Destroyer Droid - EI - Basic

Elite units of the Trade Federation army, these armored wheel droids unfold into 2-meter tall walking weapons platforms capable of immense destruction.

Episode I introduced the Star Wars community to a bevy of new droids. Two of them were instant favorites in the Episode I toy line. Perhaps one of the more interesting action figures produced was the Destroyer Droid. Officially called Droidekas, these dangerous Separatist foes played an important role in the beginning and ending of The Phantom Menace. As a result, they became popular Star Wars action figures for kids and collectors alike. Pushing the boundaries of sculpting and articulation, the extremely accurate likeness of the Episode I Destroyer Droid was immediately noticed by astute collectors. Although unable to completely roll into a ball like seen in the film, the Destroyer Droid action figure came close enough to performing this action that to a cleverly developed approach by Hasbro. They added a “bendy” feature to the Destroyer Droid’s spin, which allows you to curl it up a bit. But they also added jointed shoulders, elbows and limbs to help the collector ball it up a bit to recreate some of its features in the film. As a character that relatively remains exactly the same throughout Episode I, we believe Hasbro has done a magnificent job bringing this action figure to the table. You’ll want to army build it for sure.

Destroyer Droid has been created with great precision and care. Again, we’re struck with its authenticity and the few features Hasbro worked into the sculpt. This all new sculpt comes with 12 points of articulation. The head, arms and legs all articulated in multiple places, which gives the Destroyer Droid a wide range of movement, and the ability to be posed in many aggressive stances. Just check out our photo gallery to see what can be accomplished. This amount of articulation is quite impressive for a figure in the Episode I line when the standard is half that. This is why this figure will remain a strong success in the basic figure line for years to come. It's significantly ahead of most of its Episode I mates because it has a level of realism many of the other Episode I action figures haven’t necessarily achieved all that well. Although the action figure does seem to falsely advertise that it can roll up like a wheel to quickly engage its enemy. Sadly, this is not the case. You can “sort of” accomplish this, but it won’t come close to the way you’re hoping it would look. In all fairness, we’re not even sure if the Destroyer Droid’s ability to do this is just movie magic or if it can really be accomplished in real life via an action figure. Time will tell.

If we had to nitpick the figure, we’d have to draw attention to its “face”. The “eyes” seem to be sculpted differently than what we see in the film and a revision in the future would be wonderful. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro fixed this issue by including the head sculpt of 2002’s SW [S – P1] Destroyer Droid (Geonosis Battle) (’02 #48) figure with this figure’s body and released it as 2007’s TAC Destroyer Droid (30 59) figure.) But for now it’s not a deal breaker, at least for us. The Destroyer Droid is beautifully painted. All its colors have been applied in glorious metallic finishes. You’ll find copper, purple, gray, red, and white that all bring accents and realism to this fantastic sculpt. Even if the figure has a minor accuracy issue with its head sculpt, we still believe this figure will hold up well throughout the years. It's easily one of the best right out of the gate. Between its durability to have lower body articulation yet remains upright and straight, and its wonderful array of articulation, this Destroyer Droid action figure will undoubtedly remain a kid and collector favorite. The Destroyer Droid also comes with a CommTech chip, which allows it to mumble electronic phrases and other sound effects. It can’t use the CommTech chip as a display stand however, due to the nature of the figure’s design.