Battle Droid - EI - Action Collection

Thousands of battle droids are deployed by Naboo to destroy the Gungan army.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace brought to our attention a host of new Star Wars characters. Both aliens and droids never seen before became a significant part of the film, and many Star Wars fans quickly embraced the new blood introduced. The B1 battle droid is the droid equivalent of a Stormtrooper in the Original Trilogy. They’re “everywhere” in The Phantom Menace, and sometimes it feels like they could overtake any band of freedom fighters they try to suppress. Thankfully, they’re easily defeated. A single blast or a swipe of a lit lightsaber easily takes them down. As the main army-building villain of Episode I, Hasbro ensured that they made them in all of the scales. And they developed a beautiful toy with the Battle Droid Action Collection figure. While it doesn’t come with as much articulation, we hoped to see for a figure of this size, but yet what they did include here feels adequate. Regardless, there is no room for debate that Hasbro tooled a figure that will stand the test of time, even if its articulation does not because the likeness is astounding, and that’s saying quite a bit since these are CGI characters. The Battle Droid needs more articulation and flexibility, but aside from that it turned out very well.

Battle Droids in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace are very tall. For the averaged-sized human male like Luke Skywalker, they stand six feet tall. And Hasbro represented their taller-than-average stature well with the 12 Inch Figure. The Battle Droid has an excellent center of gravity, has a simple yet accurate paint job with a nice amount of battle-damage, only a few accessories (but relevant ones) and simple articulation that is as frustrating as it is useful to attain some interesting poses for the figure. For example, the Battle Droid’s articulation system is comprised of all swivel and hinge-jointed points of articulation. The limitation of swivel articulation prevents posing the figure’s parts on an infinite amount of different planes. You’re stuck in that 180-degree range. But at the same time, the articulation does allow you to have the Battle Droid “run” and “kneel” and hold its droid blaster with two hands. The inclusion of two swivel forearms makes posing the figure holding the gun with two hands effortless and interesting. It’s a feature we’re happy to see added here. It makes posing more interesting and screen-accurate. As you can see, you have many options with this figure. We only wish that the articulation given to it was richer.

As briefly mentioned, the Battle Droid comes with a removable backpack, and there is writing on the top of it designating the number of the Battle Droid. For one reason or another, Hasbro decided to tool two separate antennae, a long one and a short one, that are removable. Be careful you don’t lose them when you pose your Action Collection Battle Droid figure. Also included is a miscolored gray droid blaster. In case you’re not aware, the droid blasters are black with a significant amount of silver accents from paint scratching. It’s a shame that Hasbro missed this important detail. But Hasbro added a square-shaped knob onto the handle, which plugs into a “space” on the Battle Droid's hand, keeping it firmly in place as you pose the figure. Plus, the addition of hinge-jointed fingers allows you to realistically recreate the Battel Droid holding the blaster in its hand, even though the knob/plug functionality is doing all of the work. The biggest issue with the Battle Droid is the lack of head articulation. You cannot turn the head left or right, and it’s only articulated at the neck. That’s a huge setback for this figure. Other than a few complaints, this is a fun figure from the Action Collection line.