting up an entirely different review completely by accident and getting further than I’d like to admit into it before realizing my mistake? Wanna see what I started reviewing? What could possibly be more exciting than that edge of your seat Speeder Bike review? Gotta be honest, dear reader, it’s not actually that much more exciting, because it’s just another R2 variant. It’s not like there were a metric ton of those or anything. But, my subconscious was apparently more on board with this review than last week’s. Let’s see how it did, I suppose.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R2-D2 was part of the 1997 “Electronic Power F/X” sub line of Kenner’s Power of the Force line. The main purpose of the line was to replicate some of the cool battles from the original trilogy with all of their cool effects….and then there was also this somewhat mundane “R2 while he was wandering through the desert in that one scene in the first movie” figure. People were just lining up for this one, let me tell you. The core R2 figure isn’t anything super special. He has a few features that are new, but also trades out a lot of stuff that had become standard. He’s about 3 inches tall and has a whopping 2 points of articulation, at the top of his two main legs. He lacks the ankle joints of later figures, of course, but also loses the up and down movement on his third leg, as well as lacking the ability to move his head dome. These changes are due to his main “F/X feature”, which is a lights and sounds gimmick. Press the center of his body, and his eye lights up and there are some beeps to go along with it. It’s okay, but it’s hard to say it’s worth losing all of the posability. Additionally, it results in some loss of crispness on some of the sculpted details, which is another iffy trade off. His paint work is actually not terrible. He’s appropriately grimy for having been rolling through the desert, and he even has the more proper flat silver that most figures at this point lacked. Of course, it might be an unexpected side effect of the more single-piece construction, I suppose. All of the Power F/X figures included a rather elaborate base piece, which added to their features. R2’s is of some rocky Tatooine terrain. The piece has an arm built into the base, which has a magnet built into the end of it, which catches R2 by the piece of metal in his third leg’s foot. This allows R2 to be moved back and forth somewhat seamlessly, although it doesn’t work overly consistently. It’s kind of nifty, though.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
Unsurprisingly, R2 was a figure that excited me all that much as a kid, and was subseqently one that I never had much drive to own. I had every other Power F/X figure before this one…so, of course this is the first one I’m reviewing, right? Honestly, that’s because he was a rather recent addition (picked up at the same time as the bike, in fact), which made him rather easy to grab and review quickly. Yes, sometimes what I’m reviewing is based on me being lazy. I’m sure it shocks you to your core to find this out.
Can you believe that in the 133 Black Series reviews I’ve written, I haven’t yet looked at R2-D2? That’s crazy, right? Well, okay, not really, since I got my Series 1 figure a couple of months before starting the site, and obviously didn’t pick up the subsequent re-release for the 40th line. They finally opted to actually do a slight variant to the character, so I can totally justify buying another figure, and I have the drive to actually review the mold. Yay!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R2-D2 (Dagobah) is another figure from Series 2 of the Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary sub-line of The Black Series line. He’s the last “new” figure in the assortment, but as I touched on above, new is sort of relative here, since he’s just a repaint of the first R2. He’s 4 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation. The movement is a little different on this figure. He’s got fairly typical joints at the top of the legs and at the “ankles”, as well as an opening door on each side of his front, each with an articulated arm inside. The head turns as well, but it’s connected to an action feature that drops his third leg down. It’s surprisingly gimmicky for this line, and makes posing the head a little tricky, since getting it set just right can be a little counter intuitive. I think leaving the feature out may have ultimately been better, but I suppose it’s not the worst concept. Otherwise, the sculpt is a pretty impressive representation of R2. It’s a solid rendition, and pretty sharply detailed. The main selling point on this release, of course, is the paint, which this time around replicates R2 after he falls into the swamp after landing on Dagobah. He’s pretty sufficiently grimy and gross. My only gripe with it is that the third leg doesn’t get fully painted, so it’s slightly jarring when extended. That said, I don’t believe R2 has the third leg out while on Dagobah, so I guess it’s technically accurate this way. I think the grime helps to showcase the strengths of the sculpt a little better than the original release’s paint, so I definitely dig it. The original R2 had quite an accessory assortment, covering attachments from six movies. This one’s not quite as impressive, getting only the periscope attachment from the first release. It’s not a huge surprise, given it’s the one we see him use in the movie, and this is supposed to be a specifically Empire-based and all. You can still remove all of the panels and swap them with the accessories from the prior release as well, but he does end up feeling a touch light given that he still holds the same price tag as the original release.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
As I’ve picked up more versions of the core OT cast in The Black Series, I’ve arrived at the point of having multiple displays with them from each film. However, I still only had the one R2, and at the going rate for the standard, I certainly wasn’t picking up a second. Fortunately, this guy came along and solved that problem for me. He’s a little light on the accessories front, but I like the new paint job for sure.
Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review. If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
“Inside the Imperial Death Star, R2-D2 uses one of his many mechanical assets to rescue his Rebel companions from certain death within a rapidly closing trash compactor.”
As I was mentioning last week, droids make up quite a subset of the Star Wars universe, be they background, or even main characters. Of note are C-3PO and today’s focus R2-D2, who have appeared in every film in the franchise to date, making them the real connective tissue that holds things together. Being as frequently appearing as they are in the films, they are similarly pretty frequently appearing in the accompanying toy lines, usually with some sort of gimmick to help set them apart from prior releases. Let’s dig into what makes this specific R2 so unique.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R2-D2 was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Power of the Force line. He’s the second R2 to be released in the line, following the more standard version from ’95. The figure stands 3 inches tall and has 3 points of articulation. This R2 was a totally new sculpt. It’s not terribly different from the initial figure, but it’s different enough to be noticeable. Unlike the prior R2, he doesn’t have the retracting third leg, or any third leg at all. Instead, he makes use of the extra space in the torso to add a slightly different gimmick: a retracting datalink arm. It’s a cool enough feature, though it would probably be cooler if it hadn’t immediately broken on mine. Maybe I’m just too rough on my toys? He’s also got another built-in gimmick, a pop-out scanner in his head dome. That one works a lot better, and is probably my favorite part of this particular release. The paint work on this guy is a definite step-up from the prior figure. He keeps the chromed head (this was a wonky licensing thing with Lucasfilm, despite its inaccuracy), but corrects the missing third blue stripe on his “face.” He also gets quite a bit of weathering on his lower portion. While he’s *technically* a New Hope R2, this added dirt means he pairs quite well with the ESB Dagobah figures, which is another plus in my book. R2 is packed with both a grasper arm and a saw arm, both of which can plug into the front of the figure. He also included a Freeze Frame slide depicting R2 and 3PO on the Death Star, though I somehow managed to misplace that one.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I really only had the need for one R2 growing up, so this guy got left out. He’s one of the ones I was more interested in when I started to go back and fill in the holes in my collection, though, and wound up as part of one of my earlier splurges of PotF figures back in 2018. He actually sat packaged for a good while before I finally got around to opening him. Issues with the datalink aside, I think this guy was the best of the R2s offered up by this line.
Thanks to my friends at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy. They’ve got a decent back stock of Power of the Force, and other cool toys both old and new, so please check out their website and their eBay Store.
“Chopper is the resident droid of the Ghost, assisting the crew in everything from ship maintenance to combat, even though he doesn’t always want to. After many years of repairs and patch jobs, Chopper has a beat-up, worn look that sometimes matches his cranky personality.”
