Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) with pop-up Lightsaber (POTF 1985)




Kenner production team meeting:
Guy 1: Hmm…how can we milk more out of figures we have already made?
Guy 2: What about sparking torso C-3PO?
Guy 3: No – too obvious. How about a Leia in disco suede?
Guy 1: No – too many design changes. How about a new R2?
Guy 2: Yeah, but what hasn’t been done? The third leg?
Guy 1: Oh, we did that in the Droid Factory so not many people could get it. What about a lightsaber that can come out of his head, like in the Tatooine scene?
Guy 3: Yeah, but let’s use an Endor scene photo on the package!
All three: Brilliant!
Alright, so many it didn’t go quite like this, but with a “premium” line like the POTF one, why could there have been a really new figure? Why an R2 with one little feature. Heck, the lightsaber doesn’t even really pop out – it rises as you turn his head. I want a mother----ing saber that shoots out his head right into my Jedi Luke’s hand! Is that so much to ask?
Well, anyway, this R2 comes on a POTF card, making it rarer. It comes with a green lightsaber that rise from his head as you turn it, and is removable. As any POTF figure, it comes with a coin, but inexplicably, it shows a photo – not of R2 shooting out the lightsaber – no, it shows him short-circuiting at the Endor bunker. Go figure.
Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:
1. Maybe you could rig a pen spring in there and make it really shoot.
2. Makes up for Poncho Luke not coming with a lightsaber. Partially.
3. Adds credence to the line, “Is that a lightsaber, or are you just happy to see me?”
4. Gave hope that they would finally get R2 right. Oh, wait – the line just ended.
5. A real coup, since your parents are probably saying, “Don’t you already have one of these?”
Backstory:
The backstory has been covered in my original R2 post, and here is the link to the R2 with sensorscope, and the Droids R2
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