Super Battle Droid - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 12)

A super battle droid is harder to destroy than its more vulnerable predecessor. This powerful droid has a protective body case and built-in double-laser blaster. Once it is unleashed on a target, a super battle droid does not cease advancing and firing its weapons until the object of its attack has been eliminated.

After the first wave of The Clone Wars figures were released on July 26, 2008, collectors had to wait almost a full two grueling months for the next wave to hit retail. The second wave of figures didn't provide us with the most clever and new designs of characters, but we did get the hugely popular Ahsoka Tano and an all-new sculpt of the common Super Battle Droid. (The other two figures in the wave were essentially clone trooper retools.) The Super Battle Droid was an interesting figure. It wasn't loaded with articulation, but it did have an amazing and very realistic paint job that seems to be abandoned with the newest The Clone Wars figures released. On top of a beautiful paint job, the figure includes two arm cannons that were designed with the kids in mind. But the nice thing is that the cannons are removable and collectors can display the Super Battle Droid without any awkward action features. It is a great display figure and looks fantastic in a battle diorama fighting against a Clone Trooper (No. 5) or one of the Jedi.

The Super Battle Droid in The Clone Wars line is an interesting design. While it looks nearly identical to the style seen in the animated television series, it really doesn't favor the look of the droids that were seen in the Prequel Trilogy films. You may think that none of the other characters from the television series look like their realistic style counterparts, but we would disagree. Yes, the designs are unique, but the Super Battle Droid is almost an exaggerated caricature of the droid seen in Episodes II and III. The Clone Wars styled Super Battle Droid has a much too large body section atop very skinny legs. Its "gourd on stilts" shape is one that would never pass for a realistic-styled figure. What do we think of it? Well, it certainly is unique in form, but it isn't believable that this droid would be an imposing force against the Galactic Republic. Its rotund shape doesn't make it believable that this droid could chase after enemies or possess enough agility to win battles. But the droid is quite a bit taller than most other figures, so its size alone must be the determining factor of its deadliness.

The figure itself is a decent one. Although not loaded with articulation, the figure does have good arm articulation. Hasbro decided to expend tooling costs on the inclusion of an action figure. Two removable cannons can be attached to the bottom of its arms and both can fire a long projectile. We would have preferred this extra sculpting be applied in knee joints. The figure is obviously top heavy and since his legs can only be posed at the hips, not much else can be done to ensure it stands up without falling over. We spent quite a bit of time trying to make our sample stand upright and we failed many times. It is a shame when an action figure cannot stand up on its own. And it is especially frustrating when there is no assistance via extra joints to help make the balancing easier. But even if the Super Battle Droid action figure has this issue, the figure scores high marks for its paint job. Super Battle Droid is a solid figure that it a worthwhile addition for your collection. We believe repaints and retools of it will be inevitable. We will just have to see what Hasbro brings for us down the road.