No Star Wars story is really complete without a stubborn droid or two. And while most of the main-series uses R2 and 3PO for that role, there are occasionally times where they’re not available, due to continuity stuff. Rebels was one of those times (well, apart from a cameo appearance early on), so we got an all-new droid, C1-10P, better known as Chopper. Chopper takes the usual stubborn droid traits and amps them up to 11, which has made him quite the fan-favorite. With that in mind, the only thing that’s truly surprising about him getting a Black Series figure is how long it took for him to finally make it into the line-up.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Chopper is figure 84 in the Black Series line-up, part of the most recent assortment of figures, where he shares the Rebels spotlight with the Ezra figure from yesterday and the astromech spotlight with BT-1. The figure stands roughly 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation, which is pretty darn impressive by astromech standards. As a droid, Chopper is the member of the Ghost crew who required the least changes to make him workable in a more realistic line, so he actually stays pretty close to the show’s design for him. Many of the recent Star Wars offerings have made use of Ralph McQuarrie’s design work for the original film, and Rebels had that in spades. Chopper himself makes use of a lot of elements from McQuarrie’s R2 design, being more squat and utilitarian than the final R2 design. This makes Chopper more divergent from the other on-screen astromechs, which honestly isn’t that out of place given his characterization. The figure follows the lead of the main Black Series R2 and his various attachments. However, unlike R2, who had lots of clip-on parts, most of Chopper’s parts are internal and can fold out. By far the most impressive example of this is the arms on the head, which are completely articulated and fold back into the head totally flat. It’s actually so convincing that I myself almost missed them when opening my figure. There’s another arm at the front, which is pretty cool too, if slightly more simplistic in its implementation. Chopper’s paintwork is true to this design on the show, so he’s plenty colorful, and all of the small details are there. Of course, Chopper’s hardly a brand-new model, so the figure is sporting a fair bit of muck and grime, which is handled via the same technique they’ve been using on the faces recently. In addition to everything packed into the main figure, Chopper’s got a few add-on parts as well. His third leg can be swapped out for a rocket booster, which also includes a rocket blast effect piece to keep him elevated. He’s also got an extra left leg, which is paired with his right, so as to allow him to match, as seen in “The Forgotten Droid.”
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
Since I was already picking Ezra, it wasn’t too hard to convince myself to pick up Chopper too. Honestly, he’s probably the strongest figure in this line-up. The fold up arms are fun, and his animation-true design is a very clean look. It’s a nice change-up from the more formulaic figures of the line. He’s just a lot of fun, and I’m happy to have added him to the collection.
Chopper was purchased from All Time Toys. If you’re looking for Star Wars, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
“R2-D2 is a tripodal computer repair and information retrieval robot, or astromech droid. As an R2 unit, he is equipped with navigational starfighter interfaces, plus extensive sensor packages and numerous devices to facilitate in-flight repairs: laser arc welder, circular saw, grasper arm, and fire extinguisher. He communicates through information-dense chips, beeps and whistles and seems to take pleasure in causing anxiety for his neurotic companion, the protocol droid C-3PO.”
More Star Wars?Really?Listen hypothetical reader, I have a lot of Star Wars figures, and I can’t just stop reviewing them for three months every year just because there’s a big explosion of new product.That would be insane.Almost as insane as writing an action figure review every single day for the rest of my life.Moving on.One major player absent from all of the new stuff I reviewed was astromech droid R2-D2, who for the second time in a row has been left out of the initial product launch for a Star Wars film.Fortunately, I have a whole back catalogue to fall back on.So, here’s an R2 figure.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R2 was released in the first assortment of Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1995.While later R2s in the line would go for more scene-specific looks, this one is just a standard R2; no special bells or whistles.The figure stands about 3 inches tall and he has 3-ish points of articulation.I say “3-ish” because in addition to joints at his head and the tops of his legs, R2 also has an extending middle leg, which I guess is *sort of* articulation.This was the first time an R2 figure got the extending leg.It’s still sort of in a prototype stage, and isn’t as cleverly designed as later models, but it works well enough.R2’s sculpt was new to him, and it’s not bad.Most of the important details are there, and they’re nicely defined.He does end up a little skinnier than he’s usually depicted, but with all the wonky proportions that were going on in this line, I think it’s safe to say that R2 got off pretty easy.R2’s paint is passable, though not without a few flaws.Let’s start with the head: the vac metalizing, though inaccurate to the film, is certainly a cool feature, and helps him stand out.Of course, as is usually the case on vac metalized pieces, some of the overlying paint has had a fair bit of chipping.The body was mostly molded in white plastic, and, as you can probably see from the photos, it was pretty prone to yellowing.The overlying paint is fairly decent overall, though it’s important to note that the’ve left off one of the blue stripes that makes up R2’s “face.”I only just noticed that while writing this review, actually.Now I’ll never be able to un-see it; the sacrifices I make for these reviews.R2 included no accessories, but he does have a pretty nifty light-piping feature in his head, which illuminates his eye when you get the light just right.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
R2 was a gift from my parents, I believe on a Valentine’s Day?Since I was never much for lots of candy, they tended to get me a small figure of some sort instead, and that was R2.This was my first R2 (and I believe one of my earlier Star Wars figures in general), and he’s really the only one I had until well into the 2000s.Like the rest of the line, he shows his age, but he’s a fun figure, and certainly not bad for the time.
