R2-A3/R5-K6/R2-F2 - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

R2-A3: R2-A3 was an astromech droid who assisted Rebel Alliance pilot Wedge Antilles. During the Battle of Yavin, R2-A3 and Antilles were forced to retreat after damage was dealt to their X-Wing's engine.

R5-K6: R5-K6 was the astromech droid alongside Garven Dreis, the leader of Red Squadron, during the Battle of Yavin, R5-K6 and Dreis were shot down while attempting to destroy the Death Star.

R2-F2: R2-F2 was an astromech droid for Biggs Darklighter, a Rebel Alliance starfighter pilot. Both R2-F2 and Darklighter perished in the assault on the Death Star.

The Toys R Us exclusive R2-A3/R5-K6/R2-F2 The Black Series [Phase III] 6” multipack may look very nice as a set by itself, but it really is more of a testament to the randomness, disorganization and utter disarray The Black Series 6” line is for Star Wars collectors.... and the hobby. Now, that certainly sounds negative, doesn’t it? But we have a few points we’re trying to make. Let’s look at the R2-A3/R5-K6/R2-F2 set carefully. OK, wonderful. We have three new 6” scale astromech droids without any pilots.... without any 6” scaled X-wing Fighters (heaven help us).... without any real theme at all to the rest of the figures in the line. Do these droids foreshadow things to come? Will we be getting Wedge Antilles, Garven Dreis and Biggs Darklighter in the line soon or eventually? (Why hasn’t Hasbro taken advantage of amortizing 2013’s TBS [P1] Luke Skywalker (#01) figure anyway?) To top it off, are R2-A3, R5-K6, and R2-F2 the three most-wanted astromech droids that collectors want in The Black Series 6” line? We know they're hot in the 3.75" scale as collectors have asked Hasbro to reissue them for years now. Is this the answer to those pleas? Is Hasbro trying to satiate the desperate need for more 3.75” versions of R2-A3, R5-K6 and R2-F2 (which was R2-Q2 until now by the way) pack-in figures that go for a mint on eBay with these larger versions now? As you can see, this set perplexes us on almost every level. There is more to consider here than the negative. So, more importantly, let us find out how these droids measure up in this set.

R2-A3 is probably the treat of the set. To date, we haven’t received an accurate version of this action figure in the 3.75” scaled line. We came close however. In the luxurious Legacy Collection, Hasbro released 2010’s LC Wedge Antilles’ X-wing Starfighter TARGET exclusive which for a while contained an unnamed Astromech Droid. It was through a Q&A session that Hasbro reached out to Lucasfilm Ltd. where we all finally learned that Wedge’s R2 unit was called R2-A3. But the pack-in R2-A3 from that set was close, but not exactly accurate to the film prop (at least what we could tell from what we could see). R2-A3 has a white body with maroon details and a maroon dome. The 3.75” pack-in figure came with a gray dome and maroon details. They had it reversed. This mistake was forgivable because they are basically “zero” reference materials out there that show the droid in its entirety clearly. Now we supposedly have the most screen accurate version in this The Black Series [Phase III] Toys R Us exclusive. Based on 2013’s TBS [P1] R2-D2 (#04) figure, R2-A3 comes with three removable dome panels, a periscope and a sensor scope. The droid’s front two panels open and then each compartment comes with an articulated tool attached. The same is true for R2-F2. At least these droids come with more accessories than what came with R2-Q5.

R2-F2 is the other R2-series astromech droid. For one reason or another, Hasbro has changed its name to R2-F2 from the longstanding R2-Q2. The root of this confusion stems from this droid appear in two different places in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This droid can be seen as a member of the Galactic Empire when the Imperials attacked the Tantive IV in the beginning of the film. And obviously we know Biggs Darklighter utilized a similar looking droid during the Battle of Yavin. So the new moniker R2-F2 is probably a step in the right direction to finally tell these two droids apart. R2-F2 looks two dark in our opinion and the color scheme is different than on the 3.75" version. R5-K6 is probably the most interesting astromech droid in this set, although it looks off to us in spots, especially in the newly tooled dome. A retool of the basic astromech droid sculpt from The Black Series 6” line, a new dome has been tooled to accurately reflect what an R5-series astromech droid should look like. R5-K6 is very colorful and for the most part has nice paint operations. But they’re not perfect. We’re pretty sure that the general consensus will be that these droids are painted rather well. They are. They’re just not perfect like they should be. Here is hoping that the pilots to these droids are around the corner. Without them, R2-A3’s, R5-K6’s, and R2-F2’s existence is rather pointless. There needs to be some homogeneity in The Black Series 6” line. Right now it’s behaving a whole lot more like a pot luck.