The Good: Good poseability, Good detailing, Decent accessories!
The Bad: Balance issues
The Basics: The Star Wars Legacy Collection Battle Droid is a good rendition of the character, but it still has serious balance issues based on how the virtual character works in the real world.
On Black Friday last year, I discovered that there was an entire Star Wars action figure line I had never heard about. There was a new collection from Hasbro’s Star Wars Legacy Collection that was put on sale by Amazon.com on Black Friday and I eagerly picked it up because I was excited by the continuation of the Build-A-Droid concept. Many of the figures in the new line were recasts of prior characters, like the Black Squadron TIE Pilot (reviewed here!). What seemed like it would be the low point of the line was the Battle Droid. Battle Droids are a tough action figure to make as they were virtual characters that never had to exist in the real world. I was actually surprised that I had not reviewed any Battle Droids before now, save the first one from the Battle Droid & STAP two-pack (reviewed here!). Despite the problems with it, the new Legacy Collection Battle Droid is still vastly superior to that first one.
For those unfamiliar with the Battle Droids, they are the robots who were seen on Geonosis attacking the Jedi in Attack Of The Clones (reviewed here!). The maroon Battle Droids were seen on Geonosis, as opposed to the white or tan droids seen on Naboo in The Phantom Menace.
The 4" Battle Droid figure is a completely generic battle robot.
Basics
The Battle Droid figure stands 4 1/4" tall to the top of the antennae on the backpack. The Battle Droid is a 3 3/8” tall biped droid with a somewhat avian look to it. The maroon Battle Droid has silver-gray accents at the joints and backpack.
The Battle Droid is an incredible and perfectly accurate sculpt. The figure has such appropriate details as the finger joints and the ribbing on the horns on the back of the head. The arms have extensive sculpted details and this incarnation of the Battle Droid has a retractable head and there is even a silver wear-point accent on the front of the droid’s face.
Accessories
The Battle Droid is a Separatist soldier and comes only with two accessories: a Trade Federation blaster and an alternate antenna set in addition to the Build-A-Droid figure part! The blaster that the Battle Droid comes with is a standard Separatist blaster that looks identical to the others Separatist blasters produced by Hasbro over the last few years. The 1 1/4" long gun fits in either of Battle Droid's hands and looks entirely proportionate. The monotonal black weapon is generic, but looks good in either hand. Interestingly, the new Battle Droid does not have the ability to attach the blaster to the backpack or the figure’s back. The blaster can only be held by the figure, but it remains steady in the figure’s firm grip.
The other accessory is a 1 5/16” antenna accessory. Removing the backpack gives one access to the antenna hole and the antenna is colored in the same maroon and silver to perfectly match the rest of the figure. I was particularly impressed by the ribbing detail on the antenna array’s bottom.
Like the rest of Amazon’s 2013 Legacy Collection figures, the Battle Droid features a droid part. The Battle Droid features the left leg of TC-70. The copper and silver leg looks very much like a protocol droid’s leg. The leg is articulated with a hinge joint at the knee and a hinged ball and socket joint at the ankle. The foot has the appropriate hole for putting the droid into a vehicle or playset.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Battle Droid is very good in that regard. The Battle Droid has mediocre balance, which makes sense given how the droid was virtual and never existed in the real world.
That said, the new Battle Droid has pretty incredible poseability, illustrating the latest in molding technology. The Battle Droid is articulated at twelve points, few of which are simple swivel joints. The Battle Droid is articulated at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, neck and head. The head is on a ball-and-socket joint as are the legs at the groin socket (which is pretty cunningly hidden!). The rest of the joints are simple swivel and hinge joints. The neck raises and lowers.
Collectibility
The Battle Droid is part of the Legacy Collection with the build-a-droid figure that was released in 2013 entirely through Amazon.com. The Battle Droid was released with equal frequency as the rest of the line. Given how this is a generally generic figure and Battle Droids are part of pretty much every assortment so there is virtually no chance this figure will appreciate in value.
Overview
The Battle Droid is an uninspired addition to the Star Wars Legacy Collection, but it is one of the best renditions of this figure Hasbro has ever produced.
For other Attack Of The Clones action figures, please check out my reviews of:
The Black Collection #01 Padme Amidala
Vintage Collection VC60 Clone Trooper (501st Legion)
Original Trilogy Collection #37 Achk Med-Beq
7.5/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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