Dec 17

Dec 17 Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventure Droid Trio // Review

With the latest arrival of Force Friday, Star Wars fans were served not just with anniversary toys and new Black Edition figures, but something different. Aimed at children rather than collectors, the Galaxy of Adventure line uses stylized representations of Star Wars characters, similar to the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons. Figures are more solid with more straightforward articulation points and often include an action feature.

One bonus on Force Friday, however, was a trio of droids running at $15 approximate, instead of $10 for the standard character figures. Included in this pack are franchise stars R2-D2 and BB-8, as well as Rise of Skywalker newcomer D-0.

The packaging is solid, featuring cartoon renditions of each droid alongside a window showing the figures inside. The back of the box shows off the action featured in ways that aren’t helpful at all. However, with three figures, it was harder to utilize real estate properly.

R2 is wonderfully chunky, coming off as a short and stocky version of himself. This is in no way a bad thing, and the sculpt work is fantastic. Little details like the slot beneath his big eye and all the recesses for the droid’s panels are all found here. His dome head swivels as it should, and R2’s third leg does slide relatively easily out of his torso for alternate poses. Ankle tilts, for lack of a better term, help keep this R2 both expressive(ish) and screen accurate.

D-0 has been seen in multiple previews as a small droid head atop a spinning wheel. This is a great visual but can be horrible for toys. D here retains his design well, with a single arm attaching his head to the wheel below. The head also has a swivel joint, and all 3 antennae are on movable ball joints. The wheel doesn’t move nearly as easily as the image on the back of the box implies, but a pair of small bumps on the wheel do at least make it easy to stand.

BB-8 is the odd man out. While his design is harder to make into a workable toy, Hasbro also chose to add in an action gimmick. The way it’s explained, twisting BB-8’s body while holding his head should spin out a few pieces of his wheel as an “attack.” Attached by string, they retract by pressing the button beneath the sphere body. In action, it doesn’t work as well as it should. The button also makes it harder to stand BB-8 upright, but the peg joint for his head does make the droid fairly expressive in his own way.

While nowhere near as detailed as any Black Series release, these droids actually make a wonderful addition to any droid collectors out there, and they actually look about in scale with the 6-inch Black Series figures if one is looking for an inexpensive substitute. They’re also great for the kids, through D-0 is the most likely to break at this point.