Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,082: R6 Droid (Advent Calendar 2022)

R6 DROID Droid Cosplay
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Silver BB droid, Nutcracker R5 droid, Gold R4 droid, Giftwrapped Power Droid with bow, Elf R6 Droid with hat, C1 droid
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $69.99
Availability: August 2022
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 teh Sandcrawler to reveal and build 6 new droids to celebrate along with them for 25 days this season. May the Force be with you... and your droids!" This droid is optimized to function in the sparsely settled, unspoiled frontier world of Vandor. Join R6-SNO on their adventures throughout the galaxy! (Taken from the packaging. Yes, the one quotation mark and reference to R6-SNO, who is not included, was on the box in three languages.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: The holidays continue! This Advent Calendar R6 Droid is elfin, complete with belt buckle deco and hat. Unlike the last one, this one's a bit more obvious with a green body, black feet, plus other highlights. For all I know I have it wrong, but I'm going to say no, I don't. As always, it keeps the same basic build with removable arms (and third foot), a removable dome, and a hole for an optional hat. You know them, you love them, probably.

I liked most of the holiday droids because they didn't seem too Earthy - this one veers more toward a holiday decoration, something you probably couldn't actually work in to a shelf of normal action figures. This is the one you put next to your Holiday S.L.U.G. Zombies or your The Black Series holiday edition figures. It's vibrant, charming, and as a nice hat - there's a lot to like here in terms of creativity. It makes sense that there would be figures that use the droid body as a base on which to make decorations or artist figures, and I'm surprised there aren't actually a lot more of them yet.

The paint is nice and thick, so there's not a lot of plastic showing through The details on the dome are few and far between, with a painted eye, a blue light, and a red line around the neck - because the rest of the figure got all the paint. I really do like the vibrant colors, and the artist behind it came up with a good color layout. But what do I do with an elf droid on December 26? That I haven't figured out yet as the parts don't particularly lend themselves to other environs. I think it's an admirable design but if it weren't part of a bigger set with other, more normal droids I could see letting this one go. I probably sound pretty wishy-washy here, but it's a hard figure to recommend if you want to collect figures that belong in the Star Wars universe. This is one for your holiday displays, and little else.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from some guy on eBay for a lower price!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,082: November 16, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,051: R6 Unit (Green/Teal, 2023 Pride Collection)

R6 UNIT Disney Exclusive
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Red R2 unit, orange R4 unit, yellow R5 unit, green R6 unit, blue R7 unit, violet R8 unit
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $74.99
Availability: May 2023
Appearances: n/a

Bio: Meet the colorful collection of droids from the Star Wars Pride Collection. Each one of the six detailed R Unit figurines has just rolled off the Droid Factory production line and boasts a different design, creating a special set featuring every color of the rainbow. (Stolen from the marketing copy.) In celebration of Pride and the company's Pride collection, The Walt Disney Company is giving funds as part of our ongoing commitment to organizations around the world that support LGBTQ+ communities. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now! 

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: While not something you saw on screen until Disney began to mine the non-film source material for convincingly authentic designs, this green R6 Unit makes use of a mold that Disney has been using at its theme parks in some form or another for over a decade now. Maybe it's more teal than green - but it's nice, and the body uses the same basic paint masks as the other "R2" body droids in this set. You'll recognize lighter seafoam green panels, darker metallic panels, and some red, black, and silver bits. While it's meant to look like the Pride Flag, it has the benefit of being ultra-inclusive because fans can look at this and say "hey, I can stick that in a playset or shelf diorama" and it fits without looking out of place. That's a tough achievement.

You can mix-and-match parts with other figures if you like, but I want to keep it as-is. The panels are mostly cleanly painted, coloring in the lines with certain panels popping nicely. I bet the R6 donme would look better with some more color around the big black eye, but we don't always get what we want. There are wheels, the dome swivels, the ankles are articulated, and you can even pop out the third leg. It's weird to say "it doesn't do anything special" as praise, but at least it doesn't fall over, or not fit together. It just works. It delivers the experience you expect at a price that, while higher than some droids, isn't dreadful.

What's funny is after I wrote that sentence and lowered my left hand on the desk next to my keyboard, it was enough to knock the Han Solo (Endor, no trenchcoat) figure right over despite my only lightly touching the desk between sentences. There's something to be said about the stability of three legs, in a charming color, on a character where unusual non-movie color variants make all the sense in the world. My hat goes off to Disney for a set well-done. I lob a lot of complaints at the regime but I think this is a product they basically got right - and I hope that you can get one if you want one. (It's still available as I write this in July.)