“A larger version of the standard combat AT-AT, the AT-ACT walker features a dedicated cargo bed for the transportation of heavy building materials or combat munitions. It was deployed at major Imperial construction projects, such as shipyards and sprawling research installations.”
Toy Fans can be a bit stubborn and short-sighted sometimes.There’s this innate inability to see that not every product is aimed at them, and that adult collectors only make up a very small fraction of the target audience of any given mass produced line. This means that there’s whole chunks of product not meant for us in the slightest, or at the very least, items that are designed with kids in mind first and adult collectors second.After going pretty hardcore into the adult collector sphere for a while, Hasbro has shifted their Star Wars product into a more toy-etic form, in an effort to maximize sales and appeal to the new generations of collectors being brought in by the franchise’s newest films.The new product has been an overall success for Hasbro, but some of the more hardcore sections of the fanbase have been less than pleased.There’s been a lot of crying foul, particularly when it comes to the various new vehicles, which have proved quite divisive.One of the most divisive was today’s item, the Rapid Fire Imperial AT-ACT.
THE VEHICLE ITSELF
The AT-ACT is part of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Rogue One line.It was released about a month or so after the first big product launch for Rogue One.As with the two X-Wings and the TIE Fighter, there’s a bit of assembly required when you open up the AT-ACT.The the legs, small blaster stalks for the head, and the cargo bed are packed separately from the main base body and head, and they need to be snapped into place (which takes a fair bit of force, let me tell you).Once fully assembled, the AT-ACT stands 16 inches tall and 12 inches deep.That’s far from accurate scaling for the 3 3/4 inch figures, which was a point of contention for some collectors.It should really be twice the size at least, if not even larger, since the AT-ACT was even larger than the AT-AT.To give a frame of reference, there’s a shot in Rogue One of an X-Wing fighter flying through the open cargo hold of one of these things.At best, you can probably get one of the old Action Fleet X-Wings through there.That being said, at the current size the AT-ACT’s large enough to dwarf just about everything else in a collection, all while keeping it to a manageable size for production and storage purposes.Could it have been larger? Perhaps, but for most people it’s not going to make a huge difference, and this is hardly the first time a Star Wars vehicle has been underscaled for a toyline.The sculpt on the AT-ACT does a decent enough job translating the film design into plastic form.The important details are all there, and it matches aesthetically with the vehicles from Force Awakens and the like.There’s a little bit of cheating in a few spots (such as the slightly larger head relative to the rest of the body) which has been done to maximize playability with the basic figures, but the overall appearance is still fairly close to the source material.When it comes to playability, there are two main spots that you can place the figures.Obviously, there’s a spot in the cockpit for the driver.While the film’s design has spots for two drivers, this one’s just got space for the one.This is in part due to the down-scaling, but also due to offering storage space for the four Nerf darts used by the firing feature, which I’ll touch on in a little bit.The other main spot for figures is in the main body’s removable cargo bed.It’s actually a pretty neat bit; the sides fold down on both sides, revealing a nicely detailed interior, as well as a plethora of footpegs to hold figures in place.There are even spots for the troopers to stow their rifles, which is a cool touch.The bed can be removed and deployed as a cool little base or installation, which also reveals the interior of the AT-ACT proper.There are even more details, as well as two panels that flip up to reveal footwells that can be used for standing space or additional storage.Paint is minimal on the AT-ACT, but not entirely absent; there’s some minor work throughout, and it’s all pretty decently applied.There’s also a sheet of decals to pick up some of the slack, and those work pretty well too.The AT-ACT is packed with three figures (which I’ll look at in just a second) as well as a cannon and a zipline, both of which can be plugged into either the main body of the vehicle or the cargo bed.A major selling point of this set was the two included action features.To make use of the features will require four D batteries.Both play features can be accessed using the various buttons on the AT-ACT’s back, which can be a little