Figure of the Day: Day 433: Vulture Droid (Blue)

VULTURE DROID Blue Variant
Revenge of the Sith Deluxe Figure
Item No.: Asst. 85182 No. 85774
Number: n/a
Includes: Rocket, buzz droid
Action Feature: Firing rocket action
Retail: $9.99
Availability: July 2000
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: Vulture droid starfighters are highly maneuverable and effective in battle. When not in flight, they can change into a walking mode allowing them to be used in surface patrols. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: There's a fine line between vehicles, beasts, and figures at times, so if it's sold as a figure, we treat it like one-- like this Vulture Droid from 2005, which was sold in a blue variant (as seen here) and a greenish one (which I still can't find and never saw in stores). It's based on the vehicle sold during Episode I, but with a new and fairly ornate paint job and a tiny Buzz Droid sidekick accessory. There's very little articulation to speak of, as the wings can be positioned, and not much else. As such, it can kinda stand, and kinda fly. The sculpting is good, but there's not much you can do with it other than fly it around and have it attack your other toys. It's a solid item, it's very colorful (a rarity on a lot of toys in this line lately), and above all else, it's fun. So why not go get one or two? The paint job is very ornate, I totally dig all the stripes and markings to be found all over the ship, and the bright green "eyes" are nice too. The only thing this figure can't do is have the head pop out of the "body" like in the movie (and on one of the earlier versions of this particular design)-- so there is room for improvement, but not much.

Collector's Notes: This tiny vehicle/figure proved pretty popular, and the variant made it stay that way. Considering Hasbro can do this for $10, it'd be amazing to see what they can crank out when the whole vintage thing runs its course and Hasbro goes back to making genuinely deluxe figures once again. (I'll probably look at the other version if/when I can ever get one for a good price.)

Day 433: July 13, 2007