Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,297: R3-M2 (Rogue One, Droid Factory)

R3-M2 from the new film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars   Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Probably Not Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 4 total droids
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $29.99
Availability: September 2015
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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 figures are featured in new film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  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:  Here's a surprise - R3-M2 has a new dome mold, the only one in the set.   Some older renderings of R3 droids - specifically R3-01/R3-M3 [FOTD #1,301] - have domes like this one, so maybe Disney has just cracked open the door to give that one another shot.  I hope so, Hasbro's take was always a little murky.

The body looks similar to other recent droids, with stripes running up and down plus a positively giant one running down its back.   The off-white body and earth tones merge to look like a robot that could be rolling down shag carpeting, perhaps next to a space princess in bell bottoms.  It feels very 1980s - and so does the dome, yellowed by the sun or stained by coffee in appearance.   It has a textured eye - possibly a first in Astromech droid toys - and lacks much of the detail from the other ones.  There are fewer panels and sensors here, plus the addition of a seemingly true-to-movie-R3s-but-we-never-complained-before silver equator at the base of the dome.  This seems to be a key R3 feature from the movies, but your toy collection completely lacks it.

So in short, this new dome means you could have reason to re-buy every R3-series droid.  Oof.

The feet have silver "toes" and like all Disney droids since the second wave, there are no wires on the feet.   A shame, because these are largely very good - and this missing feature is a permanent asterisk when it comes to determining if the figure will suggest the door is still open for a revision later.  With a couple hundred droids out there to collect you probably don't need - or want - droid revisions, but we've been getting quite a few of them in recent years.   Demand something new!  You're worth it.  This is new, so get a R3-M2 if you love your Astromechs like I do.

Collector's Notes: I got mine at Disneyland.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,297: October 27, 2016