R2-D2 - LC - Basic (BD29)

Scavenging Jawas find R2-D2 in the Jundland Wastes. They incapacitate the droid and attach a restraining bolt to keep him from escaping. The plucky astromech droid is then place in the cluttered hold of the Jawas’ sandcrawler.

“Oh my goodness! Machines creating machines? How perverse!” This quote from Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones immediately comes to our minds when looking at the new R2-D2 figure in the A New Hope wave of the Legacy Collection. For R2-D2 is the first astromech droid to include an astromech droid part in the very popular Droid Factory pack-in series and while it is a warped sense of humor on our part, we can’t help but chuckle over it. R2-D2 gets a new Episode IV update and he is loosely based on the sequence when he is first captured by Jawas via electrocution and then has a restraining bolt affixed to his body. To be quite frank with you, the figure looks splendid. It has a battle-worn and trek weary appearance that only can be effective with the use of dirty washes and this figure has plenty. The blue that colors his panels and other details is now a metallic color and light picks up all of the glittery characteristics it has. The red port on his front and yellow port on his back are evenly colored and not outside of the lines. And while they are not too bright themselves, they add just the right amount of extra details needed to make R2-D2 as authentic as possible from Episode IV. The best part of this new R2-D2 is his dome, but we will get to that in a few moments. Time certainly has the ability to bring action figures to a new level and this is true here.

This R2-D2 figure is nothing too special outside of its decorations. Utilized a half a dozen times already, this figure is based on the 2005 TSC Early Bird Figures R2-D2 figure (which is a direct descendant of the 2004 VOTC R2-D2 figure). The panel which was previously removable has been glued into place (again) and this time a non-removable restraining bolt has been added to it. We would have love to seen a removable restraining bolt included, but Hasbro for some reason decided not to go in this direction. We are sure many of you are relieved by this since you do not like holes in your action figures. But we still think this added detail would have done a great deal for the play value of the figure. As we looked back in our action figure history, we were surprised to discover that only one other R2 unit has had the restraining bolt added. And that figure was the very elusive 1999 POTF2 [FF/CT] R2-D2 (With “Holographic” Princess Leia) figure. An amazing decade has past since that figure was released and what a metamorphosis R2-D2 has gone through indeed. R2-D2 gets the dulled metallic dome as most of us have wanted for years and we are thankful that the shiny silver dome has been put to rest. At least we hope not to see this vac-metallized attempt resurrected back into the line ever again. R2-D2 looks great now and more authentic than ever. When you turn his head, his sensorscope goes up and back down again. Not a feature we absolutely needed, we think a little more work should be placed on making this appendage look a little more realistic. It has a much too thick stem and we think it works against the action figure a bit. Besides, we don’t think that this version of R2-D2 needed this functionality.

R2-D2 comes with a removable third leg and the blast effect from the Jawa ionization blaster. While it doesn’t look amazing, it absolutely does an effective job as serving as the figure's added accessory. It fits over his dome quite well but we think were it a brighter blue, it may have been even more effective in recreating that energy that debilitated R2. Outside these points, R2-D2 is simply, well, R2-D2. We look forward to seeing updates of version we already received with the new dome. It truly is a beautiful sight to behold and we think it is terribly overdue. Wave 3 of the Legacy Collection has brought us three retooled vintage styled figures including Chewbacca (BD31), Han Solo (BD30) and now R2-D2. Hasbro has certainly gotten their money’s worth out of these figures. But they are also smart enough to reinvent them to provide collectors with figures that are "new enough" for our collections. R2-D2 undoubtedly provides a refreshingly pleasant new look at R2-D2 and we are sure multitudes of you out there are looking to update your 1999 POTF2 R2-D2 figure. This is the figure that is worthy of replacing it and we encourage you to hold onto the "Holographic Princess Leia" figure to use with this new one. Add this R2-D2 to your collections. It will fit in nicely with your Sandcrawler display and even 2008's TLC Disturbance At Lars Homestead playset (if you have not passed on it). This R2-D2 has given collectors a wonderful update on a classic figure and we are thrilled to have it in our collections.