Tag Archives: Droids

#3929: Death Star Droid with Mouse Droid

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

DEATH STAR DROID with MOUSE DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“A Death Star Droid approaches what appears to be a routine prisoner relocation. The two stormtroopers are actually Han Solo and Luke Skywalker conspiring to rescue the imprisoned Princess Leia.”

In the original Kenner Star Wars line, amongst the many droids offered was the Death Star Droid…or a figure labeled the Death Star Droid. In actuality, it was one of the droids seen in the Jawas’ sandcrawler, right down to the screen shot used on the box and everything.  In Kenner’s defense, both the droid from the sand crawler and the Death Star are RA-7 models (which is a translation for they used the same costume).  They would also fix their mix-up two decades later, under the late-run of Power of the Force II. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Death Star Droid was released in the Fan Club assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  He’s the last non-R2 and 3PO droid released in the line.  The figure stands just under 3 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He was an all-new sculpt, which wound up re-used a few times down the line for various other RA-4 figures.  It’s similar in its styling to the C-3PO molds from the line, which makes a fair bit of sense.  It’s a solid sculpt, with pretty clean line-work, and it’s pretty accurate to the design seen in the movie.  The coloring on this guy is notable, largely because it’s, you know, actually accurate to the movie.  It’s actually really fun, because the whole thing is vac-metalized, and it’s got multiple shades, so he looks especially eye-catching and slick.  The Death Star Droid is packed with another droid entirely, the Mouse Droid.  It’s a really simple, single piece thing just molded in simple black plastic.  It’s also way over scaled for the line.  But, it’s also really neat, and who doesn’t love a Mouse Droid?  Somebody probably, but I can’t trust their opinions; they don’t even like the Mouse Droid.  Also included is a Freeze Frame, showing the Death Star Droid as it wanders past a disguised Luke and Han.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I recall having the actual, vintage, incorrect Death Star Droid.  I did not, however, have this one, because the whole, you know, not released at retail bit.  Of the four Fan Club figures, he’s the one that was always the most intriguing to me, so I was pretty happy to find him sitting on a dealer’s table at Ocean City Comic-Con last year, and for a good price at that.  Of course, then I waited like 10 months to open him, because I don’t allow myself to enjoy nice things.  He’s good.  Really fun, really slick, and pretty unique.

#3687: R5-D4, BD-72, & Pit Droids

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

R5-D4, BD-72, & PIT DROIDS

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Peli Motto makes quick work of refueling and repairing battered ships with the help of R5-D4, BD-72, and a team of hyperactive pit droids.”

There’s a lot of cool things going for Star Wars as a concept, but one of the most infinitely marketable pieces has to be the droids. There’s just so many models, and there’s a bunch of unique names thrown at the models, and when they introduce new models, we get to see them get worked into the background with other, older models, and that’s cool too. And there are so many toy possibilities, too, which works out very well for me, a toy collector. The titular character from The Mandalorian having a distrust of droids at the outset did limit the droids he interacted with initially (barring, of course, IG-11, whose just too awesome to be limited), but they’ve worked their way into the show as it’s progressed, and there’s even been enough of them to warrant a whole special pack. How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R5-D4, BD-72, and the Pit Droids are a Target-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series offering, which started showing up mid to late summer.

