R2-D2 (With "Holographic" Princess Leia) - POTF2 [FB/CT] - Basic

While repairing his new droid R2-D2, young Luke Skywalker unwittingly short circuits its recording system, causing a holographic image of the young Princess Leia to appear. She implores the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then disappears as quickly as she emerged.

If there is one thing that you’re guaranteed to get from Hasbro, it would have to be a new R2-D2 figure. Always looking for ways to make fresh and new version of the feisty astromech droid, Hasbro brainstorms and came up with a pretty fantastic new version of him for The Power Of The Force “2” [FlashBack/CommTech] lineup. Although not perfect, R2-D2 (With “Holographic” Princess Leia) is quite an improvement over previous iterations. Between the enhanced articulation, upgraded third leg movement and overall sculpt, this figure eclipses all past versions as far as we’re concerned. Even the body cavity has updated detail and better proportions. The inclusion of a restraining bolt makes this version of R2-D2 specific to the scenes surrounding the purchase of the droid and R2-s time with Luke Skywalker. Obviously this makes the inclusion of a holographic Princess Leia figure especially poignant. Together, this “duo” is picture perfect and a tremendous inclusion to the modern Star Wars basic figure line.

Perhaps the most noticeable enhancement for us on R2-D2 (With “Holographic” Princess Leia) is the paint job. He is yellowed, but the way Hasbro decorate him you can see that this “yellowing” is gradual. It is extremely well done. You know about the added restraining bolt (we would have given Hasbro extra big kudos if they made this a removable accessory), but it is very important to note that they also added “grease” or “dirt” below where it has been situated on his body. It’s beautiful. We’re also especially impressed with how a simple addition has made this R2-D2 figure look all the more authentic. Do you remember that stuff called “space tape” from the 1980s? It was a style of collectible stickers that had multiple color reflective properties in it. Well, unbeknownst to us how they cut them so small, Hasbro added two pieces of it for the front of R2-D2’s dome and one longer piece on the back of it which gives the illusion that his dome is blinking with multiple colors just like it did in all the Star Wars film. Color us impressed, literally.

We also have to mention the update third-leg. It slides out and all three feet are hinge-jointed. You can pose R2-D2 in a variety of ways because of this. The included “Holographic” Princess Leia figure is really just an accessory here, but we would be remiss if we didn’t give Hasbro credit on her sculpt. There is no denying that this looks like Princess Leia and she seems to be in perfect scale with R2-D2. You can even bend R2-D2 over and pretend that he is projecting the image just like in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. She has been cast in a translucent blue plastic. It appears as if a fine “glitter” has been added to the plastic to give it its shimmery effect, but it has actually been painted in a metallic wash instead. It looks absolutely fantastic. Although it is very difficult to make out any facial features on Princess Leia just because she is so tiny, there is no denying that the silhouette of this figure looks just like her. A CommTech chip has been included of course and function like an action figure display stand as much as it does a separate collectible pack-in item. This is a great version of R2-D2 indeed.