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shop Disney. Also happy anniversary, me - I started writing a Star Wars newsletter online on AOL (and later, the rest of the web) on August 1, 1995. Why am I still doing this.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,051: August 1, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,915: R6-D3

R6-D3 Surprise, New Dome
Droid Factory The Mandalorian Boxed Set
Item No.: No. n/a
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 more droid figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $44.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. These four are featured in Star Wars: The Mandalorian. This is the way... for you and your Droids! (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: This one is a bit of a mystery - I held off opening it last because R6-D3 looks like nothing special at first glance. I assumed it was a white R2 dome with gold highlights. Then just an R6- but it turns out it's a new sculpt! The shape is different. The "pie slices" are gone at the top, instead you'll see a blank canvas except for a motivator and some grime. Neat. The head itself is closer to that of R2-D2, with a big eye and panels much more in line with classic movie astromechs than the new model. It's easy to see how some could mistake this for a rehash of the same R6 droids we have seen for nearly a decade, but it's a new head. Rejoice! There are also a lot of silver patterns around the dome, giving it an unquestionably distinctive look.

The silver and gold coloring look good, and the deco extends to the body. While the dome is new, the body and legs are pretty much what you've seen for years and may have one or two of. Or three, or four. Or 200. You know the drill - no foot wires, limited leg deco, but surprisingly ornate body paint. Nearly all the gold panels on the back are filled in, while the front is largely gold-filled with some dirt and grime for good measure. My sample has some paint alignment issues, but the design they tried to do is, in theory, good. You should probably make it a point to seek this one out in person if health/safety/personal preference allows just to be sure yours is a bit more aligned than mine. Or maybe you can just pretend that the entire marketing department of Industrial Automaton was first against the wall when the revolution came, and has already been punished for their paint crimes.

You may have noticed we made it this far with no mention of where he appears on the show. I have no idea. Sadly I did a rewatch just before it showed up and I'm not inclined to re-rewatch two seasons to find him, and neither Wookieepedia nor a basic web search point to the specific on-screen appearance of this one. As such, I can say it matches the photo on the box, and is a neat design in its own right. I really do like the pattern/lettering, new dome, and color choices - if this was just a new droid for the sake of a new droid, I'd say it's a good one. Is it truly authentic? Who knows. Was it memorable enough to deserve a figuer? Clearly not - but sometimes you just buy something because it looks cool, and this one certainly qualifies.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from my pal Shannon. Thanks, Shannon!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,915: April 12, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,868: R6-W1CH (Droid Factory)

R6-W1CH Disney Parks Halloween Exclusive
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Witch Hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $12.99
Availability: August 2021
Appearances: n/a

Bio: All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. This droid resides at the mysterious world of Dathomir and is known to aid a coven of witches in their gifts of wielding dark magic. Join R6-W1CH on her adventures throughout the galaxy! May the Force be with you... and your Droids! (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: The sequel trilogy didn't take too much from the pre-Disney Expanded Universe and put it on-screen, but it did take the R6 droids. This is good, because now we've got R6-W1CH, the 2021 Halloween droid that somehow got this name rather than it being used for a sandwich in the restaurants over there. The deco is new, the hat is new, the droid mold is not. And of course, you probably want one.

The witch droid has black feet, red legs, a red body, plus lots of black and white highlights. The dome is white, with red and black highlights. Her coloring actually doesn't look too far off from Mother Talzin, who I assume will never get an action figure, as the droid dome matches the witch-in-chief's make-up without being a precise copy. At least, I assume it's make-up. Her big red eye seems a little out of character for most astromech droids, but from behind this figure screams a 1970s Lucasfilm design - just look at all those black and red panels! She totally could be hanging out off-camera in a Rebel base somewhere. The black feet do a good job of hiding the lack of wires, the red arms have subtle silver greebles on them, and she just looks more ornate than most releases. Unlike last year's little pumpkin, this droid may not necessarily read as a witch from a first visual glance - but with the hat, I mean, it makes sense.

The hat is new - it's got a nice pointy witch hat, bent down because why the heck not. It's optional. I think it helps sell the witch image, but the good news is if you lose it, you've still got a very Star Wars-y robot - more so than most past holiday exclusives. As much as I love the glow-in-the-dark R3 unit, I don't buy it as something in the Star Wars galaxy. But this red robot R6? This feels more authentic than a lot of on-screen designs we've seen.