First and foremost, we’ve got the one “proper” figure of the set, R5. R5’s reappearance on the show was a fun little touch, since we’d seen nothing of the little guy since his motivator blew in A New Hope. Obviously, with stuff still happening on Tatooine, it’s not the craziest thing for him to reappear, but I don’t know if anyone was expecting him to actually get to go on a full-fledged mission with Mando.  R5 got a GameStop-exclusive Black Series release back in 2017, but that was on the old, smaller Astromech body.  Since then, of course, Hasbro has totally redone the Astromech, and we actually got an updated R5 on that body last year as a single.  This one is more or less the same as that one, albeit with a few minor differences.  Regardless of release, he’s a new head on the body of R2, which is pretty typical of an R5 (you know, unless he’s the GREATEST R5 FIGURE OF ALL TIME).  It’s a pretty solid mold on its own, and the new head makes it nice and distinctly different from the prior R2.  The one structural difference between this figure and the single is that his motivator panel, removable on the single, is new glued in place.  His paint work is pretty much the same, and is likewise pretty similar to the R2, just with some adjusted colors.  Application is generally pretty clean, which is cool.  I’ll be honest, though, I kind of miss the shiny silver sticker from the GameStop one, as hokey as it might have been.  In terms of accessories, R5 gets the same five attachments as his single release (borrowed from the R2 mold), as well as brand new swappable side panels featuring the jet boosters used by R5 in The Mandalorian.  Presumably, we will at some point see these get used on some form of R2 re-release, since it was the only notable attachment missing from the last one.

Since first debuting as a pack-in figure with the original Cal Kestis figure in 2019, we’ve had our fair share of BD droids.  Most of them have actually just been BD-1, but the BD that appears in The Mandalorian is officially a different droid, BD-72, making this officially a new character.  The mold’s a straight re-use, which is fair enough, because it’s quite a nice one, being surprisingly poseable *and* surprisingly stable for a mold of its size.  It’s got a new deco, which is fairly basic, but heavier on the blues than the original.

Now we get to the real meat of the set.  Look, R5 and BD are all well and good, but the real reason anyone’s buying this $40 set isn’t for the two minor tweaks to prior releases; no it’s for the Pit Droids!  Though we’ve technically gotten a Black Series Pit Droid once before, it was in one of the Disney Parks-exclusive multipacks, which is far from the most convenient way to get a new mold.  Thankfully, this set makes up for it, with two whole Pit Droids, each in their own color scheme!  Yay!  The figures both stand 4 inches tall and they have 23 points of articulation.  They’re quite poseable, and I’m glad their smaller size doesn’t make them too spindly to allow for that.  The sculpt is a solid recreation of the design from the movies and shows, and definitely looks he part of the Pit Droid.  It’s a nice, clean visual, and it’s translated well here.  But, one of the coolest things about the Pit Droids is how they fold up when not in use.  Their smaller figures could never quite capture that, but these ones actually do!  Sure, it’s a little fiddly to get them there (and there’s no instructions like a Transformer would get), but you can get a surprisingly accurate folded up look out of these two.  In terms of coloring, we get one Pit Droid in tan, and the other in maroon.  The bulk of the coloring for both is molded, of course, with paint for the “eyes”, and a little bit of accenting for both.  On the tan guy, it’s a little more subtle, while the maroon guy gets some more obvious offsetting.  Of the two, I’m partial to maroon, but they’re both fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I quite like Pit Droids, but they’re frequently tricky to get as figures due to weird release schemes.  I wasn’t thrilled when the first Black Series one was stuck in a Parks set with other figures I didn’t really need, so I do like another option.  Not sure Target-exclusive set with other figures I don’t need is *ideal*, but it’s not the worst thing ever.  Since I opted not to grab the single R5 release, he’s not really a double up for me, at least with this mold, and another BD isn’t the worst thing.  Plus, I do get two whole Pit Droids, and they’re truly fantastic little figures, so I’m happy to have them.

#3625: Cassian Andor & B2EMO

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CASSIAN ANDOR & B2EMO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0104: Diego Luna, who plays Cassian Andor, was in the 2004 movie The Terminal, where his character’s love interest is a Trekkie played by Zoe Saldana.

