Original Review by Chris, 10/4/2014

If you’re going to make a trilogy of movies which has an underlying theme that robot warriors are essentially useless, you can’t also introduce one robot that appears near omnipotent and battles invincible Jedi to a draw.  It’s either one way or the other.  The Droidekas deploy with blitzkrieg ferocity leaving the opposing forces thunderstruck and then immediately activate built-in shields making them impenetrable to all but other disproportionately powerful weapons like the gun ship ball turret lasers.  It begs the question why would the CIS deploy anything else?  Why would the foundries crank out useless B1 Battle Droids when they were capable of making Destroyer Droids? The only reason is to serve the plot without explanation.  I don’t care if the Expanded Universe put forth battery limitations as the reason for the reduced use of Droidekas.  This had to be established in the movies themselves otherwise it’s completely stupid.  What we saw on screen established that a few dozen Destroyers were more effective than hundreds of B1 Battle Droids and the fact that the latter was more frequently deployed and produced is asinine.

While I could drone on forever about the plot holes and inconsistencies of the Prequel Trilogy, decency dictates that I discuss the figure at some point.  This particular figure is a kitbash of the body from 1999’s Episode I Destroyer Droid and the head of the firing missile Destroyer from the “Saga” line.  While I’d very much want you to think I’m “wickid smaht” for that observation, I’m just ripping off the research of Dan Curto.  While the head of the 2002 figure seems fairly screen accurate, the older body definitely shows its limitations.  The arms would benefit greatly from one more point of articulation.  A swivel at either the attachment point to the body or in the upper arm would help aiming the lasers.  As it stands when you bend the “elbows”, the lasers draw in towards the center of the figure like it’s doing some sort of weird dumbbell curl.  This makes the lasers cross eyed for lack of a better phrase.

Of course the appeal of this particular Destroyer Droid is the energy shield hemisphere.  The left half of the energy shield is the reciprocal of the right half so that if you buy two figures, you can connect the two shield halves into a completed globe.  The shield uses varying shades of blue which gives it the appearance of a pulsating energy effect.  In addition to being the best, if far from perfect, rendition of a Destroyer Droid in the Hasbro lineup, the included hemisphere is a compelling reason to own this figure.  Even if not displayed as a completed sphere, the half globe still makes for an interesting display as it looks like the shield is either phasing in or out.  In fact, given that the plastic is perhaps a bit too opaque, I think the half shield display might look better.  The detachable blast effects add a little more pizzazz to a somewhat dated offering, but don’t do enough to push the figure into the higher score range.  It’s worth owning, but lands at a 6 out of 10 score. 

Updated Review by Bret, 2/7/2020

It’s a figure that’s basically been around since 1999, with just a few minor tweaks and alternate versions over the history of the line.  As a collect them all guy, as well as an old army builder, I’ve acquired quite a few Destroyer Droids over the years, given that Hasbro has offered it so many times in various formats.  From a sculpting standpoint, they more or less nailed the likeness, and when posed in firing position, looks pretty impressive on display.  There’s not a whole lot Hasbro can add to make the standard Droideka better, except, as Chris pointed out, adding some better articulation to the arms to allow it improved range of motion without looking wonky.

Hasbro updated the head a bit over time by adding a third “eye”, which is screen accurate, but was absent from the earliest versions of the figure.  We also have missile launching versions, battle damaged versions, and this one, which includes half a shield.  When I first saw images of this figure, I thought this was pretty awesome, as it was one of two obvious aspects missing from the figure in previous versions. (I’ll get to the second in a bit.). And while Hasbro definitely gave it the ol’ college try, it just seems a bit…underwhelming.  Again, as Chris pointed out, you could use the half shield as a phasing in or out prop, but whether you use the half or full shield for display, the problem is that the plastic is not translucent enough to see the droid behind/inside it.  They should have gone with a clear shield, with just a hint of blue.  I totally get that they were going for the “fluid” look that we saw on screen, but it didn’t quite hit the mark.  A few years later, Hasbro would release this figure again in the Discover the Force line, and they made the shield a much lighter blue color, but frustratingly, it made little difference as far as translucency.  I prefer that version over this one, but the difference is definitely subjective, and minimally effective at best. 

Oh, one bit of annoyance here is that in order for the droideka to fit completely inside a full shield, you have to kind of fold in the legs a bit, otherwise it’s too tall.  You can’t really tell that in the gallery of course, because the figure is hidden from view, sadly.  For comparison, the gallery above shows a few shots of both versions of the shield.  The accompanying figures for both releases are essentially identical.

As for the second aspect missing from the figure, Hasbro’s Destroyer Droids lack the ability to convert into the rolling wheel of death.  My first reaction to this back in 1999 was that it would be a mighty feat of engineering for Hasbro to accomplish a transforming Droideka.  But then immediately I thought there was more than meets the eye.  I had an epiphany.  Yes, as many of you probably don’t know, Hasbro is the very company that created those wacky Transformers!  That’s right!  You totally didn’t know that!  Well, you always learn stuff at Bantha Skull every day sometimes.  So, you gotta believe that Hasbro is, indeed, capable of creating a transforming Droideka, even at the 3.75” scale.  Until then, we should be unsatisfied with the offerings to this point.  If they ever manage to pump one of those droidekas out, I’d buy a couple.  Just for the TVC card, of course.

By the way, for those of you noobs that never even knew that Hasbro made Trasnformers, there was a rolling version of the figure released in 1999.  Now, it’s debatable whether it’s actually a “figure” at all.  It has no articulation, is way under-scaled, and can’t remain upright without being supported.  It was included as a pack in with a playset in the Episode I line.  That playset was an R2-D2 that TRANSFORMS (Irony, amirite?) into a part of the Droid Control Ship where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are confronted by the attacking droids while they try to break into the bridge.  It’s not the worst playset in the world, and it can make for a decent little display backdrop, as shown in one of the diorama shots above.  I consider it a figure, but I can see why many collectors would just consider it an accessory. 

Despite the inability to transform, and the too cloudy shield, the figure is still a good one to own.  I feel like Chris’s score of 6 is a little low given the value packed into the bubble, here.  I think it should be a 7 because it hits the major points.  If it had better arm articulation and/or a more translucent shield, it would be an easy 8.  And if Hasbro could execute a transforming version, that would have an opportunity to be a truly great figure.

Editor’s Note: The 6” Power of the Jedi Mega Action Destroyer Droid (sponsored Ebay) does transform.