Battle Droid Commander - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW22)

Battle Droid commanders transmit orders to squads of battle droids. Their advanced programming includes increased independence and enhanced intelligence, which gives them the ability to execute their roles effectively. They have yellow markings to designate them as commanders.

Did it really take Hasbro more than two years to get the Battle Droid Commander character into the basic figure line? For reasons unknown, Hasbro released 2009's TCW [F/S1] Rocket Battle Droid (No. 25), 2009's TCW [S2] AAT Driver Battle Droid (CW33) and 2010's TCW [S2] Firefighter Droid (CW47) figures all before the leader of the generic Battle Droids. What is only more surprising than that is that its simple design and paint job should have made it an obvious candidate in the line very early on but it didn’t. Well, the point is that this figure is finally here. But there is honestly nothing to write home about it as it is just a repaint of the generic 2008 TCW [F/S1] Battle Droid (No. 7) action figure we have seen plenty of times already. But there is something about action figures with yellow detail on them that make them particularly interesting. We first got a glimpse of the Battle Droid Commander as OOM-9 in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. While the commanders are just as incompetent as their drones, there is still something “commanding” about its presence. Usually paired with a pair of macrobinoculars (just like the action figure has), the Battle Droid Commander is unique in demeanor, look and overall presence in the action figure line.

The Battle Droid mold has held up well throughout its short life in The Clone Wars line, but we don’t think it is quite definitive enough either. We clearly don’t think it’s been perfected yet, it holds up rather well for how delicate of a design the droid is. We can tell you that this sculpt is desperately in need of knee joints (at the barest minimum) and ankle joints (this would be gravy) to attain the maximum amount of flexibility you need to set it up in your various displays in your collections. While there has been some sacrifice made to the figure as far as sculpting is concerned, Hasbro sort of made up for that with a nice paint job. Subtle battle-damage markings cover the droid in varied spots (mostly in the upper body, but there are still plenty of spots elsewhere like on the legs for example) and the yellow circle on its chest and backpack has perfectly clean edges. The yellow on the top of its head gives an illusion that this droid is wearing a cap but it is a nice detail that indirectly bridges a gap between the films and the television series. And the droid has a rather straight posture for not having the best balance when trying to pose it unassisted (or naturally). Nicely accessorized, macrobinoculars and all (yes, the droid is holding them incorrectly in our photo gallery), Battle Droid Commander is just awesome in our eyes.

Collectors have been expressing to Hasbro for years that the packaging is taking a toll on the figures’ aesthetics. Clear bands and bubble trays and warping and disfiguring our action figures. Thankfully, the Battle Droid Commander doesn’t suffer a terrible fate in this area as it comes out of the packaging nicely intact. The legs aren’t terrible mangled and the arms fall nicely at the droid’s sides. The neck does unfortunately get a little twisted in the mix, but we’ve had ours out of the package for a few days and it seems to be going back to “normal” already. While the Battle Droid Commander is certainly not an action figure to jump for joy over, it still is essentially a basic necessity for your The Clone Wars collection. Who else will lead your “roger, roger” droids around the Star Wars universe looking to beat up the Republic? Battle Droid Commander will serve as an animated version of the Episode I commander for those looking to collect the movie-only animated figures. And even though he leads squadrons of other battle droids, Battle Droid Commander is still another great army-building droid. He may be the least interesting action figure in wave 2 of the “Shadows Of The Dark Side” line, but it still is a fantastic addition and we are thrilled Hasbro finally got it out there for us!