Ha!  I bet you didn’t see this review coming!  Neither did I.  I was desperate for something to review, and I was running out of time for my Tuesday AM deadline.  I had no interest in getting kicked in the toolbag by my coworker, so I needed something.  During my unpacking a few months back, I found this guy still in the package.  I had photographed it in the box, and then opened it for another Banthaskull project I’m working on.  So since I had that part done, I just decided to finish off the gallery and write this review. 

Not too long ago, in an effort to support our “Scene It” feature, I photographed the original release of the Hailfire Droid, which was from the Saga / [Tartakovsky] Clone Wars toy line of 2003.  It was great because it was an excuse to keep rolling out Geonosis figures and toys, even under the cartoon packaging.

So this is actually the 2nd repaint, or 3rd release, of this toy.  As mentioned in the first review, it’s a neat toy, and well executed.  The wheels roll smoothly, and the firing rockets do their job well.  The original release was in the AOTC color scheme.  This one takes a page out of The Clone Wars, and has some separatist unit colors, as well as the CIS logo - which is pretty cool.  You can see in the diorama shot in the gallery above that Hasbro released several CIS vehicles and droids in this blue color pattern.  Some of the vehicles, like the STAP and the ATT were seen in the films, while some, like the mini-rigs, were “just off screen” creations by Hasbro.  Whatever the source, you can put together a neat little CIS unit to fight off the GAR.

The second release is a different color pattern as well, and we may someday review that one.  But Hasbro changed it up completely under the Shadows of the Darkside packaging banner, when they created the super cool radio controlled Hailfire droid.  A different sculpt to accommodate the RC feature, but still can blend in with your 3.75” displays.  This version, like the original, gets an 8.