difficult to use.Fortunately, the AT-ACT is Bluetooth-enabled.You can download the “Star Wars: Studio FX” app to your phone and use it to control the AT-ACT remotely, which is a lot of fun.Onto the actual features!The first feature is the walking ability, which is pretty decent.It’s slow, and this thing definitely needs to be on a flat, uncarpeted surface to work best, but it’s an amusing feature.There are a number of associated sound effects and such, which help to sell the feature.There’s also a head movement capability worked into this, which is a little difficult to really get working, but nice nonetheless.The second feature is the titular “rapid fire” feature, which replicates the AT-ACT’s blaster capabilities through use of Nerf mechanics.There are four included Elite-style Nerf darts to use, and I find the feature to be generally pretty amusing myself.Don’t take my word for it, though.Here’s a word from the FiQ’s resident Nerf expert, Tim. Quoth Tim:
“With such an extensive history of military manufacturing such as G.I. Joe, Nerf, and Furby, it’s not surprising that the Galactic Empire contracted Hasbro to help develop weapons like the ones seen on the AT-ACT. The dart cannon in the walker’s head is optimized for size, using a greatly miniaturized version of the tried-and-true flywheel mechanisms seen in blasters like the Stryfe. The cannon uses a gravity-fed, 4-round magazine and an electronic pusher to feed the darts into the itty bitty flywheels, producing some rather hilariously flaccid results especially after the ominous revving noise that precedes each shot. Also, just as a fun side note, if we can assume the darts are in scale with the pilot figure, the full size projectiles would be almost 4-1/2 feet long.”
SERGEANT JYN ERSO
The first of the three included figures is the film’s leading lady, Sergeant Jyn Erso.As the main character, I suppose it makes sense to pack her in again, and they were undoubtedly trying to avoid the issues caused by leaving Rey out of the Millennium Falcon from TFA.That being said, I don’t believe Jyn ever actually interacts with an AT-ACT in the film, so her inclusion does seem a little bit out there.The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.She uses the same sculpt as the Jedha variant of Jyn from Series 2 of the main line.Of course, I never got that figure, so this one’s new to me.It’s a pretty decent sculpt, and I think I like this one more than the Eadu version.The likeness to Felicity Jones is definitely improved.The paintwork also appears to be a step-up from the single-carded released.The basic colors are all the same, but the application is a lot sharper, and she’s also got some extra detailing on the legs, indicating she’s been running around on Scarif’s beaches for a bit (not that it happens in the final film, but hey, let’s go with it).It’s a little on the heavy side, but it looks decent enough.Jyn is packed with her blaster, which is painted silver, rather than molded like the single releases, which looks a lot better.
IMPERIAL AT-ACT DRIVER
The AT-ACT isn’t going to get very far without someone to drive it, right?Well, as luck would have it, the second figure included with the AT-ACT is the Imperial AT-ACT Driver.This is easily the most sensible of the three figures included.The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has the usual 5 points of articulation (though the hips are a bit limited).The larger scale AT-ACT Driver was a total parts re-use, but I don’t think that’s the case here.He’s definitely got some similarities to the basic Shoretrooper, but there are enough subtle differences between the two to illustrate that they aren’t made from the same molds.It’s a little weird that they aren’t the same sculpt, though, because the AT-ACT Driver has some slight inaccuracies to his design that would totally come from sharing parts with the Shoretrooper.Most glaringly, the skirting on his belt; the driver should have the same style of belt as the Hovertank Driver, but instead he’s got the Shoretrooper skirt, just painted the same color as the pants.It’s an odd choice.The other problem with the presence of the skirt is that it impedes the movement on his hips.Normally, I’m not a huge stickler about such things, but given that this figure’s whole purpose is being able to sit in the cockpit of the vehicle he was included with, it’s more than a little annoying.In terms of paint, this guy is fairly decent.Like the larger scale figure, he uses the deco of the AT-ACT Commander, as denoted by the grey on his shoulders.Where the larger figure kept the dark brown and bone white of the Tank Driver, this figure goes for a more straight black and white scheme.It’s not terrible, just different.The figure includes a large blaster rifle, which is the same one included with the two Scarif Troopers.
