Battle Droids [AOTC] - TAC - Saga Legends

The Separatists utilize battle droids as their primary infantry forces. When assaulting strategically important worlds, these droid forces can be painted with special markings to help them blend into their environment. Though not individually a threat, attacking en masse these droids can become a formidable fighting force.

There is no way anyone can deny it. Hasbro designed 2007 for collectors. Not kids. Not gift-giving parents. Not anyone else. Collectors. And they did this through a multitude of ways. One of the most exciting parts of the whole 30 (77-07) era was the Saga Legends line. Now, it certainly wasn’t more exciting than the basic figure line which brought a wealth of first time offerings, incredible updates and a wave full of surprises, but 2007 was the year that Hasbro introduced the Saga Legends “Greatest Hits” line. In fact, early case assortments of this line actually had “Greatest Hits” printed on it. The purpose of the line was to keep Hasbro’s most popular Star Wars action figures and main characters in the line at all times. There were some duds (per the opinions of collectors), but there were also a wonderful number of excellent figures released that deserved another chance at retail. The 2004 VOTC Boba Fett figure comes right to mind. But what made Saga Legends even more special was that in addition to a cast of figures that Hasbro deemed necessary for re-release, they coordinated with super fan site Rebelscum.com and hosted a Fans’ Choice poll which gave collectors the chance to pick some figure THEY wanted to see released. With only a few minor bumps during the election process, a heavenly motley crew of action figures were chosen and collectors were ecstatic.

With just a couple years out from the final Prequel Trilogy film Revenge Of The Sith, there was still a great need to keep those Prequel Trilogy characters in the mix. As a result, Hasbro took 2006’s TSC Battle Droids (SAGA 062) figures and made four unique two-packs of Battle Droids for the 30 (77-07) Saga Legends line. In case you didn’t know, the Battle Droids two-pack from The Saga Collection line are actually retools of the Battle Droid figure from 2002’s SW [S - P1] C-3PO (With Droid Factory Assembly Line) Deluxe set. The magnet has been removed for the TSC figures. And this is the exact iteration that has be utilized for all of the Battle Droids two-packs in the Saga Legends lineup. Hasbro first released a two-pack based on Episode I. It included a generic infantry B1 Battle Droid and OOM-9, a Battle Droid Commander. The second set released contained two infantry Battle Droids as seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. The third set paid homage to the original Episode I Battle Droid figures. It contained a duo of “shot” and “sliced” Battle Droids which represented blaster and lightsaber damage respectively. The fourth and final set also paid homage to the original Episode I figures two. The remaining two B1 Battle Droids from the Episode I line (clean and dirty) were also updated utilizing this relatively newer sculpt giving us modern updates to the four original 1999 releases.

Generally speaking, the paint operations were tremendous. All eight Battle Droids had exquisite battle-damage and beautiful paint operations which brought them to life. All Battle Droids come with a removable backpack as well as a droid blaster. Three out of the four were clearly based on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (and even Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith if we’re being technical here). But the oddly added Battle Droids [AOTC] set is the only duo that is based on the Battle of Geonosis as seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. Interestingly, all four two-packs have been packed with an Episode I coin, where the maroon colored Battle Droids should have really come with an Episode II coin instead. These figures went over well with collectors and most felt that they were admirable, albeit not perfect, updates to the original Battle Droids from the Episode I line. But there were indeed better sculpts of the B1 Battle Droids released in both the Star Wars “Saga” and Revenge Of The Sith lines for example that perplexed collectors on why Hasbro didn’t use those sculpts instead. Released in the middle of 2007, collectors went crazy of the Saga Legends line. It was a very fun time to collect, and many of us rebought figures that we probably didn’t need to rebuy. But that was a big part that made this era of collecting such a blast. The figures were plentiful and you could expect when you’d see new ones.