R4-M6 Mace Windu's Astromech Droid
The Saga Collection Wal-Mart Exclusive
Item No.: Asst. 85770 No. 87354
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #074
Includes: Stand, bonus holographic figure
Action Feature: Rotate dome and third leg retracts or descends
Retail: $6.99
Availability: January 2007
Appearances: Clone Wars

Bio: The stalwart R4-M6 provides technical support in Mace Windu's Jedi starfighter. R4 droids provide assistance to Jedi pilots as onboard astrogators, technicians, and communications specialists and are outfitted with various tools for utility and repair. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: When it first appeared in the Clone Wars animated series, fans took a look at the then-unnamed purple astromech droid and said "hey, why not?" The end result was R4-M6, yet another repaint of the R4-G9 mold. This time, obviously, in purple. For the most part the figure turned out as planned-- it has a purple body, a silver head, and well, the one thing that didn't work so well for me was that Hasbro elected to keep the "box" around the central black eye the same color as the dome. With the Jedi Starfighter toy and in the cartoon, this outer area was purple-- so Hasbro took a shortcut here. It's not a bad figure as a result, but it's one of the increasingly frequent happenings where Hasbro is handed a simple repaint concept and stops just one or two elements short of perfection. Like all other R4-G9 repaints, the figure has a rotating dome which raises or lowers the central third leg. Each foot is articulated, and the figure is articulated at the shoulders-- there are no "action features" beyond these. For astromech fans, this is a no-brainer must-buy toy. For everyone else, well, there are over a dozen repaints of the mold available in red, green, yellow, pink, black, and various other combinations. While I personally adore the concept of having a Pantone droid collection, I may be in the minority-- and since this was an exclusive, it may not always be easy to track down cheaply.

Were it not for the purple box around the eye, I would consider this a perfect release. As it is, it's just merely very much near perfect.

Collector's Notes: As a Wal-Mart exclusive, this figure was significantly harder to track down in early 2007 than it should have been. Some stores never got them, some sold out the back door, some were choking on too many of them, and others still got them two months after the rest of the country. In short, it was a pain. The figure tends to close for slightly above retail on eBay before shipping, so it might be worth waiting out any residual hype before buying one of these-- or if it's in a fairly priced lot, just get that. I certainly don't think it's worth paying $15-$20 for, but if you had an idea of what I'm considering paying for a set of 2007 Botcon exclusives, you'd probably not listen to any of my notions of what toys are "worth."

Day 607: January 3, 2008