R4-BOO18 - Droid Factory

All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. This droid is dedicated to serving the residents on the mining colony of Cloud City. Join R4-BOO18 on his adventure throughout the galaxy.

May the Force be with you.... and your Droids!

It’s an annual thing now. Disney Parks continues to release holiday-themed astromech droids each year. Some are good. Some are great. And some end up disappointing collectors. R4-BOO18 turn out to be the latter. Don’t get us wrong. Disney released some fantastic Droid Factory figures throughout the years. R3-BOO17 is a standout figure. R2-BOO wasn’t half bad either. And let’s not forget all of the Christmas-themed and May the Fourth-themes droids also produced. As you’d expect, R4-BOO18 is another colorful Droid Factory figure from Disney. For this release, candy corn is the inspiration. But Disney colored both the figure and the piece of candy corn he comes with incorrectly. A simple Google search for Brach’s candy would have directed Disney in their quest to produce the most-accurate and most-perfect R4-BOO18 action figure. But they failed, slightly. These figures aren’t based on any real characters. So what they’ve produced for us here is really alright for what it is.

Surprisingly, most collectors of Disney’s Droid Factory line don’t scoff at the prices for the figures (and vehicles) produced for the line. Perhaps collectors don’t pick this line apart because Disney produces consistently beautiful action figures. And without a doubt, R4-BOO18 is another one of these fine action figures, authenticity issues aside. You get an action figure that breaks down into five main parts, and if we’re extra fortunate, we get cool accessories or hats to interact with the figures. All of this and more is included with R4-BOO18. The figure comes with a white dome. They also have it a yellow and orange body in addition to two legs both with orange and yellow as well. The panels and arms also received a clear, but sparkly coat of paint to accent the more detailed areas of his body. The arm that holds the piece of candy corn is articulated and attaches to the hole in the dome. It does its job just fine, and we love how functional Disney made the accessories they pair with their astromech droids.

We strongly feel that there are SO MANY other Halloween-themed ideas Disney could go with before resorting to mimicking candy. They could even tie in some of the creatures of Chamlun’s cantina or Jabba’s palace into their ideas and drive home some powerful connections. But even if they didn’t do that, they could reach deep into the cultural history of Halloween and play it safe with some of the most classic monsters and decorations and apply it to the Droid Factory line. What about working in Jack Skellington? What about Jack-O-Lanterns? What about a witch? A black cat? A cauldron? What about Frankenstein? What about the Wolfman? What about the Mummy? What about Count Dracula? Think of all of these universally adored characters and other Halloween associations that could be incorporated into the Droid Factory line? They all have to be better than candy corn, right? Still, we’re so fond of this line that we do see the charm in R4-BOO18. As long as Disney keeps them coming, we’re happy.