G8-R3 - SW [TPM 3D] - Discover The Force (4 of 12)

Added: February 14th 2012
Category: Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D]
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: G8-R3
Collection: Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] (Discover The Force)
Number: 4 of 12
Source: The Phantom Menace
Availability: February 2012
License: Hasbro

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G8-R3 is an astromech droid on Queen Amidala's starship. The little droid bravely heads into danger to repair the starship's shield generator, which has been badly damaged in an attack by Trade Federation forces.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Because Valentines Day is a day of love, we’re going to show our love big time for G8-R3 because of our strong affinity for astromech droids! Collectors in general love astromech droids and it seems that Hasbro can barely keep up with releasing them on a consistent basis throughout the years. It’s typically feast or famine when they do arrive in the toy line. It took over a decade to get this prominent R5 unit in the basic figure line, but it’s finally here and it matches the rest of the other recently released astromech droids that served on Queen Amidala’s Royal Starship. G8-R3’s future as an action figure was uncertain for many years. It’s really unknown why Hasbro blew this character off for so many years. And collectors desperate to add this droid into their collection incorrectly used R5-F7 from 2007’s TAC Y-wing Fighter Toys R Us exclusive. What interesting is that Hasbro revisited the other Royal Starship astromech droids multiple times before even considering making G8-R3. Both R2-B1 and R2-R9 were attempted twice before joining their fellow droids in the totally awesome Royal Starship Droids Battle Packs set (part of Walmart’s cool Discover The Force promotion) and we find that particularly odd. Still, incredible Royal Starship Droids Battle Packs set and now G8-R3 brings this group together in uniformity.

If you don’t like the Build A Droid sculpts, well, these aren’t going to be the droids you’re looking for, but we are personally ecstatic over their release because the sculpts are authentic to the films (aside from the obvious “play feature” added to them) and all of the droids from the scene in Episode I are now identical to each other except for their colors (as they should be). One thing that has been very unfortunate since 1999 is that getting multiple droids from this scene in Episode I over the period of many years is that they’re all different shapes and sizes and have different features. Because they often come from different sculpts, their details and scale varies. This doesn’t make collectors happy and it affects how well the droids complement each other. Now we have all five Naboo Royal Starship droids in exacting scale. And what’s more, all of the droid’s eye ports are black and this is something that Hasbro didn’t get right on the previous versions. You should be thrilled about this detail! They look fabulous together and even if the Build A Droid sculpt isn’t the most ideal because of the paint lower holes in the body, we’d be surprised if you couldn’t admit how great they look as a group. We are sensitive to the fact that the additional (and inaccurate) extra holes for leg attachments aren’t ideal, but it’s not like they stick out like a sore thumb. They are indeed visible, but your eyes should be distracted by how impressively Hasbro made these droids look using this sculpt.

G8-R3 is a rework of the very first R5-series Build A Droid sculpt, 2009’s TLC R5-A2 (Build A Droid) figure. If you have any of the R5-unit Build A Droid figures, you clearly know what you’re getting here. You already know our stance on repacks and repaint. And G8-R3 is the way Hasbro needs to get this done. A relatively cost-free figure, it’s still a never before released Star Wars character and Star Wars collectors east this kind of stuff up for breakfast. G8-R3 is mostly white with a lot of yellow highlights. The droid also has some black details on its legs. It’s very pale in comparison to even the other “white” droids like R2-D2 and R2-N6 (both found in the Royal Starship Droids Battle Packs set). Despite its efforts to help save the queen’s starship, G8-R3 gets blasted to pieces almost the moment it enters space to try and repair the ship’s damages. G8-R3 is very clean, but perhaps that makes sense since he didn’t last that long on the ship exterior attempting to make repairs. (After all, G8-R3 looked very clean inside the interior of the vessel.) Again, we’re thrilled to have this new droid in our collections. Just like R5-X2, Hasbro should have retooled the head a bit more since the shape of the Prequel Trilogy R5 units is significantly different from the Original Trilogy R5 units like R5-D4 for example. But this droid fits the bill well enough for now at least. This figure won’t be part of The Vintage Collection, so if you want it, don’t hesitate.

Collector Notes

G8-R3

Status: G8-R3 utilizes the R5-series astromech Build A Droid sculpt. It is built from 5 individual parts.

Articulation Count: 8 points

Articulation Details: swivel dome, 2 swivel legs, 2 swivel feet, 3 rolling wheels

Accessory Count: None

Accessory Details: None

Date Stamp: 2008

Assortment Number: 38598/38601

UPC: 653569695820

Retail: $8.99 USD

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

 

Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] (Discover The Force)
Aurra Sing (1 of 12)
Darth Maul (2 of 12)
Destroyer Droid (3 of 12)
G8-R3 (4 of 12)
Gungan Warrior (5 of 12)
Mawhonic (6 of 12)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (7 of 12)
Qui-Gon Jinn (8 of 12)
Ric Olié (9 of 12)
Naboo Pilot (10 of 12)
Tusken Raider (11 of 12)
Yoda (12 of 12)

 


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