Death Star Droid - Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures

The original Kenner Star Wars line appealed to so many facets of our young creative minds. But that creativity was directly born out of the diverse cast of characters Kenner developed for us in the basic figure line. We had to create our own adventures, perhaps with the help of a few random playsets here and there and come up with our own inspirations for storylines and battles we fought during playtime. Almost immediately as the line began, younglings were treated to a diverse cast of heroes, villains, aliens and droids that were as unique in look as they were from their roles in Episode IV. And even though we eventually learned that their costumes were far from accurate, it didn’t diminish our adoration for them in the slightest. Very similarly to Kenner, Gentle Giant Ltd. quickly worked on getting the droids of Star Wars into the awesome Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line. And after the main droid characters, Death Star Droid was one of the next up for consideration.

In a very impressive move, Gentle Giant Ltd. replicated the vac-metallization process used on the 3.75” vintage Kenner line in exactly the same fashion. The Death Star Droid is so extraordinarily shiny that it’s as beautiful as a piece of fine jewelry. The bonus for the collector here is that the Death Star Droid is at one-sixth scale so you can see the exquisite details in an amplified state. This means they stand out and you notice things that just aren’t possible to appreciate on the 1979 Kenner figure. The details sculpted into the “metal” panels and the structure of this eerie protocol droid have never been clearer. To top it off, the black paint used to accent his photoreceptors and shoulders is flawlessly applied. There aren’t any scratches, nor is this paint operation scantily applied. You’re left with a very richly decorated droid. The only issue you’ll likely have is correctly identifying him. Is this 5D6-RA-7 (the black protocol droid on the Death Star) or is it 3B6-RA-7 (the silver droid on the Sandcrawler)? Let the controversy begin!

It has been believed by many that Kenner intended the 1979 Star Wars Death Star Droid figure to be the figure from, um, the Death Star and not the one in the Sandcrawler. But because they went with the silver color instead of black (probably once again due to a limit on available reference materials), the Death Star Droid was colored silver. It honestly doesn’t matter. We didn’t care about such details and kids and it rounded out our Death Star Space Station playset and Jawa Sandcrawler quite nicely. Just like his 3.75” counterpart, Death Star Droid comes with five simple swivel points of articulation. That’s all he needs and we love him for his simplicity. Unlike many Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures, the Death Star Droid has even legs and can stand upright without assistance or clever posing. He literally is perfect as is. The Death Star Droid is another fine addition to this line. It is our prayer that Gentle Giant Ltd. decides to make them all. And we hope they do. We’re confident that they will.