Just when you thought Hasbro couldn’t do any worse.  They release this figure.  AND TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES!

The 2002 Saga line was a time for lots of extreme pre-posed, action feature laden, and magnet filled figures.  It was a confusing time if you were a collector.  Within the previous 3 years or so, figures at gotten more realistic looking, with improved sculpts, better scaling, and slightly upgraded articulation.  The Commtech era (EP1 and POTF2) upped the ante for Star Wars, while POTJ, with its esoteric character selection, really grabbled the attention of adult collectors.  Saga seemed to try to break new ground, but by today’s standards, most of what was attempted turned out to be a series of failed gimmicks. 

The Super Battle Droid came along and, at first glance, looked to be another example of Hasbro nonsense.  But it really isn’t.  I’m not going to say it hasn’t been surpassed by better versions of the character.  It has, and several times over.  But this release is executed surprisingly well, and the action features and gimmicks work nicely. 

The figure is meant to break apart.  Unlike other figures designed to fall to pieces, this one is engineered well enough that when assembled (in any of several configurations) it easily passes as a normal offering.  There are 7 pieces:  An upper body with a head and a cavity that accommodates one of two torsos as well as two of three arms, while attaching to a lower body with a pair of legs.  Technically, the legs can also be separated from the abdomen/crotch, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that.  I mean, if I’m going to own a figure with a separate crotch, I’ll stick with VC01 Dengar.

The droid can be assembled as (1) clean/standard, (2) battle damaged/standard (3) clean/cannon arm, or (4) battle damaged/cannon arm.  To start with, the clean/standard SBD is exactly that.  As the first release of the character, this was your first shot at adding it to your collection after debuting on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones.  The figure stands assuredly, and can be posed a bit by engaging the articulation at the shoulders and hips (swivel) and the elbows and knees (hinged).  The paint job is simple, but nicely mimics the dull, metallic finish of the on screen version. 

The chest piece can be swapped between either the clean or battle damaged version.  Taking either piece off the torso allows access to the right arm, which can be swapped for a cannon loadout, which sports a spring-loaded missile launcher.  That part is, of course, not screen accurate, but either of the chest pieces work to give some variety in your displays.  Additionally, there is a blast effect that can be attached to a hole in the battle damaged chest piece.  A small, well designed button on the figure’s lower back activates an “exploding” feature so you can recreate one of these bad boys being blown up.  For an alternative display, you can scatter the pieces across your Geonosian battle field.

Even if you leave out the giant cannon, there are plenty of uses for this figure in your displays.  While it’s not the best looking, painted, or articulated SBD in the line, it still does look pretty good, and even though it will soon enter it’s 3rd decade of life, it’s worthy of owning and doesn’t have to be buried in the back of your displays.  It’s a rare figure where the action features enhance its value.  6/10.