R4-P17 - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW30)

R4-P17 is Obi-Wan Kenobi's astromech droid. The faithful little droid provides navigational and technical assistance on board the Jedi's starfighter. Rebuilt by Anakin Skywalker, Arfour's original dome was replaced with an R2-series dome. The droid accompanies Obi-Wan on many missions during the Clone Wars.

Do you really need another astromech droid in your The Clone Wars collection? The easy answer is "absolutely" if we're talking about R4-P17! We’re actually quite surprised that Hasbro has not gotten a record amount of astromechs out to us already as R4-P17 is only the fourth since the line made its debut in the summer of 2008. But the great news is that after the release of two lesser known droids (after the most popular R2-D2), Hasbro comes through with what may just be the second most popular: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s beloved R4-P17. R4-P17 (with female programming) may have not seen a whole bunch of releases since her debut in Attack Of The Clones, but she is an immediately recognizable droid. She was essentially “decapitated” by a buzz droid during the Battle of Coruscant in the opening sequence of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. (This is how R4-G9 came into play which interestingly doesn’t have the same following as her predecessor as far as popularity goes.) A little trivia for you, R4-P17 was to be part of the Geonosis Arena execution with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker but her “death” was moved to Episode III for some unknown reason.

Back to The Clone Wars action figure of her, R4-P17 is pretty much everything you’d might expect. She is a repaint of 2009's TCW [F/S1] R3-S6 (Goldie) (No. 23) figure which is a retool of the original 2008 TCW [F/S1] R2-D2 (No. 8) figure. Colored in that standout reddish-brown that we typically use to identify her with, R4-P17 is another wonderful addition to The Clone Wars line. All of the bells and whistles have been carried forward from R2-D2 and other than that there really isn’t much to talk about with this figure. R4-P17 is primarily a white astromech droid with her dome and details on her legs and body colored reddish-brown. Her feet tubing is colored yellow and the main photoreceptor is dark blue. Her smaller eye is colored in a light blue and these mixes of colors keep her interesting to say the least. Two front panels open up to release her arm attachment and a rear back panel opens up to store a chord and hook. The third leg is detachable and she can carefully be balanced on her two main legs. Because they have wheels (which we’re definitely thankful for), it makes standing her up ever so tricky. But it’s completely attainable and we don’t sacrifice quality for aesthetics which is a very good thing. R4-P17 is awesome and we love her, but it’s not like you don’t know what you’re going to expect here.

Interestingly, R4-P17's earlier history in the toy line is much more exciting. In a surprise repack & repaint wave at the end of 2005, R4-P17 was announced as one of the final dozen figures in the Revenge Of The Sith line. (And for the most part this entire wave was exciting.) But thanks to a great base figure (the R4-G9 mold – ironic isn’t it?) and probably the best paint job a droid has ever seen in the modern line, R4-P17 was quickly grabbed up by collectors everywhere. She still holds the record as the best painted astromech in the basic figure line as far as we’re concerned. (There are also packaging variations with the ROTS figure if you're interested.) But this figure laid dormant in the toy line until she was resurrected in 2009's LC Kamino Conflict Battle Packs set. While Hasbro managed to release the figure, the glorious paint job wasn’t salvaged and we got a lovely bright white interpretation of her. We suppose this is OK since the Revenge Of The Sith version was filthy, but it is just amazing to us how Hasbro sacrifices these amazing paint jobs to save a few pennies. A figure with a poor paint job just isn’t the same. So if you’re into clean figures, then R4-P17 in The Clone Wars line will definitely suit your fancy. Again, we love this figure, but its paint job is in need of dire assistance. Dirty up those astromech droids, Hasbro!