Amonst the handful of character spin-off shows we got in the last year and some change was Andor, a prequel to Rogue One, focusing on Cassian Andor before he joined the Rebellion.  Rogue One was certainly a change of pace for the franchise, and Andor was even more so.  One of the biggest things about Andor was that it really wasn’t built for merchandising the way the rest of the franchise is.  People just don’t rush out to buy action figures of all the morally questionable players from a show based heavily on political intrigue, I suppose.  Well, I don’t suppose.  I actually know.  Because, as it turns out, I’m one of the people.  I very much enjoyed Andor, but I also didn’t go out and buy, you know, any of the figures from it.  I’m part of the problem, guys.  But, maybe I’m working on that?  No, I’m not, but I did at least wind up with an exception.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cassian Andor and B2EMO were released as part of Star Wars: The Black Series in the fall of 2022.  The set was initially exclusive to Hasbro’s online PulseCon event, but it was ultimately distributed through other venues when it was met with a softer than anticipated reception.  The Cassian figure is the same as the mainline release, while B2EMO remains, to date, exclusive to this pack.

CASSIAN ANDOR

Cassian was already no stranger to figures thanks to the various Rogue One tie-ins, but Andor elevated that, giving him the Jyn Erso-style “we’re shoving the standard look into multiple releases” treatment. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation. For Andor, Cassian is a lot rougher around the edges than when we catch up with him in Rogue One, and his main look shows that off. He’s got a lot more layers all thrown together a bit more haphazardly, and his hair is a fair bit shaggier. The new sculpt does a good job of following the look. The head gets a better likeness of Luna than the Rogue One stuff did, and the ratio of sculpt integrity to range of motion is a pretty good one. His coloring is a lot of brown. Like a lot. Very brown. It’s accurate, though, and the paint work handles it all pretty well. Cassian is packed with a blaster pistol, and that’s all.

B2EMO

Look, we all know why we’re here, and it’s B2EMO. Since K2 isn’t yet reprogrammed, Cassian needs another droid to pal around with, and that’s B2EMO. He’s like Marvin, but squarer. Same disposition, though. The figure is about 2 1/2 inches tall. He can collapse and extend his core body, as well as his little casters he uses for feet, and his head has a swivel joint. B2EMO is a rather unique looking droid, and so he gets a unique sculpt as well. It’s a very good one. Hasbro knows how to sculpt a good droid. All of the moving parts fit together well, and he’s got the appropriate denting and damage. Certainly an accurate depiction of the droid from the show, I’d say. His color work is a little more exciting, being reds and blues. He’s still muted, of course, but it’s at least a little different. The paint work continues the wear and tear started by the sculpt, resulting in a sufficiently used looking bot. B2EMO is without accessories…or, depending on how you look at it, he includes a whole Cassian as an accessory. That seems like a better value, I suppose.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I liked B2EMO a lot in the show and wanted a figure, so I was tempted by this set, but it just felt far too expensive for what you got, so I passed. It did the rounds and got cheaper and cheaper, so by the time one with popped tape seals came into All Time, it was so cheap I didn’t feel like I could pass it up. Cassian is an okay figure, just not one I needed. B2EMO, however, is a fantastic little biscuit of a figure that I’m very glad to have.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3316: Magnaguard

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MAGNAGUARD

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“The bodyguard droids for General Grievous are trained by the cyborg general himself. He has had their memories and combat libraries wiped clean so that the droids can learn battle techniques rather than rely on stored programs. This has resulted in more sophisticated — and lethal – droids.”

