R2-D2 We Love You, It’s True

Despite today’s title, we’re not talking about Christmas in the Stars. We are talking about R2-D2 though. I have a deep love R2 and astromech droids in general. It probably has to do with the fact that the starfighter fights are my favorite parts of the Star Wars movies and every good X-Wing pilot has to have his own astromech droid.

When I was still collecting Star Wars figures I limited myself to two things; Rebel Pilots and Astromech Droids. Eventually Hasbro thought it would be a good idea to create the Build-A-Droid promotion. Basically they’d split the droid into four pieces and package them with other figures. There was no way I was buying four other figures every time I wanted a new R2 unit. That is when I stopped buying Star Wars figures. Just because I’m no longer buying Star Wars stuff doesn’t mean I don’t keep an eye on what is being solicited. I found 2 recently announced R2-D2 that I thought were pretty neat.

I might have to rethink my buying policy, Gentle Giant is making one of the coolest R2 figures I’ve seen in a long time. They’ve taken the old Kenner toys, digitally scanned them and then reproduced them for a 12” line. The R2-D2 obviously caught my eye. The biggest selling point on this is lost on you if you never owned the original; when you turn his head it makes a distinctive clicking noise. I swear to you, that clicking noise is my childhood. It’s a nostalgia overload. The figure will come in packaging that looks like the old Kenner blister card, but is re-sealable. It is a very, very cool toy. I don’t know that it 80 dollars cool, but it is tempting.

To end this R2 love session I started today, he is also getting a themed Operation game. I’ve never been a big fan of Operation and the game has spawned endless licensed versions before, but this one grabbed me. It’s a cuteness overload even before you look at the geekiness of the items you have to remove. Bad Motivator, Lodged Lightsaber, Hiccupping Holograms, etc… I doubt that this one is going to end up on my shelf, but I love that it was made.