R2-W50 - Droid Factory

R2-W50 is unlike any other Astromech Droid in the Galaxy. As a loyal Astromech, R2-W50 lives on Naboo serving different members of the Royal house. His droid build is similar to other classic R-series droids, but features an iridescent coloration on its body. Joint R2-W50 on his adventure across the galaxy. May the Force be with You... and your Droids!

This Astromech Droid figure was created to commemorate 50 years of magic at Walt Disney World Resort.

In 2015, Disney celebrated 60 years of Disneyland with the Droid Factory R2-D60 action figure based on existing Build A Droid tooling. Now, seven years later, they’re celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Disney World in Florida with R2-W50. R2-W50 is similar in appearance to R2-D60, but instead of white highlights, Disney went with gold highlights. They also made the plastic and deco translucent to give it a sparkly appearance. Whether you like this particular format of the astromech droids or not, there is no denying that the Build A Droid/Droid Factory concept is a hit with collectors of all ages. When Hasbro added them as pack-in premiums to The Legacy Collection/Legacy Collection basic figure lines between 2008 and 2010, it forced collectors to get one of each figure to complete the droids, making collecting fun (provided you could find the basic figures). No matter what, there will always be a facet of collectors who loathe these figures. After all, Disney removed the foot wires, and that’s a significant setback.

Disney produced a vast collection of droid parts in 2012 (utilizing Hasbro’s parts library and a few additions of their own) and created a bittersweet mess of droids. They enhanced our collections and made us build more droids at once than we probably ever expected to see in a lifetime. The new droids are a little less attractive, and the quality appears to have diminished over the years. As Disneyland in California celebrated its 60th anniversary, the Droid Factory line was well on its way to gaining a collective audience. Seven years later, it’s time for another anniversary, but this time at Disney World. They’ve stepped up to the plate to produce R2-W50 for the collecting community. R2-W50 uses the all-new parts created by Disney, and this R2 unit is a nice-looking commemorative collectible in every sense of the word. If you look carefully and compare R2-W50 to any previous Build A Droid figure using Hasbro parts, you will see that all the parts are new. Sadly, the wires on the legs are history, but they made them essentially interchangeable where you don’t have to worry about a left AND right leg to balance out your figure correctly.

If you grab two legs of the same color, you will have the two legs you need to build your droid. The parts snap together very quickly (and better than any Hasbro figure had to date) and the figure looks beautiful and complete when assembled. R2-W50 also brings some uniqueness to the astromech world. The back of the figure’s packaging explains that R2-W50 is unlike any other astromech droid. Specifically, the bio points out that this droid includes a translucent body and standard R2-series dome. Also, the figure’s card back features a front and back diagram of R2-W50 where it directs your attention to all of the droid’s features, perhaps more than you have ever wished to know about any astromech droid. Burtt Acoustic Signaller? Herner Optical Holographic Projector? Luminescent Diagnostic Display? It’s all there to see if you’re inclined or interested. We also can’t help to see that R2-W50 got its inspiration from R2-D2. R2-W50 is a fascinating new astromech droid that will undoubtedly appeal to any collector who focuses on droids.