Even if you skip all the holiday droids, you should get this one. It looks good, and it looks like it belongs with your other figures. And thank your lucky stars it's not as scarce as R2-RN8W from the "Rainbow Collection" earlier this year, which I didn't have a crack at and hope to someday get. Get this droid while you still can!

Collector's Notes: I got this from Kerry, who got it from Disneyland. Thank you Kerry!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,868: October 28, 2021

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,790: R6-Series Astromech Droid White with Yellow and Silver

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Yellow Dome 2
The Vintage Collection
Item No.: No. ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $12.99
Availability: December 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.

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Maybe eBay? Possibly a theme park if it opens? These may still be in bins if bins are accessible - eBay is your best bet.

Commentary: I have a pile of un-reviewed droids, and they're unmarked as to what batches they came from other than "not reviewed." Good thinking on my part - so we're going to try to do Repaint Mondays from here on out to get them done this year. This R6 Series Astromech Droid dome is the second yellow one - there was one in 2012 [FOTD #1,889], and then there was another one in 2015. There are some obvious changes - 2012 is more of an orangey yellow. The 2012 dome has more areas filled in - the big tell is the one on the right of the droid's eye (your right, their left.) The top of the 2015 droid's "pie slices" on top of the head are not completely filled in like the previous release. The back of this droid has a green dot on the dome - this is not the case with the 2012 release. Both droids have three silver nubbins painted on the sides of the domes - the 2012 release is surrounded in white plastic, 2015 is painted yellow.

Since the figures were effectively spare parts in bins, the figure as you see it in these photos is just one configuration - we're identifying them by domes and heads, since there are more domes and heads than bodies. When this dome and the others from its wave were added, no new bodies were found - and unless my memory is failing me, this is part of the last batch of new parts going into those bins. (Which I appreciate, hunting these things down is a hassle for fans without friends willing to serve as a droid mule.)

The dome is sufficiently different, but certainly pushes the "just different enough to make you mad" button. It's white with yellow (again), but with different panels painted you can see some differences. For example, the infrared receptors under the eye are tiny and green now, instead of the fuller red last time. To the average fan, it's just yellow - and that probably wouldn't be enough for anyone going through theme park parts to realize there was even a change without being informed of it prior to a park visit. How annoying is that?

I requested this configuration be built because I wanted the dome to match the body's unique yellow hues. You may want something more exotic, but I like it when the droid looks like it was either meant to go together, or some weird horrible accident. I went for the former. The parts all pop off, so you can rotate the dome, remove the legs, and then lose them because you've got too many things to keep track of these days.

The droid has an optional hat - mine had Oswald the Rabbit - but you can mix and match to your liking if you can ever get back to the theme park. On eBay I've seen a few of this exact configuration go for $25-$30, which isn't bad if you're only planning on getting one robot - shipping, parking, and such considerations are well worth the $10 to me. For one figure. But if you want them all, you might want to consider other options or someone willing to do you a favor, or a big trade. Given this droid doesn't really appear in the films, it's pretty much just for people who are droid completists. There are other R6 droids for you to buy, but at this time all of them have been exclusive to Disney theme parks.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Disney Land via may pal Shannon a few years ago. Thank you Shannon!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,790: March 22, 2021

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,721: R6-Series Astromech Droid Silver with Purple

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Silver Dome with Purple 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: 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 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:  The purple R5-Series Astromech Droid was sitting here unopened in his plastic case since 2015.  So 5 years - and it was time to open this one up!  Part of a parts bin that may or may not even still be at the Disney parks.   The silver dome with purple highlights came out after a white dome with purple highlights, making this series a nightmare for completists.  Knowing what exists - and how to find it - will prove a challenge for fans for years to come.

Based on the same basic build-a-droid chassis we started getting back in 2008, this purple droid more or less matches nicely.  The dome has some purple paint that matches the purple body, but a few elements are considerably darker.  It stands out, and at first glance it almost looks like an error.   Most of the elements are painted nicely, but there are a few parts that seem underdecorated on the dome - at least the body has some great silver outlining.

