R1 Holiday Bell
Star Wars Droid Factory 2024 Advent Calendar
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: R2 Gingerbread Droid, BB-8 Snowman, Chopper Penguin, Gonk Present, D-O Holiday, B2EMO present, R1 Holiday Bell, wreath, Santa hat, drink tray, scarf, tiny top hat
Action Feature: Sits on clear stand, dome and "foot" end removable
Retail: $79.99
Availability: August 2024
Appearances: n/a Bio: All different types of astromech droid populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Open up the Sandcrawler to reveal and build 7 new droids to celebrate along with them for 25 days this season. May the Force be with you... and your droids! (Taken from the packaging.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: Many of the figures in this box make sense - some, so much sense I'm surprised they weren't sold individually on cardbacks! This
R-1 mashes up a couple of concepts, giving you a figure on a clear display stand. It's a redeco of
The Mandalorian R1 [FOTD #2,912] from a few years ago, and it's pretty clever. Weird, sure. The barber shop candy can body with a knob at the end and a bell on the top makes for a lot of easy jokes, but I'll leave those to you at home.
The figure requires some assembly. It's worth noting the dome pops off, as does the bottom tip, were you so inclined to trade them with other releases. The figure is fairly light on deco, and the holiday colors seem like they might not be too out of place in a vintage cartoon, or in the background of a scene where they're some kind of safety droid. The vaguely golden bell more or less works, the pole on which it sits works too, but I can't say that the bottom element is working for me in all white. Maybe it would look better in gold - it does have a series of subtle gold dots painted facing the stand, and it's not terribly easy to see them without picking it up and examining them up close. The greeblies mostly fade in to the design with minimal deco, but they're there, and I'm sure a customizer could add some weathering and make things really pop nicely.
If sold outside the context of a
Star Wars Christmas collection I don't know that this toy would work. If sold individually, it might be confusing given how it departs from the 1977 R1 design and shape. It's a clever reuse of the mold. A Festivus pole might be a better fit if they decide to do a third colorway of the mold, but that's not what we got. Maybe this candy bell would look good as another addition to a diorama of the droid customs line at the starport on Annoo. I don't really have a place for it, but I'm sure I'll find one.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Disney as they were offering both a discount code as well as free shipping. At under $70 delivered, it's pretty worthwhile. Try SHIPMAGIC or DISNEY25 codes to see if they still work.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,199: December 19, 2024
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