R3-S6 (Goldie) - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 23)

This astromech droid is the replacement for R2-D2, who is lost during a space battle. Anakin considers this new droid, whom he nicknames “Goldie” because of its metallic coloring, to be unreliable and mistake-prone. What Anakin doesn’t know at first is that the droid is also a spy.

R2-D2 just had to have a nemesis on a level playing field, didn’t he? After battling lots of various creatures and droids throughout his illustrious career, R2-D2 duels with an R3 unit who looks a lot like him but in different colors. After R2-D2 gets temporarily lost in space, R3-S6 (Goldie) takes his place. Unable to equal R2’s skills and talents, R3-S6 (Goldie) is very accident prone and ends up being a spy. And then R3-S6 battles R2-D2 in an unprecedented fight. Dave Filoni took a great deal of artistic license in his The Clone Wars franchise. Much of it is very cool while some of it is, well, meh. R3-S6 actually falls somewhere in the middle of this scale because we like the droid but coloring it after the Pittsburgh Steelers football team is pretty corny in our books. Well, unless you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fans we guess. All digs aside, R3-S6 was an inevitable action figure. We know Hasbro is [cheap] trying to conserve its pennies when it comes to tooling costs and we are surprised that we haven’t seen more R2 units that we have to date. Due to the coloring choices, R3-S6 is nearly a complete opposite next to R2-D2. This was clearly done for plot and programming traits reasons. And it works. Wherever R2 is light, R3 is dark and vice versa. There are cool contrasts to each other, almost like the light and dark side of the Force. Simply put, it works incredibly well.

R3-S6 is a retool (and subsequent repaint) of the 2008 TCW [B] R2-D2 (No. 8) figure. The legs have been retooled and the jet booster rockets have been removed. We kind of wish R2-D2 would have been designed in a similar fashion as well, but who knows, maybe Hasbro will repaint R3-S6 and make a new R2-D2 without the rocket accessories. The three “hidden” front panels holding R3’s special tools are back again and we have to admit that this is one of the most impressive features Hasbro has ever given us on and R2 unit action figure. Everything is to scale and the panels stay closed. And these are features we really want to see in the realistic line too. While we know one of R3’s nicknames was “Goldie,” you may recall that he was also referred to by “Stubby” and “Arthree” in the television episodes Downfall Of A Droid and Duel Of The Droids, the only two appearances that this R3 unit will ever see. But clearly R3-S6 was not created with longevity in mind. The droid served a purpose and was quickly written out of the show. We would have liked to see more development of this character because we love the back story of how the astromech was stolen and reprogrammed by General Grievous to serve as a spy. So many droids have turned out to be spies, it is almost humorous how the Republic puts so much faith in them.

But as with many Star Wars tales, it comes back full circle and R3-S6 (Goldie) gets his just repayment. He is conquered by the droid he tried to replace and blow into pieces by debris in space. While R3-S6 (Goldie) tried to play an innocent role and act sweet around those he was serving, he actually tried to plot the death of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, but Star Wars fans know this would be impossible. Only the one-off characters see this untimely fate. Likewise is true for the action figure of R3-S6 (Goldie). We don’t expect to see him repackaged and reshipped in the future. The droid served a purpose in The Clone Wars story arc and that has come and gone. While anything is possible with Hasbro, we honestly do not expect to see “Goldie” in the line again. But we can tell you that you should have this droid in your collections because it is well crafted and beautifully painted. The various lights on the head give this droid its noncommittal personality and the dark shade of its barreled body makes you question where its loyalties truly lie. R3-S6 (Goldie) is an enigma and we love characters that make us think about them on a greater level. It’s a shame that we won’t be seeing further character development in The Clone Wars series. But who knows, anything has the potential to be resurrected in Star Wars, no?