' 03 | # 05 - SP- 4 & JN- 66 - Research Droids - (Reviewed 05-08-2003)

Includes:
• Hover Column for JN-66

"These guys look like old school overhead projectors on crack. These cutting room floor guys were the last thing I really expected in the Saga line-up" - There isn't too much else you can do with these figures.

Book Mobile - Looking for books to BURN, Ray Bradbury must be spinning in his grave


Went off and got some haircuts, lookin' wild and got all drugged up Click thumbnail for large image
Spice: Within the last few months Hasbro has hit us with a couple of 2-pack figures for the single blister price. Two figures for one are a good deal, I'm a little torn if I really like the idea of producing characters for deleted scenes when they haven't delivered on a decent amount for the entire film. Sure you get two figures, complete brilliance, I most certainly hate to shell out 8-10 dollars for the both of these. You get a look-a-like from the Fantastic Four 1960's cartoon, Herbie the robot. Then they throw in a crossover of Buck Rogers 'Twiggy (sic - Twiki)' with Johnny 5's head. You would really have to be a child of the eighties to follow these references, but I am doing my best to describe where they ripped these off.


It's all analytic, if our research is literal, then how the @#$% could we raise a little android? WE COULDN'T, WE WOULDN'T BE FIT TO! Click thumbnail for large image
J - Excuse Spice while his 'Way Back Machine' is set to 1982 folks. Now, Ewoks, Ugnaughts, even Pit Droids registered as very plausible 2-pack entries in the series. The library droids, let's face it, couldn't have caught much interest at all had they been slapped on blister cards individually. But Hasbro was in it for the right reasons this time, giving you that extra bang for your buck that they like to boast about often. Star Tours resounds in my mind when I look at the 'thrown-together' look of these figures, like they could have been designed for any other non-Star Wars venture. The justification here is that the 99% of all Star Wars collectors who own the Episode II DVD or VHS see that they got these two right the first time and there will be no need for future resculpts.




JN-66 again trying to be in the spotlight ala Daffy Duck and Starscream Click thumbnail for large image
Spice - Let’s hope so. The limited articulation does not take away from the entire resemblance that is there to right down to the Billy Idol Mohawk on SP-4. JN-66 didn’t fare as well as his counterpart. The ram in the can stand (Watto) is back. Showing us that indeed the look of the Invisible Jet is still cool even in modern day Star Wars collecting. There is not too much else you can do with these figures, they do not really hold the larger than life Kamino Dart that is included with Dexter Jettster. I do like the idea of giving us something never before released. I think it is better to give it to collectors like this instead of charging ten dollars and it being the next worthless Star Tours figure?



Cool!!!   A ROBOT!!! Click thumbnail for large image
J - These cutting room floor guys were the last thing I really expected in the Saga line-up, considering you have so many others to chose from to make yet. I think the fat drunk Episode IV Jabba would have made a better candidate to release to the public. But, as far as accurate plastic character depiction salvos go from Hasbro, they 'dropped da bomb.' Again, though, you are right Spice - what much can you do with these except pose with Master Kenobi? I am writhing in pain, wondering why they used the same easy to knock over stand for JN-66, just like the one they gave us for Commtech Vader's Interrogation Droid. They made one that worked for Saga Watto, even Epiosde I Palpatine, and yet they go back to old errors here in 2003! Reminds me of how they dropped the ball with Orn-Free Taa.




You might know my Uncle Shockwave? He runs the Space Bridge over on Cybertron? Click thumbnail for large image
Spice - I agree with you completely on the view of many other significant figures should have been made first. I can’t believe they made these before Coleman Trebor, Bail Organa, or even to be released prior to Wat Tambor is simply ludicrous. These guys look like old school overhead projectors on crack. Did they get Mick Foley to lease out top Battlebot designers to generate these for Lucasfilm? I usually am all for new figures but this is one that is kind of stupid. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so bad if I hadn’t been ankle grabbing six times over the last year for Star Tours!



Family Tree? Or Cruel Dichotomy?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Jason - I like the figures, but I think they would have made for a better 'Fan Club Exclusive' rather than a mass-market release. Just like we mentioned in the Aayla Secura review, they are doing minor characters up right while the main actors are given one half-hearted entry after another. Just like you can't get wet by saying the word 'water,' you can't get the whole SW universe by making some and not all of the figures live up to the actual characters in the movies. So, inasmuch that these Library Droids were crafted to be film accurate and the fact that these are being produced at all seems to draw attention to the fact that Hasbro has a lot of ground to cover in their other efforts. A not too enthusiastic thumbs up.

 

Spice - To top it all off they weren't even smart droids such as R2 or 3P0, they didn't even know what a Kamino Saber Dart was. So all in all these things were so worthless they cut them from the film, therefore Hasbro should have cut them, for at least five or six years. When they are hurting to unload a "new" figure on collectors. I’m really not trying to have Hasbro in a damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. What they have to do is find a solid medium. I don’t want multiple figures of the same character, however until the Trilogy delivers the third installment I do not feel like these are a 'must have' at this time.



NEXT TIME ON SANDWATCH:
Justified





HIT ME WITH THE DIGITS AMERICA!
"Did you know that severed heads can stay alive for a few seconds after being decapitated? If they did that to me, I would let my head roll out to the audience and say ' WOULD YOU LIKE THOSE DIGITS SUPER-SIZED SIR? ' "




Two for the price of one, something you pay for in every purchase

Grades

J

Spice

Visual Impact

8.0

7.5

Detail & Paint

7.0

6.2

Accessories/Weapons

0.1

9.0

Articulation/Function

8.5

4.2

Overall

7.5

6.1



+       it is better than another pointless resculpt  
-       they should have asked Frank Welker to be the voice for these guys since they look so much like Herbie  
-       made me flashback to 7th Grade Science class, those overhead projectors always put me to sleep!

With a voice acting credits list longer than anyone else in the business, could it be a stretch for voice God Frank Welker to do the voice of the Research Droids in the Clone Wars Cartoon?

(Figure '03 | #05, Asst. No. 84861, Item No. 84924, Backing Card P/N 6190300500, Window Insert P/N 6190540500, Date code 30071 (1st shift on 7th day of 2003; can be unique for different samples of the same figure) )


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Two for the price of one, something you pay for in every purchase

Went off and got some haircuts, lookin' wild and got all drugged up

It's all analytic, if our music is literal, then how the @#$% could we raise a little android? WE COULDN'T, WE WOULDN'T BE FIT TO!

JN-66 again trying to be in the spotlight ala Daffy Duck and Starscream

Cool!!!   A ROBOT!!!

You might know my Uncle Shockwave? He runs the Space Bridge over on Cybertron?