Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,397: R2-Q2 (Custom)

R2-Q2 (Custom)
Fan-Produced Custom Manufactured Figure
Item No.: No. n/a
Manufacturer: Stan Solo Creations
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $37.00
Availability: ca. May 2020
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: A This figure is injection molded plastic. The dome clicks when rotated. This is a new loose figure. (Stolen from the Stan Solo Etsy store web site. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: It's fake, and it's spectacular. (But I'd buy an official Hasbro one in a heartbeat.)

A few years ago I had a rare chance to fall into what I considered extra money so I went a little nuts and bought several Stan Solo Creations figures. They look good, they feel decent, but they're expensive so I very rarely touch them. It's kind of unfortunate, because if these were $10 per I'd buy them all and buy them in triplicate. One of the many droids I snagged was one of my all-time favorites, R2-Q2. The first Hasbro R2-Q2 [FOTD #233] came out in early 2006 and I'm sure whoever initiated such a thing must have really loved action figures and action figure collectors, but who could confirm this?

Stan Solo's figure remixes elements from that figure, the original Kenner R2-D2, and the droid as seen on the Blockade Runner in the original Star Wars. The body and panels are a close match to pretty much every official model or figure, with lots of black and white boxes. It departs a bit on the body sticker, with white lines running up above the black bar below the dome. The back of the sticker closely but not identically matches the first Disney and Hasbro figures, with a long horizontal black box on top and a vertical one with the white border on the bottom. Interestingly, Stan Solo left the white border off the top box. The other panels are mostly represented by outlines or little drawings of the various panels, plugs, and vents. They did a nice job. It doesn't explicitly match the movie or the existing figures, but it passes the vibe test. The color also matches the plastic nicely.

The painted legs also match previous figures well, with black and silver detailing. The PVC legs look a lot like my old R2-D2 figures, except for the fact that they bow in a little bit. This happened on a lot of the Stan Solo droids I picked up. The dome is notable in that it's clicky, but feels pretty stiff. I appreciate the detail, and the dome sculpt replicates the 1978 dome rather than the later gimmicky ones. The body is the pop-up lightsaber R2-D2 body.

Dome deco is also good, but doesn't match the figures. Each of the Hasbro and Disney ones have a black cap on top - this one doesn't. Each one interprets the movie design a little differently, and Stan Solo merged some details. In the movie, the black equator-esque line around the dome runs in line with the eye box - and this comes close. It has a gray gap between the black line and a white line that goes around the "pie slices" on the top of his head. My sample has a slightly askew black line, and any way you slice it, it wouldn't leave a lot o from for the gray bit. A little bit peeks out, though. The black eye box is replaced by a black eye, and the red and blue lights are remixed per the needs of Kenner's whackadoo R2-D2 dome design. It's not an exact match, but it certainly feels like something Kenner spent a few minutes trying to replicate and saying "good enough" before heading out to lunch. If we got this interpretation as children, I think we would all be very happy with it.

I would love Hasbro to make a similar droid in The Retro Collection to go with Captain Antilles and the Rebel Fleet Trooper, mostly so you could own one. This figure is now rather expensive, which is funny given that it's a "custom" unlicensed piece that could probably be rerun were the creators so inclined. I like it. I think it turned out well. I doubt we'll see it rerun, but I really would love Hasbro to crank out some droid repaints for our old-man plastic needs. Clearly, there was a market for this sort of thing.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from one of Stan Solo's US resellers around July of 2022. They've since ran out and the prices are getting pretty high.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,397: November 12, 2026