R7-FNG - Droid Factory

All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. This droid is optimized to function in the dark and desolate environment of Exegol and its underlying threat. Join R7-FNG on their adventures throughout the galaxy!

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

Another Halloween means another Halloween-themed Droid Factory figure from Shop Disney. For years, Disney has faithfully released a Halloween-themed astromech droid for their popular Droid Factory lineup. After releasing droids with the word “BOO” in their names, they think outside the box to bring compelling characters into the line. This year’s Droid Factory figure is R7-FNG. The purple droid has white and red color flashes throughout it, and the R7 body pattern has been decorated to look like a “fang,” so we imagine this is a vampire-themed character. We also suppose that the red color might be “blood,” too. We can’t say R7-FNG is one of our favorites in the Halloween collection, but it does make for an exciting release. The dome is glow-in-the-dark, something we don’t see implemented often in the line, but it’s an odd addition here. Maybe we do not understand the complete picture of this astromech droid. The green, glow-in-the-dark dome with a purple body and a white “fang” makes the figure feel like Count Dracula inspires it, perhaps a little bit by Frankenstein. Maybe Disney is running out of ideas for Halloween-themed droids because we think the designs aren’t that interesting lately.

It’s unbelievable that we have over a half dozen “Halloween-themed” holiday astromech droids in the Disney Droid Factory line under our belts. Where does the time go? We’ve received 2016’s R2-BOO, which comes with Halloween colors. Then they released 2017’s R3-BOO17, which came with a glow-in-the-dark feature. Then in 2018, they released R4-BOO18, which they painted like a piece of candy corn. In 2019, Disney released R5-BOO19 and painted it like a skeleton. And then, in 2020, they created BB-BOO20 to look like a pumpkin. And last year, we received R6-W1CH. Disney is hitting all of the notable Halloween characters. But we’d like to see droids inspired by a werewolf, or a mummy, for example. With some inspiration, they can add many other Halloween characters and keep this trend going for years. Admittedly, some of the droids Disney produced for this subset of celebratory holiday figures were ludicrous. Droids painted to look like skeletons and pumpkins are relatively attractive, but candy corn? However, collectors don’t seem to mind paying $12.99 for these action figures, as they fit in perfectly with the Hasbro Star Wars 3.75-inch line of action figures.

R7-FNG breaks down into five main parts and comes with decent articulation. You know this figure’s articulation system well at this point. And while it has excellent articulation, we feel that these figures could use a few more points of movement. We’re curious how long Disney will decide to do this sub-line of Droid Factory figures. They’ve already branched out to produce 3.75-inch action figures like 4-LOM (which is excellent, by the way). And with no new films out in the Disney Star Wars era, they’re not putting new astromech droid sets into production. Whatever Disney decides to do in the future, we hope they continue making both Halloween and Christmas astromech for as long as the Star Wars/Droid Factory line is active. Truthfully, R7-FNG is not that creative of a figure, especially celebrating Halloween. Also released alongside the 2022 Halloween R7-FNG is a four-pack of previously released Halloween-themed astromech droids. It is a nice boxed set, but if you’ve been keeping up with this line of figures, you’re likely all caught up by now. R7-FNG does allow collectors to enjoy another R7 unit on a 3.75-inch scale. But that’s about all it brings to the table. We hope they return to character-based figures in the future.