Battle Droid - LC [2] - Basic

Battle Droids are manufactured in factories on Geonosis. They are built in endless numbers to create a vast army for the Trade Federation and the Separatists. Carrying blasters, they pour into the Geonosis arena and onto the planet's bare, rocky ground to battle the Republic's Clone Troopers in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

When Hasbro released the Battle Droid (VC78) figure in the first wave of 2012 of The Vintage Collection, most of us didn’t expect back then that the figure would become one of the worst peg-warming action figures in years. Apparently, it hasn’t stopped Hasbro from repainting the figure to base it on its appearance from Attack Of The Clones as it was originally planned for the canceled 2013 Legacy Collection [2] basic figure line. In May of 2015, retailer Go! Games & Toys, part of Calendar Holdings, began getting these figures in small numbers. This was a huge surprise, because collectors were under the assumption that they never were produced. Now these figures comes to us once again, but in a way that is exciting because of our general love for this pack-in premium. Hasbro was scrambling to reevaluate plans for the new The Black Series line and as a result, the Battle Droid (based on Episode II) got caught in limbo as a still unreleased action figure. All of that was remedied however when Hasbro announced the Amazon.com exclusive Legacy Collection [2] Droid Factory exclusive multipack. But now we have discovered that the original basic figure was produced and now released. Anyway, as an online exclusive and with a minimal supply of LC2 basic figures now leaking, the red (or maroon) Battle Droid won’t have the peg-warming notoriety of the Battle Droid (VC78) figure (based on Episode I). It may become one of the rarest versions of this character the Star Wars line will ever see (maybe).

Nothing new has been brought to the table with the Battle Droid action figure aside from the paint job. All that’s different is its deco job which now sports a red/maroon color to replicate the droids seen during the Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones in addition to some silver battle-damage markings. The figures comes with an astonishing 13 points of articulation. But sadly the points don’t offer a wide array of mobility. We’ll explain fully. A ball-socket head sits atop a sliding neck post that is attached via a hinge at the base of the neck post. The neck not only slides up and down, but the neck post can also articulate forwards and backwards, albeit minimally. You can only get a small range of movement here. The Battle Droid also has two ball-socket shoulders and two ball-socket hips. While this articulation style worked wonders for the 2010 SW [SOTDS] Battle Droid 2-Pack (SL20) Saga Legends figures, the ball-sockets are much smaller this time and as a result they don’t offer half the ability to move around like the larger-sized 2010 Saga Legends Battle Droid figures (which were repaints of the figures from the 2009/2010 LC Geonosis Arena Showdown sets). The Battle Droid also has hinge-jointed elbows, knees and ankles. If you work with the figure for a while, you will get in some cool poses, but it’s not as easy and we find that frustrating. Newer figures should give better ranges of motion, not worse. We appreciate the slimness of the action figure, but it is just too darn small.

We have taken issue with the height of the Battle Droid (VC78) figure, so we have to take the same issue here obviously. This sculpt is unequivocally too short for a B1 Battle Droid. You may disagree with that assertion, but we will stick to our guns about this nonetheless. Hasbro has goofed on the height of the Battle Droid action figure, just like they goofed on the height of Nien Nunb (VC106). Some of the aesthetics of the updated Battle Droid sculpt are nice. There are some details that they overlooked on the 2010 sculpt that made its way to the VC78 sculpt. We appreciate that, but we feel overall that the new (and not necessarily improved) Episode I Battle Droid from The Vintage Collection and the Episode II Battle Droid from the Legacy Collection [2] lines just don’t meet our full expectations. That being said, it’s still nice to get both flavors of B1 Battle Droids in the same size and scale. Although, we won’t be able to army build them in the same manner. How interesting that back in 2010 when we could buy an unlimited supply of Episode II Battle Droids in the Saga Legends line, then we could only get the Episode I version in the 2011 SW [SOTDS] Episode I: The Phantom Menace Blu-ray Release Commemorative Figure & Mini-Poster Collection four-pack. Now, we had ample opportunity to buy up hundreds of Battle Droid (VC78) figures, but the Episode II Battle Droid utilizing this sculpt is equally as rare as the Episode I Battle Droid set from 2011. Ironic, isn’t it, or is it just an unfortunate coincidence?