When the battle droids were first introduced in The Phantom Menace, we just had the two main versions, standard and Destroyer.  Attack added Super into the mix, and Revenge of the Sith further added the Magnaguards, the robotic bodyguards for General Grievous.  Though only a small part of Sith, they were repurposed for Clone Wars as well, giving them a little bit more to do during its run.  It also gave them a shot at more action figures, and I’m never one to complain about that.  So, let’s look at one of those action figures!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Magnaguard is figure #22 in Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line, as part of the fourth assortment within the first year of figures.  This was the first of the two Magnaguards in the line.  This one was more on the basic side, stripping away the cloak and headdress that they had in the movies.  Those pieces were added for the next release.  The figure stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  As an early run non-Clone, his articulation is a little imbalanced.  The movement on the upper half, especially the arms, is really solid, and quite cleverly implemented.  Below the waist, however, he lacks anything beyond basic hip movement, which is frustrating, but it’s also just where the line was at this point.  At the very least, he was actually able to stand, unlike the basic Battle Droid mold.  His sculpt was all-new, and it’s honestly a pretty strong one.  It takes the Magnaguard animation model, and translates it quite nicely into plastic form.  The front and back of the torso have removable plates, allowing for more of a glance into the figure’s inner workings, which is definitely a lot of fun.  The paint work on the Magnaguard is quite impressive.  His base color is a gun metal grey, with a lot of brushing and washes, giving him lots of highlights and shadows, and really bringing out the details of the sculpt really nicely.  The Magnaguard was packed with his staff, which has electricity effects attached, as well as a large missile launcher, which mine doesn’t have.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was always intrigued by the Magnaguards in the movie, but none of the toys really lived up to their coolness in my eye.  This one was the first one that I really felt came close to that, so it was one I made a point of tracking down at retail.  He was slightly beaten to the punch of “best droid in the line” by the IG-86 assassin, but he was still a nice step forward for the droids, and a very nice figure in his own right.

#3255: Protocol Droid – Holiday Edition

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

PROTOCOL DROID — HOLIDAY EDITION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Protocol droids like C-3PO are vital in smoothing differences encountered by the many farflung cultures interacting on a regular basis throughout the galaxy. Most are humanoid, like the company they keep.”

‘Twas two nights before Christmas and all through the house, Ethan was reviewing something festive two days before the actual holiday because both Christmas Eve and Day fall on the weekend this year, and he’s not doing reviews those days anymore.  Okay, maybe that version’s not quite as catchy as Clement Clarke Moore’s.  But I still think it’s got potential.  Look, the point of it all is that I’m gonna do this whole holiday cheer thing.  I’m cheerful, dang it.  So, please look at this overly commercialized cash grab product review as proof.  For the cheer.  And the jolly.  Perhaps even some whimsy.  Since 1978’s “The Star Wars Holiday Special,” the Star Wars franchise has been cashing in on the holiday cheer, though on the toy side of things it’s a more recent development.  Hasbro had a solid run of one-off holiday offerings in the early ’00s, but took a bit of a breather, before returning to it in 2020 with a whole mess of themed figures under their Black Series branding.  They were each exclusive to a different retailer, and were generally a bit of a pain to track down, so I avoided most of them.  This year’s follow-ups, however, included a Fan Channel offering, and so I’m taking a look at a delightfully festive Protocol Droid today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Holiday Edition Protocol Droid is one of the five 2022 Holiday Edition offerings for Black Series.  He’s a Fan Channel exclusive, and started shipping out in early November of this year.  He’s apparently got no official name, which, if I’m honest, feels like a missed opportunity.  Why no fun little in-joke with the naming?  For shame.  Oh well.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and has 21 points of articulation.  In contrast to the most recent Protocol Droids we’ve gotten from The Black Series, the Holiday Protocol is built on the first iteration of the C-3PO mold.  It’s generally not a bad mold, but this older version means that this release lacks the added elbow articulation that all figures post 4-LOM have gotten.  It’s a little bit of a bummer.  Not the end of the world, but a bummer to be sure after getting the improved arms on so many figures.  In order to mix things up and go just a tad more festive with the mold, the Holiday Protocol gets a scarf piece, courtesy of Lando. Beyond that, the change-ups are all paint.  This guy’s been done up in a variety of red, white, and green, which all feels appropriately festive.  On one hand, I’m a little sad we didn’t get any of the ugly sweater patterning that the troopers have been getting, but on the other, I can appreciate this one going with a different angle.  I do really like the striped “socks,” and this printing on the scarf is certainly a lot of fun.  Each of the Holiday Edition figures is packed with a smaller companion, and in the case of the Protocol Droid, it’s a re-decoed BD-1, who’s been done up to match the Protocol Droid.  He’s the same mold as the Fallen Order releases, which is honestly a pretty great mold, and he’s probably my favorite thing about this set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve passed on the other Holiday figures up to now, since, as I touched on in the intro, I didn’t really feel like hunting them down.  This year was pretty much the same deal, but since this one was going through Fan Channels, I had the opportunity to get one through work.  I don’t know that he’s really my preferred of this year’s offerings, but he was easy to get, and that’s really what matters, right?  The main droid’s okay.  He’s kitschy and goofy, but that’s what I expected.  BD-1 kind of steals the show here, but that’s just kind of the history of that mold, now isn’t it?  And that’s all I got until after the holiday.  Have a good one everybody!

