Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,172: R7-Series Astromech Droid White and Blue

R7-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID White Dome with Blue Markings and "Coin Slot"
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: May 2015
Appearances: The Clone Wars

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 2012 series and 25 domes in the 2015 batch so far.  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:  Here's another one!  The R7-Series Astromech Droid is delightfully weird, and seemingly exists to match up with the R2-D2 colored parts.  He shares the same legs, but the torso and dome best match up as a pairing.  I have no idea what the designers were shooting for here, as I am not particularly well-versed with droids from non-visual sources.  Could it be from a book?  Maybe!  I didn't see them all, but I will say it's pretty neat.  The rocket-shaped area between R7's legs is, um, certainly interesting and now perhaps you can't unsee it either.   The head is mostly white, with a dark blue wedge that has a white "coin slot" on top not unlike a bank.  It's strange - we haven't seen anything else like it on one of these droid toys yet.  It's something new - real new, with red and black and silver markings in a pattern we didn't have as a toy before.  I love it.

The body of this configuration was indeed retooled.  The lower holes on the body were removed, so you can't make a four-armed droid anymore.  The white plastic R7 body has a blue... uh... he's happy to see you.  I guess you could also say it's a giant "A", but... I don't know, man.  I feel I've seen Rainbow Randolph make cookies like this.   The back of the body has a black collar which goes all away around the body, plus a series of blue painted panels.   Parts which you might expect to be painted silver on both the front and back are unpainted, a departure for this kind of droid mold.  Those vents and bars are typically silver.  With added blue and black panels on the bottom of the body near the central third leg, it's certainly very different than the others.

Like the other legs, the new "universal leg" returns here without the wires to make it obvious where the front or the back is.  Silver "toe" panels on the front give it a little personality, but it still lacks the dots and rods on the upper part of the limb and features retooled copyright information to excise any indication of these being Hasbro products.  As such, I say it's debatable if these are Hasbro, Hasbro-compatible, or what.

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 this is an uncommon droid mold with a totally new paint job, you have to get it.  Because the paint job may inspire the giggles, you're only hurting yourself by skipping it.

Collector's Notes: I got this from my pal Shannon who was cool enough to get me a set from Disneyland.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,172 August 7, 2015