R2-D2 (The Clone Wars) - Maquettes

The resourceful and brave astromech droid R2-D2 served on many adventures during the Clone Wars conflict. A skilled starship mechanic and fighter pilot's assistant, he formed an unlikely but enduring friendship with the fussy protocol droid C-3PO.

R2-D2's mechanical body contains numerous arms tipped with all manner of usefuls tools, from welding torches to computer interfaces. Like other astromechs, his language is a cacophony of beeps and whistles understandable only by some other droids. But the spunky little droid's abundant personality generally makes his meaning plain enough.

While a great deal of attention has been paid to The Clone Wars, there haven’t been very many accurately designed products based on this series. You’re probably wondering if we neglected Hasbro’s rich line of action figures, but we have not. Hasbro has actually created what they refer to as hybrid action figures. Mostly an animated framework, they have squeezed in some elements of realism in an effort not to fully alienate adult collectors. We’re not sure that worked so well by the way. We digress. If you’re a true fan of The Clone Wars and you’re looking for the most authentic interpretations of the characters you fell in love with from the television series, look no further than Gentle Giant Ltd.’s line of The Clone Wars Maquettes. This animated line of high-end Star Wars collectibles are brilliantly sculpted and hand-painted and done with incredible care. Again, you won’t find a more impressive array of characters from The Clone Wars film and/or television series. There’s no other way to utter this.

As with all of the other characters in the Maquettes line, R2-D2 looks equally fantastic. The sculpting is divine. Gentle Giant Ltd. ensured that not a detail was missed and that’s evident even with only a cursory review of the small-statured masterpiece. R2-D2 (The Clone Wars) is a slightly unconventional animated Maquette. The reasons for this is because the R2-D2 portion is a separate piece from the base. A true Maquette is one wholly complete sculpt. But for one reason or the other, Gentle Giant Ltd. decided to approach this particular piece more like a statue instead of a Maquette. That’s honestly neither here nor there because the Maquette is gorgeous and fits right in with all of the others already released. It’s a shame that it took Gentle Giant Ltd. so long to release a core character like R2-D2 in this line. He has been released after even some of the more obscure background characters have had a chance in the limelight.

R2-D2 (The Clone Wars) has been posed leaning back resting on his third leg. While it’s a pose that shows the more utilitarian side of R2-D2, it leaves the droid at an relatively “awkward” angle where the collector’s line of site cannot see all of his “facial” features (for lack of a better term). It’s not the end of the world of course, but we just refer more upright position of astromech droids since it is our opinion that those types of poses show off more of their personalities than anything else. As mentioned earlier, the sculpt is excellent. All of the panels, gears, wires and shapes have been expertly considered during the development process and have been carried forward carefully into the production phase. But R2-D2’s (The Clone Wars) greatest asset may his paint job. Gentle Giant Ltd. really pulled out the stops and the application of colors and the neatness of the lines that give R2-D2 his shape have been done triumphantly. As a result, R2-D2 (The Clone Wars) is one of the best pieces in The Clone Wars Maquettes line.