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

 

#3219: NED-B

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

NED-B

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Star Wars sure does have a lot of really cool droids.  And, with each successive addition to the franchise, we get a few more really cool droids.  Hey, if they sell, you gotta make more of them, right?  Kenobi had two such droids.  Lola was the one that got the early lead-in promotion for the show, but the one that really seemed to stick out in the show proper was the non-verbal NED-B, a big, lumbering droid that works with the Rebellion in its early days.  So, let’s have a look at a figure of NED-B.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NED-B is the final figure in the six figure line-up for the Kenobi tie-in series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Retro Collection.  He’s unique in this series as the only character who’s making his figure debut here, though he’ll be getting a Black Series release early next year.  The figure is the tallest of the figures in this assortment, standing 4 1/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is totally new to this release.  Of all the figures in the assortment, this guy feels the least like a proper vintage figure.  There’s just something about the exact sculpting and styling that winds up feeling just a little bit too advanced for the original run.  It’s not bad, and it’s not so drastic that he feels out of place with the rest of the line-up, but it’s notable.  If anything, he feels maybe a bit more on par with something more of the ’90s era, almost like he’s just a bit more of a progression than the other figures.  He certainly captures the spirit of the character, though, and the detailing is all pretty solid.  He’s obviously dialed back a bit from what we see on the screen, but enough of him remains to sell which character it’s supposed to be.  The paint work on this figure is similar to the sculpting in that it’s not bad, but it’s also a bit more advanced than it *should* be for the line.  It certainly does look nice, though, and I appreciate the bright colors on him, especially in comparison the the generally drab colors of the other five figures.  I also kind of dig that they’ve painted sections that wouldn’t really be painted on the vintage versions, as it just ends up making him feel a little bit more finished than he might otherwise.  NED is packed with his hammer, which is a pretty solid extra for him, given its key role in a few of his scenes.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

NED is far and away the figure I wanted the most from this series.  I just really dug his design on the show, and I wanted him in figure form.  He’s interesting, because he at once feels like he’s a natural for this style, and also just a bit too removed for a clean translation.  He’s a bit like Grogu from the first assortment, where he may not quite land the vintage feel, but he’s still a really fun version of the character, so I can’t ultimately complain.  And, like that figure, NED here just makes for a good toy.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3186: IG-86 Assassin Droid

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

IG-86 ASSASSIN DROID

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“An IG-86 Assassin Droid lies deactivated in a Trandoshan trader’s cargo hold until a buyer can be found for the dangerous droid. But he is accidentally reactivated by a clumsy astromech droid, and the lives of everyone on board the ship are in peril.”

