Red Five

R2-D2 30th Anniversary Collection
Originally uploaded by rdeetz.

A while back I declared this to be the coolest R2-D2 figure ever.

Well, I finally got my hands on one. Did it live up my own hype?

In a nutshell, no. In fact, at first I was quite disappointed.

Pros

• This is the first R2 based on the best-in-class R4-G9 sculpt.


• It is a new version of R2 from one of my favorite moments in Revenge of the Sith.


• When fully assembled and "just sitting there," it looks pretty cool.

Cons

• Despite finally getting an R2 on that awesome sculpt, this version uses the STUPID RUBBER LEGS that have plagued recent astromechs like R4-K5 and R4-M6¹


• In addition to the legs being rubber, they have a new design for the rockets. Unlike R2-D2 III-07, The sockets are much deeper in the legs, so when the rockets are detached, the leg has an obvious hole (and seems dangerously weak as well).


• When not attached to the "fire," it is basically unusable as a "regular" R2. The paint (that represents the glow of the fire) is too yellow—without context, he looks like he was dipped in mustard.

So, this was definitely not the figure I was hoping for. Which may be the problem—my expectations were probably too high. Ever since they introduced the new astromech sculpt, I have anxiously been waiting for the "definitive" R2. (Preferably, there would be two versions... a "clean" one and a "weathered" one, using the painting technique they used on R4-P17. IMO, that one is finest astromech they have ever done.)

But as I thought it about it more, this figure is not without merit. As a one-note statue, it's quite good. I guess I'll just need to look at it from that certain point of view, and keep my fingers crossed for the future.

[Update 5 April 2007] It looks like another reviewer came to basically the same conclusion that I did.

On a related note: For Celebration IV, they had to go and make this awesomeness the exclusive figure. Sheesh. When I can actually go to a SW Celebration, they have some cheesy talking Vader, and now that they moved it away they make the Best. Exclusive. Ever.

¹ I have no idea what on earth possessed Hasbro to replace the usual sturdy plastic legs on this R4 sculpt with rubber ones, but it is not a welcome development. There was nothing wrong that I could find with the original legs, and in my experience (which is considerable when it comes to astromech figures), the main legs are prone to bending and warping. So now the bending and warping will be worse with the rubber legs, not the mention the "look and feel" problems that arise when you have such different materials on the same figure.