8D8 - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Basic

Originally designed to work in smelting factories, 8D8 worked under EV-9D9 in Jabba the Hutt's droid operations center.

As The Power Of The Force “2” Freeze Frame line reached its end, Hasbro was banging out some pretty amazing and screen accurate action figures in it. One of the standout figures of this phase of the line was 8D8 (did you know its name was also spelled Atedeeate too....), a torture droid in Jabba’s palace as seen in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. It’s not as if the 1983 vintage Kenner figure was bad by any means. In fact, it’s one of the highlights in the entire vintage Kenner lineup. But what Kenner/Hasbro did for the modern figure was so incredibly special that it eclipses the vintage figure by a landslide. (That shouldn’t be interpreted as if the vintage figure is inferior because it isn’t. They’re in two separate and distinct classes of their own.) Between a beautiful, fresh and enhanced modern approach to 8D8, Kenner/Hasbro crafted a stunning replication of the droid we grew to fear as younglings as well as remind us of a character from another 80s film: The Terminator. We digress. Although 8D8 is hardly an A-list character, this torture droid stands out among the many other humanoid droids in the Star Wars universe.

8D8 was special in 1998 because for the first time ever Kenner Hasbro tooled a generously sized accessory to accompany the figure. Yes, we have graciously been given an incredibly large droid branding device which comes in three parts and is something you have to assemble once you remove it from the packaging. It’s easy to refer to this accessory as a torture rack, and maybe from a certain point of view it is. But this is the tool that was utilized to burn the feet of the power droid who was helplessly suspended upside down as C-3PO and R2-D2 entered the torture dungeon ran by the cold-hearted EV-9D9. The droid branding device is tall and takes up a great deal of space. It almost can be referred to as a miniature environmental piece because is accompanies 8D8 perfectly. They couldn’t have picked a more appropriate item to pack in with this figure. And they didn’t have to pack-in this large accessory at all. Getting the figure would have been enough to satiate fan demand. But on top of a wonderful modern update to the classic vintage Kenner figure we also have a piece of Jabba’s palace forever in our collections.

8D8 comes with six points of articulation. All of the normal points of articulation have been included here. The sculpt is intense and captures every single detail of what we could grasp with our eyes as 8D8 quickly made a couple of appearances, albeit briefly, in Return Of The Jedi. The paint operations may even rival the sculpting. Every last screw, crevice and contour is expertly decorated to look as real as possible for a plastic action figure. The droid also comes with a light port in the head so its eyes can glow, just like in Episode VI. We are thoroughly satisfied with the final product here. II f we had to complain at all, it would be with the plastic used for the legs. We feel that Kenner/Hasbro should have used a stiffer plastic so that the legs would have held their shape better. Over time, the lower legs tend to bow. And the longer you leave 8D8 be, the worse they’ll curl. It is only with a hot water treatment that you’re able to return 8D8 to a relatively normal curl-free state. And even then you won’t have a perfect specimen. Despite this, we still think that 8D8 is a fantastic action figure, and as far as we’re concerned, and a must for your collection.