Astromech Droid [Red/White - Dome] - Galaxy’s Edge Trading Outpost

Droid Factory/Build A Droid has returned, but this time the droid parts arrive assembled as a figure, and they’re no longer exclusive to theme parks. We’re happy to see that Droid Factory and Droid Depot are successful for Disney Parks, and they now want to see how they perform at retail. Now, in collaboration with Hasbro, a new collection of droids through the Galaxy’s Edge Trading Outpost label are sold in a boutique type of arrangement, through big box retailers like TARGET. This time, Hasbro upgraded the design of the Droid Factory figures. Returning to the design of including “foot” wires, and filling in that obnoxious and useless second lower hole for leg attachments, the latest iteration of the Build A Droid design is the long-awaited version fans wanted to see years ago. Hasbro must keep variety in the line, and take the opportunity to produce screen-accurate droids from Star Wars Entertainment. There are so many characters needed for the 3.75” action figure. So where is R5-X2 or R8-B7 and all of the new droids from Disney Star Wars and original Star Wars and everything else in between? The Galaxy’s Edge trading Outpost line is the way to finally get them out to collectors and we’re happy to see this line available. For the inaugural release, Hasbro produced a wave of six Droid Factory figures. They are simply described as Astromech Droids or BB Units and we received three of each. Each is special by coming with an exclusive accessory, or an interchangeable dome. What we’re calling Astromech Droid [Red/White - Dome], the figure comes with an interchangeable R5 Unit dome to create another character.

The new and revised version of the Build A Droid astromech figure can be traced back to 2017’s Star Wars [TLJ] R2-D2 Force Link figure. Obviously the Force Link feature is gone for these figures, but the figure’s upgrades are so much more important, and collectors took notice of them. The design and updates closely match a screen-accurate astromech droid. And we’ve come far from the original R2 Unit design from 2009’s TLC R2-L3 Build A Droid figure. Astromech Droid [Red/White - Dome] comes with eight points of articulation. These points include a swivel dome, swivel left leg, swivel right leg, swivel left foot, swivel right foot, a hinge-jointed left leg wheel, a hinge-jointed right leg wheel, and a hinge-jointed third leg wheel. While the articulation system of this astromech droid design isn’t perfect, there is enough movement here to display the figure as needed in your collection or diorama in some interesting poses. You’re likely not going to complain. Astromech Droid [Red/White - Dome] has a distinct “Episode IV” look and feel, but it doesn’t match any specific character completely. The body is mostly red, and the mechanical arms and some panels are white. Its legs are white as well. The “main” dome is red, but it comes with an alternate white R5 Unit dome that resembles R5-D4 very much. You’ll find other bits of color throughout the figure as well. This figure is another nice-looking droid, but it may have been better reserved for Droid Factory’s 2020 Christmas release instead, as it has a strong “holiday” vibe to it. Still, we can’t help but to think “A New Hope” when looking at this astromech droid. Maybe it’s the R5 Unit dome making us think that way.

The Galaxy’s Edge Trading Outpost “Build A Droid” series comes in interesting geometric packaging that doesn’t stack nicely at all. The center of the box comes to a point and it you try to grab all six releases in your hands, they’re not going to stay there long. Each droid is individually boxed, and has a unique assortment number and UPC code. But they all come packaged together in a shelf display that looks similar to the displays that house blind-boxed toys. At the very least, Hasbro doesn’t appear to have difficulty getting these out to retail. There are reports of stores receiving four boxes of this assortment. TARGET set up a special Galaxy’s Edge Trading Outpost endcap to feature all of this exclusive Star Wars product. We only hope that all the various lines prove successful at the retail level because we’d love to see this line continue for years to come. There are a ton of droids that Hasbro isn’t making in 3.75” scale, and this is the perfect way to deliver them to collectors. It does appear as if Hasbro is going for variety with this collection of Droid Factory droids. The Astromech Droids are colorful. And we can interchange the parts for additional variety. The sky is the limit for this line. Each droid in this collection has an MSRP of $9.99 each. Yes, it’s a little bit pricey for a single droid. But when you look at what The Vintage Collection figures cost, we are saving a coupe dollars per figure. Overall, we thrilled to see Droid Factory/Build A Droid return, and it’s fantastic we get all the parts in one fell swoop. We no longer have to chase after basic figures for a single part anymore. Our only wish is that Hasbro starts giving us specific characters in this lineup.