RA-7 PROTOCOL DROID Blue
Star Tours Droid Factory Customizable Figure
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney?
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Removable limbs
Retail: $12.95
Availability: April 2017
Appearances: n/a
Bio: The RA-7 protocol droid, also known as the RA-7 inventory droid, the RA-7 series protocol droid, the "insect droid" due to its large photoreceptors, and nicknamed the "Death Star droid" due to its use aboard the first Death Star, was a model of protocol droid manufactured by Arakyd Industries. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: I've had these guys for years but apparently haven't looked at the
RA-7 Protocol Droid (Blue) or
any color yet. Let's start with this one. Disney had bins of parts out at its theme parks where kids could make abominations swapping parts and Frankensteining together the droid of their dreams. This is great fun for them, or great frustration for older fans that just want a figure that looks like it might be in a movie or a cartoon. I had to enlist some help to get these guys, because theme park admission ain't cheap.
While similar to Hasbro's molds, Disney built its own thing. The pieces all look similar, but the arms have more articulationand Disney even added wrist joints. The legs sadly don't bend 90 degrees, so this is not a good figure to pilot any ships. On the other hand, the added elbow and wrist movement means you can have a great tour guide or greeter. The figure stands easily, and doesn't topple over when you knock a desk. The mouse house did a good job letting their consumer products department redesign this one.
The droid's unpainted limbs no doubt help keep costs down, with some painted wires on the black painted belly region and silver eyes making up the paint budget. This is a good move for a kid toy, because it won't show scrapes quite as easily as a figure with painted limbs. The silver eyes pop nicely, and the dark blue plastic hides some of the figure's shortcomings. I really don't like the smooth mouth, but also, I can't really see it. It feels unfinished, but there's a nice wrinkle here - it doesn't matter.
As far as I can tell the only blue RA-7 droid appears in
a comic book and it's possible (but also unlikely) it inspired the designers. Like I said, it doesn't matter - to most fans, this was a souvenir. It's not a movie droid, or a cartoon droid. It merely is what it is. If you like the colors and design, that's great! There's really not much to compare it against and scrutinize it. It's an original thing, and while some of the details are a little soft I can't knock it. It is the only blue RA-7 I have, it will probably be the only one we ever get.
As we approach the hair-graying 50th anniversary next year, I'm starting to ask "why?" a bit more when I pick up a figure. I got these guys because I wanted to be all-in on droids, which has proven expensive given Disney having some as a 1:4 pull in an expensive vehicle and some were produced in tiny numbers - so I'm no longer all-in on Disney droids. As of now this one doesn't really have a home in any playset, planet, or environment - it just exists to be collected. I'm in no rush to sell it, but I admit it has no real place and if I ever did have to dump my collection, this is one of the things I probably wouldn't miss. It's not bad, it's just an example of how far away we've gotten from what brought a lot of us to collecting these toys in the first place. It's not from a story I liked as a kid, it's not styled like the figures I had as a kid, so I don't have a reason why I would necessarily encourage you to hunt one down other than completism. And I would discourage you from that behavior given how much time, space, money, and bandwidth it can take to keep things going - but I can tell you I absolutely felt it was worth the $13 when I got it.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Disney Hollywood Studios. Thanks Shannon!
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,380: September 15, 2026
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