Destroyer Droid - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 17)

Droidekas, also known as destroyer droids, are deceptive in their movements. Appearing awkward on their three legs, they can curl into a ball-shaped form and roll swiftly toward their targets then spring open to fire their laser cannons.

The Clones Wars wouldn’t be The Clone Wars without Separatist droids now, would it? And Hasbro has ensured that they got them in early and with a steady pace into the basic figure line. In a line that will undoubtedly continue to see an infinite amount of clone troopers, it is refreshing to see action figures based characters that are on the other side of the fence. Although not bubbling with personality, the Destroyer Droids (or droidekas) are always an impending threat to the Jedi and have served the Separatist movement very hard to decimate large numbers of clone armies serving for the ultimate good of the Republic. While they can be “slow pokes” while they trot along on their three feet into battle, they can however roll at incredibly high speeds when transformed into a ball of destruction and protect themselves with an impenetrable energy shield. The animated version of the Destroyer Droid doesn’t necessarily have all of these features, but it nonetheless has been designed large and in charge as a terrible adversary for your Galactic Republic clone troopers. While you can make whatever action you want happen with your figures as you desire, the Destroyer Droid will make sure that you have true droid diversity in your varying ranks. The new animated look of the droideka has its day in the sun and the final product is more impressive than you may first think. Yes it is a bit bland that the more typical action figure, but it is designed excellently and we believe you will be impressed with it. Looking a bit chunkier than his live action counterpart, the Destroyer Droid is a very solid and bold action figure. And, he has a weight to him that only few action figures possess or can attain. Solid and unbending, we bet that the Destroyer Droid will NOT lose shape over time like how many of our realistic versions of Destroyer Droid action figures have that we collected over the years. Hasbro made his limbs heavy and wide and we are fairly certain that this may be the end all animated Destroyer Droid action figure. He is that good and while it is limited in some aspects, there is no denying just how incredible it is.

Destroyer Droid has an action feature (boo! hiss!) that actually works pretty well. He can “spring” into action rather quickly and flails out his metaphorical and literal guns to shoot any target in its path. Due to his complicated body frame, (and we could be off by one here), the Destroyer Droid has 12 points of articulation. Slightly edged out of super-articulated status, the Destroyer Droid has more than enough joints to make even the most discriminating collector very happy! The droid sits very stoutly and low to the ground. And, while you can tell that the droid is based on an animated form, it nonetheless looks “real enough”, and were it not for all the curves and rounded edges, Destroyer Droid could almost fit into the main line of action figures. (Your opinions may vary here.) The droid is colored in dark gray with bronze details. And, there is a fine ‘dirty’ wash that can be seen over the gray parts making it looked aged and the slightest bit rugged. It is beautifully done and we couldn’t ask for anything more as far as a paint job would go. Hasbro nailed it perfectly and again we claim that this is the definitive animated Destroyer Droid! The head on the droid is also bronze but separated by a gold band that travels all the way across the head from top to bottom. The droid has three red photoreceptor “eyes” and we must comment that they are painted a bit sloppily in most samples we have come across. We are honestly surprised by this since great care was obviously taken to paint the rest of the figure with great care. Hasbro has always had the ability to paint multiple colors with great agility and accuracy, so we are indeed perplexed by this little mishap. But this misstep is small and shouldn't upset you at all. The Destroyer Droid has two removable “hip” guards and we are not entirely sure of the need for this. While we feel the droid is nearly perfect as it is, it is still unable to collapse and roll into a ball. So unless this was a forward-thinking step by Hasbro for a later retool, we are perplexed by these little ‘removable’ details.

Clearly a simply painted figure and without a rainbow of color, the Destroyer Droid did need some special paint attention to give it a mechanical look and we feel that Hasbro has undeniably succeeded. It is everything you would want your droideka to be (except for the rolling feature) and we believe it will be a very adored action figure in the long run. Part of an excellent third wave of figures, the Destroyer Droid was a nice change of pace to the very humanoid look of the overall line. Separatist droids are for the most part very popular among kids and we expect this one to take off with them as well. But collectors too can enjoy the marvelous engineering that a great figure like the Destroyer Droid brings to the table. Being an all-new figure, the Destroyer Droid must have cost Hasbro a pretty penny to develop all the adequate tooling needed for such a unique action figure. Expect this figure to see rerelease over time and subsequent and inevitable repaints as well. You may be rolling your eyes already as you read this, but things like this need to happen in order for Hasbro to recoup expenses they put into an action figures tooling. A good army builder, Destroyer Droid will put the opposition in your clone-focused collection and add a sense of nostalgia to the Prequel Trilogy films at the same time. It is amazing the transition from film to television series to action figure the Destroyer Droid has gone undergone. Always looking like a foe that will do major damage, it never seemed to ultimately attain its goal due to its clumsy walking (but of course not in all situations). But it did seem to only have the greatest stamina and speed when rolling. The Clone Wars animated version of the droideka may not be able to roll, but he will sit in your collection nicely and offer some new looks to the ever-growing action figure line.