PIT DROID Rusty Deco, Arms Akimbo30th Anniversary Collection Saga Legends (also Episode I bonus figure)
Item No.: Asst. 85770 No. 84190
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Box, extra figure
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Early 2000/Late 2007
Appearances: The Phantom Menace
Bio: Pit droids help repair and maintain podracers with zealous efficiency. Small yet incredibly strong, pit droids often dash onto the racetrack before the vehicles have stopped, risking their mechanical lives in their eagerness to get to work. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Image: Adam's yard.
Commentary: For the longest time, the Pit Droid bonus figures were a true holy grail of the modern line-- they were genuinely rare and frequently sold for more than any other figure in the line. And then Hasbro decided to let fans vote on which figures to reissue, which brought a good number of these formerly exclusive-to-foreign-territory to retail in the USA and helped control the climbing prices. While this particular kind of Pit Droid doesn't frequently show up on eBay in its Episode I bonus pack packaging, well, I got nothing. Let's talk about the droid.
With 5 points of articulation the figure can stand, but has no foot holes to make use of stands. As such, you may have to fidget with him and make sure to not bump whatever shelf becomes his residence. His arms and legs move, and his head has a ball joint. There's not much else to him, but it's nice you get two in a pack at a pretty decent price. As a sculpt from the 1999/2000 era, it's not going to amaze you, but you certainly got your money's worth at retail and I'd even say overpaying for this one wouldn't be a huge crime. After all, you're getting two of what used to be one of the three rarest action figures in the entire line. The rerelease of these droids is one of the best things Hasbro has done for collectors, specifically the ones without the bonus Pit Droids from their first release. Those who had them might be slightly more upset.
Collector's Notes: The bonus packaged version is still a tough one to find, and is basically identical to the carded release in 30th Anniversary Collection Saga Legends. As such, the loose figure fan shouldn't pay a premium for this one.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,274: May 3, 2010
Did Hasbro ever locate the tooling for the bonus Pit Droid they said they lost? Or did they have to recreate it? How would we tell?
ReplyDeleteMany questions...
Jerry, I never heard Hasbro say for sure one way or the other about the new tooling, but I too remember them saying they would create a new mold if the old one wasn't available.
ReplyDeleteThe other Pit Droid in this series was the "sitting" version. The sitting version was briefly available through the fan club and came with a rectangular box and I got these when they came out. They are different from the Legends re-release in that the paint application is much more crisp on the later version. The 1999 version is a bit fuzzier. The same goes for the boxes they came with.
I can only attest to the "sitting" version, though, not the walking one pictured here. But I'd guess the same might apply.