R5-D4 - TBS [SW40] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

When it comes to retailers exclusives, it’s a pretty sure bet that Hasbro is going to use some sort of existing tooling to make them. Sure, we’ve absolutely seen new tooling here and there, but it works best for the budget when Hasbro can simply repainted an existing sculpt instead. Besides, it’s a great way to get characters that Hasbro might not have normally planned for the 6” line. GameStop is a retailer that has been stepping up to the plate with regards to Hasbro’s The Black Series 6” line. They’re not only carrying the mainstream releases, but now they’re doing their own store exclusives. For the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars, GameStop has been solicited R5-D4 in The Black Series [Star Wars 40] lineup. Hasbro confirmed during Star Wars Celebration Orlando that there would only be 14 figures under the “40th Anniversary” banner: the dozen based on the vintage Kenner 12-Backs and two exclusives: the Star Wars Celebration Orlando Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) figure and this R5-D4 figure. It seems that Hasbro could have really gone all out and produced the rest of the 21-Backs. It seems like a hugely missed opportunity to not release their impressive Boba Fett 6” figure on a Star Wars card back. But then again there are many things that Hasbro doesn’t do (or that they do) which confuse us as well.

For R5-D4, the only issue we have is its scale. But it appears that Hasbro has no intention of correcting it as we keep getting astromech droids without any increased scale updates. 2013’s TBS [P1] R2-D2 (#04) really set the stage for disappointment (for droid fans wanting to get involved with the 6” line). Not only was he too small, he wasn’t painted that nicely, especially when compared to the prototype images. But this figure has been the based for all other atsromech droids released in The Black Series 6” line ever since. In 2016, Hasbro offered Toys R Us the R2-A3/R5-K6/R2-F2 multipack which gave us our first look at an R5 unit in 6” scale. Hasbro then utilized the R5-K6 sculpt to bring us R5-D4. In all honesty, scale issues aside, the R5 unit in the 6” line is pretty nice. And R5-D4 translates nice into the sculpt as well. The dome isn’t too big and details like the photoreceptors, antennae and the various panels/buttons look expertly recreated from what we see in the films. R5-D4’s dome fully rotates and the third leg is raised or lowered depending upon which way your turn the dome. The legs don’t appear to be warped like they have with other releases (because the packaging is too tight) and R5-D4 overall looks about as screen accurate as we’re going to get thanks to a great paint job.

R5-D4 comes with a very subtle dirty wash. Hasbro could have gone a little more crazy with this final deco, but R5-D4 still looks good approached this way. What we’re impressed with the most perhaps are the three vertical center panels on the back of the figure. Hasbro didn’t neglect to paint these red and we are very, very happy about this. If you recall, R5-D4 supposedly appears in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones WITHOUT the panels on its back painted red. Being that this is a 40th anniversary version of the astromech droid, we’re thrilled to see such screen accuracy from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. As always, R5-D4’s striking red, white and blue coloring is beautiful. R5-D4 also comes with two hinge-jointed panels. Each feature a unique utility tool for extra play value. The tools gold back into the body cavity of R5-D4 very nicely when not in use. And the panels stay shut as well. The jump from screen to collectible toy is something that should make all 6” fans happy. And the packaging, while awkward for us, seems to be resonating well with the new collector base. R5-D4 is a bit overpriced for what it is, but it seems that 6” collector have no issues justifying these prices for the larger figures.