The droid body has articulated feet and a removable third leg, but none of them have the wiring we got in the first batches or from Hasbro.   It still looks cool, plus it has a hole in his head for hats or hooks on the Droid Factory playset or Sandcrawler from Disney.  It's a nice toy figure with rolling wheels, but if you've got one of these, you've got them all - at this point getting more is just for completism's sake.  And that's fine - I mean, here we are, still talking about these barely-different droids.  If you can get one for the $13 or so price it's neat enough, but after shipping and any theoretical admission prices, maybe just stick with whatever is cheap and easy to track down.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,721: September 1, 2020

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,674: R6-LE5 (Droid Factory Line Look)

R6-LE5 Not R5-D4
Droid Factory The Rise of Skywalker Boxed Set
Item No.:   No. 41342
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 more droid figures, D-O clear base
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $29.99
Availability: October 2019
Appearances: The Rise of Skywalker

Bio: All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy.  Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors.   These four new Astromech droids are featured in The Rise of Skywalker.   May the Force be with you... and your Droids!  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  If you liked R2-SHP, then R6-LE5 is more of that.  The same color and body are here, but the dome is different - the unique R6 shape has been added to the same, admittedly nice, droid form.  The metallic blue sparkles, and the silver and black with a light dusting of grey do make for a figure that pops in almost any diorama.

The black central eye is augmented by a white circle, a couple of red boxes, and some minimal detailing on the back.  It's pretty simple, but the shape is good enough that you probably won't notice.  The plastic metallic swirl does most of the heavy lifting in terms of bringing this figure to life, which gives it a look that's probably more metallic than if it were actual metal.  Articulation is standard modern Droid Factory fare, with removable legs and dome.  You get about five moving parts in all, with the exposed mechanisms under the dome all matching blue.  We've slid a bit since Hasbro started doing these, silver and other colors under the dome really did add a lot of detail while bringing these to "life" as real fake space appliances.   At least the BB unit cores still have some color... and a few colors of paint for added interior detail.

It'd be great if this figure wasn't nearly identical to another figure in the very same set, but given the asking price it's not exactly terrible - even if you consider D-O a freebie.   If you can find this set, I'd say it's well worth the $30, and if you were buying individual figures some fans split up on eBay this one is particularly nifty given its colors and distinctive dome.  It doesn't do anything your dozens (hundreds) of other droids don't, though, so don't feel too bad if you missed it.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from my pal Shannon.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,674: March 19, 2020

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,556: R6-Series Astromech Droid White with Brown

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID White Dome with Brown Markings
Star Tours   Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Probably Not Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $12.99
Availability: December 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.  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 lab.

Availability:  Click here to buy it at Amazon now!


Commentary: I both love the idea of Disney's droid bins and utterly detest them.  We haven't seen many new astromech parts thrown in since 2015, one of the last of which was this R5-Series Astromech Droid.  It's distinctive in that it is one of few domes, so far, with no matching body.  The brown dome exists by itself - I opted for a red-and-white body because it vaguely reminded me of Coca-Cola.  It's a neat dome, but it doesn't really match anything and I couldn't place it in the movies if it made an appearance.

I have a lot of unreviewed Disney droids still, and they get to be hard to review other than saying "here's another one." In this case... here's another one.  It wouldn't stun me to find out, someday, that this is a scarce part people didn't buy because it didn't match anything at the time, but I might also find out there's a brown body I missed. This might be an ideal capper for customs, mismatched, or other weird droids because in and of itself, it doesn't seem to fit - but at least it's unique and a distinctive color. Get it if you're a completist.  We'll look at some of the better ones real soon - we've got a long way to go with these guys.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shannon who did me a solid at Disneyland.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,556: January 31, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,157: R6-Series Astromech Droid White, Black, and Red

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID White Dome with Black and Red 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:  My favorite shape of the new, post-movie domes is the R6-Series Astromech Droid and this is a colorful new one.   I'm not sure that the red body is the best possible match for him that could ever be, but as far as the second wave goes there's really no more appropriate fit than this one, so let's go with it.   The dome is the same mold as last year's round, except now the panels are slightly different - now you've got a mix of red and black markings rather than purple or yellow.   If you don't have an R6 mold, this is as good as any thanks to its unique blending of the trapezoidal cake that is an R5 dome with some of the "facial" details of R2-D2.  This makes it cuter, with a big eye and the little "face" bits but with some tweaking and new colors.   As a new droid, it doesn't have a lot of weight behind it and its appeal to you will largely come from if you think it looks cool.  I do.

The body of this configuration was retooled from previous astromech torso pieces.  The lower holes on the R2 body were removed, so you can't make a four-armed droid anymore.  The body color is very similar (if not identical) to R5-K6, who is in a box somewhere.   The black and white boxes are pretty much the same, although a small detail on the back and bottom of the droid is now absent.  (No huge loss.)   There are a few minor changes given the time difference and the mold, but they did a fine job of trying to replicate that hard-to-find design in this format.

