Thursday, May 14, 2015

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,152: R3-Series Astromech Droid Silver

R3-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Clear Dome with Silver Markings
Star Tours   Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.:
???
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $12.99
Availability: April 2015
Appearances: n/a

Bio: These figures do not have specific packaging or configurations.  As such, we will be treating each dome as a unique "figure" as that part is the most plentiful.   There were 25 domes in the first 2012 series and 11 domes in the 2015 batch.  While Hasbro had said they didn't design the first batch, they included Hasbro copyrights.  This batch does not - markings read "© DISNEY" and "© LFL" as well as "China" on each leg.

Image: Adam's photo dump.

Commentary:  This R3-Series Astromech Droid is really good.  I just wish I had better foresight as to how good it was before I asked my friend to get me droids - it's the perfect dome for this or any series.  The clear colorless head has silver markings, making it the perfect match for pretty much every single body.  It looks good on literally every body I've tried so far - it doesn't clash and it isn't ugly.

The body of this configuration was retooled.  The lower holes on the R2 body were removed, so you can't make a four-armed droid anymore.  The white plastic body has silver and yellow markings, most of which are painted well.  The back of the body is similarly decorated with a ton of yellow panels highlighted with silver paint - few of the other figures have quite this much deco.   It's one of the best of the batch.   I'd love to see this pattern done in other colors as well.

Each leg is new - actually, it's only one leg.   Disney had issues keeping enough matching right and left legs during the 2012 run, so I'm sort of happy that they found a clever solution to the issue.  Each foot has been redesigned so it's the same on the front and the back.  It combines elements from both the front and the back of the feet of the first ones, while retaining the wheels and dropping the wires.  As such it isn't perfect, but it's pretty good.  This pair of legs is white plastic with yellow and silver highlights.  I should also note that the arm was retooled so that the "rod" and "dots" on each arm have been removed and the "shoulder" has been smoothed out.

The central white foot for this (and all the other) colors is now unpainted, while the 2012 batch had silver markings around the bottom of the foot.

As domes go, the clear R3 head is the best in breed just because it's so versatile.  I'd buy a sack of these if I could.  It makes a better R3-M3 dome, and it would be a good base for your future customs.  If you can, get this one.

Collector's Notes: I got this from my pal Shannon who was cool enough to get me a set from Disneyland.  This is the only R3 droid in the first 2015 assortment.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,152: May 14, 2015

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I would love to see this dome on all of the droid bodies if you ever got a chance!