Thanks to the great Shannon, we now know Anaheim Disneyland has the Protocol Droids! 2 for $21.95. cheap. I've got a bunch of these (thank you Shannon!) and reviews will be going into Figure of the Day semi-irregularly, as often as I can. If you're in Southern California, perhaps a trip to the house of mouse is due soon.
There are multiple styles and colors, but not every droid is available in every color. As far as we know there are no new styles available from Orlando, but if you discover otherwise please let us know!
The glossy Vendor Droid (Black, Droid Factory) is available in Flordia now, and it's pretty sharp. It's shiny, it's not something we've seen in a movie or TV show yet, and it looks like it could belong on the Death Star playset you'll probably never get. But I digress. Read on!
Take a look at R5-S9 (Droid Factory), it's blue! The colors don't match the show perfectly, but it's also not an animated figure. You can find this The Clone Wars-inspired robot at Disney theme parks in a 4-pack, and of course we're going to look at them all. Read on!
A few months ago, Disney surprised us by releasing C1-10P "Chopper" - with tons of extra parts and articulation. It's a The Vintage Collection figure in all but name and packaging! The arm pops out. You can pop more arms in to his dome. You can change out third legs... he has third legs. It's great, get one. Read on!
Variety has a big story on a bunch of new movie release dates from Disney. Of particular note, the as-of-yet untitled Episode IX has been given a date of May 24, 2019. For those of you keeping track, the as-of-yet-Untitled Han Solo movie is set for May 2018 (still), and that's only 6 months after The Last Jedi hits theaters in December of this year.
We don't know exactly why they're changing seasons for Star Wars, although it might have something to do with getting the heck out of the way of Avatar sequels or positioning Star Wars to take over for Marvel, which may be undergoing a retool of its own. Indiana Jones 5 was also delayed to July of 2020.
From a toy business perspective, this could actually be really good news for Star Wars fans.
A few years ago we got a glimpse into a pretty cool Starspeeder 1000 from Disney, showing that they can make vehicles for the theme parks when Hasbro wasn't so inclined. Now according to Jedi News on Twitter, it looks like they're going to do a Sandcrawler. Start saving, it's going to be an expensive year for droid fanatics.
Secret #droidfactory playset coming soon to the #disneyparks With figure. Can you guess what it is??? #starwars https://t.co/Qkh1sPjjU4 pic.twitter.com/tEc6rUehw2
— Jedi News (@JediNewsUK) April 13, 2017
More! It looks like D-23, Halloween, Christmas, and whatever season BB-8 represents will be getting more exclusive figures at Disney parks and events. According to Vinylmation World, D23 will get R5-D23. Halloween gets a killer clear green R3-B0017. BB-8 will show up at Disneyland during D-23. R3-H17 is this year's Christmas Day of the Robot. Vinylmation World has more in a tweet.
Upcoming Astromech droids coming to Disney Parks #swco #disneyparks #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/ydlsOjxhjL
— Vinylmation World (@vinylmationworl) April 13, 2017
Adam gets another ulcer! New Protocol Droid Factory announced at Hollywood Studios! Vinylmation World posted some interesting stuff in the last day, including this tweet showing a new series of Protocol Droids launching, apparently, today! Exactly how many and which parts are there remain to be seen, so if anyone can catalog everything available so we can beg friends to help us out, that would be greatly appreciated.
Build a Protocol Droid launches tomorrow at Hollywood Studios #waltdisneyworld #swco #StarWarsCelebration #disneyparks pic.twitter.com/tNapHwzRyy
— Vinylmation World (@vinylmationworl) April 13, 2017
Hot - or cold - on the tail of last year's robot is the new R2-H16. This festive fellow has a hat with ear flaps, which is reason alone enough to buy one as 3 3/4-inch scale droids seem to have become the new Vinylmation as our hobby as concerned. The official Disney Parks site has a feature on this and other new items, including a Bluetooth Stormtrooper Commlink for your phone, new plush Ewoks based on the 1980s cartoons - seriously!, and other goodies.
Ultimate Studio Edition Star Wars Collectibles are now up for grabs at http://collectibles.starwars.com/. This new product line is yet another prop replica maker, with one key difference - these ones boast even more authenticity, and are priced (and packaged) accordingly. Eight pieces are up for grabs now, all from The Force Awakens, including Vader's melted helmet (pictured) as a limited edition of 500 for $3,500.