Like the other legs, the new "universal leg" returns here without the wires to make it obvious where the front or the back is.  Black "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 white "band" above the ankle is now silver, so it's a little more subtle than before and of course the wires are now absent.

The central red foot for this (and all the other) colors is now unpainted, while the R5-K6 figure had some black markings on the foot.  Unless you read or write columns like this one, I assume you wouldn't notice or care.

Since we know R6 droids will appear in The Force Awakens - but which ones, we are less clear - this figure might be worth getting as a tangent for that series.  We don't know which droids (if any) will get figures before Hasbro focuses on the next next movie, so getting an R6 droid of any flavor is, at worst, an off-camera purchase.   I love droids so I'll buy them all, and this one is a perfectly decent sum of its parts - but if you have any from the last round, this is hardly essential.

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 R6 droid in the first 2015 assortment.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,157: May 22, 2015

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,947: Purple R6-Series Astromech Droid

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID White Dome with Purple Panels
Star Tours Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.: No. ???
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $10-$12
Availability: 2012
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.   At this time there are 25 domes and while Hasbro sometimes seems to indicate they are not Hasbro product, they do have Hasbro copyright markings and as such we are classifying them under the Hasbro banner.

Image: Adam's photo hole.

Commentary: Of the exclusive Disney domes, the R6 droid is the best.  It looks like it fell out of the late 1980s, and the purple panels do look quite nice on this one.  The trapezoidal head fits nicely (but not perfectly) on the droid body, and the colors do match quite well.  Detail feels a little soft here, but it's not like you'll notice.  The body has much crisper sculpting, but the paint distracts you from any rounded corners or softer lines.  Really, it's just a mass of white with purple bringing it to life, plus some nice red lights to break it up a bit.  The purple may be a smidgen too dark, as it obscures the round black eye in the center of its face.

If you can only get a couple of these droids, I'd put this one near the top of the list.  Distinctive and chipper, the R6 droid feels like it came out of a Star Wars sequel trilogy we'll sadly never see get made.

Collector's Notes:  This item was a customizable release at Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando, and you can configure them any way you wish. This is the best configuration.  And yeah, we're looking at another purple astromech in the next FOTD too.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,947: November 29, 2012

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,930: Black R6-Series Astromech Droid

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Black Dome with Silver Panels
Star Tours Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.: No. ???
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $10-$12
Availability: 2012
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.   At this time there are 25 domes and while Hasbro sometimes seems to indicate they are not Hasbro product, they do have Hasbro copyright markings and as such we are classifying them under the Hasbro banner.

Image: Adam's photo hole.

Commentary: Long-time readers of everything I do know I love astromech droid figures.  My first duty when I found out I was getting a job in the toy business was "OK, now how can I get a bunch of droids out in a hurry?" and those made it out in early 2006.  Disney did one better by cranking out 25 unique astromechs this year, including the Black R6-Series Astromech Droid dome.  I love this one.  The face of R2-D2 was basically transplanted on a trapezoid, and the end result is positively charming.  Little blue infrared receptors on the side of his face, a red light under his big eye, and silver panels galore implore you to put this head on a black-and-silver body.  (Which apparently is frequently out of stock.)   It looks good on the black body with white panels as well, but c'mon.  This one looks best.

If you only get one or two droids, make this one of them.  It's fantastic.   It looks different than most non-Disney Hasbro droids and does a great job of giving you something a little different for your toy stash.   Unless you're deep in to the novels, this design is all but unknown to you so your main motivation to buy it is a dogged desire to complete the set, a love of robots, or an affliction involving too much money.  $10 is a lot for these guys when multiplied out, but honestly if I could walk into the store and get more of these at that price, I would.

Collector's Notes:  This item was a customizable release at Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando, and you can configure them any way you wish.  The R6 dome mold is a Disney exclusive and to date is available in this color, white with yellow panels, and white with purple panels.   They can be expensive on eBay, so do some research prior to buying, or depending on your proximity to a Disney theme park, know it might be cheaper just to go there and buy them if you're gonna collect this subset.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,930: November 6, 2012

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,889: Yellow R6-Series Astromech Droid

R6-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Yellow Dome
Star Tours Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.: No. ???
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $10-$12
Availability: 2012
Appearances: The Force Awakens?

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.   At this time there are 25 domes and while Hasbro sometimes seems to indicate they are not Hasbro product, they do have Hasbro copyright markings and as such we are classifying them under the Hasbro banner.

Image: Adam's photo hole.