Bio: The adventure continues with this R2-D2 Carryall Playset from Star Wars Episode I! It's styled like R2-D2 on the outside, but inside, its a complete play area and storage space for up to 20 Star Wars 3 3/4 figures and accessories, so you can recreate the excitement of the Trade Federation battleship, just like in the movie. (Taken from the playset's box.)

Image: Adam's shelves.

Commentary: This Destroyer Droid is essentially an accessory of a larger playset/carry case-- which itself is a great piece. The wheel itself rolls fairly nicely, and if you try it, you can probably get it to balance on its side a whole lot easier than other figures with two legs. The detail and coloring matches that of the full-size figure, but it's a lot smaller and, of course, cannot expand into a full droideka. In short, this is a wheel-- it's good for dioramas, and it's a neat collectible. Depending on which version you get (see below) it actually has the potential of being a great toy, but the action you'll get from this release comes from rolling it down a ramp or launching it from some sort of droid bay. I'd say it's worth getting for any droid fanatic, but it's not something that's going to bring a smile to the picky collector. I'm glad I got mine, though.

Collector's Notes: The wheel droid was originally released with the R2-D2 carry case in 1999, but it was actually fairly hard to get in some markets. The same mold was brought back again in late 2003 with the Destroyer Droid Launcher with The Clone Wars, which included a nifty bay from which to launch the droids at the enemy. It was a clever reuse of an older mold, but still, basically it's just a little round thing to roll around.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 748: May 23, 2008