Rocket Battle Droid - TCW [R] - Basic (CW03)

Some battle droids are supplied with jet backpacks, which enable them to navigate for short distances through the vacuum of space to board Republic ships during battle. Since they do not need oxygen, the droids are useful as part of raiding parties to infiltrate and capture ships.

The official name for the Rocket Battle Droid is “pod hunter droid” and we think we prefer the Hasbro convention a bit more than the official moniker. Still, perhaps a better name for this action figure might have been "Flying Coal Miner Battle Droid” because the head light and the gear make the character look exactly like that. Characters from The Clone Wars can be hit or miss. While we admit there are many great action figures from the television show, some are worthy of getting gonged. This figure is a perfect example of how The Clone Wars franchise has gone a bit too far from center to give us bizarre interpretations of 'our' familiar Star Wars characters. Rocket Battle Droid without a doubt falls into this category. We concede that newly revised and new takes on the Battle Droid action figures are inevitable and welcomed additions to The Clone Wars line, but this figure is honestly a little dull and uninteresting, albeit relevant to the Malevolence story arc. The Malevolence story arc was an exciting series of events in The Clone Wars television show, but as far as the Rocket Battle Droid action figure is concerned, it just doesn’t deliver like some of the other characters do.

The Rocket Battle Droid suffers from a combination of bad engineering and even worse packaging. The placement of action figures in the plastic bubbles is always a point of concern. They often distort the figures’ limbs in one fashion or another. Even worse, the plastics used on some figures is too rubbery and despite an attempt to straighten the legs, they would likely bow again from gravity. We recommend storing this figure by removing his legs if you keep them in plastic baggies with a bunch of other figures because the weight of the other figures will warp them again. Technology has come so far for action figures (and Hasbro has shown us many advents of bettered technology) so we don’t know why some figures with such delicate frames and features are not reaping the benefits of these wonderful technological advancements. Hasbro has claimed in the past that they have to use softer plastics to avoid breakage and meet safety requirements, but this is not the way to go for collectors. This figure does have some positive points like great color and great likeness, but that is all hindered by the way it has been shoved into the packaging.

Rocket Battle Droid originally is a retool and repaint of the original 2008 TCW [B] Battle Droid (No. 7) figure, but this version here is just a repack of 2009’s TCW [B] Rocket Battle Droid (No. 25) figure. Its unique characteristics have been faithfully replicated in action figure form from the television show. Perhaps a few more points of articulation could have been of good to work into this action figure because it’s nearly impossible to stand up on its own. With a little patience you can make it work. Rocket Battle Droid is outfitted with a huge gun, and this make posing him even more difficult. It also comes with a droid blaster and a projectile. You do get a fair amount of accessories with this action figure. And maybe it isn’t the worst repack The Clone Wars line has seen to date. Most of the other action figures in the line are done so incredibly well that it almost doesn't matter that we get a less superior one once in a while here and there. And who knows. You may like this figure very much. We do hope however that Hasbro will use a more durable material for future Battle Droid figures because the current material just isn’t of acceptable quality for us.