C2-B5
I can’t say I know much about ol’ C2 here, given its complete lack of presence in the final version of Rogue One.There were a few potential endings floating around, I suppose it’s possible C2 played a role in one of those.Or, perhaps Hasbro just really wanted to put an astromech in this set.It’s Star Wars.It wouldn’t be right if they didn’t get an astromech droid in there somewhere.This figure’s about 2 1/2 inches tall and has 3 points of articulation.C2’s a head-to-toe repaint of the Mission Series R2-D2 (which was re-released for Force Awakens as well).It’s a pretty standard astromech sculpt, so that’s reasonable.It’s a shame it couldn’t have been one of the slightly better articulated R2s, but they’re undoubtedly going for consistency here.Instead of the usual R2 colors, C2 is done up in a more imperial dark grey and silver.Not a bad look, though perhaps not the most exciting color scheme.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I was intrigued by this set when the Rogue One product started hitting, but the initial $300 price tag was just too much for me.Rather quickly after the holidays, Target started marking it down to $150.At that price, I was very much tempted, but my finances at the time didn’t really allow me to drop that much on one item.I mentioned it to my parents, but that was kind of the end of it.It disappeared from shelves, and I convinced myself that I hadn’t really needed it that much.Flash forward to my birthday this year, when I unwrapped this.Apparently, mentioning my interest in it to my parents was *not* the end of it.My mom went out the very next day and bought this, and then they hung onto it for six months.This thing got a lot of flak from the fanbase, and perhaps some of it was deserved, but this is a really, really fun toy.I’m definitely very happy to have it!
Hey guys! I’m not feeling too hot tonight so Super Awesome Girlfriend is helping me write this review. Isn’t she super awesome?
We’re looking at Star Wars stuff again. Something something something, droid info here-wait Ethan is actually reading this over my shoulder, so I should write something real…
Everybody knows C-3PO and R2-D2, but not many people know about R5-D4. Why? Because he blows up early on in the movie. It’s okay though, because he shares a lot of the same parts as R2 so he gets plenty of toys! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Today, we’ll be looking at one of those toys.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R5-D4 comes from the second year of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II line. The figure is about 3 inches tall and depending on how you count articulation, he has 1 or 3 points (this will make sense later…so he says). So umm, surprisingly enough he and R2 don’t star any parts.
The sculpt is pretty accurate, overall, but it has a few inaccuracies. To start with, there’s the weird bar thingy running between the two back feet (roller things). The R2 figure didn’t have this, so why this one does is beyond Ethan’s congested mind. It just looks weird. Beyond that, there’s the weird silver thingies attached to his legs. Why are they there? Nobody knooooooows. Maybe they’re guns? Ehhhh… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The sculpt is also hindered by the action feature. Remember how I mentioned that he explodes in the movie? Well Kenner tried to replicate that…sort of. The top of the figure, the dome, splits in half when you press the special yellow button at the base of the body. There’s also this missile that gets launched because why not? It kind of holds the figure back, because you can’t move the head around due to the missile stored there, which is kind of annoying really. But they tried…I guess. Okay, paint. This figure has paint. Let’s talk paint. It’s sandy looking, which is good because you know Tatooine has lots of sand. You know who hates sand? Anakin hates it, because it gets eeveeeeeeeeeerywhere! Including on this guy! Good work team, go team go. Ethan will probably edit this one later, you know, when his head isn’t full of mucus.
