The Original Trilogy Collection offers up a “new” version of a figure that we see pretty often anymore. R2-D2 (Dagobah Training) gives us the first carded version of R2 when he looks like he was emptying Port-O-Potties for a day and a nice improvement over the pack-in R2 that came with the Dagobah X-Wing. Sure he carries on the OTC tradition of reused/rehashed parts, but in the end it’s what you ultimately get that says whether it’s a good figure or not. I mean, you re-release the “Imperial Officer” figure in grey instead of black, and I guarantee you people go ga-ga buying him up in droves to build an Imperial Technician army.
It’s all in the eye of the beholder right? Well, this eye beholds an improved version of a figure, but nothing is perfect either… Nothing that turned out to “be all that it can be”, as our armed forces friends may say. So what is there to like, and what is there to hate? Well that’s the eternal question that my reviews answer… And as the NEW banner says, I’m gonna bring you “The Good… The Bad… & The Ugly” that this R2-D2 figure brings to your collection.
Read on, and enjoy.
PROS
Sculpt: The 2002 Saga R2-D2 that came out was laden with an “action” feature of lights and sounds, and really that’s not too bad. R2-D2 gets lots of figures left and right. Some of them are great, and some are so-so, but that Saga light-up R2-D2 was pretty neat for what it was. To make it even more impressive was that it was a rehash of a rehash (its origins come from the Power FX R2-D2 from the POTF2 line, actually). In the end it’s a nice sculpt though.
The panels are all raised or sunk just right, so the figure has depth. On astromechs this is pretty paramount of importance, as it’s really the only way to make this figure stand out. Some would argue that his dome panels are inaccurate, as they weren’t really sunk in as much as they are on the figure (or at all on the actual prop, really, since they’re flush with the body), but in the end it’s an effective technique on something this small. It’s the best way to show all the intricate panels and things.
One little thing of note, is how the sculptor of this figure designed the battery compartment’s cover into the body lines of the figure. This is smart sculpting actually, and largely goes unnoticed. The figure’s designer made it so the access to the batteries would be as unobtrusive as possible to the figure’s looks. Sure you can notice it (namely the screw piece that holds it in place) but it’s the effort that gets the grade.
It’s not terribly complex, but it works, and that’s all one can ask for from this figure in the end. The figure is even pretty old on top of it all, and it still holds its own against some top-notch figures coming out lately. It shaped up pretty great, so let’s leave this “Pro” at that then.
Light and Sound Feature: This is a neat little extra to any action figure I think, especially when it sounds good and isn’t exactly obtrusive to the sculpt (for the most part). Old R2 here has neither problem actually. The rear-panel where the battery compartment is (and where you remove said batteries) has clear lines where you take it apart, but as noted in the critique of the sculpt, the panel lines match up with the battery compartment’s cover so it’s as unnoticeable as it possibly can be. That’s a nice touch. Again, it doesn’t hinder the sculpt.
The other key though, is how does the sound actually sound, and how do the lights actually look. Well, it looks and sounds pretty darn great on this figure, which is nice because Hasbro’s efforts with this feature (sound especially) have fallen somewhat flat in the past.
The sounds R2 makes are vast and varied actually, and while a little metallic sounding, you can’t expect perfection, and they’re still pretty clearly R2-D2. I counted I believe 8 to 9 unique effects in him too, and the red light/eye on the figure blinks and lights up in unison with the sounds. That’s a pretty nicely done feature within the figure. The one effect I liked the most was his “scream” which to enact this one you’ve got to hold the button down a while. I consider that pretty great, and since his being spewed across the swamp was one of my favorite moments, then it’s much appreciated to have this sound. 
Another small detail is the way the figure’s button to activate the feature is a panel on the front of R2 that is perfectly flush with the figure. Again, another nice job of hiding the means of making the figure work, as with the battery compartment in the back. A very simple and effective way of keeping the figure looking great and making him function easy enough.
If I had a gripe though, it’d be how the feature hinders the head, and we’ll get to that later.
Poseability: For what he is, you can get some poses out of him. Hasbro has him articulated at the shoulders and ankles, so I’m not going to break him down with my usual listing of articulation points. He’s not heavily articulated, and he’s missing a 3rd leg (again something I consider a “Con” we’ll touch on later) but he is sporting the ankle articulation which is pretty important.
Why is it important though? Well, one of R2’s well-known poses from his time on Dagobah is standing on his tip-toes to see inside Yoda’s hut. If you have a Yoda’s hut to have R2 stand at a window and peer into, well then you’ve got a nice R2-D2 to do it with. I dig that about this figure.
He’s winning no awards, but he’s pretty good. The center leg on R2 is my only disappointment here.
