R3-M3, who was first
referred to as R3-O1 in early Hasbro announcements, is one of two Build
A Droid figures (the other being R5-C7) in the Return
Of The Jedi wave in the Legacy
Collection. Hasbro decided to tap into the R3 unit design this time
and the final results are very pleasing. Unfortunately coming with a
cloudy instead of a crystal clear dome, it is still transparent enough
to see the slightly retooled inner section of the body. Our first droid
(in the Droid Factory series) with a clear dome, it is quite amazing
that Hasbro successfully created a plastic with minimal opacity that
still has the ability to showcase the details underneath. R3-M3 is colored
blue and has white panels coupled with silver details throughout. While
not looking that much different from any of the other R2 units we have
received under the Droid Factory banner (except for the obvious clear
dome), we must admit that R3-M3 is a very refreshingly 'new enough' figure
that has quickly impressed us. Of course, we just get very thrilled with
each and every new Build
A Droid figure, so this could cause some tainting
our opinions here. But R3-M3 is a pretty neat Imperial droid (that just
so happens to also not be black) and we are very excited to fit it into
our Death Star dioramas as needed. And at this point in our Star Wars
collecting, a big part of adding breadth and depth is including
the more obscure characters, especially droids. R3-M3 more than fits
this billing. In facts, it is a quite refreshing droid to add to your
Imperials ranks. Not too much seems
to be known about this particular droid and in fact we had some trouble
locating it in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
But it is indeed
in the film looking exactly like the action figure (pretty much). It
can be found traveling down one of the many Death Star wings. Only in
the action figure basic line can you inspect R3-M3 from dome to third
foot and Hasbro did a fine job at catching its many details. If we were
to start getting picky with this Build
A Droid, we would say that the
shade of blue is off in the slightest. And he looks a little too clean,
even for being inside the Death Star. The droid has spectacular dark
and metallic blue details on the front and Hasbro even added multi-colors
on the clear dome. (But we think a few more would have really enhanced
the figure by a long shot.) And interestingly, the tubing on its "feet" has
been cast in a color that we have not seen before yet on a Build
A Droid figure. To be honest, all the colors work together perfectly and we are
thoroughly impressed with the final product. Don’t interpret what
we noticed as criticism because they are certainly plenty of other well-executed
details that more than make up for any shortcomings the figure may have.
And since we are huge fans of anything Episode IV, we really don't have
any real concerns over this figure that would prevent a purchase of it.
We love the attention the background droids from this film are getting.
It is nice to get a “bad” astromech droid here and there
and R3-M3 satiates this need for the time being. One small issue we
found disappointing about this figure is the way the parts have been
bent and warped thanks to how they came packaged. The 2009 packaging
may have a lot to do with this, but the leg parts (on our sample) came
out warped and bent.
We are hoping that time outside of the package will
allow the parts to return to a straight shape. This is frustrating and
a problem that we have been experiencing every now and again with the Build
A Droid figures and it has a lot to do with the elastics keeping
them in place. We despise those elastic bands. They cause more trouble
then help. While this bugs us, it certainly doesn't diminish the awesomeness
of this incredible pack-in premium. We have been hinted to by Hasbro
that the Build
A Droid pack-in cannot go on forever. To be honest, this
is quite upsetting to us. We think it can and we don’t think that
Hasbro will be able to come up with a better premium. We will nonetheless
remain hopeful however. They have found "the" pack-in that
ensures the sale of all figures in a wave (or at the very least an army-building
repeat figure) and the variety and diversity in the droids chosen for
release have been quite impressive. Toy Fair 2010 will likely be the
tell-all for the future of the Droid Factory future. (Editor's Note: Starting in August 2010, the line moves away from the Droid Factory concept as it focuses on The Vintage Collection.) And we hope that
if Hasbro is smart that they will continue it for another year at the
very bare minimum. But with Hasbro stopping nearly everything cool because
of costing issues, we fear that an extremely long and healthy sub-line
of Build
A Droid figures is not very certain and may not grow to see
the amount of droids we were hoping. But instead of counting our chickens
before they hatch, we should all embrace and adore the droids we HAVE
received. They are amazing figures and are nothing like we have never
received before.
