Hasbro
Released February 2004
Reviewed by Adam Pawlus
Photography by Michael Sullenger
Reviewed on April 21, 2004
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One of the more frequent requests I've seen for a new R2-D2 is the version with the drink tray, and Hasbro has finally come through with R2-D2 (Jabba's Sail Barge). Essentially a repainted and modified R2-Q5, it looks great and has all the articulation you could want in a $5 droid.

This figure is packaged with a base, drink dispenser, and serving tray.

Sculpt/Articulation/Gimmicks/Paint

One of the things we've bagged on Hasbro for in the past is not reusing certain droid molds when it made sense to do so. Here, Habsro repaints R2-Q5, a fine sculpt, and adds a hole in his dome to make what will look like an all-new figure.

The figure looks like an Astro droid and, most importantly, isn't larger or smaller than other recent Astro droids since he uses many of the same parts.



For a repaint, this is pretty spiffy. The existing mold from 2001 uesd for R2-Q5 was awesome and nearly perfect except for the round "eye" tended to melt in to the squarish background. On R2-Q5, this looked odd, but since the mold has been painted into R2-D2, it looks fine as the color helps the part stand out a little bit more. The dome has a number of lights and details painted on it, and as it's silver and not chrome it looks a heck of a lot nicer than many other previous versions of the character. This is a very clean version of the droid, with no intentional dirt added for effect. The end result, when all the accessories are removed, may be the finest R2-D2 yet, even better than the overrated CommTech version with the Holographic Leia from 1999.

The figure has joints at the dome, ankles, and what I presume are shoulders in addition to the ankle at the end of the retractable third leg. The only thing this figure is missing that previous R2-D2s had are the wheels which, really, aren't necessary. The figure's movement is relatively free and you should have no problems posing him as you see fit. You may, however, be annoyed that the third leg isn't fully retractable and sticks out a little from the bottom, but odds are it's not a dealbreaker. This is a great looking figure. Accessories

This set includes a base, drink dispenser, and serving tray.

The base is nothing new, so you know what to expect from the gunmetal grey rectangle with the Star Wars logo stamped on it. Like before, if you string these together, sometimes the ones on the end pop up. It's weird. And, really, not something that should be happening.

The other accessories are all pretty flimsy. When left on the figure, they look great, but the gold serving tray is especially flimsy. The paint on the accessories is acceptable and slightly better than you might expect, with the dots in the "cups" and such. For this figure, the accessories are precisely what they should be, if not as durable as they could be.

Packaging

For 2004, the late-2003 revision is still being employed. More of the same, folks.

Availability

Figure distribution in 2004 is random and spotty, and in some areas this figure has come and more or less gone. I still see him popping around two months after his initial release, and as such it might be worth your looking around to find it.

Fin

Truly, this is one of the finest R2-D2 figures ever. Fantastic decoration, good accessories, and a whole mess of joints make it a great action figure instead of just another R2-D2. If you have a lot of the character and no need for these accessories, though, this is a figure you could probably stand to pass on. It's great, but it doesn't break much new ground, so if you want a much improved looking R2-D2, this is the one

Our regular sample was obtained from Entertainment Earth in March 2004.