Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,159: R2-Series Astromech Droid White and Yellow

R2-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID White Dome with Yellow 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:  You might think you don't need another R2-Series Astromech Droid - you'd be right - but this one looks really different.   White domes on the rounded R2 model are pretty uncommon, so this one really stands out with its shiny, egg-like form.   (And it looks like more white ones are coming.)   The two-tone black and silver projector pops nicely, as does the red dot under the black eye.   There's really nothing too stand-out-ish here, other than the fact that this is a color combination we've never seen as a toy and unless I'm mistaken, we've never seen this color combo anywhere.   I really appreciate seeing more new dome colors out there, particularly when they really stand out as distinctive takes on popular breakfast foods.   It blends in on a shelf of astromech droids, but alone it stands out as something visually distinctive.  It also doesn't match many of the other bodies too well.

The body of this configuration was retooled.  The lower holes on the R2 body were removed, so you can't make a four-armed droid anymore.  The white plastic body has silver and yellow markings, most of which are painted well.  The back of the body is similarly decorated with a ton of yellow panels highlighted with silver paint - few of the other figures have quite this much deco.   It's one of the best of the batch.   I'd love to see this pattern done in other colors as well.

Each leg is new - actually, it's only one leg.   Disney had issues keeping enough matching right and left legs during the 2012 run, so I'm sort of happy that they found a clever solution to the issue.  Each foot has been redesigned so it's the same on the front and the back.  It combines elements from both the front and the back of the feet of the first ones, while retaining the wheels and dropping the wires.  As such it isn't perfect, but it's pretty good.  This pair of legs is white plastic with yellow and silver highlights.  I should also note that the arm was retooled so that the "rod" and "dots" on each arm have been removed and the "shoulder" has been smoothed out.

The central white foot for this (and all the other) colors is now unpainted, while the 2012 batch had silver markings around the bottom of the foot.

I really like this one because it's so clearly different than the other 100+ droids I've already bought.   I don't have any white droids with round domes that I can recall white droids with the R2-D2 template on a white dome that I can recall, and now I do - so I look forward to seeing what's next, and I hope that these little buggers don't get into the hundreds of varieties.  Because from the look of things, we're getting pretty close.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,159: May 27, 2015