The Good: Great investment value, Great detailing
The Bad: Exceptionally low playability.
The Basics: Even an amazing sculpt and coloring job cannot make anyone but the most obsessed Star Wars fans want to shell out the money for the R1-G4 inaction figure.
It is hard not to give credit to Hasbro for trying to be thorough in their Star Wars toy line-up. If it appeared on screen during any part of the original Star Wars Trilogy, they have managed to make it into an action figure or accessory, it seems! The hilarious thing is how Hasbro so completely caters to the niche market by making some of the most obscure Star Wars characters into the very rarest action figures. So when they made an R1-G4 figure, it actually ended up being one of the hardest-to-find action figure in the 2004 Star Wars Saga assortment of action figures.
For those unfamiliar with R1-G4, it was one of the droids wheeled out by the Jawas in the scene in A New Hope (reviewed here!) where Owen and Luke buy the droids from the Jawas. R1-G4 was a tall, unmoving droid that looked like a combination of a weather vein and a propane tank. It was propped up next to the Jawa Sandcrawler and did nothing. Appropriately, the figure does nothing, but looks amazing while doing it.
The 4" R1-G4 figure is pretty cool, in terms of detailing and sculpt, and it fleshes out the full Star Wars universe well. It is hard to argue with getting more droids!
Basics
The R1-G4 figure stands 4 1/2" tall to the top of its antenna array. The figure is a very simple series of blocks and domes that are assembled together like a modern art parking meter. It is made of hard green plastic, save the hands, tubes that project from the side and the antennas on the top of the dome and the "face" of the droid.
This toy is a great sculpt, looking identical to the robot prop in A New Hope. The bottom of the figure even has treads molded in to suggest how R1-G4 would move. As well, the coloring details on this figure are absolutely amazing. R1-G4 is accurate in its coloring detail, from the green body of the droid to the yellow racing stripes all over its and the stenciled on panel markings. There is a port in the back that looks like it would open and that, too, is colored to be distinct. The upper antenna is an appropriate silver-gray color. In fact, the only parts that are not colored perfectly to the original prop are the hands and the antenna array on the "face" of the droid. Still, it is a pretty amazing sculpt and coloring job for such an obscure toy.
Accessories
R1-G4 is a solid-standing robot and comes with no accessories of any kind.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and R1-G4 is poor in that regard. The figure is outfitted with two tiny hands that extend on 1/2" arms and the figure has no reach. The arms may extend out of the figure by pulling them and they retract by being pushed back in. They do not rotate. In fact, outside the tiny amount of movement of the tiny arms, there are no movable parts on R1-G4. Just as in the film, this toy simply stands up and does nothing.
At least it looks good while standing around.
Collectibility
R1-G4 is part of the Saga line that was released at the end of 2003 and in early 2004. R1-G4 is 2004 Collection figure #06. R1-G4 was exceptionally shortpacked and demand for it was not met by the fans determined to flesh out their full collections. As a result, R1-G4 remains an amazing investment piece whose value has actually risen to four times the original issue price (or better!). Because the figure has never been recast or repackaged, the Tatooine Transaction R1-G4 is the only one of this obscure droid on the market and it will likely remain a great investment piece indefinitely!
In fact, more than a toy, this is a better collectible investment should one be able to find one cheap!
Overview
R1-G4 stood on the sands of Tatooine and now it may sit on your shelf, but it does not do much of anything and is a poor toy for play purposes. Only the die-hard fans will truly want to track this one down!
For other figures from A New Hope, please check out my reviews of:
Saga Collection Kitik Keed'Kak
Legacy Collection Leesub Sirln
Legacy Collection Bane Malar
5/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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