The Good: Good sculpt, Fine accessories, Decent playability, Good balance.
The Bad: Minor articulation/playability issue
The Basics: The Attack Of The Clones Destroyer Droid figure features a few additional play options, but they do not work incredibly well.
The fact that Destroyer Droid action figures continue to be released as part of Hasbro’s ever-expanding Star Wars toy line either indicates that the destructive droids are either exceptionally popular or Hasbro is really working hard to get the figure right! In the recent Wal-Mart exclusive Discover The Force toy line, there was a Destroyer Droid (reviewed here!) and that had remarkably few substantive improvements over the original The Phantom Menace Destroyer Droid (reviewed here!). In between, there were a few Destroyer Droid figures and one of the more notable ones was the Attack Of The Clones Destroyer Droid.
For those unfamiliar with Destroyer Droids, early on in The Phantom Menace ( reviewed here!) Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are surrounded by shield-generating rolling droids that are not an easy kill for them. Outmatched or at a stalemate with the unfolded, blaster cannon-wielding droids, the Jedi are forced to retreat. They show up again in the other two prequel Star Wars films as heavy artillery for the Trade Federation.
The Attack Of The Clones Destroyer Droid are the robots unfolded and ready to blast apart the Jedi. This toy line tried to make the figures more action-oriented and the Destroyer Droid is no exception to that standard.
Basics
The Destroyer Droid figure is very well-detailed, which is pretty easy when one considers that it is a very clean droid based entirely upon a CG model. The bulk war machine stands 4 3/8" tall when it is on its toes and standing as tall as it can. This Destroyer Droid was released in 2002 as part of Hasbro's Attack Of The Clones Collection and it was a new casting compared to the The Phantom Menace version. This figure is cast entirely in hard plastics.
This toy is a good sculpt and includes all of the essential parts of the Destroyer Droid. The Destroyer Droid is a weird combination of curves and lines, with the three solid, pointed legs descending from a ball abdomen. The rounded head unit resembles that of an insect or the alien queen from Aliens. The thin, curved metal spine is connected to two arms that end in pairs of blaster cannons. This sculpt has the back a bit thicker than the actual Destroyer Droids in order to accommodate the play function. This sculpt features support pipes on the arms and tubes on the backs of the elbows. The coolest molded detail has to be the delicate work on the eye turrets and the descending “mouth” gun.
As for coloring, most of the body of the Destroyer Droid is gunmetal. The parts that are not are a metallic purple-gray that is brushed with a rust color. This is a very clean version of the Destroyer Droid.
Accessories
Destroyer Droid is a mass-produced killing machine and needs little in the way of accessories. The Attack Of The Clones Destroyer Droid comes exclusively with two blaster bolts. The blaster bolts are simple clear plastic and red translucent firebolts that plug into the two blaster cannon hands. They are 3 1/16” long and are interchangeable between either hand set. They slide into the launchers on the underside of each hand and are fired by depressing the back of each bolt (which unlatches it and allows the spring to launch the bolt). This is pretty much one of the only accessories a Destroyer Droid could come with and in principle it is pretty cool.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Destroyer Droid is good in that regard. This Attack Of The Clones figure has impressive balance! Because the Destroyer Droid has three legs which stand on flexible feet, this is a very balanced toy and because of the articulation of this figure, it is very easy to keep it balanced. This is aided by the fact that it is virtually impossible to put this figure in outlandish poses. The Destroyer Droid comes with twelve points of articulation. This Destroyer Droid has joints at the ankles, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, waist, and head. Most of the joints are simple hinge joints and the swivel joints for the shoulders and waist are not bad. In fact, this is one of the few Destroyer Droids that is able to twist at the waist!
The Attack Of The Clones toy line was geared more toward play and the Destroyer Droid features two distinct play elements. The first is the arm cannons. Those cannons are activated by depressing the back of the laser bolt the figure comes with. This tends to have a disappointing execution; the bolt from the right hand only travels about six inches and the left hand one does not even clear the figure! I don’t recall playing excessively with this toy, so this is a pretty disappointing turn for the figure.
There is also a lever on the back of the Destroyer Droid which allows the arms to swing. Making the Destroyer Droid do a traditional running motion is actually quite silly, but it was cool that Hasbro tried something different with the figure.
Collectibility
The Destroyer Droid is part of the 2002 Attack Of The Clones four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was one of the later lines of Attack Of The Clones toys. The Destroyer Droid is one of the initially cool figures cast in the Attack Of The Clones series, but its problems make it less than perfect. Even so, Destroyer Droids are popular and this one may be found pretty cheap at this point.
The Destroyer Droid is number 48 in the Attack Of The Clones collection.
Overview
The Destroyer Droid is a cool figure and despite the problems with the play aspects, the Attack Of The Clones casting is still pretty impressive.
For other 2002 Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones action figures, please check out my reviews of:
#01 Acklay Battle Obi-Wan Kenobi
#02 Arena Escape Padme Amidala
#04 C-3PO
#05 Kit Fisto
#10 Shaak Ti
#13 Kamino Escape Jango Fett
#15 Geonosian Warrior
#18 Zam Wesell Bounty Hunter
#19 Royal Guard Coruscant Security
#23 Yoda
#26 Luminara Unduli
#27 Count Dooku
#35 Orn Free Taa
#38 Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Starfighter Pilot
#39 Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
#40 Djas Puhr Bounty Hunter
#41 Coruscant Attack Padme Amidala
8/10
For more Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my Toy review Index Page!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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