BG-J38 - LC - Build A Droid

When we first thought of how to approach our review of BG-J38, we wanted to write up an entire first paragraph of just “YES!” but we realized that would be a bit overkill. But there is really no other way to express our feelings for the joy this action figure has brought us. And as a figure that is slightly plagued with some issues, we honestly don’t care because we are so happy to have this very long overdue figure in our collections for our Jabba’s palace dioramas….finally! BG-J38 is a droid that is very cool because of its unique design, but especially because it is one of Jabba’s possessions. Fans love Jabba and anything Jabba related. Not the most completely visible Star Wars character in the film, BG-J38 can indeed be seen in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi, but don’t blink otherwise you will miss it. The droid is essentially 8D8 with a new head (and of course other small changes) and the final result of this Build A Droid is very sweet. The Build A Droid concept has been pushed to new limits throughout the course of The Legacy Collection and Legacy Collection. It seems Hasbro wanted to get more and more adventurous with the droid selection, yet offer a level of authenticity that had never been seen in astromech and protocol droids. They succeeded time and again and perhaps BG-J38 is one of their crowning achievements. Let us disclaim that this action figure is not without issues, but it is a droid that fans have been dreaming of owning for years now and it is one nice big x or check off of our wish lists.

So, how did BG-J38 turn out? We are glad you asked. BG-J38 is almost flawless in design. Proportionate, wrought with micro-managed detail and colored beautifully, BG-J38 is stellar in appearance. But where he lacks is in the poor production because of rubbery plastics used to uphold his body. The droids legs are very thin and spindly as they should be. But the plastic used gets distorted right inside the droid part packaging before the collector even touches it. If you recall, some astromech legs in this pack-in premium also got easily distorted because the plastic used for them had much more elasticity than the dome and body parts. Well, consider BG-J38’s parts even more rubbery than that. It makes us a bit sad. Hasbro says they have to use the softer plastics on finer action figures to prevent breakage, but breakage is a risk collectors would be willing to take to ensure that gravity didn’t warp the materials from which their action figures are created. The legs and arms are extremely delicate, yet the most accurate of details have been incorporated on the small areas Hasbro had to work. While we think BG-J38’s coloring is off a little bit from what was seen onscreen, the droid is covered in dirt and greasy residue from his exploits in Jabba’s palace. Of particular note, the droid has a lot of purple details in the arms and legs and from what we can tell these should be cast in silver instead.

Whether intentional or a coincidence, BG-J38’s bee-like head fits perfectly with who designed the J9 worker drone droids: Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive’s Machines. (Yes, that is the name of the manufacturer and we didn’t make it up.) The droid’s purpose in life was to provide Jabba himself with entertainment in his palace. It quickly became a clever gambler winning almost every game except those against Jabba the Hutt. But if you watch Episode VI, all you know is that he is playing some sort of electronic game in the background. Sadly, BG-J38 is our last Build A Droid pack-in figure (for the basic line). Hasbro has expressed multiple times that they reserve the right to reuse the Build A Droid parts in future exclusives and such. We hope that after The Vintage Collection runs its course (which we hope doesn’t end for years and years) that Hasbro and company return to the best pack-in premium ever: these Build A Droid figures. There are so many more figures to make and we want some older action figures revisited in this format for sure. It’s hard to fathom that we have received 20 Build A Droid figures (including two Walmart exclusive figures from the 2008 TAC Droid Factory and 2009 LC Droid Factory sets). That is about a third of a year’s worth of new figures all included into the basic figure line as pack-ins. Hasbro was good to us these last few years. Let’s hope that the return of this program is in the foreseeable future.