R3-A2 - LC - Build A Droid

Do you remember how awesome we thought it was when we all got our first clear-domes R3 unit as a Sneak Preview figure as 2002's Power Of The Jedi R3-T7 figure? The mold was quickly reused a little over a year later to bring us our first R3-A2 droid which was part of a Toys R Us exclusive multipack in the 2003 Star Wars "Saga" [Phase II] line. We complained a lot less back then as a collective group and were quite excited about that version. For many of us, it was the reason to buy the set since we had most of the other figures in it already. And to be fair, that R3-A2 served its purpose for over six years. By today's standard, it is of course quite dated. All astromechs prior to 2004 are lacking in multiple facets including no separate molded leg wires, awkwardly lean bodies, a third leg that just doesn't work as needed, disproportionate panel details and poor paint applications that make it completely unacceptable now. All of that is in the past and we have a near definitive version of R3-A2 that should make all of you happy out there. And if it doesn't, we would begin to question if you will ever be happy with what Hasbro brings us in the form of a droid. We don't mean to come across so crassly, but R3-A2 is essentially perfect in our eyes and save for the holes on the lower portion of the astromech body (which were added for extra play value to create different looking droids), this astromech has it where it counts. We are so grateful for a fine execution of an R3 unit and we hope a similar approach is taken if the R3 units make it into the line as a basic figure one day.

R3-A2, as seen at Echo Base on Hoth just a few moment before R2-D2 uses his sensorscope to look for Luke Skywalker (and later at the Star Tours attraction), was not the first R3 series astromech we laid our eyes upon but it was probably one that stood out the most. Interestingly, there are similarly colored astromech droids that fans often confuse with R3-A2. With its bright orange color, its visibility was quite potent and made us want to know a little more about the astromech despite its very brief appearance in the film. The Build A Droid figure certainly gives us a brand new perspective since we can view it from all angles now, but it also corrects many of the errors that the 2003 figure had. The structure of the R3 unit is very unique and very cool. To the casual onlooker, R3 units may seem to mimic an R2 unit, but there are quite a few significant differences. Because they have a clear dome, Hasbro upped the 'art' on the Intellex V computer system underneath the plastex dome and colored it in a metallic light blue. (It looks fantastic!) The R3 unit is obviously not just a clear-domed R2 unit and Hasbro made an error on the first [2003] version of R3-A2 by simply trying to replicate the form of R2-D2. The dome is actually unique to the R2 unit and has different gadgets that are in different spots and the parts are colored differently too. For example, the front eye port is not colored orange (like Hasbro did on the 2003 figure). The eye port is colored and the area around it is clear. Also, Hasbro didn't replicate the colored panels as they should have. But the good news is that it has all been corrected and the new R3-A2 is as accurate as your atromechs are going to come!

The R3-A2 Build A Droid figure is very clean and believe it or not, we are pretty much satisfied with the direction Hasbro took with it. If you look in the movie or the production stills, the body of R3-A2 appears very clean in Episode V. The only real dirt that can be seen are on the "feet" and we don't think we will waste our time splitting hairs on whether they should have been dirtied up or not. There are some hills that are just not worth dying on at all and this is one of them. That truth is that R3-A2 is a significant upgrade to the figure we got in 2003 and not only have precise measures been taken to replicate its colored panels identically to the film version, the head, while clear, still has three unique colors on it as well (just like the film). Once thing that we have noticed when examining R3-A2 against the other Build A Droid R3 unit R3-M3, is that R3-A2 has a crystal clear dome. R3-M3 has a dome that in comparison looks quite cloudy. The higher level of clarity in the dome makes for a much more effective for an R3 unit, so we think that in retrospect, R3-M3 is the inferior figure. R3-A2 will no doubt enthuse Episode V fans and with the release of other recent Echo Base astromechs, including R5-M2 (from the 2008 TLC Hoth Recon Patrol Battle Packs set), collectors of The Empire Strikes Back themed figures will no doubt to "build this droid" into their collections as well. R3-A2 is one of the better droids in the Build A Droid series and we suspect collectors will be scrambling to complete it for their collections. R3-A2 is absolutely an excellent Build A Droid and will absolutely add depth and color to your Episode V Hoth displays!