There seems to be a good deal of discussion about the new set of Droid Factory 2-packs that have been announced by Hasbro at their Toy Fair presentation this past Saturday. And with good reason. Hasbro has dug pretty deep into the expanded universe to build this particular series of WalMart exclusive 2-packs. How deep? Read on!
Anakin Skywalker & Cortosis
Battle Droid – The
Cortosis Battle Droid appeared in the video game STAR WARS: The New Droid Army which
is set in the early days of the Clone Wars. The droids were made from cortosis alloy,
which was a metal that was resistant to the lightsabers of the Jedi. This construction
made the Cortosis Battle Droids nearly invulnerable to the Jedi, and they were only
defeated when Anakin Skywalker found a small seam in their armor that was not made
from cortosis.
General Grievous & CB-3D – This
2-pack is derived from the Dark Horse comics limited series Star Wars: General Grievous.
General Grievous is obviously the title character of that series, and the plot centers
around Jedi padawn Flynn Kybo’s attempt to assassinate General Grievous after
his Jedi Master died by Grievous’s hand. Kybo’s astromech droid accompanying
him on his doomed mission was CB-3D, with the astromech tasked as a code breaker
on the mission.
Darth Maul & I-5YQ – Drawn from the Darth Maul – Shadow
Hunter, this may be a first as a 2-pack drawn from a novel. I-5YQ was a protocol
droid that was owned by Correllian information merchant Lorn Pavan. Pavan had equipped
I-Five with some “special modifications” including lasers in the droid's
index fingers, and regarded the droid more as a partner than as property. Darth Maul
killed Pavan when the Corellian tried to sell Trade Federation plans for the invasion
of Naboo. I-Five continued on and reappeared later in the expanded universe, from
the Clone Wars and into the Dark Times.
Boba Fett & BL-17 – This 2-pack draws from the 1980's
era Droids animated series. BL-17 was a Battle Legionnaire droid that worked
for Boba Fett. The droid's story seems to have been somewhat retconned to incorporate
the events of the Clone Wars into his origins. But for his only appearance in the
Star Wars saga, see the Star Wars: Droids episode “A Race to the Finish” (1985).
Note that this episode is not available on the Droids DVD which was released
in 2004.
Corran Horn & Whistler – Now
this is a character that EU fans have been waiting for! This incarnation of Horn
is from his stint as a pilot in the fabled Rogue Squadron, as Rogue 9. Corran Horn
appeared as an X-Wing pilot in the X-Wing - Rogue Squadron series. Whistler was assigned
to Horn during his days with Corellians Security, or CorSec. Horn made some special
modifications to Whistler that upgraded the droid substantially and led the droid
to develop a personality.
Dark Trooper (Phase II) – The
build-a-figure droid for this series is the Phase II Dark Trooper. The Dark Troopers
originated in the Star
Wars: Dark Forces video game. In the game Rebel agent Kyle Katarn is tasked
with destroying the Dark Troopers by Rebel leader Mon Mothma because the Dark Trooper
armor is so powerful that it presents a clear and present danger to the Rebel alliance.
The phase II Dark Trooper armor was the most prevalent of all incarnations of the
Dark Trooper, and was designed to be used by Stormtroopers.
The new Droid Factory series is exclusive to Wal*Mart stores. It's set to be released
in August, and with that collectors can expect to see these sets packaged in the
new package design that is slated for the line's relaunch in preparation for the
second season of CLONE WARS.