R2-D2 - OTC - Basic (OTC #04)

The brave droid R2-D2 has helped the Rebel heroes many times. He goes with Luke Skywalker to the planet Dagobah, where Yoda teaches Luke the ways of a Jedi Knight. Luke tries out his new skills by lifting R2-D2 into the air using only his mind, causing the droid to scream in surprise. When Luke leaves to save his friends from the evil Empire, R2-D2 goes with him, ready to help the Rebels once again.

Hasbro really put together a special quartet of all the characters that made an appearance in the Jedi training sequence on Dagobah in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. What’s more, Hasbro went the extra mile to make them all interactive with each other, some much more intensely interactive than others. (Just looks at how well the Luke Skywalker (OTC #01) and Yoda (OTC #02) figures work together – it’s amazing!) Each action figure comes with an environmental display stand (of the marshy Dagobah terrain) than connect to each other like puzzle pieces. You can align them horizontally or more closely together like a group. They worked in a nice amount of interchangeability in these very cool action figure display stands when they didn’t need to, but it shows that they often consider just how many features they can squeeze into the action figures they bring to Star Wars fans.

Utilizing older parts is something that will always be part of the Star Wars basic figure line, so be extra happy when Hasbro goes above and beyond to make it seem that a whole new figure has been crafted instead. That’s what applies to 2004’s OTC R2-D2 (OTC #04) figure. Right away we’d like to let you know that the figure looks fantastic and is a lot of fun, but we’re slightly disappointed that Hasbro felt they need to update an electronic version of R2-D2 to make us this figure. R2-D2 is a retool and repaint of 2002’s SW R2-D2 (Coruscant Sentry) (‘02 #14) figure. They updated the sculpt in a couple of spots, but the biggest difference made was the filthy paint job sloppily applied. Hasbro may have gotten a bit overzealous though with the paint job they gave R2-D2. We don’t think that R2-D2 was ever this dirty in Episode V. But Hasbro got their point across at least and R2-D2 looks fantastic.

The electronic R2-D2 figures must sell a whole lot better than we realize. Hasbro never shies away from releasing an electronic interpretation of R2-D2 any chance they get. It’s a great action feature for the kids, but most collectors would rather see an R2-D2 figure with a bit more articulation instead. Still, it’s refreshing to see so much effort go into the creation of an Episode V specific version of R2-D2. Unless he’s manipulating a scene specific tool or wearing a bar on his dome, it’s quite difficult to peg which film an action figure of R2-D2 has been inspired. Together with wave mates Luke Skywalker (OTC #01), Yoda (OTC #02) and Spirit Obi-Wan (OTC #03), R2-D2 (OTC #04) is a welcomed addition to the line. Better versions of the plucky droid are imminent, but for now this will probably be the “go to” figure for “Dagobah” iterations of R2-D2. All of these figures would be perfect to outfit a new Dagobah playset. We wonder if that’s even a remote possibility anymore. We sadly doubt it.