R-3DO - Droid Factory

All different types of Protocol droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. This Protocol droid monitors the Resistance's network of spy droids that operate across the galaxy. Join R-3DO on his adventures throughout the galaxy.

May the Force be with you... and your Droids!

It was the biggest announcement at Star Wars Celebration Orlando until Hasbro announced the return of The Vintage Collection: Disney Parks’ Droid Factory Build A Droid feature was returning with Protocol Droids. It was news that Jedi Temple Archives broke about a month prior, but as with every cool rumor it really shouldn’t be taken as 100% confirmed until the licensee announces it themselves. Regardless, the Protocol Droid Build A Droid attraction is official and Disney Parks opened the line with 77 unique parts. It is going to be a fun 2017. Before the official announcement however, Disney Parks sort of let their secret slip out. At their store at Star Wars Celebration Orlando they had two products for sale which gave it all away. Firstly, the Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2)/See-Threepio (C-3PO) 40th Anniversary two-pack gave us the first figure to sport the new Protocol Droid Droid Factory sculpt, and then the single-carded release of the first time offered R-3DO was also part of the convention swag. R-3DO is of course based on the initial See-Threepio (C-3PO) figure, but painted differently and base on an obscure character from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

We can’t help but notice the name of R-3DO. It sort of looks to be a play on the word “REDO”. While this is purely speculation on our part, could the possibility exist that this was intentional to perhaps make the point that this character looks like previously seen protocol droids within the Star Wars saga? Sure, it could be a stretch, but it is such an interesting placement of letters and numbers that we feel that something could indeed be at play here. But this droid certainly resembles R-3PO from the Battle of Hoth from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Either way, at the time of R-3DO’s release, not much data exists or descriptions have been written about this new Star Wars character. Still, as longtime collectors, we tend to love obscure characters as much as we do the main ones. And R-3DO definitely fits the bill for obscure. The figure itself is pretty basic. The droid is brightly colored, a little bit too much when compared to the onscreen character, and stands out as another welcomed addition to the Droid Factory line. These new Protocol Droids don’t come with any accessories, so don’t expect anything more than the six individual parts that make them up.

Disney Parks’ new Protocl Droid sculpt ranks somewhere between excellent and divine. The torso seems to be the only area that catches our eye that perhaps might be off in some small way. There is a little bit too much “air space” right where the wires are and it does seem a little thin in there. But it is something we’re willing to let go because it is so much more important that Disney Parks took the plunge to release these droids. Surely better things are going to come from them in the future. They’ve clearly used the Hasbro template as a start, but there are quite a few differences that exist between Hasbro’s U-3PO (for example) and Disney Parks’ but the takeaway here is that both version look fantastic. At first collectors were worried about the articulation, but once again Disney Parks’ has replicated Hasbro’s approach step by step. This means that R-3DO comes with an impressive 21 points of articulation and has plenty of ball-jointed articulation. (Even the Disney Parks' Build A Droid RA-7 droid comes with more articulation than Hasbro’s 5D6-RA7 figure did in 2008. It’s all good.) In summary, we’re thrilled to see such collector-focused care given to the figures meant for kids. Disney Parks knows how to knock it out of the park.