Hasbro Takes On EU In Droid Factory Series 2

    There seems to be a good deal of discussion about the new set of Droid Factory 2-packs that have been announced by Hasbro at their Toy Fair presentation this past Saturday. And with good reason. Hasbro has dug pretty deep into the expanded universe to build this particular series of WalMart exclusive 2-packs. How deep? Read on!

Anakin Skywalker & Cortosis Battle Droid – The Cortosis Battle Droid appeared in the video game STAR WARS: The New Droid Army which is set in the early days of the Clone Wars. The droids were made from cortosis alloy, which was a metal that was resistant to the lightsabers of the Jedi. This construction made the Cortosis Battle Droids nearly invulnerable to the Jedi, and they were only defeated when Anakin Skywalker found a small seam in their armor that was not made from cortosis.

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General Grievous & CB-3D – This 2-pack is derived from the Dark Horse comics limited series Star Wars: General Grievous. General Grievous is obviously the title character of that series, and the plot centers around Jedi padawn Flynn Kybo’s attempt to assassinate General Grievous after his Jedi Master died by Grievous’s hand. Kybo’s astromech droid accompanying him on his doomed mission was CB-3D, with the astromech tasked as a code breaker on the mission.

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Darth Maul & I-5YQ – Drawn from the Darth Maul – Shadow Hunter, this may be a first as a 2-pack drawn from a novel. I-5YQ was a protocol droid that was owned by Correllian information merchant Lorn Pavan. Pavan had equipped I-Five with some “special modifications” including lasers in the droid's index fingers, and regarded the droid more as a partner than as property. Darth Maul killed Pavan when the Corellian tried to sell Trade Federation plans for the invasion of Naboo. I-Five continued on and reappeared later in the expanded universe, from the Clone Wars and into the Dark Times.

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Boba Fett & BL-17 – This 2-pack draws from the 1980's era Droids animated series. BL-17 was a Battle Legionnaire droid that worked for Boba Fett. The droid's story seems to have been somewhat retconned to incorporate the events of the Clone Wars into his origins. But for his only appearance in the Star Wars saga, see the Star Wars: Droids episode “A Race to the Finish” (1985). Note that this episode is not available on the Droids DVD which was released in 2004.

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Corran Horn & Whistler – Now this is a character that EU fans have been waiting for! This incarnation of Horn is from his stint as a pilot in the fabled Rogue Squadron, as Rogue 9. Corran Horn appeared as an X-Wing pilot in the X-Wing - Rogue Squadron series. Whistler was assigned to Horn during his days with Corellians Security, or CorSec. Horn made some special modifications to Whistler that upgraded the droid substantially and led the droid to develop a personality.

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Dark Trooper (Phase II) – The build-a-figure droid for this series is the Phase II Dark Trooper. The Dark Troopers originated in the Star Wars: Dark Forces video game. In the game Rebel agent Kyle Katarn is tasked with destroying the Dark Troopers by Rebel leader Mon Mothma because the Dark Trooper armor is so powerful that it presents a clear and present danger to the Rebel alliance. The phase II Dark Trooper armor was the most prevalent of all incarnations of the Dark Trooper, and was designed to be used by Stormtroopers.

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The new Droid Factory series is exclusive to Wal*Mart stores. It's set to be released in August, and with that collectors can expect to see these sets packaged in the new package design that is slated for the line's relaunch in preparation for the second season of CLONE WARS.