Paint/Deco: Nothing to go nuts over really, but Hasbro didn’t stray from the lines either, so I give them their props on this figure’s paint applications. I will say though, it looks like R2 played in a septic tank more than he actually rolled around in mucky swamp water, but the effect of how he looked on Dagobah is clearly felt since he was a royal mess till the rainwater cleaned him up somewhat (Why did he spit out what appeared to be chewing tobacco though? I’ve always wondered what that was exactly).
He’s a nice mix of silvers, blues, a lighter blue, a couple flecks of black and orange, etc., and a hideous mess of brown that only a used pair of depends would be able to emulate. Blech! But a good Blech.
Hasbro’s use of the blue on the panels of R2 came off clean, and I don’t see any that smeared or strayed onto the silver portions of his dome or the white of his body. Good job there. The silver vents on the button for the feature are particularly nice to me, as they feature blue between them that really highlights that tiny portion of the figure with a nice paintjob. Actually there are quite a few panels that sport some intricate detailing of silver and blue really.
His dome has a couple spots of black and an orange dot on his one eye-socket looking thing on the back of his head. Again a nicely done little paintjob.
The brown wash on him to simulate the mud is a HUGE step forward compared to the pack-in R2-D2 from the Dagobah X-Wing. That figure looked more like he had been pushing a lawnmower and got some grass clippings on him, whereas Dagobah R2-D2 here actually looks like he’s seen some swamp buggy action, and that’s what counts. His brown wash is wiped on nicely, and leaves white shining through to show the droid underneath as if the mud’s wiping off him somewhat.
CONS
No Poseable Dome: The articulation’s nice, but the feature does hinder the dome’s ability to move. Unfortunately I think that it really didn’t have to be this way, as if the wiring were done properly, the dome could still retain SOME movement. That would be a nice improvement on this figure I believe since the dome’s one of the only points of articulation you can claim on an astromech, but that’s neither here nor there.
It’s nice having an R2 that lights up, but the things you have to seemingly give up to get it really aren’t much fun. It hurts the figure as a toy in its own way, so it’s got to be labeled a negative here.
No Middle Leg: Kind of like the dome there, when astromechs have no retractable center leg, then I’m disappointed. The retractable leg feature was something the modern line created, and a great stride forward in astromech fun, so when it’s omitted for another feature it’s kind of sad. With that said though, the feature just isn’t possible with the leg there unless they make it completely removable so it just snaps onto the bottom.
That though, is the problem. Why no removable center leg for R2? Well, this is just going to be one of those things we’ll have to wish we would have gotten as an accessory. R2 would certainly be a little more interesting anyway.
Accessories: R2 basically has nothing more than a base that’s reused from the other Dagobah figures.
Sure it interacts by snapping onto the other Dagobah bases, and thus you can create a little swamp floor for the figures to stand around on. That’s a neat concept, and I’d like to see it taken further, however R2 comes with absolutely nothing else, and that’s a huge disappointment. As noted above, a removable 3rd leg maybe would’ve been nice, for instance.
That said, why not something else? For instance, why not the lamp Yoda took, or the accessories packed with the Dagobah X-Wing that everyone seems to want but which never saw release other than with that ship. What about Luke’s boxes he floats perhaps? A neat feature even would’ve been if the base could make boxes float. That would be a base that is a little more useful than one rehashed from another figure anyway. It would make R2 just something more interesting.
OVERALL
Nothing to write home about as figures go. R2 comes with nothing, and other than the paintjob and the removal of his middle leg, there’s not a lot new. Still, a paintjob can go a long way to making a “new” figure… Or one that’s seemingly new anyway. That’s the deal with this version of R2. You get a figure you already have that’s painted up special, and sports some nifty sound effects.
That’s cool though, in its own way. If I had one major gripe about him, it’s the accessories. With so much being “old” about him, the least Hasbro could’ve done was include something exciting to entice buyers. They didn’t, and that’s a big negative.
I say if you can wait, get one on clearance. He’s relatively abundant it seems, so that’s a possibility. The lack of accessories really hurts this figure in my opinion, and while I give a relatively indifferent review on him in the end I wish I hadn’t bought one right away like I did. Hasbro and retail got my $5 though, so alas it isn’t coming back. The rehashing of figures is a great thing I think, but only in certain instances, and when something NEW is offered up to make it interesting. R2 didn’t have that too much unfortunately.
He’s a nice improvement to the pack-in though, so that’s something. But he’s not got the middle leg, or the poseable dome. He’s got no accessories, but his paintjob’s vastly superior to the pack-in. He’s just one of those figures you can’t say you were dying to get, but you also can’t say you don’t want it entirely either.
Buy at your own risk I guess. No complaints to me if you feel like he took $2 off you or something though.
