Figure of the Day: Day 43: Crab Droid

CRAB DROID Moving Legs and Missile Launcher
The Saga Collection
Item No.: Asst. 85182 No. 85571
Number: n/a
Includes: Missile
Action Feature: Moving legs and missile launcher
Retail: $9.99
Availability: 2005
Appearances: Primarily Revenge of the Sith

Bio: On the sinkhole planet of Utapau, the Separatist forces send in crab droids that can move easily over the rough, rocky terrain. The launcher under their center section launches powerful missiles. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' Trade Federation vehicle shelf.

Commentary: With a real lack of Separatist anything, a figure like the Crab Droid really bolsters the ranks of their forces nicely. Designed for a sinkhole planet, it has multiple moving legs activated by a button and a firing rocket. In other words, compared to most figures, it really doesn't have meaningful articulation, or for that matter, hands or a head. Armed to the teeth, this nifty robot is much larger than the movie counterpart, making it sort of a giant Crab Droid. It's also missing the "face" design elements, like the big red eye and some other bits and pieces. As such, this is probably closer based on concept artwork, a roughed-out "toy" concept of the Crab Droid, or some other not-entirely-true-to-the-movie element. As such, we could see Hasbro doing another one down the road with a few revisions and an all-new sculpt.

Collector's Notes: This is the only Crab Droid Hasbro has made, and it's so big it almost crosses over into the "vehicle" category-- but it's sold as a figure, so we'll treat it like one. There really aren't any major variants so just pick up a couple and let your Utapau Clone Troopers go to town on them. This isn't the only figure Hasbro "enlarged" when making it a toy. In the old days, Kenner made the Snowspeeder very large when compared to the figures, and recently, it appears Hasbro made Rappertunie much bigger too.

Day 43: June 18, 2006