3T-RNE Droid
Star Tours Basic Figures
Item No.: No. 10258
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $10.00
Availability: 2005
Appearances: Star Tours

Bio: 3T-RNE was a droid that worked for the Star Tours travel agency. He was old and out-dated. He could be found waiting for R3-D3 and R3-A2 to be repaired. Or, more likely, to be stripped for parts. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's photo area.

Commentary: When Star Tours was first rumored as a possible toy line, fans went nuts. R2-D2, C-3PO, Rex, a Starspeeder 3000, and a whole mess of protocol droid and astromech repaints! Joy! Wait-- there are other droids on the ride? Droids that look like a pile of spare parts and aren't any fun, like 3T-RNE? Uh-oh. As one of many more or less generic robots with names even the hardest of the hardcore fans didn't bother to learn, this is a figure that's really hard to love. It's lacking in accessories, has but a few points of articulation, and it's damned ugly. Bright yellows and blues poke out of his grey body, and he basically looks like Disney "imagineers" cobbled together spare parts to come up with this little bugger. As a matter of fact, I'd bet money that this was the case. As one the final (so far) wave of Star Tours figures, this is more or less expected because really, just how many times can you redo the same figures? (Don't answer that.) It's an OK figure, but unless you're going out of your way to get every last figure Hasbro ever makes there's no good reason to get it. And even if you do want them all, well, it's just so hard to find something to say about this figure that's overwhelmingly positive. It stands up on his own just fine, I guess that counts for something. It's just so... dull.

Collector's Notes: As a $10 figure and a theme park exclusive, fans and collectors didn't have easy access to this bugger. Numerous units found their way to eBay, and odds are you'll be able to get one for under $20 with little difficulty. It's not a super-common toy, and with good reason-- fans didn't exactly go nuts for this guy, especially given he came out during a giant deluge of new product elsewhere. Hasbro hasn't reissued any of the 12 Star Tours figures yet and I honestly don't expect them to any time soon, although it would be nice to see some of these in a big exclusive boxed set. That or just reissue Rex already, I'm sure kids at the Disney parks would be happy to buy it.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 681: March 17, 2008