Plo Koon/R4-F5 - TAC - Droid Factory (1 of 6)

Jedi Master Plo Koon flies his Jedi starfighter into battle against Separatist forces, aided by is astromech droid R4-F5.

The Walmart Droid Factory sets from the 30 (77-07) were released during early summer 2008 and provided collectors with clever updates to some of our favorite Star Wars characters and then paired them with a "new" droid or a droid that has been updated to fit in the modern line better than ever before. They all contained droid parts to complete another figure of C-3PX. It is an awesome exclusive and for the Plo Koon/R4-F5 set, updates were made to the 2005 ROTS Plo Koon (III 16) figure. Hasbro gave him better coloring all around. But most importantly, the set introduced R4-F5 for the very first time in the toy line. Definitely another winner of a set, it doesn't necessarily rival all of the other two-packs but remains a very strong one. The Droid Factory appealed to every type of collector out there. The characters in the two-packs were evenly pulled from all different Star Wars sources, from the films, to the comic books and introduced us to many never before made characters. And since these sets retailed for under $10 each, they provided incredible value for your dollar. When all was said and done, you got 13 figures for a grand total of $59.94 (or $4.61 per figure), a value we didn't even see in The Power Of The Force "2" line that restarted it all in 1995.

Plo Koon has been given a significantly extreme makeover as far as his paint job is concerned. Whereas the 2005 figure has a bright flesh tone to it, the newly enhanced Droid Factory version has a bronze wash or hue to it. Other details on his costume have been repainted as well and we have to say that this sculpt has never looked better painted in this fashion. Maybe he is decorated in a bit of an exaggerated way (with a muddy look), but Plo Koon still becomes more authentic than ever and we think it is a vast improvement from the 2005 figure. We take exception however with Hasbro's disregard to paint the neck the same color as the rest of his body. It doesn't match at all with his face and hands and we find this to be a little setback. Thankfully the neck is hidden for the most part under the head so maybe this is the reason that Hasbro didn't feel the need to repaint it. Still, the figure looks pretty good and we are glad that Hasbro did something with him than nothing at all. (Editor's Note: Hasbro must have thought that they did this figure proud because he was added to the Saga Legends in both the blue phase of The Legacy Collection a few short months late as well as the Legacy Collection red phase.)

Of course the bigger treat of this two-pack is R4-F5. "Barely" seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, this droid was only seen during the Order 66 sequence in the film and we only caught a glimpse of the droid's dome and nothing else. Of course, we did received this "droid" in 2005's TARGET exclusive Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter and got a better look at it that way, but if you're looking for a great film reference, well, you're not really going to find one. Since we don't have something to compare the figure against, we have to comment on the action figure objectively for what it is. And it is a pretty great droid. Mostly white with a blue dome, R4-F5 is one of the more simple astromechs in our collections. Interestingly, the droid has a slightest off-white and "pinkish" hue throughout the "white" body that you may not notice immediately. In fact, this wash varies from one sample to the next. Some of its panels are outlined in the same color blue as his dome and these details really make the droid's texture pop. It is very nicely painted and has a very clean look to it. While we are sure this droid has or will be included in the Expanded Universe in greater detail, he is still a droid that makes his debut in Episode III. This set is an absolute winner and we hope that Hasbro loads us up with new astromech droid each year. They really add a new perspective to our collections.