You know what the droid’s head is full of? Missiles…nah, just one, which is his only accessory.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
This lovely addition to the collection came from the Farpoint charity auction. Ethan has always had a soft spot for R5, which isn’t surprising because he has a soft spot for every robot, droid character. The figure is okay, he’s a bit held back by all the explodey stuff Kenner tried emulating with the figure. They could’ve done a lot worse, so he isn’t bad, just sandy. I honestly have no attachment to the droid, so there’s not much for me to say about it. I guess that’s it? Oh, Ethan just burrowed into the blankets…aaaaaaaaaaand he’s gone. I’m terribly sorry.
“Whether they are merchandise to the Jawas of Tatooine, servants of the Evil Galactic Empire or friends of the Rebel Alliance, droids of all different types populate the Star Wars galaxy. From Astromechs, to Protocol or even Assassin Droids, there are many different colors and styles of each droid class. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality. at the Star Wars Droid Factory, Guests can build and name a star Wars droid that is uniquely their own. May the Force be with You… and your Droids!”
I haven’t been to a Disney park in a decade, but one of my favorite things the last time I was there was the Star Wars-based “Star Tours” and all of the cool Star Wars-themed stuff around it.Over the years, Disney has commissioned a handful of exclusive action figures (some from usual Star Wars toy-producers Hasbro, and some from Disney’s in-house companies) to sell in the ride’s gift shop.My timing always seems to be particularly bad when it comes to these items; both times I’ve been to Disney World, it was in between figure releases.In 2012, they introduced a line of build-your-own figures, under the trappings of a “droid factory,” which is a pretty fun concept.I’ve finally gotten my hands on one, so I’ll be taking a look at him today.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
R1-T2 (named by me, of course; if your curious, it’s R1-T2 as in “puttin’ on a…”) was part of the 2015 assortment of Star Wars Droid Factory, which was the second main assortment of pieces.The line is available exclusively through Disney Parks.The figure stands about 3 1/4 inches tall (counting the top hat) and he has 5 points of articulation and actual rolling wheels on the bottom of each foot.R1 is built from six different pieces: a dome, trunk, three legs, and a hat.This droid sticks largely to the R2 style of build, albeit with a slightly modified trunk, which is a little bit more sleek in design.The general quality of the figure’s sculpt is pretty solid; it’s about on par with one of the more articulated astromech’s from Hasbro.The plastic’s perhaps the slightest bit softer than I’d like, but not horribly so, and at least the level of detail hasn’t been negatively affected.One thing I really appreciate is the extra detailing at the top of the trunk, under the dome.It’s not going to be seen under normal circumstances, but it’s still there, and it looks really cool.There are ten different possible hats available for the Droid Factory droids; R1 is sporting the top hat, which looks ever so fly.It attaches to the top of the dome via a peg, and it stays nice and tightly in place, but can be removed if you so desire.There are a number of different paint schemes available for each Droid Factory piece; R1 sticks with the basics, being largely white with color accents in the three primary colors and a bit of black (which matches up really well with the top hat, creating a tuxedo sort of effect).All of the application is pretty clean; there’s a bit of slop here and there, but nothing outrageous.R1 has no accessories, but he does come with a cool resealable package, which even has a sheet of stickers so that you can put his name on the backer!
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
So, if I haven’t been to a Disney Park since 2007, how did I get an item that was released in 2015?Nepotism.I mean, sort of.See, my brother Christian went to Disney World with his school’s music department, and he made a point of assembling me one of these guys to bring home, and put a lot of care into putting together the pieces he thought I’d like the most.I’m really happy with this little guy, and also really happy to have finally gotten *something* from the Star Tours gift shop.
Also, I’d like to give an extra special shout-out to Christian, who is graduating from high school today.Way to go bro!
A lot of the merchandise for The Force Awakens has focused on the film’s newest characters. This has been met with some apprehension by a portion of the fanbase, who don’t want to invest a lot of money on characters they know nothing about. Fortunately, not everything is based on the new characters, so classic fans have a number of “safer” options, such as today’s focus figures, C-3PO and R2-D2.
THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
C-3PO and R2 are part of the first series of two-packs from Hasbro’s current Star Wars: The Force Awakens line. They’re one of two sets of figures in this particular assortment to actually come from The Force Awakens, though even they only just barely qualify.
