The set was teased two years ago amid much fanfare and speculation in the community when it was hyped to contain collector-focused, TVC-level articulation.  Technically, that’s correct.  But technically, these are 5POA.  These came out in the midst of the horrendous Walmart Exclusive Black Series run, which is known to be the main cause of the recent Argentinian currency crisis, and is thought to be at least partly responsible for the Brad Marchand licking scandal.

The first thing about the set you’ll notice is the unique packaging, which is a window box shaped like an astromech.  It’s a nice look, and serves as a unique display piece should you opt to keep these figures unopened (don’t - you need the bartender for your Khetanna!).  To get some further analysis of the packaging, we scoured our archives for this Bantha Skull exclusive interview with Coach Jon Gruden (Who was really a former coach at the time, but now is a coach again) to get his take on the packaging for this set: 

You got this thing, right, and it’s a box. But then you look at it, and it’s got legs. And you’re like, hey, it’s a guy!  But then you look into it, and it holds six other guys. So it’s a box, that’s really a guy, that holds other guys. That’s great, man. That’s great. This guy just opens the door for guys of all sizes and shapes.  Just like Russell Wilson. There’s a guy that’s smaller than other guys, but he has the heart of a wolf. That’s why I call him Snaggletooth. This package is kind of like Russell Wilson.  It’s a guy that looks like a wolf but is smaller than you think but also somehow holds other guys. This is an amazing guy, and I want this guy on my team.  If I had this guy, Russell Wilson and some other guys, we could terrorize the league.  Oh, and I like David Carr a lot.  That’s a guy that I’d really want to be my quarterback.  He’s bigger than Russell Wilson.

Good luck to the Raiders with all that.

Anyway, it’s hard to really mess up astromechs at this point.  Hasbro opted to use the VC25 R2-D2 mold, which has held up fairly well.  There’s a retractable third leg, although you do this by rotating the dome which can only rotate if the sensor scope or saber hilt is removed first.  Also, the third leg is a bit loose on most of these figures, so I had a hard time getting to be fully retracted, as you can tell by the images.  The paint applications are generally pretty sharp. 

As a set, it’s pretty neat, and you get 6 pretty obscure astromechs.  It debuted at a time when Star Wars collecting had reached its nadir.  I think the biggest problem was the cost.  Originally retailing for $79.99, it was a tough sell at full price.  You can now find it for less than half the MSRP at Amazon.  This is well worth the price as 50% off. 

The set includes the following 6 astromechs:

R2-C2 - Ziro the Hutt’s Droid (The Clone Wars):  R2-C2 is another droid (Wookieepedia) that may be a big draw.  The color patterns are particularly striking and unique for an astromech.  Besides the patterns, there are symbols for the Black Sun crime syndicate all over, as well as the nifty touch of “Ziro” written in Aurebesh on the right leg.  But the mere existence of this guy just means Hasbro dropped the ball by not producing a Ziro the Hutt figure.  They’re on the hook until this is rectified.

R7-F5 (Or, is it?) - Member of Y-Wing Shadow Squadron, misnamed from correct R2-Y9 (The Clone Wars):  R7-F5 may actually be incorrectly named.  According to Wookieepedia this orange droid is probably R2-Y9, and was a member of Shadow Squadron, a group of Y-Wing’s piloted by Republic Clone Troopers during the Clone Wars.  Specifically, the droid belonged to Clone Pilot Tag who was shot down during the battle of Battle of the Kaliida Nebula, when the squadron, led by Anakin Skywalker, attempted to defeat General Grievous aboard the Malevolence.  As for the R7-F5 designation, there’s some explanation for this in the Legends section of Wookieepedia.  It was apparently the initial name given to Plo Koon’s astromech in The Clone Wars: Visual Dictionary, but this was changed in later materials to the accepted R7-D4, which also happens to be included in this set.  The name “R7-F5” was then supposedly reassigned to another astromech in the publication Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.23.  In any case, it’s unfortunately not an isolated case of confusing identities throughout the Star Wars Universe.  Let’s just go with Shadow Squadron, mmmkay?

R7-D4 - Plo Koon’s Droid (The Clone Wars):  R7-D4 was Plo Koon’s astromech during the Clone Wars.  As mentioned above, the droid was changed to R7-D4 from it’s original designation of R7-F5.  But enough of that, already, let’s move on to more confusion.  According to Legends, the R7 models did not appear until after the event of Return of the Jedi, so that would make this name anachronistic.  However, Pablo Hidaldo, who seems to have the power to make stuff up as he sees fit, justified this with some Monday morning sorcery.  It’s not really important.  What Wookieepedia does not make clear, is if this droid was with Plo Koon aboard his Jedi starfighter when Order 66 was initiated.  It’s possible small pieces of this droid litter the landscape of Cato Neimoidia.

QT-KT - Ayala Secura’s Droid (The Clone Wars):  QT-KT was featured as part of D-Squad, assembled by Mace Windu to infiltrate a Separatist dreadnaught to steal a device.  This 4 episode arc was the one which introduced Gregor, the amnesiac clone commando, who later appeared in Rebels.  It was one of the stranger arcs, but one of my favorites, nonetheless.  In the beginning of the first episode, during Mace’s briefing, the 4 astromechs that comprised D-Squad (along with a pit droid and the tiny Colonel Meebus Gascon) appeared in the Jedi Temple’s breifing room, along with their Jedi masters.  This was the only time we saw Ayala Secura together with QT-KT.

Jabba’s Bartender - Unnamed (Return of the Jedi):  Jabba’s Bartender (Wookieepedia) is likely to be one of the highlights of this set for most collectors. It is the first incarnation of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it astromech that was apparently already serving drinks to Jabba the Hutt prior to that jerk R2-D2 trying to steal his thunder.  Surprisingly, there is no canon name/number yet, and this would have been a great opportunity to set the record straight.  Nevertheless, here’s the important thing: This figure is essential for you to properly populate your Khetanna Sail Barge.  On that note, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t put this link into your favorites.

R2-A5 - Droid in Mos Eisley (A New Hope - pre-Special Edition):  R2-A5 could be spotted briefly but prominently as he crossed the screen in the foreground as Luke and team are first being stopped by the sandtroopers.  (He is then followed in the same manner by R5-A2 before the scene cuts to a different angle.)  Then came the Special Edition, and a Ronto was digitally inserted in the foreground, taking the place of R2-A5.  (R5-A2 managed to survive the CGI attack.)  Even in the EU, this droid didn’t have much a backstory.  He seemed to just be wandering the streets of Mos Eisley, waiting for the day those filthy jawas might ambush him.  It’s lucky Hasbro made this guy.

Find this set at Amazon.com.