Destroyer Droid - SW [SOTDS] - Saga Legends (SL31)

Destroyer droids, also known as droidekas, are designed for one purpose only: the complete annihilation of their targets. Slow and awkward in their three-legged mode, they can change into a disk shape for speedy attacks with their twin blasters.

The Destroyer Droid will probably ALWAYS be a character in any Hasbro line. We have seen more than our share of them released throughout the years. And when it comes to the many Saga Legends lines we have experienced, they've always played an important role in those assortments too. Now part of the Star Wars [Shadow of The Dark Side] Saga Legends line, the Destroyer Droid now comes with a Galactic Battle Game card, a die, and a display stand. How Hasbro picks and chooses which versions of the action figures they’re going to include in an assortment like this probably doesn't matter. But they certainly know how to pick a cornucopia of figures that speak volumes for the diversity of the Star Wars saga. Simply out there is something for everyone in the Saga Legends assortments. When they brought the Destroyer Droid into the final 2011 Star Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] Saga Legends line, we probably sighed. It seemed that this version of the droid was becoming a little too frequent for our tastes.

Back in the day, Hasbro made the fun and well sculpted 2005 ROTS Destroyer Droid (III 44) figure. it's held up alright throughout the years, but franky the figure is a bit boring at this point. After it's basic figure release, it quickly became a staple in the many Saga Legends lines. It's had quite a history before that too! Like so many other droid sculpts from the past, the Destroyer Droid started from Hasbro’s 2002 SW [S -P1] Destroyer Droid (Geonosis Battle) (’02 #48) figure. They also tweaked the figure quite a bit and repainted it, but the shell of the figure still remains with this release. Yes, it has an annoying action feature and maybe its posture isn’t terribly screen accurate, but the figure does look OK. Hasbro tightened up/refreshed the figure with a new paint job when it started in the Saga Legends lines, but they kept the same action features in place to add some extra play value for kids. The “shoulders” on the Destroyer Droid are still terribly loose. They need to be to activate the action feature. The “arms” move up and down with the press of a switch on the figure’s “back”.

We’re confident that the Destroyer Droid won’t be the most popular figure in the Saga Legends line, especially not after how many times it's been re-released. When figures keep getting released and released over and over again they lose their magic and become a little bit boring. We don’t know how many collectors will see the Destroyer Droid as a necessary purchase, so perhaps this one has been released exclusively for the young kids getting interested in The Clone Wars television show. A simple yet important retooling of the sculpt would have updated this release tremendously, but Saga Legends by definition just means a repack of a previously released figure.… or at the very least a refresh paint job. We actually like the Destroyer Droid despite our cautions and criticisms. We still can’t tell you if it’s a P-series or Q-series droideka, but maybe that isn’t the point with a kids’ action figure. For those looking, this is another chance at this core Separatist Destroyer Droid.