R7-A7 - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW43)

Added: February 1st 2011
Category: Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side], The
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: R7-A7
Collection: The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side]
Number: CW43
Source: The Clone Wars (Season 1 Episode 19: Storm Over Ryloth)
Availability: January 2011
License: Hasbro

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R7-A7 is Ahsoka's astromech droid. He joins her on many missions and provides navigational support when Ahsoka flies her Jedi starfighter. Called "Arseven" by Ahsoka, the droid is her co-pilot during the mission to take out the Separatist blockade surrounding the planet Ryloth.

It’s inevitable that Hasbro will always be able to find a new Star Wars character to make into an action figure from the earliest episodes of The Clone Wars. In the third phase of The Clone Wars line, Hasbro delves into the very first season to bring us Ahsoka Tano’s astromech droid R7-A7. What makes it particularly frustrating however is the name designation. Why is this an R7 droid? If you have collected the Build A Droid lines of figures, you know that R7 units are extremely unique from R2 and R4 units. So why does R7-A7 looks like and R2 or R4 unit? We don’t know and we think we’re done worrying about trying to figure it out. Heck, even R3-S6 (Goldie) from the first phase of The Clone Wars line isn’t technically an R3 unit. Perhaps astromech droids didn’t stick to a proper designation during the Clone Wars. R7-A7 is a colorful astromech and it makes sense that it was the next one in Hasbro’s parking lot because it is owned by Ahsoka Tano, the most popular female character in The Clone Wars line! But don’t expect the droid to gain the notoriety that Ahsoka has. This is an obscure character, but one we’re excited to have finally!

After Hasbro tweaked 2008's TCW [B] R2-D2 (No. 8) to make 2009's TCW [B] R3-S6 (Goldie) figure, the mold has been reused since to make some pretty neat astromech additions to the line including 2010's TCW [SOTDS] R4-P17 (CW30) and R8-B7 from 2010's TCW [SOTDS] The Rise Of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack Toys R Us exclusive. R7-A7 is essentially purple with a gray dome and is accented with lime green detail. The droid is striking and we haven’t seen a droid like this in the basic figure line, animated or realistic. It’s a refreshingly interesting droid and we think Hasbro did a fine job making it very accurate to its onscreen appearance in The Clone Wars. And now since we have Ahsoka Tano’s Jedi starfighter, the circle is complete because we all want the full-bodied droid to accompany all of our Jedi. R7-A7 is a droid that has a nice dirty wash on it, making it appear as if it has picked up too much space dust on its dome and even the fine details like the various colored lights bring depth and character to droid in new and exciting ways.

But if we’re to be completely honest here, there isn’t anything new to expect here. As collectors, we just assume that we will be getting varied astromechs in the line that utilize just one or two unique sculpts of some other base figure(s). It’s pretty much everything we’ve already seen on an astromech droid in The Clone Wars line to date, but we experience this phenomenon in the realistic line as well. The two front panels open up to reveal the same tools and the back of the droid has a small door that houses a hook and chord. As popular as Ahsoka Tano is, it’s more than evident that her astromech just doesn’t have the same (or remotely similar) popularity of R2-D2. In fact, R7-A7 has only appeared in a handful of The Clone Wars episodes. Then again, many of the realistic astromechs made by Hasbro haven’t seen much screen time at all either. But getting new and cool droids isn’t about being in a popularity contest. We honestly can’t get enough and we hope that a plethora of new ones await us in The Clone Wars line. Until they do, be sure to check out R7-A7 – it’s a very cool droid and more exciting then some other ones we’ve received.

Collector Notes

R7-A7

Status: R7-A7 is a rework of 2009's TCW [B] R3-S6 (Goldie) (No. 23) figure, which is a modified version of 2008's TCW [B] R2-D2 (No. 8) figure.

Articulation Count: 15 points (15 areas of articulation)

Articulation Details: swivel dome (1), sliding sensorscope (1), swivel left leg (1), swivel right leg (1), hinge-jointed left foot (1), hinge-jointed right foot (1), left leg rolling wheel (1), right leg rolling wheel (1), third leg rolling wheel (1), hinge-jointed front left panel door (1), hinge-jointed front right panel door (1), hinge-jointed back panel door (1), hinge-jointed data link utility tool (1), hinge-jointed extension arm utility tool (1), extendable cord (1)

Accessory Count: None*

Accessory Details: *third leg with rolling wheel is removable

Date Stamp: 2008

Assortment Number: 26374/94736

UPC: 653569534532

Retail: $7.99 USD

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.

R7-A7

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