A new sculpt for R2-D2, this one was the first to have wheels on the feet.  Unfortunately, it only had 3 points of articulation (head, 2 shoulders).  It wasn’t bad looking, but aside from the new wheels, it didn’t offer much to build on the well-liked POTF2 Commtech figure that came with the little holographic Leia. 

R2 had a weathered deco that consisted of a handful of lightly airbrushed spots around the body.  It was apparently meant to represent R2 after he helped restore the hyperdrive on the Naboo Royal Starship.  However, looking at a still from the scene where he is recognized by Queen Amidala for his bravery, you can see that he is much dirtier and grimier than the applied weathering.  Therefore, it does a feeble job of living up to its job.

Mighty filthy!

A better figure to represent this moment would actually be the initial dirty wash release of VC149.

The wheels were a nice evolution for the astromechs of the day, but 25 years later, it really doesn’t bring anything to the table, and can safely be ignored by most collectors.