R2-D2 - POTF2 [FB/CT] - Basic

A long time ago....
A new Star Wars movie will premier in movie theaters next Summer. It is Episode I of the Star Wars saga and the first movie in a new trilogy that goes back in time a full generation to tell the story of Luke Skywalker's father Anakin. We will see how Anakin became a great Jedi Knight but then turned to the dark side to become Darth Vader.

Though small and unassuming, the astromech droid R2-D2 has proven to be a pivotal figure throughout the quest for freedom in the galaxy. Whether delivering Princess Leia's message to Ben Kenobi or accompanying Luke Skywalker in his X-wing fighter as he delivered the fatal blow to the first Death Star, Artoo's actions have become legendary within the annals of the Rebel Alliance. But unknown to his compatriots, Artoo already had plenty of time and experience at the center of action. Many decades earlier, he served on board the ship of the young queen from the planet Naboo. Even then, he displayed an unmistakable knack for helping others out of dire circumstances.

Congratulations Kenner/Hasbro! You have created a worse astromech droid than the “attack” R5-D4 that was released in 1996. How that is possible is a conundrum because it seems that they have slowly but surely become better and better with each successive year. Why the huge step backwards here is beyond our capacity to understand. What is up with the inability of R2-D2 to turn his dome? What is up with a new version of this character coming with less articulation than any of his predecessors? And what is up with that third leg? Is he well-endowed? Is he hiding something bigger than a lightsaber hilt? Or is this just the worst action figure money can buy of all time? Perhaps it is a little bit of all the above! R2-D2 from The Power Of The Force “2” [FlashBack/CommTech] line is a complete disappointment. As collectors, we long to see the modern line update the classic Kenner figures, but this one just doesn’t come close. You’ll either completely pass on it, or you will instantly begin waiting for them to update this particular iteration of this character again when they can make thing right and screen accurate once and for all.

R2-D2 is essentially a miniature plastic statue. If you want to rave about the two swivel legs he comes with then more power to you. But we find his lack of articulation completely disturbing. We understand that the head needs to be in a certain position when the “launching lightsaber” action feature is activated, but a permanently locked in place dome is just something we’re unwilling to accept. What makes this worse is that his dome is at an angled position. You will never get R2-D2 to look straight ahead and that is something that drives us nuts. R2-D2 comes with a ridiculously oversized fully lit lightsaber with an odd shape in the blade so that it will lock into place to recreate the classic scene from Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. OK, so now we understand why his third leg is so obnoxious. The third leg acts as the place where the lightsaber projectile is housed before activating the feature. But it is so thick and horribly tooled that it looks plain ridiculous. You almost have to wonder how this got past licensees or even Hasbro executives. How could they let something this silly pass by them and allow it to go into production? We’re speechless.

But if you do press the center panels on his body, a spring activates the lightsaber and it pops out from his dome so that the waiting Luke Skywalker figure in your collection can catch it and rescues his friends from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. Admittedly the feature works, but R2-D2 looks so ridiculous that it’s hard to take this toy seriously. Too bad Hasbro couldn’t have just added a lightsaber hilt and a better scaled R2-D2 figure. Perhaps having a projectile that short is against safety codes for toys. But it would have been nice. That being said, R2-D2 does (for now) scratch off a modern update for a figure in the classic Kenner line. On a positive note, R2-D2 does have a nice paint job, although his details are so skewed that even great paint operations cannot save this action figure from harsh comments. As you can see, we find it quite difficult to say anything nice about this action figure. Overall, R2-D2 is a huge disappointment. Even those huge silver circles on the “shoudlers” of R2-D2’s legs look completely off as well. We just don’t know why there is so much wrong with this action figure. It was one we anticipated but the final version just didn’t meet expectations. Hopefully they’ll try better next time.