Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,059: R8 Unit (Purple, 2023 Pride Collection)

R8 UNIT Disney Exclusive
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Red R2 unit, orange R4 unit, yellow R5 unit, green R6 unit, blue R7 unit, violet R8 unit
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $74.99
Availability: May 2023
Appearances: n/a

Bio: Meet the colorful collection of droids from the Star Wars Pride Collection. Each one of the six detailed R Unit figurines has just rolled off the Droid Factory production line and boasts a different design, creating a special set featuring every color of the rainbow. (Stolen from the marketing copy.) In celebration of Pride and the company's Pride collection, The Walt Disney Company is giving funds as part of our ongoing commitment to organizations around the world that support LGBTQ+ communities. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!   

Commentary: I believe this R8 Unit not only rounds out the Pride Collection set, but is also the first-ever R8-series droid available outside the theme parks too. There have been a handful of them you could put together with parts from bins, but this is the only time you could get a prebuilt one in a box so far. As a post-original trilogy Expanded Universe droid, it's technically not canon, but I guess we haven't seen another R8 droid design so it isn't not not cannon either just yet.

This might be one of the nicest colorways of this boxed set. The light purple body, darker purple head, and bluish purple highlights really stand out nicely. Nothing blends in, and you can see lots of details like a black "eye" with a silver ring to make it dance, red lights on the side of the dome, lots of purple details, silver greeblies, and just a whole heck of a lot more love seems to have been put into this one. It also looks like an Easter egg. But hey, Star Wars can use more color.

This figure reused the R7-style body which is a nice change of pace from the typical R2-D2 body. The two main legs have rolling wheels and jointed ankles, with a removable third leg that has a wheel. The wheels don't do much - he would probably skid across the desk with no wheels about as well as he rolls with them. If this were a carded figure, I'd suggest getting it. Little details like the quasi-checkerboard pattern on top of the dome, the big silver sensor on the "face," and the distinctive colors make this stand out in a collection of hundreds of droids. It's still in stock as of my writing this, so hopefully you got yours by now.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shop Disney.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,059: August 29, 2023