Heavy Battle Droid - TVC - Basic (VC193)

Why can’t Hasbro use plastic that is reinforced, keeps its shape, and doesn’t bend from natural occurrences, like gravity? The Vintage Collection Gaming Greats Heavy Battle Droid is another weak release in the line. And it’s becoming annoying at this point that Hasbro can’t give us action figures with some necessary rigidity and the ability to keep and hold positions endlessly. If you recall, Hasbro recently re-released 2012’s TVC Battle Droid (VC78) through the Fan Channel. It appeared that about 50% of the Star Wars collecting community was excited for the option to purchase the figure again, but when released, collectors soon realized how Hasbro phoned it in once again. Sure, the figure came with better paint operations, but the plastic used could barely sustain any poses, and the figure bent in your hands as you attempted to pose it. We have the same problems here with the Gaming Greats Heavy Battle Droid. We didn’t expect Hasbro to tool an all-new figure, but why couldn’t they work with materials with a sturdier makeup? For the Heavy Battle Droid, the only saving graces are the various paint operations. Hasbro did a fantastic job with them, but does it matter if the figure is garbage?

When Hasbro released the Battle Droid (VC78) figure in the first wave of 2012 of The Vintage Collection, most of us didn’t expect back then that the figure would become one of the worst peg-warming action figures in years. But it was one of the worst. Ironically, it’s the template for other Battle Droid releases in the modern line now. The figure’s poor sales and cheap materials haven’t stopped Hasbro from repainting the figure to base it on its appearance throughout the Star Wars timeline. Nothing new has been brought to the table with the Heavy Battle Droid action figure aside from its paint job. All that’s different is its deco job which now sports a red/orange/maroon base color with lots of accents to show its wear from the various battles it partook in the Star Wars universe, this time from the Star Wars: Battlefront II timeline. The neck not only slides up and down, but the neck post can also articulate forward and backward, albeit minimally. You get a small range of movement here. The Battle Droid also has two ball-socket shoulders and two ball-socket hips as well as hinge-jointed elbows, knees, and ankles.

While this articulation type worked wonders for the 2010 SW [SOTDS] Battle Droid 2-Pack (SL20) Saga Legends figures, the ball-sockets are much smaller this time. As a result, they don’t offer half the ability to move around like the larger-sized 2010 Saga Legends Battle Droid figures (which were repaints of the figures from the 2009/2010 LC Geonosis Arena Showdown sets). If you work with the figure for a while, you will get in some cool poses, but it’s not as easy, and we find that frustrating. Newer figures should give better ranges of motion, not worse. We appreciate the slimness of the action figure, but it is just too darn small. And now that the figure I more rubbery than usual, it only complicates things. We have taken issue with the height of the Battle Droid (VC78) figure, so we have to take the same issue here. This sculpt is unequivocally too short for a B1 Battle Droid. You may disagree with that assertion, but we will stick to our guns about this nonetheless. Hasbro has goofed on the height of the Heavy Battle Droid action figure. The Heavy Battle Droid comes with an extra blaster rifle. It can hold it, but it wasn’t designed for its hands. Hasbro also placed the figure on a Star Wars card, which creates many other problems for this figure.