R3-M3 or to some, R3-O1The Legacy Collection Build-A-Droid
Item No.: Asst. 87535
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: n/a
Availability: September 2009
Appearances: Star Wars
Bio: R3-M3 was an R3-series astromech droid which served the Galactic Empire aboard the first Death Star. He was most likely destroyed along with the space station over the planet Yavin. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)
Image: Adam Pawlus' yard.
Commentary: Ever since I finally caught a decent (blurry) picture of R3-M3 in 2005, it was my mission to make it happen. Unfortunately, it was right after another Astromech-related mission was wrapping up, so it wouldn't show up for another four years. This mold is based largely on the same basic build-a-droid construction used since 2008, except the dome and the wiring under the dome are clearly (hah) new tooling. The retooled dome has some minor panel changes, and, for some reason, isn't as clear as the next build-a-R3 droid. The blue is quite bright, and the panel decoration is pretty unique as, well, not many droids get made with all-blue bodies. There's R2-B1, and this one, and that's about it so far.
The figure has typical articulation for a modern astromech-- ankles, shoulders, dome, and a removable third leg. It's nothing spectacular, but it is about as good as these should be. Since all he really did on-screen was stand around and look cool, Hasbro did one better by letting the figure have a decent range of motion. Heck, you could put him in a vehicle if you wanted. As Imperial Astromech droids go, this is one of my favorite designs-- and if the blue was darker and the dome were clearer, it would be one of the best ever. But we'll just have to settle for really cool.
Collector's Notes: R3-M3 (then known as R3-O1) was on the cutting room floor of the Astromech Droid Packs for various reasons-- and it's one of the few times I'm glad a figure got delayed. This figure's mold was way better than the one that existed in 2006. As a build-a-droid with the Wave 9 Legacy wave, he was packed at a higher ratio than his counterpart, so odds are eventually completing one shouldn't be a huge challenge.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,301: June 9, 2010
Most likely was destroyed?
ReplyDeleteYou mean there's no story about him being a double agent and escaping moments before the Death Star blew up? With him later reuniting with his one true love, strange background droid in Mos Eisley that was on camera .5 seconds?