In addition to fleshing out the prequel-era characters, The Clone Wars also placed a focus on more directly tying the two trilogies together.  We got handful of younger OT characters featured, as well as a few lineages, and predecessors to things seen in the OT.  Amongst those predecessors, a recurring feature were the IG-86s, precursors to IG-88 and other Assassin Droids of the same model.  They never really step beyond bit player, but they help to more fully fill-in the world around the characters, and they always make for a good toy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The IG-86 Assassin Droid was released in 2008 as part of the first year of Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line, where he was figure #18.  The figure saw a few multipack releases as well during the line, with minimal deco changes, as well as one more widely changed version in the form of Ziro’s assassin droid, added to the line as figure #37 in the following year (that’s the one pictured next to Wilson over on the right).  All of the releases used the same mold.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  The IG-86 mold was one of the most posable molds in the whole line, with universals on the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.  He’s also got posable hands as well, making for far better gripping of the weapons.  The point is, there’s just a lot you can do with this guy, and it’s a lot of fun.  The sculpt is one of the best from the line.  It’s a great recreation of the animation model, with a nice merging of function and form.  Figures like the most recent Vintage Collection IG-11 are totally still banking on how this figure worked.  For the first release, IG-86 got a tarnished and dirty finish, a stark contrast to the usually more clean Clone Wars offerings.  It was a really impressive set-up especially for the time, and captured the whole “deactivated” thing quite well.  Ziro’s assassin droid trades in the grime for a unique set of markings, as well as a less metallic finish than the original release.  It’s suitably different, but cool for its own set of reasons.  Both versions of the Assassin droid, included two droid-style blasters, as well as a backpack for storing both of them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The standard IG-86 was one of my earliest purchases from the line, shortly after he hit retail.  I’ve always had a soft spot for IG-88, and I liked seeing the elements in animated form.  The sculpt, form, and function all just really work, making him one of the line’s very best.  I like him so much that I wound up snagging Ziro’s assassin from a collection that came into All Time, just so I could get another chance to mess with it.  They’re both really fun, and I love the two different decos.  Seriously top-notch.

#2496: EV-9D9

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

EV-9D9

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“EV-9D9 is ideally suited to its job as cyborg taskmaster in Jabba the Hutt’s palace. It was one of many droids in service to the crimelord.”

Hey, remember how I was reviewing Star Wars stuff all week?  Well, get settled in with that, because we’re just gonna keep that rolling one day further.  Of course, it’s no fancy Black Series offering today.  Nope, we’re instead going back to my old mainstay, Power of the Force.  I mean, hey, at least it’s somebody who hasn’t gotten any Black Series love, just to keep things different and interesting.  And it’s someone with a speaking role, even!  Let’s look at EV-9D9, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EV-9D9 was added to the Power of the Force line-up in 1997.  He was one of a handful of Jabba’s Palace denizens added to the line-up that year, so he was quite at home (although he wouldn’t get an 8D8 to boss around until the next year).  This marked his second time getting a figure, following the vintage release, as well as his final time in figure form.  Poor EV, getting no modern day figure love.  That feels downright criminal.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The design doesn’t quite as easily lend itself to a waist swivel, so he doesn’t get that.  Sadly, he also lacks the moving mouth of the original release, which is definitely a sad omission.  On the plus side, the figure’s nice and stable when it comes to standing, so he won’t be faceplanting nearly as often as some of the figures from this line.  He also avoids the pre-posing of earlier entries, making him a nice basic figure.  The sculpt is quite nice, doing a respectable job of capturing the design of the prop from the film, while also being sharp and clean on the details. It’s just a really nifty little sculpt.  The paint work is also pretty decent for this era of figure.  All of the important details are there, and there’s even some pretty nice accenting on the bronze sections of his body.  EV-9D9’s only got one accessory, but it’s a pretty good one: it’s the podium he stands behind when administering R2 and 3PO’s jobs. Pretty central to the character, and rather sizable to boot,  so it’s a winner in my book.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

EV is another of the large batch of figures I picked up in late 2018 when I really started trying to fill in my collection for the line.  It’s definitely a figure I didn’t think much of when I grabbed it, but he’s a pretty solid figure, especially given the lack of further coverage of the character.

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.

#2468: C-3PO with Removable Limbs

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

C-3PO w/ REMOVABLE LIMBS

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“A short stay on Bespin’s Cloud City left protocol droid C-3PO dismantled and dependent on his Rebel companions.”

