R4-P17 - ROTS - Basic (III 64)

R4-P17 is an astromech droid that accompanies Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Jedi fighter. Handy and well equipped, this droid is ready to repair any damages to the ship.

What do you call a repainted figure that eclipses in quality its original base figure? Are you asking why we’re asking this question? R4-P17 is one of the best, if not the very best, action figure in the Revenge Of The Sith. If you’re asking how this status is possible for a repaint, we’re are going to do our best to sell our case. There will NEVER be a better painted droid in the basic Star Wars figure line that will come close to rivaling R4-P17’s paint job. Not only is the various dirt and grime from R4’s many treks throughout the galaxy the perfect shade on its body, its smooth and creamy appearance on the figure is astonishing. The maroon/brown flashes on the droid’s dome and body may be slightly off color, but they still look fantastic. R4-P17 has a relatively complicated pattern on it and Hasbro did another incredible job there to ensure authenticity and accuracy. (We didn’t see R4-P17’s full body in any of the Star Wars films and “she” was destroyed in Revenge Of The Sith by buzz droids during the Battle of Coruscant.) But reference materials show the entire droids body and Hasbro did a miraculous job matching it.

R4-P17 is a rework of 2005’s ROTS R4-G9 (Sneak Preview) (4 of 4) figure. But instead of coming with a “boring” planet hologram, R4-P17 comes with an environmental action figure stand. These complementary pieces are much appreciated for the Collection 2 figures in the Revenge Of The Sith line, but don’t do much for a figure that has no foot peg holes to fully utilize them. (That isn’t to say that R4-P17 doesn’t look cool on the stand, but we never really understood why any figures that couldn’t utilize an action figure stand in the traditional sense would still get one.) All the same features have been carried over to R4-P17 of course, but Hasbro paid close attention to the details this time around and mastered an incredible action figure here. The most important update the R4-P17 has that R4-G9 doesn’t is the main eye port is colored black. In order to prevent a big illuminated light port feature, Hasbro had to “blacken” out the top of the droids head (as well as the eye port). It really doesn’t matter in the end because the solidness of the final result is perfect.

R4-P17 is loaded with details thanks to its breathtaking paint job. There is a light blue light in the front of its dome and a lime green light on the back of the dome. And then the various buttons and outlines that frame the panels are painted with precision in silver paint to tie everything together. By turning its dome the third leg lowers and then turning it the opposite way will return it up into the body cavity. All three feet have wheels and they work as intended to help you have R4-P17 travel around your collection with ease. We cannot emphasize enough to you just how incredible and special this action figure is. It’s a shame R4-P17 didn’t have more screen time in Episode II and Episode III. But all that really doesn’t matter because you can enjoy this droid in its entirety thanks to it being brought to us in the Revenge Of The Sith line. We’d also like for you to quote us when we say that we will not receive a better paint job on an astromech droid ever in the basic figure line. That’s a guarantee. Hasbro has outdone themselves here. While it took until the better of the line to get R4-P17, it’s been a wait that we’re glad we endured. R4-P17 is flawless perfection (if that’s possible).