C-3PO
First up is the panicky, overly emotional golden boy of the franchise, C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. The figure stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has the now standard 5 points of articulation. To be fair, the reduced articulation is actually a lot less of an issue on someone like 3PO, since he’s not the most agile character to begin with. 3PO shares his sculpt with the recently released Mission Series Tantive IV Two-Pack version of the character, which seems reasonable enough, since his design hasn’t really changed. It’s a pretty good representation of the character, and it has some nice detail work, especially on the arms and the one open section of wiring on his midsection. So, old sculpt, old design, old character. What makes this figure The Force Awakens-inspired? Paint. For the most part, he’s just the usual gold, but now he’s got a funky red left arm. Why? I have no idea, but there it is. On the plus side, it looks like he finally got his silver leg replaced with a proper gold one, so he’s not too patchwork. The paint is fairly decent overall, though the eyes are a little wonky. If you have the option, you might want to look through a few sets to find the one with the least wonky eyes.
R2-D2
And here’s R2, the one single character in the entire franchise whose look never changes. But he really needed another figure, I guess. Plus, it’s not like you can release a 3PO figure without him. That’s insane. R2 is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 3 points of articulation. That’s kind of lackluster for R2, since it means he can’t even properly do one of his signature poses. Not that it matters, since he doesn’t have his third leg. Like 3PO, R2 also shares his sculpt with the Mission Series version. It’s a reasonable enough, I suppose. The details on the legs are a little soft, but not terribly so. In general, he looks like R2, which is the main point here. Unlike 3PO, the paint doesn’t really do much to set R2 apart from the previous figure to use the mold. It’s just fairly basic R2 paint. It’s fairly cleanly applied, so that’s good, but it would definitely help the figure if he had some sort of wash to help bring out the details of the sculpt. As is, he feels a little bland. This R2 is different from the last one is one way: accessories. Yep, this guy comes with a pair of missile launcher that can be attached to the top of his legs. Something tells me these won’t actually be showing up in the movie, but at the very least they do match R2’s overall aesthetic, and the missiles are actually kinda neat.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I didn’t really set out to find this pack or anything, but I saw it a few times at my local Target, and thought it was vaguely interesting. Then I realized I hadn’t actually bought a C-3PO figure since the POTF2 version from the 90s, and felt kinda bad, so I grabbed this set the next time I saw it. It’s certainly not the most exciting thing to come out of the new movie. 3PO’s got some merit, being slightly different from previous figures and being pretty well put together all around. R2 on the other hand, doesn’t really have much to offer, and is a “meh” figure at best. I’m kind of assuming most people will be getting this set for 3PO.
R5-D4 was released in 2017, as part of the vintage-carded-styled A New Hope 40th Anniversary sub-set of Black Series figures. R5 was a GameStop exclusive, but was also available through Think Geek, due to their partnership at the time. It so far marks his only time getting a Black Series release. The figure’s just over 4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation. His movement set-up is the same as R2’s, which tracks, since he’s largely the same collection of pieces as R2. Like I said, frequently makes use of R2 parts. It’s film accurate, so it’s not like it’s a bad idea or anything. The notable change-up here is on the head, which swaps out R2’s dome for the more cylindrical set-up that R5 had going on. It melds well with the pre-existing parts, and is generally a pretty nice piece in its own right. R5’s paint work was notably a bit better than the basic R2 we had at this point, since in addition to getting a pretty solid selection of base color work, he also got a little bit of accenting on the white sections of the body in order to make him look a little grimy from being on Tatooine all those years. It’s actually pretty minor, and a very good sample of work from Hasbro, especially for this era. The weirdest part is the one stripe of reflective coloring on the head, which is actually a decal. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t look bad, and it’s in a spot where it being a decal’s not going to be quite as detrimental. Unlike the first two releases of R2, which had a ton of accessories, R5 is barebones, with nothing beyond just himself in the package. It definitely feels light, but then again, I have no clue what exactly you would give R5. The ’90s opted for missiles, but that’s out of place these days, I suppose. What a shame.
The Figure In Question 