There’s a bit of difficulty in Star Wars lines to offer decent variants of a handful of the characters, specifically the ones whose designs don’t really change throughout the movies.  For instance?  C-3PO.  He’s got the exact same design in all three of the original films, so any OT-based line definitely has a little trouble differentiating.  Fortunately, there’s at least one solid gimme for a 3PO variant: removable limbs.  Yep, if you want to really want a good Empire variant of 3PO, all you gotta do is make those limbs removable for his encounter with the Stormtroopers in Cloud City.  The vintage line started things off, and Power of the Force II followed suit, with the figure I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

C-3PO with Removable Limbs was added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, and was the line’s third variant of 3PO, following the initial release and the Purchase of the Droids variant.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation…or at least he should, though the waist joint on mine definitely isn’t moving.  Stylistically, the sculpt on this guy is really similar to the revamped 3PO sculpt from the Purchase set.  Much like the various nearly identical Farmboy Lukes produced later in the line, the two sculpts aren’t really the same, but are virtually indistinguishable for the most part.  The main difference between the two, aside from the whole “removable limbs” thing, is the lack of restraining bolt on the upper torso.  Also, there’s the removable limbs.  Those are a difference, too, I suppose.  They come off pretty easily, though the way they attach does ever so slightly impact the posability a little bit.  You can still get full range out of them, but they might need to be popped out and repositioned for some poses.  Like the “Purchase” figure, this 3PO’s color scheme starts out with the vac metalizing again, but this one takes the grime even further than that figure did, making for what is probably the dirtiest of the PotF 3POs.  I’m not entirely sure why the Empire version would be the dirtiest, but I guess it could be worse.  3PO is packed with a cargo bag, perfect for placing him in and allowing him to be carried on Chewbacca’s back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have this 3PO figure as a kid, but I remember seeing him on the back of the packaging, and always kind of wanting him to do the whole “carried on Chewy’s back” set-up.  I never did get it as a kid, but it was definitely on my short list when I started filling in the holes in my collection.  He’s pretty darn nifty.

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.

#2433: 2-1B Medical Droid

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

2-1B MEDICAL DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Height: 1.5 Meters
Status: Industrial Automaton Surgical Droid
Classification: GeenTech 2-1B Series
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Weapon of Choice: Medical Diagnostic Computer”

Droids make up one hell of a subset of the Star Wars universe, and much like the Stormtroopers, they have lots of specialized models.  Also like the Stormtroopers, they’re a really easy thing for toy companies to make bank on, especially when it’s a droid that got some decent screen time.  Today’s focus, 2-1B, showed up in Empire two separate times, patching Luke up first after his run-in with the Wampa, and again after losing his hand to Vader’s lightsaber.  That’s not a bad spread of appearances, now is it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

2-1B was added to Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1997.  He’s the second figure of 2-1B, following up on the vintage release.  This sculpt would remain in service through The Vintage Collection in 2011, so clearly Hasbro thought it was a fairly worthwhile effort.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  As with many of the droids released in this line, the poseability’s a little bit restricted on this guy.  That said, he can pretty easily move his head and arms, which is just about all you need from him.  The actual sculpt is quite a nice one.  It’s pretty faithful to the film design, which is quite good for a PotF figure.  I really dig the texture work that went into him, and I especially dig the transparent torso with the visible mechanics within it.  Very fun.  His paint work is also pretty solid.  There’s not a ton going on with it, but all of the appropriate colors are there, and the application’s all pretty clean.  2-1B is packed with his handheld Medical Diagnostic Computer, for all your handheld Medical Diagnostic Computing needs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like so many of my Power of the Force figures, this guy was a more recent addition to my collection, added during a PotF buying-spree in the fall of 2018.  As far as this line’s droids go, he’s honestly one of the best, and has the benefit of slotting in pretty alright with the more recent stuff as well.  He’s also one of the cooler, more unique droid designs, and one with some decent screen time, making him one of the best in general.

I got this guy from my friends at All Time Toys.  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.