Yesterday we reviewed the odd but fun Super Battle Droid Builder.  Here is yet another deluxe set from the 2002 Saga line that connects to the Geonosis assembly line.  Also, Hasbro was into a few gimmicks the were prevalent in 2002.  This set features 3 of them together:  removable body parts, magnets, and blast effects.

Following the release of AOTC, and for many years afterwards, Hasbro went all in on Geonosis.  That’s not a bad thing.  There were a TON of environments, ships, Jedi, clones, aliens, and droids that were on screen during the third act of the film.  One of the things Hasbro did was release multiple sets that could interact with each other, and on a grander scale, the Arena Battle set.  If you were interested, you could have built an impressive and varied collection based on Petranaki Arena (inside and out), as well the battle beyond, in the deserts of Geonosis.

This set starts with C-3PO.  It’s not a terrible looking figure, but Hasbro had seemingly moved on from the metallic versions of our favorite protocol droid, and gave this one a very flat paint job.  The articulation is limited, but overall, it’s not bad looking on display.  Note that Threepio has a hole in his back to accommodate the droid back pack (which he did not sport in the movie) as well as a tiny magnet at the top of his head.  More on that in a bit.

We recently reviewed the TSC 017 C-3PO with Battle Droid Head.  That figure was a very slight retool of the C-3PO that comes in this set.  There’s (literally) only one tiny reason to have that figure over this one.  The TSC version ditched the small magnet in the head.  The figure looks slightly more natural than the magnetic one included in this set.  But it’s such a tiny difference, that you really should just pass this figure up completely in favor of the one that was part of the TLC Arena Showdown 2-pack.  Of course, that recommendation is meant as a standalone C-3PO.  If you want one to properly interact with this set, you need this one.

Also included is a rather lame Battle Droid.  The figure is just 5POA, so is inferior to most other battle droid figures that have been made available over the years.  It comes with a removable back pack, blaster (with firing effect), and removable head - also with a tiny magnet.

The star of the set is the environmental piece.  It is a long conveyor with some machinery.  If you set up both droids on the foot pegs on the conveyor - and also insert the heads loosely (don’t snap them into place) - you can use the included machinery arm to swap the heads.  There is a magnet on each side of the double claw.  You can manipulate the arm (up and down / back and forth), to have the magnets do their magic.  Pick up each head, and then swap them on the other bodies.  Fun!

The conveyor is modular, and is meant to attach to several other pieces of the Geonosian droid foundry.  The features work fairly well, with a little patience, but the adult collector should simply appreciate the modular aspects of the set.  The two droids are outclassed by later releases, but the magnets in the heads give them specific value to this set.

While the droids hold only a small value, the modular environmental piece is definitely worth a look for your displays.  As with the SBD Builder, the figures and accessories here could be used as fodder for other dioramas besides Geonosis, if you were so inclined.  I’ll give the set a 6, mostly for the conveyor piece, but also for the effort in general.